IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DEODORIZING MATTER TO DRY OR EARTH CLOSETS, AND IN PROCESSES OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING THE LIQUID PORTION OF HUMAN OR ANIMAL EXCRETA AFTER REMOVAL FROM SUCH CLOSETS OR FROM OTHER RECEPTACLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Bannchr, of the City of Exeter, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DEODORIZING
MATTER TO DRY OR EARTH CLOSETS, AND IN PROCESSES OF AND APPARATUS
FOR TREATING THE LIQUID PORTION OF HUMAN OR ANIMAL EXCRETA AFTER
REMOVAL FROM SUCH CLOSETS OR FROM OTHER RECEPTACLES."
Sealed the 15th April 1868, and dated the 17th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Bannehr at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th October
1867.
I, JAMES BANNEHR, of the City of Exeter, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING
DEODORIZING MATTER TO DRY OR EARTH CLOSETS. AND IN PROCESSES OF AND
APPARATUS FOR TREATING THE LIQUID PORTION OF HUMAN OR ANIMAL EXCRETA
AFTER REMOVAL FROM SUCH CLOSETS OR FROM OTHER RECEPTACLES," to be as
follows:-
The objects of my Invention are, first, the construction of apparatus for sup-
plying a regulated amount of deodorizing matter to dry or earth closets after
cach occupation or use for the purpose of deodorizing the solid portion of human
excreta; and, secondly, certain processes for treating and the construction of
apparatus for evaporating the liquid portion of human or animal excreta after
its removal from such closets or from other receptacles for the purpose of
obtaining an extract possessing great ferilizing properties; the solid and
liquid portions of the excreta are received in separate compartments of the

page_text: closets, or are otherwise collected separate and apart from each other as far
as convenient by separate appliances, and by arrangements well known.
The first part of my Invention is as follows:-It has before been a practice
in dry or earth closets to place the deodorizing matter in a hopper behind
the seat of the closet provided with a movable bottom, which at one time
moves horizontally to allow some of the deodorant to fall, upon a shelf below.
and then at the proper time returns to position. In this return movement of
side pushes the deodorant
the bottom a brush or scaper fitted to its under
from the shelf into the receptacle for the solid excrement. This part of my
Invention consists of a new arrangement for moving the hopper bottom and
the brush at the proper time. 1 fit the hinged lid of the closet with a toothed
quadrant in gear with a corresponding quadrant on a bar carried out from
the hopper bottom; when the lid is lifted by the person about to use the
closet the action of the quadrants moves the bar and consequently the hopper
bottom and brush or scraper, allowing some of the deodorant to fall upon the
shelf; then, when the lid is lowered, the reverse movement takes place, that
is to say, the bottom of the hopper returns to position, and the brush or
scraper at the same time moving forward brushes the deodorant from the
shelf into the receptacle.
This part of my Invention further consists in closing the lid of the closet.
automatically as follows, in order to ensure the supply of the deodorant:-
When the door of the closet chamber is opened by the person leaving it cords,
rods, or other connecting appliances leading to the door to the back of the
closet in connection with the lid, cause an arm to project and push forward
the lid beyond the vertical position so that it falls upon the seat, closing the
opening above the receptacle; the same cords, rods, or appliances may also
be made to release a catch when such is fitted to hold the lid when fully
opened.
The second part of my Invention is as follows:-The urine or liquid portion
of human or animal excreta after being removed from the dry closets or from
other receptacles of a suitable construction for collecting it apart from the
feces, and after having been allowed to decompose cither in these receptacles
or otherwise, is mixed with an agent, such as sulphuric acid, or hydrochloric
acid, in order to fix the ammonia resulting from its decomposition; or instead
of allowing the urine to decompose previous to applying an agent for fixing
the ammonia resulting from its decomposition I allow it to decompose in
combination with any of the salts of lime, but preferably sulphate of lime, for
fixing or combining with the ammonia which results from the decomposition
of the urine, about 5 to 10 per cent. of sulphate of lime is a suitable pro-

page_text: portion. In order to facilitate the decomposition, and the chemical change
resulting from the addition of an agent for fixing the ammonia, I convey
through a suitable channel a current of atmospheric air by preference warmed
and charged with a current of electricity, or with carbonic acid produced by
the combination of sulphuric acid with carbonate of lime, or otherwise, passing
beneath the surface of the urine whilst undergoing decomposition. And in
order that such air may pass out of the chamber containing the decomposing
urine I provide a separate chamber, which I connect with the decomposing
chamber by a pipe or other suitable channel, placing in such separate
chamber granules of charcoal or other deodorant which I charge with
sulphuric or other acid for arresting the ammonia which might otherwise
pass from the decomposing chamber with the air, the escaping air first passing
through or between such granules of acidulated charcoal or other deodorant
before escaping into the outer atmosphere. When such deodorant is fully
charged with ammonia or with offensive odour incorporate it with the
manurial matter hereafter described. When treating urine in combination
with salts of lime provide the decomposing chamber with a suitable
apparatus for occasionally agitating the combined matters. The liquid.
mixture is then supplied continuously or intermittently, and preferably in a
state of spray, to evaporating apparatus constructed as follows, this apparatus
constituting part of my Invention:-It consists of a long shallow enclosed
vessel through which a strong draught of air is forced by a fan or other
suitable blowing apparatus, the air being heated before. entering the vessel by
passing through a chamber containing a coil or set of pipes supplied with
either waste steam, hot water, or hot air. To prevent the air passing direct
through the enclosed vessel and to cause it to impinge upon the bottom
thereof, I fit at intervals across the vessel plates or vanes hung from pivots
and counterbalanced or nearly so by weights. The liquid supplied to the
vessel is evaporated by the draught of air, a solid manurial extract having
great fertilizing properties being thus deposited upon the bottom, while the
moistened air is carried off from the further end of the vessel through a
channel which is preferably led to the furnace in order that the air which
will have a disagreeable odour may be consumed therein; an additional
fire-place may be employed if necessary to assist in consuming the offensive
Sometimes I fit a
moistened air passing from the evaporating chamber.
coil or set of pipes in the channel and pass cold air or water through them
to cool the foul air. To facilitate the evaporation in the enclosed chamber
1 lead the products of combustion from the furnace, or some of them,
through a pipe extending longitudinally through the vessel, and then through

page_text: a connecting piece into and through another pipe carried through the vessel
in the opposite direction. The liquid may be supplied to the vessel by a
pipe leading through it and formed with numerous small orifices. When
the solid matter has accumulated the cover of the vessel is taken off and the
solid matter removed.
The second part of my Invention further consists in the following
combination of parts for evaporating the urine or liquid excreta mixed with
a fixing agent as before mentioned: I mount a hollow cylinder, plain
internally, in such manner that rotary motion may be imparted thereto; I
supply it with the urine preferably in a state of spray, and I carry through
it longitudinally a pipe closed towards the far end and formed for the
greater part of its length with small orifices to allow of air forced into such
pipe to be discharged into and to impinge on the greater part of the interior
of the cylinder. In communication with such perforated pipe is a fan or
blowing apparatus. The current of air from the fan issues through the
orifices of the pipe into the rotating cylinder, evaporates the liquid therein,
and the moistened air is carried off from the further end of the cylinder to
a firc-place or purifying condenser. The liquid may be supplied to the
cylinder by the perforated pipe or otherwise. A portion of the end of the
cylinder is made removable to allow the solid deposit to be removed when it
has accumulated sufliciently to require it; or 1 construct the cylinder in
two parts so as to open longitudinally on hinges, or otherwise to allow the
accumulated contents to be removed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Bannehr in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BANNEHR, of the City of Exeter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of ller
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Bannehr, Her special licence that I, the said James Bannehr,
iny executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Bannehr, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DEODORIZING MATTER TO DRY OR EARTH CLOSETS, AND IN
PROCESSES OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING THE LIQUID PORTION OF HUMAN OR
ANIMAL EXCRETA AFTER REMOVAL FROM SUCH CLOSETS OR FROM OTHER RECEPTACLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Bannehr, 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 per-
formed, 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 James Bannehr, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:
The objects of my Invention are, 1st, the construction of apparatus for
supplying a regulated amount of deodorizing matter to dry or earth
closets after each occupation or use for the purpose of deodorizing human
excreta; and, 2ndly, certain processes for treating, and the construction
of apparatus for evaporating the liquid portion of human or animal excreta
after its removal from such closets or from other receptacles for the purpose
of obtaining an extract possessing great fertilizing properties. The solid
and liquid portions of the excreta are received in separate compartiments
of the closets, or are otherwise collected separate and apart from each other
as far as convenient by separate appliances and by arrangements well
known.
The first part of my Invention is as follows:-It has before been a practice
in dry or carth closets to place the deodorizing matter in a hopper behind the
seat of the closet, provided with a movable bottom, which at one time moves
horizontally to allow some of the deodorant to fall upon a shelf below, and
then at the proper time returns to position. In this return movement of the
bottom a brush or scraper fitted to its under side pushes the deodorant from
the shelf into the receptacle for the excreta.
A dry or earth closet is represented in vertical section in Figure 1, which
is taken through the line 1, 2, of Figure 2; Figures 2 and 3 are plan views
respectively showing the bottom of the hopper in its back and front positions,

page_text: a is the seat of the closet; b, the hinged lid; c, the hopper; d, the hopper
bottom e, the brush fitted to the under side of the bottom d; and f, the shelf
below the hopper on to which the deodorant falls ready to be pushed into the
receptacle for the excreta. This part of my Invention consists of a new
arrangement for moving the hopper bottom d and the brush or scraper e at
the proper time. I fit the hinged lid b with a toothed quadrant in gear
with a curved rack i on a bar carried out from the hopper bottom d. When
the lid is lifted by the person about to use the closet, the action of the
quadrant and rack i moves back the bar . and consequently the hopper
bottom and brush e, allowing some of the deodorant to fall upon the shelf f;
then when the lid is lowered the reverse movement takes place, that is to
say, the hopper bottom d returns to position, and the brush or scraper e at
the same time moving forward brushes the deodorant from the shelf into the
receptacle g. In some cases it may be convenient to form the receptacle
with a false bottom, which may be occasionally moved back to allow the
contents to fall into the lower part of the receptacle or into a separate
receptacle below; this may be effected by hinging the seat and connecting a
quadrant thereto, which by suitable connections may be made to move back
the false bottom when the seat is raised, and to return the false bottom to
position when the seat is again closed.
This part of my Invention further consists in closing the lid b of the closet
automatically, as follows, in order to ensure the supply of the deodorant:-
When the door of the closet chamber is opened by the person leaving it,
cords, rods, or other connecting appliances, as indicated at 1, Figure 4, leading
from the door to the back of the closet in connection with the lid cause an
arm m to project and push forward the lid beyond the vertical position so that
it falls upon the seat a, closing the opening above the receptacle; the same
cords, rods, or appliances may also be made to release a catch n when such is
fitted to hold the lid when fully opened.
The second part of my Invention is as follows:-The urine or liquid portion
of human or animal excreta, after being removed from the dry closet or from
other receptacles of a suitable construction for collecting it apart from the
feces, and after having been allowed to decompose either in these receptacles
or otherwise, is mixed with an agent such as sulphuric acid or hydrochloric
acid in order to fix the ammonia resulting from its decomposition; or instead
of allowing the urine to decompose, previous to applying an agent for fixing
the ammonia resulting from its decomposition, I allow it to decompose in
combination with any of the salts of lime, but preferably sulphate of lime, for
fixing or combining with the ammonia which results from the decomposition

page_text: of the urine, about 5 to 10 per cent. of sulphate of lime is a suitable proportion.
In order to facilitate the decomposition, and the chemical change resulting
from the addition of an agent for fixing the ammonia, I convey through a
suitable channel a current of atmospheric air, by preference warmed and
charged with a current of electricity or with carbonic acid produced by the
combination of sulphuric acid with carbonate of lime or otherwise passing
beneath the surface of the urine whilst undergoing decomposition. And in
order that such air may pass out of the chamber containing the decomposing
urine, provide a separate chamber which I connect with the decomposing
chamber by a pipe or other suitable channel, placing in such separate chamber
granules of charcoal or other deodorant, which I charge with sulphuric or
other acid for arresting the ammonia which might otherwise pass from the
decomposing chamber with the air, the escaping air first passing through or
between such granules of acidulated charcoal or other deodorant before
escaping into the outer atmosphere; when such deodorant is fully charged
with ammonia or with offensive odour, I incorporate it with the manurial
matter hereafter described.
When treating urine in combination with salts of lime, I provide the
decomposing chamber with a suitable apparatus for occasionally agitating the
combined matters. The liquid mixture is then supplied continuously or
intermittently, and preferably in a divided state or in a state of spray, to
evaporating apparatus constructed as follows, this apparatus constituting part
of my Invention. It is represented in top view with the cover removed, in
Figure 5; in vertical section in Figure 6, through the line 1, 1, of Figure 5;
and also in vertical section in Figure 7, through the line 2. 2, of Figure 5.
It consists of a long shallow enclosed vessel a, through which a strong draught
of air is forced by a fan or other suitable blowing apparatus, the air being
heated before entering the vessel by passing through a chamber b containing
a coil or set of pipes c supplied with either waste steam, hot water, or hot
air; d represents the inlet of air from the blowing apparatus to the chamber b;
e is the inlet, and the outlet for the steam, hot water, or hot air. When
steam is employed it becomes condensed in the pipes c, and may be returned
to the boiler. The air passes from the chamber b.to the evaporating vessel a
through an opening in the partition g. To prevent the air passing direct
through the enclosed vessel a, and to cause it to impinge upon the bottom
thereof, I fit at intervals across the vessel plates or vanes h hung from pivots
at i, and counterbalanced or nearly so by weights. The liquid supplied to the
vessel is evaporated by the draught of air, a solid manurial extract having
great fertilizing properties being thus deposited, while the moistened air is

page_text: carried off from the further end of the vessel through a channel k, which is
preferably led to the furnace, in order that the air which will have a dis-
agreeable odour may be consumed therein; an additional fire-place may be
employed if necessary to assist in consuming the offensive moistened air
passing from the evaporating chamber. Sometimes I fit a coil or set of
pipes in the channel k, and pass cold air or water through them to cool the
foul air. To facilitate the evaporation in the enclosed chamber at. I lead the
products of combustion from the furnace or some of them through a pipe m,
extending longitudinally through the vessel, and then through a connecting
piece into and through another pipe o carried through the vessel in the
opposite direction. The liquid may be supplied to the vessel by a pipe leading
through it, and formed with numerous small orifices; but I prefer to supply
it through pipes p carried along the top of the vanes h, and formed with
orifices through which the liquid issues so as to trickle or run down the face
of these vanes and allow the current of air to come against it; the vanes have
slois or openings To fit over the pipes m and o. When the solid matter has
accumulated the cover of the vessel a is taken off and the solid matter
removed, or the top of the vessel may be provided with a man-hole between
every two vanes, as shown. g is a drying chamber or floor for drying and
storing the collected deposit from the evaporating chamber.
The second part of my Invention further consists in the following com-
bination of parts for evaporating the urine or liquid excreta mixed with a
fixing agent, as before mentioned. I mount a hollow cylinder, plain internally,
in such manner that rotary motion may be imparted thereto. Figure 8
represents at A such a cylinder in longitudinal section, and Figure 9 in end
view. I supply it with the urine, preferably in a state of spray, by a pipe B,
and I carry through it longitudinally a pipe C closed towards the far end at
D, and formed for the greater part of its length with small orifices E, E, to
allow of air forced into such pipe to be discharged into and to impinge on the
greater part of the interior of the cylinder A. In communication with such
perforated pipe C is a fan or blowing apparatus. The current of air from the
fan issues through the orifices E, E, of the pipe into the rotating cylinder,
evaporates the liquid therein, and the moistened air is carried off from the
further end of the cylinder through the portion of the pipe C beyond the
division D, this portion being formed with holes F, F, to a fire-place or
purifying condenser. The liquid may be supplied to the cylinder by the per-
forated pipe C, but I prefer the separate pipe B, as described, through which
the liquid is forced intermittently or continuously by steam pressure or other-
wise. A portion of the end of the cylinder may be made removable, as shown

page_text: at H, Figure 8, to allow the solid deposit to be removed when it has accu-
mulated sufficiently to require it; or man-holes may be provided in the sides
of the cylinder for this purpose; or I construct the cylinder in two parts so as
to open longitudinally on hinges, as shewn at G, Figure 9, or otherwise to
allow the accumulated contents to be removed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Bannehr, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
JAMES BANNEHR. (L.S.)