WATER COCK UPON A NEW CONSTRUCTION
Year: 1783

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BRAMAI, of Denmark Street, in the Parish of Saint Giles, Middlesex, Cabinet
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,. bearing date
at Westminster, the First day of December, in the twenty-fourth year of
His reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Bramah, His special
license, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that I, the said Joseph
Bramah, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully might.
during the term of years therein expressed, make, use, exercise, and vend,
throughout that part of His Majesty's Kingdom of Great Britain called
England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
invented "WATER COCK UPON A NEW CONSTRUCTION;" in which said recited
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Joseph Bramah,
by writing under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four
calendar months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the said Letters Patent and the Statute in that behalf made, relation being
thereunto had, may more at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said provisoe, and in
pursuance of the said Statute, I, the said Joseph Bramah, do hereby declare

page_text: that ny said Invention is composed and made in the manner following (that
is to say) :-
The merits of this my said Invention in no wise depends on any pecu-
liar metal, of which these my said invented cocks is or may be made;
but their essential properties, superior excellencies, entirely depend on the
construction and application of a plug or valve which opens or shuts the
passage or water-way, and also moe particularly on the method of opening
and shutting the said plug or valve, and on its being more convenient and
much more durable than any other means hitherto found out or invented;
and farther, the said plug or valve being contrived in such manner as to be
capable of opening and shutting a much larger water-way with much less metal
than by any other means yet made public that was capable of answering the
intended purposes for which cocks are used; and likewise on the various ways
this said plug or valve may, with equal propriety and success, be applied
agreeable to the situation in which the said cocks may be used. The said
plug or valve may shut either with or against the graviating current of the
water or other fluid, thereby meant to be retained without altering or losing
any of its essential properties above mentioned. The shape and size also of
the said cocks may be varied indeterminately, as occasion may require,
without in the least departing from that principle on which their superior
efficacy and utility chiefly depend. The Figures or Drawings in the margin
of these Presents, together with the demonstration or description therewith
given, will plainly shew the true nature and disposition of the parts of this
my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hercunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth,
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred

page_text: diametrical surface thro' the center of the cavity or cillinderical box G, G.
By this spindle the plug is opened and shut when slided up or down by the
handle L. The spindle or slider C, C, is made round and perfectly smooth
and parallel, either by turning or drawing like wire, and its diameter in small
cocks must be at least equal to half the diameter of the water-way, but
in large cocks it will not be necessary above one fourth part of the diameter
of the water-way. The different degrees of substance in the spindle will
readily be determined when the size of the cock is known without any
proportionate rule. The bottom part of the cavity or cillinderical box G iś
equal to the diameter of the upper part of the plug B, through which cavity
the plug is admitted into the place where it acts; and the upper part of the
cavity or upper box, being turned or bored wider than below, forms a rabbet
or small ledge at e, and on this ledge rests the plate or bottom D, whichi
plate exactly fits the cillinder to prevent its shifting out of its place; thro' the
center of this plate or bottom D is drilled a whole exactly the size of the
spindle C; through this hole the spindle passes, and is thereby kept in its
direction when slided up or down. E, F, is a plug or nutt which screws
into the cavity or cillinterical box G down to the plate or bottom D it
required. Through this plug or nut the spindle C, C, also passes by means
of a hole drilled exactly in its center and correspondent to the liunieter of
C, C. The top or external part of the plug E is made square at F for the
conveniency of turning with a winch, &c. L is the handle or knob by which
the valve or plug is opened and shut-the part where the plug or valve B
opens and shuts. The water-way is directly opposite the cavity or cillinder G;
so that the tool whitli bores the lower part of the cillinder, being made conical
and the exact size of the plug, will at the same time leave that part com-
pleated for the reception of the plug, which is afterwards made tight or
waterproof by grinding with sand or such other materials as are commonly
used in grinding metals. This grinding is performed when the plug and
spindle is fixed in its place (as represented in the Drawing), by turning the
handle L in a proper manner. The spindle C, and the threads of the
screw plug E, F, is made waterproof by introducing into the cavity G between
the bottom of the screw'd plug and the plate or bottom D, some leather or other
elastic or flexible materials, such as felt, cloth, &c, according to the purpose
for which the cock is meant to be used, namely, for hot or cold liquor; for the
former felt is most proper, and for the latter leather. The manner in which
this felt or leather is applied is represented in Fig. 8, where G is the cavity,
where the spindle C and the plug E, F, is situated, and which are to be
made waterproof Bis the plate or bottom which rests on the ledge a

page_text: His a peice of leather or felt that is but circular, and its diameter greater
than the diameter of the box or cavity G. In the center of this leather or
felt is perferated or cut a hole barely the size of the spindle C; through this
hole the top part of the spindle passes. The leather or felt is then pressed
into a conical form, as at H, till its circunference is reduced so as to be
within the diameter of the cillinder G, and is then forced down to the bottom
or plate B with its extreme edge there. The screw plug E, F, is screwed
down upon it, and by the pressing on the highest part of H cause it to force
against the sides of the box G and against the spindle C on all sides, so as to
prevent any fluid whatsoever from escaping from the water-way, notwithstand-
ing the pressure thereof be ever so great. By the tightning this screw plug
or nutt the defect in the leather, &c. (occasioned by wearing) will be made
good for many years; may also be renewed at any time in a few minutes.
Either of the ends of the cock H or I, Fig. 1, may be applied towards the
cistern or fountain head, but the end I will, in most cases, have the preference,
as then the gravity of the incumbent fluid will always keep the plug or valve
B perfectly close shut; when, on the other hand, H being thus applied, the
fluid would then press on the under side of the plug or valve B and force
it up and let the liquor escape, to prevent which there may be applied at the
external end of the spindle e some force or power, such as spring, weight,
screw, enclining plain, or other contrivance sufficient to overcome the greatest
pressure of the fluid thereby meant to be retained. This way of applying the
plug or valve may in some works have the advantage; for instance, where the
end His fixed into a cistern, cask, &c, in a situation exposed to the frost.
The end I, or that part of the water-way A, G, I, will remain always without
water, so that the plug or valve B cannot have its movement set fast by the
freezing of that part; but a more effectual method of preventing this com-
plaint is by applying the plug or valve in the manner described in the Draw-
ing, Fig. 2, when it is used for cisterns, vatts, casks, &c", exposed to the frost.
A, A, A, is the water-way; B, the plug or valve that opens and shuts the
water-way; and C is the spindle joined to B on the contrary side to that
described in Fig. 1, and opens and shuts the plug by its vice versa motion.
e, e, is a shoulder, before which is a part turned with a screw, as at E, which
screw may be screwed into any vessels of wood, and by having a leather ring
or flanch between the (wood or side of the vessel) and the shoulders e, e, it
will readily be made waterproof by screwing close the shoulder; the plug
or valve B will then open and shut the water-way A, A, A, on the inside of
cistern or cask, &c., where the fluid is retained; and as the said water-way
will be always left empty, the spindle C nor the plug or valve B cannot at

page_text: any time be set fast by the frost, without the fluid within the cistern or cask
should be congealed, so long as the cock which would then prevent its being
opened. The nose or snout of these cocks may be made in any shape
according to the different situations in which they are fixed, such as K, W,
Fig. 1, or A, S, in Fig. 2, &c. D, D, D, Fig. 2, is a boss of brass, which may
be used when the cock is applied to the end of a pipe or into a lead cistern,
where it will be required to be soldered; into this boss the cock may be
screwed at pleasure in or out, and the boss left in its place.