CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALVES AND TAPS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Fennel Herbert Allman, Civil Engineer, of Mor-
nington Place, Regent's Park, London, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALVES AND TAPS."
6
Scaled the 18th December 1857, and dated the 9th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Fennell Herbert Allman'
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th October 1857.
I, FENNELL HERBERT ALLMAN, Civil Engineer, of Mornington Place,
Regent's Park, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALVES AND TAPS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention may be generally described as consisting of improvements in
using flexible or elastic fluid-proof fabric between the fluid to be transmitted
and that part of the cock, valve, or tap by which it is opened or shut, the
said fabric being either in the form of a bag, tit, or tube, or concave vessel.
The fabric may be either indian-rubber, leather, or other fluid-proof material.
When I use the word fabric, I mean any of such materials; when I use the
word valve, I mean either a cock, tap, or valve. Fabric such as I describe
has been used in valves, but not in the form I describe, that of a bag or tit.
By bag or tit I mean a form of fabric capable of containing a portion of the
parts of the valve. The advantage I obtain by such a form is, that it enables
:

page_text: me to construct valves of a better form, to obtain a clear service for the trans-
mission of the fluids, and a large and direct passage. I am also thereby
enabled to keep the fluids more easily from the working parts of the valve,
there being fewer joints to be made fluid-tight, as a consequence these
working parts need not be finished or ground with care or much labor; this
may be illustrated by the annexed sectional Diagram
of one form of valve. a is a screw working in the
lid b, b, and thrusting the valve c, c, on the seat d, d;
e, e, is the fluid-proof fabric, the joint being made at
ff; this fabric surrounds the valve piece c, c, and
forms between it and the seating d, d, and aids to
make it tight; bag, as at e, may be either per-
manently of that form, or may be kept in that form by forcing it into such a
-form from a flat sheet when the fabric is elastic. I do not claim the use of such
fabric, but I do claim the fabric described when it is kept or is permanently of
a form of a tit or bag, and so as to contain the valve piece, and deep enough
to allow the valve piece to lift. I wish it to be understood that this bag or
tit may be used in the various forms of valves. I sometimes use a tube
of fabric in a tube of metal, there being a joint uniting the ends of the
tube fabric to the metal fluid-tight; if the fabric then be compress'd by
external means, it will close the aperture and stop the fluid. By using
the bag I am enabled to make the cock or valve bodies of earthenware,
china, glass, or other vitreous materials, which materials I claim when used
with the fabric herein set forth, and I claim the making of valves of such
vitreous materials and the fabric described. This I declare to be the nature
of my said Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Fennell Herbert Allman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FENNELL 3
HERBERT ALLMAN, Civil Engineer, of Mornington Place, Regent's Park,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of 3

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto him,
the said Fennell Herbert Allman, Her special licence that he, the said
Fennell Herbert Allman, his executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as he, the said Fennell Herbert Allman, his executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALVES AND
TAPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that he, the said Fennell
Herbert Allman, his executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under his, 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Fennell Herbert Allman, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in the Construction of Valves
and Taps" may be generally described as consisting of various arrangements
in which flexible or elastic fluid-proof material or fabric is employed between
the fluid to be transmitted and those parts of the tap or valve by which the
said tap or valve is opened or shut, the said fluid-proof material being of
I wish it to be
certain forms or configurations herein-after to be described.
understood that I do not claim the exclusive use of such fluid-proof material,
as such has been used in various forms in the construction of valves and taps;
but I do claim the exclusive use of such material of the forms and shapes I
herein specify. The fluid-proof material herein described may be leather,
canvas saturated with indian-rubber, indian-rubber, or such similar materials
being flexible and fluid-proof; I wish it therefore to be understood, when I
herein-after employ the words fluid-proof, that I mean any of such suitable
materials. The form in which I construct such fluid-proof material may be
various, but must in every arrangement be capable of containing a part or the
whole of that part of the cock, valve, or tap by which the said cock, valve, or
tap is opened or shut; I will therefore use the word "chamber" to express
any such variation of form of the fluid-proof material. I shall employ the

page_text: word tap to express any of the various forms of valves, cocks, or taps. The
same letters denote similar parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 exhibits a Drawing of a tap or cock, the body a, a, a, a, being in
section, the fluid-proof chamber b6 being of concave cylindrical form. On the
upper end is a circular flange c, c, resting on the cock body a, a, and which
forms the joint by having the screw lid d, d, screwed down thereon. The
other end c, c, of the chamber b is screwed down on the seating f in the body
of the cock a by the screw g, g, which is "tapped" into the lid d, d. Now, if
the screw g, g, be unscrewed, it will lift the end of the chamber e, e, from the
seating ff, and allow the fluid to pass through the tap. Figure 2 exhibits
the parts of a tap in section, with the exception of the screw g, g. In this
Figure the chamber 6 is corrugated, to facilitate the lifting off the seat and
enable the chamber to fold. The valve piece h, h, fitting into the chamber,
lifts the lower end e, e, by the action of the screw g, g, as in Figure 1, and is
rivetted over with a washer to the screw, so as to allow the screw g to turn
therein loosely and freely; the tap in this Figure is shut and opened by the
screw g, g, as in Figure 1. In Figure 3, the tap, Figure 2, is exhibited open,
the same letters denoting similar parts.
Now, although I exhibit but two forms of "tap" and "chamber," it will be
evident that the form and configuration of the parts may be varied to suit any
requirement of shape or size, whether as stop, night, bib-lock, or other tap or
cocks, or the pressure they may be subjected to. It will also be evident that
various mechanical arrangements may be employed to work the chamber,
such as a piston rod, a rack and pinion, pinion, or other combinations. It is
evident that two joints must be made fiuid-proof, one at the seating f, f, the
other at the flange c, c.
Now, I claim as my Invention the use of a concave fluid-proof chamber
forming a fluid-proof envelope between the points f, f, and c, c, the said
chamber or envelope containing the whole or a portion of the parts of the tap
by which the tap is opened or shut. It is evident that the joints at f and c
may be variously placed, according to form of tap, by which in this con-
struction of chamber I am enabled to make taps of various forms, and large
and open fluid-way, which cannot be obtained in the taps hitherto made with
fluid-proof material. The part c, c, of chamber I prefer soleing with strong
material of thick rubber, leather, or canvas. The form of chamber may be
continually varied, taking care that a continuous fluid-proof envelope be
obtained between the joints specified. The sole or bottom of chamber e, e,
may have a hole in the centre. I claim the use of corrugated chamber in

page_text: taps; I make also the bodies of the taps of china, earthenware, glass, or other
strong vitreous material, or metal lined or coated with enamel or vitreous
material, to prevent oxidation. The form of the parts and action of the tap
would be the same as those described.
I claim making the part of taps of these said materials either vitreous or
vitreous and metallic, in conjunction with the fluid-proof materials herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Fennell Herbert Allman, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
FENNELL HERBERT ALLMAN. (L.S.)