IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPE, VALVES, AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND REGULATING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Edward Keen, of 15, Old Change, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPE,
VALVES, AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND REGULATING THE FLOW
OF LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS."
Scaled the 31st May 1861, and dated the 3rd December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Edward Keen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd December 1860.
I, RICHARD EDWARD KEEN, of 15, Old Change, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COCKS, TAPS, VALVES, AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND REGULATING THE
FLOW OF LIQUIDS, STEAK, AND GAS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
First, the several parts of the apparatus are arranged so as to form a com-
bination of two or more distinct means of stopping or regulating the flow of
the liquid steam or gas (each capable of being made to act in the absence of
the other), by being so formed and disposed that the flow of the liquids, steam,
or gas, passing through the apparatus is first checked by the sliding, turning, or
otherwise passing of one or more portion or portions of the apparatus over,
into, or across the aperture through which the liquid steam or gas flows, and
is finally stopped by the same or other portion or portions forming with or
without the remaining part or parts of the apparatus a valve and seating, or

page_text: plug and socket, to be assisted or not as occasion may require by further
means of stopping and tightening the same, and consequently providing at
least double security; the pressure being so checked by the first part of the
action, and the resistance thereof so sustained by the parts when at rest that
the valve parts of the apparatus are protected not only from the strain and
wear, but also from corrosion and other prejudicial effects consequent upon
the constant pressure or other action of the liquids, steam, or gas upon them.
And, secondly, one or more portion or portions of the apparatus is or are so
formed that the pressure acting upon it or them has the effect of closing the
apparatus, and therefore stopping the flow of the liquids, steam, or gas without
the aid of any mechanical or other agency, thereby preventing accident or
waste through intention or negligence.
The objects of the said Invention may be attained in various ways; for
instance, the plug of the cock may be made cylindrical with a conical bottom,
and may slide up and down in the cylindrical portion of the body across the 1
aperture or water way to check the pressure, and may form with the bottom
or conical portion of the body or outlet a valve to stop the flow of the liquids,
steam or gas, or the plug may be formed and turned round as in cocks of
ordinary construction to check the pressure, and be made to raise and lower
(by a screw or any other known means) a loose valve at the bottom of the 2
body, as in ordinary valve cocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Edward Keen in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD:
EDWARD KEEN, of 15, Old Change, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Edward Keen, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Edward Keen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, tho said Richard Edward Keen, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, VALVES, AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND
REGULATING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, STEAM, AND GAS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Edward Keen, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Richard Edward Keen, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, first, of the arrangement of the several parts of the
apparatus in such manner as to form a combination of two or more distinct
means of stopping or regulating the flow of the liquid steam or gas (each
capable of being made to act in the absence of the other) by being so formed
and disposed that the flow of the liquid steam or gas passing through the
apparatus is first checked by the sliding, turning, or otherwise passing of one
or more portion or portions of the apparatus over, into, or across the aperture
through which the liquid steam or gas flows, and is. finally stopped by the
same or other portion or portions, forming with or without the remaining part
or parts of the apparatus a valve and seating, or plug and socket, to be assisted
or not as occasion may require, by further means of stopping and tightening
the same, and consequently providing at least double security;
the pressure
being so checked by the first part of the action, and the resistance thereof so
sustained by the parts when at rest, that the valve parts of the-apparatus, are
protected not only from the strain and wear, but also from corrosion and other
prejudicial effects consequent upon the constant pressure or other action of
the liquids, steam, or gas upon them. The objects of this portion of my.
Invention may be attained in various ways; for instance, the-plug of the cock
may be made cylindrical, with a conical bottom, and may, by means of a
screw, lever, crank, cam, slot and pin, rack and pinion; or any other agency,
be made to slide up and down in the cylindrical portion of the body across the
aperture or water way to check the pressure, and may form, with the bottom
or conical portion of the body or outlet, a valve to stop the flow of the liquids,
steam, or gas, or the plug may be formed and turn round as in cocks of
ordinary construction to check the pressure, and be made to raise and lower
(by a screw or any other known means) a loose valve at the bottom, as in

page_text: ordinary valve cocks, to stop the flow of the liquid, steam, or gas, or a slide
valve or a flap valve of ordinary construction may be used to cover the orifice
of the water way, or the shank or body may be made of two tubes, one inside
the other, and each having an aperture or water why, in its side to: correspond
with that in the other, so that one being fixed by sliding or turning the other,
the two apertures may be brought together to open the water way, or separated
to close it in lieu of the plug to check the pressure, any of which may or may
not be accompanied by or connected with an ordinary valve at the bottom of
the body or outlet to stop the flow of the liquid, steam, or gas; but by
preference I adopt a cock made in the form of the letter T turned down, so
that the head may be in a vertical position, and constitute the body of the
cock and the foot in a horizontal position, and constitute the shank or service
way, which may be more fully described by reference to the accompanying
Drawings, of which Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of a complete cock;
Fig. 2, a plan of the body, with the metallic washer in its position; Fig. 3, an
elevation of the plug; Fig. 4, an elevation of the spindle or acting medium;
and Fig. 5, a plan of the metallic washer, all drawn the full size of a 4-inch
steam cock. The plug (8) is made to fit, and is ground into the body (1), the
side covering the orifice of the service way, and the bottom forming a valve;
the spindle (4), which in this instance is provided with a valve-shaped shoulder
ground into the top of the body (1), to prevent the escape thereat of the
liquids, steam, or gas, and which constitutes a quick screw, and passes into a
corresponding female screw in the plug (8), on being turned round by means
of a key or spanner on the top, raises or lowers the plug as desired (the plug
being prevented from turning round by a small guide pin passing through the
side of the body, and projecting into a groove cut in the plug or inserted in
the plug, and projecting into a groove cut in the body), and is kept in its place
by a cap screwed over the top of the body, as shown in Fig. 1, which cap
prevented from becoming unscrewed by the metallic washer (5), which,
resting on the spindle, is rendered incapable of turning round by one or more
small pins inserted in the top of the body, and projecting into notches cut in
the washer, or by one or more projections thereon passing into notches cut in
the body. The bearing of these several parts may be equalized by a thin
flexible washer inserted between the cap and the metallic washer. And,
secondly, one or more portion or portions of the apparatus may be so
formed that the pressure acting upon it or them has the effect of closing the
apparatus, and therefore stopping the flow of the liquid, steam, or gas, without
the aid of any mechanical or other agency, thereby preventing accident or
waste through intention or negligence; this is effected by making the several
is

page_text: parts work so freely, that the pressure acting on the plug or valve closes
it. The chief advantage which cocks of this description possess over those in
ordinary use consists in the total absence of friction, and the comparative
freedom from corrosion in the parts constituting the stopping or regulating
medium.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise form or details, provided that the peculiar
character of either of my improvements be retained, and I declare that the
improvements which I claim as constituting my said Invention are as follows,
that is to say:
First, I claim the combination, disposition, and arrangement of any two or
more parts of the apparatus (each capable of being made to act in the absence
of the other), in such manner that one will assist and protect the other, as
herein-before first described.
And, secondly, 1 claim the formation of the several parts in such manner
that under pressure they are self-acting, as herein-before secondly described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Edward Keen, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
RICHARD EDWARD KEEN. (L.B.)