Improvements in Ball and Float Valves.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ball and Float Valves.
We, THE KURFC METAL SYNDICATE LIMITED, of No. 10, Pomeroy Street, New
Cross, in the County of Kent, Metallurgists, and JOHN PENDREIGH FULLERTON,
of No. 21, Ruby Street, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Inventor, do
hereby declare the nature of tlus invention to be as follows:-
:-
The present invention relates to improvements in ball-cock valves as usually
employed in water cisterns. It is especially applicable to what is known as the
Croydon ball valve, and the object of it is to form a more effectual and lasting
stop for high water pressures, and at the same time to reduce as far as possible
the number of working parts in order to simplify the construction and repairing.
In place of a spindle with a rubber washer or plug on top or in the extremity
and worked by a lever passing through the base of the spindle, in our improved
valve there is provided a projection on the lever and a ball of rubber or other
suitable material or composition in the outlet chamber The said ball 18 preferably
made fairly hard and is placed loosely in the said chamber. It is evolved by the
action of the incoming water, and so does not bear on the scating of the valve
always at the same point or part, and, having a much larger surface-area than a
mere plug or washer, it naturally wears longer than the latter, which always
bears in the same spot and in consequence reques frequent renewal
We have also arranged a special radial action of the lever on the ball, causing
the projection on it to always strike the ball in the centre and shut the valve
securely Without this particular action the valve would not close soundly, as,
as above stated, the ball should be made fairly hard to compensate for the lack of
the metallic backing which is afforded the washer by the spindle in the case of
the "Croydon" valve
As we dispense with the spindle entirely, we provide the lever, at its head o
extremity opposite to that bearing the ball-float, with a hook, or rather, fashion
that extremity into the form of a hook so that the said hook can be adjusted to
bear against the lugs between which the lever is pivoted in order to regulate the
amount of fall of the rubber ball away from the valve orifice.
Dated the 9th day of June 1898
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants

page_text: of No. 21, Ruby Street, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Inventor, de
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
-
The present invention relates to improvements in ball-and-float valves as usually
employed in water cisterns It is especially applicable to what is known as the
"Croydon" ball valve, and the object of it is to form a more effectual and lasting
stop for high water pressures and at the same time to reduce as far as possible
the number of working parts in order to simplify the construction and repairing
In place of a spindle with a rubber washer or plug on or in the extremity and
worked by a lever passing through the base of the spindle, in our improved valve
there is provided a projection on the lever and a ball of rubber or other suitable
material or composition, in the outlet chamber, of the supply-pipe The said
ball is preferably made fanly hard and is placed loosely in the said chamber
It is revolved by the action of the incoming water, and so does not bear on the
seating of the valve always at the same point or part, and, having a much larger
Burface-area than a meie plug or washer, it naturally wears longer than the latter,
which always bears in the same spot and in consequence requies frequent renewal.
We have also arranged a special radial action of the lever on the ball, causing
the projection on it to always strike the ball in the centre and thus shut the valve
securely Without this particular action the valve would not close soundly; as
above stated, the ball should be made fauly hard to compensate for the lack of
the metallic bucking which is afforded the washer or plug by the spindle in the
Croydon valve, and therefore the amount of distortion from a tiue sphere 18 but
small.
As we dispense with the spindle entirely, we provide the lever, at its head or its
extremity opposite to that bearing the ball-float, with a hook, or rather, fashion
the extremity into the form of a hook so that the said hook can be adjusted to bear
against the lugs between which the lever 18 pivoted in order to regulate the
amount of fall of the rubber ball away from the valve orifice
We will now proceed to describe the invention in detail with reference to the
accompanying diawings illustrating it applied to an ordinary modern flushing
cistern Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through such a cistern
fitted with our improved valve; the plane of section passing through the valve
chamber, and the parts being shewn in their position when the valve 18 open
Figure is a vertical transverse section through the outlet chamber of the supply
pipe the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 Figure 3 18 a plan
of the outlet chamber complete
66
"
According to our invention, in place of the usual spindle carrying a rubber
plug in its extremity or a washer on top, said spindle being threaded loosely on the
arm of the float lever which latter is pivoted to lugs projecting from the outlet
chamber as in the Croydon ball valve, or of the more complicated "Equi-
librium" valve, our improved valve consists of ball a made of some suitable
resilient material, preferably solid india-rubber rather hard or of firm consistency,
which ball is placed loosely in the outlet or valve chamber 6 of the supply pipe c
so that the said ball is free to revolve and has a certain amount of lateial play
within the said chamber. The float lever d has a fixed blunt projection or stud e
formed or secured upon it, to prevent the ball a from diopping out of the
chamber and to press the said ball upwards against the seat g of the valve
orifice h to shut off the water when the lever d is raised, this lever being loosely
pivoted as usual upon a horizontal pin f supported in lugs 7 so that it can move
freely up and down in the vertical plane The projection or stud e on the
lever d, it should be observed, 18 so located upon the lever arm as to be of such
a distance or radius from the centre of the pivot f that the centre line of the
said projection will coincide with that of the ball a when the valve is quite shut
or the lever d in its uppermost position as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 1

page_text: This is a special and important detail to ensure that the action of the stud e on the
float lever d shall be a direct one upon the ball a so that the latter in turn will
bear centrally upon the seat g of the valve once h and effectually close the said
orifice when desed, even against considerable water pressure, moreover, by
this particular construction the lever d although having a radial action throughout
causing the stud e to move in a circular path, nevertheless the ball a being con-
fined in the chamber b 18 forced up with a direct pressure upon the valve seat g
which is a great improvement upon a valve necessitating by its construction the
conversion of the radial action of the lever into a parallel one as with the
'Croydon or the "Equilibrium " ball valve
"
As we dispense altogether with the usual plug or washer-bearing spindle, which
also serves by friction against the sides of the outlet chamber to prevent the float
lever from falling too far, it becomes necessary to provide some other means
of effecting this, and this consists in forming the rear end of the float lever into
a kind of hook which hook comes in contact with and bears against the solid
part on 100t of the lugs when the lever d has descended to its lowest position,
and thus prevents it descending beyond the desired limit This provision, it will
be seen, also prevents the ball a from descending too low or falling out of the
valve chamber b
The action of these valve improvements is as follows -It will be understood
that, as usual, the float lever d is caused to 11se or fall with the level of the water
in the cistern, the water acting on the float k The lowering of the float lever d
while the water is flowing out of the cistein down the outlet pipe m for flushing
purposes, lowers also the stud e fixed thereon which in tuin permits the ball a to
drop down away from the seat of the valve orifice thus opening the valve and
admitting fresh water through the service or supply pipe c, into the cistern This
descent of the lever d continues with the fall of the level of water in the cistern
until the face of the hook at the rear end of the said lever comes in contact
with the solid part or root of the lugs when any further downward motion of
the lever 18 thereby arrested and the valve 18 then fully open and the water
rushing in under considerable pressure, but it will be understood that the water
does not come in so quickly as its exit from the cistern by way of the pipe m, so
that the flushing 18 terminated before a fresh head of water is in the cistein, as
desired On the rising of the level of water in the cistern as the fresh supply
comes in, the float * 18 thereby caused to rise with it and consequently the stud e
on the lever d 18 moved upwards and carries with at the ball a until the lever d
has been raised to its uppermost position or horizontal, when the ball a will have
been compressed by the pressure of the stud e tightly against the seat g of the
valve orifice h and all further ingress of water through the pipe c is for the time being
stopped and the supply in the cistern is again established
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim 18.-
1. A float lever for a ball-and-float valve, having a fixed stud or projection
thereon, substantially as and for the purpose described and set forth.
2 The combination with the outlet chamber of a ball-and-float valve, of a float
lever having a fixed stud or projection thereon, substantially as and for the
purpose described and set forth.
3 In a ball-and-float valve the combination with the outlet or valve chamber
of the supply pipe of a resilient ball placed loosely within said chamber and
adapted to hermetically close the valve orifice, substantially as described and set
forth
4 In a ball-and-float valve the combination with an outlet or valve chamber
containing a loose resilient ball, of a stud or projection fixed on the ball float
lever said stud being adapted to force the said loose ball upwards against the seat

page_text: of the valve orifice on the lever being raised, and a fixed hook or stop at the
extremity of the lever substantially as and for the purpose described and
set forth
Dated the 0th dow of March 1000
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants