A MACHINE OB APPARATUS ANSWERING THE SEVERAL PURPOSES OF A PORTABLE WATER CLOSET, A BIDET, AND EASY CHAIR, WHICH, TOGETHER, ARE COMPRISED IN ONE THIRD OF THE SPACE OR ROOM OCCUPIED BY PORTABLE WATER CLOSETS NOW IN USE, AND WHICH, FROM ITS LIGHTNESS AND SIZE, IS PARTICULARLY CALCULATED FOR TRAVELLING, OR FOR CAMPS AND SHIPS
Year: 1799

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BINNS, of Great Barlow Street, in the Parish of Saint Marylebone, in the
County of Middlesex, Water Closet Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS the King's most Excellent Majesty, by His Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the
Fourth day of November, in the fortieth year of His reign, did give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Binns, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His
especial licence, that I, the said Thomas Binns, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigus, might make, use, exercise, and vend my Invention of "A MACHINE
OB APPARATUS ANSWERING THE SEVERAL PURPOSES OF A PORTABLE WATER CLOSET,
A BIDET, AND EASY CHAIR, WHICH, TOGETHER, ARE COMPRISED IN ONE THIRD
OF THE SPACE OR ROOM OCCUPIED BY PORTABLE WATER CLOSETS NOW IN USE, AND
WHICH, FROM ITS LIGHTNESS AND SIZE, IS PARTICULARLY CALCULATED FOR TRAVELLING,
OR FOR CAMPS AND SHIPS," within that part of His Majesty's Kingdom of Great
Britain called England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, for and during the term of years therein mentioned, in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if I, the said Thomas Binns, did not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High

page_text: Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted should utterly cause, determine, and become void, anything therein
before contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding, as in and
by the said Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Binns, in compliance with the
said proviso, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention
in manner following, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to remove the complaint made against a
portable water closet (heretofore invented and manufactured by me) on account
of its being too bulky for frequent removals, and to increase the utility of these
machines by the addition of a bidet pan. In my former portable closets the
back, enclosing the water cistern, was vertically fixed upon the seat or lower
part of the case. In my present Invention the back shuts down upon the seat
in the manner of a lid, and thus not only reduces its size to one third of the
dimensions of the former ones, but also renders it more convenient for travel-
ling, and less liablo to be injured. This important advantage of folding down
the back of the closet upon the seat I obtain by different means, viz'.
First, by a screw jointed tube, as particularly delineated in Fig. VI. and VII.
This tube consists of two angular parts, made of brass or any other proper
materials. The end of one part is inserted and secured in the bottom of the
water cistern, and the end of the other part is attached to the bason in the
common way of manufacture. The two parts of the tube are firmly connected
by the one screwing into the other, as may be clearly seen in the above-men-
tioned figures, and serve, at the same time, as a joint for the back to turn upon
in being folded down upon the seat. When the back of the closet is raised, the
screw of the tube is perfectly close or home, the extremity of the female screw
pressing against a small collar of leather, which surrounds the shoulder of the
male screw; but when the back is folded down upon the seat, the screw, as
being the joint or hinge, relaxes a quarter turn.
Secondly, by a jointed tube, varying from the above only in being a cock
joint instead of a screw, as described in Fig. VII.
Thirdly, by a sliding jointed tube of two parts, each forming a curve of a
quarter of a circle, as represented in Fig. V., where the back of the closet is
shewn in the progress of being shut down upon the seat, to exhibit more clearly
the manner in which the tube acts. The two parts of the tube are joined to
the cistern and bason as the preceding ones, but are not so advantageous, for this

page_text: tube cannot act as a joint or hinge, and requires an accuracy in the manufac-
The above three jointed tubes are applicable to many kinds of
ture.
machinery.
Fourthly, by a leather nor other flexible or jointed tube attached to the bot-
tom of the water cistern, and to the side of the bason. The object of the
Invention may also be obtained by varying and differently combining the
several means herein-before described, but I prefer the first or screw jointed
tube, which includes more advantages than can be derived from any of the
other methods. These tubes I generally manufacture in brass, or in what
is known by the name of cock metal. The manner in which the bidet pan is
added to the closet is so simple and obvious as scarcely to require any other
explanation than a reference to Fig. III., IV., and VIII. The rim at each end
of the bidet pan rests on the front and back edge of the seat of the closet,
immediately over the bason, and is supplied with water from the closet cistern,
either by a separate aquaduct from the cistern or by the same channel through
which the water is admitted into the closet bason, and for this purpose an
aperture is made in the upper part of the back end of the bidet pan, sufficiently
large to admit the fan of the pan leading into the bason; the latter method I
deem the best. The pans I usually manufacture in copper and japan them,
but they may be made of other materials, though none are, in my opinion, so
well adapted to the purpose as japanned copper. In the Figures which are
annexed to elucidate this Specification, I have exhibited and described the
whole closet, which contains many parts that are not new and cannot be
considered as included in my present Patent. The parts which I claim as my
Invention, and for which the patent is granted, are the folding down of the
back of the closet upon the seat, or by having the back to engage and
disengage, whereby the back may be laid down on the seat, or by folding
or laying down the back of the closet upon the seat in any manner whatsoever,
but more particularly by the different means herein-before described; the
screw jointed tube; the cock jointed tube; the sliding tube; the tube made of
leather or any other flexible material; the application of the bidet pan to the
water-closet; and the arms or handles to make it serve as an easy chair: these
arms or handles are in two parts, joined by a screw near the angle, and one
part of the arm, when joined or screwed together, is attached or fixed to the
seat of the closet, and the other to the back, by means of sliding fastenings, by
which means these arms are made to engage and disengage for the different
purposes the closet may be used for, and also for the convenience of packing
in the internal part of the closet in travelling. All these I claim the exclusive

page_text: in which they can be produced for my own benefit during the term of my
Påtent.
An EXPLANATION of the FIGURES in the MARGIN.
Fig. I., a side view of the water closet with the back shut down. Fig. II., a
side view of the closet with the back raised and secured by two brass arms which
slide into the back and seat; for conveniency in packing, these arms separate at
the angle or clbow. On this side of the bottom of the closet is shown the door,
which is opened whenever the soil pan is removed. Fig. III., the same view on
an enlarged scale; the side of the case is omitted for the purpose of exhibiting
the mechanism. a, the frame or case containing the mechanism; b, the water
cistern in the back of the closet; c, the lever which raises the valve (f) for the
purpose of admitting water through the jointed tube into the bason or bidet
pan. This lever is raised either by drawing up the handle (d) on the seat or
by pressing the thumb on the extremity of the lever, as appears more plainly
at c, in Fig. IV. In doing the former, not only water is admitted into the
bason or bidet, but also the water in the bason is at the same time discharged
into the soil pan below by means of the tumbler (e), which opens a valve at
the bottom of the bason; but a pressure on the lever at the top of the back
produces only a single motion for discharging water out of the cistern. 7, the
screw jointed tube more particularly described in Figures VI. and VII.;
h, the bidet pan which rests at each end upon the edge of the seat over the
bason. See also Fig. IV. and VIII. i, the closet bason; j, the waste pipe;
k, the stench trap; 7, the soil pan which contains the foul water, &c. discharged
from the bason. The mouth of this pan is closely attached to the pipe at the
bottom of the trap by the angular lever (m), which is raised and secured by
the brass spring catch (7). When the pan is to be removed, a slight pressure
on the knob of the catch disengages the lever and the pan which is supported
by it. In drawing out the soil pan to discharge its contents, a lid is screwed
on the mouth of it to prevent the escape of any offensive effluvia in the removal.
o, the fan at the end of the pipe or tube for admitting water into the bason
and bidet pan; p, the top of the back is a lid which is opened whenever the
cistern is supplied with water. The other parts of the Figure are either too
obvious or well known to require explanation. Fig. IV., a view of the seat of
the closet, and of the top of the back when the lid is open. 7, the aperture
through which the water is poured into the cistern; r, the spring of the lever c;
s, the brass plate affixed to the lower part of the screw jointed tube, and

page_text: which is secured to the seat by four screws as a joint. The other references
are explained by the same letters in Fig. III. Fig. V., a section of the sliding
curved tube. a, the lower or external part of the tube, which is attached to
the bason; b, the upper or internal part of the tube inserted in the bottom of
the cistern c. These lines delineate the bottom and front side of the water
cistern. d, an outline of the fore part of the back, and of the seat of the
closet; c, the joint which connects the back of the closet with the scat; f, a
collar of leather, against which the shoulder of the upper part of the tube, and
the extremity of the lower one, press when the tube is closed by the back of
the closet being erect; g, the valve in the upper .or internal part of the tube,
for restraining the water in the cistern; h, the leather lining to the valve;
i, the screw nut which binds the leather to the valve; j, a wire to regulate the
valve in its motions; in the upper part of this wire is affixed another which com-
municates to the lever at the top of the water cistern; k, a fixed bar in which the
regulator of the valve moves. Fig. VI., a vertical section of the screw jointed
tube. 1, a brass plate affixed to the lower part of the tube, and which is screwed
down upon the seat, as appears in Fig. IV. The other references are explained
in those of the preceding Figure.-N.B. This section is not in a direct line,
but a combination of three, as shewn by the red transverse dotted lines in
the following Figure. Fig. VII., a horizontal section of the screw or cock
jointed tube m. The vertical dotted lines point out the variation in connecting
the two parts of the tube by a cock joint instead of a screw. The other
references are explained by those in Fig. V. and VI. In this section the
upper part of the tube is more highly coloured than the lower one, for the
purpose of delineating more obviously the outlines of the two parts. Fig. VIII.
a vertical view of the back part of the bidet pan when fixed, as in Fig. IV.
1, the upper part of the edge of the seat of the closet above the bidet pan.
2, the rim of the end of the bidet pan resting on the edge of the scat, which,
for that purpose, is bevilled from the dotted line upwards. 3, the water pipe
or tube at the back of the fan. 4, the fan, which disperses the water from
all parts of its curvature; an improvement, by which the bottom as well
as the sides of the bason are completely washed. 5, the edges of the aper-
ture in the back part of the bidet pan for admitting the fan; these edges of
the aperture closely join to the internal surface of the bason, and thus include
the whole of the fan in the bidet pan, when it is placed upon the seat of the
closet, as represented in Fig. IV.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of December, in the
fortieth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, the said
Thomas Binns came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the several Statutes made in the sixth
year of the reign of the late King and Queen William and Mary of England,
and so forth, and in the seventeenth, twenty-third, and thirty-seventh years of
the reign of His present Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the day and year last above written.