IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMP VALVES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMP VALVES."―A
communication from abroad by William Painter, of the City and
County of Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of North
America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 9th January 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PUMP VALVES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,.
my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and made solemn Declaration that it has been com-
municated to me from abroad by William Painter, of the City and

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Martin Benson, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement:-
My improved valves are adapted to general use as stop or check
valves in any connection, but are more particularly adapted for use in
combination with pumps which are intended to lift and force fluid and
viscous matter from cesspools and other receptacles for refuse matter.
My Invention consists in guarding the valve port by means of one or
more flexible valve flaps, which are arranged to close and guard the port
by an extensive superficial contact of said flap or flaps, cither with a
fixed coincident and more or less unyielding surface substantially
paralell therewith, or by the joint superficial contact of their coincident
faces, and also in such a manner that when at rest said coincident
surfaces shall be in close contact in a plane substantially at right angle
to the plane of the valve port opening, whereby when the said surfaces
are forced or drawn apart a delivery aperture will be presented in a line
substantially coincident with the opening in the valve port, and with a
capacity corresponding with that of the port or approximating thereto to
any desired extent.
In the use of pumps for draining cesspools and for similar purposes
great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in providing a valve
suitable to the peculiar requirements, and one that would not be choked
or clogged by the passage through the pump of such hard and
obstructive matter as is usually liable to be deposited in such vaults.
For such uses this valve is particularly valuable.
Reference will be made to the accompanying Drawings representing
the improved valve by letters of reference marked thereon, which form
part of this Specification.
Fig. 1 is a sido elevation of the improved valve; Fig. 2 is a longi-
tudinal section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view; Fig. 4 is a modified
representation of valve embodying the Invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective

page_text: view of the valve during the passage of an obstructive mass, and Fig. 6
is a longitudinal section of a pump fitted with the valves.
A is a valve plate made to be secured to the interior of a pump
chamber or a pipe; B is the valve port which in this instance is oval in
its outline, and centrally located in the valve plate. The oval port is
surrounded by a flange or collar C, Fig. 2, to which it is secured by
clamps D, D, or other suitable means to the flexible valve plate E.
I find by experiment that it is desirable to employ flaps composed of
soft elastic vulcanized rubber, although other flexible material will pro-
duce approximately desirable results. From the fact however that the
rubber as aforesaid posesses inherent elasticity and those characteristics
which enable it to readily adapt itself to varied conditions and change of
form, I prefer it to any other material for this purpose.
One method of arranging the flap is illustrated in Fig. 1, in which it
will be seen that the outer edges are rivited to each other from the valve
plate to the upper ends. It is practicable to employ a pair of flaps
made in one piece, as for instance, a tubular structure of suitable
material may be flattened for a portion of its length, and held in position
by rivets at the edge or sides applied as in the instance just described.
A better contact of the coincident faces is secured however by the use of
two separate flaps. The lower end of the joined flaps will essentially be
tubular, as at that point they are made to embrace the collar C and are
secured thereto by the clamp D, D.
To prevent the extended ends of the flap from being forced or drawn
back through the valve port B, said flaps are stiffened or braced by
straps F, F, which extends longitudinally from the valve plate on the
flap to a point adjacent to that at which the coincident faces of the flaps
engage with close contact. The functions of these straps is purely that
of a re-enforcing device for preventing the collaps of the tubular portion
of the valve, and at the same time they allow said portion of the valve
to assume any desirable form from that of a tube, with a closed or
flattened end to that of one with a free and open exit aperture.
As before stated when the valve is closed its sides are in close contact
throuought the greater part of its length. This peculiar feature of an
extended superficial bearing surface, between the very flexible and
yielding coincident faces of the valve flaps is the important one in con-
nection with the use for which the valve is particularly valuable. For

page_text: instance, if a piece of solid matter not of greater length than the area of
the coincident faces of the valve flaps should enter it, it will when closed
pack with valve contact on both or all sides of said solid matter
according to its size and its position within the valve, as shown in
Fig. 5.
By reason of the straight, direct, and unobstructed opening through the
valve when the flaps are forced or drawn apart, any more or less solid
substane of less diameter than the opening B, and of an indefinite
length offers no objectionable obstruction, as the sides of the valves
being yielding and elastic they readily adapt or adjust themselves to any
intervening object, and thereby form a complete closeure around it.
This feature is also a very important one in dealing with the material
refered to.
The construction of this valve may be much varied, for instance, one
side of it may be made of metal of a concave form, and the other of
flxible material, which shall conform to the concavity of the rigid side
when the valve is closed, and when distended a round or oblong opening
will be formed between them, such a modification embodying my
Invention, and is shown in Fig. 4, in which G is the flexible valve flap,
and H, the side which presents a parallel coincident surface which may
or may not be clothed with a more or less yielding material for securing.
more perfect operative relations with the valve flap. The results in
this case however will not be as satisfactory as in the form I prefer to
employ it, and as already described as may be readily seen.
I am aware that ordinary flexible tubes in combination with com-
pressing devices have been employed in various forms as stop valves for
controlling the flow of liquids. Such employment of a flexible tube is
well known. The distinctive feature of my valve however as to con-
struction, operation, and adaptation, are very different, as may be
observed from the foregoing Specification.
In Fig. 6 is represented a pump adapted to and fitted with my valve.
The moving box is attached to two piston rods I, which pass through
stuffing boxes J at the sides of the pump barrel K. Power is applied to
said piston rods at the points L, L.
Having thus described my Invention what I claim as new, and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,-

page_text: 1rst. A valve provided with a flexible valve flap having an extensive
superficial area, and arranged so that its face will engage in close contact
with a coincident face of a corresponding area in a plane at right angles
to the plane of the valve opening, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
2rd. A valve composed of flexible valve flaps provided with extensive
superficial areas, and with coincident faces which are arranged to engage
in close contact with each other in a plane at right angles to the plane
of the valve opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3rd. In combination with a valve flap the stiffening or braces F, F,
arranged at the base to prevent collapsing, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
DARIT