IMPROVED TAPS OR COCKS FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF WATER INTO, THROUGH, OR FROM DRACORDING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir John Gray, Knight, of Charleville House, in
the County of Dublin, in Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVED TAPS
OR COCKS FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF WATER INTO, THROUGH, OR FROM
DRACORDING"
Sealed the 14th February 1865, and dated the 19th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir John Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
December 1864.
I, Sir JOHN GRAY, Knight, of Charleville House, in the County of Dublin,
in Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
TAPS OR COCKS POR REGULATING THE FLOW OF WATER INTO, THROUGH, OR FROM
CISTERNS, PIPES, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OR, CONDUITS," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
My Invention has for its object the formation of taps or cocks, especially
those required for affording and regulating the supply of water for domestic
uses, in such a manner as will render their action more certain and effective,
and less liable to derangement, and will also in case of casual derangement
render the examination and re-adjustment of the principal or discharge valve
more facile; and these objects I accomplish by means of mechanical arrange-
ments, the results of which are, that the closing of the principal valve and of
the other valves that may be used is produced by pressure of the water
alone, and that the same action of the parts which gives facile access to the
principal valve, for examination and repair shuts off the flow of water from the
inlet from the street service pipe or other source, so as to prevent its access to
the chamber in which the principal or discharge valve is placed. I now

page_text: proceed more fully to describe, by the aid of the accompanying Drawings and
the letters and figures thereon, and herein following, the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which I carry out the same and effectuate the
objects thereof.
For greater clearness I will first describe and delineate in the Drawing
Fig. I. one mode of adapting my said Invention to the formation of an
ordinary cock to be opened and shut by the hand. Figure I. shows the
principal parts of the cock in outline section of the full size necessary for use
in a moderate sized house supplied directly from a service pipe in which the
water is laid on under a head of one hundred feet. This cock may be said to
consist of three parts, No. 1 the body, about three inches long, and about
seven-eighths of an inch internal diameter; it consists of a capped plug B.
B, B*, a chamber; C, C, below which is the circular valve seat, raised about
one-tenth of an inch, and having a cross diameter of about one-eighth of an
inch. Within and concentric with this circular seat is the discharge opening,
which is about three-eighths of an inch wide; and the discharge valve D
is circular in this Drawing, and is about ths of an inch diameter, and its
spindle, which by preference I make triangular thus , passes through
the round discharge opening, while the valve itself, which may be of metal
faced with soft material, as leather, sits on the valve seat. No. 2 is about
two inches long, and seven-eighth inch diameter, and is more conveniently
made to screw on to the service pipe; it is the inlet part of the cock and-may
be of the same internal diameter as the body No. 1. It has a valve seat, an
inlet opening, and a circular valve with a spindle, all of which may conveniently
be of the same size and form as the same parts placed on the body.
No. 3, Figure I., is the part of the cock in which is placed the arrangement
for regulating the delivery or discharge of water for use by the valve D. It
is shewn in the Drawing so adapted as to be actuated by the hand by means
of the ordinary screw motion by which the cone I is forced inwards and under
the spindle d, and acting as an inclined plane or wedge, forces up the valve
from its seat, and allows the water to escape along the flat sides of the
triangular spindle, through the central hole in which the spindle plays, and
out through the lower or outlet part of the cock J. The handle H may be
prolonged on one side, say, 15 inches, so as to receive a hollow ball, such as is
used with ordinary ball cocks, and the screw in the spindle F may in such case
'be made coarser and of quicker action, so as to open or close by quarter turn
or less, and thus the "hand cock" shewn may be converted into a "ball-cock."
Or the screw might be dispensed with, and the boss E, E, replaced by jaws
to receive a pin or fulcrum at F, the cone I being prolonged to form the short

page_text: arm of a lever to press up the spindle d of valve D, the spindle F itself being
prolonged at H by say 15 inches, to receive a ball; thus making a lever ball
cock instead of a ball cock as above described, actuated by a screw and inclined
plane as the ball might rise or fall with the level of the water in the cistern.
Having thus described the general form and structure of my improved
taps or cocks, I will describe more in detail the working of the operative parts.
A, Figure I., is the inlet valve shewn open; B* is the cone-shaped end of
the screw plug B, B, B*, which being furnished with a cap b, b, forms at once
the screw-down cap or lid for giving access to and closing the top of the
chamber C, C.. This capped screw plug B, B, B*, when being screwed down
impinges on the tapered end of the spindle a of the inlet valve A, and as the
conical end is forced downward by B, B, B*, being screwed home, it acts as
an inclined plane or wedge on the spindle a, forces back the valve A, and
overcoming the water pressure on the surface of the valve A farthest from the
part of the spindle against which the cone is operating, opens a passage for
the water to the body of the cock or chamber C, C, where it presses on the
principal valve D, keeping it perfectly closed until this the outlet valve may
be opened by the action of the arrangement situate at No. 3, Fig. I. In the
normal state of the cock this valve A is open, the capped cone being screwed
down fully, as shewn in Fig. I.
A
At the lower part of Fig. I., No. 3, is shewn the operative portion of the
cock as used for drawing off water by the hand. E, E, is an ordinary hollow
boss, about " internal diameter, having an internal screw thereon.
spindle F, with an external screw thereon, fits into and works in the screw
thread of the boss E, E, which is furnished with the usual gland or stuffing
box arrangement G, G, to keep this part water-tight. H is the cross handle
of the spindle F. These parts are rather indicated than accurately delineated
in the Drawing No. 3, Fig. I., as they are of the ordinary description of screw
arrangement in common use by all skilled plumbers. On the end of the
spindle F is formed or secured a cone I, shewn as of about " diameter at its
base, which when impelled forward by the act of turning the handle H,
impinges on the point of the spindle d of the valve D, and forces the valve up
so as to open a free passage for the water out of the chamber C, C, and thus
a free current passes from the inlet pipe through the central opening in the
valve seat of A through the chamber C, C, on through the opening under D
and out at J. By turning the handle H back, the support afforded to D by
the cone I is removed, and the water pressure again forces down the valve D,
and closes the opening through which the spindle d passes. This condition
of these parts is shewn in Fig. I. The valves A and D and their valve seats

page_text: and spindles are shewn as nearly as possible of the same size, one A being
open, the other D being closed for the purpose of explaining the two opposite
conditions to which they may be brought by the different positions of the
cones B and I.
The valves A and D, and their spindles a and d, may be varied in shape and
material, but I prefer the circular valve with leather facing; and I prefer the
spindles a, d, triangular, moving freely but not loosely in a circular opening,
as shewn by cross section in Fig. 2, the solid central triangle shewing the
spindle, and the three segments of circles colored blue shewing the waterway
left when the valve is raised from the immediately surrounding ring or circle,
the valve seat, by any motive force that forces up the spindle.
The capped, cone plug B, B, B*, can be at any time screwed off to give,
access to the principal valve D, and an examination, and comparison of the
conditions of the valves A and D, as delineated in Fig. I., will shew that
when the cone shaped end of B, B, B, is withdrawn the valve A, pressed on
by the water, will advance in the same proportion as the support given its
spindle a, by the cone B is withdrawn, and that when B, B, B*, is taken
quite away from a, the valve A will be pressed home to its seat by the water
pressure in the inlet pipe, and thus the water will be shut off from the body
or chamber of the cock C, C, and the valve D may be examined, and if
necessary, replaced almost instantaneously, and by screwing down B, B, B*,
the repaired cock may be tested in a very few seconds. The spindle of D in
the Drawing is shewn, with its end which passes through the valve to serve as
a handle for lifting it out for examination, passing into a hollow in the
cone B*.
By a slight modification of the hand cock delineated in Fig. I., I construct
a most useful stop-cock for house service pipes, which if applied, will be found
most advantageous if the house pipes require repair, or, as a means of pro-
tecting the house, pipes, from the injuries to which they are liable by having
water in them ip frosty weather. I project at the side of the, body, No. 1,
Fig. I, opposite to the inlet arrangement No. 2, Fig. I., an exact counterpart
of No. 2, including valve seat and spindle. This, in the "stop-cock" would
occupy on the Drawing Fig. I. the position of the dotted lines marked P.
The cone B, when screwed down, would keep this valve open, as it would the
inlet valve A, and the valve D being always kept shut, there would be. a con-
tinuous onward flow through A to the opposite valve, which would be. placed
at P, and on to the pipe for service within. the house. The spindle of the
valve at P should be left a little longer than the spindle a of valve A.
A convenient proportion I have found to be a 1" the spindle of the valve at

page_text: P 14th inch. The effect of this variance in length is that the valve A would:
on the unscrewing of B, B, B, be closed before the valve with the longer-
spindle situate at P, and the instream would be cut off before the cap and plug
B, B, B*, would be altogether removed. It is obvious that if in frosty weather
the capped cone plug B, B, B*, were partially screwed out, the water from.
the street would be shut off, and the water already in the pipes of the house
no longer sustained by the onward pressure of the water from the street pipe
would change the direction of its current, and flow back to the chamber C, C,.
from which it might conveniently be allowed to flow into a bucket by opening
the valve D. By this means the outer water would be shut off, and the water
already in the pipes drain off so as to protect the whole house system from
frost injuries. This cock, in addition, serves all the purposes of an ordinary
stop-cock. This stop-cock ought in all cases to be made with the upper part
of the body No. 1 reaching down to the seat of the valve D of at least th
inch greater internal diameter than the ordinary cock, as the two projecting
spindles, especially the longer one at P, would otherwise impede the free
removal of the valve D.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sir John Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Sir JOHN
GRAY, Knight, of Charleville House, in the County of Dublin, in Ireland,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Sir John Gray, Knight, Her special licence that I, the
said Sir John Gray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Sir John Gray, 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 "IMPROVED
TAPS OR COCKS FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF WATER INTO, THROUGH, OR
FROM CISTERNS, PIPES, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OR CONDUITS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Sir John Gray, my executors.or

page_text: "
administrators, by an instrument in writing under or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 Sir John Gray, 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 fol-
lowing statement, with the Drawings, Figures, and letter thereto attached
(that is to say):-
The nature and object of my Invention is to construct improved taps or
cocks for the drawing off and regulating the flow of water from or through
cisterns, pipes, or other receptacles or conduits which will be less liable to
derangement, more facile of repair, and more certain in their action than
those hitherto in use, and the parts of which are so formed as to enable the
flow of water to be turned off from the working parts of the tap or cock with
greater rapidity when repair or examination may be required, and to enable
the flow to be restored with similar rapidity when the examination or repair
shall have been completed. To effect this object, I construct the taps or cocks
with two valves, one the discharge valve, the other the inlet valve, which is
also, under certain conditions, capable of acting as a check or stop valve for
the purpose of shutting off the water from the discharge valve during exami-
nation or repair. Each of these valves is closed by the pressure of the water
forcing the disc of the valve down upon its seat, an arrangement common to
many valves now in use. The inlet valve which by my improvement is con-
verted into a check or stop valve by the mere act of removing the cover of the
body of the tap or cock for the purpose of examining or repairing the dis-
charge valve and its appurtenances. The screw-capped cone plug which
effects the above purpose, the adaptation of this mechanism for home service
pipes so as to cut off the supply from without, and draw off the water already
in the pipes, as illustrated by one form shewn at P, in Fig. 1, and the arrange-
ments for adapting the several parts of the tap or cock to these mechanisms,
and for these purposes form the essential portions of my Invention, and those
which I claim as new.
I will now proceed to describe the inlet and check valve in general terms
and afterwards explain it and the other parts in detail by means of Drawings
and figures and letters. This inlet and check or stop valve is placed in a
branch on the side of the body of the tap or cock, as shewn, A, No. 2,

page_text: Figure I. Its spindle (a) projects a short way about of an inch into the
chamber C, C, when the valve is closed, and acting as a check or stop valve,
as shewn in Figure 8 A. This spindle is capable of being forced back by the
action of the screw-capped cone plug B, B, B, shewn in F1; when so
forced back, the disc of the valve which was previously pressed home to its
seat in the branch by the pressure of the water is forced off its seat, and the
water flows under the disk and through the aperture in which the spindle
plays into the chamber C, C, Fig. I., in which the discharge valve is placed ;
the valve A is thus made to act as as an inlet valve. This open or inlet con-
dition of the valve is the normal condition of these parts of the tap, as shewn
at A, No. 2, Fig. 1, this inlet valve being kept open by means of the conical-
capped plug, which when screwed down forms the cover of the chamber or
body of the tap or cock. This capped cone plug serves the purposes of
keeping the valve open so as to serve as an inlet valve and of closing the tap
of the body of the valve by means of its screw and washered cup when
screwed home, as shewn, B, B, B*, N 1, Figure I., and when removed it
serves the purpose of giving free access to the discharge valve in the
chamber C, C, as shewn at Fig. 3, the inlet valve by the removal of the
cone plug being forced home to its seat, and becoming a check valve shuts off
the flow of water, allowing thus of the examination and repair of the discharge
valve.
I will now proceed more fully to describe, by the aid of the accompany-
ing Drawings and the letters and figures thereon and herein following, the
nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which I carry out the same,
and effectuate the objects thereof.
Figure I. shews
of the full siz
For greater clearness, I will first describe and delineate in the Drawing,
Figure I., one mode of adapting my said Invention to the formation of an
ordinary tap or cock to be opened and shut by the hand.
the principal parts of the tap or cock, in outline section,
necessary for use in a moderate sized house supplied directly from a service
pipe in which the water is laid on under moderately high pressure, say about
oue hundred feet. This tap or cock may be said to consist of three parts, No. 1,
the body about three inches long and about seven-eighths of an inch internal
diameter; it consists of a screw-capped cone plug B, B, B+, a chamber C, C,
below which is the circular valve seat raised about one-tenth of au incb, and
having a cross diameter of about one-eight of an inch within, and concentric
with this circular seat is the discharge opening which is about three-eights of
an inch wide. The discharge valve D is circular in this Drawing; its disk is
about five-eights of an inch diameter, and its spindle, which, by preference, I

page_text: make triangular thus , passes through the round discharge opening,
while the valve itself, which may be of metal faced with soft material as
leather, sits on the valve seat. No. 2 is about two inches long and seven-
eighth inch internal diameter, and may be conveniently made to screw on to
the service pipe, as shewn in Fig. III. No. 2 is the branch for the inlet
and check valve of the tap or cock, and may be of the same internal
diameter as the body No. 1. It has a valve seat, an inlet opening, and a
circular valve with a spindle, all of which may conveniently, for the purposes
of repair, be of the same size and form as the same parts belonging placed on
the body for the purposes of discharge. It is obvious that the end of the
service pipe attached to this branch must be of less diameter than the disk of
the valve, or some appliance must be used to prevent the valve from being
forced or drawn back into the service pipe.
No. 3, Fig. 1, is the part of the tap or cock in which is placed the arrange-
ment for regulating the delivery or discharge of water for use by the discharge
valve D. It is shewn in the Drawing so adapted as to be actuated by the
hand by means of the ordinary screw motion by which the cone I is forced
inwards and under the spindle (d,) and which cone 1, acting as an inclined
plane or wedge, forces up the valve from its seat, and allows the water to
escape along the flat sides of the triangular spindle through the central hole
in which the spindle plays and out through the lower or outlet part of the
cock J; this outlet may be of any convenient form. In this description I
have spoken of No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 as parts of the tap or cock, but this
was done only for facility of description, the tap or cock being, in fact, one
casting. The handle H may be prolonged on one side, say fifteen inches, so as
to receive a hollow ball such as is used with ordinary ball-cocks, and the screw
in the spindle F may in such case be made coarser and of quicker action so
as to open or close by a quarter turn or less, and thus the "hand cock" may
be converted into a "ball-cock," or the screw might be dispensed with, and
the boss E, E, replaced by jaws to receive the portions of a lever correspond-
ing with its fulcrum, and furnished with a pin at F to form the fulcrum of
the lever, the cone I being prolonged to form the short arm of the lever to
press up the spindle d of the valve D, the spindle F itself being prolonged at
H by say fifteen inches to receive a ball, thus making a lever ball-cock, instead
of a ball-cock, as above described, actuated by a screw and inclined plane, as
the ball might rise or fall with the level of the water in the cistern.
Having thus described the general form and structure of my improved taps
or cocks, I will describe more in detail the working of the operative parts.
A, Figure I., is the inlet and check valve shewn open; B* is the cone-

page_text: shaped end of the screw capped cone plug B, B, B, which being furnished
with a cap b, b, forms at once the screw-down cap or lid for giving access to
and for closing the top of the chamber C, C. This screw capped cone plug B,
B, B*, when being screwed down impinges on the end of the spindle a of the
inlet and check valve A, and as the conical end is forced downwards by
B, B, B*, being screwed home, it acts as an inclined plane or wedge on the
spindle a, forces back the valve A, and overcoming the water pressure on the
surface of the disk of the valve A farthest from the part of the spindle against
which the cone is operating, opens a passage for the water to the body of the
cock or chamber C, C, where the water presses on the principal valve D,
keeping it closed until this the outlet valve may be opened by the action of
In the normal state of the tap
the arrangement situate at No. 3, Figure 1.
or cock this valve A is open and acts as an inlet valve, the capped cone plug
being screwed down fully, as shewn in Figure I.
At the lower part of Figure I., No. 3, is shewn the operative portion of
the tap or cock as used for drawing off water; it is of the ordinary kind and
has been used before. I do not claim it as new but describe it in order
that the whole operation may be better understood. E, E, is an ordinary
hollow boss about internal diameter, having an internal screw thereon.
A spindle F with an external screw thereon fits into and works in the screw
thread of the boss E, E, which is furnished with the usual gland or stuffing
box arrangement G, G, to keep this part water-tight; H is the cross handle
of the spindle F. These parts are rather indicated than accurately delineated
in the Drawing No. 3, Figure 1, as they are of the ordinary description of
screw arrangement in common use by all skilled plumbers. On the end of
the spindle F is formed or secured a cone I, shewn as of about 3" diameter
at its base, which, when impelled forward by the act of turning the handle H,
impinges on the point of the spindle d of the valve D, and forces the valve
up so as to open a free passage for the water out of the chambers C, C ;
thus a free current passes from the inlet pipe through the central opening
in the valve seat of A, through the chamber C, C, on through the opening
under D, and out at J. By turning the handle H back, the support afforded
to D by the cone I is removed, and the water pressure again forces down
the valve D, and closes the opening through which the spindle (d) passes.
This latter condition of the discharge valve in shewn in Figure I. The
valves A and D, and their valve seats and spindles are shewn as nearly as
possible of the same size, one A being open, the other D being closed, for the
purpose of explaining the two opposite conditions to which they may be
brought by the different positions of the cones B* and I.

page_text: The valves A and D and their spindles a and d may be varied in shape and
material, but I prefer the circular valve with leather facing, and I prefer the
spindles a, d, triangular, moving freely but not loosely in a circular opening
as shewn by cross section in Figure 2, the solid central triangle shewing the
spindle, and the three segments of circles colored blue shewing the water-way
left when the valve is raised from the immediately surrounding ring or circle,
the valve seat by any motive force that forces up the spindle.
The capped cone plug B, B, B*, can be at any time screwed off to give
access to the principal valve D by inserting a pin in the hole X, and using it
as a lever to unscrew, or by any other convenient means, and an examination
and comparison of the conditions of the valve A as delineated in Figure 1 and
F 3, will shew that when the cone shaped end of B, B, B*, is withdrawn,
the valve A pressed on by the water, will advance in the same proportion as
the support given its spindle (a) by the cone B* is withdrawn, and that when
B, B, B, is taken quite away from a, the valve A will be pressed home to its
seat by the water pressure in the inlet pipe, and thus acting as a check valve,
the water will be shut off from the body or chamber of the cock C, C, and the
valve D may be examined, and if necessary replaced, by another almost instan-
taneously. By screwing down B, B, B*, the valve A becomes again an inlet
valve, the water flows freely into the chamber C, C, and the repaired tap or
cock may be tested in a very few seconds. The spindle of D in the Drawing
is shewn with its end, which passes through the valve to serve as a handle
for lifting it out for examination, passing into a hollow in the capped cone
plug B, B, B*.
By a modification of the tap or cock, delineated in Figure 1, I construct a
most useful stop-cock for house service pipes, which will be found most advan-
tageous if the house pipes require repair, or as a means of protecting the
house pipes from the injuries to which they are liable by having water in
them in frosty weather.
At the side of the body No. 1, Figure I., opposite to the inlet arrangement
No. 2, Fig. I., but about half the thickness of the cross section of the
spindle (a) higher up on the body of the cock, which in the tap or cock
delineated, would be about th of an inch higher up, I project an exact
counterpart of No. 2, including valve, seat, and spindle. This in the stop-cock
would occupy on the Drawing, Figure I., the position of the dotted lines
marked P. The cone B, B, B*, when screwed down would keep this valve
open, as it would the inlet valve A, and the valve D, being always kept shut,
except when used to draw off water, there would be a continuous onward
flow through A to the chamber C, C, and on to the opposite valve, which

page_text: would be placed at P, and on to the pipe for service within the house. If
deemed advisable to have these parts No. 2 and P exactly opp site, the spindle
of the valve at P should be left a little longer than the spindle a of valve A,
a convenient proportion I have found to be th inch longer. The effect of
this variance of position or in length, if placed exactly opposite, would be that
the valve A would on the unscrewing of B, B, B*, be closed before the
valve P, and the instream would be cut off before the capped cone plug
B, B, B*, would be so far removed as to allow the valve at P to be closed by
the pressure of the return water. It is obvious that if in frosty weather the
capped cone plug B, B, B*, were partially screwed out, the water from the
street or inlet would be shut off, and the water already in the pipes of
the house no longer sustained by the onward pressure of the water from the
street or inlet pipe would change the direction of its current, and flow back
to the chamber C, C, from which it might conveniently be allowed to flow off
by opening the valve D. By this means the outer water would be shut off,
and the water already in the pipes drawn off, so as to protect the whole house
system from frost injuries. This cock in addition serves all the purposes of
an ordinary stop-cock. This stop-cock might advantageously be made, when
it is desired to place the valve P exactly opposite the valve A, with the upper
part of the body No. 1 reaching down to the seat of the valve D, about
4th inch greater internal diameter than that of the ordinary cock, as if the
two projecting spindles were placed opposite, and the spindle at P conse-
quently longer, and projecting more than of an inch, would impede the
free removal of the valve D.
In Figure 3 I have shewn the capped cone plug removed, and the valve A
acting as a check valve, the valve D being removed for the purpose of
dropping a new one into its place. The outlet J is in Fig. III., shewn as an
ordinary curved outlet. The dotted lines indicating the position of cone I,
with its arrangements for working the discharge valve.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir John Gray, Knight, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.