IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUIDS AND VAPOURS, AND FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OR PASSAGE. THEREOF
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Bailey Hawkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
February 1861.
I, JAMES BAILEY HAWKINS, of North Street, Limehouse, in the County, of
Middlesex, Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUIDS AND
VAPOURS, AND FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OR PASSAGE. THEREOF," to be; as
follows:-
This Invention relates to cocks intended to be employed for drawing off
liquids and vapours from vessels or reservoirs containing same, or fór regu-
lating or cutting off the flow or passage thereof, and consists in so constructing
such said cocks as to prevent fixing or setting of the plugs thereof in their
seats, a common objection attending cocks constructed with plugs.
The means by which it is proposed to remedy this objection, according to
this Invention, and also with a view of simplifying the construction of cocks,
and of rendering the same more efficient and certain in their action, is by
making the same as follows, that is to say:-I form a hollow casting or shell
with three outlets, for example, of the shape of the letter T; the longest arm
represents inlet and outlet passages, and the shorter arm is intended to be
employed as the seat for cutting off or opening the communication between
the inlet and outlet passages, for which purpose the outlet passage turns down-
wards for a short distance into the aforesaid shorter arm, and against the

page_text: knife or rounded edge of the downward part of such said outlet a cup-shaped
piece of metal, fitted with a piece of india-rubber, leather, or soft metal, is
made to press by means of a screw stem formed on said cup piece, and passing
through a hole in a cap screwed on to the end of the aforesaid short arm; into this
screwed cup a diaphragm of india-rubber is fitted and presses against a washer,
so that when the communication between the inlet and outlet passages is cut off
the pressure of the liquid acting on the aforesaid diaphragm presses the same
around the before-mentioned screwed stem, and thus prevents the escape of the
liquid around the stem when the aforesaid cup-shaped piece is withdrawn or
unscrewed from the end of the outlet pipe, the liquid then flows through the
same; the position of the aforesaid cup may either be vertical or horizontal,
according to the description of cock required to be made; in all cases it is the
inaterial in the cup pressing against the edge of the inner end of the outlet
passage that cuts off the communication by screwing same tightly against such
said edge; and it is this novel and peculiar mode of constructing this part of
cocks, instead of employing a plug, and the connecting of the cap to the shell
of the cock by a knife edge seating, that constitutes this Invention. In adapt-.
ing the foregoing mode of construction to ball cocks for cisterns the necessity
for using a waste pipe is entirely dispensed with, the rising of the ball shutting
off the supply directly the floating hollow ball rises to its proper height; the
shutting off action is further assisted by the water pressing upon the cup as it
passes through the inlet passage from the service pipe. The above mode of
constructing cocks is susceptible of various modifications, and is applicable to"
the construction of cocks of every description.