AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Howell, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Gas Fitter, and Richard James Willder, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Hatter, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Howell and
Richard James Willder at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their, Petition, on the 21st January 1859.
We RICHARD HOWELL of Smethwick in the County of Stafford Gas
Fitter and RICHARD JAMES WILLDER of Birmingham 'in the County of
Warwick Hatter do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention' for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR STOP-COCKS" to be as
follows;
Our said Invention consists in the use of a packing inserted in "slots or
depressions in the barrel of the tap or stop-cock against which said packing
the plug of the stop-cock works and the tap or stop-cock is thereby inade water,
gas or steam tight. Or the said slots and packing may be in the plug instead
of the barrel. In carrying our Invention into effect we prefer to make a
series of slots or depressions on the inner surface of the barrel of the tap or
stop-cock the said slots being by preference made in a vertical position that
is to say parallel to the axis of the said barrel: 'We fill the said slots or
22467-1.

page_text: depressions with a mixture of tow and grease or other packing which said
packing we force down tightly in the said slots or depressions. Instead of
making the slots in which the packing is placed in the barrel of the tap or
stop-cock we sometimes make the said slots and place the said packing in the
plug of the tap or stop-cock the said slots being made on the outer or convex
surface of the plug. We prefer however placing the slots and packing in
the barrel of the tap or stop-cock.
Instead of a packing of tow we sometimes use a metallic packing such as
a packing of lead or brass.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Howell and Richard James Willder in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 20th July 1859.
TO".
ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME we RICHARD
HOWELL of Smethwick in the County of Stafford Gas Fitter and RICHARD
JAMES WILLDER of Birmingham in the County of Warwick Hatter, send
greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of January in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine in the twenty-second year of Her
reign did for Herself Her heirs and successors give and grant unto us the
said Richard Howell and Richard James Willder Her special licence that
we the said Richard Howell and Richard James Willder our executors,
administrators and assigns or such others as we the said Richard Howell and
Richard James Willder our executors, administrators and assigns should at
any time agree with and no others from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 STOP-COCKS" upon the condition (amongst others)
that we the said Richard Howell and Richard James Willder our executors
or administrators by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals or under the hand and seal of one of us or them 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.
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page_text: NOW KNOW YE that I the said Richard Howell on behalf of myself
and the said Richard James Willder do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention and in. what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof that is
to say.
..Our said Invention consists in the use of a packing or lining inserted and
fixed. in slots, or depressions in the barrel of the tap or stop-cock against which
said packing or lining the plug of the stop-cock works and the said stop-cock
thereby. made. water gas or steam tight. The said packing or lining may be
confined,.to the slots. or be made to extend from slot to slot so as to com-.
pletely, cover. the inner surface of the barrel of the said tap or stop-cock. Or
the packing when made of metal may be inserted and fixed in slots in the
plug instead of the barrel...
Figure 1.of the accompanying Drawing represents in vertical longitudinal
section a tap or stop-cock constructed according to one of the methods consti-
tuting our Invention and Figure 2 represents a horizontal, section of the same
taken through the line a Figure 1. The same letters' indicate the same parts
in the several Figures. a is the barrel of the tap or stop-cock in which said
barrel the plug 6, works and c d are the water ways of the tap or stop-cock.
The plug, and cap by which the said plug is held down are indicated in
dotted lines in Figure 1. ..In the inner or concave surface of the said barrel a
we make four or other convenient number of slots or depressions marked e
the said slots, or depressions being made in a vertical position' that is to say
nearly parallel to the axis of the said barrel and at a short distance above
and below the water ways c d in the said barrel a we make annular slots or,
depressions, marked f. f the said depressions f. f running round the said
barrel in a horizontal direction. The vertical slots or depressions e. e open
into the horizontal slots or depressions f. f as seen in Figure 1. Instead of
the vertical slots e..e we sometimes make the slots oblique that is to say
slightly inclined to the axis of the barrel a or passing round the barrel in a
slightly spiral direction. We fill the said slots or depressions e e and f.f.
with a mixture of tow and grease or other packing which said packing we
force down tightly in the said slots. Or instead of a packing of tow and grease;
we sometimes use a metallic packing such as a packing of the alloy called
gun metal or-of lead or of brass or other suitable metallic packing. Figure 3
represents in vertical longitudinal section and Figure 4 in horizontal section,
a.tap or stop-cock to which a metallic packing according to our Invention is!
applied the said metallic packing having been cast, in the slots in the barrel,
The said packing is marked g
:: 0

page_text: When we carry our Invention into effect by the use of a metallic packing
we run the metal into the slots or depressions in the barrel of the tap in the
manner represented in Figure 5 of the Drawing that is to say after the
slots or depressions e ef. f Figures 1 and 2 have been made we invert
the tap and insert in its barrel a metallic plug or core which said core
completely fills up, excepting a small space at the top, the said barrel. By
pouring the fused metal through a hole i made in the bottom of the barrel
the said metal passes to the horizontal slot f made near the bottom of
the barrel and thereby communicates with the vertical slots and from the
said vertical slots to the horizontal slot f near the top of the said barrel.
The fused metal is thus made to completely fill the slots or depressions as seen
in Figures 3 and 4. When we carry our Invention into effect by the use of
a continuous metallic packing or lining fixed in the barrel by means of slots or
depressions we make the core or plug used in the barrel while the metal is
being poured of a diameter slightly less than that of the plug or core h
represented in Figure 5 the flange 3 of the said core remaining the same; the
diminished diameter of the core being equal to the thickness of the packing or
lining it is wished to cast in the barrel. When the last described core is
inserted in the barrel an annular space is left between the said core and
barrel which said space and the slots in the barrel are filled with the metal
poured through the hole . The water ways c. d are stopped by cores during
the casting of the continuous packing or lining. After the metal has been
poured into the slots or depressions the hole i in the bottom of the tap is
closed in any convenient manner. When we employ a continuous lining the
vertical slots need only be made to extend part way down the barrel. Figure 6
represents in horizontal section a táp or stop-cock with a continuous metallic
packing made according to our Invention the said continuous metallic packing
being marked k.
When we carry our Invention into effect by the use of a metallic packing
inserted and fixed in slots in the plug of the tap or stop-cock we make the
said slots in the outer or convex surface of the said plug the said slots being
made either in a vertical or oblique direction. We prefer however to carry
our Invention into effect by the use of a packing or lining inserted and fixed
in slots in the barrel of the tap or stop-cock.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner of
carrying the same into effect we wish it to be understood that we do not
limit ourselves to the precise details herein described as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of our Invention but we claim as
our Invention firstly a metallic or non-metallic packing or lining inserted and

page_text: fixed in slots or depressions made in the barrels of taps or stop-cocks or a
metallic packing fixed in slots in the plugs of taps or stop-cocks for the
purpose of preventing leakage between the said barrels and plugs of the said
taps or stop-cocks as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.
Secondly the method herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing of fixing a continuous packing or lining in the barrels of taps or
stop-cocks that is to say by the use of slots or depressions made in the said
barrels.
In witness whereof I the said Richard Howell have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Nineteenth day of July in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness
RICHARD SKERRETT
Clerk to George Shaw.
RICHARD HOWELL. (L.S.)