A NEW OR IMPROVED TAP OR STOP-COCK
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Sheppard, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED TAP
OR STOP-COCK."
Sealed the 30th May 1862, and dated the 18th December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Sheppard at the
Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
December 1861.
I, SAMUEL SHEPPARD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED TAP OR STOP-COCK," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a tap or stop-cock, constructed essentially in the
following manner :-The body or barrel of the tap is situated in a line with
the inlet pipe of the tap, and the outlet pipe is at right angles to the said inlet
pipe. The said outlet pipe opens into the barrel or body, near the bottom of
the said body. The valve I employ is an ordinary loose or fixed valve which
works upon a valve seat at the bottom of the body or barrel. The valve is
pressed upon and raised from its seat in the following manner :-In the said
barrel or body is a cylindrical plug made to fit the said body, and at the lower
end of the said plug is a washer or collar of leather or cork or other packing
material, which effectually secures the tight fitting of the plug in the barrel.
The inner end of the said plug carries the loose or fixed valve, and the outer
end of the said plug is provided with a handle, by means of which a

page_text: rotatory motion can be given to the plug. The said rotatory motion
is made to cause the plug to advance into or retire from the barrel and
to press the valve upon its seat or liberate it therefrom in the following
manner-Near the front end of the barrel is an inclined slot passing about
one-half round the said barrel after the manner of a thread of a screw. A pin
or projection engaging in the said slot is fixed in the plug, and on a rotatory
motion being given to the said plug it is made also to move in the direction of
its axis by the engaging of the said pin in the said slot. The inclined slot may
be made in the plug, and the pin fixed in the barrel or body with the same
effect. By turning the before-mentioned handle in one or other direction the
tap or stop-cock may be opened or closed. The positions of the inlet and
outlet pipes may be varied to suit taps or stop-cocks of various kinds.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Sheppard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
SHEPPARD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Samuel Sheppard, Her special licence that I, the said
Samuel Sheppard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Samuel Sheppard, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED TAP OR STOP-COCK," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Samuel Sheppard, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Sheppard, 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
statement thereof, that is to say:-
:
My Invention consists of a tap or stop-cock constructed essentially in the
manner herein-after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing. :
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tap or stop-cock constructed according to
my Invention; and Figures 2 and 3 are vertical longitudinal sections of the
same, Figure 2 representing the moving parts in the positions which they
occupy when the tap is opened, and Figure 3 representing the moving parts
in the positions which they occupy when the tap is closed. In the said
Figures 2 and 3 the moving parts are represented in elevation. Figure 4.
represents separately in elevation the plug of the tap. The same letters:
are employed to indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
.a is the body or barrel of the tap into the bottom of which the inlet pipe b
opens; c is the outlet pipe; d is the valve seat situated at the bottom of the:
body or barrel a and between the inlet pipe 6 and outlet pipe c; e is a valve
connected with the plug f situated in the barrel a, and made to fit the said
barrel. The said valve e may either be fixed rigidly to the bottom of the
plug f, or connected loosely therewith. At the lower end of the plugf is a
washer or collar g of leather or cork or other packing material, which
effectually secures the tight fitting of the plug f in the barrel a, and thereby
prevents the escape of liquid or gas at the barrel a when the tap is opened.
The upper end of the plug f is provided with a handle h, by means of which a*
partial rotation may be given to the plug f. The rotatory motion of the plug f
is made to raise or lower the said plug f in the barrel a in the following
manner:-In the plug f is an inclined slot i passing about one-half round the
said plug after the manner of a thread of a screw; or the slot i may pass more
than half round the plug. A screw pink is passed through the side of the
barrel a, and its end engages in the slot i of the plug f, and on a rotatory
motion being given to the said plug f, it is made to move in the direction of
its axis, that is to say, to rise or fall in the barrel a in consequence of the
engagement of the said pin k in the said slot i. When the handle h is in the
position represented in Figures 1 and 2 the valve e is raised from the valve
seat d, and there is a free passage through the tap, and when the handle h is
turned into the position represented in Figure 3, the valve e is pressed upon
the seat d, and the tap is closed. Instead of making the slot i in the plug f,
and fixing a pink in the side of the barrel a, the said slot i may be made in

page_text: the barrel a, and the pin or. projection / fixed in the plug f with the same or
nearly the same effect. I prefer, however, the arrangement represented in
the Drawing. And, instead of making the barrel a vertical, the said barrel
may be placed horizontally, that is, its axis may be in a line with the axis of
the inlet pipe b, with the same or nearly the same effect, but I prefer the
arrangement represented. The positions of the inlet and outlet pipes may be
varied to suit taps or stop-cocks of different kinds.
My new or improved tap. or stop-cock may be used for liquids, steam,
and gas..
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein. described and represented, as the
same may be varied without.departing from the nature of my Invention; but
I claim as my Invention the new or improved tap or stop-cock herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a tap
or stop-cock-in which a valve. is raised from and pressed upon its seat by
means of the arrangements. of parts described and represented..
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Sheppard, have hereunto.set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SAMUEL SHEPPARD. (L.S.)