IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS AND TAPS."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Rowley Rickard, of 5, Great Char-
lotte Street, Blackfriars Road, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COCKS AND TAPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by the said Charles William Rowley
Rickard at the Office of the Commissioners of., Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th January 1854.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM ROWLEY RICKARD, of 5 Great Charlotte -Street,
Blackfriars Road, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS AND TAPS" to-be-as-follows:-
Where clack valves are used, I cause the axis of the valve to form part of
the valve, and to enter a recess made for it at the upper part of the valve. It
is formed to receive the end of a screw in such manner that by the screw
rotating the valve is caused to rise or fall. The valve is either ground to its
seat, or it is 'faced with leather, vulcanized india-rubber, or other suitable
flexible material, or the seat is coated with such materials. In ball cocks, the
valve moves through a cupped leather or flexible material, and the barrel of
the cock comes at right angles' to the valve, or so that the pressure of the
water will be against the side of the valve, the spout or outlet being below the
valve.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles William Rowley Rickard in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WILLIAM ROWLEY RICKARD, of 5, Great Charlotte Strect, Blackfriars Road,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles William Rowley Rickard, Her special licence that I,
the said Charles William Rowley Rickard, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles William Rowley Rickard,
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 TAPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles William Rowley Rickard, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 Charles William Rowley Rickard,
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)
Where clack valves are used, I cause the axis of the valve to form part of
the valve, and to enter a recess made for it at the upper part of the valve. It
is formed to receive the end of a screw in such manner that by the screw
rotating the valve is caused to rise or fall. The valve is either ground to its
seat, or it is faced with leather, vulcanized india-rubber, or other suitable
flexible material, or the seat is coated with such materials. In ball cocks, the
valve moves through a cupped leather or flexible material, and the barrel of
the cock comes at right angles to the valve, or--so. that the pressure of the

page_text: water will be against the side of the valve, the spout or outlet being below the
valve.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section; and Figure 2 is a plan of a cock or
tap constructed according to the first part of my Invention., a is the barrel
which at its two ends is made with female screws to receive the ends of pipes,
or the pipes may be fixed by other convenient means. b is a valve, moving
on an axis at 6', and it rests against an inclined seat c, which I prefer to be
formed separate from and to fit into the barrel a. The upper part of the
barrel is made with an opening, which is closed by the cover c, by the taking off
of which the valve and its seat can be readily got at. The cover c is formed
with an upright hollow chamber suitably formed for receiving the female
screw d, which by the link e is connected to the valve 6. At the upper part
of the chamber is formed a stuffing box f, for the stem of the handle g of the
screw g', by which the valve is moved. By this arrangement it will be seen
that by turning the handle g, the valve will be moved off or to its seat. The
valve may be ground to its seat, or the valve or seat may be faced with
vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable flexible material, to which facing,
however, no claim is made. Figure 3 shows a section of another form of
cock or tap, but the combination of the parts is for the most part the same.
a is the barrel which at one end is made suitable for being fixed in a cask
as shown, or it may be formed differently, according to the manner it is desired
to fix it. This cock or tap at the other end is simply made with a spout or
outlet. 6 is a valve moving on an axis b', and in place of the handle.g has a
female screw g', which receives the male screw g², attached to the valve 6 by
its head, which is received within the dovetail socket 2, fixed at the back of
the valve. This valve is shown to have its seat on a soft elastic material, but
it may be ground to its seat.
Figure 4 shows a section of a ball cock. a is the barrel. b, the valve,
which moves through a cupped leather or flexible material c, so that the
pressure of the water will, when the valve is closed, be against the side of
the valve, the spout or opening c¹ being below the valve. The lower part of
the valve has its seat at d, which is below the water passage in the barrel a.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the parts separately. But what I claim is,
First, the combination of parts described in respect to Figures 1 and 2,
and I also claim the combination of parts described in respect to Figure 3.
And, secondly, I claim the combination of parts for a ball cock, described in
respect to Figure 4.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Rowley Rickard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
C. W. R. RICKARD. (L.S.)
1