IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO WATER- CLOSETS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FINDON, of Black Horse Yard, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Coach Smith, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of April, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Findon, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Findon, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Findon, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO WATER-
CLOSETS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
James Findon, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the sai
James Findon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and th
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to th
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus for my improved water-closet with
the earthen bason; Figure 2, a front view of the same without the bason
Figure 3, a top view without the bason, its place being shown by dotted lines
A, A, the earthen bason; b, b, the cast-iron chamber on which the bason is
fixed; c, c, a cast-iron pipe, bent up so as to form a water-joint, it enters a
cast-iron connecting pipe, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2; d, Figure 3,
the copper pan, it is shown only by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2; c, c, the
axis to which the pan d is attached; f, f, bearings to the same; g, the crank
or arm, actuated by the lever h as usual, to empty the pan and again raise it
up; i, i, the lever handle; j. j. a service box or pipe with an air pipe, it is
secured to the chamber 6 by the arms k, k. To the box jis attached the
service cock ; it has a union joint m to connect it with the cistern pipe n.
The cock is actuated by the same motion that moves the pan d, it being
opened when the pan drops; for this purpose the back end of the axis c
projects through the chamber 6 to receive a crank arm o; a bar P connects
this with the arm g of the cock. From the service box j, in this instance,
there projects two pipes rand 8, which enters the bason through its back;
that marked ris an air pipe, which rises within to near the top of the box,
as shown by dotted lines. This, whilst the cock is open, supplies water as well
as the pipes, but when the cock is shut it becomes an air pipe, to enable the
pipes to give the after supply of water which is to remain in the bason.
This mode of actuating the cock and placing the service box or pipe close to
the bason, gives a facility of union so durable that it is scarcely able to get
out of order; yet as time may cause the cock to leak, I render that of no
consequence, by placing under it the compact receiver t, with a leakage
pipe u, so curved as to form a water-joint or stop. In some cases I only
cause the pipes to enter through the back of the bason, and bring the air
pipe over the top of the bason; or I can carry the air pipe up to a level with
the top of the cistern, using either the service box j, or the length or diameter
of the lower portion of air pipe, to hold the after supply. When it is more
eligible to place the service cock at the other side, I elongate the tail end of the
lever h, and actuate the cock from it by means of a cross lever v, as shewn in
Figures 4 and 5. I sometimes use this mode of actuating the cock on tho

page_text: first side, instead of connecting it with the axis c, the tail of the cross lever v
then entering the hole y near the weighted end of the first dever h. In
Figure 2 is shown a bar w, firmly held to the chamber 6 by two of the front
screws; the upper ends of this bar is only shown by dotted lines w, w; tho
front of the seat is screwed on to these ends, whilst the cover of the service
boxj has two projecting ends x, x, to lay on the back of the seat, and may be
secured by screws, thus the whole is ready in one mass. Various methods
may be adopted to connect the action of the pan with the supply cock, some
of which I will describe as applied to a self-acting water-closet. In Figure 6
I is the supply cock, as before, but here the connecting bar p is jointed to the
lever i, with a weight 2 sufficiently heavy to work the cock, to raise the seat
by means of the arm 3, and to drop the pan d by means of the hook 4, which
takes hold of the arm o on the axis e of the pan; the cock makes one
quarter of a turn. Figure 7 shows the position of the cock plug answering
to Figure 6, which represents the seat (part of which is shown by dotted
lines 5) as down, and the pan d up. The water is flowing from the supply
pipe n into the service pipe j, and a small portion can be made running
all the time through a small third opening 6 made in the plug and out
of the pipe s into the bason. When the seat is suffered to rise, the hook
4 pulls up the arm o, which drops the pan and throws out the contents,
and at the same time the plug of the cock takes the position, Figure 8, and
stops the supply from the pipe n, and opens the passage from the service pipe j
to the exit pipe s, from which it flows into the bason. Figure 9 is a side view.
7 is the hinge at front of the seat 5, the back of which is raised by the
descent of the weight 2. Figure 10 shows the weighted lever h, which raises
the pan d; this differs from Figure 2 in being connected to the arm g by a
link 8. When the pan d descends and loses its contents it is much lighter,
and the link 8 comes so much nearer to the axis e as to lessen the action of
the weight in a suitable proportion, so that when the hook 4, Figure 6, lets
go the arm o, the pan is not brought up with any violence. I place a cushion
under each of the weights h and 2 to receive the blow and prevent all noise.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, I would remark that I am aware
that supply pipes to water-closets have before been constructed with cocks at
or near the seats on which the person sits, to be actuated by hand without
reference to the working of the pans, I do not, therefore, claim the same;
but what I do claim is, the connecting the action of the pan with such cock,
whereby one action shall work the pan for getting rid of the water and soil,
and actuate the cock for supply of fresh water to the bason. And I do also

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1836, the aforesaid James Findon came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord Ono
thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.