IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Yates, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TAPS OR STOP-COCKS.”
Sealed the 19th August 1870, and dated the 16th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Yates at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th May 1870.
I, JAMES YATES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS," to be as follows :-
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of a tap or stop-cock whereby great security against
the picking of or tampering with the tap or stop-cock is obtained. Taps
or stop-cocks constructed according to my Invention are specially useful
to wine merchants and others who require to check or control the servants
or persons employed by them.
In order to prevent the plug of the tap from being turned, excepting
by the use of the proper key, I construct and arrange the said plug
and key in the following manner:-I secure the plug in its place by

page_text: means of a screw as usual, but I cover the head of the said screw by
means of a cap placed on the bottom of the barrel and soldered thereto.
The loosening or removal of the plug by unscrewing the said screw is
thereby prevented. At the top of the plug I make a chamber having a
hole in its axis, into which hole a cross or lateral hole opens, and I
employ a key the end of which is jointed similar to that of an ordinary
drop latch key, the end of the jointed part being inclined in such a
manner that when the key is pressed downwards. against the bottom of
the chamber its end is turned at right angles and made to enter and
engage with the lateral hole or opening in the chamber of the plug. By
now turning the key the plug may be turned and the tap opened. On
closing the tap the key only requires to be raised vertically when its
jointed end retires from the lateral hole or opening in the chamber of
the plug, and the key may be wholly withdrawn from the tap. The
chamber at the top of the plug is covered by a cap screwed on and
soldered to the barrel. The key is introduced into the tap through a
tubular opening in the top of the said cap. A small guide or stop is made
on the stem of the key, and a corresponding slot is made in the tubular
opening of the last-described cap for the purpose of guiding the key and
preventing its introduction into the tap excepting in the proper position. 2
The nose of the tap may be provided with a screwed nozzle by which it
may be used as a bottling tap, as well as a racking tap.
Taps or stop-cocks constructed according to my Invention cannot be
picked or tampered with by means of a pair of plyers or any of the
ordinary picking instruments which may be successfully employed for 2
that purpose with taps or stop-cocks of the ordinary construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
•
filed by the said James Yates in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES 30
YATES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third 35

page_text: year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Yates, Her special licence that I,
the said James Yates, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Yates, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 TAPS OR STOP-
COCKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Yates,
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 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 Yates, 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 :—
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-
after described of the parts of a tap or stop-cock whereby great security
against the picking of or tampering with the tap or stop-cock is
obtained. Taps or stop-cocks constructed according to my Invention
are specially useful to wine merchants and others who require to check
or control the servants or persons employed by them.
In order to prevent the plug of the tap from being turned excepting
by the use of the proper key I construct and arrange the said plug and
key in the following manner:—I secure the plug in its place by means
of a screw as usual, and cover the head of the said screw by means of
a cap placed on the bottom of the barrel, and pinned or soldered thereto.
The loosening or removal of the plug by unscrewing the said screw is
thereby prevented. At the top of the plug I make a chamber having
a hole in its axis, into which hole a cross or lateral hole opens, and I
employ a key, the end of which is jointed similar to that of an ordinary
drop latch key, the end of the jointed part being inclined in such a
manner that when the key is pressed downwards against the bottom of
the chamber its end is turned at right angles and made to enter and

page_text: engage with the lateral hole or opening in the chamber of the plug..
By now turning the key the plug may be turned and the tap opened.
On closing the tap the key only requires to be raised vertically when its
jointed end retires from the lateral hole or opening in the chamber of
the plug, and the key may be wholly withdrawn from the tap. A jointed t
bolt for locking the plug and barrel together may be combined with the
arrangement described for greater security. The chamber at the top of
the plug is covered by a cap screwed on and pinned or soldered to the
barrel. The key is introduced into the tap through a tubular opening
in the top of the said cap. A small guide or stop is made on the stem 1
of the key, and a corresponding slot is made in the tubular opening of
the last described cap for the purpose of guiding the key, and preventing
its introduction into the tap excepting in the proper position.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in 1
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section a tap or stop-cock con-
structed according to my Invention, the said tap being closed; Figure 2
represents the same open, and exhibits the manner in which the jointed
key engages with the plug and liberates the bolt or fastening of the plug; a
Figure 3 represents a plan of the tap, the plug and covering cap being
removed; Figure 4 represents in vertical section the plug and barrel
detached; and Figure 5 represents in clevation and plan the plug
separately; Figures 6 and 7 represent the tap partly in section and partly
in elevation, and exhibit the manner in which the fastening bolt carried:
by the plug is liberated from and engaged with the barrel; Figure 8
represents in front and side elevation the key of the tap. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in each of the Figures of the
Drawings.
a is the plug, and 6 the barrel of the tap; c is the stop of the plug
working in the slot d in the barrel b. The plug a is secured in its
place by the bottom screw a², the head of which screw is covered by a
screw cap e fixed to the bottom of the barrel 6 by the screw pin f, or the
cap e may be soldered to the barrel. The removal of the plug is by
this means prevented. In the top of the plug is a chamber a³ for the
reception of the jointed key and fastening bolt. The said chamber has
a hole a' in its axis, and a cross or lateral hole a³ opens into the axial
hole a', (see Figure 4). Opposite the said lateral hole a³ is a second

page_text: "
lateral hole a in which the jointed bolt works, the head of the said
bolt projecting outside the plug and its lower part, when the bolt is in its
normal position, dropping into a slot i in the top of the barrel b, as best
seen in Figures 6 and 7. When the bolt h is engaged with the slot. i
the said plug a is securely fastened to the barrel b, and the said plug
cannot be turned to open the tap until the said bolt has been lifted from
the slot as herein-after described. The chamber a³ at the top of the
plug a is covered by the screw cap / which is secured to the barrel b
by the screw pin 1, or by soldering. The key marked m, m, which I
employ with the tap has a jointed part n, the end of which jointed part
is inclined as represented. The said jointed part n of the key is capable
of motion in one direction only. On the stem m of the key is a guide
or stop p, and a corresponding slot q (see Figures 1 and 7) is made in the
tubular opening in the cap k for the purpose of guiding the key and
preventing its introduction into the tap excepting in the proper position.
When the tap is closed the parts occupy the respective positions best
seen in Figures 1 and 7, the jointed bolt / carried by the plug a being
engaged with the slot i in the barrel 6 and preventing the turning of the
plug. In order to open the tap the key m, n, is introduced into the
tubular opening in the cap k and passed down the passage a' into the
chamber a³ of the plug. When the inclined end of the jointed part n
of the key is pressed against the bottom of the chamber a³ the said
jointed part n turns at right angles and engages with the lateral hole a³.
in the said chamber, as represented in Figure 2, and temporarily fixes the
5 key to the plug so that the turning of the said key effects the turning of
the plug. As the jointed part n of the key turns into the lateral hole a³
the bottom of the stem m of the key bears upon and depresses the inner
part of the bolt h, the outer part or head of the said bolt h is thereby
lifted from the slot i as illustrated in Figure 6, and the plug a is
O liberated from the barrel b. By now turning the key the plug a is
turned by the jointed part n of the said key and the tap opened as
illustrated in Figure 2. During the partial rotation of the plug a to
open or close the tap the bolt h rests upon the uncut away part of the
top of the barrel. On turning the plug into its original position to close
5 the tap the jointed bolt his brought opposite the slot i and on the first
lifting of the key vertically to remove it from the tap the said bolt h is
liberated and drops by its own weight into the slot i and again locks the
plug and barrel together. As the key is further lifted its jointed part n
retires from the lateral opening a³ and the key may be wholly withdrawn

page_text: from the tap. When the tap is to be used as a bottling tap as well as a
racking tap the nose of the tap is provided with a screwed nozzle.
Taps or stop-cocks constructed according to my Invention cannot be
picked or tampered with by means of a pair of plyers or any of the
ordinary picking instruments which may be successfully employed for
that purpose with taps or stop-cocks of the ordinary construction.
Although I prefer for greater security to use a bolt for locking the
plug and barrel together, yet the said bolt may be dispensed with.
.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in
taps or stop-cocks, the construction and combination or arrangement of
parts herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings for preventing the plug of the tap or stop-cock being turned
excepting by the use of the proper key, that is to say, constructing the
chamber of the plug in the manner described and illustrated, and the
adaptation to the said chamber of a key having a jointed end, which
said jointed end of the key when introduced into the said chamber enters
the cross opening in the said chamber and so connects the key with
the plug that the turning of the key effects the turning of the plug for
opening or closing the tap whether the said chamber of the plug and
jointed key be employed alone or in combination with a bolt operated by
the said key for locking the plug and barrel of the tap together,
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Yates, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JAMES YATES.' (L.S.)