MENTS IN TAPS OR VALVES
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lea at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd July
1867.
LI, HENRY LEA, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN TAPS OR VALVES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the arrangements herein-after described of the
parts of taps or valves for liquids, gases, and vapours, by which arrangements
, the flow of liquids, gases, or vapours at high pressures is controlled with great
facility.
My Invention is particularly applicable to taps or valves of the kind com-
monly called ball cocks for regulating the flow of water or liquid into a cistern,
and also to self-closing taps or valves. In the use of taps or valves of the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: latter kind made according to my invention the closing of the tap or valve is
unattended by the injurious shock common to taps of the ordinary kind.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a ball cock for a water cistern.
I make the body of the tap of a circular covered vessel. The entrance pipe
is horizontal and on one side of the said vessel. The exit pipe is situated
vertically in the axis of the said vessel, the top of the exit pipe constituting the
valve seat. Across the said vessel and immediately over the valve seal is a
division or diaphragm of leather, india-rubber, or other flexible material,
which in its normal position covers the top of and closes the exit pipe. The
water presses directly against the under side of the division or diaphragm, and
is allowed to pass by a small opening to the upper side of the said division or
diaphragm. The water on the upper side of the division or diaphragm presses
on its whole area, while the water on the under side of the division or dia-
phragm presses on a like area less the area of the valve seat or top of the
exit pipe. The central portion of the division or diaphragm constituting the
valve is in consequence held to its seat by the pressure of the water. A small
valve communicates with the space above the division or diaphragm, and by
opening the said small valve the water may be allowed to escape from above
the division or diaphragm. The pressure under the division or diaphragm
being no longer counteracted by pressure above it the said division or
diaphragm rises, and water escapes down the central or exit pipe. When the
small valve described is closed water again accumulates above the division
or diaphragm, and presses it down upon the valve seat. The stem of the
small valve described rests on the lever of the floating ball, and by the rising
or falling of the latter the flow of water into the cistern is regulated.
In taps or valves made according to my Invention a very large area of
waterway containing water at a very high pressure can be controlled by a
slight movement of a small valve requiring but little force to work it, and by
properly proportioning the small aperture by which water above the division
or diaphragm is admitted the violent closing of the valve is prevented.
In applying my Invention to taps or valves other than ball cocks the details
require to be varied to fit the tap or valve to the particular use to which it
is to be applied, I do not limit myself to any particular details of construction.
the essence of my Invention consisting in so arranging the parts of the tap or
valve that the liquid gas or vapour closes the tap or valve by its pressure on
a large area, and opens the tap or valve by its pressure in an opposite direc-
tion on a small area when the pressure on the large area has been removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Lea in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEA, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Lea, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Lea, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Henry Lea,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TAFS OR VALVES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Lea, 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 Henry Lea, 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:
My Invention consists of the arrangements herein-after described of the
parts of taps or valves for liquids, gases, and vapours, by which arrangements
the flow of liquids, gases, or vapours at high pressures is controlled with
great facility.
My Invention is particularly applicable to taps or valves of the kind com-
monly called ball-cocks for regulating the flow of water or liquid into a cistern,
and also to self-closing taps or valves. In the use of taps or valves of the
latter kind made according to my Invention the closing of the tap or valve is
unattended by the injurious shock common to taps of the ordinary kind.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a ball cock for a water cistern.
I make the body of the tap of a circular covered vessel. The entrance pipe

page_text: is horizontal and on one side of the said vessel. The exit pipe is situated
vertically in the axis of the said vessel, the top of the exit pipe constituting
the valve seat. Across the said vessel and immediately over the valve seat is
a division or diaphragm of leather, india-rubber, or other flexible material,
which in its normal position covers the top of and closes the exit pipe. The
water presses directly against the under side of the division or diaphragm, and
is allowed to pass by a small opening to the upper side of the said division or
diaphragm. The water on the upper side of the division or diaphragm presses
on its whole area, while the water on the under side of the division or diaphragm
presses on a like area less the area of the valve seat at the top of the exit
pipe; the central portion of the division or diaphragm constituting the valve
is in consequence held to its seat by the pressure of the water. A small
valve communicates with the space above the division or diaphragm, and by
opening the said small valve the water may be allowed to escape from above
the division or diaphragm; the pressure under the division or diaphragm
being no longer counteracted by pressure above it the said division or
diaphragm rises, and water escapes down the central or exit pipe. When the
small valve described is closed water again accumulates above the division or
diaphragm and presses it down upon the valve seat. The stem of the small
valve described rests on the lever of the floating ball, and by the rising or
falling of the latter the flow of water into the cistern is regulated.
In taps or valves made according to my Invention a very large area of
waterway containing water at a very high pressure can be controlled by a
slight movement of a small valve requiring but little force to work it, and by
properly proportioning the small aperture by which water above the division
or diaphragm is admitted the violent closing of the valve is prevented.
In applying my Invention to taps or valves other than ball cocks the details
require to be varied to fit the tap or valve to the particular use to which it is
to be applied.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure represents in longitudinal section, and Figure 2 in plan, a ball tap
constructed according to my Invention. a is a circular vessel constituting the
body of the tap,having an inlet pipe b,a vertical exit pipe c,and a circular flange d,
to which the cover e is attached by the screws f: g is a division or diaphragm
of leather, india-rubber, or other flexible material which forms a water-tight
joint between the cover e and flange d, and at the same time forms the valve
which closes the exit pipe c. The said division or diaphragm is pressed

page_text: downwards by the water which passes into the cover e through the small
openings 1, 2. The downward water pressure acts upon the whole area
within the cover, while the upward pressure is only that due to the annular
area around the vertical exit pipe c; the exit pipe c is consequently kept
closed by the superior downward pressure upon the division or diaphragm.
h is a bent wire or small rod loosely fitting the opening 1, and allowing
sufficient water to pass, while preventing the stoppage of the opening by
circular stalks of weeds or other like obstructions. When the ball or float i
falls and the tap is required to be opened the small valve k is opened by being
raised by the end of the ball lever m, and the division or diaphragm is
relieved of the downward water pressure for the opening of the valve k allows
all the water which enters the valve chamber n through the opening 1 to pass
freely away through the passage o into the exit pipe c. The unbalanced
upward pressure therefore raises the division or diaphragm g, and the water
escapes into the exit pipe c. As soon as the small valve k is allowed to close.
the passage by the rise of the ball i the water pressure again accumulates
above the division or diaphragm g, which is thus pressed down upon and
closes the exit pipe c. The openings 1 and 2 may be so proportioned as to
cause a very gradual depression of the division or diaphragm g so as to entirely
avoid the concussion common to ordinary self-closing taps or valves. p, p, are
two metal plates held together by a nut q, and are for the purpose of pre-
venting the bulging of the division or diaphragm g into the exit pipe by the
downward water pressure. The space shown at is only for the purpose of
lightening the casting.
Figures 3 and 4 represent two arrangements of my Invention applied to a
self-closing bib tap to be opened when required by hand, Figure 3 representing
a section of a tap and Figure 4 an elevation of a tap. In the arrangement,
Figure 3, the small valve works horizontally instead of vertically, and has a
coiled springs to assist in closing it, and the end of the small valve chamber
is closed by the screw plug t. The valve spindle crosses the exit pipe c, and
has a button u against which pressure is applied to open the valve. In the
arrangement, Figure 4, a bell-crank lever is substituted for the ball lever m
in Figure 1, and the valve is opened by moving the end of the said bell-
crank lever in the direction of the arrow. The valve closes itself when the
pressure is removed from the lever r. A spring may be added if desired to
assist in closing the valve.
Figure 5 represents in section a modification of the tap first described. In
this modification the water enters at the centre inlet pipe b, and some of it
The opening 1 is
passes through the small opening 1 into the cover e.

page_text: contained in a nut or boss passing through the division or diaphragm
c is the exit pipe in connection with the annular chamber of the circular
vessel or body a. In this arrangement the central part of the division or
diaphragm is pressed, so as to close the inlet pipe b by the pressure on the
cover e acting on the whole area, as in the previously described arrangement,
the unbalanced portion being now the annular part of the division or
diaphragm g, which consequently becomes bulged, as shown at g; k is the
small valve, and m is the ball lever, which are contained in and supported by
the cover e. When the lever m is depressed the valve is opened, and a
portion of water escaping by the passage the pressure of water in the pipe b
is no longer balanced. The division or diaphragm is consequently pressed
from against the end of the pipe b, when the water escapes from the said
pipe down the exit pipe e.
Figure 6 represents in section another modification of the arrangement
represented in Figure 1. In the arrangement, Figure 6, the small valve is
reversed in its action, and is pressed upwards by the ball lever m against the
issuing water when it is required to close the valve. When the lever m and
valve descend water escapes from above the diaphragm g down the pipe o,
and the diaphragm g is raised by the unbalanced pressure on its under side,
and water escapes down the exit pipe c.
Figure 8 represents in section a combination of the arrangements repre-
sented in Figures 5 and 6. The inlet pipe b, as in Figure 5, is at the centre
of the circular vessel or body a, and the small valve k and ball lever m are
applied to the cover e, and the small valve k, as in Figure 6, closes against the
issuing water. On the descent of the lever m the pressure of the water in the
cover e forces back the valve k, and the said water escapes by the passage k.
The pressure of water in the inlet pipe b now forces the diaphragm g
from the end of the said pipe b, and the water escapes by the exit pipe c. Ill
all cases the small valve may have a positive motion given to it in both
directions by the ball lever m, instead of in one direction only as shown in the
Drawings, where the action of the lever in one direction is a permissive one
merely, and allows the water or the water aided by a spring to move the said
valve k.
i
Although I have only described and represented my Invention as applied to
taps or valves for liquids, yet my said Invention is equally applicable to taps
or valves for gases and vapours, the action of the parts being precisely the
same, whether the tap or valve is used for regulating the passage of liquids or
gases or vapours.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but
I claim as my Invention the improvements in taps or valves herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
arranging the parts of the tap or valve, so that the liquid gas or vapour
closes the tap or valve by its pressure on a large area, and opens the tap
or valve by its pressure in an opposite direction on a small area when the
pressure on the large area has been removed, substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lea, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
HENRY LEA. (L.S.)