IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE FOUNTAINS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hermann Schildberg, of Moorgate Street, in the
City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PORTABLE FOUNTAINS.”
Sealed the 21st March 1876, and dated the 25th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hermann Schildberg
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 25th September 1875.
I, HERMANN SCHILDBERG, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “I■-
PROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE FOUNTAINS," to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to ornamental and other portable fountains, and
has for its object to supercede the present complicated arrangements for
working such fountains, and the troublesome handling or recharging for
the purpose of setting them to play.
The means by which I attain the said object are for a small table
fountain as follows;-In an outer casing, by preference cylindrical, open

page_text: at its upper end, I fix a somewhat smaller inverted cylinder, in the upper
end of which is inserted the jet pipe. To the lower and open end of the
said inverted cylinder I securely fix one edge of a hose or casing of
india-rubber or other suitable material, the frustum of a cone in shape;
the other or lower end of such hose being securely fixed to a moveable
shallow cylinder of a larger or smaller diameter than the upper inverted
cylinder. In the inside of the top or bottom, as the case may be, of the
said moveable cylinder I fit one or more valves opening inwards for the
ingress of the water or other liquid, thus forming a kind of bellows. In
the said outer casing, and under the said moveable cylinder, I place or
fix a spiral spring of suitable strength to force the liquid to the desired
height. To the said moveable cylinder I also attach a suitable mechanical
contrivance for the purpose of pressing down the said spiral spring and
the said lower cylinder to the full extent allowed by the arrangement of
the said hose. When this operation is performed the liquid provided in
the reservoir for the purpose rushes through the said valves, and fills the
space or chamber formed by the hose and upper cylinder. On the
pressure being withdrawn and the apparatus left free the spiral spring
presses the moveable cylinder upwards, and thus forcing the liquid
upwards and through the jet tube and nozzle forms the desired jet or
jets.
Instead of fitting the valves for the ingress of the liquid in the lower
cylinder they may be fitted in the end of the top cylinder, in which case
the latter cylinder will have to be placed "open end upwards," so as to
contain the liquid required for supplying the bellows or chamber.
This fountain may be so arranged that when suspended it will act by
its own weight without the spiral spring.
My improved fountain being simple in construction can be made at
small cost, as well as ornamental and more costly.
It is set going or
playing, and may be so continued for any length of time, by simply
pressing, pulling, or turning a lever, rod, or framing when the liquid in
the said chamber is exhausted.
This fountain may be used for watering flowers, cleaning windows, and
other similar purposes. Also it may be made of sufficient power to be
used for extinguishing fires. Further it may be fixed in a garden or
other suitable place.
My improved fountain admits of considerable variation in its con-

page_text: struction; for example, about the middle of the outer casing or cylinder
I securely fix a horizontal partition or diaphragm, in the centre of which
the jet pipe is fitted, and in which partition a valve or valves opening
inwards are fitted. The upper division or chamber of the said cylinder
is the reservoir. The lower end of the said cylinder is partially closed
by a plate having a hole in its centre. On the inside of this plate and
near its outer edge I solder a circular collar or rim, to which collar I
securely attach an india-rubber or other suitable water-tight bag, large
enough when extended to nearly fit or fill the lower division of the said
cylinder. Inside this bag the spiral spring is placed, which is provided
with a circular plate at its upper end, from which plate a chain, string,
or lever depends, and passes through the hole in the bottom of the
cylinder, and to which plate the said bag may or may not be attached.
This fountain is set playing by pulling the said chain, string, or lever,
by which operation the spring and bag are pulled downwards, when the
liquid in the reservoir rushes through the valves and fills the space
between the bag and the partition. On releasing the spring the jet or
jets of liquid are produced, as herein-before described. In this arrange-
ment the spiral spring may be placed horizontally, and in a square or
other suitably shaped case for convenience of operating.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hermann Schildberg in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 25th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, HERMANN
SCHILDBERG, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Hermann Schildberg, Her special licence
that J, the said Hermann Schildberg, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Hermann Schildberg, 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

page_text: of this cylinder 6 I securely fix one ódge of a hose or casing'd of india-
rubber or other suitable material, the frustum of a cone in shape; the
other or lower end of the hose d is securely fixed to a moveable shallow
cylinder e, large enough to admit the lower part of the cylinder 6 within
it. To the under side of the bottom of the said cylinder 6 I fit one or
more valves, opening or falling inwards, for the ingress of the liquid
used, thus forming a kind of bellows. In the said outer case a, and
under and attached to the moveable cylinder e, I place a spiral spring g
of suitable strength to force the liquid to the desired height. To the
said moveable cylinder e I attach a suitable mechanical contrivance, in
this case consisting of the, metal ring 6' and four standards or rods 6²,
attached at their upper ends to the said ring 6', and their lower ends
secured to the bottom of the said cylinder e, for the purpose of pressing
down the said spring 9 and the shallow cylinder e to the full extent
allowed by the hose d; or I fix two horizontal arms or other projections
opposite each other to the lower part of the said cylinder e, which arms
project through and work up and down in two slots formed vertically in
the outer cylinder a. When this lowering operation is being performed
the liquid provided in the reservoir for the purpose rushes through the
valve f, and fills the space or chamber formed by the hose d and lower
cylinder e. On the pressure being withdrawn from the ring band its
addenda, and the apparatus left free, the spring 9 presses the moveable
cylinder e upwards, and thus forcing the liquid upwards and through the
jet tube c and nozzle c¹ produces the desired jet or jets. .
This fountain may be so arranged that when suspended it will act by
its own weight without the spiral spring.
My improved fountain admits of considerable variation in its con-
struction or arrangement, and may be made of any suitable materials.
3.
In Figures 3 and 5 the spring g is placed within the bellows instead
of below them, as in Figures 2 and 6 Also the method of pressing
down the apparatus is varied by substituting a winding arrangement, by
which the string or chain attached to the upper or lower end of the
bellows is wound round the shaft or axle ; by turning it until the said
spring is sufficiently compressed.
In Figure 4 the spring 9 is dispensed with, and the apparatus is
operated by gravity alone, the bottom cylinder e being made sufficiently
heavy to open or expand the bellows by its own weight, and thereby to

page_text: force the liquid from the cylinder or case a¹ through the jet tube c, as
before described. In this arrangement the winding axle i is placed
above the bellows, so as to draw upwards the heavy or weighted lower
cylinder e, that it may when free gradually descend and operate the
fountain. This arrangement (Figure 4) may be operated by the spiral
spring, as shewn in Figures 3 and 5.
My improved fountain may be used for watering flowers, cleaning
windows, and other similar purposes. Also it may be made of sufficient
power to be used for extinguishing fires. Further it may be placed in a
garden or other suitable place. '
The valve shewn in Figures 7 and 8 requires no fixing. When such
valve requires placing or replacing it is only necessary to fold the india-
rubber disc up and pass it through the proper orifice, when it imme-
diately resumes its normal state and form, and the valve is in working
order.
This fountain being of simple construction can be made at small cost,
as well as ornamental and more costly.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the method of performing the same, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise arrangements,
forms, or dimensions of parts as now illustrated, as they admit of
considerable variation without departing from the principles of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by the
before-mentioned in part recited Letters Patent, the improvements in
portable fountains, substantially as herein described and shewn in the :
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hermann Schildberg, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-