US478424A - Means for detecting the escape of gas from gas-mains - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

. AGUEGUBN. MEANS FOR DBTEGTING THE ESCAPE 0F GAS FROM GAS MAINS.

No. 478,424. Patented July 5, 1892.

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Tu: Nonme persas c o., muro-mno., wnsnmcaow n c UNITED STATES YPATENT OFFICE.

ALPHONSE GUEGUEN, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE CHARTIERS VALLEY GAS COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA.'

MEANS FORv DETECTING THE ESCAPE OF GAS FROM GAS-MAINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 478,424, dated July 5, 1892.

Application filed April 29,1886. Serial No. 200,597. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Bo it known that I, ALPHONSE GUEGUEN, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Paris, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Detecting the Escape of Gas from Gas-Mains; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to methods for the discovery of leakage in gas pipes or conduits.

It consists, generally stated, in placing'over a portion of the gas-conduit a layer or body of stones or similar loose solid material, which rests on the conduit and is so covered and surrounded by the earth as to form a'sepa-A rate and isolated chamber or gallery and placing the same in communication with the at` It also consists in extending said layers of bodies of stones continuously over portions of the conduit and isolating them from each other, so forming a series of isolated sections or galleries and providing each such section with avent-pipe by which leakage from'any particular section may be detected and located.l v

It also consists in combining with the gasconduit and the chamber or gallery formed by the layer or body of stones or loose material a tarred cloth or similar cover surrounded and covered by the earth, which will prevent the entrance of dirt into the chamber ergallery and connecting such vchamber with the atmosphere by means of the vent tube or tubes.

It also consists in certain other improvements, as hereinafter particularly setforth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in whichmay be connected by joints of ,anyv desired construction, the conduit a shown being connected by the ordinary bowl-and-spigot joint b, packed with lead or other'suitable mate rial.

When my invention is applied to new conduits, I lemploy a thin layer or packing c of stones over the upper part of the conduit, these stones being generally interposed between the conduit, and a cover d of tarred cloth or paper or other suitable material, and the layer of stones forming a kind of chamber or gallery in which the gas leaking or escaping from the conduit will collect. In forming this gallery I prefer to first saturate a sheet of felt with tar or other heavy oils of bituminous coal and sand the same interiorly with stones of about theV size of lentile, so that the felt does not adhere to the side ofthe pipes. In this manner a continuous vgallery of two or three millimeters in height is formed over and at the sides of the conduit, within which the gas escaping from the leaks necessarily collects, since in order to arrive there they are not obliged to overcome the resistance which the `soil opposes to them elsewhere. The gascollecting galleries are placed in communication with the atmosphere by vent-tubes e, generally placed directly over the conduits. These vent-tubes consist of an iron tube the lower partof whichV is screwed into a cylinder or chamber f, of somewhat ylargersize, perforated with four small rectangular openings communicating with the gallery by means of a bell-mouth g, formed bythe vbituminized cloth. The other end of the tube e enters rather freely with friction into a castiron socket h, following the movements of the ground and closed by a removable plug i. The discharge of the gas into the atmosphere takes place by small horizontal channels made upon the exterior surface of the socket below the top plate of the plug. In this way IOO the settling of the earth into the escape-orifices is avoided. The gallery may be made in isolated sections, being separatedV by a packing, as at k, or in othersuitable manner, and each vent-tube communicates with one of these sections, as shown. lVhen the conduits have been already laid, the gas-collecting gallery does not exist or least finds itself very imperfectly constituted by the small shrinkage which generally exists between the pipes and the material Iilled in the trench. It is p then necessaryto increase the number of venttubes employed and create the gallery each time the occasion presents itself, and in such p cases my invention may be applied in the -following manner: The flagstone or other pavement over a surface of about a square decimeter is removed, and a hole is dug about fifty centimeters in depth, the hole being as nearas i possible directly over the axis of the conduit.

By means of a eonicaliron screw terminating below in two well-tempered points andat the other extremity in a flat iron rod andan iron lever fittingonthe same a hole is bored within this large 'hole down to the conduit, which is then laid `bare by a scoop or other suitable tool. Witlithis method of boring there is no danger of `piercing or cracking the conduit.

Into the 'hole so made the vent-tube e is then lowered, While disposing as well as possible around its openings large gravel, forming a species of chamber, as at Z. space m around the pipe is `filled with earth or clay well stamped, and the tests are taken as `hereinafter described.

that warning will be-given thereof by the odor given out, andas each vent-tube or passage` communicates with `an isolated section of the` gallerythe probable position of the 'leakiis thus indicated, even beneath the most imper-f meablechausse. As the circulation of the air and gases isalways extremely slight in these galleries or chambers, and as the smaller leaks couldbe but poolydistinguished by the sense of smell from the vapors and odoriferous ele-1 mentsemanating from the surrounding earth, in order to render the indicationsmore eliica-` cious and to recognize the smallest traces of loss which may take place within the conduits, an air-pump is applied to the vent-tube by The annularl means of an india-,rubber bushing or other- Wise, thereby permitting the exhaustion of the air from the gallery or chamber. The gaseous mixture is immediately submitted to an analysis to test Whether it contains leakage-gas.

What l claim as my invention, and desi-re to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with an underground gas-conduit, of a layer or body of stones or similar loose solid material resting on said conduit and nextending over a portion thereof and so covered and surrounded by earth as to form a separated and isolated chamber or gallery, and a vent-pipe leading from said chamber to thesurface of the ground, through which the gas can escape to the atmosphere, and by which a leakage may be detectedand located in any particular part of the conduit, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an underground gas-conduit, of layers or bodies of stones .or similar loose solid material `resting Aon said conduit and extending kcontinuously over `portions thereof and covered and surrounded by `the earth, such bodies being so separated as to Vform a series of isolated sections `or galleries, and a ventdetector-pipe leading from each such section to the surface of theground and by which leakage from Aanyparticular section `may be detected `and located, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, withan underground .gas-conduit, of a layer or body of stones or `similar loose material extending over any-desired portion ofthe conduit,.a tarred clothor similar cover extending over `the stonesandV covered and surrounded by earthaand a vent or detector pipe leading from the chamber .so forrned to the surface of theground, substantially as set forth.

Il. The combination, with an .underground :gas-conduit, of a cover of tarred cloth orsimirlar material extending over and on each side of the gas-conduit, and a vent-pipe communi- `eating with the space between the cover `and rthe conduit, substantiallyas set forth.

5. The combination, withfan :underground `gas-conduit, of a vent -pipe communicating with an enlarged ,chamber `resting onthe conduit, and a cover of tarred cloth or similar material extending over said chamber and down the sides ofsaid conduit, substantially `as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

ALPHONSE eUEcUEN.

Witnesses:

RoB'r. M. HoorER, G. DE MEsTRAL.

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