CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, OR VALVES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bestwick, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Brass Founder, and Joseph Bury, of the same Place, Brass
Founder, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, OR
VALVES."
Sealed the 29th July 1856, and dated the 1st February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bestwick and
Joseph Bury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st February 1856.
We, HENRY BESTWICK, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Brass
Founder, and JOSEPH BURY, of the same Place, Brass Founder, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS,
TAPS, OR VALVES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in constructing a self-closing tap, by arranging or
placing an india-rubber or other spring in the cap or top of the cock, tap, or
valve, so that it shall press against the spindle, to which the valve is secured, in
such a manner as to keep the valve always closed, and also against the stud
or button, which receives pressure from without when the valve is required to
be opened. It will also be evident that by this arrangement (should the tap
or valve get out of order) the spring may be at once detached and a new one
substituted without the inconvenience of taking the whole tap to pieces.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
BESTWICK, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Brass Founder, and
JOSEPH BURY, of the same Place, Brass Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury, Her especial license that we, the said
Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury, our execu-
tors, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS, TAPS, OR VALVES,"
upon the condition (amongst others, that we, the said Henry Bestwick and
Joseph Bury, by an instrument in writing under our 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 we, the said Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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:-
Our Invention consists in constructing a self-closing tap, by arranging or
placing an india-rubber or other spring in the cap or top of the cock, tap, or
valve, so that it shall press against the spindle, to which the valve is secured,
in such a manner as to keep the valve always closed, and also against the
stud or bottom, which receives pressure from without when the valve is
required to be opened. It will also be evident that by this arrangement of
tap (should the tap get out of order) the spring and other working parts may
be at once detached and a new spring substituted, or other necessary repairs

page_text: performed, without the inconvenience of taking the whole tap, &c. to pieces
for such purposes.
In order that this Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings; Fig. 1 being a side.
view of the improved tap, shewing the general outline of the same, as fixed to
the supply pipe; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, exhibiting more
clearly the situation of india-rubber spring and. general internal construction;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the junction of two pipes, shewing a regulator at such
junction, for regulating the supply of water to the cock, tap, ór valve. Similar
letters of reference are placed upon corresponding parts of the apparatus:
In Figs. 1 and 2, a, a, is the outer casing of the tap, which is fixed upon
the pipe b by means of bolts, &c.' passing through the flanges at the junction
of tap and pipe; d is the india-rubber washer, acting as a spring upon the
spindle e, which is secured at its lower extremity to the valve f, which is also
provided with a washer of india-rubber, forming a water-tight joint when
pressed against the upper portion or seating. g of the valve. At the upper
extremity of the spindle e is secured a ball or plate h, to receive the pressure of
the hand when the tap or valve is required to be opened; and also upon the
same spindle is placed the flange or plate i, which presses upon the upper
surface of the india-rubber spring d.
:
In Fig. 3, k, k, are the flanges of the pipes, forming the junction, at which
we place the regulator 1, which consists of a tube m, screwed through a central
hole in the plate n, which is placed in the pipe to prevent the passage of water
except through the tube m; one extremity of this tube is furnished with a
series of holes or outlets, according to the size and number of which the quan-
tity of water flowing through the pipe is governed or regulated. The opening
and closing action of this arrangement of "cock, tap, or valve" will be more
readily understood upon reference to the Drawings attached, and to the
following detail description thereof:-The spring d will keep the valve f
always against the seating 9, and also keep the ball or plate h at a sufficient
distance from the top of the covering or cap of the tap, to allow of the pressure
thereon being exerted upon the enclosed india-rubber spring. The tap always
being thus kept in a closed state, when it is requisite to open the same for the
flow of liquid, a weight or band pressure being placed upon the ball or plate h
will press upon the flange or plate i, and compress the india-rubber spring d,
and thus allow the spindle e, carrying the valve f, to be pressed down away from
the seating 9, the liquid will then escape in the ordinary manner through the
exit aperture in the cock, tap, or valve. Should the tap above described

page_text: become disarranged, or require the spring renewing or otherwise repairing, the
entire action or working parts of the tap or valve can be removed from the
supply pipe 6 in one entire piece by disjointing the tap from the pipe at
the juncture of the flanges.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention, together
with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, we would remark,
in conclusion, that we claim as our Invention of certain improvements in
"cocks, taps, or valves,"-
First, the novel application and use of the india-rubber spring d, as herein
employed.
And, secondly, the peculiar construction of tap or valve, having its several
parts so arranged as to be readily removed entire for repair, &c. without being
confined to the precise details as herein-before described and set forth, and
fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Bestwick and Joseph Bury, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirty-first day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
HENRY BESTWICK. (L.8.)
JOSEPH BURY.
(L.S.)
HENRY BESTWICK. (L.8.)
JOSEPH BURY.
(L.S.)