IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR VALVES FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sydney Smith, of the Hyson Green Brass Works,
near Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR
VALVES FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS."
Sealed the 6th April 1869, and dated the 29th January 1869.
)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sydney Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th January 1869.
I, SYDNEY SMITH, of the Hyson Green Brass Works, near Nottingham,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
TAPS OR VALVES FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER
FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in taps or valves for
regulating the flow of steam, water, and other fluids.
The body of the tap or valve, which is adapted to be screwed or
otherwise connected with the supply pipe or passage, and usually also

page_text: to a delivery pipe, is formed with a water or fluid way through it. A
conical hole is formed in the body from one side, and into it a corre-
sponding plug fits, which when in its place closes the water or fluid
way through the body. On the side of the body and over the conical
recess for the plug a chamber is formed, and when the plug is drawn
back to open the water or fluid way it is received into this chamber and
leaves the passage way clear of all obstructions with an undiminished
area for the direct inlet and outlet of the volume of steam, water,
or other fluids which may he conveyed to the passage. The plug is
actuated by a screw which enters a tapped hole in the plug. The stem
of the screw passes through the cover of the chamber and receives a
handle or hand wheel on the exterior. By turning the screw the plug
is moved in or out of its recess, and so the water or fluid way is closed
or opened, the plug being prevented from turning by lugs upon it
entering guide grooves in the chamber. The screw stem or spindle on
which the wheel or handle is fastened does not rise or fall with the plug
or valve, but the wheel is always the same distance from body of cock.
The passage for the stem of the screw is not packed, but the stem itself is
coned to form a valve, which closes against a corresponding seat formed
on the interior of the chamber and around the passage through which
the screw stem passes. On the screw stem and exterior of the chamber
a nut may be applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sydney Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SYDNEY
SMITH, of the Hyson Green Brass Works, near Notttingham, send
greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Sydney Smith, Her special licence that
3, the said Sydney Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: or such others as I, the said Sydney Smith, my executors, adminis
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TAPS OR
VALVES FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Sydney Smith, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Sydney Smith, 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 :--
This Invention has for its object improvements in taps or valves for
regulating the flow of steam, water, and other fluids.
The body of the tap or valve, which is adapted to be screwed or
otherwise connected with the supply pipe or passage, and usually also
to a delivery pipe, is formed with a water or fluid way through it. A
conical hole is formed in the body from one side, and into it a corre-
sponding plug fits, which when in its place closes the water or fluid way
through the body. On the side of the body and over the conical recess
for the plug a chamber is formed, and when the plug is drawn back to
open the water or fluid way it is received into this chamber, and leaves
the passage way clear of all obstructions with an undiminished area for
the direct inlet and outlet of the volume of steam, water, or other fluids
which may be conveyed to the passage. The plug is raised and lowered
by a screw, the stem of which passes through the cover of the chamber,
and receives a handle or hand wheel on the exterior.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings

page_text: as above described.
In one arrangement the stem of the screw by which the coned plug
is actuated rises and falls, and in the other it does not do so.
In the tap or valve shewn in vertical section at Figure 1 the screw
does not rise and fall.
In this Figure a is the body or shell of the tap or valve with sockets a¹
to adapt it to the supply and delivery pipes; a² is a chamber at the side
of the body or shell; the top of this chamber is closed by a cap b; c is
the conical plug fitting a conical recess in the body or shell, as is shewn,
so as to close the water or steam way. To open the water or steam way
the plug c is raised into the chamber a³, as above described. The plug
has wings c¹ entering grooves in the sides of the chamber a³, so that the
plug is restrained from turning. The plug is lifted and forced down by
the screw d with the hand wheel d¹ upon it. The plug works as a nut
upon the screw. The stem d of the screw d passes through the cover b;
it has a cone d³ upon it fitting a corresponding seat or recess in the
cover, and serving as a valve to prevent leakage around the screw; e is
a nut forming a collar upon the screw stem to prevent it moving
endwise through the cover.
In the tap or valve shewn in vertical section at Figure 2 the screw stem
does not screw into a screw thread in the plug, but the plug is connected
with the end of the screw, and the screw works into a screw thread in
the cap 6 of the chamber a3. The stem d' of the screw above the screw
thread works through a stuffing box 6' at the top of the cap b, as shewn,
to prevent leakage when the tap or valve is open. The plug c is some-
what loosely connected to the end of the screw in the manner shewn by
the Drawing, in order to allow the plug to adapt itself to the coned seat
in the body or shell a. By this arrangement when the screw stem is
turned in one direction by the hand wheel d' on its upper end the
screw rises and carries with it the conical plug c and withdraws into the
chamber a²; when the screw is turned in the opposite direction the screw
descends and carries the conical plug c down with it and forces it into

page_text: its coned seat in the body or shell a, and the plug not being rigidly
connected to the screw can readily adapt itself to this seat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sydney Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
SYDNEY SMITH. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Sydney Smith in the presence of
JOHN THOMPSON BREWSTER,
of Nottingham,
A Commissioner to administer oaths
in Chancery in England.