IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE OF WATER FROM STAND PIPES, DRINKING FOUNTAINS, AND BALL TAPS OR VALVES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Storey and John Henry Storey, both of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Brassfounders, and Henry
Lea, Mechanical Engineer, and Thomas Lane, Civil Engineer, both
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE OF WATER
FROM STAND PIPES, DRINKING FOUNTAINS, AND BALL TAPS OR VALVES."
Sealed the 12th November 1869, and dated the 14th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Storey, John
Henry Storey, Henry Lea, and Thomas Lane, at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 14th May
1869.
We, ISAAC STOREY, and JoHN HENRY STOREY, both of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Brassfounders, and HENRY LEA, Mechanical
Engineer, and THOMAS LANE, Civil Engineer, both of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said
luvention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE OF

page_text: WATER FROM STAND PIPES, DRINKING FOUNTAINS, AND BALL TAPS OR VALVES,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates in the first place more particularly to the
"stand pipes" employed to furnish supplics of water to the inhabitants
of the localities in which the said stand pipes may be fixed, as is well
understood, but is also applicable, to some forms of drinking fountains.
In the said stand pipe or fountain we employ a valve, the inlet orifice of
which is closed by a diaphragm acted upon by the pressure of the water
when admitted to the back of the said diaphragm. The space at the
back of the said diaphragm is in communication with a small valve,
which when opened relieves the back of the diaphragm from the said
pressure, and thus permits the discharge of water from the main valve.
The said valve together with the pipe communicating with the "main"
arc enclosed in a casing of any convenient and suitable form, the lever
or other equivalent operating on the small valve, or a rod in connection
therewith projecting through the said casing, or being operated upon
through an opening therein, the arrangement being such as that the
discharge of water ceases on the hand being removed from the said lever
or rod, or from the knob or handle attached thereto. The said knob is
50 formed and arranged as that it cannot readily be fixed in a position
which shall allow the water to flow after the aforesaid removal of the
hand, as, for example, it is formed as a slightly tapering cone, with its
apex outwards, and operated by being pulled outwards by the hand; or
it may be in the form of a button actuated by being pressed inwards.
Our improvements in ball laps or valves are designed to give an
intermittent flow of water, the valve remaining closed until a quantity
of water has been withdrawn from the cistern, and after opening
remaining open until the said quantity has been replaced. For this
purpose we employ a self-closing diaphragm tap of the kind hercin-
before referred to, and operato upon the same by means of a floating
ball, but instead of connecting the said ball directly to the lever by
which the tap is opened and closed, we connect the said ball theroto in
the following manner-A wire or rod hooked on or attached to the
said lever, and capable of being adjusted on the said lever to a greater
or less distance from the fulcrum on which the said lever turns, hangs
vertically, or thereabouts, in the cistern to which the ball tap is applied.
The said ball has a tube soldered or otherwise fixed in it, the said tube
crossing the centre of the ball, the before-mentioned rod or wire passing

page_text: through the said tube, the said ball being capable of sliding on the said
rod or wire. By means of two pins or stops passed transversely through
the said rod, or wire, or fixed thereto at points respectively above aud
below the ball, the range of motion of the ball upon the rod or wire can
be determined at pleasure. By the arrangement described the level of
the water in the cistern sinks until the ball by descending on the wire
or rod rests on the lower pin or stop, when its weight causes the lover
upon which it hangs to descend, and the tap is opened; as the level of
the water rises the ball rises on the wire or rod, but the tap is not closed
until the ball coming against the upper pin or stop on the wire or rod
lifts the lever and closes the tap. The said lever and valve are so
proportioned that they remain indifferently in a position suitable either
for opening or closing the tap. By this part of our Invention the
opening and closing of the tap can be made to take place at any
required levels of the water in the cistorn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Isaac Storey, John Henry Storey, Henry Lea,
and Thomas Lane in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
November 1809.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ISAAC
STOREY, and JOHN HENRY STOREY, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Brassfounders, and HENRY LEA, Mechanical Engineer, and
THOMAS LANE, Civil Engineer, both of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Isaac Storey, John Henry Storey,
Henry Lea, and Thomas Lane, Her special license that we, the said
Isaac Storey, John. Henry Storey, Henry Lea, and Thomas Lane, our
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as wc, tire said
Isaac Storey, John Henry Storey, Henry Lea, and Thomas Lane, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE OF WATER FROM STAND
PIPES, DRINKING FOUNTAINS, AND BALL TAPS OR VALVES," upon the condition,
amongst others, that we, the said Isaac Storey, John Henry Storey,
Henry Lea, and Thomas Lane, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or the hand and seal of one of us, 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 John Henry Storey, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the fullowing statement and accompanying Drawings, that
is to say:-
Our Invention relates, in the first place, more particularly to the
stand pipes employed to furnish supplies of water to the inhabitants
of the localities in which the said stand pipes may be fixed, as is well
understood, but is also applicable to some forms of drinking fountains.
In the said stand pipe or fountain we employ a valve, the inlet orifice
of which is closed by a diaphragm acted upon by the pressure of the
water when admitted to the back of the said diaphragm, The space at
the back of the said diaphragm is in communication with a small valve,
which when opened relieves the back of the diaphragm from the said
pressure, and thus permits the discharge of water from the main valve.
The said valve together with the pipe communicating with the main
are enclosed in a casing of any convenient and suitable form, the lever
or other equivalent operating on the small valve, or a rod in connection
therewith projecting through the said casing, or being operated upon
through an opening therein, the arrangement being such as that the
discharge of water ceases on the hand being removed from the said lever
or rod, or from the knob or handle attached thereto. The said knob is
so formed and arranged as that it cannot readily be fixed in a position
which shall allow the water to flow after the aforesaid removal of the
hand, as, for example, it is formed as a slightly tapering cone, with its

page_text: apex outwards, and operated by being pulled outwards by the hand;
or it may be in the form of a button, acluated by being pressed
inwards.
Our improvements in ball taps or valves are designed to give an
intermittent flow of water, the valve remaining closed until a quantity of
water has been withdrawn from the cistern, and after opening remaining
open until the said quantity has been replaced. For this purpose we
employ a self-closing diaphragm tap of the kind herein-before referred to,
and operate upon the same by means of a floating ball, but instead of
connecting the said ball directly to the lever by which the tap is opened
and closed, we connect the said ball thereto in the following manner :-
A wire or rod hooked on or attached to the said lever, and if preferred
made capable of being adjusted on the said lever to a greater or lesser
distance from the fulcrum on which the said lever turns, hangs vertically,
or thereabouts, in the cistern to which the ball tap is applied. The said
ball has a tube soldered or otherwise fixed in it, the said tube crossing
the centre of the ball, the before-mentioned rod or wire passing through
the said tube, the said ball being capable of sliding on the said rod or wire.
By means of two pins or stops passed transversely through the said rod or
wire, or fixed thereto at points respectively above and below the ball, the
range of motion of the ball upon the rod or wire can be determined at
pleasure. By the arrangement described the level of the water in the cistern
sinks until the ball by descending on the wire or rod rests on the lower piu
or stop, when its weight causes the lever upon which it hangs to descend,
and the tap is opened; as the level of the water rises the ball rises on the
wire or rod, but the tap is not closed until the ball coming against the
upper pin or stop on the wire or rod lifts the lever and closes the
tap. The said lever and valve are so proportioned that they remain
indifferently in a position suitable either for opening or closing the tap.
By this part of our Invention the opening and closing of the tap can be
made to take place at any required levels of the water in the cistern.
In order that the nature of the said Invention may be fully
understood I have furnished, to accompany this Specification, a Sheet
of Drawings having letters of reference marked thereupon, the same
letters being used to indicate corresponding parts in the various Figures.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 represents the
upper portion of one of the improved stand pipes having the front plate
of the cover removed to shew the valve; Fig. 2 represents a vertical

page_text: section on the line A, B, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front, and Fig. a side
elevation of one form of the stand pipe shown as when fixed in the
ground; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate some of the modifications which
may be made in the apparatus, by means of which the opening of the
valve is effected.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a is the upper part of the stand or pillar, in which
is enclosed the pipe b, through which water is admitted to the valve c.
The said valve is made of brass or other suitable metal or alloy, and is
formed with an annular chamber d which surrounds the valve face e,
and is in communication with the pipe b. The said valve face is turned
or otherwise formed to a true surface, on which rests the diaphragm
in this example made of leather, and retained in position by the cap g,
which is attached to the body of the valve by means of screws or bolts g',
the diaphragm serving to make a tight joint between the said cap and
the body of the valve. A portion of water is allowed to flow from the
chamber through the small hole or passage à into the chamber of the
small controlling valve i, and thence through the passage h' formed in
the cap g into the space above the diaphragm, so that by these means
there is an equal pressure of water per square inch on both sides of the
said diaphragm, and as the upper surface exposes a larger area to the
said pressure than the lower surface the said diaphragm is maintained
in close contact with the valve face, and the flow of water through the
valve is thereby prevented for so long a time as the aforesaid controlling
valve is kept closed, a plate of metal which is secured to the back of
the diaphragm serving to relieve the portion of the said diaphragm
which is immediately over the discharge orifice e' from the direct
pressure of the water. The controlling valve i rests on a seating,
consisting in this example of a leather washer, and the said valve is
capable of being raised to some extent off the said seating by means of
the lever mounted on the fulcrum &, one end of which lever is formed
of a button shape, and is presented at an opening formed in the side of
the cover a which encloses the valve, the other end of the said lever
being furnished with a weight. When it is required that water shall
flow through the valve pressure is applied to the button on the end of
the lever j, and by reason of the said lever being cranked the said
pressure raises the opposite end of the lever, and the said lever coming
into contact with the lower end of the valve i the said valve is raised
from its seating, and as the water flowing through the passage / may

page_text: now discharge itself through the opening thus formed by the raising
of the said valve it follows that the pressure acting on the back or
upper side of the diaphragm will fall so considerably below the pressure
acting on the under side thereof that the said diaphragin will be raised
to some extent from off its seating, and the water will be at liberty to
flow through the discharge orifice e'. When the pressure is removed
from the aforesaid button the weight j' restores the lever j to its former
position, the valve i closes, and as a consequence the pressure on the
back of the diaphragm is re-established and the flow of water ceases.
In Fig. 5 a modification is shewn. In this example the button is
separate from the lever j and is fitted to slide in a bush fixed to the
side of the cover a', the shank of the said button acting on the cranked
end of the lever j, when pressure is applied to the said button, the action
being similar, as in the last example.
Fig. 6, which is drawn about one-half the full size, illustrates another.
method of operating on the lever j. In this example the said lever
projects through the side of the cover a' and into the guard m, and a
conical or tapering handle » is suspended from the end of the said lever.
When it is desired to open the valve the aforesaid handle is drawn
down, as for example, by the finger and thumb of one hand, the action
of the lever j being as herein aforesaid. In some cases it may be
desirable that it should be necessary to employ a key to effect the
opening of the valve. An arrangement of this description is illustrated
at Fig. 7, wherein o is a lever formed with a boss which fits into a
bearing formed in the body of the valve, and in the said boss is formed
a keyhole, shewn of a square form in the Drawing. A portion of the
aforesaid boss is removed so as to form a recess, shewn by the thick dotted
lines, which recess is entered by the lower end of the valve i, and when
the aforesaid lever is turned by means of a suitable key the lower part
of the said recess comes into contact with the said valve and raises it,
the succeeding action of the valve being as previously described. The
arrangements for lifting the said valve i may be variously modified, it
being desirable in all cases that the water shall cease to flow when the
hand is removed from the lever button, key, or other equivalent acting
directly or indirectly on the valve i.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the case containing the valve is represented as being
fixed to the upper part of a cast-iron pillar fitted with a cover p, on
removal of which access may be had to the stop tap, but the said case

page_text: may be fixed to a wood pillar or plank adapted to be secured to a wall,
or may be otherwise fitted to suit varying circumstances.
In Fig. 8 a cistern or tank is represented as fitted with the improved
"ball" or float valve. The said valve is shewn at g, and does not differ
in its mode of action from the valve employed in the stand pipe, with
the exception that the lever acting on the controlling valve i is acted
upon by a float in manner as will be described. The lever is mounted
on a pin or fulcrum at a, and is fitted at its longer end with a rod or
wire, upon which the hollow float is free to rise and fall, for which
purpose the said float is fitted with a metal tube of a size suitable to
slide on the said rod, and of a length sufficient to reach accross the
interior of the said float, the ends of the said tube being soldered to the
said float, or the connection is otherwise made water-tight. The action
of the valve is as follows, namely, when the cistern is filled as high as
may be desirable the ball will be at the upper end of the rod, as shown
by the full lines, and as water is withdrawn from the cistern the said
float will slide down the rod until it rests upon the stop or collar c, and
as the water is further withdrawn the weight of the float will draw
down the lever into or near the position shewn by the dotted lines, and
the shorter end of the lever will thereby rise and will raise the valve i
and the water will flow into the cistern. As the cistern is being refilled
the float will rise until it bears against the end of the lever, when by
means of its buoyancy it will raise the said lever and the water will
cease to flow. During the time in which the float is sliding down the
rod the lever is sustained by the resistance of the valve i, but in case
the pressure on the said valve is inadequate for this purpose the said lever
requires to be partly counterbalanced, as shewn at Figs. 9 and 1.0, which
represent cross sections through the valve, drawn to a larger scale than
the previous Figure. In these Figs. the short end of the lever is
shown as extended sufficiently to effect the partial counterbalancing as
aforesaid.
Fig. 9 represents the valve as when closed, and Fig. 10, as when open,
this last Figure also illustrating the opening action of the valve, shewn
as closed in Fig. 2. In Fig. 9 the stem of the valve i is shewn as
jointed to the lever r. This modification may be adopted either in the
case of the ball valve or of the stand pipe or fountain, if preferred, to the
arrangement shewn in the other Figures.

page_text: Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with
means for carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it to be
distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves to the precise
details, as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, but that we claim as our Invention,―
First. With reference to stand pipes and drinking fountains, tho
employment of diaphragm valves, acting in manner as or similarly as
herein-before described.
Secondly. The arrangements for controlling the action of the said
valves, as and for the purposes as herein-before described, and as illus-
trated at Figures 1, 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying Drawings, or any
mere modifications thereof.
Thirdly. With reference to ball valves, the employment of floats
formed and fitted to slide on rods or wires suspended from or attached
to the operating levers of the said valves, and acting in manner sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
And, lastly. The construction and employment of ball valves, made
and acting substantially as herein-before described, and as illustrated by
Figures 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Storey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelvth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOHN HENRY STOREY. (L.S.).
Signed and sealed, by the said
John Henry Storey, in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentees,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.