IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER Cocks
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Mallinson, of Welwyn, in the County of
Herts, for the Invention of" IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER
Cocks."
Sealed the 28th July 1874, and dated the 28th February 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Mallinson at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on-the
28th February 1874.
"
I, JAMES MALLINSON, of Welwyn, in the County of Herts, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM.
AND OTHER COCKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steam, gas, water,
and other cocks, whereby they can be manufactured cheaper, and be
made more durable than cocks for the purposes as now used.
In constructing steam, gas, water, and other cocks I have a conical or
cylindrical plug with steam, gas, or water ways through it. This plug
is received into a shell in which are inlet and outlet passages, as usual,
opposite the one to the other or at angles to each other, of which
passages there may be two, three, or four. The shell is of such a size as
•

page_text: to leave space for packing all around the plug, both above and below the
passages. Within the shell at the points where these passages come are
bosses or enlargements, which contract the interior of the shell at these
places, so that there is only free room between them for the plug to
pass; but at the sides of these bosses there are wide spaces to receive
packing, and these packing spaces connect the packing spaces which are
above and below the steam, gas, or water ways. One end of the shell is
open, and receives a gland, which may be drawn up either by external
or internal screws or bolts and nuts, or other means, as is well under-
stood.
The packing material, which may be hemp, jute, asbestos, talc, or
other kind of packing is pressed into the packing spaces after the plug
has been inserted so as to fill the whole space above, below, and between
the steam, gas, or water passages in the shell, and the gland is then put
in and drawn up by screws and nuts, caps, or by other means, so as to
compress the packing and make it fit steam, gas, and watertight around
the plug, for this plug cock depends wholly upon the packing to keep it
tight, and not upon the close fit of metallic surfaces. The plug receives
a little packing around its neck, which enters into the gland to prevent
it moving endwise, and at its inner end it steps into a recess at the bottom
of the shell, which further conduces to the steadiment and support of the
plug.
In order to prevent the plug rising from its bearings while being
packed it may have a groove or recess formed in it a short distance from
the bottom, into which the packing expands, and keeps the plug down.
The shell may also be recessed correspondingly to allow a greater expan-
sion of packing, or the plug may be held down by a screw passing
through the bottom of the shell.
For some cocks the cone of the plug may be 1/10 in. to the foot, and at
the bottom where it steps into the shell it may be of a greater cone;
this will prevent it from "cutting" or getting fast, or cocks may be
made with a parallel shell and with a conical plug passing clear through,
with a nut and washer on each end, the bosses of the shell being bored
out to suit the plug. Below the bosses the shell is cast of larger internal
capacity to admit of a greater body of packing, which with the nut and
washer on the plug forms the necessary resistance to prevent the plug
rising when the upper part is being packed, or cocks may be made with
a parallel shell and with a conical plug passed through from the bottom

page_text: or under side of shell, and packed from the top; and in order to prevent
the plug from falling out while being packed a recess or semicircular
hollow may be turned in the plug between the bosses and the bottom of
the shell.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Mallinson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th August 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MALLINSON, of Welwyn, in the County of Herts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Mallinson, Her special license that
I, the said James Mallinson, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Mallinson, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER COCKS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Mallinson,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immc-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Mallinson, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The object of this Invention is the construction of steam and other
cocks with packing introduced into a space provided for it between the
shell of the cock and the plug, and extending around the plug and

page_text: :
excluded from the passages or water ways by raised ribs or lips, and is
compressed in the direction of the length of the plug by a gland or
otherwise, and it prevents leakage in any direction. The tightness of
the cock is thus wholly dependent on the packing, and in nowise upon
the fit of the metallic parts.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a cock constructed according to
my Invention.
a, a, is the shell of the cock with its inlet and outlet
passages a¹, a²; it is of such a capacity as to leave an ample packing
-space around the plug b, which is inserted within it. The passages or
water ways a', a², are surrounded within the shell by raised ribs or
lips a*, of which the form preferred is clearly seen in Figure 2, which is
a transverse section of the shell. These lips are bored out to receive the
plug easily between them, but no reliance is placed on obtaining fluid-
tight contact between the lips and the plug, the use of the lips being
solely to exclude the packing from the water or fluid ways. c is the
packing, that which I usually employ is hemp, but other packing
material may be employed. It is well rammed into the packing space
whilst the plug is held down by any convenient means. The gland d is
then dropt into its place and drawn up (by screwing the nuts e on the
studs, which are fixed into the shell a) until the packing is sufficiently
compressed. The plug may be prevented from rising both during
packing and at other times by means of a stud upon it projecting
through a hole in the bottom of the shell in the centre of a recess a°,
into which the plug is stepped, and on the outside this stud is squared to
receive a washer, beyond which a nut is screwed upon it. Tho parts
last referred to are indicated in the Drawing by dotted lines; or the
plug may be held down in its place during packing by means of a bar
passed through the water way, and I then apply packing around the
neck of the plug and within the gland at g to prevent the plug rising
when the cock is in usc. The edges of the water way in the plug are
removed so that the resilient packing may not be cut by them when the
plug is turned. The plug is squared at the top to receive a handle or
hand wheel in the ordinary way. In the cock shewn at Figure 1 the

page_text: introduction and compression of the packing is effected from one end
only.
Figure 3 shews a longitudinal section of a cock, in which the shell is
open at both ends for the introduction and compression of packing.
around the plug. The plug 6 has a stem at its lower end, which is
screwed to receive the nut ; is a cover plate closing the shell at the
bottom. The stem of the plug passes through this cover, which is
prevented from turning with the plug by a small projection upon tho
shell; is a washer upon and turning with the plug. The nut & serves
for compressing the packing. In packing this cock a ring of packing is
placed around the stem at the lower end of tho plug filling the lower
part of the cavity of the shell. Thc cover plate i and washer are put
on, and the nut is screwed up until the packing is lightly compressed.
The remainder of the packing is then inserted and rammed in at the top
of tho shell, and the packing is further compressed by screwing down
the gland and tightening up the nut 7 sufficiently to prevent leakage.
The arrangement of cover plate, washer, and nut shown in Figure 3
may be applied at both ends of tho plug, the gland d being then dis-
pensed with. Such an arrangement is shewn in longitudinal section at
Figure 4.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a cock, in which the packing is
inserted at one end only, and that the smaller end of the plug. In this
case the taper of the plug serves to prevent it from rising. It is obviously
possible to put ribs or lips a* on the plug and not on the shell of the
cock, but such modifications are not advantageous.
What I claim is, the construction of cocks rendered tight by packing
applied around the plug and between the water ways or passages in thio
shell, such packing being confined in its position and compressed
substantially as described.
In witness whercof, I, tho said James Mallinson, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.