AN IMPROVED FLUID VALVE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Comyn Ching, of 23, Little St. Andrew Street,
Upper St. Martin's Lane, London, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED FLUID VALVE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Comyn Ching at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
February 1865.
I, COMYN CHING, of 28, Little St. Andrew Street, Upper St. Martin's
Lane, London, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED FLUID VALVE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a means of closing and opening apertures for the
passage of fluids by the alternate lowering and raising of a double-action
plunger into and out of any other fluid of suitable character. Thus, for
instance, I let on or seal off the ordinary illuminating gas to or from the
pipes which convey it to the burners in the following manner :-I make an
apparatus, the bottom of which consists of a chamber to contain quicksilver;
corresponding with this chamber I construct a plunger of any suitable metal
or material, the function of which is to work up and down in the quicksilver
contained therein. Within the mass of material forming the plunger I
provide a second chamber open at the top, also to contain quicksilver; into
this second chamber a tube passes descending from the stationary head of the
apparatus into the quicksilver, and on this tube the plunger is free to slide up

page_text: and down as it rises and falls within the first or lower chamber. This tube is
so arranged as to be at all times in a state of immersion, more or less, in the
quicksilver, while the action of the bottom part of the plunger is to rise out of
or descend into the quicksilver accordingly as the gas is required to be
turned on or off. The practical result of these arrangements is, that the
ascending movement of the plunger lets on and the descending movement
shuts off the flow of gas through the valve, and also that every part of the
apparatus is thereby rendered proof against all possible leakage of gas.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
the said Comyn Ching in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, COMYN
CHING, of 23, Little St. Andrew Street, Upper St. Martin's Lane, London,
Gas Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Comyn Chings, Her.special licence that I, the said Comyn Ching,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Comyn Ching, my executors, administrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED
FLUID VALVE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Comyn
Ching, 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 Comyn Ching, do hereby deelare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement -

page_text: My improved fluid valve is intended to be attached to any gas (or the
similar fluid) service pipe for the purpose of letting on, or shutting off, or
graduating the supply of fluid thereto in an improved manner.
The apparatus consists of three main portions, first, an iron cylindrical
vessel, within which is formed a receptacle to contain quicksilver, and in
opposite sides of which are situated two apertures, forming an inlet and an outlet
for the passage through the apparatus of the gas or other fluid. The second
portion of the apparatus is a plunger, also composed of iron, corresponding in
shape to the interior of the cylindrical vessel, and to the receptacle for quick-
silver contained therein, which plunger by rising and falling within the
cylinder, and dipping into or rising out of the quicksilver, thereby lets on or
seals off the supply of gas or other similar fluid. The plunger has also
formed within it a receptacle for quicksilver distinct and separate from that
in the cylindrical vessel. This receptacle is situated in the longitudinal centre
thereof, and its use is to seal off and render gas-tight the working parts
surrounding the rod or wire by which the rising or falling actions are effected.
The third portion of the apparatus is a cap that incloses the working parts
and the two quicksilver receptacles above described..
I will now more particularly describe the details of construction and
working of my Invention.
I first make of cast iron a cylindrical vessel closed at one end and open at
the other, and having two projecting apertures situated on opposite sides
thereof. The dimensions of this vessel are about a quarter of an inch in
thickness of metal, four inches in lateral diameter, and five inches long. The
diameter of the two side appertures is about three inches. The open end of
this vessel is to receive a plunger to work up and down in it; the two side
apertures are, one an inlet, the other an outlet, for gas or other fluid
passing through the apparatus, and to these latter are attached the service or
supply pipes. Within this cylinder situated in the lateral centre thereof, and
being of such a diameter as to leave about half an inch of space all round
between its own outside and the interior of the cylinder, stands a tubular
core open at both ends, and united to the interior of the cylinder, at a part
about an inch higher up than the closed bottom thereof, by means of a flange
thrown outwards all round the lower end of the core, which flange forms a
bottom to the space contained between them. This space is the receptacle
for the quicksilver, into and out of which the plunger when at work falls and
rises. As far as regards the outside entrances of the two projecting inlet and
outlet apertures, they are placed on the same elevation, but not so the insides
of the saine, which are so formed that the inlet aperture communicates

page_text: downwards with the bottom part of the open tubular core, while the outlet
aperture can only communicate with the top thereof; hence the gas in
passing through the apertures must proceed, first, downwards through the
Inlet aperture to the space between the bottoms of the cylindrical vessel and
the tubular core, thence up the tubular core and out through the outlet
aperture, the top part of the tubular core being always made to stand on the
same elevation as the bottom of the outlet aperture. There is a peculiarity
in the formation of the bottom of the receptacle for quicksilver, in its being
made sloping from one side to the other, instead of horizontal, in order to
suit a corresponding form given to the bottom of the plunger for the better
accomplishment of a purpose which shall be explained in the description of
that part of the apparatus. I now form a plunger corresponding in shape
with the cylinder and core just described. The central part of the plunger
consists of a solid core of iron formed to fit rather loosely into the tubular core
of the cylinder. The object of this portion of the apparatus is to act as a
guide in the rising and falling motions of the plunger, and to give sufficient
weight thereto to enable it to sink in the quicksilver, and to overcome the
friction of cranks and wires through which in practice those motions are com-
municated. Around this solid core I form a tube of such a diameter as to
fit loosely into the cylindrical receptacle for quicksilver, already minutely
described. This tube, which stands about half an inch apart from the core
all round, is closed at the top by being joined at that point to the top of the
core, leaving about a half inch ring of space between the outer diameter of
The bottom of this tube is cut
the core and the inner diameter of the tube.
off in a sloping manner to correspond with the sloping bottom of the receptacle
within which it is to work, and the object of the sloping configuration of this
part is to give a greater power of delicately graduating the quantity of gas
shut off or let on by any action of the plunger than would be given by a
perfectly flat or horizontal bottom. In the head of this plunger, down into
the substance of the solid iron core, I now make a longitudinal hole of
sufficient depth to allow a tube which is attached to the cap, and through
which the rod which actuates the plunger passes, to work up and down therein
with the rising and falling of the plunger, and to the bottom of this hole I
attach the iron rod by which the plunger is moved. The rod thus attached
is not made to fill the hole, but to stand in the centre thereof, touching the
hole nowhere but at its junction with the bottom. A space or cavity thus
necessarily remains extending to the depth of the hole and all round the rod,
and this cavity forms the second receptacle for quicksilver, which accordingly
I supply therewith in like manner to the first. I then prepare a brass or

page_text: other metallic cap of such a diameter as to correspond with that of the outer
cylindrical vessel, and of such a depth as to allow of the plunger being drawn
up into it in the act of rising out of the quicksilver receptacle. In a hole
made centrally in the head of this cap I attach a piece of tube of a diameter
sufficient to accommodate freely the passage up and down within it of the iron
rod attached to the plunger. The cap is secured to the cylindrical vessel by
means of a male and female screw formed round their edges. To put the
whole into working order, I first place the plunger in its proper position
within the cylindrical vessel, in which case the solid iron core of the former,
together with its surrounding tubular part, enters respectively the hollow open
tube and the quicksilver receptacle of the latter, and they thus become dove-
tailed, as it were, into each other. I then fix on the cap by passing the tube
attached to the top thereof over the rod attached to the bottom of the plunger,
and fasten both together by means of the male and female screws just
mentioned. Both rod and tube are then in contact with the quicksilver
contained in the receptacle within the plunger, while the plunger itself is
embedded in the other receptacle for quicksilver specially provided for it. In
this condition the gas is scaled off, because, as in all cases the gas must pass
between the bottom of the tubular part of the plunger and the surface of the
quicksilver, the contact between these two substances in this case prevents
its passage. When, however, the plunger is raised, it is thereby drawn apart
from the quicksilver, and thus room is left for the passage of the gas between
them. At the same time the raising of the plunger up into the cap sinks the
tube attached to the latter deep into the quicksilver in the head of the
plunger, and thereby prevents any possibility of leakage around the rod in
the course of its movements up and down.
I do not confine myself to the precise materials herein mentioned for any
part of the apparatus, nor do I limit myself to any of the dimensions given.
The following is a description of the Drawings.
Fig. 1 is an outside view of the valve complete with plunger down. A is the
iulet gasway; B, the outlet; C, the cap; D, the outside form of the cylindrical
vessel; E, the rod to which the plunger is attached, and by which the same
is raised and lowered; F, the means of attachment to the system of bell
wires. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Figure 1. A is the inlet gasway;
B, the outlet. The arrows show the direction of the passage of the gas.
The black lines at C, C, is the quicksilver; D, D, is the plunger dipping into
it; E is the quicksilver in chamber of plunger. Fig. 3 is an exterior side
view of the plunger detached from the other parts. A is the solid iron core;
B, B, is the sloping bottom of that portion that enters the quicksilver

page_text: chamber; C, C, is the quicksilver chamber surrounding the moving rod for
preventing any escape of gas at that part. Fig. 4 is an exterior side view of
the cap detached from the other parts. A is the tube open at both ends,
attached to the cap at the point B, within which the rod which raises and
lowers the plunger moves up and down. When the plunger is raised, the
receptacle within it which contains the quicksilver immerses this tube further
within it, and so prevents the possibility of any escape of gas therefrom.
Fig. 5 is an exterior view of the valve complete shewing the plunger raised;
Fig. 6. is a vertical section of Fig. 5. A is the inlet, B the outlet. Arrows
show the direction of the passage of the gas. C, C, is the quicksilver in the
cylindrical vessel; D, D, the portions of the plunger corresponding with the
form of the quicksilver chamber raised out of the chamber to allow the flow
of gas to proceed; E is the tube attached to the head of the cap through
which the rod moves up and down in raising and lowering the plunger.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the peculiar arrangement of the corresponding portions of the
cylindrical vessel and the plunger, as herein described, for adapting quicksilver
or any other suitable fluid to the purpose of controlling the passage of other
liquids or fluids of less specific gravity.
Secondly, I claim the double receptacles for quicksilver or other sealing
fluid, and the arrangement of parts as described, whereby the same movement
of the plunger produces a reverse action in the respective fluid receptacles,
and so accomplishes in each case the particular effect required.
In witness whereof, I, the said Comyn Ching, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
COMYN CHING. (L.S.)