US31346A - Improved packing for stuffing-boxes - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVED PACKING FOR STUFFlNG-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No 31,34fi, dated February 5,1861.

T0 (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Ross WINANS and THOMAS WINANS, of the city and county of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Article of Manufacture for Packing Stuffing-Boxes which we term a compound packing-brick; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,

. and exact description of our said invention.

In packing stuffing-boxes previous to our invention with hemp or other fibrous material it has been customary to braid or twist the material loosely to introduce it into the stuffing-box, and to compact it therein by ramming before the follower or gland is applied. In some cases, packing made partly or wholly of india-rubber has been used for the purpose, but such packing is comparatively costly, and is generally inserted in the form of strips or segments of rings cut from flat sheets, or in the form of cylindrical rolls.

The object of our invention is to furnish a cheap and efficient packing which is not as costly as the india-rubber packing or as the hemp gaskets, and which does not require to be condensed in the stuffing-box by ramming previous to the insertion of the follower.

Our invention is applicable particularly to the new radical socket stuffing-box invented by us, for which we have made application for Letters Patent; and it consists of a compound packing-brick composed of a fibrous material-such,for example, as unspunhempand of a lubricating material-such, for example, as tallow-compressed into the form most suitable for use in the stuffing-box.

The best mode with which we are acquainted of manufacturing our compound packingbrick is first to saturate loose unspun hemp with melted tallow by melting the tallow in a suitable vessel and working the hemp into the melted tallow with a stick. Then a sufficient quantity of this saturated hemp to make a brick is taken and pressed by hand into a 'wad that will enter easily" into a mold of the proper size and form to make the required packing-brick. The wad is placed in the mold and is subjected to pressure, which can be conveniently done by fitting the mold with a follower, like the common molds used for pressing building-brick, and by operating upon the follower by a lever or screw. The effect of the pressure is to squeeze out the surplus tallow and compress the mass into a brick, which, by reason of the cementing action of the tallow, retains its shape.

When our compound packing-bricks are intended to be used in our new stuffing-box, they should be made of such size and shape that they will fit the sockets. hen they are to be used for ordinary stuffingboxes, they may be made in the form of segments, of rings, or of cylinders of asize to fit the annular spaces of the stuffing-boxes to which they are applied.

Our invention is not confined to the employment of any particular kind of fibrous or cementing material, as there are many kinds of both well known which will answer the purpose, but we deem those we have specified the best, having in view both cheapness and efficiency.

WVe claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A compound pa'ckingbrick, substantially such as described, as a new article of manufacture.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

ROSS VVINANS. THOMAS VINANS.

lVitnesses:

G. BACKENBAUGH, W. S. WILKINSON.