IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS OR TAPS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert William Sievier, of Guilford Street, Russell
Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COCKS OR TAPS."
Sealed the 12th July 1864, and dated the 18th January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert William Sievier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th January 1864.
I, ROBERT WILLIAM SIEVIER, of Guilford Street, Russell Square, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS OR TAPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of taps
or cocks for the conveyance of liquids, gases, steam, or like useful purposes.
In the first improvement I cut out a space at the lower end of the tap or
plug for the purpose of receiving a curvilinear flat spring which is attached at
one end to the tap by screws or rivets, the other end of the spring extending
outwards; this spring has a catch to enter into a slot or hole in the barrel
which contains the plug or tap, on it being turned round to that point the
catch enters the hole and fixes it. A similar spring is attached to the exterior
part of the barrel, and its head is bent inwards and passes into the same slot
or hole in which the catch of the before-mentioned spring enters to lock the
tap or plug. The action of this tap, catch, and spring are as follows:-
Supposing the tap to be shut and the catch has entered the hole to receive it,
the tap then is fixed or locked, and the catch can only be released by pressing

page_text: upon the end of the outer spring, which forces back the catch and the tap
can be turned. The use of this self-locking cock or tap is to prevent the
tap being turned by any accident, and to prevent parties stealing so easily
the contents of any vessel.
A modification of this may consist in the tap having a recess or notch cut
in it, into which a catch or pall enters, the said pall being attached to a cross
piece and held by a fulcrum placed on the barrel which contains the tap or
plug, which has the catch on one end and a short lever on the other, under
which is a spring which forces the catch into the notch before-mentioned,
when the tap is turned so as to bring the notch opposite the catch, this also
will lock or secure the tap, and it cannot be again opened without pressure
is made on the lever end of this cross piece which will elevate the catch out
of the notch.
The next improvement consists in applying a coating or layer of vulcanized
india-rubber or any other elastic material around the plug or tap to the extent
of the length of the barrel which contains the tap or plug, the object of which
is to prevent leakage and also the jamming or setting tight of the plug in the
barrel, which is very important in taps or cocks of large diameter; or I place
a thin open split band of metal over the elastic material should a metal
surface for the tap be preferred instead of the elastic material. In either case.
the object of easy turning is accomplished, although there is not so good a
security against leakage by exposing metal to metal as the elastic medium
against the metal.
Another modification of this Invention consists in making the cock or tap
of glass having a cork lining in the interior of the barrel or outside covering
to the plug or tap, and that cork lining receives the tap or cock in the same
manner as bottles are now frequently stopped; or this tap may be of metal or
wood. The trouble of grinding and fitting will be saved in cocks of this
description, and they may be made at little cost.
The third part of the Invention relates to the application on the upper
surface of the plug or tap, or that part which really enters into the barrel or
socket of the cock of two pins or vertical pegs. The handle of the tap is
made in a separate piece, having no fixed connection with the plug or tap;
the lower part of this separate piece, or what may be called the handle of the
tap, has two projections or teeth at its base arranged so as to catch the two
points or pegs on the plug or tap, so that when the handle is turned in one
direction the plug will also be turned by these projections laying hold of
the pins or pegs, but when the handle is reversed the projections or teeth will
turn without acting on the plug, by which means the tap or cock may be

page_text: called a tap of safety from any accident, as the cock cannot be opened without
turning the tap or plug, which the ordinary handle will not do. To open the
tap for the passage of fluids it is necessary, by a key or any other means, to
lay hold of the bottom part of the plug which passes through the lower end
of the barrel and turn it, the form of such end should be angular to enable
such key or means used to firmly hold it. I turn a small groove at the
upper or lower end of the plug, or at both ends, into which I put a ring of
vulcanised caoutchouc to more effectually prevent any leakage between the
plug and the barrel which contains it.
My object is to obtain by these arrangements a cock or tap, which may be
called one of security, against accident by locking itself or by rendering it less
liable to leakage and to be easily turned at all times.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert William Sievier in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAM SIEVIER, of Guilford Street, Russel Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Robert William Sievier, Her special licence that I, the said
Robert William Sievier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert William Sievier, my executors, administrators,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS OR TAPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert William Sievier, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert William Sievier, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, that
is to say:
My Invention will be understood by reference to the Drawings which
I will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 represents a section of a cock (the plug being drawn in the round
form) of the usual kind in other respects, but which I have converted into a
self-locking cock. The parts marked a, b, and c, and coloured differently, are
the parts which I have invented. The bottom of the plug has a recess in it
at a*, better shown in plan view, Fig. 2; this recess carries the spring b
which is riveted at one end to the plug at e; the spring a is riveted on the
barrel at g, the end of which spring passes through a hole in the barrel at h.
The cock, as seen in its present position in Fig. 2, is locked, but by pressing
upon the spring a, the end of which touches the spring 6, the spring b is forced
out of the recess d, and the cock may be turned either way. h, h, are two
grooves formed in the plug, in which elastic or fibrous substances are put to
prevent leakage.
Fig. 3 is another mode of locking. a is the plug; b is the barrel; c is a
catch, which is seen in the plug, to lock the cock; d is a spring to keep it in
its required position; e is the fulcrum end, to which the catch is attached by
the rivet g. By pressure upon the end of the catch at the plug is released
from the catch, and the plug of the cock may be turned. Whenever by
turning the plug either of the notches i, i, comes opposite to the catch c, the
said catch falls into it and locks the cock.
Fig. 4 represents another mode of locking. a, a, is an ordinary beer or
water cock. I do not make any alteration in the usual forms of these cocks,
but merely make the addition for locking. 6 represents a knob, which when
pressed upon raises the fall c, which previously bad been pressed into the
notch or recess d, when the cock was turned off, and was thereby locked; e is
a spring, which presses the fall c downwards, when the notch d comes under
it in turning round; there is a second notch on the opposite side corresponding
to the one seen at d, so that whichever way the plug is turned a half turn, the
cock becomes locked, and cannot be opened by any accidental touch or
wilfully, except by pressing up the knob 6 so as to raise the fall out of
the notch.
Fig. 5 represents a section of a glass or earthenware tap or cock seen at b.
a, a, is a flexible material, which lines the inside of the part containing the

page_text: plug. This flexible material may be cork, felt, india-rubber, soft wood, or any
suitable substance. c is the plug, which may be of metal, glass, earthenware,
or wood; such taps would be cheap and useful for a variety of purposes;
these cocks do not require turning or grinding in the barrel or the plug as
the flexible material suits itself to any ordinary unevenness of surface; these
cocks may also be fitted as safety cocks by the methods described in this
Specification.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a safety cock or tap suitable for gas or other
purposes; Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 are horizontal sections of the same taken at the
dotted line a, a, in Fig. 6, and are intended to show the parts which are of
my Invention. The plug is made in two parts; they are respectively
lettered and coloured the same in all three Drawings, Figs. 6, 7, and 8, so as
to be well understood; 6* is the upper part or handle, and is coloured yellow;
to this is fastened a piece c, which has two cams upon it (best seen in Figs. 7
and 8); these two cams work upon the two studs i, i, which are fixed in the
lower part of the plug 6, which is coloured green; this part 6 has two grooves
formed in it x,x,x,x, which grooves contain india-rubber or some substance
suitable to prevent leakage; e is a projecting piece at the bottom of the plug 6,
by which it can be turned, so as to open the cock when desired; it can be
turned off by the handle 6* by the cams acting upon the studs i, i, but it
cannot be re-opened or turned on by the handle 6*, because that part can only
make a quarter turn, it being stopped in the usual manner. The upper part b*
is kept in its place by the cap g, and thus by pressing upon the part b it keeps
it forced down and in its place without requiring the arrangements of screw
and nuts as in other taps. The bottom part of b is provided either with a small
thumbpiece, or with a key, for the purpose of turning. The action of this
cock is as follows:-Fig. 7 represents the cock as open or turned on; if the
handle 6 (Fig. 6) is turned one quarter of a turn in the direction of the
arrows the plug 6 (Fig. 6) will be carried round, and will assume the position
of Fig. 8, and the cock then will be shut off; the plug is prevented from
turning further in the usual manner. On returning the handle 6* to its first
position it leaves the studs i, i, on the plug b, and therefore cannot move the
said plug b; the cock is thus securely shut off, and can only be turned on
from below by the fingers or a key at e. Fig. 6 is designed for turning with
the fingers at e. All danger of the tap or cock being turned on by accident
to the handle 6* is thus prevented, and loss and waste arising from such a
cause is avoided. This cock is very suitable for gas, many serious accidents
having occurred through the accidental turning on of gas cocks.
Fig. 9 represents a plug of a tap, which is covered with a coating of

page_text: vulcanized india-rubber, felt, cork, or a combination of all or any of these
materials, or of any other suitable elastic substance; this Invention is for the
purpose of ensuring at all times easy turning, and preventing the plug from
sticking fast in the barrel by oxidation or corrosion, as is frequently the case
when two metals come together. This desideratum of a flexible material will
be chiefly applicable to large cocks; the plug is cast so as to leave a recess or
sunken part for the reception of the said material; the plug may be made of
metal, glass, earthenware, or wood. a represents a metal plug; b, the elastic
or flexible substance. The recessed part of the plug should be made rough on
its surface to assist in holding the said material, and in the larger sizes pins or
studs d may be inserted round the openings c, c; the thickness of the said
material should be so arranged as to fit tightly, and leakage is further prevented
by the unrecessed portions e, e, of the plug being turned or ground so as to
fit the barrel in the usual manner.
Having thus described my said improvements, I claim,―
First, the modes of making a self-locking cock as described from Fig. 1
to Fig. 4, or any merely colourable modification of them.
Secondly, the mode of making a safety cock having the plug in two parts,
as described from Fig. 6 to Fig. 8, so that the handle of the cock shall only
be able to turn it off, and another motion applied to the plug will be required
to open or turn on the cock.
Thirdly, the making of cocks of glass or earthenware with plugs fitted, as
described Fig. 5.
Fourthly, the making of cocks having plugs fitted with elastic or flexible
material, as described Fig. 9.
I therefore claim all these four points of improvement as described in the
foregoing Specification, or any mere modification of them.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Sievier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
R. W. SIEVIER. (L.S.)