Improvements in Stop Cocks.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Stop Cocks.
We, JOSEPH HOPKINSON and J. HOPKINSON & Co. LTD., of Huddersfield, in the
County of York, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be. as
follows:-
-
Our invention relates to improvements in stop cocks and is more especially
applicable to water-gauge cocks and test-cocks.
One inconvenience which has atte.ided the use of the cocks heretofore made for
such purposes has arisen from the fact that the packing for making the spindle
of the cock fluid-tight has been arranged to be compressed by means of a screw-
gland which is exposed to the force of the internal pressure tending to blow it and
the packing outward and which is liable to be deprived of all resistance to this
force by the stripping of its screw-threads.
Our said invention is designed to prevent this liability to the blowing-out of the
plug and the packing. Also to diminish the liability of the cock to leakage, to
facilitate the adjustment and compression of the packing and to simplify the
manufacture of such cocks while making them more efficient, safe and durable than
those heretofore used.
For this purpose we provide the body or shell of the stop-cock with a cavity
for the reception of a ring of compressible or other packing around the spindle at
the outer end of the plug. Into this cavity we screw a cover or neck having a
flange which is faced to fit the surface of the body so that when screwed tightly
down thereon it will make a sound fluid-tight joint therewith and is intended to be
a fixture except at such times as the plug is required to be removed. The plug-
spindle extends through this cover but is so much smaller in diameter than the
same as to permit the use within the neck of two metal gland rings surrounding
the spindle near its inner and outer ends. The inner metal gland ring has on it
a flange which is placed in contact with the packing in the aforesaid cavity. This
flange prevents the outward.endwise movement of this gland ring but permits it
to be forced inward to compress the said packing. In a space between this metal
gland ring and the outer gland ring there is a second ring of packing around the
spindle. The outer metal gland ring extends beyond the cover or neck into
contact with a nut which encloses it and which is threaded upon the neck so that it'
can be screwed or unscrewed thereon to regulate the pressure upon the packing.
It is obvious that as the cover or neck is secured in the body of the stop cock
there is no liability of the thread of such neck becoming stripped so as to permit
of the plug or packing being blown out of the body, and that there is the further
advantage in the use of the neck and the flanged gland ring due to the fact that
the inner packing is prevented from being disturbed. Moreover leakage is

page_text: prevented by the two rings of packing while at the same time the adjustment
of the packing can be readily effected by means of the aforesaid screw nut.
Dated this 1st day of November 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.
We, JOSEPH HOPKINSON and J. HOPKINSON & Co. LTD., of Huddersfield, in the
County of York, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention relates to improvements in stop-cocks, such as water-gauge cocks
and test-cocks, which have compressible packing in grooves in the barrel or
body.
One inconvenience which has heretofore attended the use of such cocks has arisen
from the fact that the packing for making the cock fluid-tight has been arranged
to be compressed by means of a screw-gland which is exposed to the force of the
internal pressure tending to blow it and the packing outward and which is liable
to be deprived of all resistance to this force by the stripping or wearing away of its
screw-threads.
Our said invention is designed to prevent the blowing-out of the plug and the
packing. Also to diminish the liability of the cock to leakage, and to facilitate
the adjustment and compression of the packing while making the cock more
efficient, safe and durable than those heretofore used.
Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 shews a water gauge-cock partly in longitudinal section.
Figure 2 shews the same partly in transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 shew similar views of a test cock.
Like letters indicate similar parts throughout the drawing.
A is the body or shell of the stop-cock; B is the cover forming the neck; C is
the plug and C₁ the plug-spindle.
We provide the body or shell A with a cavity for the reception of a ring D of
compressible or other packing around the spindle C¹ and in contact with the
outer end of the plug C. Into this cavity we screw the cover or neck B which has
a flange B faced to fit the surface of the body A so that when screwed tightly
down thereon as shewn in Figure 1 the said flange will make a sound fluid-tight
joint with the body and the said cover is intended to be a fixture in the
body except when the plug is required to be removed. The plug-
spindle C¹ extends through the neck B but is so much smaller in diameter than the
same as to permit the use, within the neck, of two metal gland rings or washers
preferably shaped as shewn at E and F surrounding the spindle near its inner and
outer ends as shewn in Figures 1 and 3, these rings or washers being loosely
fitted to the spindle. The inner metal gland ring E has on it a flange E¹ which is
placed in contact with the packing D in the aforesaid cavity. This flange E¹ of
the gland ring E prevents any outward endwise movement of the said gland-ring
beyond that permitted by the slight space or clearance between the flange and
the end of the cover but permits it to be forced inward, or towards the plug, to
compress the packing in the barrel or body of the cock. In the annular space
between this metal gland ring E and the outer gland ring F compressible

page_text: packing G is placed around the spindle C¹. The outer metal gland-ring F extends
through and beyond the cover or neck into contact with the inner end surface
of a nut H which encloses it and which is screw-threaded upon the neck so that it
can be screwed or unscrewed thereon in the usual manner to regulate the pressure
upon the packing.
It is obvious that by having the cover or neck B secured, as above described, as
a fixture to the body A of the stop-cock we entirely avoid the difficulty arising from
the stripping or wearing away of the screw threads and the consequent blowing out
of the plug or packing from the body A. The solid support afforded by this cover
for the flanged gland-ring prevents any possibility of the displacement of the
plug or packing by internal pressure, while allowing the compressive action of the
gland-nut to be applied directly to the packing around the spindle and to be
transmitted through the same and the inner gland-ring to the packing around the
plug, at the same time allowing freedom for increasing or diminishing such pressure
as may be necessary. Moreover the liability to disturbance or disarrangement of
the inner packing is greatly diminished while leakage is prevented without any
hindrance or impediment to the adjustment of the packing which can be readily
effected at any time by means of the aforesaid screw nut.
We have heretofore manufactured cocks provided with fixed covers and also
cocks with plugs inverted to prevent their being blown out of the cock. The latter
have not however been altogether efficient for preventing the blowing-out of the
packing in the event of the stripping of the screw-threads of the nut provided for
the compression of the packing. But according to our present invention we
accomplish both of these objects and by constructing and combining the parts of
the stop cock as above described we obtain the advantage that the nut employed
to compress the packing around the spindle also compresses the packing in the
barrel of the cock. And it will be obvious from the above description that the
retention of the packing in the cock is altogether independent of the condition
of the nut H for although this nut should have its threads stripped or worn away
the plug cannot be blown from the body of the gauge and therefore there is but
little liability of the packing to be disturbed or displaced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. A stop-cock which is made fluid-tight around the plug and spindle by
compressible packing arranged in combination with the screw-nut or gland at the
outer end and the ring or washer at the inner end of the cover or neck substantially
as and for the purposes specified.
2. A water-gauge cock or a test cock constructed substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.