IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GASES AT HIGH PRESSURES, AND ALSO IN GAUGE COCKS AND WATER GAUGES FOR BOILERS, AND SEDIMENT TUBES FOR COCKS AND PIPES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Bennett, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Brassfounder and Coppersmith, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GASES AT HIGH
PRESSURES, AND ALSO IN GAUGE COCKS AND WATER GAUGES FOR BOILERS, AND
SEDIMENT TUBES FOR COCKS AND PIPES."
Sealed the 15th May 1866, and dated the 21st November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Bennett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
November 1865.
I, SAMUEL BENNETT, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Brassfounder and Coppersmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GASES AT
HIGH PRESSURES, AND ALSO IN GAUGE COCKS AND WATER GAUGES FOR BOILERS, AND
SEDIMENT TUBES FOR COCKS AND PIPES," to be as follows:-
First, this Invention relates to high-pressure cocks having the ordinary solid
bottoms, and consists in making two or more separate and distinct passages
through the plug of each cock and placing between each passage a body of
metal for connecting the sides of the plug together, thereby adding strength
and preventing the compression or expansion of the sides of the plug. I also

page_text: place in each barrel above the plug an adjusting screw for keeping the plug
down upon its bearing in the barrel. Above this adjusting screw I turn down
the metal and form a screw of smaller diameter and coarser pitch or greater
angle than the adjusting screw, and on this screw I screw a lock nut which
enters a recess in the top of the barrel, and the tops of the lock nut and barrel
are level when the nut is screwed up. On the top of the outside of the
barrel I place a chamber or safety cap, and screw or bolt it to the barrel, so
that the under surface of the chamber shall press on the top of the lock nut
and the top of the barrel, and thus prevent the lock nut from moving, and at
the same time make so perfect a joint that no escape can take place from the
plug; the stem of the plug being made tight by means of an ordinary stuffing
box. There are other modes of keep ng down the plug on its bearing in the
barrel besides the adjusting screw, and therefore I wish it to be understood
that this part of my Invention consists in the combination of the adjusting
screw, or any other mode of keeping down the plug, with the chamber or
safety cap and the stuffing box at the top.
Secondly, in gauge cocks for boilers I make two or more passages through
the plug of each cock, and an equal number of passages through the stem or
branch of the cock separate and distinct from each other, and provided with
cleaning screws. To the inner ends of the passages in the interior of the
boiler I connect tubes of different lengths, so that when the cock is opened
different levels are indicated at one and the same time, thereby giving the
same results as if there were as many cocks as passages.
Thirdly, one arrangement of my improvements in water gauges consists in
making a metal frame to hold a glass tube, and forming in opposite sides of
the frame longitudinal openings through which the tube can be seen. To
.each inner end of the frame I connect a stuffing box for preventing the escape
of steam between the tube and the frame, and cover the top end of the frame
by a chamber or cap, and screw its other end into a chamber on the body of a
cock having two distinct passages, one for the water and the other for the
steam, one end of the water passage entering the chamber at the bottom of
the frame, and one end of the steam passage entering into the middle of the
said bottom chamber. In the top of the steam passage I fix a pipe passing
through the before-mentioned glass tube for conveying the steam to the
chamber or cap in the top of the frame, and to the other end of the steam
passage I fix a tube in the interior of the boiler, the top of which tube is level
with the top of the gauge for the purpose of forming an inverted syphon for
the steam to enter the gauge. Around the pipe in the glass tube I place a
substance of less specific gravity than water, in order that it may float on the

page_text: surface of the water in the glass tube, and clearly shew the level of the water
in the tube and boiler; and for indicating the level of the flue in the boiler
or the working level of the water, as may be required, I place a bar or bars
across the frame on the outside of the glass tube. I also place screws in front
of the passages through the cock for the purpose of cleaning them when
required, and passages for blowing through and emptying the gauge..
In another arrangement: of my improved water gauges I employ a metal
frame with a glass front of sufficient. length to shew not only the height of
the water in the boiler, but the passages through the top and bottom cocks
connecting the gauge with the boiler, in order that the passages when clear or
obstructed can be distinctly seen. This arrangement enables the gauge to be
used with confidence, for when there are obstructions they are immediately.
removed, and the gauge indicates with truth the level. of the water in the
boiler, there being across the frame in front of the glass bars for indicating
the level of the flue and the proper working level of the water; and in the
gauge there is a float for shewing more clearly the level of the water.
Fourthly, I place sediment tubes or sockets in the insides of the ends of the
passages of cocks and pipes connected to boilers, for the purpose of preserving
the cocks and pipes in. a cleaner condition than when no sediment tubes are
used. The ends of the cocks or pipes are formed with conical recesses, into-
which the tubes are placed, which tubes can be taken out or removed for
cleaning when required, and then be replaced without disturbing the cocks or
pipes in which the said sediment tubes are placed..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed:
by the said Samuel Bennett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BENNETT, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Brassfounder
and Coppersmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Bennett, Her special license that I, the said Samuel Bennett,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
Samuel Bennett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: 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
COCKS POR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GASES AT HIGH PRESSURES, AND ALSO IN
GAUGE COCKS AND WATER GAUGES FOR BOILERS, AND SEDIMENT TUBES FOR COCKS
AND PIPES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Bennett, my executors 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Bennett, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists, first, in certain improvements in high-pressure
cocks; secondly, in improved gauge cocks; thirdly, in various improvements
in water gauges; and, fourthly, in the construction and employment of
sediment tubes for cocks and pipes.
These improvements will be clearly understood by the following particular
description thereof, reference being had to the figures and letters on the
accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a section, and
Fig. 2 an outside view of one of my improved high-pressure cocks; Figs. 3
aud 4 represent my improvements in gauge cocks; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, my
improvements in water gauges; and Fig. 9, one of my improved sediment
tubes.
The first part of this Invention relates to high-pressure cocks having the
ordinary solid bottoms. In Fig. 1, a represents the barrel of the cock, and
b the plug. One part of my improvements consists in making two or more
distinct passages c, c, through the plug 6 of each cock, and placing between the
passages a rib or body of metal d for connecting the sides of the plug together,
thereby adding strength and preventing the compression or expansion of the
sides of the plug by pressure. I also place in each barrel a above the plug
an adjusting screw f for keeping the plug down upon its bearing in the
barrel; above this adjusting screw I turn down the metal and form a screw g
of smaller diameter and coarser pitch or greater angle than the adjusting
screw, and on this screw I screw a lock nut h, which enters a recess i in the

page_text: top of the barrel, and the tops of the lock nut and barrel are level when the
nut is screwed up. On the top of the outside of the barrel I place a chamber
or safety cap k, and serew or bolt it to the barrel, so that the under surface
of the chamber shall press on the top of the lock nut and the top of the
barrel, and thus prevent the lock nut from moving, and at the same time
make so perfect a joint that no escape can take place from the plug, the stem
of the plug being made tight by means of an ordinary stuffing box l. There
are other modes of keeping down the plug on its bearing in the barrel besides
the adjusting screw, and therefore I wish it to be understood that this part of
my Invention consists in the combination of the adjusting screw f, or any
other mode of keeping down the plug, with the chamber or safety cap k and
the stuffing box at the top.
Secondly, in gauge cocks for boilers I make two or more passages m,
Fig. 3, through the plug of each cock, and an equal number of passages
through the stem or branch n, Figs. 3 and 4, of the cock separate and distinct
from each other. To the inner ends of the passages in the interior of the
boiler I connect tubes o of different lengths, so that when the cock is opened
different levels are indicated at one and the same time, thereby giving the
same results as if there were as many cocks as passages.
Thirdly, one arrangement of my improvements in water gauges is shewn in
Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8; it consists in making a metal frame p to hold a glass
tube q, and forming in opposite sides of the frame longitudinal openings 1, 5,
through which the tube can be seen. To each inner end of the frame I
connect a stuffing box t with a metallic ring u and an india-rubber or other
packing ring for preventing the escape of steam, there being openings w
between the tube and the frame. This frame with its stuffing boxes may be
fixed between pipes away from the boiler or vessel to which it is applied, or
apart from the cocks which supply the water and steam, but when attached
to the boiler I screw one end of the said frame q into a chamber x on the
body of a cock y to supply the water and cover the other end of the frame
with a chamber or cap z, to which I connect a pipe a¹ to supply the steam.
In the glass tube I place a body b¹ of less specific gravity than water in order
that it may float on the surface of the water and clearly shew the level of the
water in the glass tube and consequently in the boiler. For indicating
cither separately or conjointly the level of the flue in the boiler or the working
level of the water as may be required, I place a bar or bars c² on the outside
of the frame and fix them after adjustment by the screws and nuts d¹, and
for supplying the water from the boiler to the glass tube I employ a three-way
cock y with the ordinary screws for cleaning and blowing out passages.

page_text: Fourthly, I place sediment tubes or sockets in the insides of the ends of
the passages of cocks and pipes connected to boilers or other vessels for the
purpose of preserving the cocks and pipes in a cleaner condition than when
no sediment tubes are used. The ends of the cocks or pipes are formed with
conical recesses as at e, Fig. 9, into which the sediment tubes f¹ are placed,
which tubes can be taken out or removed for cleaning when required, and
then be replaced without disturbing the cocks or pipes in which the said
sediment tubes are placed.
I may here remark that the various parts of my improvements may be
used separately as well as combined. For example, the body or rib of
metal between two or more passages in the plugs of high-pressure cooks is
also applicable to ordinary cocks, and the sediment tubes may be applied to
all descriptions of fittings entering boilers or other vessels where sediment
collects.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim,-
First, in cocks for steam, water, air, and gases, the making two or more
separate and distinct passages through the plug of each cock, and placing
between the passages a rib or body of metal for connecting the sides of the
plug together, and the adjusting screw to keep the plug down upon its bearing
in the barrel and the lock nut to prevent the screw from moving when
adjusted, and the safety cap to prevent any outward escape from the top of
the cock, and also the combination of the chamber or safety cap with an
adjusting screw and lock nut.
Secondly, in gauge cocks, the system of making two or more separate
passages through the plug of each cock and an equal number of passages
through the stem or branch, and also the tubes of different lengths inside the
boiler for indicating different levels at the same time.
Thirdly, in water gauges, the metal frame with longitudinal slots at
opposite sides and the internal stuffing boxes at the two ends, and the chamber
on the body of a cock in which the bottom end of the frame is placed, and
the chamber or cap on the top of the frame to connect the steam supply; and
also the employment of a float for floating on the water in the glass tube,
and the bar or bars on the outside of the frame for indicating either sepa-
rately or conjointly the level of the flue in the boiler or the working level of
the water.
And, fourthly, the employment of sediment tubes or sockets, and their
Combination with the cocks of water gaures and all descriptions of cocks and

page_text: pipes for boilers and other vessels, as all such improvements are herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Bennett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Samuel Bennett, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
SAMUEL BENNETT. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
Manchester.