Improvements in and relating to Faucets and similar Valvular Devices.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 11th July, 1899-Accepted, 26th Aug., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Faucets and similar Valvular
Devices.
I, CHARLES SEYMOUR FRISHMUTH, of 231, Race Street, in the City and County
of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to faucets and similar valvular devices, and has for its
special object to prevent leakage.
In faucets or bibbs in common use, ordinarily a flat seat is employed and a
flat washer which is forced against said seat by a screw stem. When the
washer is raised from the seat, the full pressure of the water or other fluid
passing through the faucet or bibb, strikes the thread of the stem or plunger,
and forces its way through the packing and other devices and leaks out at the
stem. This leakage is absent or insignificant when the faucet is first put into
use, because of the presence of the packing and other devices that are used to
prevent it. The packing, however, causes the stem to turn hard, and when, by
use, the stem does turn easily, it is at the expense of the wear of the packing,
and results in leakage.
The object of my invention is to provide a faucet or bibb in which leakage is
practically obviated, and with this object in view, the invention consists in replacing
the flat seat by a tubular seat and in replacing the flat washer by a tubular cap which
fits over the tubular seat and is provided with a suitable washer for making a water-
tight joint. The external diameter and contour of this cap correspond respec-
tively with the internal diameter and contour of the bore of the valve body,
and the said cap is thus fitted in the body with sufficient closeness and accuracy
to prevent the leakage of the water between it and the body and out along
the stem; and the internal diameter and the bore of the said cap relatively to
the tubular seat, are so much greater as to insure a large water-way for the free
passage of the water. The tubular seat extends above the joint between the
body and the bonnet, and the tubular cap covers this joint so as to prevent the
water pressure from being exerted on said joint; and such extension of
the tubular seat also makes it accessible for being dressed or reground when
necessary. This cap may be combined with a separate screw-stem or other
operating device, by superficial contact, or such operating device may be
positively connected with the cap.
In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in the several
figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a vertical section,
showing the parts in open position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts
closed. Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of the cap removed. Fig. 4 is a
sectional perspective view of the bonnet and portion of the operating device.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section, the parts being open, of a modification showing the
operating device and the cap positively connected.
The body a may be of any approved construction, excepting that instead of a

page_text: flat seat, such as is common, I use a tubular seat b, which projects well up into
the head of the body. c is a bonnet, which may or may not have the packing
gland d, and said bonnet is provided with a screwthread to engage a com-
plemental screwthread on the body. This bonnet receives any suitable operating
device for the valve proper, such as a screw-stem e having a handle f. g is the
valve proper, and it is made as a tubular cap, of larger diameter than the
diameter of the tubular seat b. so as to provide a free water-way to the exit
nozzle when the valve is open. This cap contains a washer of any suitable
material capable of closing water-tight upon the seat, and arranged loosely in
the body.
In both forms of my invention, the cap g has one end open and the other
end closed.
In one form of my invention, the cap is wholly disconnected from the
operating device, said operating device simply impinging upon its closed end to
force the cap to its seat to close the faucet. When it is desired to open the
faucet, the operating device is released from pressure upon the cap, and the
pressure of the passing fluid unseats or opens the cap.
In another form of my invention, as shown in Fig. 5, the operating device and
the cap are connected by a common T-joint i, or any other suitable positive
connection, in such manner that the cap will be moved positively by its operating
device both to seat and unseat the cap.
It will be seen that the tubular or cylindrical cap in either case works freely
in the body of the faucet or bibb, and requires only a loose washer therein to
make a water-tight joint, and that the operating device for such cap is wholly
separated from the water passage by the interposed cap, and hence the liability
to leakage is reduced to a minimum even if not wholly removed. The external
diameter of the cap conforms to the internal diameter of the casing or shell,
including the bonnet in which it works, and said cap conforms in external con-
tour to the bore of said shell or bonnet, and hence it has a relatively snug or
tight fit in said bore, whereby is prevented the escape of the water between the
cap and the shell and bonnet and thence out along the stem.
By comparing Figs. 1 and 5 with Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, it
will be seen that the cap, g, which is fitted tight to the body or casing of the
valve and its bonnet, and covers the joint between them, and also surrounds the
tubular seat b with an intervening space between their vertical walls, always, as
well in the open as in the closed position, surrounds said seat and joint; in
other words, when the valve is open, as in Figs. 1 and 5, the tubular cap does
not rise above the tubular seat and the joint between the body and bonnet. It
follows, therefore, that the incoming fluid flows first into the interior of the cap
before it reaches the cavity in the body, shell or casing and is directed by said
cap to the outlet of the faucet, and in this way the pressure is diverted to the
outlet at a point or level beyond the edge of the tubular cap and said joint, and
hence its tendency to work up between the edge of the cap and the body of the
faucet and so to leak along the stem and at the said joint is minimized if not
wholly overcome. Whereas in that class of valves in which the plug must be
lifted clear of the seat and expose the joint of the body and bonnet, the initial
pressure is free to exert itself about the edge of the plug in every direction and
to find its way out along the stem and such joint thereby causing leakage. The
above stated operation of my tubular cap applies as well to a cap provided with
a washer as to one with a ground or other joint.
The tubular seat projecting above the joint between the bonnet and body is
freely accessible for dressing or being reground when the bonnet is removed.
In all of the faucets with which I am familiar in which a cap is used instead
of a flat washer or disk, such cap has not been movable freely in the body of
the faucet, but has had a screwthreaded connection therewith so as to require
its rotation in order to effect the opening and closing of the device. Such screw
thread not only adds to the cost of the valve but also requires a great nicety of

page_text: fit and adjustment, and, also, it is a source of wear and consequently reduces
the lifetime of the faucet. It also renders the cleaning and the repairing of the
valve more difficult and costly than is the case with a freely moving cap such as
that employed by me.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A faucet or similar valvular device, having a suitable body, a tubular seat
standing up within the same and extending above the level of the joint of the
bonnet with the body, a bonnet jointed with said body so that when removed,
the mouth of the seat is exposed above the body and freely accessible for dress-
ing or regrinding, a tubular cap surrounding the said seat and said joint and of
greater internal diameter than the external diameter of the seat, to provide a
large water way between the cap and the seat when the valve is opened, and of a
length sufficient to surround the said, seat and joint as well when the valve is
opened as when closed, and of an external diameter and contour conforming to
the internal diameter and contour of the bore of the body and fitted thereto sub-
stantially leak-tight, the incoming fluid discharging upwardly through the seat
into the tubular cap when the valve is opened and being by it directed into the
water way between itself and the tubular seat and past the edge of the tubular
cap into the outlet, and means to control the movement of the said cap to
permit the opening and closing of the said faucet, substantially as described.
2. A faucet or similar valvular device, having a suitable body, a tubular seat
standing up within the same and projecting beyond the bonnet joint, a bonnet
jointed to the body below the outlet of the said seat, so that when the bonnet is
removed the seat is accessible for dressing or regrinding, a tubular cap surround-
ing the said seat and of greater internal diameter than the external diameter of
the seat, to provide a large water way, and of an external diameter and contour
conforming to the external diameter and contour of the bore of the body and
of a length sufficient always to cover the joint between the body and bonnet, and
fitted to the body and bonnet with sufficient accuracy to preclude the leakage of
fluid between these parts and out along the operating device and joint, a loose
washer arranged in said tubular cap and adapted to cooperate with the edge of
the tubular seat to close the faucet, and means to control the movement of the
said cap to permit the opening and closing of the said faucet, substantially as
described.
Dated this 14th day of June 1200
CHARLES SEYMOUR FRISHMUTH.
Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents.