Improvements in or connected with Valves.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 19th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 24th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Valves.
I, STRETHILL HARRY WRIGHT M.D. Edin. of Ganarew Manor House
Herefordshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The improved method after my invention is as follows;-I take a closed vessel,
furnished with an entry pipe & an exit pipe, these two orifices being placed
preferably the entry pipe horizontally & the exit pipe perpendicularly. On the
exit pipe, I place the valve seat, which is of a certain diameter, to accomodate a
valve of the desired diameter. Above the entry pipe I attach a tubular fitting of
greater diameter, say a diameter of 44 in. than the valve orifice. In this tubular
fitting, I place a piston or plate, which is attached to the valve beneath it, &
which is made to work tightly by means of ordinary well known appliances,, such
as, a leather cup washer. I close the roof of the piston case. In the piston plate
I bore a hole of small dimensions, & in the roof of the piston case, I place another
orifice of slightly larger dimensions than the hole in the piston plate, & this last
orifice, I control by means of a valve, or tap. In operation, water is admitted by
the entry between the upper part of the valve & the lower surface of the piston
plate, & the orifice in the roof of the piston case is open; the pressure upwards on
the surface of the piston plate being greater than the pressure downwards upon the
valve plate, the piston plate rises & opens the valve, the speed of its operation
being regulated by the orifice in the roof of the piston case. If now, the orifice
in the roof of the piston plate, be closed all upward pressure ceases & the valve
closes, but the speed of its closure is regulated by the size of the orifice in the
piston plate, water having to pass through this orifice & fill the cavity in the
piston case above the piston plate before that plate can descend. But the valve is
attached to the piston plate & cannot descend on its seat without taking the piston
plate with it. The result of this is, that an extremely even & gentle closure of
the valve takes place, & as all these pressures are proportional to one another, the
gradual opening, & gradual & even closure of the valve remain constant whatever
the size of the valve, or the pressure upon it. It is evident that as the action of
this valvular apparatus depends upou the control of the orifice in the roof of the
piston case, & that orifice need not be for a valve, say of 3 inches diameter, greater
than 1-inches, the largest valves can be controlled by a comparatively easily-
worked mechanism. The opening power necessary to actuate the largest valves is
very much reduced-for instance-a valve of 6 inches diameter can be opened by
overcoming the pressure due not to the pressure on its own surface, but by
overcoming the pressure due to a surface of, say - inches.
Dated this 18th day of January 1894.
STRETHILL HARRY WRIGHT.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Valves.
I, STRETHILL HARRY WRIGHT M.D. Edin. of Ganarew Manor House,
Herefordshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
The improved method after my invention is as follows:-I take a closed vessel.
furnished with an entry pipe and an exit pipe, these two orifices being placed,

page_text: preferably, the entry pipe horizontally, and the exit pipe perpendicularly. On the
exit pipe, I place the valve seat, which is of a certain diameter, to accommodate a
valve of the desired diameter. Above the entry pipe, I attach a tubular fitting of
greater diameter than the valve orifice. In this tubular fitting I place a piston or
plate, which is attached to the valve beneath it, and which is made to work tightly
by means of ordinary well known appliances, such as a leather cup washer. I
close the roof of the piston case. In the piston plate I bore a hole of small
dimensions, and in the roof of or in the piston case, I place another orifice of
slightly larger dimensions than the hole in the piston plate, and this last orifice I
control by means of a valve or tap. In operation, water is admitted by the entry
between the upper part of the valve and the lower surface of the piston plate, and
the orifice in the piston case is open; the pressure upwards on the surface of the
piston plate being greater than the pressure downwards upon the valve plate, the
piston rises and opens the valve, the speed of its operation being regulated by
the orifice in the roof or space above the piston. If now, the orifice in the piston
case be closed, all upward pressure ceases and the valve eloses, but the speed of its
closure is regulated by the size of the orifice in the piston plate, water having to
pass through this orifice and fill the cavity in the piston case above the piston
plate before this plate can descend. But the valve is attached to the piston plate
and cannot descend on its seat without taking the piston plate with it. The result
of this is, that an extremely even and gentle closure of the valve takes place, and
as all these pressures are proportional to one another, the gradual opening, and
gradual and even closure of the valve remain constant whatever the size of the
valve, or the pressure upon it. It is evident that as the action of this valvular
apparatus depends upon the control of the orifice in the piston case, and that
orifice need not be for a valve say of 3 inches diameter greater than -inches,
the largest valve can be controlled by a comparatively easily worked mechanism.
The opening power necessary to actuate the largest valves is very much reduced,
for instance, a valve of six inches diameter can be opened by overcoming the
pressure due not to the pressure on its own surface, but by overcoming the pressure
due to a surface of say to inches.
The drawings hereto annexed illustrate a valve or valvular apparatus constructed
and adapted to operate according to this invention, the view given being a sectional
elevation.
Referring to the drawing, a is a casing or body of the valvular apparatus having
an entry or inlet branch a', and an exit branch a³, at the entrance to which from
the casing a seat a of suitable metal or material is provided; and a* is the cover
of the casing a. b is the valve working in connection with the seat a³ and
controlling the flow of water through the apparatus; c is the piston working in
the upper part of the casing a, constituting a cylinder therefor; and d is a
shaft or spindle connecting the valve 6 and piston c. The piston c consists of
known pump form or construction, having cup leathers c¹ between upper and lower
plates, the edges of the cup leathers working on a liner c, say of brass or gun
metal, in the upper cylindrical part of the casing a. The valve b consists of a
rubber face 6' held and supported horizontally by the rigid metallic back b³.
The aperture by which the escape of water from, or the control of water in, the
space above the piston c is effected, is regulated in this instance by a valve e.
This valve is worked from the wheel-handle e', the valve disc proper e thereof
closing against its seat, from the inside of the apparatus outwards, and opening
inwards.
As regards the piston c, it is pierced with one or more small holes c¹ to admit of
the flow of water in the manner described between the upper and under sides
thereof; the same effect may, however, be obtained by providing any suitable
conduits connecting the spaces between these parts, or in any other suitable
way. These apertures must be of aggregate area capacity of supply, less than
the orifice controlled by the valve e, and they should preferably be bored
syminetrically.

page_text: In action, water under any pressure of say from a head of four feet, upwards, is
admitted to the apparatus through the branch a', and the valves b and e shut under
the outward pressure. To open the valve b, if the valve e be opened, by turning
the handle so as to move the disc e' off its seat, the valve 6 will be raised,
5 because the pressure in the casing above the piston is relieved, and the area of the
piston c acted upon by the water in the casing a being greater than the area of
the valve b, the surplus of pressure on the piston upwards will raise it towards the
cover or roof of the apparatus, carrying with it the valve b. Since there is a
communication between the space above and below the piston c by way of the
orifices c, a flow of water into the space above the piston will take place, but at
these orifices areas or flow capacities are in their sum, less than that of the
aperture controlled by the valve e, water cannot pass in sufficient quantity to the
upper side of the piston c to exercise a back pressure upon it.
If now the valve e be closed or allowed to close, at once all lifting pressure
ceases from the underside of the piston c, and instead, a reverse pressure is in fact
exerted but as the orifices are small, and the upper cup leather c' expands and
presses upon the walls of the cylinder in which it works, the descent of the piston
and valve b is very gradual, and the valve closes upon its seat without shock.
Further, as all these actions are due to the same head of water, exerted pro-
portionately, it follows that no matter what that head may be, the action produced
will be proportionately the same, and the same gentle closure will be produced;
and so long as the area of the communication conduits between the spaces above
and below the piston c are less in capacity than the opening through the valve e,
the opening and closing of this valve e can be made to control the action of a
piston of any size, and the valve & connected with it.
It will be seen, then, that according to this invention, the efficient regulation of
the apparatus depends upon the relative areas or sizes of the orifice or orifices
connecting the space on the opposite sides of a piston-or its equivalent,-and
that controlled by a valve, tap, or the like, connected with the space on one side of
said piston or its equivalent. In the case of the example given in the drawing,
if the area controlled by the valve e be larger than the other, that is the area of
supply through the piston or otherwise to the space above the piston, say the
former being of an inch, and the latter 16 of an inch, a valve, practically, of
any area, say several feet diameter, can be controlled by the mere pressure
necessary to actuate, or close or open, the orifice in the casing or roof above the
piston.
It is to be stated, that, as regards the general form of valvular apparatus, and
the general construction of the piston and valve connected with it, and the means
for controlling the aperture or conduit through which the escape or relief of
liquid from the space on one side of the piston is effected, or regulated, the
invention is in no way restricted to those set forth more particularly with reference
to the drawings, as the invention may, by simple modifications, and the use of
equivalents of these parts or constructions, be carried out in many different ways
without departing from the principal features or characteristics thereof. Also,
under different conditions or circumstances of application, or to suit special cases,
it may be modified to meet same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described improvement connected with valves or valvular
apparatus for controlling the flow of fluids through or in pipes or conduits,
consisting in operating a valve from a piston, or its equivalent, the pressure of
fluid on the opposite sides of which, and its action, are controlled by or due to the
opening or closing of an aperture or conduit connected with, or relief of pressure
in, a chamber or space on one side of said piston or its equivalent: substantially as
described.

page_text: 2. In a valve or valvular apparatus, a casing or body with inlet and outlet; a
valve controlling the water way through said casing or body; a piston connected
with said valve working in a portion of the said valve casing or body, and having
the liquid acting on one side thereof; a chamber or space on the opposite side of
said piston; apertures or conduits communicating between the opposite sides of
said piston; and a valve, tap, or the like, connected with said chamber or space on
the side of the piston opposite to that presented to or acted upon by the water
flowing through the body, and having an area of outlet larger than that of said
passages or conduits communicating between the opposite sides of the piston.
3. The valve or valvular apparatus having its parts arranged and combined,
and adapted to operate, particularly as set forth with reference to and shewn in
the drawing.
Dated this 18th day of October 1894.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
Fels. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.