AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING AND SUPPLYING WATER, GAS, AND OTHER FLUIDS APPLICABLE ALSO AS FLUID METER
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Elliott, of. Southampton, in the County of
Hants, Architect and Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING AND SUPPLYING WATER, GAS, AND OTHER FLUIDS
APPLICABLE ALSO AS FLUID METER."
Sealed the 10th March 1857, and dated the 12th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Elliott at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
September 1856.
I, JOHN ELLIOTT, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, Architect and
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING AND SUPPLYING WATER, GAS, AND OTHER
FLUIDS, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A FLUID METER," to be as follows:-
My improved apparatus consists of a spherical, cylindrical, or otherwise
shaped vessel, one half (or a portion) of which is formed of metal, wood, or
other rigid material, while the other half or portion is composed of india-rubber,
gutta percha, oiled silk, or other flexible waterproof material, connected at
parts to the rigid portion, the vessel or the flexible portion of it being enclosed
in an outer casing, inade of metal or otherwise, similar in configuration to the
part or parts which it encloses, and formed with apertures for the admission of
atmospheric air. This casing protects the flexible part, (and when fluid is
admitted into the vessel under pressure) it also serves to prevent that portion
from being burst, but it may in some cases be dispensed with.
The vessel is provided with a suitably placed outflow, or with a two-way
cock for both inflow and outflow of fluid. On water or other fluid being
adınitted into the vessel, the flexible' part becomes distended, and when the

page_text: vessel is filled, it is expanded to its full extent, or until it presses against the
inner surface of the casing; on opening the outflow, the fluid will of course
issue from the vessel, and as it leaves it, atmospheric air entering between the
casing and flexible part will depress the latter, or make it collapse until it sinks
into the rigid portion, thus preventing waste of fluid and access of air thereto.
In conjunction with a two-way cock or taps so contrived that one may open
when the other closes, the apparatus may be employed for flushing closets and
drains, water being admitted in quantities regulated by the size of the vessel,
or it may be applied to sink-taps, in both cases preventing waste of fluid. The
Invention may also be applied in the construction of casks or barrels for
holding ale or other beverages, by making one half or a portion of the barrel
flexible.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Elliott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th March 1887.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, JOHN
ELLIOTT, of Southampton, in the County of Hampshire, Architect and
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelvth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Elliott, her special licence that I, the said John Elliott, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Elliott,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CONTAINING AND SUPPLYING WATER, GAS, AND OTHER FLUIDS, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A
FLUID METER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Elliott, or my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Elliott, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming
part of this my Specification, and to the letters of reference marked on the
Diagrams to denote the mechanical parts of the "apparatus," with the
accompanying descriptions:-
My Invention has for its chief objects to allow of water, liquors, gas, or any
other fluids or semi-fluids, being withdrawn from vessels of any ordinary
suitable form, without the admission of atmospheric air to their contents; and
where the apparatus is employed for flushing or regulating the supply of fluids,
to effect these uses without the necessity of any air pipe or valve.
I propose to effect these chief objects of my Invention by the use of a
flexible waterproof bag, sheet, or disk, of india-rubber, oiled silk, or other
suitable material, affixed in such a way, and in such proportion as to size and
shape, to a rigid or semi-rigid containing vessel, of metal, wood, or other
suitable material, that the flexible bag, sheet, or disk shall, by its own weight
and the pressure of the atmosphere, be forced to the sides of the containing
vessel, and down on the fluid or semi-fluid contents as they leave the contain-
ing vessel, thus allowing them to be drawn off without admission of the
atmosphere; and, with the additions herein-after described or shewn on the
Diagrams, forming an apparatus for storing and supplying liquors, gasses, or
other fluids or semi-fluids, for flushing water-closets or drains, or regulating or
registering the supply of water or other fluids.
I propose to construct my "apparatus "either with a flexible waterproof bag
of the size and shape, or nearly so, of the rigid or semi-rigid containing vessel,
secured to it at the top with a water-tight joint, and having a rigid cover or
semi-rigid cover (pierced with holes for admission of air) to fit the top or that
portion of the containing vessel, to which the flexible waterproof bag is secured,
to protect it from injury or pressure; or with a flexible waterproof sheet or
disk, secured with a water tight joint to one half or portion ofa rigid or semi-
rigid containing vessel, formed with a flange, to which the other rigid or semi-
rigid half or portion (pierced with holes for air) may be bolted or secured, thus
allowing the waterproof flexible sheet or disk free play to rise and fall between
either portion of the containing vessel; the former mode being most adapted
to allow of liquors being drawn off without injury from air, and the latter
mode, for flushing with, or regulating the supply of water for household and
public services, when used in conjunction with a two-way cock, or taps so con-
trived that the inlet pipe shall be covered before the outlet pipe is opened.

page_text: I do not bind myself to any particular form of tap, but in combination with
the containing vessel of my apparatus, I claim the form of cock shewn on the
Diagrams, and herein-after described. When a two-way cock is required, I
place the apertures for inlet and outlet in the outer flange disk, and so placed
relatively to each other, that a shutting leaf moving in a parallel plane covers
one opening before it leaves the other. The shutting leaf moves on a pivot
passing through the outer flange disk, and secured by a pin on the outside of
the disk; to the end of this pivot the handle is then to be fixed, and weighted
at the end to make the cock self-closing. By omitting the inlet pipe, and
putting a shorter shutting leaf and case, a single-way cock may be formed.
By so arranging the handle, that when moved it shall act on a rack moving
only one way, and connected with an index, a means will be provided for
registering each occasion of the containing vessel's being used or emptied ; but
I do not claim any particular form or meter, only the use of one in connection
with other portions of my " apparatus."
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
it is to be performed or carried into practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly
understood, that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before
set forth, or to the shape, form, size, or pattern of the apparatus or parts
thereof, made under and according to my Invention, as such may be, and
indeed must be, varied to suit the circumstances of particular cases, without at
all departing from the principles of my Invention or improvements; nor do
I lay claim to the exclusive use of any portion of my improved apparatus
taken separately as parts, and not combined for the purposes of my Invention,
which I declare to be one (and I claim the combination of parts herein-before
described) by which fluids or semi-fluids can be withdrawn from a containing
vessel without any necessity for the admission of air, and a flushing or supply-
ing apparatus formed without au air pipe or valve, thereby forming an
improved apparatus" according to the terms in the title, and their meaning
expressed or implied.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said John Elliott, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and
fifter coron
JOHN ELLIOTT. (L.S.)