IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS FOR LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Maschwitz, the younger, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS FOR LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS."-A communication
from abroad by Joseph Berger, of Biala, in Austrian Galicia.
Sealed the 6th December 1861, and dated the 13th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Maschwitz at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
July 1861.
I, CHARLES MASCHWITZ, the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS FOR LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS," to be as
follows:-
The said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described,
whereby the tap or stop-cock to which the said improvements are applied, can
be locked or fixed both in its open and closed position.
I will describe a stop-cock containing the improvements which constitute
the said Invention. The body of the tap bas an opening on its under
side, in which a tubular piece is screwed, on the top of which is a conical valve

page_text: A conical valve fits the said valve seat accurately; the spindle of the
valve works in a guide near the top of the said tubular piece. On the said
tubular piece is a tubular case, the lower contracted end of which constitutes
the exit pipe of the tap. The lower end of the valve spindle is fixed to
a cross piece on the said exit pipe. By sliding the exit pipe upwards
upon the tubular case the valve is raised from its seat, and the water way of
the tap is open, and by sliding the exit pipe downwards the valve is brought
down upon its seat and the water way is closed. On opposite sides of the
tubular piece a pin or projection is fixed, and the said pins engage in vertical
slots in the exit pipe. At the top and bottom of the said vertical slots hori-
zontal slots are made, into which the pins or projections on the tubular piece
may be made to enter by turning the exit pipe when it is either in its highest
or lowest position. The tap is thus locked or fixed either in its open or
closed state. The arrangement of pins or projections and slots somewhat
resembles the bayonet fastening. For making the tap when closed additionally
secure a nearly similar arrangement may also be adopted at the top of the
tubular piece, that is to say, the said tubular piece may be prolonged upwards
above the valve seat, and have slots made therein, in which the ends of a cross
piece on the top of the valve engage in a manner similar to that described
with reference to the pins on the tubular piece, and the slots in the exit
pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Maschwitz in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES 2
MASCHWITZ, the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord.One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her 3
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Maschwitz, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Masch-
witz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said.
Charles Maschwitz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 3
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
"

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TAPS OR STOP-COCKS FOR LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS," a communication to me from
abroad by Joseph Berger, of Biala, in Austrian Galicia, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Maschwitz, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Charles Maschwitz, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described
and illustrated in the accompanying. Drawing, whereby the tap or stop-cock
to which the said improvements are applied, can be locked or fixed both in
its open and closed positions.
I will describe a tap or stop-cock, containing the improvements which
constitute the said Invention. The body of the stop-cock has an opening on its
under side, in which a tubular piece is screwed, on the top of which is a conical
valve seat.
A conical valve fits the said valve seat accurately; the spindle
of the valve works in a guide, near the top of the said tubular piece. On the
said tubular piece is a tubular case, the lower contracted end of which con-
stitutes the exit pipe of the tap. The lower end of the valve spindle is fixed
to a cross piece on the said exit pipe. By sliding the exit pipe upwards
upon the tubular piece, the valve is raised from its seat, and the water way of
the tap is opened, and by sliding the exit pipe downwards the valve is brought
down upon its seat, and the water way is closed. On opposite sides of
the tubular piece a pin or projection is fixed, and the said pins engage in
vertical slots in the exit pipe. At the top and bottom of the said vertical
slots, horizontal slots are made into which the pins or projections. on the
tubular piece may be made to enter by turning the exit pipe, when it is either
in its highest or lowest position. The tap is thus locked or fixed in its open
or closed state. The arrangement of pins or projections, and slots, somewhat
resembles the bayonet fastening. For making the tap when closed additionally
secure a nearly similar arrangement may also be adopted at the top of the
tubular piece, that is to say, the said tubular piece may be prolonged
upwards above the valve seat, and have slots made therein, in which the ends

page_text: of a cross piece on the top of the valve engage in a manner similar to that
described with reference to the pins on the tubular piece, and the slots in
the exit pipe.
Having thus generally described the nature of the said Invention, I will
now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is carried into effect
with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents in side clevation a tap or stop-cock, to which the
improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same; Figure 3
is a plan of the under side of the same; and Figure 4 is an end elevation of
the same; the said Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, shewing the respective positions of
the parts of the tap when the valve is brought down upon its seat, and
the tap thereby closed. Figure 5 represents a vertical section of the tap or
stop-cock, when its valve is raised from the valve seat, and the water way
of the said tap thereby opened. Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, represent portions
of the same, as herein-after described. The same letters of reference are used
to indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawing.
a is the body of the tap, the open cylindrical part a² of which constitutes
the entrance pipe of the tap. Into an opening at c, in the under side of the
said body a, communicating with the entrance pipe a², a tubular piece dis
screwed. The said tubular piece d is shewn separately in side elevation in
Figure 6, plan of upper side in Figure 7, and plan of under side in Figure 8
of the Drawing. On the top of the tubular piece d, the valve e works, the
upper edge of the said tubular piece d being bevilled so as to form a conical
seat for the said valve e, as best seen in the section, Figure 5. The spindle e²
of the valve e works in a guide or cross piece d² fixed to the said tubular piece
d; g is a tubular case surrounding and capable of sliding and turning upon
the said piece d, the lower contracted end of the said tubular case 9, consti-
tuting the exit pipe of the tap. The spindle e of the valve e is fixed to the
said case g, by its lower end being passed through the cross piece g², and
secured thereto by the screw nut h. The tubular case g with the valve e fixed
thereto is shewn separately in side elevation in Figure 9, and plan of upper
side in Figure 10. In Figure 10, the cross piece 92, in which the lower end
of the valve spindle e2 is fixed, is indicated in dotted lines. By sliding the
exit pipe or tubular case 9 upwards upon the tubular piece d, the valve is
raised from its seat f, and the water way of the tap is opened as represented
in Figure 5, and by sliding the exit pipe or case g downwards, the valve e is
brought down upon its seat f, and the water way is closed as represented in
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. The tap or stop-cock is locked or fixed either in its
open or closed state in the following manner:-On opposite sides of the

page_text: tubular piece d, a pin or projection i is fixed, the said pins working in vertical
slots k made on opposite sides of the tubular case 9, and at the top thereof.
At the top and bottom of one side of each of the said vertical slots k, horizontal
slots are made as shewn in the several Figures of the Drawing. By the
raising of the valve e as shewn in Figure 5, the pins or projections i are brought
to the bottom of the vertical slots k, and opposite the bottom horizontal slots
in the case g. By now giving a partial rotation to the said case 9, the said
pins or projections i are made to enter the said bottom horizontal slots l, and
thereby to lock or fix the tap in its open state. In order to close the valve e,
as represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and to lock or fix the tap in its
closed state, the tubular case g is again turned so as to disengage the pins i
from the lower horizontal slots 13 the said case g is then moved downwards
upon the piece d until the upper horizontal slots in the case g are brought
opposite the pins i on the said piece d, and the valve e thereby lowered upon
its seat. By now turning the said case g, the pins i are made to engage with
the upper horizontal slots l, and thereby to lock or fix the tap in its closed
state. The said slots and pins or projections somewhat resemble in their
action the ordinary bayonet fastening. Figure 11 represents in side elevation
the arrangement of the parts of the tap or stop-cock when additional security
is required, and Figure 12 represents a plan of the upper end of the same.
The parts Figures 11 and 12, of the tap or stop-cock resemble in their action
similar parts of the tap, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, with the following additions:-
The screwed part of the tubular piece d is prolonged upwards beyond the
valve seat, and in its prolonged end vertical and horizontal slots m, m², are
made. On the upper side of the valve e, a cross piece having pins or projections
n, n, on opposite sides is fixed. On sliding the tubular case g downwards so
as to close the tap, and afterwards giving a partial rotation to the said case 9,
the pins or projections n first enter the vertical slots m, and afterwards engage
with the horizontal slots m² in the same manner as and simultaneously with
the working and engaging of the pins or projections i in the slots k, l, in the
said tubular case g, herein-before described. The valve e is thereby locked or
fixed to its seat when closed both at top and bottom.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of the said Invention; but I claim as the said Invention, combining
or arranging the parts of taps or stop-cocks essentially in the manner herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, so that the

page_text: tap or stop-cock can be locked or fixed either in its open or closed state, and
the accidental opening or closing of said tap or stop-cock prevented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Maschwitz, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES MASCHWITZ, JUN³. (L.S.)