IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND WATER VALVES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Munroc Cutter, of Boston, of the State of
Massachusetts, of the United States of America, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND WATER VALVES."—A communication
from Joseph William Willis, residing at Boston, aforesaid.
Sealed the 27th June 1873, and dated the 7th May 1873.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James Munroe Cutter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 7th May 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MUNROE CUTTER, of Boston, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM AND WATER VALVES," and have petitioned Her Majesty Queen
Victoria to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the said Invention, and have made solemn
Declaration that the same is a communication from Joseph William
Willis, a person resident at Boston, aforesaid..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Munroe Cutter, 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 Complete Specification, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :—
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of valves
for steam, water, etc., and consists,-
First. In forming the seats upon the shell or valvo case with a
downward convergence, and with the disks to close upon the same, with
a corresponding inclination in combination with vertical parallel ribs
formed upon the interior of the shell and extending down to the curved
surface of the fluid passage, the same operating with corresponding
grooves formed in the edges of the disks, such construction and arrange-
ment being for the purpose of so controlling the movements of the disks
as to prevent the abrasion and wear of their faces and the seats incident
to the opening and closing of valves having their disks loosely hung, and
with their seats disposed at right angles to the fluid passage, and parallel
to each other.
Second. In forming the disks with double wedges on their inner faces
and at equal distances from their centers and peripheries, whereby the
disks are made to move and bear with perfect uniformity against their
seats when closed thereon, and thereby remedy the evils incident to the
vibration of the disks in those valves, having a single wedge disposed at
the centre of the disks.
Third. In the peculiar formation of the screw connecting the bonnet
with its case.
Fourth. In forming the valve stem with two differential series of
teeth to operate with nuts correspondingly formed, such constituting a
"slow" and "fast" screw, whereby both power and velocity are attained,
thereby effecting a saving both of time and labor in operating the valve.
Fifth. In combining with the stem and packing nut a check nut,
whereby the valve disks may be arrested and held at any desired point
so as to regulate the amount of fluid passing into and through the
valve.
...

page_text: metal seats and facings, such consisting in casting the iron on the solid
scats or facings having one or more coatings of a hydrated solution
of borax and chloride of sodium, or borax and carbonate of potassa
applied to the latter.
In the said Drawings Figure 1 denotes a side elevation of a valvo
constructed in accordance with my Invention; Figures 2 & 3 are
vertical and central sections taken in planes at right angles to each
other; Figures 4 & 5 are sections taken through the shell so as to
exhibit the vertical ribs; Figure 6 is an inner view of one of the disks,
and Figure 7 is an edge view of the two disks combined.
In the Drawing A denotes the cast-iron body or shell of the valve,
through which a straight unobstructed passage for the flowage of steam,
ctc., is made; a, a¹, are two scats disposed on the inner surfaces of the
induction and eduction ports, and against which the disks b, b¹, close.
The said seats are not arranged in parallelism, but at an angle or
downward convergence, as shown in Figure 2. B is the bonnet which
is connected with the upright portion of the valve case, the said bonnet
having a screw c cast on its lower surface, the threads of such screw
being of a curved or semicircular shape, and engaging with a corrc-
spondingly shaped femalo screw c¹ formed on the inner surface of the
upright part of the shell. The thread of both the male and female
portions is diminished on its periphery, so that the outer extremities of
such peripheries shall not impinge against the grooves in which they
work. In forming this connection I make the thread with such a slopė
that but a single turn will effect the coupling of the parts. Furthermore
I make the threads of about double the width in cross section that they
are in depth, so as to obtain a strong connection, or, if desirable, the
threads may be of such distance apart as to require two or more turns
to effect a perfect connection of the two. In such case I not only
reduce the threads upon their peripheries, but also upon one of their
lateral surfaces, whereby the friction in connecting or disconnecting the
parts will be greatly lessened.
On each side of the shell and opposite the water or fluid passage is a
pair of vertical ribs d, d, and d¹, d¹, they being disposed parallel to each
other and extending downward, and having their lower extremities
running into the curved surface of the fluid passage, such ribs sliding
ou vertical grooves o formed in the edges of the disks, as shown in

page_text: Figure 7, and being of such length as to maintain the disks b, b¹, out of
contact with their seats, and thus prevent any wear thereof until they
shall have reached their lowest depression, when they are forced laterally
upon their seats by their wedges.
The disks b, b¹, are formed with their faces of the same angle of
⚫ convergence at the seats a, a². The said disks are of a peculiar
formation, each being provided with two wedges e, e¹, on their inner
surfaces, such wedges being arranged with their centres equidistant
from the centre and periphery of the disk, the object of such arrange-
ment being to prevent the pivotal action 'or vibration of the discs
incident to independent discs operated by a single wedge disposed. at
their centres. Furthermore each disk is provided with a vertical groove o
in each of its edges.
c is the valve stem which extends down through the neck of the
bonnet, the same having a hand wheel H on its upper end, and on its
lower end an annular head to which the disks b, b², are affixed by means
of semicircular ears or lugs f, f¹, the ear ƒ being of less thickness than
its fellow in order to allow the disks 6 to descend to its bearing or rest a
little in advance of the disk 6', thereby preventing any "setting" of the
disks before they have descended to their lowest point of depression.
The said valve, stem, or rod, has two series of threads or sections of
threads g, g³, having different degrees of pitch formed upon it, such being
to operate with nuts or female screws h, h³, having a like degree of pitch
formed in the neck of the bonnet, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the same
serving to give a compound or "slow "and "fast" movement to the stem
or spindle; the screw and nuts of each series being so arranged with
respect to each other that as soon as the male portion of one series leaves
its groove the male portion of the other shall have entered its groove
or nut, and thus maintain a continuous and positive movement of the
stem or rod whenever the stem is rotated, thereby avoiding any lost
motion. By this peculiar construction of the stem a means is obtained by
which both power and velocity are attained, the "slow" screw being dis-
posed nearer the disks so as to enable the disks to be forced and held firmly
upon their seats, while the "fast" screw enables the disks to be raised
toward or away from their seats with great rapidity, thereby effecting a
large saving in both time and labor. This feature of my Invention may
be applied to various other purposes where a differential movement is
required, it being adapted for presses of different kinds.

page_text: F is the packing cap which is screwed upon the neck of the bonnet,
its under surface serving to limit the upward movement of the stem;
the shoulders, or ends of the upper thread when the stem is elevated,
impinging against the under surface of the packing cap or nut F when
the disks have been raised to their highest position, so as to leave a free
unobstructed passage for the fluid.
Upon the upper end of the stuffing cap F is a tapering male screw i
which is bisected diametrically, the same having a tapering clamp nut G
which when screwed upon the screw i shall be able to so contract the
▸ parts thereof
upon the stem as to hold the latter, and of course the valve
disks, at any desired position, and thus control the flowage of the water
or steam as circumstances may require.
In forming the seats upon the induction and eduction ports of the
iron shell or case, the brass seat or composition facing is first cast of the
¡ desired form and size, and is next washed with an acid or mixture of
acids to clean the surfaces thereof, this having been done the seat or
composition facing is heated to a moderate degree, and one or more
coatings of a hydrated solution of borax and chloride of sodium or borax,
and carbonate of potassa (in the proportion of twelve parts of the former
to one of the latter) is applied to the surface to be united with the iron,
and the seat or composition facing is placed within the shell, matrix, or
mold, and on the core which is to form the interior of the shell, and
the molten iron is poured into the same, the coating of the flux or
hydrated solution intervening between the brass, and the molten iron
serving to protect both surfaces thereof from oxidation, and acting as a
flux in dissolving any incipient oxidation; the great heat of the molten
metal owing to its fusing point being so much higher than that of the
brass or alloy as to fuse the impacting surface of the latter to a sufficient
degree to constitute a solder, whereby its own body is brazed or soldered
to the iron, and thus a most perfect union of the two is effected; so also
the application of the facings to the iron body of the disks may be
effected in like manner, they being cast of the desired size and form are
to be cleaned with an active acid as before, and the surfaces thereof to
be united or incorporated with the iron are to be coated with the
hydrated solution above-mentioned, and the body of the disk cast
thereon. This part of my Invention although designed for the con-
struction of steam and water valves in which the shell of the valve and
the bodies of the disk are to be of cast iron is equally adapted to all

page_text: purposes in the arts where a perfect union of iron with brass or other
alloy of copper is desirable.
The valve disks being formed with faces having the same inclination
as the seats of the shell, and being guided in their ascent and descent
through their entire range of motion by the parallel ribs are kept from
impingement against the seats of the shell until they have reached their
lowest point of depression, when they are forced laterally and equably
against their seats by the action of their wedges, thus remedying that
wear of the disks and seats incident to valves unprovided with such
extended ribs, and having a single wedge at their centre which permits
an oscillation of the disks to take place; the pressure of the steam or
water in such case causing one disk to impinge and slide with much
friction upon its seat while being either opened or closed thereon. By
my arrangement as soon as the disks are started they are prevented by
the ribs from further impingement against their seats.
I would remark that if desirable in forming small valves, all the
parts of the valve may be formed of metal of the same kind, in which
case the shell and its seats would be cast at the same time as well as the
bodies of the disks and their faces.
The operation of my improved valve is as follows:-If we suppose the
valve to be open, by taking hold of the hand wheel and rotating the
spindle or stem in the proper direction the disks will be forced down
toward their seats with great rapidity, the "fast" screw being first
brought into action will force the disks nearly down, when the "slow"
screw commences to act and forces the disks down to their lowest
position, one disk moving a little in advance of the other until it reaches
its rest upon the bottom of the water passage, when by the further
descent of its fellow disk. the action of the wedges will force the two
disks against their seats with any required degree of force. By rotating
the stem in the opposite direction the valve disks are raised from their
seats so as to form a free passage for the steam or fluid, or the disks
may be raised to any desired point, when by screwing down the check
nut they may be maintained so as to gauge the flow of the steam or
water as occasion may require.

page_text: close upon the same with a corresponding inclination in combination
with vertical ribs formed upon the interior of the shell to operate with
corresponding grooves formed in the edge of the disks, the whole being
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2nd. The disks b, b', formed with double wedges arranged on their
inner faces, substantially in manner and for the purpose set forth.
3rd. The peculiar formation of the scrow uniting the bonnet with the
shell, the same being essentially as hercin-before explained.
4th. A valve stem or other rod provided with a compound or "fast"
and "slow" screws and nuts substantially as described, whereby both
velocity and power are attained as set forth.
5th. The combination with the stem of the valve and the packing cap F
formed as described of a check nut, whereby the stem and the valve
disks may be arrested and held at any desired point within their limits
3 of motion, so as to regulate the amount of fluid passing into and through
the valve.
•
6th. The improved process of uniting iron and brass or other alloy of
copper, substantially as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Munroc Cutter, have here-