A NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING Cocks, TAPS, OR VALVES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Ainslic Common, of South Bank, Regent's
Park, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING
Cocks, TAPS, OR VALVES."
Scaled the 25th July 1871, and dated the 1st March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Ainslie Common
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st March 1871.
I, ANDREW AINSLIE COMMON, of South Bank, Regent's Park, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND
CLOSING COCKS, TAPS, OR VALVES," to be as follows:
-
The main object of my Invention is to provide a means of preventing
the bursting of pipes and reservoirs from frost, and also of preventing
sudden overflows upon a change of temperature.

page_text: My apparatus is composed of a cylindrical or other shaped vessel, the
whole or part of one of the sides or ends of which is so constructed as to
yield to internal or external pressure, and I prefer that this part of the
vessel should be formed of a plate of copper slightly domed or corrugated
the other parts of the vessel being also of copper or of cast iron or any
suitable metal. Attached to the centre of this plate or thinner side or
end is a rod, the opposite end of which will be connected in any suitable
manner with the one or more cocks, taps. or valves which the apparatus
is to open and close. I propose to fill or nearly fill the vessel with water
through a screw plug hole or other opening provided for that purpose,
the thinner side or plato being during the filling pressed inwards to the
fullest possible extent, which position it will retain when the vessel is
closed. I place this vessel in a position more exposed to cold than the
valve upon which it is to operate, putting it in communication with this
valve by any suitable connection, the valve being at this time either
open or closed as may be required.
The action will be as follows:-So long as the temperature is above
freezing point within the vessel the plate will remain as originally fixed,
but when the water within it freezes and consequently expands its
pressure upon the inside of the plate, which is the only elastic part of the
vessel, will cause this plate to move or bulge outwards to an extent
regulated by the capacity of the vessel, and which will be calculated to
give to the connecting rod the proper amount of motion to secure the
opening or, as the case may be, the closing of the valve. When the
temperature rises sufficiently to thaw the ice in the vessel the pressure
within diminishes and the plate is forced inwards by the atmospheric
pressure from without, thus reversing the position of the valve.
,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew Ainslie Common in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
AINSLIE COMMON, of South Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
3
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year 3

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Andrew Ainslie Common, Her special
licence that I, the said Andrew Ainslic Common, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew Ainslic
Common, 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 "A NEW
OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING COCKS, TAPS, OR
VALVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Andrew
Ainslic Common, my exccutors 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 Andrew Ainslie Common, 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
Sheet of Drawing, and to the figures and letters of reference placed
thercon :-
My Invention relates to the application of the principle of the ex-
pansion and contraction of water under changes of temperature for
the purpose of opening and closing valves of any kind.
The main object of my Invention is to provide a means of preventing
the bursting of pipes and reservoirs from frost, and also of preventing
sudden overflows upon a change of temperature.
My apparatus is composed of a cylindrical or other shaped vessel,
the whole or part of one of the sides or ends of which is so constructed
as to yield to internal or external pressure, and I prefer that this part
of the vessel should be formed of a plate of copper slightly domed or
corrugated, the other parts of the vessel being also of copper, or of
cast iron, or any suitable metal. Attached to the centre of this plate
or thinner side or end is a rod, the opposite end of which will be con-
nected in any suitable manner with the one or more cocks, taps, or

page_text: valves which the apparatus is to open and close. I propose to fill or
nearly fill the vessel with water through a screw plug hole or other
opening provided for that purpose, the thinner side or plate being during
the filling pressed inwards to the fullest possible extent, which position
it will retain when the vessel is closed. I place the vessel in a position
more exposed to cold than the valve upon which it is to operate,
putting it. in communication with this valve by any suitable connection,
the valve being at this time either open or closed as may be required.
The action will be as follows:-So long as the temperature is above
freezing point within the vessel the plate will remain as originally
fixed, but when the water within it freezes, and consequently expands,
its pressure upon the inside of the plate which is the only elastic part
of the vessel will cause this plate to move or bulge outwards to an
extent regulated by the capacity of the vessel, and which will be
calculated to give to the connecting rod the proper amount of motion
to secure the opening, or as the case may be the closing of the valve.
When the temperature rises sufficiently to thaw the ice in the vessel
the pressure within diminishes, and the plate is forced inwards by
the atmospheric pressure from without, thus reversing the position of
the valve.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing Fig. I. is an elevation of
an apparatus embodying my Invention adapted to the supply pipe from
a tank or cistern and opening a valve; Fig. 2 is a section through
same closing valve; and Fig. 3 a modification of plate of water
chamber. Similar letters of reference denote similar parts in each of
the Figures respectively.
A is a water chamber, the bottom 3 of which is in connection with
the valve O by the connecting rod D. This water chamber may be
of copper, or of any suitable metal, its main and essential feature being
that one of its parts, in this case the bottom B, must be so shaped as
to permit it to move to and fro, yielding to internal or external pressure.
(This plate B is soldered to A but the yielding part may be formed on
or connected to the water vessel or chamber in any convenient manner.)
The slightly domed shape of the part 1 (sec dotted line, Fig. I.), or
its slightly corrugated shape (illustrated Fig. 3) gives it this faculty;
E, E, supports of water chamber A; F guide for valve rod D, secured
to supports E, E. The rod D may be fixed to the centre of B so as
to form a plug for introduction of water to A or in any convenient

page_text: manner; G, bottom of tank or cistern with supply pipe H attached;
a, screw plug for introduction of water into chamber A, or the water
may be introduced through an orifice provided at any convenient point
of the chamber A.
The working of my apparatus when applied as shown at Figs. I.
and 2 is as follows:-The chamber A is filled with water through the
screw plug a, the part B being during the filling pressed inward to the
fullest possible extent, which position it will retain when the chamber A
is sealed. It will be observed that the chamber A rises above the top
of the tank, and is therefore more exposed to the effects of change of
temperature than the water within the tank. The result is that so
long as the water within the chamber is not congealed the part B
remains in the position shown in dotted lines at Fig. I., and the valve C
remains open, but that directly the water in A freezes and expands
its pressure upon the inside of B, which is the only yielding part of the
chamber A, causes it to move or bulgo outward, carrying the rod D
with it and bringing the valve C on to its seat, as at Fig. 2. When
the temperature rises sufficiently to thaw the ice in chamber A and
reduce the water to its original bulk the pressure within diminishes,
and the part B being forced inward by the atmospheric pressure from
without the valve is thereby brought back to its normal position, as at
Fig. I. I need scarcely observe that the action may be reversed, and
that by means of ordinary mechanical connections the valve may be
opened when the water in the chamber A freezes and closed when it
thaws.
It will be obvious that my apparatus may be applied to various kinds
of valves, either directly as shown, to open and close them, or by the use
of springs, catches, weights, or other mechanical means to act only in the
case of the water in chamber A. freezing, and not in the case of the
thawing, so that the apparatus would be self-acting only for the purpose
of opening or of closing valves as may be required, the adaptation
herein described and shown on the Drawing being merely illustrative
of my Invention. The size of the chamber A and of its yielding
part B will vary according to the length of stroke it is desired to give
to the connecting rod D; the size of the chamber A and of its yielding.
part B will be regulated by that of the pipes to be protected, but
where it is necessary to give a greater throw to the valve than can be
effected by one small chamber two or more can be used, the first only

page_text: being fixed to the valve rod, and the additional chambers being so
connected with each other and the first that the motion given by the
several plates B (as previously explained) shall be in the direction of
the axis of the rod, thus, if the throw of a single chamber be th, that
of two would be th, and so on. The shape of the chamber may vary
with the position in which it is to be placed. The connecting rod
may be of any desired length, this being dependent upon the position
of the valve in relation to a place more exposed to variations of tem-
perature. In the case of pipes coming from a cistern, the pipe supplying
which may be protected by one of my apparatus, another apparatus
working in connection with a valve opening inward can be put at the
lowest part of the pipe, and so draw off the water from the cistern and
the pipes, or, if it should not be necessary to empty the cistern another
apparatus may be fixed on to top of pipe in the cistern, as shown
Figs. 1 and 2, whereby the pipes only would be emptied. Where there
is a constant service and the service pipe is protected by my Invention,
applied to a double action valve, that is to say, a valve which at the
time it shuts off the supply of water on one side opens a communication
of the other side with a waste pipe so as to empty the pipes to be pro-
tected, I propose for additional security to place at the highest point of
the pipes an air vessel equal to or greater than the aggregate capacity of
the pipes between it and the double action valve, so that the air compressed
in this vessel by the rising of the water in the pipes will serve to expel
the water when the double action valve acts to shut off the service
and open the communication with the waste pipe. As the apparatus
can be protected from the cold in duo proportion as the pipes are pro-
tected, they will in the case of well protected pipes act only in cases of
intenso cold.
My apparatus may be applied to protect hot water apparatus and
pipes, water meters, fountains of all sorts, more especially drinking
fountains, which could be left to themselves with safety in winter
instead of being shut up, and to protect pipes and reservoirs generally.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth as
such may be modified while retaining the essential features of my
Invention, and that I claim as my Invention, the water chamber A with
slightly domed or corrugated part B in combination with the connecting

page_text: rod D or its equivalent, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Ainslie Common, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.