IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND SPECIAL APPLICATION OF VALVES
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Somerville at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 29th June 1876.
_John SomervilLE, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND SPECIAL APPLICATION OF VALVES."
"
This Invention relates to, and has for its object the construction of valves for
being specially applied to the drawing off and vent or other holes of casks, vats,
and other vessels, for the purpose of closing these, and preserving them sweet and
fresh after the liquors or liquids have been drawn off; and the nature and novelty
of the Invention consist in fitting a liquid-tight annular or other equivalent valve
seat on to or into the wood or case of the cask or other vessel, on the inside and
around, or with a central hole through it at the part where the tap, valve, or other
equivalent is to be inserted from the outside for the drawing off of the liquid, or it
may be for the admission of air to assist this, or for ventilation as at the "spile"
hole, and in hinging or otherwise fitting a valve lid thereon, so that it would be
closed on the inside by a spiral or other spring, upon an india-rubber or other
liquid-tight jointing or face on the valve seat, so that in its normal position or state
it would close the hole formed or to be formed through the body or end of the cask
or other vessel where the liquid was drawn off, and yet yield or be folded or
pushed back against the power of the spring by the insertion of the end of the
drawing-off tap or valve, screwed or otherwise (or the spile pin, as the case may be)
inserted through the said hole or holes and body of the cask or vessel, so that when
the liquid was drawn off and the tap or spile removed the lid would be pushed
back by the spring against the valve seat, and so prevent the admission of air, rain
water, or other fluid, which would acidify or otherwise injure the interior of the
cask or vessel for future use.
The face or faces of the annular or other valve seat might by one arrangement be
formed with undercut recesses and rings of india-rubber or other material, which
would make fluid or air-tight joints, either by screwing these to or into the wood
or body of the cask or vessel, and although these valves have been described
specially for the drawing off taps and spile holes they might be made large enough
to surround and be fixed on the inside of the bung holes of casks, or be attached to
the bung itself, or to the bush of the bung hole, or be combined with both, and the
latter might be made of metal or wood, or part metal and part wood, and have a
band or ring of india-rubber or other liquid or air-tight material fitting round the
[Price 2d.]

page_text: bush or bung; the latter of which might have a spile or vent hole suitably shaped
through it (which might also be used as a keyhole for locking by an inner arrange-
ment into bush or cask); the spile or vent peg to operate upon the valve in the
same manner as described above. India-rubber or other liquid or air-tight material
might be applied in a similar way to the tap or other vent hole or holes in the cask
or vessel.
The metal composing the valves and their connections may be zinked, galvanized,
or coated with varnish, or other like material, to prevent injury to the liquids or
valves themselves.