IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUIDS
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Talbot Kent at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
December 1866.
I, JAMES TALBOT KENT, of Norden, Corfe Castle, in the County of Dorset,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS
OR COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the construction of a tap or cock - by
means of which the exact quantity of spirits, wine, or other fluids required at
one time may be drawn off from the cask or other receptacle, and thus
inaccuracy of measurement or waste of the fluid be prevented. For this
purpose I form upon the tap, by preference beneath the shank of the same, a
chamber of such a capacity as will just contain the quantity of fluid required
to be drawn off at one time. A hollow conical plug passes through both the
shank of the tap and the said chamber, and is open at bottom to allow the
fluid to pass out; this plug is provided with a transverse partition, whereby
the fluid is prevented from passing out directly from the shank through the
open end, and above and below such partition it has apertures formed in its
side in such a manner that by turning it into a certain position a communi-
cation is established between the shank of the tap and the said chamber, so as
to allow the fluid to pass from the cask into the chamber, while by turning it
into another position such communication is cut off and a communication
established between the chamber and the open end of the plug, so as to allow
the quantity of fluid with which the chamber has been filled to pass out; and

page_text: again by turning the plug into a third position such two above-mentioned
communications- are opened simultaneously, so as to allow the fluid to pass
continuously from the cask or other receptacle, first into the said chamber, and
thence out through the orifice of the plug when a greater quantity of the fluid
is required to be drawn off than the said chamber will contain. If, however,
the quantity of fluid required be twice, three times, or any other multiple of
the capacity of the chamber, such exact quantity may of course be drawn off
by filling and emptying the said chamber several times consecutively; or the
said chamber may be divided by a diaphragm into two, and other openings be
formed in the plug in such manner that by turning it into a certain position a
communication is established between the cask and only one of the chambers,
while by turning it into another position a communication is established between
the cask and both chambers, according as a smaller or greater quantity of fluid
is required to be drawn off; or instead of establishing the communication
between the two chambers by the same plug that effects the filling and
emptying of the same a separate plug or valve may be provided for effecting
their intercommunication. An aperture is, by preference, provided in front
of the chamber or chambers ordinarily kept closed by a screw cap, through
which aperture the chamber or chambers may be cleaned out when required;
such cap may also be provided with a glass face, through which 'the height
of the fluid in the chamber may be observed, and by marking upon such glass
face a scale corresponding with the different levels of the fluid corresponding
with different quantities it will be evident that such different quantities may
be accurately drawn off by means of the tap. In such case it is preferable
to 'fix upon the shank of the tap a small spirit levél in order to insure its
being in a perfectly 'horizontal position.