A NEW CONSTRUCTION OF AND IMPROVEMENT IN AND UPON COCKS AND VALVES
Year: 1786

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
WALKER, of Saffron Street, in the Parish of Saint Andrew, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Brass Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of April, in the twenty-sixth year of
His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Walker, His especial
licence, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that I, the said Joshua
Walker, during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the Kingdom of
Great Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW CONSTRUCTION OF AND IMPROVEMENT IN
AND UPON COCKS AND VALVES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Joshua Walker, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within one calendar month next ensuing, and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference being
thereunto bad, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joshua Walker, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained as follows; that is to say:-
My said new Invention of A New Construction of and Improvement in
and upon Cocks and Valves, that is to say, that sort or kind of valves usually

page_text: called cocks, consists of and in the horizontal form and figure of my cocks and
valves, and of and in the introduction and addition or adaption of a spring,
which spring is equally applicable and capable of being added or adapted to
all other cocks and valves of a vertical or any other position, form, or shape
whatsoever.
And my said Invention is to be performed, and my said cocks and valves,
with the several constituent parts thereof, are to be constructed, put together,
and made, and the said spring adapted and applied, in the manner particularly
mentioned or described in the Drawings or Figures above contained, and the
explanation here following, by which I refer to the said Drawings or Figures;
that is to say-
Figure 1 represents my new horizontal cock or valve in its finished state,
which I cause to be made or cast of brass or any other metal. A represents
the barrel of my said horizontal cock or valve, which I cause to be made for
the reception of the key or plug hereafter described.
In this barrel I cause
a notch to be made at B for a handle or lever to work in. I also cause
a screw to be turned in the inside of the fore-mentioned barrel at C to
receive the cap D. E represents the key or plug, which I cause to be turned
conical to fit the aforesaid barrel. And I also cause the key or plug to be
turned small at the top or end, as at F, to admit of a spring being put on it.
G is the handle or lever above referred to, which I caused to be screwed or
fastened into the above-mentioned key or plug at the hole H, whereby the
said key or plug is turned in order to discharge the fluid from the vessel. I
and K represent the spring above mentioned, which spring may be made of
brass or any other elastic metal, in a spiral form, as at I, or of cork or any
other solid elastic substance, as at K. Either of these springs I put on the
small part 1, made or left on the top of the key or plug E for its reception, as
above described. D represents a cap, which I cause to be made with a
female screw in the center to admit the male screw L, and also a male serew
on the outside at M to correspond with the screw in the inside of the barrel
before mentioned, and which, when screwed into the said barrel, presses on
the aforesaid spring, and thereby continually forces the key or plug, whereby
the fluid is prevented from leaking. O represents the cap D in a reversed
position, the outside downwards. L is the screw that passes through the
centre of the aforesaid cap, and which, being turned, presses on the key or
plug, and keeps it in close contact with the barrel.
And as to the application of the aforesaid spring to cocks or valves of a
vertical or any other form or position, N represents the barrel of a vertical
cock or valve made for the reception of a key or plug proper for the appli-

page_text: cation or adaption of a spring, as hereafter described. The bottom of this
barrel I cause to be turned a little wider, so as to become a bed for the reccp-
tion of a spring of the above description. P represents the key or plug of a
vertical cock which I cause to be made to fit the aforesaid barrel, the bottom
of which key or plug I turn smaller, as at Q. In order to admit the aforesaid
spring at the end of this key or plug, I drill a hole, and tap it with a screw, as
at S. R represents a screw, which I cause to correspond with the screw at
the bottom of the before-mentioned key or plug P, viz', at the hole S, and
which, being screwed against the aforesaid spring, draws down the said key
or plug into close contact with the aforesaid barrel, and by its continually so
drawing prevents any fluid from leaking out.
Further, the aforesaid spring, whether spiral or otherwise, may be applied
as well at the top as the bottom of the aforesaid vertical key or plugg at
pleasure.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-six.
Sealed and delivered, being first duly
stamped, in the presence of
JOSHUA WALKER. (L.S.)
LAURCE EYRE,
JOSEPH TIDD,
Inrolled the said Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-six.