AN IMPROVEMENT IN WATERCLOSETS, AND IN FLUSHING TANKS OR APPARATUSES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Robert Kinipple, of Limehouse, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 5th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Robert Kinipple
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1860.
I, WALTER ROBERT KINIPPLE, of Limehouse, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN WATERCLOSETS, AND IN FLUSHING TANKS OR APPARATUSES," to be
as follows:
My Invention consists in the employment in watercloset pans or troughs,
and in tanks, reservoirs, or vessels for holding liquid, of a hollow elongated
conical valve, which, when down, fits into a seat in the bottom of the pan or
other vessel, or into a seat formed by the mouth of an outlet pipe. The valve
is free to work up and down upon guides, and a weighted lever is attached to
it, the weight being adjustable on the lever. A constant flow of liquid into.
pan, trough, or other vessel is maintained, and when it rises to a given
level the floatation of the valve, with the aid of the weight on the lever, is so
calculated that the liquid floats the valve and raises it off its seat, thus allowing
the contents of the pan, trough, or other vessel to flow out with a flushing
the

page_text: action. As soon as the liquid has run out, or nearly so, the weight of the
valve causes it to descend and close the outlet until the given level has been
again attained, and so on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Walter Robert Kinipple in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
ROBERT KINIPPLE, of Limehouse, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Walter Robert Kinipple, Her special licence that I, the said Walter
Robert Kinipple, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Walter Robert Kinipple, my executors, administrators, and assigns;
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 IMPROVE-
MENT IN WATERCLOSETS, AND IN FLUSHING TANKS OR APPARATUSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Walter Robert Kinipple, 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 Walter Robert Kinipple, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed (that is to say):
My Invention consists in the employment, in watercloset paus or troughs,
and in tanks, reservoirs, or vessels for holding liquid, of a hollow elongated
conical valve, which, when down, fits into a seat in the bottom of the pan or

page_text: other vessel, or into a seat formed by the mouth of an outlet pipe. The valve
is free to work up and down upon guides, and a weighted lever is attached to
it, the weight being adjustable on the lever. A constant flow of liquid into
the pan, trough, or other vessel is maintained, and when it rises to a given
level, the floatation of the valve, with the aid of the weight on the lever is so
calculated that the liquid floats the valve and raises it off its seat, thus
allowing the contents of the pan, trough, or other vessel to flow out with a
flushing action. As soon as the liquid has run out, or nearly so, the weight
of the valve causes it to descend and close the outlet until the given level has
been again attained, and so on.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings shews the manner in which my
apparatuses may be applied to waterclosets A, to watercloset troughs B, to
urinals C, and house drainage D; E, pipes for delivering a.constant or
intermittent supply of water; and F, the balance float valve apparatuses, the
construction and action of which will be better understood by reference to the
detached views on a larger scale, and hereafter described. Figure 2 shews
one of my apparatuses applied to the flushing of a sewer; Figure 3 is a
longitudinal, and Figure 4 a cross section of my apparatus in its most simple
form, applied to a house closet. A is a chamber or box, containing a hollow
conical float B, which terminates at bottom in a plug C, which, when in its
seat, closes the outlet through the trap D. a is a chain or cord, whereby the
valve B is connected to a weighted lever E, the weight b on which is adjustable.
The upper part of the plug C is so formed and fitted, that there is a space all
round it to allow of water supplied through a pipe c into the pan d entering
the float chamber A. The action is as follows:-As soon as the water rises to
the level at which the valve will be floated, the float commences to rise, the
balance weight immediately falls and raises the plug off its seat, whereupon
the whole of the contents of the pan will be suddenly discharged, and the
liquid in the float chamber will gradually flow out; the weight of the valve
being then greater than that of the balance weight, suddenly falls, and. the
plug closes the outlet. The annular space round 'the upper part of the plug
prevents the liability of any gritty or other matter lodging and clogging the
motion thereof; it also allows of the plug seat being thoroughly cleansed at
each discharge.
Figure 5 is a sectional view of one of my flushing apparatuses in which
another form of float valve is substituted for the hollow conical valve before
described, and in which the weighted lever does not come into action until the
float shall have released it from a catch, as hereafter explained. I have also.
shewn a means of varying the contents of the tank before the outlet is opened..

page_text: A is a valve rod, terminating at bottom in the plug B, and at top in an eye a,,
whereby it is attached to an arm 6 of the weighted lever C; D is a hollow
float, free to rise and fall on the valve rod; c, c, are stops, against which the
float abuts at the top and bottom of its course; E is a catch, shewn in front
elevation at Figure 5; it consists of an upright d, to which is centred a crank
lever, one arm of which e is formed with a notch, while the other arm fis
fixed to a float g; the end of the arm 6 of the lever C is held in this catch.
until liberated by the rising of the float g, whereby the notched arm of the
lever catch moves outwards, thereby setting the weighted lever c free to fall,
and raising the plug B off its seat to suddenly discharge the contents of the
tank; the weight of the float, float rod, and plug being superior to that of the
weighted lever, immediately restores the plug to its seat, and engages the arm b
in the catch. As a means of regulating the quantity to be admitted to the
tank before the flushing takes place, I employ a block F fixed on a threaded
rod h, carried through a nut i, and raise or lower the block as required.
Figure 6 shews an arrangement of my flushing apparatus in which the
weighted lever retains the float plug on its seat, and maintains it off its seat
until acted on by a supplementary float. A is a conical float valve and plug;
B is a rod connected to the top of the valve, formed with a projecting tooth on
one side to enter one of two notches a, b, in the weighted lever C; c is a
spring for pressing the tooth on the rod B into one or other of the notches;
d is an arm projecting from the lever C connected to a supplementary float D
through the rod e. The tooth on the rod B is in the lower notch 6 in the
lever C when the conical float valve plug is in its seat, and it remains there
until the inflowing water raises the supplementary float D, when the weighted
lever is tilted so as to release the tooth, whereupon the float valve plug jumps
off its seat, allowing of the outlet of the contents of the tank, and of the spring
c engaging the tooth in the upper notch a, thus keeping the plug raised until
the weight of the supplementary float draws back the weighted lever, when
the tooth being released from the upper notch a, allows of the float valve plug
returning to its seat, and of the tooth being engaged in the notch b, whereby
the plug is retained until acted upon as before.
Figure 7 shews the manner in which my flushing apparatus may be
employed as a liquid meter. A is the tank; the quantity which it will contain
before raising the conical valve plug must first be ascertained, then by means
of a rod connected to the weighted lever, I cause every time the contents are
flushed or let out to be registered upon an index. B is the conical float valve.
and plug; C, the float rod, connected to the cranked weighted lever D and to
the handle a of a cock on the inlet pipe b; c is a rod fixed to the weighted:

page_text: lever at one end, and communicating at the other to a registering index. It
will be seen that when the weighted lever falls, it not only lets out the contents
of the tank, but it also shuts off the supply, and moves the index rod, while on
its return, due as before explained to the superior weight of the float valve, it
allows of the closing of the outlet, the opening of the inlet, and brings back
the registering rod.
The apparatus for flushing sewers shewn at Figure 2 is similar to that
described with reference to Figure 5, where a float is employed to liberate the
arm of the weighted lever from a catch. A is the float chamber, into which
liquid contents of the sewer flow through a grating B; C is a gate or flap,
connected to an arm of the weighted lever D, which is bell-cranked; a is an
arm on the lever, furnished also with an adjustable weight b; E is the catch,
in which the end of the arm is engaged; and F is the float, whereby the
catch is made to release the arm; G is the float, connected to the weighted
lever D; H is an outlet pipe, through which liquid flows from the chamber
into the sewer, and cleanses the invert of the gate or flap.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the employment of a hollow conical plug valve, nor to the forming of the float
and plug in one piece, as it will be evident that the form of the float may be
varied so long as it is so connected to the plug which closes the outlet from
the flushing tank that at a given point of floatation it shall act in manner
herein-before described; and I declare that I claim as my improvement in
flushing tanks or apparatuses the combined employment therein of a float
valve plug and weighted lever, constructed and acting substantially in manner
herein-before described, and represented in the accompanying Drawings; and
that I claim as my improvement in waterclosets the application thereto
of a flushing tank or apparatus, constructed and acting as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Robert Kinipple, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
WALTER R. KINIPPLE. (L.S.)