IMPROVEMENTS IN BATH FITTINGS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Shanks, of Barrhead, in the County
of Renfrew, North Britain, Sanitary Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BATH FITTINGS."
Sealed the 15th March 1872, and dated the 20th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Shanks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th September 1871.
I, JOHN SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATH FITTINGS," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object to secure simplicity, durability, and
non-liability to derangement, with small first cost.
The improved fittings comprise a main cast-iron piece to be fixed at
the side or end of the bath, and formed with certain flanged orifices or

page_text: short pipe branches for convenient connection to various parts in any
ordinary arrangement of bath. The main casting is formed with two
vertical passages, one of which is the overflow passage, and com-
municates with the other or main passage at the top. At the
bottom there is a flanged branch. or orifice at the side for the
attachment of a branch pipe leading to the usual outlet or opening
in the bottom of the bath, and just below this side orifice the casting
is flanged for bolting to a correspondingly flanged lower casting, in
which is formed the commencement of the discharge passage and also
a branch leading into that passage from the overflow passage above.
The discharge valve employed is a rubber ball attached to and worked
by a rod passing up the main passage of the main casting, and the seat
of this valve is a flat brass ring with a rounded inner edge, and which is
placed in a rebate or check formed for it between the two castings, and
is securely held by the bolting of the castings together. When the
entrance for the water into the bath is to be by the same opening in
the bath bottom that serves as outlet the main casting is formed with
flanged orifices or short branch pipes for the attachment of the hot-
water and cold-water cocks; but when the inlet is to be separate from
the outlet a separate branch pipe is formed for it at the top of the main
casting, or it may be in a separate casting to which the cocks are to be
attached. The cast-iron parts are galvanised as a precaution against
rust. The joint flanges of the various branch or connecting pipes are
disposed" so as to admit of 'the parts being fitted together in different
positions, to suit peculiarities of locality and so that one set of simple
castings may suit various situations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Shanks in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, John :
SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Sanitary Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,' by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of 'September, in the
year of our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and

page_text: successors, give and graut unto me, the said John Shanks, Her
special licence that I, the said John Shanks, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the. said John Shanks, 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 BATH FITTINGS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Shanks, 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
5 six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Shanks, 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 in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to secure simplicity, durability,
and non-liability to derangement with small first cost.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
two modifications of my improved bath fittings. In these 'Drawings.
the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a
modification in which the fittings comprise a main cast-iron piece 1, 2,
to be fixed at the side or end of the bath 3, and formed with certain
flanged orifices or short pipe branches for convenient connection to
various parts in any ordinary arrangement of bath.
The main casting is formed with two vertical passages 1, 2, one (2)
of which is the overflow passage and communicates with the other or
main passage 1 at the top. At the bottom there is a flanged branch
-

page_text: orifice 4 at the side for the attachment of a branch pipe 5 leading to
the usual outlet or opening 6 in the bottom of the bath 3. The pipe 5
is made with a spigot end 7 to enter more or less into the orifice 4,
to suit slight differences in the distances of the fittings from the side or
end of the bath in different cases, and it is fixed to the bath by a bolt 8,
arranged to also hold the small outlet grating 9 in its place, as will
be easily understood from the Drawing. Just below the side orifice 4
the casting 1, 2, is flanged for bolting to a correspondingly flanged lower
casting 10, in which is formed a commencement of the discharge
passage 11 and also a branch 12, leading into that passage from the
overflow passage 2 above.
The discharge valve employed is a weighted rubber ball 13, attached
to and worked by a rod 14 passing up the main passage 1 of the main
casting to a handle 15 above; and the seat of this valve 13 is a flat
brass ring 16 with a rounded inner edge, and which is placed in a rebate
or check formed for it between the two castings 1, 2, and 10, and is
securely held by the bolting of the castings together. The casting 10
has attached to it the usual trap bend pipe 17. When the entrance for
the water into the bath 3 is to be by the same opening 6 in the bath
bottom that serves as outlet, the main casting 1, 2, is formed with
flanged orifices or short branch pipes 18, 19, for the attachment of the
hot-water and cold-water cocks or valves 20, 21.
Various kinds of water supply valves may of course be used, but I
prefer the kind shown on account of its simple construction, satisfactory
working, and non-liability to get out of order. The arrangement of
valve comprises a weighted lever 22, acting on a spindle 23, which has
a rubber or leather washer on its bottom end, and which closes against
a valve seat by the action of the weighted lever. Leakage at the
aperture through which the spindle passes is prevented by an internal
ring of fibrous packing material which is acted on by a spring on the
spindle, and in such a way as to be more compressed when the valve is
opened. The water supply valves-20, 21, are opened by means of wires
or rods 24, connected to their levers 22, and attached to handles 25, 26,
above. The cast-iron parts of the fittings are galvanised as a precaution
against rust, and the joint flanges of the various branch or connecting
pipes are disposed so as to admit of the parts being fitted together in
different positions to suit peculiarities of locality, and so that one set of
simple castings may suit various situations.

page_text: . Figures 3 and 4 are a vertical section and a sectional elevation,
showing a modification of my improved bath fittings in which the inlets
into the bath for the hot and cold water are separate from the discharge
outlet 6.
The fittings in connection with the outlet are almost the same as in
the first modification, the short flanged inlet branches 18, 19, being
however omitted. A separate casting 27, which may be of iron or brass,
is provided for the inlets, and is fixed on the top of the side of the
bath 3; it is shown in horizontal section in Figure 5, and the vertical
section of it is made through one of the valves, and as though the
discharge passage therefrom was at right angles to the side of the bath
instead of the two passages being curved in plan so as to come together
as shown in Figure 5. Each valve comprises a flanged nozzle 28, which
is fixed to the lead supply pipe 29, by the usual joint, and it is an
important practical advantage of this construction that this lead joint
does not require to be separated when taking the valve details to pieces..
The nozzle enters up through a hole in the bottom of the casting 27, its
upper end serving as the valve seat for a disc of rubber or leather on the
bottom end of the valve spindle 23, and the valve spindle is raised or
lowered by a tubular piece 30, formed with a disc or button to take hold
of, and screwed externally to work in an internally screwed cover piece
31. The cover piece 31 is formed with a cylindrical part 32 (seen best in
Figure 5), which projects down so as to screw upon the top of the inlet
nozzle 28, apertures being made in the side of it for the water to pass
through. The cover piece 31 enters through a hole in the top of the
casting 27, and is formed with a flange which bears on the, top of that
casting round the hole. Rubber or other suitable compressible washers
are applied between the casting 27 and the cover flange, and between
the casting and the flange of the nozzle 28, and the screwing together of
this nozzle and the cover piece 31 binds all the parts securely together.
A tube 33 is applied between the upper part of the cover piece and the
discharge passage in order that the water passing through the latter may
by its inductive action draw down from the former any little quantity of
water that may leak up into it round the spindle 23. The casting 27 is
fitted with a central handle 15 for actuating the rod 14 of the discharge
valve 13.

page_text: the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I believe
to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of bath
fittings substantially in the improved manner herein described and a
delineated.
2. The making of the piece 1, 2, of cast iron and with flanged orifices
or short flanged branch pipes substantially as and for the purposes
berein-before described.
3: The combining together of the parts of the water supply valves 1
with separate inlet in the improved manner herein-before described, and
as delineated in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawings..
In witness whereof, I, the said John Shanks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
1
Witness,
EDMUND HUnt,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN SHANKS. (L.s.)