Improvements in or relating to the Truing Up of Valve Seats of Water and other Taps.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Truing Up of Valve Seats of
Water and other Taps.
We, John GriffITH HUMPHREYS of Bryn Dymchwel Llandegai near Bangor in
the County of Carnarvon, Plumber, and JOHN WILLIAMS of Penlan, Bangor afore-
said, Clerk of Works, Penrhyn Estate, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
It is a matter of common knowledge that the valve seats of domestic and other
water taps are liable after a time to become worn or eaten away by the action of the
water or by the metal being defective, preventing the valve from fairly seating
itself, and thus rendering it impossible to close the tap entirely. In such a case the
only remedy hitherto has been to replace the tap by a new one, and this, especially
in the case of large estates, involves a very considerable expenditure.
Now our invention is designed to avoid having to replace worn taps by new ones
by providing a ready and convenient means whereby the worn seat of a tap can be
trued up without having to remove the tap. This we effect by providing a reamer,
bit, grinder or its equivalent having a spindle or shank of suitable length, the
diameter of this spindle being approximately equivalent to the diameter of the
valve spindle of the tap. The end of this spindle is provided with a handle or
means for applying one. The working surface of the reamer, bit, grinder or its
equivalent is its end or under face, which is formed with cutting teeth or serrations
or other means for truing the valve seat by cutting, grinding or attrition. The
length of the reamer, et cetera is approximately equivalent to the distance between
the valve seat and the socket, gland, or whatever part of the tap the valve and
valve spindle are mounted in.
In order to true the seat of a tap by this invention we unscrew the socket, gland,
et cetera aforesaid and remove them, then insert the reamer or its equivalent in
place of the valve so that its working face shall abut against the valve seat, and
screw on the socket. The reamer or its equivalent is then rotated by hand by
means of a handle, and by this means the seat is accurately trued up. The
necessary pressure of the cutters on the seat is obtained by screwing up the socket
slightly every revolution or two.
An article of this kind will be found to be very useful for domestic use, as an
unskilled person can use it without having to call in the services of a plumber.
Dated this 12th day of September 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Truing Up of Valve Seats of
Water and other Taps.
We, JOHN GRIFFITH HUMPHREYS of Bryn Dymchwel, Llandegai near Bangor in
the County of Carnarvon, Plumber, and JoHN WILLIAMS of l'enlan, Bangor afore-
said, Clerk of Works, Penrhyn Estate, 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:-
It is a matter of common knowledge that the valve seats of domestic and other
water taps are liable after a time to become worn or eaten away by the action of the
water or by the metal being defective, preventing the valve from fairly seating
itself, and thus rendering it impossible to close the tap entirely. In such a case the
only remedy hitherto has been to replace the tap by a new one, and this, especially
in the case of large estates, involves a very considerable expenditure.
Now our invention is designed to avoid having to replace worn taps by new ones
by providing a ready and convenient means whereby the worn seat of a tap can be
trued up without having to remove the tap.
The invention will be understood from the following description, reference being
had to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a screw-down bib cock in use,
Figure 2 the same cock in situ with its worn seat being trued up,
Figure 3 the trueing up instrument.
Referring to these figures, A is the valve spindle with removable handle A¹
B the valve, C the valve seat and D the socket or gland in which the valve spindle
is mounted. E is a second spindle or shank of suitable length and of a diameter
approximately equivalent to the diameter of the valve spindle A of the tap. One
end of this spindle E is provided with a handle F and the other end carries a
reamer G, the working surface of which is formed with cutting teeth or other means
for trueing up the valve seat by cutting, grinding or attrition. The length of the
reamer is approximately equivalent to the distance between the valve seat C and
the socket D or whatever part of the tap the valve spindle is mounted in. In order
to truo up the valve seat by this invention, we unscrew the socket D and remove the
spindle A together with its valve B, then substitute the spindle E which carries at
its end the reamer G so that its working face shall abut against the valve seat C,
and lastly screw on the socket D. The spindle E with its reamer G are then
rotated by hand by means of the handle F. By this means the seat is accurately
trued up. The necessary pressure of the reamer on the seat is obtained by screwing
up the socket slightly every revolution or two. It is obvious that in place of a
reamer, a bit, grinder, or its equivalent may be used so that the valve may be trued
by cutting, grinding or attrition.
We have described the best way known to us of carrying our invention into effect,
but it will be obvious that in place of the arrangement described, we might remove
the valve B from the end of the spindle A and replace it by securing a reamer or
bit to the end of said spindle A, the socket being hollowed out internally and the
spindle when the reamer is used screwed further up into the socket so that the
screw threads on the spindle shall clear the screw threads in the socket and enable
it to freely rotate without the threads engaging. An article of this kind will be
found very useful for domestic use, as an unskilled person can use it without having
to call in the services of a plumber.

page_text: 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 cock or tap wherein the socket or gland in which the valve spindle is mounted
can be unscrewed, the spindle removed together with its valve, and substituted by
a spindle of similar diameter carrying at its end a reamer or grinder, whereby if the
said spindle be rotated by hand and the socket screwed up against the reamer
every revolution or two to obtain the necessary feed, the worn seat of the valve can
be accurately trued up substantially as described.
2. The device for trueing up the valve seats of taps or cocks substantially as
described and shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
3. The construction of water and other cocks or taps with their valve spindles
together with the socket or gland so arranged that the valves can be removed from
the spindles and replaced by a reamer or bit which can be freely rotated to true up
the worn seat of the valve without the threads on the spindle engaging the threads
on the socket or gland substantially as described.
4. The general combined arrangement and construction of parts substantially as
described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
31
001
1007
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London, Patent Agents.