IMPROVE- MENTS IN ATTACHING TAPS OR STOPCOCKS TO WATER, GAS, AND STEAM PIPES, FOR MAKING SERVICE OR OTHER CONNECTIONS WITH THE SAID PIPES."
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Farmer at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 28th March 1879.
JOHN FARMER, of Cannock, in the County of Stafford, Machinist.. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ATTACHING TAPS OR STOPCOCKS TO WATER, GAS, AND STEAM PIPES,
FOR MAKING SERVICE OR OTHER CONNECTIONS WITH THE SAID PIPES."
The object of my Invention is to effect in a simple and efficient manner the
attaching of taps or stopcocks to water, gas, and steam pipes, while they contain
water, gas, or steam under pressure, without any material loss or escape of water,
gas, or steam, or without shutting off the water, gas, or steam during the making
of the connection.
In carrying my Invention into effect I apply to the inlet pipe of the tap or
stopcock to be attached to the water, gas, or steam pipe, a cutting or drilling tool
constructed in the manner herein after described.
I take a tubular bush made either of wrought iron or of malleable or annealed
cast iron, the said tubular bush having a length nearly equal to that of the inlet
pipe of the tap. At the nose or outer end of the said bush I connect a steel cutter
or drill consisting of a flat piece of steel, the acting end of which is provided with.
a pointed central cutting or drilling bit, and on either side of the said central bit
with a cutting edge, the said steel cutter or drill somewhat resembling the head of
an ordinary drill bit; or an inverted V shaped drill or cutter may be used, the
point at which the inclined sides meet forming the centre of the drill or cutter. I
attach the steel cutter or drill to the nose end of the bush by making at opposite
points in the said bush cross slots, into which the steel cutter or drill is driven; or
the cutter or drill may be welded in the cross slots in the nose end of the bush.
The nose end of the bush is thus provided with a cutter or drill crossing the said
end as a diameter. I screw the interior of the bush with a concave or hollow screw
thread, and I screw the exterior of the inlet pipe of the tap or stopcock with a
corresponding convex screw thread. By screwing the screwed bush upon the
screwed exterior of the inlet pipe of the tap, the former is fixed to the latter. The
tap or stopcock has thus combined with it a cutting or drilling tool by means
of which the said tap or stopcock may be readily attached to the gas, water, or
steam pipe.
In applying the combined tap or stopcock and cutting or drilling tool to the pipe
or main I take an ordinary ratchet brace, the tool holder of the brace being
furnished with a plug which takes into the end of the outlet pipe of the tap or

page_text: stopcock, to the inlet pipe of which the cutting or drilling tool is screwed; the
tap or stopcock being closed the brace is worked in the ordinary way, and the
cutter or drill at the end of the inlet pipe of the tap or stopcock is made to drill a
hole in the pipe or main, the bush on the tap at the same time passing into and
filling up the hole drilled in the pipe or main. The exterior of the bush is made
Blightly conical to obtain a tight fit of the said bush in the drilled hole; or the
exterior of the bush may be screwed, so that as the drill or cutting tool advances
the bush is at the same time screwed into the hole formed by the drill or cutter.
In this way the tap or stopcock is attached to the pipe or main without the loss or
escape of water, gas, or steam from the pipe or main.
When the tap or stopcock to be attached to the pipe or main is of large size I
prefer to employ a cutter or drill having a forked form, that is, provided with three
cutting or drilling parts, a central and pointed drill or cutter, and two outer drills
or cutters. When this kind of cutter or drill is used an annular or ring like piece
is cut out of the pipe, which ring piece when completely separated from the pipe is
forced into the pipe by the advancing bush carrying the drill or cutter.