IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DISINFECTANTS TO WATER-CLOSETS AND URINALS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Warner, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk,
Engineer, for an Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING
DISINFECTANTS TO WATER-CLOSETS AND URINALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Warner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th November 1880.
EDWARD WARNER, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DISINFECTANTS TO WATER
CLOSETS AND URINALS."
This Invention relates to the construction of a novel and simple apparatus for
automatically supplying a given quantity of a suitable disinfectant to water closets
and urinals in the manner hereinafter described.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a reservoir or cistern of suitable material,
such as glass, and provided with a filling opening capable of being closed air tight
by means of a suitable cover or stopper, such cistern or reservoir serving to contain
the disinfecting fluid. The said cistern communicates with a lower cistern by
means of one, two, or more tubes (preferably two), such tubes reaching nearly to
the bottom of the lower cistern. A syphon is provided, one end of which passes
into the lower reservoir and extends a certain distance below one or all of the
herein before described tubes, the other end of the syphon opening into the supply
pipe to the water closet. A valve may be adapted to the cover of the lower
cistern to prevent an overflow.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
The upper cistern being supplied with any suitable disinfecting fluid and closed
air tight, a certain quantity of the fluid will pass through one of the herein before
described tubes into the lower reservoir. On operating the handle or lever of the
water closet to supply the water for flushing the same a certain quantity of water

page_text: will pass into the hereinbefore described lower cistern, and will dilute the
disinfecting fluid therein; on the flow of water ceasing, and as soon as the level of
the water in the supply pipe falls below the connection with the syphon, the
diluted disinfectant from the lower cistern will pass through the syphon into the
pan of the closet.
In cases where other than liquid disinfectants are employed I dispense with the
upper reservoir and connecting tubes, and place the disinfectant in the lower
reservoir or cistern, and on the water entering the cistern it will dissolve a certain
portion of the disinfectant and carry it to the water closet in a manner similar to
that herein before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Warner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th May
1881.
EDWARD WARNER, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DISINFECTANTS TO WATERCLOSETS
AND URINALS."
This Invention relates to the construction of a novel and simple apparatus for
automatically supplying a given quantity of a suitable disinfectant to water closets
and urinals in the manner hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, which is a sectional elevation of an apparatus constructed according to
my Invention.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a reservoir or cistern A of suitable size
and material, such as glass, and provided with a filling opening capable of being
closed air tight by means of a suitable cover or stopper B, such reservoir serving
to contain a supply of disinfecting fluid.
The said reservoir communicates with a lower cistern C (which by preference is
covered air tight) by means of one, two, or more apertures or tubes; by preference
I use two tubes, d and d', and such tubes are, by preference, reduced in diameter
at their upper ends so as to present a very small aperture; these tubes reach a
certain distance into the cistern C. A syphon E, e, is provided, one end of which, e,
passes into the cistern C, and extends a certain distance, more or less, below one
or all of the hereinbefore described tubes d, d'; the other or lower end of the
syphon E is connected air tight to the pipe that supplies the flushing water to the
water closet or urinal. A valve f may be adapted to the cover of the cistern C to
prevent an overflow if the supply valve of the closet is kept open for an
exceptionally long time.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The reservoir A being supplied
with any suitable disinfecting fluid and closed air tight, a certain quantity of
the fluid will pass through one or both of the tubes d, d', herein described, into
the cistern C till the lower ends of both these tubes are covered, thus preventing
the admission of air into the reservoir A. On operating the handle or lever of the
water closet or urinal, or otherwise causing the water to flow down the supply
pipe for flushing the same, a certain quantity of water will, owing to the resistance
offered to the discharge of the flushing water by the spreader of the closet, pass
through the syphon E, e, into the cistern C, and will dilute the disinfecting fluid
therein, and on the cistern C becoming full or nearly so the water will close the
valve f, and prevent a further influx of water, however long the supply pipe may
be kept open, thus avoiding an overflow; on the flow of water ceasing, and as
soon as the level of the water in the supply pipe falls below the connection with
the end of syphon E, the diluted disinfectant will pass from the lower cistern C
through the syphon E into the basin of the water closet; on the cistern C being
emptied, or partly so, by the action of the syphon a fresh supply of disinfecting
fluid will flow through the tube or tubes d or d from A to C, the quantity
delivered each time being regulated by the difference in the levels of the lower end
of the pipe d' and of the end e of the syphon, the supply of the disinfecting fluid
necessarily ceasing as soon as the lower end of the tube d' is covered, as no air
can then enter the upper reservoir A. In adapting this Invention to what are
termed valve closets, where the water is supplied under pressure direct from the
water mains or other sources, the lower end of the syphon E is connected to the
supply pipe between the stop valve and the closet basin. To fill the reservoir A
with disinfecting fluid without waste, although such waste would be very small,
owing to the small apertures of the connecting tubes d, d, but in case some other

page_text: form of connection might be desirable, I employ a funnel, the lower end of which is
stopped by a cork or other substance that will fit closely into the lower neck of
the reservoir A, the fluid being delivered from openings in the sides of the stem
of the funnel. In cases where other than liquid disinfectants are employed, or in
cases in which the liquid is of a pasty consistency, I dispense with the upper
reservoir A. and the connecting tubes d and d¹, and place the disinfectant in the
cistern C, the water entering the cistern C, in the manner hereinbefore described,
through the syphon E; it will dissolve or dilute a certain portion of the disinfectant
and carry it to the water closet or urinal when the supply of flushing water is
stopped.
The advantages of this apparatus are,-It is easily fixed; is simple, being
automatic in its action, the overflow valve f being the only moving part; the
quantity of disinfecting fluid discharged is always constant, and it is delivered
after all the other water has flowed into the closet basin, thus remaining in the
basin, purifying the air of the closet, and preventing the rising of foul gases, which
must first pass through the disinfectant in the closet basin.
Having thus described my Invention, and the best means for carrying the same
into effect, what I claim is,―
The construction and application to water closets and urinals of the improved
apparatus for supplying disinfectants thereto, arranged and operating substantially
as hereinbefore described and represented in the accompanying Drawing, or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Warner, have hereto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
תחזו.
EDWARD WARNER.
ER. (L.S.)