IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR Cocks
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davis, of Southampton, in the County of
Hampshire, Plumber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR
Cocks."
Sealed the 6th February 1855, and dated the 8th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th November 1854.
I, GEORGE DAVIS, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR COCKS" to be as follows:-
Instead of the usual tap or cock, I propose (principally for the purpose of
high-pressure services) to use a weighted lever, either closing by the usual
copper ball, or by weights at the end of lever for ball, stop, and bib cocks; the
lever is balanced by a piston and valve working within a cylinder, and having
an undershot valve, so as to resist pressure. This valve is armed with leather,
or other suitable material, to render the closing thereof air-tight. The lever
works on a loose fulcrum to enable the piston to work vertically.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIS, of Southampton, in the County of Hampshire, Plumber, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Davis, Her special license that I, the said George Davis,
my executors,, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Davis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TAPS OR COCKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Davis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 George Davis, 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,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming
part of this my Specification, and to the letters of reference marked on the
Diagram, to denote the mechanical parts of cock or tap.
My Invention has for its object the more easy and effectual working of the
water cock or tap, and by its use the various obstructions often complained of
will no longer exist, the obtaining or shutting off the supply of liquid being
thereby rendered certain.
↑
In the Diagram given on the Drawing, it will be observed that the valve of
the tap a is closed by the pressure of water thereupon, and is opened or raised
by the action of the lever (which may be of any size or form), marked b, which
lever is attached, either as shewn or in any convenient manner, to the upper
end of a piston c, to which the valve a is also attached. The lever may be
raised either by pressure of the hand weight or a screw therein, so that when
the valve is on its seat d, the pressure of water or other liquid will have a
tendancy to keep the tap from leaking, and the greater such pressure may be,
the more effectual will be the action of the valve. The valve may be made or
composed of leather, or any other suitable material, for the purpose required,
which is, that the valve, being of double action, may prevent water or other
liquid getting under it, so as to shut it too suddenly, and counteracting cou-

page_text: cussion under high pressure. Under the valve a, which rests on the valve seat d,
is placed a thin piece of leather e, or other suitable substance, whose office it is
to permit the water to rise from under the valve a as it is lowered, to give
place for the valve to fall, and on the said valves rising to shut off, to fall
back again on the brass nut f, to prevent the water from passing under till
the valve is at its seat. In order to prevent leakage at the top of the cock or
tap, a stuffing box g (filled with leather, caoutchouc, or any suitable substance
or material,) is made; this stuffing box may be screwed down with a nut h,
or it may be used without the said screw h when deemed advisable. The
lever b rests on a loose or vibrating fulcrum i, in order to prevent friction on
the piston c and facilitate its action, and as it vibrates or moves as the lever is
worked, its play allows the piston to rise or fall perpendicularly. By the fore-
going description of parts and their combination, as illustrated in the Drawing,
my Invention will be easily understood by all persons accustomed to work in
hydraulics.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
it is to be performed or carried into practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before set
forth, or to the shape, form, size, or pattern of the cocks and taps, or parts
thereof, made under and according to my Invention, as such may be and
indeed must be varied to suit the circumstances of particular cases without at
all departing from the principle of my improvements; nor do I lay claim to
the exclusive use of any of the mechanical parts taken seperately as parts
and not combined, or for the purposes of my Invention, which I declare to be,
and I claim, the combination of parts herein-before described, by which a valve
is opened and closed by a lever resting upon a vibrating fulcrum, such valve
being constructed so as to prevent the sudden closing of the tap, and thus
forming an improvement in taps or cocks.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davis, have hereunto affixed my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five
Witness,
HENRY RICHARD HOLLOWAY,
of 27, Alfred Street, Southampton.
GEORGE DAVIS. (L.S.)