AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR COCKS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lea, of the firm of William and John Len,
of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR COCKS."
Sealed the 25th April 1856, and dated the 15th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lea at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th November 1855.
I, WILLIAM LEA, of the firm of William and John Lea, of Wolverhampton,
in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of.
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR Cocks'
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in so forming the front part or "nose" of cocks or
taps that they can be screwed off and on the body part thereof at pleasure, or
when it is desired to inspect the passage through the tap or cock or the orifice
through the plug, should such passage or orifice become choked or filled up..
This arrangement affords also great facility for introducing a wire or brush for
the purpose of cleansing the passage; or in some instances, instead of or in
combination with this arrangement, I form an aperture or orifice in the front
part of cocks or taps, and. fit into it a screwed nut, which can be taken out
for inspecting or cleansing the passage in the tap or cock. Either of these,
arrangements is alike capable of being applied to ordinary water, beer, and
steam cocks and taps, or to taps and cocks for any other purpose, or of any.
construction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lea in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LEA, of the firm of William and John Lea, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Lea, Her special licence that I, the said William
Lea, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Lea, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR COCKS," upon, the condition (amongst others), that
I, the said William Lea, 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 William Lea, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof; reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:-
My Invention refers to the constructing of taps or cocks in such manner
that the fluid way through them may be easily inspected and cleaned, and
consists in forming the front part or "nose of cocks or taps so that it may
be screwed off and on the body, or in forming an aperture in the front of cocks
or taps and in fitting into it a screw plug. The "nose" or plug is removed in
order that the fluid way may be inspected and cleaned, by passing a wire or
brush through it, after which tlie "nose" or plug must be replaced.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect is exemplified in the
annexed Drawings.

page_text: Figure. 1 is a side elevation of a tap so formed that the "nose" may be
screwed off and on the body; Figure 2, a sectional elevation of the same;
Figure 3, a view of the "nose" detached. A is the body of the tap; B, the
nose; C, the plug; D, handle or key for turning it; E, fluid way through
the tap. The inner surface of the back part of the "nose" is threaded, and
takes into a corresponding thread on the front of the body of the tap.
Figure 4 is a side elevation, and Figure 5 a section, of another tap in which
the "nose" does not unscrew, but in which access is gained to the fluid way
through a channel in the front of the tap, which is formed with a screw thread
for the reception of a correspondingly threaded plug. A is the body of the
tap; B, clearing channel; C, plug; D, handle or key for turning it; E, fluid
way; G, screwed plug, fitting into the end of the clearing channel.
Figures 6 and 7 shew the Invention applied to a tap in which the fluid is
discharged directly from the plug of the tap. A is the body of the tap; B,
key; C, threaded orifice, into which the screwed plug D fits.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the constructing of taps and cocks in such manner that the "nose"
may be screwed off or removed from the body thereof, for the purpose herein-
before described.
Second, the constructing of taps and cocks with an aperture for the reception
of a plug, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof. I, the said William Lea, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-six.
WILLIAM LEA. (L.8.)