IMPROVE- MENTS IN COCKS, VALVES, OR STOPPERS, AND IN THE USE OF FLEXIBLE SUBSTANCES FOR REGULATING OR STOPPING THE PASSAGE OF FLUIDS, AND ALSO IN MAKING JOINTS OF TUBES AND PIPES OR OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE'
BUCHANAN, of the City of Edinburgh, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Third day of December
(One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Buchanan, my exors, admňors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said George Buchanan, my-
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Buchanan, my
exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COCKS, VALVES, OR STOPPERS, AND IN THE USE OF FLEXIBLE SUBSTANCES
FOR REGULATING OR STOPPING THE PASSAGE OF FLUIDS, AND ALSO IN MAKING JOINTS
OF TUBES AND PIPES OR OTHER VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said George Buchanan, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be
inrolled in: Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
George Buchanan, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the. figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
Part of my improvements in cocks, valves, or stoppers, consists of the form
and construction of the bearing surfaces of the valve orifice and lid, and in
the use of a soft, flexible, and elastic substance interposed between them, to
form a more ready and perfect contact than heretofore, using the substance,
which I prefer to be vulcanized india rubber, in various ways, but first in the
form of a distended membrane stretched across the mouth of an opening or
cavity formed in the centre or round the circumference of the lid of the valve.
This opening or cavity is of larger diameter than that of the orifice itself
which is to be closed thereby, so that when the lid is brought upon or against
its seat, it bears on or is resisted by the air or fluid behind or above the lid.
The above description is further illustrated by the annexed Drawings, where
Figure 1 is a section through the cavity and membrane. C, A, is the cavity,
with the mouth turned downwards, and terminating in a projection or lip
turned over all round the mouth to retain the membrane; and M, B, is the
membrane stretched over the mouth of the cavity, turned over the lip, and then
made fast.
Figure 2 is a section of this lid, in connexion with the mouth of a pipe or
valve orifice P.
What I claim as this part of my Invention is, the distended membrane
covering a cavity filled with air or other fluid.
Figure 3 shews the membrane, of a conical or tapering form; and it may
be also cylindrical, or nearly so.
Figure 4 shews an annular valve, where P is the enlarged mouth of the
pipe or valve orifice; C, the interior circle with its flanch and edges; C, P, the
annular opening; L, the annular lid; and M, M, the membrane, with double
annular cavities behind it; and O is a central opening for the discharge of the
fluid, in addition to the external discharge B, L, on the outside of the lid.
In regard now to the substances with which these valves in connexion with
flexible materials are formed. For the soft, flexible, and elastic substance, I
do not confine myself to any one in particular, but employ any that may be
found suitable. I have found the india rubber, and particularly the vulcanized
kind, extremely convenient, and suitable for waterworks, and also for steam of.
low pressure or temperature, and preferable to any other, and employed either

page_text: by itself, or in combination with cloth or other flexible substances, to give it
strength and stiffness when required. And next to this substance, I consider
the gutta percha, where there is no heat; but I do not exclude other sub-
stances, such as leather, gut, bladder, oiled cloth, or silk; to all of which, when
5 used in the manner above described, does the Invention apply.
I now come to another part of my Invention, and which is applicable not
only to the membrane valves, but to valves of other descriptions. And this
part of my Invention consists in the use of the flexible substance, either in the
form of a membrane, as above described, stretched across the mouth of a
O cavity, or over the surface of a solid plate or otherwise, but in all cases so as
to be capable of receiving and communicating the pressure and motion of a
fluid acting behind or within it; but instead, as in the arrangement already
described, of making this membrane with its cavity or plate the lid of the
valve, I can place on its surface a solid plate of metal or other hard substance,
and so that this plate may receive from and communicate the motion and
pressure which it receives from the said fluid; and to this plate, when used, I
attach the lid of the valve, whether it be conical or flat, or other description,
and this either directly or by means of a rod or lever, should the membrane
and plate be detached from the valve lid out of the water way, or out of the
valve box altogether.
i
This part of my Invention is further illustrated by the Drawing, Figure 5,
where M, M, is the membrane extended across the plate L, L, and this
attached to a bridge or arms in the valve box or cylinder G, G. R is the
plate in contact with the membrane, so as to receive the pressure it gets from
the fluid, and communicate it to the valve lid V, V, and close it upon its seat
at the mouth of the pipe P, P, which is a branch from the main pipe of
supply A, B, whether of water, steam, or other fluid. The valve is here
shown as a common conical metallic valve, but may be either of that or of
any other description; or the plate and valve may be dispensed with, and the
flexible substance M simply used to close the opening. N, O, Q, is a small
pipe of communication from the main pipe A, B, to the cavity between the
membrane and plate; and O, T, is a communication to the valve box in con-
nection with the exit pipe X. A small stopcock or valve being placed at O,
if the main valve be open, as at Figure 5, and the communication be then
made, opening from the main pipe to the cavity and shutting to the exit, the
membrane is expanded by the pressure, and pushes the valve into its seat, and
closes it against the pressure of the fluid. And again, when the communi-
cation is open to the exit and shut to the main pipe, the fluid escapes from
behind the membrane. This returns to its position close to the plate, and the

page_text: pressure of the fluid in the pipes opens the valve, and allows the water to be
discharged at the exit.
.
By this part of my Invention it will be seen that by the simple act of
opening and closing a small passage by a small cock or valve, a very large
passage may be closed or opened with facility; the large closing valve or lid
being of simple construction, and not liable readily to derangement, or wear
and tear in use. In the case of water or steam flowing in the supply pipe, I
can interpose an air vessel between the supply pipe and the membrane, and,
if necessary, a flexible tube or bag of air within the air vessel, so as to com-
municate the pressure without the fluid itself being allowed to enter the cavity
behind the membrane. In the case of a membrane of a cylindrical form,
this when expanded closes on the edge of a ring or zone, formed near the
interior circumference of the discharging pipe, and forming the seat of the
valve. (Sec Figure 6.)
Another part of my Invention is applicable to the construction of apparatus
for supplying cisterns or vessels, and cutting off the supply by floats. This
will be understood by reference to Figure 7, where A, B, is the top part of
one of the sides of a cistern; C, D, the top water level a little below that of
the waste pipe; F, F, the float, consisting of an inverted vessel moving on a
hinge or hinges at H, or it may rise and fall parallel to the water's surface.
V is the valve box, with the valve inside, and valve orifice or mouth of the
discharging pipe, which may be either a portion of the pipe itself, or a mouth-
piece attached to it. The valve box is also screwed on or made fast to the end
of the pipe P, P, which is either the supply pipe itself, or attachable to it by
a screw, coupling, or other means, so that the whole may be easily attached or
detached. The float is shewn in a horizontal position, and the valve closed,
but the valve will continue to discharge the full bore of the pipe till the water
rises to the level of the bottom of the float. It then begins to close, and
before the water rises higher than two or three inches, according to circum-
stances, the valve is closed. ✗ is the exit pipe discharging into the cistern
clear of the float, but this may be dispensed with, and the exit water allowed
to flow down from the mouth of the valve box, left open upon the top of the
float, but this may be varied.
In Figures 7 and 8 the valve spindles are guided by bridges in the valve
box, the only difference in Figure 8 is that instead of being hinged to the side
of the cistern or to a frame fixed to the cistern, the float merely hangs by the
valve spindle, and to prevent any possibility of derangement by the broad
surface acting on the narrow pin, the float can be made to rest, when the valve
is open, on small brackets, or a shelf attached to the cistern, or otherwise.

page_text: These improvements in self acting and regulating feed valves are applicable
to valves of the ordinary construction, or to my improved valve with a
distended membrane.
I now come to improvements which I introduce by the farther use of
flexible substances already generally explained, and by which the regulating
valve may be still further improved, and the dimensions of the valve box and
cistern reduced, and this by opening and shutting the valve, not by the action
of a float, but by the pressure of air communicated by means of the said
flexible substances, and this in different ways, as, first, in reference to floats
within the cistern, instead of making the body of the float move up and down,
I fix it by the side or sides to the side of the cistern or to a frame fixed in the
cistern. But instead of fixing the top of the float box to the sides, I lay it
loose on them or between them, making it of smaller dimensions. I then
connect it to the sides by a strip of the flexible substance, and in such a
manner that it may be perfectly air-tight, and this is easily accomplished under
the small pressure required, and so also that the top or cover may be capable
of moving up and down to the extent required for opening and shutting the
valve. I then place the valve lid in the centre of this moveable cover, and
bring the discharging pipe and valve orifice down upon it as before, and cause
the rise of water in the cistern, when it comes to the level of the bottom of the
box, to move the cover of the box by the pressure of the intervening air, and
thus open and shut the valve.
This general description is illustrated by Figure 9, where A, B, is the side
of the cistern as before. F, F, the sides of the float box, one of them fixed
to the cistern at F; and C, C, the cover. C, the flexible membrane fixed
rather loosely than tightly, so that it may allow of the motion. V, the valve
and valve orifice. This general principle admits of various applications as to
form and construction of the box, membrane, and moveable cover, and their
position either within or without the cistern, or even above its level, and also
of applications as to the closing of valves in other cases besides cisterns. The
circular form answers fully best for the attachment of the flexible substance,
which is then applied in the form of a hoop stretched round the top of the box,
and embracing it along with the cover, as at Figure 10, so as to give the
bellows form shewn, and the motion, if necessary, is guided by a guide rod
or rods.
Another arrangement is shewn at Figure 11, where I employ a box and
moveable cover of large area, and where the box C, D, for greater convenience,
is fixed against the wall of the building, and communicates with the cistern by
a pipe G, E, F, terminating in a wider pipe W, O, and the valve V wrought

page_text: by a lever from the box hinged at D, and the valve communicating with the
cistern by a pipe X, Y.
Another part of my Invention consists in applying the float or other
regulating apparatus for shutting or opening the feeding or supply valve in a
small cylinder, or other vessel or cistern, situated entirely without a steam
boiler, and separated from it to any distance. This vessel I place nearly on a
level with the top water level in the boiler, and form two separate communi-
cations from it to the boiler, the one from the bottom descending to any depth
below the water level, but not less than what will insure its being always
below the level under ordinary circumstances, the other communication
rising from the top of the vessel to any height, but not less than to ensure
its being always above the water level, so as to be always filled with the
steam from the boiler or any air in the cistern. In this cistern I place a
float closed on all sides that it may not be affected by the steam, and con-
necting it with the valve box placed at the bottom of the descending pipe
by a rod or spindle moving in guides or otherwise, and this valve connected
with the supply cistern in low-pressure engines, and in high-pressure engines
connected with an air vessel or cistern, into which the supply water is
forced by the feed pump. I in this manner feed the boiler, opening the valve
when the level of the water in the boiler sinks in a small degree, and shutting
it again when it rises above the level, and the whole apparatus so contrived by
its separation from the boiler, and having cocks and valves either to open or
shut the communication with the steam above or with the water below, that I
can at any time, without stopping the engine, take down the apparatus and
examine every part of it should it not be acting with full effect, and having,
moreover, a pipe or pipes, or guages of glass, by which the level of the water in
the cistern can be at all times observed, as well as a glass guage or gauge pipe
at the boiler to indicate the level there. In the case of high-pressure engines
the feed valves, instead of communicating with a feed cistern at a high level, I
cause to communicate with an air vessel, into which I pump the supply water
by the feed pump in the usual manner, and the use of which air vessel is to
regulate, and render more equable than at present, the flow of water into the
boiler, by producing a constant stream of supply equivalent to what is going off,
in place of an irregular and intermitting action injurious to the apparatus, as
well as rendering the pressure of the steam in the boiler unequal by sudden
admissions of cold water or by long deficiencies of it; and also rendering the
valve orifices themselves capable of being reduced to smaller dimensions than
hitherto used, and all this contributing to the regular working of the apparatus.
These arrangements, or part of them, I claim as part of my Invention, and

page_text: this not only in combination with the valves above described, but with valves
of ordinary construction. I do not, however, claim the use of the air vessel, as
this has already been.used in some marine engines, but I claim the introduc-
tion and use of a separate vessel or little reservoir for containing the float, and
working the feed valve connected with the boiler by pipes, and also the intro-
duction and use in certain cases of an equilibrium valve, for the purpose of
feeding more regularly by making it more independent. of the variations which
may occur in the pressure of the steam.
Figure 12 shews one of the arrangements of this feeding apparatus above
described. B, B, is a portion of the boiler with the top water level at L, L.
C, C, is a small cistern placed on this level at any convenient distance from the
boiler so as to be accessible, and within this cistern is the float F. S, S, is the
steam pipe rising from the top of the boiler to S¹, and then descending and
joining the cistern at the top. P, W, is a pipe descending from the bottom of
the cistern to W, and from thence to X and Y, and from this pipe branches
off the pipe W, W, being the water pipe of communication entering into the
boiler at the bottom and curved over within. By these two communications
from the top and bottom of the cistern, the exact level of water in the boiler
is made to obtain in the cistern, whatever be the pressure of the steam, so that
the float indicates the same level as if it had been in the boiler, and this level
is indicated by the glass guage at C. V is the feed valve, shewn here as a
single valve, situated below the mouth of the feed water pipe W. This water
pipe and valves are at a lower level than what is necessary, but I prefer it on
account of preventing the heat of the water communicating to the valve appa-
ratus, but, where more convenient these may be placed higher, as the stream
of feed water will keep them cool. V¹, S, is the valve spindle, guided by
bridges as before, and connected with the float by a rod S, R, rising from the
top of the spindle to the float, and guided by holes in bridges or otherwise. X is
a check valve, placed below the feed valve, and shutting downwards to prevent
any reaction from the pressure in the boiler throwing back the water.
In the case of low-pressure engines, T, T, is the high level cistern, commu-
nicating by the pipe D, D, with the feed pipe W,X, Y; and this is the whole
apparatus required for these engines. As the feed valve V₁ opens downwards,
it must open whenever the level of the water sinks in the cistern and boiler,
and allows the weight of the float and connecting rod to act, and admits a
supply; and when the water rises the float is buoyed up and closes the valve.
All that is necessary for the success of the operation is, to adjust this buoyant
power and weight by enlarging or diminishing the capacity of the float and its
mass. In the present instance the float is shewn as operating by direct action,

page_text: but it is easy to introduce in the valve box a lever or levers by which the
power, if required, may be increased, and the float diminished.
In the case of high-pressure engines, A, I, is the air vessel, communicating
with the feed pipe by the pipe D, and communicating with the feed pump by
the pipe QQ, at the extremity of which in the air vessel is the valve A,
opening upwards. In the pipe D, Y, is the overflow valve G, loaded so as to
open when the pressure in the air vessel exceeds too much that of the boiler,
or worked to the same effect by a pressure float such as afterwards described,
and shown by Fig. 15. The operation of the feed valve is exactly the same as
in low-pressure engines.
Another of my improvements is shewn at Figure 13, and is applicable to
safety valves, where A, B, is the boiler; V, L, the valve with double lids, the
upper one, L, being the smallest; P, P, the communication from the boiler
above the valve; C, D, E, a lever attached to the valve box at C as a centre
passing through or on the outside of the valve spindle at D, and having at
the extremity E an upright rod fixed and passing through the tube F, G, and
having a shoulder or plate at H for loading the valve; X is the exit pipe
leading into the chimney. Instead of a double valve on one spindle, I also
use two single valves opening opposite ways, and connected by a lever as at
Figuro 14. I can also employ the buoyancy of a float to open or shut the
safety valve, and this in a way to ensure its opening as shewn in one way at
Figure 15, where V, L, is the valve; E and X, the steam and exit pipe;
C, C, a cistern; P, P, a pipe rising from near the bottom of the boiler,
passing through the top of the boiler, and terminating in the cistern C, C, in
which is the float F, from the bottom of which a rod descends down the middle
of the pipe to the bottom, and is there attached to an exterior pipe or two
exterior rods Q, Q, rising nearly to the top of the boiler, where is attached to
it the end of a lever D, E, Q, having an upright spindle united at E to the
spindle of the valve prolonged to this point. The lever moves on a fulcrum
at D, and as the pressure of the steam increases it rises at a certain point to
the float F, and this acting on the lever raises the valve higher and higher as
the pressure increases. The cistern and float I can place not only above the
boiler but detached from it, and either above or below it or on a level, and
cause the float to act on the safety valve by a rod or rods passing through
stuffing boxes or otherwise; and instead of the water rising in the air vessel,
I can interpose a flexible tube or bag filled with air or water to receive or
communicate the pressure from the steam and hot water without the latter
entering into the air vessel. I also apply to the safety valve and other valves
of steam engines the methods above described of opening and shutting the

page_text: valves by letting off and letting on the pressure by a small cock or valve in
various ways, and this cock or valve itself worked by the pressure of the steam
acting on it, or by a pressure float, as in Figure 15, or otherwise.
Another part of my Invention shewn by Fig. 16 is applicable to the con-
struction of pressure gauges acting by the passage of fluids, and consists in
interposing between the fluids within and without the guage a flexible tube
or bag filled with air or other fluid to receive the external pressure and
communicate it to the internal fluid without intermingling the said fluids; and
also I introduce, besides the usual glass tube of uniform bore for measuring
the height of the fluid, a separate vessel of glass or metal communicating with
the glass tube, and so formed in its sectional area as to render the divisions in
the tube equal or nearly equal for equal pressures at all parts of the scale.
Lastly, in regard to the making of joints of pipes or other vessels, that is
done in various ways by bringing the narrow bearing surface of the end of the
pipe into contact with the membrane distended across a narrow ring or cavity,
and pressing them together by screws or otherwise, whereby a secure joint is
formed with greater facility and less mutual pressure than by the usual means,
and this also I apply particularly to the coupling joints in water, gas, or steam
pipes, and to the moveable joints in gas pipes, and I also extend the use of
the said moveable joints, constructed with the same flexible membranes, in
various ways to water and steam pipes.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Buchanan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
GEORGE (L.s.) BUCHANAN.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of May,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid George Buchanan came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand