THE

London

JOURNAL AND REPERTORY

OF

Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures.

CONJOINED SERIES.

No. CVII.

Recent Patents.

To GEORGE HANSON, of Huddersfield, in the county of York, Plumber and Brazier, for his invention of certain improvements in the construction of cocks or taps for drawing off fluids.-[Sealed 7th November, 1839.]

THESE improvements in cocks or taps for drawing off fluids, are comprised under the four following heads:-first, in certain peculiar constructions of the barrels or cylinders of cocks and valves; second, a novel mechanism for working the plug or cylinder of a valve or cock; third, the adaptation of cupped leather packings to cocks or valves; and fourth, a novel mode of forming elastic metallic packings.

In Plate XI., fig. 1, represents a longitudinal section of a stop cock. a, a, and b, b, are two tubes or cylinders, connected together in the middle by a screw, extending from the end of one taking into the end of the other, and

VOL. XVII.

having a leather collar and packing between. A flange, at the outer end of each cylinder, is for attaching them to the conducting pipes, through which the liquor is to flow.

On the outside of these cylinders, a tube c, c, is made to slide, for the purpose of opening or closing the apertures or ways for the flow of the liquor. This outer tube c, is rendered tight on the outer surface of the cylinders a, and b, by a packing of leather d, d, forced up to their bearing by screw collars; and the tube c, is slidden to and fro, by the rotary movement of an axle e, and crank arm f. The handle or winch, by which the cock is to be worked, being placed upon the square end of the axle e, the crank arm ƒ, may be moved round in the arc, shewn by dots. The end of the crank arm f, is connected to a rod g, which moves upon a pivot in a stud h, fixed to the flange of the cylinder a; hence, as the crank is moved in its arc to one or other of its angular positions, the outer tube c, will be slidden along the outer surface of the cylinders.

Supposing the sliding tube c, to be in the position shewn in the figure, the liquor from the cylinder a, will pass through the lateral openings ≈, x, into the cavity y, y, in the sliding tube, and from thence will proceed through the lateral openings x, x, into the cylinder b, and flow on, by a conducting pipe, to its destination. On bringing the crank arm f, to the reverse position, the tube c, will be slidden forward until the internal flanges w, w, are brought up against the stop or packing i, i, when the flow of the liquor will be cut off from the cylinder a, a, through the opening %, %, and consequently the way of the fluid closed.

Fig. 2, is also a longitudinal section of a bib cock, in which the end of the cylinder is enclosed within a tube b, b, and the sliding valve c, is placed between them. A crank arm f, is worked by a winch or handle on the outside, which moves it in the arc, shewn by dots. The end of the crank

is connected to the sliding tube c, by a rod g, and the tube c, is thereby moved to and fro, to open and close the liquor way from the cylinder a, through the openings ≈, ≈, to the discharge tube b,-the end of the cylinder being stopped or closed.

Fig. 3, is a longitudinal section of another construction of stop-cock, something like fig. 1,—the cylinders a, and b, being in one piece, and having a partition in the middle. The liquor flows from the cylinder a, through the lateral openings z, z, x, into the outer tube c, c.-This tube, sliding on the outside of the cylinder a, b, has two internal compartments y, y, and w, w, which are separated by the leather packings v, v, confined between flanges, as seen. In the position of the sliding tube, shewn in this figure, the water way is closed, its passage, from the chamber y, y, being stopped by the packing leathers v, v; but when the outer tube is slidden back, so that the ingress passages ≈, and egress passages x, x, are both open to the chamber w, w, then the liquor flows freely through from the cylinder a, to the cylinder b, and onward.

Fig. 4, shews another modification of a stop-cock, in which a straight cylinder a, b, is made to slide within the pipes or tubes d, e, and the cylindrical box c, c, which connects the tubes d, e, together. The sliding cylinder has lateral apertures ≈, z, z, communicating with the interior of the box c, c, and a stationary plug or piston ƒ, is placed within the cylinder, for the purpose of dividing it into two compartments, and occasionally stopping the appertures x, x, so as to prevent the liquor from flowing from the cylinder a, into b. The plug or piston ƒ, is held by an arm g, extending from a transverse bar h, which is confined across the end of the box c, and passes through an aperture in the cylinder. In the arm g, an axle i, is mounted, which passes also through openings in the cylin

der, and carries a crank-arm k, connected by a rod 1, to a bridge-piece m, fixed in the end of the sliding cylinder.

The axle i, which extends to the outside of the cylindrical box c, being turned, the crank-arm will move in the arc, shewn by dots, and cause the rod 7, to slide the cylinder a, b, to and fro. In this figure, the ways ≈, are shewn open; but when the crank-arm is in the reverse position, the apertures z, z, z, will be brought against the plug, and the flow of the liquor effectually stopped by shutting up the communication between the box c, and the further end of the sliding tube, marked b.

My improved mechanism for working the plugs or cy linders of liquor-cocks, is shewn in the drawings, at figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Figs. 5 and 7, are external elevations of a cock, with the improved mechanism attached thereto. Fig. 6, is a vertical section of the same. a, a, is the barrel cylinder of the cock; b, b, is the cylinder, which is made to move up and down within the barrel, between cupped leather packings c, c. The manner of raising and depressing the cylinder, is one of the subjects of novelty in this invention. The upper end of the plug is attached to a rod e, which has a cross head f, f, above. From the outer part of the cylinder, two arms g, g, extend, which are hollowed to form spherical sockets for the balls i, i, at the ends of the bent rods h, h; and the upper ends of these bent rods are hooked on to eyes at the ends of the crosshead f.

The position of the cylinder, shewn at fig. 6, is such as to shut off the liquor, that is, to prevent its passing from the pipe k, to the nozzle 7; but, by turning the bent arms h, h, with the rod e, into the positions, shewn in the external elevation and vertical section, figs. 8 and 9, the cylinder b, will be drawn up, as seen in fig. 9, and the liquor allowed to flow through openings ≈, ≈, and discharge itself at the nozzle, below.

In the construction of large cocks, I sometimes use a shorter cylinder, as shewn in the vertical section, fig. 10, and adopt a thimble or shorter tube m, with a stem n, upon which the lower part of the cylinder b, slides. The advantage of this thimble is, that the lower packing leather is always kept expanded and tight; for, when the cylinder descends, its lower part presses against the thimble, and pushes it down at the same moment that the cylinder enters the packing, and thereby prevents the packing from collapsing; and when the cylinder rises again, the thimble is raised again by the stem n, into the position shewn.

The third feature of my improvement, is the adaptation of cupped leather packings to the working parts of cocks and valves, either internally or externally, not only in the situations shewn in the several figures, but whenever they may be applicable; which, when hardened by heat, I find to be a more tight and enduring packing than any that has been heretofore employed, for the purpose of water or beer cocks.

Lastly, my elastic metallic packing is formed by binding a curved strip of thin plate metal round a cone. Fig. 11, shews the form of a strip of thin plate metal, which I employ for producing my packing. The dimensions must of course depend upon the size of the cone, and of the суlinder in which it is to be applied. Fig. 12, is a section of a cock or tap, with two of these elastic packings applied thereto, at a, and b,-the packing a, being for the external packing of the cylinder, and that at b, for the internal packing of the same.

Figs. 13, 14, and 15, are detached views of this improved packing. Fig. 16, shews a method of protecting the packing from expanding when lifting out of the cylinder, either in leather or metal.

Fig. 17, is a sectional view, shewing the metallic packing and manner of working another hot water or steam cock,