IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS AND IN SLUICE AND SLIDE VALVES TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Mallinson, of Welwyn, in the County of
Herts, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS AND IN SLUICE
AND SLIDE VALVES TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER
FLUIDS."
Sealed the 16th October 1875, and.dated the 25th August 1875.
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Mallinson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th August 1875.
I, JAMES MALLINSON, of Welwyn, in the County of Herts, do hereby
5 declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN Cocks
AND IN SLUICE AND SLIDE VALVES TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND
OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
T

page_text: In the Specification-of-a-former Patent granted to me, No. 752, in
the year 1874, I have described the construction of cocks rendered
tight, not by the truth of the metal fitting as theretofore, but by packing
applied around the plug and between the waterways or passages in the
shell.
According to my present Invention I protect the surface of the
packing which comes in contact with the plug with thin sheet metal,
by preference brass, interposed between it and the plug, the edges of
the thin sheet metal being bent over thus ✓ to form it into a
trough shape so as to enclose the packing both at its edges and at
its face. This is more especially applicable for protecting the line
or lines of packing, which pass down the interior of the shell of the
cock between the waterways or passages, although it may also be
applied to the packing which surrounds the upper and lower part of
the plug.
Since filing my former Specification. I have also discovered that
packing may be applied so as to render sluice or slide valves fluid tight,
and also in what way the packing should be applied.
In sluce or slide valves the water or fluid way in the body or main
casting is opened or closed by means of a block sliding at right angles
to the direction of flow. The block is contained in a chamber into
which a screw which causes the block to traverse enters, and the block
has a passage though it, which can thus at pleasure be made to corre-
spond or otherwise with the fluid way, so as to permit or interrupt
the passage.
I form around the fluid way, on one or both sides, in the body or main
casting, raised ribs or lips, and outside these and all around the fluid
way, I form a cavity or channel to receive packing. The body is open
at one or both sides to allow the packing to be inserted, and when the
packing has been put in with a caulking tool or otherwise, covers are
fixed over the side openings, and they hold the packing securely in its
place. The sliding block or sluice works against. the packing, and thus
the tightness of the joint is independent altogether of accuracy of metal
fitting. Sometimes I make the block taper transversely, so that in
screwing the cover home the tightness of the block against the packings

page_text: may be regulated. 'When adopting this construction I give a little play
to the nut, which working with the screw lifts the block.
The face of the packing I also prefer, more especially for steam
purposes, to protect by thin sheet metal interposed between it and
the slide, by which means not only is the packing retained in place
but it is also protected from the action of steam, water, or other fluid.
Sometimes in place of providing side openings in the body I have the
opening or openings at the top or bottom or at the top and bottom, and
I arrange the lifting and lowering screw in one of the covers or bonnets.
I arrange the packing in this case to surround the edges of the sliding
block.
In some cases packing protected with a facing of thin metal, as above
described, may be contained in a groove formed around the fluid way,
and the block be formed with inclines at the back, so that as the block
comes into position to close the passage way it is forced towards the
packing in the same manner that it is forced against the valve face in
valves now commonly constructed.
It is obvious that in most cases the packing may be carried by the
sliding block instead of being contained in the shell, or both the shell
and the block may be packed, provided that in such case one or both the
touching surfaces are protected by thin sheet metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Mallinson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MALLINSON, of Welwyn, in the County of Herts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: -cessors,-give.and grant unto me, the said James Mallinson, Her special
license, that I, the said James Mallinson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Mallinson, 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 COCKS AND IN SLUICE AND SLIDE VALVES TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF STEAM,
WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Mallinson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 James Mallinson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cocks and in
sluice and slide valves to regulate the flow of steam, water, and other
fluids.
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me, No. 752, in
the year 1874, I have described the construction of cocks rendered
tight, not by the truth of the metal fitting as theretofore, but by packing
applied around the plug and between the waterways or passages in the
shell.
According to my present Invention I protect the surface of the
packing which comes in contact with the plug with thin sheet metal,
by preference brass, interposed between it and the plug, the edges of
the thin sheet metal being bent over thus to form it into a
trough shape so as to enclose the packing both at its edges and at
its facc. This is more especially applicable for protecting the line
or lines of packing, which pass down the interior of the shell of the

page_text: cock between the waterways or passages, although it may also he
applied to the packing which surrounds the upper and lower part of
the plug.
a²;
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed shows a longitudinal
section of a cock rendered fluid-tight by packing, and with the surface
of the packing protected by thin sheet metal, as above described;
Figure 2 shows separately a longitudinal section of the shell of the
cock and Figure 3 shows a transverse section of the shell and plug.
a is the shell of the cock with its inlet and outlet passages a',
in it are provided cavities for packing; these cavities pass all around the
passages a¹, a; bis the plug which is inserted within the shell; a*
are raised ribs or lips by which the packing is confined. These lips and
the other portions of the shell, where the packing does not extend, are
bored out or formed to receive the plug casily between them, but no
reliance is placed on obtaining fluid-tight contact between the shell and
the plug, and the use of the lips is solely to exclude the packing from the
water or fluid ways. c is the packing surrounding the upper and lower
parts of the plug, and c¹ the lines of packing at the sides of the
passages or waterways through the shell.. The packing which I usually
employ is hemp, but other packing material may be employed; it is
well rammed into the packing spaces, whilst the plug is held down
by any convenient means, the glands d, d, are then screwed home.
A space e is left between the lines c¹, c¹, of packing on the two
opposite sides of the shell, as shown. f is the protection of thin sheet
metal placed over the lines of packing c¹, c¹, to keep them from being
acted upon by water or other fluid, and also to prevent the packing from
breaking away at the edges.
It is obvious that the packing might be carried by the plug instead of
by the shell, but not so advantageously.
I claim, as respects this part of my Invention, the construction of cocks ..
rendered fluid tight by lines of packing applied around the waterways
in the shell, or in the plug, such lines of packing being protected by
thin sheet metal, substantially as herein-before described.
Since filing my former Specification I have also discovered that
packing may be applied so as to render sluice or slide valves fluid tight,
and also in what way the packing should be applied.

page_text: '
In sluice or slide valves the water or fluid way in the body or main
casting is opened or closed by means of a block sliding at right angles
to the direction of the flow. I form around the fluid ways on one or
both ends of the body or main casting raised ribs or lips, and outside
these and all around the fluid way I form a cavity or channel to receive
packing. The sliding block or sluice works between or against the
packings, and thus the tightness of the joint is independent altogether
of accuracy of metal fitting.
In some cases in place of the packing being in the body or main
casting, it may be in the sliding block or sluice.
The packing I also in some cases protect by thin sheet metal, as in
the cock previously described: Various ways of constructing sluice and
slide vales according to this part of my Invention are shown in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 4 is a vertical section, and Figure 5 is a horizontal section of
one construction of sluice or slide valve. a is the main shell or casting;
is the block or slide; a' are lips around the waterways on both sides of
the shell, between which lips the side is able to slide freely; c, c, is,
the packing which is forced into the cavities around the lips a¹, and
held in place and compressed by means of side covers or bonnets d,
which are secured by screws; c* is a protection of thin sheet metal to
come between the packing and the slide ; e is a screw, by turning
which the slide 6 can be raised or lowered. The screw passes through a
stuffing box at e', and it engages with a screw thread cut in the slide.
f is a sliding block pressed upwards by a spring or springs f'. When
the slide is raised to open the valve the block frises with it, being
pressed upwards by the spring or springs f¹, until the top of the block
is level with the bottom of the passage through the valve; the block
then ceases to rise, and as the slide continues to be lifted the passage
through the valve is gradually opened. By this means the packing is
at all times covered and protected from the flow of liquid, both when
the valve is open or closed, and when it is in any intermediate position.
Figures 4 and 5*, Sheet 2, show sections on a larger scale of a
sluice or slide valve, similar to the one shown at Figures 4 and 5. The
several parts of the valve are marked with the same letters of reference,
so that its construction will be readily understood from the description.
above given.

page_text: as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 5, and I provide a guide or
stop on one of the covers or bonnets d for it to rest against, so that by
screwing up this cover or bonnet the tighness of the slide between the
packings may be adjusted.
In place of the covers or bonnets being at the sides they may be at the
top and bottom, as is shown at Figures 6 and 7%; in this case the screw e
is in one of the covers or bonnets, and the packing completely surrounds
the waterways on both sides of the shell, as in the valve previously
described.
In place of the packing being on both sides of the slide it may be on
one side only, as shown at Figures 8 and 9, the slide in this case being
held up against the packing c by inclined faces on strips g, bearing
against corresponding inclines on the back of the slide, as shown.
The strips can be set inwards by the screws 7, and the packing can be
forced against the face of the slide by turning the screws k.
If a
simple disc is used as the moveable portion of the valve, the packing
may be placed around the face of the waterway, as shown at Figures 8
and 9, and the disc may have inclines upon it at the back, which
when the valve is closed come upon other inclines, and force the face
of the disc against the packing, as will be well understood. In all the
valves the packing may be protected by thin sheet metal, as in the cock
first described, not only to protect the packing from the water or fluid,
but also to prevent the edges of the packing from breaking away. I
prefer however in all cases that the valve should be constructed in such
manner that the packing at all times remains covered during the
opening and closing of the valve, as described with reference to Figures
4, 5, 4*, and 5*; in this case no covering of thin sheet metal is required
for the packing. In place of the packing being carried by the main
shell or casting, it is obvious that in some cases it may be carried by the
block or slide. An example of this arrangement is shown at Figure 10.
b is the block with the packing cabove and below it, and also at its ends;
bare bars for compressing the packing; is a tube passing downwards
through the block and bars b¹; m, m, are nuts screwing on to the tube 7,
and bearing against the bars b₁; e is the screw for raising or lowering
the slide or block.

page_text: I claim as respects this part of my Invention,—. .
First. The construction of sluice or slide valves rendered fluid-tight
by lines of packing applied around the waterways or passages of the
shell or on the slide, such packing being confined in its position and
compressed, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. The construction of sluice or slide valves rendered fluid-tight
by packing, and with the packing protected by thin sheet metal, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Third. The construction of sluice and slide valves rendered fluid-tight
by packing, and with the packing protected both when the valve is open
or closed, and in any intermediate position, substantially in the manner
herein before described with reference to Figures 4 and 5, and Figures
4* and 5*.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Mallinson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty 24th day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
siz