Improvements in Taps, Cocks, and Analogous Contrivances.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Nov., 1889-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by BENJAMIN JAMES BACON, Plumber, HENRY WICKES,
Builder, and SIDNEY CRANSTON, Iron Merchant, all of 137, Elizabeth Street,
Sidney, in the Colony of New South Wales.]
Improvements in Taps, Cocks, and Analogous Contrivances.
I HENRY EDWARD NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention consists in means for regulating the valve and dispensing with the
stuffing box in taps, cocks, and analogous contrivances.
In carrying out this invention, a sleeve of peculiar external form is employed. The
lower part of this sleeve may be furnished with a thread and flange, by which it
may be screwed into and jam against the body of the tap or cock; or the flange
may be furnished with lugs by which the sleeve may be bolted down to the body
of the tap or cock. The upper part of the sleeve is threaded to receive a cap
which screws onto it. The valve spindle passes through the sleeve, and should be
of such a length that when the valve is home on its sent, the top of the spindle
should project slightly above the top of the sleeve to allow for wear. The top of
the valve spindle is shouldered so as to form a support and bearing for the cap.
The cap is secured to the valve spindle by means of a rivet, screw, or in any con-
venient way, but care should be observed, in securing the cap to the spindle, that
it should be free to turn upon and independently of the spindle. The valve may
be of any suitable form, that shown in the drawing being a metal disc between
two leather washers. When the valve is fully open, the upper leather washer will
bear flat against the underneath of the sleeve, and thus assist in making a perfectly
tight joint at the point where the spindle enters the sleeve. The underneath of the
sleeve forms, in point of fact, an upper valve seat, and may be prepared by grinding
or otherwise to suit any form of valve.
The valve spindle, instead of being secured to the cap, as above described, may
be made shorter, so as to ascend only half way up the sleeve. On the top of the
spindle is arranged a pin of the same diameter as the spindle, the pin being
of such a length as to accurately fit the space between the top of the spindle and
the underneath of the cap when the valve is closed and the cup screwed down.
This form of valve spindle is specially adapted for valves or cocks that are placed
on the service pipos leading from the mains into the houses, and which are usually
placed below the surface of the ground. The pressure of the fluid (whether liquid
or gas) will tend, consequently, to raise the valve, but this it cannot do as long as
the pin is in its position above the valve spindle and the cap screwed down.
soon, however, as the cap is unscrewed, the pressure of the fluid will raise the valve,
and project the pin from the sleeve. The pin would then be taken away by the
turn-cock, the cap screwed down into its place again, and the house would per-
manently be supplied with the fluid. Should it, however, be desired to cut off the
supply of gas, water, or other fluid, the attendant would unscrew the cap, insert the
pin, and screw down the cap again, thereby forcing the valve down onto its lower
seat, and thus cutting off the supply of the fluid to the house.
In the accompanying drawing:
As
Fig. 1 is an external plan of the tap or cock with the appliance attached. Fig. 2 is
a vertical section on the line 1-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section of a modification of
the tap or cock with the valve spindle shortened, and the stop pin superposed upon
the valve spindle, the section being taken on the line 3-4 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is an
external plan of the same. The body of the tap or cock is shewn at A, the valve

page_text: at B, being the upper and lower washers on the valve. O is the valve spindle
that passes through the sleeve D. E is the cap, which is tapped so as to be capable
of being screwed down over the top of the sleeve D. The cap E is moreover so
secured to the valve spindle (, as to permit it to turn freely on the spindle (which
passes through it), while at the same time the spindle C may be raised or lowered as
the cap E is screwed up or down on the sleeve. In the drawings, this attachment of
the
cap
to the spindle is shewn at Fig. 2, and consists of a nut F that is screwed
onto the end of the spindlo, so as to form, with the spindle, an annular groove on
the spindle in which the cap is free to turn, thus presenting to the cap two shoulders
against which the cap will bear as the spindle is being raised or lowered. In order to
prevent the nut F from working loose, it is secured to the end of the spindle by a
pin f. The external form of the cap E may be square, hexagon, or other suitable
shape, so as to be capable of having a key, hand wheel, or other appliance, adjusted
to it, in order to rotate it. Instead of screwing the sleeve into the body of the cock,
tap, or analogous contrivance, the flanges of the body and on the sleeve may be
furnished with lugs by which the sleeve may be bolted to the body, as in the case of a
hydrant. It is manifest that the appliance may be used wherever it is desired to
prevent leakage around a valve spindle.
In Fig. 3, similar letters of reference indicate similar parts. The valve spindle C,
however, is shewn cut off short about half way up the sleeve, with the stop pin c
placed above it, thereby jamming the valve down on to its lower sent, when the
cap is screwed down into the position shewn in the Figure. In order to insure
positively that the cap shall bo water and gas tight, an internal leather washer
may be inserted in the bottom of the cap. The washer is not shewn in either of
the views.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
from abroad, I declare that what I claim is
1. The tapped cap E connected to the valve spindle upon which it is free to turn, as
specifiod, as illustrated in the drawings, and for the purpose herein set forth.
2. The sleeve D as specified, and for the purposes herein set forth.
3. The removable pin e in combination with the cap E and sleeve D, as specified, as
-shewn in the drawings, and for the purposes herein set forth.
Dated this 13th day of November 1889.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.