IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING OR CLEANSING WATERCLOSETS AND URINALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th November 1881. A communication
from abroad by Thomas Guinier, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING OR CLEANSING
WATERCLOSETS AND URINALS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES." A communi-
cation from abroad by Thomas Guinier, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to apparatus for supplying water automatically and inter-
mittently for flushing water closets and other like purposes, and it consists in
constructing the said apparatus in the form of a reservoir with an internal syphon
arranged and operating as hereinafter described, whereby a considerable economy
is effected in the expenditure of water employed for flushing or cleansing the paus
of waterclosets and urinals, or whenever an intermittent and automatic supply of
water is required.
In carrying out this Invention the apparatus is constructed with a chamber or
reservoir having a cover provided with a small air hole which is required to
ensure the proper action of the apparatus. This reservoir contains a syphon, one
leg of which passes through the bottom of the reservoir, to which it is fixed by a
screw, being also connected by a screw and flange with the upper extremity of n
pipe communicating with the pan of a watercloset for example. The other and
shorter leg of the syphon extends nearly to the bottom of the chamber and is
provided with a trumpet shaped or flaring opening.
The chamber communicates with the supply of water through a valve of any
suitable construction bolted to a flanged opening in the side of the chamber. A disc
with a hole in the centre is arranged between the valve and the chamber or
reservoir, and a short tube is inserted in the hole in the disc.
This tube communicates with the valve on the water supply pipe through a fine
orifice provided at one extremity of the tube, which orifice serves to regulate the flow
of water into the reservoir, and is of great importance in preventing waste.
That extremity of the tube which is provided with this orifice is of a rounded or
spherical form and projects slightly into the valve chamber. The opposito
extremity of this.tube extends into the reservoir and is closed, but a small orifice
Din 11

page_text: is provided near this extremity on the underside of the tube, which allows the water
entering the tube through the regulating orifice firstly herein before described to pass
out of the tube into the reservoir, the size of the said regulating orifice being so
calculated as to allow a given quantity of water to flow into the reservoir in a
given time.
In the case of waterclosets and urinals, the reservoir is arranged at a height of,
say, about five or six feet above the pan, and the valve acts as a stop valve, being
arranged with the screw on one side or underneath in order to facilitate its
manipulation by means of a key with a long handle or any other convenient
device for turning the screw of the valve so as to shut off the supply of water
when required.
This apparatus operates in the following manner :-The chamber being fixed in
a suitable position, and the valve being connected with a water supply pipe which
may contain water under pressure or otherwise, whilst the discharge pipe leading
from the syphon in the reservoir is connected with the pan of a watercloset for
example, the valve is set open and the water flows through the small orifices in the
short tube herein before described into the reservoir, rising gradually in the latter
at a rate depending on the dimensions of the regulating orifice until it reaches the
bend of the syphon. When the water attains this level the apparatus acts auto-
matically and discharges the water which it contains through the syphon, so as
to effectually flush the pan of the watercloset until the water in the reservoir sinks
below the mouth of the short leg of the syphon, whereupon the discharge of water
from the reservoir ceases until the water again rises to the level of the bend of the
syphon. The water is then again discharged from the reservoir as herein before
described, and the apparatus thus continues to flush the p
e-pan-automatically so long
as the supply of water is maintained through the regulating orifices communicated
with the supply pipe.
The economical advantages of this apparatus are evident on consideration that it
is capable of working for an indefinite period without wearing out, and that it
enables intermediate reservoirs and cocks or valves to be dispensed with, thus
preventing leakage or waste of water and obviating the necessity for repairs.
It should also be observed that the quantity of water employed may be regulated,
first, by increasing the size of the regulating orifice in such a manner as to enable
it to admit a greater quantity of water to the reservoir in a shorter time, so that
the syphon acts more frequently and discharges a correspondingly larger quantity
of water; or secondly, by employing a shorter syphon, which has the effect of
discharging the water more frequently and in smaller quantities at a time, this
quantity being however always in proportion to the amount admitted.
The apparatus hereinbefore described as being employed in connection with
water closets and urinals is also capable of being used for any purpose where an
automatic and intermittent flow of water is required.