IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING TAPS OR VALVES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Brassfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING TAPS OR VALVES."
Sealed the 11th April 1862, and dated the 15th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ross at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
October 1861.
I, WILLIAM Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Brassfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING TAPS OR VALVES," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to a simple, durable, and economical mode of con-
structing and arranging the parts of taps or valves.
In one modification of the improved taps or valves a cylindrical chamber is
formed at right angles to or across the fluid-way, and the inlet into and outlet
from this chamber are opposite to each other, or at the same level. In the
chamber there works a plug, which in shape is as it were cut away on the
sides at the part between the inlet and outlet, but having a middle diaphragm
extending quite across. The longitudinal edges of this diaphragm are packed
with pieces of suitable soft but tough material, such as leather, and these two
packing strips meet and join upper and lower rings or washers of similar
material. When the plug is turned with its diaphragm in the line of the inlet

page_text: and outlet openings, the fluid can pass through on each side of the diaphragm,
but when the plug is turned with the diaphragm across, the passage through
is closed by the packed edges of the diaphragm, whilst the rings or washers
prevent leakage towards the ends of the plug chamber.
The improved tap or valve may easily be modified for three or more ways,
by forming the acting part with the requisite number of vertical partitions
packed at their edges like the single diaphragm. The plug may be contrived
to be actuated in various ways, a simple plan being to form it with an external
handle, the plug being inserted in one end of the plug chamber left
open for
the purpose, and being held therein by a pin screwed through the side of the
chamber into a groove formed for it round the neck of the plug. In a further
modification the outlet may be formed longitudinally through the plug itself.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ross in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Brassfounder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Ross, Her special licence that I, the said William
Ross, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Ross, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING TAPS OR VALVES," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said William Ross, my executors 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 Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Ross, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be .per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a simple, durable, and economical mode of
constructing and arranging the parts of taps or valves.
And in order that the same may be properly understood and carried into
effect, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of explanatory Drawings, representing
two examples of taps or valves embodying the improvements.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a tap or nose cock, with the
plug in elevation within it; Figure 2 is an elevation of the plug alone, with
the packing. material removed from it; Figures 3 and 4 are longitudinal
sections across the plug, showing it in its open and closed positions re-
spectively; Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of a stop cock or tap
with both ends in the same line. The same reference letters mark the same
or like parts in all the Figures.
In the improved taps or valves a chamber A, cylindrical, as in Figure 1, or
slightly tapered, as in Figure 5, is formed at right angles to or across the
fluid-way B, C, and the inlet b into, and outlet c from this chamber are
opposite to each other, or at the same level. In the chamber A there works
a plug D, which in shape is as it were cut away on the sides at the part E,
between the inlet b and outlet c, but having a middle diaphragm E extending
quite across. The longitudinal edges of this diaphragm, E, are packed with a
suitable soft but tough material e, such as leather. I now prefer to form a
slot e', Figure 2, through the diaphragm E, and to insert in it a single piece
of the packing material, which, extending completely across, packs both edges
of the diaphragm; separate strips may however, if preferred, be fitted into
grooves formed on the two opposite edges. The packing of the edges of the
diaphragm E is made to join packing rings F inserted in grooves (f, Figure 2,)
above and below the diaphragm, and these rings F completely fill and close
the circle of the plug chamber A, and prevent leakage. The plug is represented
and has been described as made in a single piece, but it may also be composed
of separate pieces screwed together, and washers may be substituted for the
rings F. The plug D is formed with a cross handle d, Figures 1 and 2, or
with a square d', Figure 5; and when it is turned with its diaphragm E across
the line of the inlet and outlet, as shown in Figure 3, the passage is closed;
whilst it is turned a quarter round, as shown in Figure 4, it is opened, the
fluid passing by on each side of the diaphragm. The plug D may be held in

page_text: its chamber A by a screw G, Figure 1, entered from below, or a groove h,
Figure 5, may be formed round it to receive the point of a screw H, entered
through the side of the chamber.
The improved tap or valve may easily be modified for three or more ways,
by forming the acting part E with the requisite number of vertical partitions
or wings packed at their edges like the single diaphragm.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I have to state that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details herein described and delineated;
but that what I consider to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the con-
structing of taps or valves with a diaphragm turning in a cylindrical or
conical chamber, and packed by longitudinal strips and rings, substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ross, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
WILLIAM ROSS. (L.S.)