IMPROVE- MENTS IN VALVES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William West, of Tredenham House, Saint Blazey,
in the County of Cornwall, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VALVES."
Sealed the 4th August 1863, and dated the 14th March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William West at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
March 1863.
I, WILLIAM WEST, of Tredenham House, St. Blazey, in the County of
Cornwall, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VALVES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in simplifying the construction and form of valves,
buckets, or clacks. I propose to shape the valve seating in such manner
that by coiling round it spirally an india-rubber or other elastic band or cord,
all the uses and appliances of the ordinary lifting or rising valve may be
obtained. The form of the seat may be varied to suit the special purpose to
which the valve is to be applied, or the position in which it is to be placed;
generally it might be made to assume a cylindrical shape. Round the exterior
surface of such a seating, for instance, I propose to make a continuous spiral
groove or recess of any convenient form, but sufficiently deep to receive an
elastic band or cord; at intervals the aforesaid groove is to be perforated
for the passage of water, steam, fluids, air, or gases. The extent or area of
the perforations is to be estimated by the particular exigencies of the object
contemplated. The elastic spiral cord is attached at each end to the seating,

page_text: which may be made of metal, wood, or any suitable material. A variation
from this plan may be mentioned. Instead of a spiral band, a series of cords
may surround the seating vertically, and secured at either end of the valve by
rings or otherwise, the cords being tightened or loosened at pleasure, and
fitting into slots prepared for their reception.
These valves are adapted for air-pumps and foot valves in steam engines,
feed and all kinds of hydraulic pumps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William West in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, WILLIAM
WEST, of Tredenham House, Saint Blazey, in the County of Cornwall, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William West, Her special licence, that I, the said William
West, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William West, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VALVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William West, 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 William West, do hereby declare 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-

page_text: The chief advantages obtained by my improvements in valves are facility of
adaptation to degrees of pressure, facility of renewal, simplicity of con-
struction and form, easy and equal action, easy adaptability to any position,
and cheapness as a result of simplicity.
The principal features of my new valve are a valve-seating, which would
commonly present a form slightly conical, and an india-rubber or other elastic
band or cord, which I propose to coil spirally about the external surface of
the said seating within a groove formed for its reception. The bottom of this
groove is perforated, more or less frequently and extensively, for the emission
of water, steam, fluids, air, or gases. Nothing more is needed for the com-
pletion and working order of my valve. The easy and equable action of such
a valve is at once obvious; from the unity of the elastic band results equality
of pressure, a pressure which, by contracting more or less the band, may be
modified at will. There is no jarring, little friction, and no sound; no matter
what may be the rapidity of its action, it works effectively and silently.
To render my Invention perfectly understood, I call attention to the
annexed illustrations of my valve and its accessories.
Figure 1 is a half elevation and half vertical section of an eligible form of
valve-seating marked J, forming part, in the present instance, of an air pump
bucket marked D; Figure 2 is a plan of valve-seating; Figure 3 is a half
elevation and half vertical section of one modification of my improved valve
applied to an air pump bucket D, placed within a pump barrel marked H;
Figure 4 is a plan of said combination; Figure 5 is an elevation; and Figure 6
is a horizontal section through the line a, b, on elevation of another modifi-
cation of
my Invention.
In Figure 1 a groove marked A is formed in the outer part of the seating J,
which in the present case has a slightly conical shape. The groove is made
to run spirally from the base to the apex of the seating; its form will depend
upon the description of band which it is designed to carry. At the bottom of
the groove holes or slots B are made, communicating with the interior of the
seating; laterally, they must never equal the width of the band, whilst longi-
tudinally they may be multiplied and extended to suit the nature or quantity
of the gas or fluid which is destined to pass through them. The form and
material of the seating may be varied as circumstances suggest.
In Figure 3, an india-rubber or other elastic band C is represented within
the groove of the valve seating, and shows itself partly in elevation and
partly in section; it is composed of one continuous piece, though independent
grooves may be made to surround spirally the seating; in this case, however,
there would still be only one band for each spiral groove. The band is fixed

page_text: at its extremities to the seating in such manner as best suited either to renew
it or to facilitate the regulation of its pressure on the seating. The form of
the band is arbitrary; in the present example it is shown circular. In order
occasionally to strengthen and give a certain amount of rigidity, especially
laterally, to the elastic band, a metallic wire may be made to run in a manner
more or less rapidly spiral through the centre of the said band. This is illus-
trated on the Drawing in Figure 7:
Another modification of my Invention is given in Figures 5 and 6. In
this instance, instead of a spiral band, a series of elastic cords marked F may
surround the seating in vertical grooves, and be secured at either end of
the valve by rings G, or in any manner best calculated to ensure their
easy adjustment.
In order to exemplify the working of my valve, I have in the illustration
selected on the present occasion represented it in Figure 3 in connection with
an air-pump bucket marked D. It will be perceived that when the bucket D
is being raised by means of the rod E, the band C, by the pressure of the
atmosphere, closes all ingress to the bucket through the perforations B in the
grooves, and this is performed in a manner far more effectively than by any
other valvular means hitherto in use; for the pliant nature of the elastic band
and its uniform pressure ensure the absolute prevention of all communication
between the interior and exterior of the bucket. On the other hand, in
forcing the bucket downwards, the same pliability and uniformity of the band
leave the perforations in the groove free for the amplest proposed egress of
the liquid to be raised."
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect, I would observe that I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim the application and use of, a con-
tinuous elastic band placed within a groove, and winding spirally about the
exterior of a perforated valve-seating, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William West, hath hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM WEST. (L.S.)