IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Laurent Bequemie, of No. 30, Rue de la
Douane, Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS."-A communication.
Sealed the 29th September 1857, and dated the 1st June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Laurent Bequemie,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st June 1857.
I, LOUIS LAURENT BEQUEMIE, of No. 30, Rue de la Douane, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COCKS," to be as follows:-
In these cocks the outlet opening for the liquid is formed by an aperture of
the required width established in the centre of a disc fixed in the barrel of the
cock, or formed by a contraction of the fore part of the barrel, which disc or
contracted part serves as a seat for a valve pressed against this aperture by a
helical spring; a part of the valve forms a plug, fitting into the aperture of the
disc or the contracted part of the barrel; round a part of the height of this
plug is adapted a fitting of india-rubber, leather, or any other suitable material,
seated on a flange with which the plug is furnished; the fitting thus serves to
keep the outlet opening perfectly water-tight whenever the valve is pressed
against this opening, whereas a rod fixed to the valve serves for forcing the
same to recede, and thus open the outlet opening, after which the valve is
again pressed against this opening by the action of the spring. The rod may
be acted upon immediately by hand, or by the medium of a lever arm, or
any other suitable arrangement.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Laurent Bequemie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
LAURENT BEQUEMIE, of No. 30, Rue de la Douane, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Louis Laurent Bequemie, Her special licence that I, the said Louis Laurent
Bequemie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis Laurent Bequemie, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN Cocks," communicated to me from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that 1, the said Louis Laurent Bequemie, 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 Louis Laurent Bequemie, 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 :-
The advantages my improved cocks present to those hitherto in use are, 1st,
to require much less brass or other metal than ordinary cocks, though offering
the same strength as these latter, so as to obtain cocks of considerable less
weight as those of the same size hitherto made; 2d, to cost less in work-
manship, the interior of the barrel not requiring to be turned on the lathe ;
3d, to offer a greater durability, and to be less liable of getting out of order as
ordinary cocks, and offering a perfect occlusion; 4th, to be adaptable with the
greatest facility; 5th, not to give rise to the bubbling noise other descriptions
of cocks make by the air entering through them in the cask or other vessel;

page_text: 6th, to shut by their own effect, thus preventing any spilling of liquid;
7th, not to be liable to freezing, the cock being constantly empty; 8th, not to
get easily obstructed when liquids holding solid matters in suspension are
to pass through them; 9ly, to be applicable to vessels for aërated waters.
In the annexed Drawing various arrangemements of cocks constructed
according to my principle are represented.
Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section of a small cock for domestic purposes, such,
for instance, as for water filters. Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section of another
smaller cock, particularly useful for drawing off from the cask beer, wine, or
other liquids. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal section of another arrangement.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a cock for regulating the supply of liquids
through pipes; Fig. 5 being another longitudinal section thereof. Fig. 6
represents the spout of a cock for drawing off liquids; Fig. 7 & 9 showing
detached parts thereof. Fig. 8 shows a longitudinal section of a cock applied
to a bottle for aërated waters. Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of a tubular
cock with moving spring in its simplest form, that is to say, not provided with
the stop g', with which the same model of cock represented in longitudinal
section in Fig. 11 is provided. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section of a cock with
a moving spring i at the fore part of the stem. Fig. 13 is a longitudinal
section of a cock for casks and other vessels, which cock is provided with a ball
valve q, for preventing the introduction of any liquid in the vessel through the
cock; n is a fixed tubular part; o, a large socket; and p, the screw plate for
opening and closing the cock. Fig. 14 is a longitudinal view of a cock pro-
vided with a small lever r, turning in a fulcrum s, the lower arm of which lever
on acting against the knob g, causes the stem of the valve to recede and open
the cock. Fig. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of an analogous arrange-.
ment, in which the lever is moved by means of a screw u; an india-rubber
washer v causes the lever arm to recede to its original position, thus shutting
the cock after this latter has been opened for the required length of time.
In the various Figures the corresponding principal parts are indicated by the-
same letters of reference. a is the spout and outlet part of the cock; 6 is the
pipe to be introduced in the vessel, or the same forms the connecting part-
between the cock and the flow pipe, and is to be fitted water-tight to the body.
of the cock by mere friction, by a screw and nut, by a socket, or by soldering
thereto; c (Fig. 1) is a collar serving as a stop; e is the obturating dise
or piston, formed of a solid plate e', furnished with an elastic lining, such, for
instance, as a disc of cork, leather, india-rubber, gutta percha, or any other
suitable elastic material. In Fig. 7 a front view of this plate e' is shown,

page_text: having suitable notches for opening the cock as much as is wanted for allowing
the required portion of the liquid to pass through; this plate is also provided
with projections running in grooves in the interior of the barrel b; f is a stem
or small rod fixed to the piston, for causing this latter to work; g is a knob or
button fixed to the other end of the stem f. The knob g is provided with an
appendix g¹, with a projecting pin entering in corresponding holes formed in a
similar appendix forming part of the body of the cock, for fixing the cock in
any suitable position, so as to afford passage for the requred quantity of liquid.
Two large openings, corresponding together in the said appendixes when the
cock is shut, serve for introducing a padlock, in order to prevent any undue
opening of the cock. In Fig. 3, the knob g is fixed to a spindle furnished with
a screw entering into a corresponding female screw in the body of the cock;
the end of this screw acts on one arm of the bell-crank lever f", which latter
has its fulcrum on the body of the cock, whereas the other arm of this lever
imparts motion to the stem f. In Fig. 4, the same arrangement is shown, with
the exception that the spindle f¹ has no screw thread, but simply glides in
a corresponding hole in the body of the cock; in this Figure the knob g is
furnished with a stop g¹. In Fig. 5, the stem facts by means of the knob g,
furnished with a spindle working into a groove f", forming part of the body of
the cock. The said groove is constantly closed by a slide plate g"; a spring g¹
entering into notches formed in the body of the cock keeps the knob g in
the required position. h, h, is the seat of the piston, and forms the end of the
body of the cock, the thickness of this body allowing; the resting surface
of the elastic part is turned convex, in order to obtain a more perfect occlusion.
i, i, is a helical spring introduced in the spout 6 for pressing the piston against
its seat, thereby closing the egress passage immediately after the pressure on
the knob g for opening the passage ceases. This spring rests either on a rod
traversing the spout 6, or on a rim of this latter.
Fig. 8 shows the system applied as a syphon to a bottle for aërated waters.
a is the cap of the syphon, and b, the body of the same; the syphon has a
cylindrical part b', with a sharp cutting end for entering into the cock. d are
small rods, with an excentric top turning in the screw ring d¹, and kept in
position by the rim and the neck of the bottle. In Fig. 8, these parts are
shown as connecting the cock with the real syphon.
f, its stem; g, the knob for working the same; g' is a spring resting on
a plate k, through which the spindle f passes, as through a stuffing box; his
the syphon, through the tube m of which the liquid ascends.
e is the piston of the cock;
Fig. 9 shows a plan view of the scrow ring d' and its screw rods d. This

page_text: Figure shows the position of the reds when the syphon bead is fastened
by their knobs, whereas the red lines show their position when this head is to
be removed.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements, and its various
modes of acting, I would observe that I do not limit myself to the precise
details herein-before described, as they may be modified without departing from
the principle of the Invention, or to the materials of which the said cocks may
be manufactured, and I do not claim any of the constituant parts apart from
the combination and application thereof in the manner herein described; but
what I claim as my Invention are, the modes of opening and closing the
egress opening of cocks by means of a disc acted upon by a spring or springs,
in the manner as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Laurent Bequemie, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
CHI. DEVOS.
L. L. BEQUEMIE. (L.S.)