IMPROVEMENTS IN "ENEMAS” OR INJECTION APPARATUS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Arnold, of West Smithfield, in the County
of Middlesex, Surgical Instrument Maker, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN "ENEMAS” OR INJECTION APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Arnold at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th May 1872.
I, JAMES ARNOLD, of West Smithfield, in the County of Middlesex,
Surgical Instrument Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN 'ENEMAS' OR INJECTION APPARATUS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention primarily consists in fitting to enemas a spring or
springs under the plunger to bring the same back to its original position
after each successive stroke of the plunger instead of being obliged to
draw it back by the hand as heretofore.
According to one arrangement I apply the spring to an enema or
injection apparatus which stands in and draws the water or other liquid

page_text: or fluid from the vessel in which it is placed. The chamber is fitted
with ball valves, and the spring, which is by preference a helical spring,
is placed in the cylinder below the piston or plunger. On depressing the
plunger with the hand the liquid or fluid is forced out by the tube as
usual, while on releasing the plunger the spring causes it to return to its 5
normal position ready for a fresh stroke, and so on.
•
The whole apparatus may be held in a compact box of the length of
the enema when the plunger is depressed, the flexible tube being placed
at the side of the enema before it is placed in the case.
According to another arrangement instead of the cylinder standing in 1
the liquid or fluid I connect a flexible tube at or near the base of the
cylinder, the termination of which is conveyed to or placed in the water
or other liquid or fluid to be drawn up or injected, whereby it is con- .
veyed to the enema cylinder. Above the delivery or injecting pipe there
is a waste pipe; the action is similar to the action of the enema before 1
described.
651
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Arnold in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ARNOLD, of West Smithfield, in the County of Middlesex, Surgical
Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Arnold, Her special licence that I,
the said James Arnold, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Arnold, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ⚫ ENEMAS OR INJECTION
164

page_text: APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Arnold, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Arnold, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :—
Most of the enema apparatus hitherto employed present some dis-
advantages, which militate against their usefulness. The ordinary brass
enema apparatus is cumbersome and extremely inconvenient to use alone,
as it needs both hands to work it, so that it is difficult to keep the canula
in situ. Again, if not often used the packing on the piston is sure to
get very dry, and in hot climates especially, the instrument is in this
way often rendered useless, it being no easy matter to pack a piston
properly.
This Invention primarily consists in fitting to enemas a spring or
springs under the plunger to bring the same back to its original position
after each successive stroke of the plunger instead of being obliged to
draw it back by the hand as heretofore.
According to one arrangement I apply the spring to an enema or
injection apparatus which stands in and draws the water or other liquid
or fluid from the vessel in which it is placed. The chamber is fitted
with ball valves, and the spring, which is by preference a helical spring,
is placed in the cylinder below the piston or plunger. On depressing the
plunger with the hand or foot the liquid or fluid is forced out by the
tube as usual, while on releasing the plunger the spring causes it to
return to its normal position ready for a fresh stroke, and so on.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view in side elevation,
and Figure 2 is a vertical section of an enema or syringe constructed in
this manner, where the internal case or cylinder is made double.. a is.
the cylinder, made with an inner compartment a'; b is the plunger
working in the cylinder a without any special packing whatever; c is a

page_text: water chamber at top of the cylinder, with apertures x, x, for the escape
of any fluid that might accumulate there, the said fluid serving as a
lubricant for the plunger and a water packing for the same; d is the
spring below the plunger; e and ƒ are ball valves, which when the
enema or syringe is in operation open and close alternately; g is the 5
delivery tube. The instrument being placed in the liquid to be injected,
whether water or other liquid, is first drawn by or through the lower
valve finto the cylinder a; on the plunger being depressed the valve f
is closed and the valve e opens, whereby the liquid is forced into the
chamber h, whence it passes by passages on each side to the space between 1
the cylinders a and a', and thence to the delivery tube 9; as soon as the
plunger is depressed and the pressure removed the spring d immediately
brings the plunger up to its normal position.
Figure 3 is a view of an enema, syringe, or pump of similar con-
struction to the foregoing arrangement, but where the cylinder is made 1
of a single piece or thickness of metal. In this case water is drawn
directly into the chamber or cylinder a through the valve f, and forced
directly therefrom to the delivery pipe g, which is fitted with a delivery
valve not shewn in the Drawing. c is the chamber as before, which
forms a very essential feature in the Invention, for without it I find the 2
plunger does not work freely, and it acts as a valve for the escape of
superfluous fluid that might escape between the cylinder and plunger,
which fluid serves as a lubricant and packing for the plunger, as afore-
said with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
According to another arrangement instead of the cylinder standing in 2
the liquid or fluid I connect a flexible tube to one side or near the base
of the cylinder, the termination of which is conveyed to or placed in the
water or other liquid or fluid to be drawn up and injected, whereby it
is conveyed to the cylinder. Above the delivery or injecting pipe there
is a waste pipe; the action is similar to the action of the enema before 3
described.
Figure 4 shews in side elevation and Figure 5 in vertical section an
enema made according to this arrangement. fis the suction tube; 9, the
delivery pipe; a, the cylinder; b, plunger; c, spring; and h, waste
pipe, whereby any superfluous fluid escapes into the vessel from which 3
the fluid is originally taken, serving as a lubricant and packing during
its passage between plunger and cylinder. And this apparatus is
particularly applicable where it would be inconvenient to stand the.

page_text: apparatus in the fluid; for instance, when it is required to be used in
bed, or with delirious or unruly patients. To use this apparatus the
suction pipe and waste pipe are both allowed to dip into the vessel
containing the fluid. Then on alternately depressing the piston and
allowing the spring to raise it the liquid is drawn into the cylinder
through the inlet valve and forced through the outlet valve k. What
little makes its way beside the loosely or easily fitting piston goes into
the large upper part and runs through the waste pipe back into the
vessel.
The whole apparatus may be held in a compact box of the length of
the enema when the plunger is depressed, the flexible tube being placed
at the side of the enema before it is placed in the case, or it may be
placed in a case with the spring expanded, as found most convenient.
It will be evident that the apparatus herein-before described, although
particularly designed for and applicable for surgical purposes, may also
be applied to other purposes.
ŕ
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
First. The construction, employment, and general arrangement of
enemas or syringes with springs below the plunger, substantially as
described and illustrated..
Second. The employment in enemas or syringes of a water chamber
above the cylinder, substantially in manner and for the purposes.
described..
Third. The employment of the water or other fluid as a lubricant and
packing for the plunger, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Arnold, have hereunto set
"
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