IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM COCKS OR VALVES, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR HOT OR COLD WATER
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Payne, of Balham, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM COCKS OR VALVES,
ALSO APPLICABLE FOR HOT OR COLD WATER."
Sealed the 9th February 1869, and dated the 12th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Payne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
12th August 1868:
I, WILLIAM PAYNE, of Balham, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
COCKS OR VALVES, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR HOT OR COLD WATER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
cocks or valves to be applied to steam boilers and engines; the object
being to form a perfectly steam-tight stop for high-pressure steam; and
to obviate the results caused by expansion of ordinary metal cocks by
the action of heat, such as the leakage or escape of steam, and also to

page_text: prevent undue strain on the plug of the cock, or to remove or transfer
the pressure therefrom when the steam is shut off by the application of
a valve and seat within the barrel of the cock, and thus forming a
combination of a cock and valve, whereby there can be no possibility of
the escape of steam.
I propose to construct the steam cock as follows:-The barrel being
provided with a branch inlet pipe communicating with the upper
chamber, such chamber is formed with an open top, within which a
screw thread is cut to receive a screw plug, and a conical seat is cut in
the chamber a short distance below the inlet for the reception of a valve,
.the diameter of which is less than that of the chamber, so as to leave an
annular space between the two, and the upper surface of the valve is
provided with a guiding stem extending into a corresponding cavity or
recess cut in the screw plug or cap of the chamber in order that the
valve may be enabled to rise and fall within the chamber, the faces of
the valve always maintaining the same plane. The lower surface of the
valve is extended by a shoulder and terminated by a projection in line
with the stem reaching nearly to the centre of the bore for the plug.
The plug is then formed cylindrically at each end, but midway where it
intersects the chamber a segment is cut away on each side of the
cylinder, thus leaving corresponding openings or spaces when the plug
is turned down by the handle, and closing the chamber when the handle
is turned back by the two remaining arcs of the plug fitting the lateral
portion of the bore; in this closed position of the cock the lower
extremity of the valve descends into the space left in the plug by the
removal of the segment, and the valve becomes securely seated, but
when the plug is opened the arc of the plug assumes a position trans-
versely to the chamber, and rising upwards by its rotation elevates the
valve from its seat and permits the flow of steam. The surfaces of the
plug and projection are to be so arranged as to allow of their working
with ease; the projection may be chamfered or rounded off, and the
surface of the plug made slightly curvilinear, but whatever suitable
forms may be given to these surfaces their contact may always be made
to produce a constant uniformity of action of the plug and valve, both
opening and closing in relative proportions, and when closed enabling
the valve to sustain the full force of the steam, leakage being impossible
since the valve will always attain a perfectly steam-tight stop in relation
to the chamber and plug.

page_text: This combined cock and valve is also applicable to hot and cold water
apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Payne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PAYNE, of Balham, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Payne, Her special licence that I,
the said William Payne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Payne, 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 STEAM COCKS OR
VALVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Payne, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Payne, 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:-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
cocks or valves to be applied to steam boilers and engines, the object
being to form a perfectly steam-tight stop for high-pressure steam, and

page_text: prevent undue strain on the plug of the cock, or to remove or transfer
the pressure therefrom when the steam is shut off by the application of
a valve and seat within the barrel of the cock, and thus forming a
combination of a cock and valve whereby there can be no possibility of
the escape of steam.
I construct the steam cock as follows:-The barrel being provided
with a branch inlet pipe communicating with the upper chamber, such
chamber is formed with an open top, within which a screw thread is
cut to receive a screw plug, and a conical seat is cut in the chamber a
short distance below the inlet for the reception of a valve, the diameter
of which is less than that of the chamber, so as to leave an annular
space between the two, and the upper surface of the valve is provided
with a guiding stem extending into a corresponding cavity or recess
cut in the screw plug or cap of the chamber in order that the valve
may be enabled to rise and fall within the chamber, the faces of the
valve always maintaining the same plane. The lower surface of the
valve is extended by a shoulder and terminated by a projection in line
with the stem reaching nearly to the centre of the bore for the plug.
The plug is then formed tapering cylindrically at each end, but, mid-
way where it intersects the chamber a segment is cut away on each
side of the cylinder, thus leaving corresponding openings or spaces when
the plug is turned down by the handle, and closing the chamber when
the handle is turned back by the two remaining arcs of the plug fitting
the lateral portion of the bore; in this closed position of the cock the
lower extremity of the valve descends into the space left in the plug by
the removal of the segment, and the valve becomes securely seated, but
when the plug is opened the arc of the plug assumes a position trans-
versely to the chamber, and rising upwards by its rotation elevates the
valve from its seat and permits the flow of steam. The surfaces of the
plug and projection are to be so arranged as to allow of their working
with ease; the projection may be chamfered or rounded off, and the
surface of the plug made slightly curvilinear, but whatever suitable
forms may be given to these surfaces their contact may always be made
to produce a constant uniformity of action of the plug and valve, both
opening and closing in relative proportions, and when closed enabling
the valve to sustain the full force of the steam, leakage being impossible

page_text: since the valve will always attain a perfectly steam-tight stop in relation
to the chamber and plug.
This combined cock and valve is also applicable to hot and cold water
apparatus.
In order that my said Invention may be completely understood I
annex the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation ;
Fig. 2, a section of the same; Fig. 3, a plan view of the plug, shewing its
position when the valve has descended on z and is closed on its seating;
this view, assuming the plug to be in an open position, will be an eleva-
tion, and the stem of the valve will rest on the arc of the plug instead of
the solid central portion of the plug left by the removal of the upper
and under segments. Similar letters denote corresponding parts in
each Figure.
a is the barrel or tube for the passage or flow of water or steam, and
6 the branch inlet pipe to be screwed or attached to the boiler; this pipe
enters the chamber c at the upper part of the barrel; d is the closing
screw plug of the chamber; e is the valve having its seat on the conical
surface of the chamber, and f, the guiding stem entering a cavity g in
the plug d; h is a shoulder beneath the valve, and i, a projection
reaching nearly to the centre of the bore of the boss k is the plug
having segments cut away on two sides between its bearings for the
passage of the steam or water when the tap is opened. The arc or
circular portion of the plug while being turned in the act of opening
elevates the valve accordingly and permits the steam or water to escape
around and between the seating and through the plug, but when
the plug is closed the are no longer supports the valve, which then
rests on its seat and closes the passage of the steam or water,
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I
do not limit myself to the precise details and configuration of parts,
which I have expressed and shewn, as the same may be varied or
modified without departing from the objects of the Invention; but what
I claim and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited
Letters Patent is, the improved construction of steam cocks or valves,
consisting of a combination of valve and plug acting in unison, such
combined cocks or valves being applicable to steam boilers, or to hot

page_text: or cold water apparatus, in order to prevent escape or leakage of steam
or water when the valve is closed, substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Payne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
ALEX. C. M. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
WILLIAM PAYNE. (L.S.)