IMPROVE- MENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, AND VALVES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Everett Austin Snuggs, of 26, Sheet Street,
Windsor, in the County of Berks, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, AND VALVES."
Sealed the 8th April 1870, and dated the 12th October 1869,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Everett Austin Snuggs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th October 1869.
I, EVERETT AUSTIN SNUGGS, of 26, Sheet Street, Windsor, in the
County of Berks, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, AND VALVES," to be as follows :-
This cock is constructed differently from any other now in use by having
a plug made of leather for cold liquor, and for hot liquor or steam it may
be made of hemp or canvass and vulcanized india-rubber combined.
The plug is fixed to a handle with a hinge at the back and made to
rise and fall by the water way. The plug itself consists of a series of
leather collars, which are firmly secured to a small rod by a nut at the
bottom. The rod on which the collars are fixed will have one or two
joints in order to adjust itself to the curve when rising or falling. The

page_text: cock can be used with a ball when required for a cistern. The stop-
cock will have a small slot in the barrel on the out way, the bottom of
the cock in this case being solid; therefore the small quantity of water
which will lie at the bottom will be forced up the way by the decent of
the plug.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Everett Austin Snuggs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EVERETT
AUSTIN SNUGGS, of 26, Sheet Street, Windsor, in the County of Berks,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Everett Austin Snuggs, Her special licence that
I, the said Everett Austin Snuggs, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Everett Austin Snuggs, my exe-
cutors, 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, TAPS, AND VALVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Everett Austin Snuggs, 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 Everett Austin Snuggs, 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 :-

page_text: This Invention relates to cocks, taps, and valves for water and other
liquids, steam, and gas, and consists of improvements in forming and
fitting the plug.
The improved plug and plug way are made cylindrical, and the former
is fitted so as to rise and fall or slide in the latter by means of a lever,
or screw, or both combined.
The improved plug is formed by placing a number of circular discs
or cups of leather or india-rubber, cork, or other suitable material upon
a spindle or stem made with a flange or collar near the top and fitted
with a screw collar or washer and nut at the bottom, between which
fixed and moveable collars the said discs or cups are placed and
screwed up with their flat or cup surfaces in contact with each other so
as to form a solid cylindrical plug of the required length. The plug
thus formed may then be turned true to the required diameter in a lathe.
When the tap is intended for cold liquids I prefer to use leather or
gutta percha discs for the plugs; when for steam the plugs may be
made of discs of canvass and vulcanized india-rubber, or any other
suitable substance. When the tap is intended for water or other liquids
at a high pressure I insert at or about midway along the plug one or
more metal collars which are free to slide; these collars I make in the
shape of the frustum of a cone or with bosses, and place the latter or
the small ends of the cones together; by this means the fluid is caused
to act upon the surfaces of the two collars and press the discs which
form the upper portion of the plug together upwards, and to press the
discs which form the lower portion of the plug together downwards.
This pressure by its tendency to cause the discs to spread is thus made to
increase the water-tight fit of the plug in the plugway. The stroke of
the plug is regulated by the size or depth of the waterway or port in
the plugway. The form of the tap is that of the letter T; the head of
the T forms both the plugway and outlet waterway, and the tail of
the T the body or inlet pipe of the tap, and may be made with a
plain, flanged, or screwed end as circumstances may require. When the
plug is formed of leather or gutta percha and with the midway collars
I make the uppermost and also the lowermost discs or cups of vulcanized
india-rubber. When the tap is required to be made with an inlet and
outlet pipe, with the inlet and outlet parts in the plug way opposite to
each other or in the same plane, the midway collars are dispensed with,
and when the bottom of the plugway is closed in the case of stop-

page_text: cocks, I cut a small slot at the outlet port side for the water under
the plug to escape as the latter descends.
The accompanying Drawing is intended to illustrate the general form
and modes of constructing and fitting one of my said improved cocks
or taps.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is a sectional view of one of the said taps made with the mid
collars herein described; Figs. 2 and 3 shew one of the discs in plan
and section, and Fig. 4 shews the metal parts of the plug separately.
a is the inlet pipe or body; b, the plugway and waterway; c, c¹, the
plug, c being the upper and c' the lower portion divided by the sliding
collars or cones d, d; e, is a lever hinged or centered at f, for raising
and lowering the plug; g, a radial rod connecting the lever and plug.
In some cases I make the centre stem (h, Fig. 4) hollow, and run a
screw through it for raising and lowering the plug, and thus dispense
with the lever shewn at Fig. 1. In other cases I make the head i to
screw into a hollow at the top of the stem to change or adjust the
position of the plug as required.
The advantages of the improved tap are that it admits of a full water-
way and the plug can be readily made good by putting in new or
duplicate discs when necessary, and the accuracy of fit and consequently
the water-tight condition of the tap maintained while in use by
tightening up the nut at the bottom of the stem.
I claim the plug and taps formed and fitted therewith, as herein
described.
In witness whercof, I, the said Everett Austin Snuggs, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
EVERETT A. SNUGGS. (L.S.)