Improvements in Plumbers' Waste Pipe Traps.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 24th May, 1892-Accepted, 13th Aug., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by FREDERICK NELSON DU BOIS, of No. 245, Ninth
Avenue, New York, in the United States of America, Manufacturer of
Plumbers' Traps.]
Improvements in Plumbers' Waste Pipe Traps.
I EDWARD STRONG TORREY of 56 Torrington Square in the County of London
Merchant 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 object of my invention is to produce a U shaped trap connected to the
discharge pipe by an intermediate hard metal section, in which is placed an open
bottom turn cock or valve axially in line with one leg of the trap proper, and
having a lateral discharge into the delivery section, so as to form the delivery bend
of the trap.
In the annexed drawing, making part of this Specification
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a trap in which the water seal and delivery sections
are of wrought or cast lead connected by soldering to the intermediate hard metal
section.
Fig. 2 is a similar section of a trap formed entirely of brass or other suitable cast
hard metal..
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the trap of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is an elevation of the turn cock or valve.
The same letters are employed in all the figures in the designation of identical
parts.
The U-formed section, which forms the trap proper, is indicated by a.
This
section may be made all of brass, or other suitable composition metal, by casting in
one piece, as shown in Fig. 2. Or the valve and casting & may be cast in hard
metal, and the rest of the trap of cast or wrought lead, the parts being soldered, or
otherwise united, as shown in Fig. 1.
An open bottom turn cock or valve which unlike the ordinary faucet is
cylindrical instead of tapered, is placed in the section b, and as its receiving
and discharging openings are in planes at right angles to one another, it forms,
in whole or in part, one of the bends where the water is deflected at, or nearly
at, right angles, in passing from the receiving to the discharging pipe or section.
The water being delivered through the water seal or trap proper, a, enters the
open bottom of the turn cock or valve f, and passes out at g, into the discharge c,
which is cast integral with the valve casing b, and, in practical use would be
connected by soldering, as shown at e in Fig. 1, or by a coupling, as shown at / in
Fig. 2, with a discharge pipe shown at d Fig. 1, which may lead away the water in
any desired direction. This pipe d may, or may not, form a part of the trap as
sold. The trap, as an article of manufacture, is made up of the U-formed section a,
which forms the trap proper, the part b, whether integral with, or connected to, the
trap a, the open bottom plug f, which, as it discharges the water in a line
substantially at right angles to the line in which it receives it, forms one of the bends
of the trap, and the part c. The open bottom plug thus forms one of the bends,
and is the element which connects the receiving and the discharging ends of the trap.
It is placed axially, in the line of the trap proper, and its bore being identical with
that of the leg to which it is connected, it affords no lodging place for the fibrous
and fuzzy and other matters so liable to gather wherever they can lodge against the .
wall of a trap. So also the bore of the lateral opening is coincident with the bore
of the discharge pipe with which it is connected.
The turn cock or valve, as shown in Fig. 4, is cup formed, being open at the

page_text: bottom, and with a lateral discharge at g. The upper end is closed by a head, and
formed with a handle h, by which it may be turned. It extends above the end of
the trap proper, as shown at i, and is held in place by the head of the screw j, tapped
into a leg on the trap, or by a flange or catch of any sort which will permit the
valve to be turned freely, but not allow it to be withdrawn until freed by.
withdrawing the catch, and then the valve may be takencout to give ready access
to the interior of the trap in its axial line for cleaning-it, thus taking the place
of the plugs cominonly tapped into traps at their bends for the same purpose.
The wall of the brass section, or portion b, which receives the turn cock or
valve, is extended above the plane of the top of the discharge opening, and as
that is of the full diameter of the open bottom, the water in flowing through
will not rise to the level of the top of the vertical leg, or valve chamber, and,
consequently, will not overflow, and any leakage into the space around the
valve will find its discharge through the outlet e, and, consequently, the valve
and its seat, if carefully turned and fitted, will not require to be ground.
Horizontally the valve opening g will be in perfect register with the discharge c,
but when, for any reason, the trap is not to be used for any time, sufficient to
cause the evaporation of the water in the trap, 'the valve should be turned out
of register, and thus the escape of poisonous gas from the sewer into the
apartment will be effectually prevented. This is liable to occur, not only in
houses which are closed for a season, but also in apartments in infrequent use,
or in cases where a deficient head of water leaves the basins, etc. in the upper
rooms above the reach of the water supply, and so, liable to lose by evaporation,
the water which makes the seal.
I am aware of Letters Patent No. 302,728 (United States of America) in
which a trap formed with a loop, like that of a trumpet, was made with a three
way cock in the bottom of the loop and across the same, to serve as a drain, or a
stop cock, according to its position. Not only was that trap, as a whole, of an
entirely different class from mine, but it had the inevitable defects inherent in such
a stop cock placed across the bore of a pipe, viz., it requires to be double the
circumference, and a little more, in order that the circular holes shall register with
two opposite pipes, and have an equal amount of blank wall with which they register
when the connection is to be cut off, plus a little lap. To double the circumference
the diameter is double, and, consequently, a turn cock which is placed across a
conduit pipe to close or open the current, must have double the weight of brass, and
double the finished surfaces required for one placed, like mine, receiving the water
axially through its open bottom, and discharging it laterally through a hole in its
side, or rice versa.
I do not therefore claim a trap with a turn cock, broadly. Nor do I claim a trap
alone, nor an open bottom turn cock or valve alone, for both are old.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
A waste pipe trap of uniform bore throughout, the delivery bend of which is
formed by a cylindrical open bottom and lateral delivery turn cock or valve and its
casing, placed in the axial line of the trap, and having its joint above the water line,
substantially as set forth.