IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING APPARATUS AND IN WASTE-NOT VALVES TO TE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION BE EMOYEDIN APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1883

page_text: •
LETTERS PATENT to Milton Syer, of Peckham, Merchant, John Gilmore,
of Lower Norwood, Clerk in Holy Orders, and William Richard Clark,
of Peckham, Mechanician, all in the County of Surrey, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING APPARATUS AND IN WASTE-NOT VALVES TO
TE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Milton Syer, John Gilmore,
and William Richard Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents
on the 25th June 1883.
MILTON SYER, of Peckham, Merchant, JOHN GILMORE, of Lower Norwood,
Clerk in Holy Orders, and WILLIAM RICHARD CLARK, of Peckham, Mechanician,
all in the County of Surrey, "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING APPARATUS AND IN
"WASTE NOT " VALVES TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES."
Our invention relates to the combination of certain appliances to form an
effective flushing apparatus, which shall limit the amount of water to be used in
the flush, and which shall supply an afterflush, to keep the closet pan and syphon
filled.
Our invention in the first place consists of a novel construction of waste not
valve, which is also applicable to other purposes.
Our valve consists essentially of a seating in the mouth of the flush supply pipe,
which is normally closed by a flexible disc, spring pressed from a dome. The doine
and the disc are joined air tight at the edges so as to form a pneumatic chamber.
To this chamber is connected a suction pipe from a bellows, or other suitable
exhausting appliance, operated by the closet pull. When the air is exhausted from
the pneumatic chamber, through the suction pipe, by the operation of the closet
pull, the flexible disc is drawn from the seating, against the spring pressure, by the
pneumatic contraction of the chamber, and the water is free to flow down the
Hushing pipe. The exertion of the spring gradually expands the chamber, as
Di31

page_text: the vacuum created in the exhausting apparatus disappears, and the disc is forced
down on to the seating, cutting off the supply after any given interval, regulated
by the proportioning of the reacting spring and exhaust.
In place of the internal spring, we may utilize the pressure of the water service,
to effect the closing of the valve. In this case, the pneumatic chamber is not down
upon the seating, but is a little above it, and a subsidiary valve, suspended from the
bottom thereof, receives on its upper side the pressure of the water service, and
effects the closure of the valve, an internal spring being superadded if desired.
Our valve may be otherwise arranged, and more than one pneumatic chamber
may be used. For instance, the flexible bottom of the chamber and a subsidiary
valve may be connected by a lever or levers, or two pneumatic chambers may be
employed, and connection to a subsidiary valve may be made by scissor jointed
levers.
The flexible bottom of the pneumatic chamber may be partially protected from
the pressure of the water-by-rigid-plating attached-to-the-dome-or-the-seating
It is obvious that our waste not valve may be applied to other purposes than the
flushing of water closets, and may, by proper proportioning of the parts, be adapted
as a measuring tap.
Where our apparatus is adapted to water closets, we apply to the flushing pipe
an after flushing device. This consists of a small chamber with a projecting lip to
catch enough of the down flowing water to fill the chamber. The chamber has an
outlet into the flushing-pipe of small orifice, so, that when the flush has passed, the
chamber empties itself, thus ensuring an after flush to fill the pan and syphon, in
case the flush or consequent accidental vacuum beyond the syphon should have
caused the same to have been emptied

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Milton Syer, John Gilmore, and William Richard Clark in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th December 1883.
MILTON SYER, of Peckham, Merchant, JOHN GILMORE, of Lower Norwood,
Clerk in Holy Orders, and WILLIAM RICHARD CLARK, of Peckham, Mechanician,
all in the County of Surrey "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING APPARATUS AND IN
WASTE-NOT VALVES TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
"
Our invention relates to the combination of certain appliances to form an
effective flushing apparatus, which shall limit tho amount of water to be used in
the flush, and which shall supply an after-flush, to keep the closet pan and syphon
filled.
Our Invention in the first place consists of a novel construction of "waste not"
valve, which is also applicable to other purposes.
Our valvo consists essentially of a seating in the mouth of the flush supply pipo,
which is normally closed by a flexible disc, spring pressed from a domo. The dome
and the disc are joined air-tight at the edges, so as to form a pneumatic chamber.
To this chamber is connected a suction pipe from a bellows, or other suitablo
exhausting appliance, operated by the closet pull. When the air is exhausted from
the pneumatic chamber, through the suction pipe, by the operation of the closet
pull, the flexible disc is drawn from the seating, against the spring pressure, by the
pneumatic contraction of the chamber, and the water is free to flow down the
flushing pipe. The exertion of the spring gradually expands the chamber, as
the vacuum created in the exhausting apparatus disappears, and the disc is forced
down on to the seating, cutting off the supply after any given interval, regulated
by the proportioning of the reacting spring and exhaust.
In place of the internal spring, we may utilize the pressure of the water service,
to effect the closing of the valve. In this case, the pneumatic chamber is not
down upon the seating, but is a little above it, and a subsidiary valve, suspended
from the bottom thereof, receives on its upper side the pressure of the water
service, and effects the closure of the valve, an internal spring being superadded if
desired. A weight may also be used.
Our valve may be otherwise arranged and more than one pneumatic chamber
may be used. For instance, the flexible bottom of the chamber and a subsidiary
valve may be connected by a lever or levers, or two pneumatic chambers may
be employed, and connection to a subsidiary valve may be made by scissor jointed
levers.
The flexible bottom of the pneumatic chamber may be partially protected from
the pressure of the water by rigid plating attached to the dome or the seating.
It is obvious that our waste-not valve may be applied to other purposes than
the flushing of water closets, and may, by proper proportioning of the parts, be
adapted as a measuring tap.
Where our apparatus is adapted to water closets, we apply to the flushing pipe
an after-flushing device. This consists of a small chamber with a projecting lip to
catch enough of the down flowing water to fill the chamber. The chamber has an
outlet into the flushing-pipe of small orifice, so that when the flush has passed, the
chamber empties itself, thus ensuring an after flush to fill the pan and syphon in
case the flush or consequent accidental vacuum beyond the syphon should havo
caused the same to have been emptied.
In order that our invention may be the better understood we now proceed
to describe the same in relation to the drawings hereunto annexed, reference being

page_text: had to the letters and figures marked theron; Like letters refer to like parts
throughout the figures.
Figure 1 shows our valve in its simplest form.
Figure 2 shows our valve owing its closure partially to weight and water
pressure.
Figure 3 shows our valve applied to a cock or tap for measuring purposes.
Figure 4 shows a suitable form of bellows to be used in combination with tho
valve.
Figuro 5 shows our device with lever interposed between the pneumatic chamber
and the valve.
Figure 6 shows a modified form of our device in end elevation.
Figure 7 shows the same in side elevation.
· Figure 8 shows a general view of our device fitted to a W.C.
Figure 9 shows flushing.device.
5
1
Referring to Figure 1, A is the seating in the mouth of the flush supply pipe 1
which is normally closed by the flexible disc B (conveniently of rubber or leather,
or corrugated metal as shown at B') spring pressed by a spiral spring from the
dome C. The dome C and the disc B are joined air-tight at the edges so as to
form a pneumatic chamber. This junction is conveniently made by a flange at
the edge of the dome biting between itself and a collar mounted on open supports D 2
the circumference of the flexible disc. To this chamber is connected the suction
pipe E from a bellows or other suitable exhausting appliance, operated by the
closet pull.
The operation of our device we have already explained.
Figure 2 shows our device modified so as to allow of the use of a weight and 2
the water pressure, to aid in effecting the closure. The pneumatic chamber and
subsidiary appliances are as specified in relation to Figure 1, with the exeption
--of-the-method of controlling the orifice of the flushing pipe, which is now effected
by a subsidiary weighted valve.F, suspended from the bottom of the flexible disc,
and the upper surface of which receives the water pressure. In this case we 3
dispense with the internal spring, the weight taking its place, or, both may be
dispensed with, and the pressure of the water on the upper surface of the
subsidiary valve may serve to provide the necessary reaction, or a combination of
the reacting devices may be used.
Our device may be otherwise arranged. For instance, as shown in Figure 5, 3
where the flexible bottom of the chamber and a subsidiary valve may be connected
by a lever or levers G. Alternatively two pneumatic chambers might be used and
connection made to the valve by scissor jointed levers.
Figures 6 and 7 show respectively end and side elevations of an arrangement
of our device suitable for intervention in the course of a pipe under high 4
pressure, though the before mentioned arrangements might equally be similarly
employed. The valve is above the dome of the pneumatic chamber, but is
connected to the flexible disc by means of a frame H passing round the pneumatic
chamber.
In Figure 9 we show an after-flushing device which may be used when the 4
device is applied to a Water Closet. This consists of a small chamber L in the
course of the flushing pipe, with projecting lip or lips K to catch enough of
the down flow to fill the chamber or reservoir. The chamber L has an outlet
or outlets M of small orifice, so that when the flush has passed, the chamber
slowly empties itself, thus ensuring an after-flush to fill the pan and syphon.
5
Figure 4 shows a suitable bellows or exhausting appliance to be used for the
collapsing of our pneumatic chamber. This consists of a push O compressing a
flexibly roofed chamber N and suddenly expelling the air through a spring valve P,
thus forming a vacuum, the suction of which, caused by the spring Q, collapses tho
pneumatic chamber through the suction pipe E. It is found convenient to have the 5
bellow's of larger contents than the pneumatic chamber, and to provide a minute
orifice R to allow of complete expansion.

page_text: By our arrangement the valve device is always under water and controlled
through the suction pipe even though the surface be frozen.
In Figure 8 we show our device fitted complete to a water closet. The
lettering will readily identify the parts except the bellows X which are of a different
type.
Of other purposes to which our valve may be adapted, wo illustrate a measuring
tap in Figure 3. The parts will bo identified by tho lottering, but in addition, we
employ a flexible diaphragm S, below the pneumatic chamber, of nearly the same
surface as the valve; the object of this is to preserve equilibrium of pressure, and
it may be advantageously used in other adaptations. We also provide a guido T
for the play of the valve, and a minute orifice at U to preserve atmospheric
equilibrium.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature and objects of our
invention and the manner of its performance, be it known that what we claim as
novel and to be protected under letters patent is:-
First. The combination of pneumatic chamber or chambers, directly or
indirectly controlling a valve, and collapsible by means of a sudden exhaust
induced by known appliances through a suction pipe; with reacting spring,
weight, or water pressed subsidiary valve, to slowly expand the said pneumatic
chamber, substantially as and for the purposes specified and shown.
Second. The combination of the device first claimed with a subsidiary diaphragm
between the pneumatic chamber and the valve, to preserve equilibrium of pressure,
substantially as shown and specified.
Third. The combination of the device first claimed or second claimed with an
after flushing reservoir and closet pull and subsidiary devices, substantially as and
for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof I, the said William Richard Clark have hereunto set my
hand and seal on behalf of myself and the said Milton Syer and John Gilmoro
this twenty-second day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty-three.
Witness
SAM. P. WILDING
23 Rood Lane, London E.O.
Patent Agent.
WILLIAM RICHARD CLARK (L.S.)