Process and tool for eradicating termites

Dec. 4, 1934. d. aiken 1,982,975

PROCESS AND TOOL FOR ERADICATING TERMITES Filed Nov. 16, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR.

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Dec. 4,1934. d. aiken 1,982,975

PROCESS AND TOOL FOR ERADICATING TERMITES Filed Nov. 16, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 2

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WITNESSES

INVENTOR.

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Daniell Aiken

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Dec. 4, 1934,

D. AIKEN

1,982,975

PROCESS AND TOOL FOR ERADICATING TERMITES

Filed Nov. 16, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 3

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INVENTOR.

Daniell Aihen,

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Dec. 4, 1934.

D. AIKEN

1,982,975

PROCESS AND TOOL FOR ERADICATING TERMITES

Filed Nov. 16, .1933

Sheets-Sheet 4

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Patented Dec. 4, 1934

1,982,975

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

1,982,975

PROCESS AND TOOL FOR ERADICATING TERMITES

Daniell Aiken, San Antonio, Tex., assignor of onehalf to Agnes O. Slogan, San Antonio, Tex.

Application November 16, 1933, Serial No. 698,375

Claims. (Cl. 99—12)

This invention relates to a tool and process for use in applying insecticides to wood articles or the like, and the present application discloses other novel forms of tools of the general ³ type illustrated and described in my prior application Serial No. 667,309, filed April 21, 1933.

An object of the invention is to furnish a novel tool and process for impregnating posts, timbers, etc. with tar, creosote, paradichloride, 10 orthodichlorobenzine or any chemical termite eradicator.

Telephone and telegraph poles, house columns or any timber set in the ground can be treated by my invention without removing the dirt from 15 around them.

In many cases, timbers, not treated by a pressure process have become infested, and the only method known or used prior to my original invention, involved painting or spraying which only 20 achieves temporary results.

A further object of the invention is to provide special tools by means of which an insecticide can be forced under pressure progressively into wood at various spaced points without liability 25 of the insecticide flowing to points where it is unneeded. In other words, the tools which I have invented deliver the insecticide directly into the wood at the points where insects are to be destroyed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in general of an improved method and means for preserving timber and the like. .

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one form of the improved tool involving an outer threaded tube and an inner axially movable control tube.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view partly in elevation of this form of the tool shown intro40 duced into a wood article to be protected.

Fig. 2α is a perspective view of a lock pin for use with the tool.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of the upper end portion of the inner tube of this form of 45 the-invention.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of an intermediate portion of the outer tube.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the outer tube, taken on the line 5—5 50 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an elevation, partly in vertical section of the same type of tool shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, with the main exception that the outer tube has an unthreaded or smooth 55 peripherey. In this view the tool js shown in- serted into a post or the like at an acute angle relatively to the length of the post.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view partly in elevation of the tool shown in Fig. 6.

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are horizontal sectional ⁶⁰views, taken respectively on the lines 8—8, 9—9 and 10—10 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 11 is an elevation of an intermediate portion of the outer tube of this form of the invention. 65

Fig. 12 is an elevation partly in vertical section of another form of the tool involving only a single tube, and shown introduced into a wood post to be protected.

Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional view of a detail 70 taken on the line 13—13 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a transverse sectional view of a detail taken on the line 14—14 of Fig. 13.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, 1 75 designates an inner tube which slides lengthwise in an outer tube 3 having external threads to be screwed into a bore hole 14 previously made in a wood article 13 to be protected. For the purpose of preventing splitting of the wood 80 during the insertion of the tool, clamps 15 of any suitable type may be used. The outer tube is provided at various points along its length with ports 11 to allow the insecticide to be discharged into the wood, and each of these ports 85 has a slot on the trailing side to prevent the port from being clogged when the outer tube is screwed into the wood.

The upper end of the inner tube has a threaded socket 6 for the purpose of attaching an in- ⁹⁹secticidal pump, and the lower end of the inner tube has a ball valve 25 normally seated by means of a spring 24. However, when the inner tube is inserted all the way into the outer tube a stationary pin 14b at the lower end of the ⁹⁵outer tube unseats the ball valve, and then the insecticide can pass through the inner tube and a port 12α in the outer tube, into the portion of the bore 14 below the tool. The pin 14b is carried by a threaded plug 14α which is screwed ⁴⁹⁹into the lower end of the outer tube, so that the pin may be adjusted for opening the ball valve in an adjustable manner.

For the purpose of preventing the inner tube from backing out of the outer tube while the ¹⁹³insecticide is being forced through the port 12α, a lock pin 17α is employed. This pin can be introduced through a hole 20 in the outer tube and into a hole 16α in the inner tube when the latter j§ iij its fully inserted position. 110

1,982,976

The inner tube preferably consists of two parts, an upper part provided with circumferential spaced grooves 16 and a lower part 23 that is screwed on to the reduced lower end of the 5 upper part, and between these parts, means are provided for discharging the insecticide from the bore 12 of the inner tube through any one of the ports 11 of the outer tube. Such means preferably consists of a spool 22 surrounding the re10 duced lower end portion of the inner tube, and cooperating with the part 23 and the main portion of the inner tube for holding cup washers 21 in position. This construction prevents insecticide which discharges from the bore 12 15 through a port 10 from travelling along the bore of the outer tube. In other words, such means compels the insecticide to issue from a particular port 11 without discharging through the other ports 11, and as the screw threads on the 20 outer tube snugly engage the wood, the discharged liquid is forced to concentrate on a particular spot in the wood.

In order that the operator may determine that the port 10 is opposite a particular port 11, a 25 ball detent 17 cooperates with the grooves 16. This detent is arranged in the head of the outer tube and is forced toward the inner tube by a spring 18 which may be adjusted by a threaded plug 19 which is screwed into the head of the 30 outer tube.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 to 11 inclusive, the screw principle is entirely eliminated, but the plunger form of inner tube is retained. In this form of the 35 invention, 16b is a hollow tube which is threaded at its upper end and screwed into the body la of the plunger or inner tube for holding the upper gasket 15α in place. This eliminates the necessity of employing the spool 22 shown in 40 Fig. 2.

The main purpose of this modification is to eliminate the necessity of having to screw the tool into a hole 27 in the timber 26. In large work, where the holes will be six to eight feet 45 long, friction increases rapidly as the tool is screwed into the timber. To avoid this objection, I propose to use for the outer tube 3α a pipe made of lead or any other suitable substance and to put grooves 24α at spaced points 50 circumferentially around the same. In practice, these grooves are filled with a suitable sealing compound, and the pipe is slipped into the previously prepared hole in the timber, so as to obtain as close a fit as possible. This causes 55 the tool to seal itself, and the insecticide will penetrate the timber by passing through the ports lib in the outer tube. These ports are positioned between adjacent grooves and they permit the insecticide to be injected into the hole co at various points while the sealing compound in the grooves prevents the insecticide from travelling lengthwise of the outer surface of the tube 3α.

Sealing or cementing compounds may be elim65 mated by using an outer tube of lead or the like, for after the outer tube is inserted, it may be expanded to cause its outer surface to snugly engage the surface of the bore hole. Obviously, the advantage of using lead is that it spreads 70 and automatically seals between the pipe and the timber. A drive fit with seal or iron pipe can also be used. It will be noted, however, I have a plug 21α with a projection 22α which is placed in the bottom of the lead pipe, and the lower 75 end of the pipe is closed in around the plug to form a tapered end, so that the outer tube will slip in easily. The plug has an aperture 23α corresponding to the aperture 12α in Fig. 2 to permit the insecticide to escape into the bottom of the hole 27, when the plunger is forced down- 80 wardly a sufficient distance to allow the pin to halt the downward movement of the valve 19α so that the insecticide may flow through the bore 12b of the inner tube, the bore 13α of the tube 16b, and the port 18α to the bore 23α. 85

In this modification, the tube 16b joins the upper portion la of the plunger and the lower portion 17b which forms a cage for the valve. A spring 20α in the cage functions to yieldingly hold the valve in closed position. 90

Cup washers 15α are secured in position by means of shoulders on the tube 16b, and this tube has a port 14 c to place the bore of the plunger in communication with any one of the ports lib of the outer tube. A head 2α has 95 depending toothed segments 31 which are caused to grip the outer surface of the outer tube by means of a lock nut 10α which acts to contract the toothed segments.

The head carries a ball 4α which can interlock 100 with any one of the circumferential grooves 4b of the inner tube, and the ball is pressed against the inner tube by means of a spring 5α which is adjusted by means of a threaded plug 6α that is screwed into the head. A pin 9α oper- 105 ates in a guideway 8α of the head and can engage a hole 7α in the plunger for the purpose of holding the plunger in its lowermost position while the insecticide is being dispensed through ports 18α and 23α. 'no

A suitable pump 28 for introducing the insecticide into the inner tube may draw such fluid from the tank 30 through a pipe 29, and at this point it will be noted that this type of pump may also be used with the tool shown in Figs. 1 to 115 5 inclusive.

After the timber is treated with a tool of the type shown in Figs. 6 to 11 inclusive, the plunger la and head 2α can be removed, and the pipe 3α and plug 21α can be left remaining in the hole. 120 The pipe may be left full of insecticide, and the upper end of the pipe may then be corked or plugged. Afterwards, the bench 26α in the timber may be filled with a suitable cement or high temperature asphalt filling. Subsequently, the 125 filling and cork may be removed, and the head and plunger may be again attached, so that the timber can be treated at intervals in years to come.

It will be noted that the head 2α is eccentri- 130 call/ arranged with reference to the tubes, so as to eliminate as much cutting of the post as possible, and to provide a sufficient housing for the parts 4α, 5α and 6α.

In the form of the invention illustrated in 135 Figs. 12 to 14 inclusive, a single tube Id is used in place of the two tubes, and this single tube slides in a hollow screw 2d which is screwed into the upper end of the bore 27d that is made in the post 26d. Horizontal lines 24d and a vertical 140 line 24e are placed on the outer surface of the tube to serve as an indicator to guide the operator in placing the insecticide at desired points.

A screw 4d may be placed in the member 2d for the purpose of locking the tube in any desired 145 position.

In this embodiment, the lower end of the tube is joined by a collar 32d to a foot member 3d having a passageway 13d leading to a port 14d in a piston 16d. This piston slides in a trans- 150

1,982,875 verse bore in the foot member, and it has a frusto-conical outer end portion provided with a port lid. A ball valve 19d is arranged within the piston, and a spring 20d yieldingly holds the δ ball in position to close the port 14d. Other springs 34d connect the piston to a threaded plug 33d, and these springs function to pull the piston inwardly to its innermost position. A lip 34e at the outer end of the bore limits the 19 outward movement of the piston. A threaded member or head 17d, in which the port 14d is arranged, acts to clamp a cup washer 15d against the main portion of the piston.

In this form of the invention, a pump 28d re15 ceives the insecticide through a pipe 29d from a tank 30d and forces the same into the tube Id. A pressure gauge 31d may be placed on the lower end of the pump to indicate pressure conditions within the tool. In this embodiment, I 20 employ the control principle with a single tube. When pressure is applied, the liquid will be forced down through the bore 12d of the tube and through the passageway 13d. This pressure will be exerted behind the head 17d of the pis25 ton, so that the latter may be pushed outwardly until its point or tapered end penetrates the wood, and at this time the ball valve 19d will open to allow the liquid to flow through the port lid. As soon as the insecticide is applied 30 to a particular spot of the bore 27d, the pressure is released, and this allows the springs 34d to pull the piston inwardly. Then the tube Id is shifted so as to bring the piston into position to treat another spot.

Where an unthreaded outer tube is employed (Figs. 6 to 11) and the outer tube is driven into the hole, grooves similar to those at 11α in Figs. 4 and 5 can be employed in connection with the ports in the outer tube, but of course, such 40 grooves would extend toward the top of the outer tube instead of in a circumferential direction.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the 45 new tools will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is manifest that changes may be made in the details disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.