IMPROVED MECHANISM APPLICABLE TO DRY CLOSETS AND COMMODES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Wigner, of No. 79, Great Tower
I
Street, in the City of London, Analytical Chemist, and John Wil-
liamson, of No. 25, Warren Street, Stockport, in the County of
Chester, Pattern Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MECHANISM
APPLICABLE TO DRY CLOSETS AND COMMODES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George William
Wigner and John Williamson at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th March 1872.
We, GEORGE WILLIAM WIGNER, of No. 79, Great Tower Street, in
the City of London, Analytical Chemist, and JOHN WILLIAMSON, of
No. 25, Warren Street, Stockport, in the County of Chester, Pattern
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
PROVED MECHANISM APPLICABLE TO DRY CLOSETS AND COMMODES," to be as
follows:-
: IM-
Our Invention relates to the mechanism employed in dry closets and

page_text: apparatus, by means of which the deodorant or absorbent used in such
closets or commodes is distributed over the excreta deposited therein.
And our said Invention is especially applicable to the closet known as
"The Universal Dry Closet," for which Letters Patent, bearing date
22nd September 1871 (No. 2497) were granted to John Williamson (one
of the present applicants) and William Glazier.
Our improved mechanism is of two kinds, viz., one in which the
required motions are produced by the weight of the person on the seat,
and the other in which such motions are imparted to the mechanism by
means of a pull handle.
We will first describe the self-acting mechanism. This consists of a
lever turning in a vertical plane on a pivot fixed to a bearer or other
suitable support at the side of the closet. One end of this lever bears
against the under side of the seat, which is so arranged as to be capable
of a limited vertical motion. The other end of the said lever (which is
if necessary furnished with a counterbalance) is turned upward or
downward, or both, and in .the.part. so turned a slot (preferably slightly
curved) is made at any suitable. angle. (other than a right angle) to the
lever. A pin affixed to the bellows, or hopper, or other distributing
apparatus engages in the aforesaid slot, so that when the lever is caused
to oscillate, oscillatory or reciprocating motion in a different plane is
imparted to the said apparatus.
'
!
When the required motion is to be imparted to the lever by means of
a pull handle, the pivot on which the said lever turns is at one end
thereof, and the pull handle is applied at a point between the said pivot
and the other end of the lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of 'the conditions of 'the 'Letters Patent,
'filed by the said 'George William Wigner 'and John Williamson in
the 'Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th September 1872.
인
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
WILLIAM WIGNER, of No. 79, Great Tower Street, in the City of London,
Analytical Chemist, and JOHN WILLIAMSON, of No. 25, Warren Street,
Stockport, in the County of Chester, Pattern Maker, send grecting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March; in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said George William Wigner and John Williamson,
Her special licence that we, the said George William Wigner and John
Williamson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said George William Wigner and John Williamson, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree witli,
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
"IMPROVED MECHANISM APPLICABLE TO DRY CLOSETS AND COMMODES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said George William Wigner
and John Williamson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, 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 George William Wigner, on behalf
of myself and the said John Williamson, 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 state-
ment thereof, that is to say :--
Our Invention relates to the mechanism employed in dry closets and
commodes to impart the necessary motions to the hopper, bellows, or
other apparatus, by means of which the deodorant or absorbent used in
such closets or commodes is distributed over the excreta deposited
therein. And our said Invention is especially applicable to the closet
known as "The Universal Dry Closet," for which Letters Patent, bearing
date 22nd September, A.D. 1871 (No. 2497), were granted to John
Williamson, (one of the present Patentees), and William Glazier.
Our improved mechanism is of two kinds, viz., one in which the
required motions are produced by the weight of the person on the seat,

page_text: and the other in which such motions are imparted to the mechanism by
means of a pull handle.
We will first describe the self-acting mechanism. This consists of a
lever turning in a vertical plane on a pivot fixed to a bearer or other
suitable support at the side of the closet. One end of this lever bears
against the under side of the seat, which is so arranged as to be capable
of a limited vertical motion. The other end of the said lever, which
is if necessary provided with a counterbalance, is turned upward or
'downward, or both, and in the part so turned a slot (preferably slightly
curved) is made at any suitable angle (other than a right angle) to the
lever. A pin affixed to the bellows, or hopper, or other distributing
apparatus engages in the aforesaid slot, so that when the lever is caused
to oscillate, oscillatory or reciprocating motion (in a different plane) is
imparted to the said distributing apparatus.
When the required motion is to be imparted to the lever by means of
a pull handle the said lever turns on a pivot at one end thereof, and the
pull handle is connected to the said lever at a point between the said
pivot and the other end of the lever.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon.
For convenience of description we will describe our Invention as
applied to a dry closet of the kind described in the Specification of the
Letters Patent granted to John Williamson (one of the present Patentees)
and William Glazier, and bearing date 22nd September, A.D. 1871
(No. 2497).
•
Figure 1 is a side elevation of our mechanism and of a portion of the
closet to which such mechanism is applied, the back board and hanging
stile being in section.
A is the lever herein-before referred to, which turns on a pivot B cast
on the plate; b', 63, 62, are holes through which pass the screws, by
means of which the said plate is affixed to a bearer or other support (not
shown). The end a¹ of the lever A bears against a friction plate c'
affixed to the seat C of the closet, which is hinged to the hanging stile
at c. In the oblique part a of the said lever a slot a³ is formed, in

page_text: which slot the pin d of the bellows D engages. The said bellows are
affixed to the hopper E, which contains the deodorant and oscillates on
the spindle e. The part a² of the lever may be made sufficiently heavy
to constitute a counterbalance, or a counterbalance may be affixed to the
said lever at a*.
:
In some cases it is inconvenient to fix the lever in such a position as
to oscillate in the same vertical plane as the projecting part of the pin d;
and it will then be necessary to bend the lever horizontally as represented
by the shading at a³, so as to bring the slotted part a² into the proper
vertical plane. In all other cases the lever may be used without being
so bent.
The action of the mechanism is as follows:-When the person using
the closet sits down on the seat C, the front part of the latter being
depressed depresses the end a¹ of the lever A, and the slotted end a*
rising forces back the pin d, and thereby opens the bellows D, and causes
the hopper E to oscillate the several parts, assuming the relative positions
indicated in red dotted lines. When the person rises from the seat,
the part a of the lever A falls by gravity, and acting on the pin d closes
the bellows and swings back the hopper, and thus causes them to project
a portion of the deodorant over the deposited feces.
Figure 2 represents in side elevation a lever constructed according to
our Invention, so as to be worked by hand instead of by the weight of
the person on the seat. According to this arrangement the lever F, the
oblique part f¹ of which is formed with a slot f³, turns on the pivot G,
and is raised and lowered as required by means of a pull handle H
jointed to the said lever by means of the pin h, the seat of the closet
being a fixture.
When our Invention is applied to dry closets or commodes which are
not furnished with bellows, the pin d is affixed to the hopper, spout, or
other apparatus, by means of which the deodorizing powder is distributed
over the feces or excreta, and the said pin engages in the slot of the
lever, as herein-before described.
By the application of a slotted lever to dry closets and commodes, as
described, we are enabled to dispense with the intermediate mechanism
hitherto used for transmitting the motion of the actuating lever to the
hopper, spout, bellows, or other apparatus for distributing the deodorizing
powder over the deposited feces or excreta, and consequently to simplify
the construction of such closets and commodes, and to reduce their cost.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein-before described,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of our
said Invention; but we claim as our Invention, the application of a
slotted lever, essentially as herein-before described, to dry closets and
commodes in which the deodorizing powder is distributed over the
excreta by means of a hopper, spout, pair of bellows, or other apparatus
having an oscillatory motion, such lever being so arranged as to act
directly on a pin affixed to such hopper, spout, bellows, or apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said George William Wigner, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
B. WILLCOX,
Clerk to H. H. Murdoch,
7, Staple Inn,
London.
G. W. WIGNER. (L.S.)