IMPROVEMENTS IN DRY EARTH CLOSETS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Parker, of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Builder
and Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRY EARTH
CLOSETS."
Scaled the 31st May 1870, and dated the 5th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Parker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th April 1870.
I, JOHN PARKER, of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Builder and Cabinet
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DRY EARTH CLOSETS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to arrange the valve or valves of dry
earth closets in such a manner that an automatic supply of earth shall
fall down a shoot to cover the soil after each use thereof, and this I
accomplish in the following manner :-I make the case or box in which
the pan is placed of a shape corresponding to some article of furniture,
such as a cheffonier, or wardrobe, or some other such article, and I use
the upper part of it, either the back or the side or sides, for holding a
supply of earth, which is closed by a lid or door in any convenient way.
The lower parts of these are contracted and lead into a spout in which

page_text: two valves or flaps are arranged, the distance between the valves being
so regulated that at each use of the closet only sufficient carth to cover
the soil shall be allowed to escape. The shoot to which the valves are
fitted is capable of having a rocking motion given to it by the depression
of the seat, so that the upper valve is lifted and the lower valve forced
down against the bottom of the spout, when it holds the given quantity
of carth above it, but when the seat is free from the weight of the person
using the closet the upper valve is depressed and the lower valve lifted,
so that the earth between the two valves is free to run down the shoot
and spread itself over the soil at the bottom of the pan, the earth above
the top valve being kept back. The fore end of the shoot, or of the lever,
is fitted with a weight or weights to cause it to return into proper position
for the next supply. I prefer to balance the shoot upon pivots to ensure
its action. There are levers connected to the shoot which project to the
front, and upon these levers the fore end of the seat is made to rest. The
depression of the levers causes the shoot to move in one direction, and
the weight of the counterpoise ensures its moving in the other, thus the
escape of the supply of earth is regulated automatically. The shoot
may be made to fall towards the front to spread the earth, or it may
fall towards the back as found most desirable. It is not necessary to
fit the valves and other parts of the mechanism in a case of a portable
kind to ensure their action, as they can be fitted to all kinds of fixed
closets and in any situation. When pans or buckets are employed with
these closets I fit doors to the front or back of the case to admit of their
casy removal.
The shoots may be arranged to act singly or in pairs, and it or they
man he at the back on at one or both sides
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Parker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoHN
PARKER, of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Builder and Cabinet Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Parker, Her special licence that I, the said John
Parker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Parker, 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 DRY EARTH CLOSETS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Parker, 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 per-
formed, 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 John Parker, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say :—
The object of my Invention is to arrange the valve or valves of dry
earth closets in such a manner that an automatic supply of earth shall
fall down a shoot to cover the soil after cach use thereof, and this I
accomplish in the following manner:-I make the case or box in which
the pan is placed of a shape corresponding to some article of furniture,
such as a chair, cheffonier, or wardrobe, or some other such article, and
I use the upper part of it, either the back or the side or sides, for holding
a supply of carth, which is closed by a lid or door in any convenient way.
The lower parts of these are contracted and lead into a spout in which
two valves or flaps are arranged, the distance between the valves being
so regulated that at each use of the closet only sufficient earth to cover
the soil shall be allowed to escape.. The spreader at the lower part of
the shoot to which the valves are fitted is capable of having a rocking
motion given to it by the depression of the seat at the same time the
upper valve is lifted and the lower valve forced down against the bottom
of the spout or shoot, so that it will hold a given quantity of earth above

page_text: it, but when the seat is free from the weight of the person using the
closet the upper valve is depressed and the lower valve lifted, so that
the earth between the two valves is free to run down the shoot and
spreader and spread itself over the soil at the bottom of the pan, the
earth above the top valve being kept back. The end of the spreader or
of the lever is fitted with a weight or weights to cause it to return into
proper position for the next supply. I prefer to balance the valves
upon pivots to ensure their action. There are levers connected to the
spreader which project to the front, and upon these levers the fore end of
the seat is made to rest, the depression of the levers causes the spreader to
move in one direction and the weight of the counterpoise ensures its
moving in the other, thus the escape of the supply of earth is regulated
automatically. The spreader may be made to fall towards the front to
spread the earth, or it may fall towards the back as found most desirable.
It is not necessary to fit the valves and other parts of the mechanism in
a case of a portable kind to ensure their action, as they can be fitted to
all kinds of fixed closets and in any situation. When pans or buckets are
employed with these closets I fit doors to the front or back of the case to
admit of their casy removal.
The spreaders may be arranged to act singly or in pairs, and it or they
may be at the back, or at one or both sides.
One method of carrying my Invention into effect is represented in
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, which are respectively a
sectional elevation and a plan of a closet made in the shape of a chair
or cheffonier, which can be set in the corner of a room, or in some other
convenient part of a dwelling or in an outhouse. a, a, is the case or
outer frame forming the closet, the upper part bat back is formed to
hold a quantity of dry carth which is drawn off in small quantities as it
is required by falling down the hopper portion c, when the valve dis
lifted to uncover the opening e; this valve is connected to a lower;
valve by a top plate g which is centred or suspended upon an axle h,
the ends of which take into sockets i, i, attached to the side walls of the
case a. The lower edges of the valves d and fare caused alternately to
bear against the face of the shoot or angle plate j, so as to retain the
earth above them as the closet is used. The axle has at one or at both
ends a lever or link attached to it in any suitable manner, while the
free end is connected by a link m to a weighted lever which is fitted
to the side wall in a similar manner to the axle; by this means the lever

page_text: 22
or levers n is or are permitted to partake of a rising and falling motion
by the bowls or rollers o riding against the under side of the seat p, as it
is depressed by the user, the seat being hinged at the back for that
purpose. The lever or levers has or have the weight or weights
formed in a piece with them, and they are so arranged that their fall
causes the scat to rise after cach time the closet is used so as to ensure
the proper action of the valves d and fas will be understood by reference
to the Drawings. The excrement which falls into the pail or receiver q,
which is placed beneath the hole to receive it is covered over by the
earth which falls from the spout or spreader the instant the scat is
released. The aperture or opening by which the pail q is admitted can
be formed by removing the front of the closet 8, or by lifting the scat
a sufficient height to allow of the pail being passed down into position,
or one of the side panels may be removable for that purpose.
In the Figures I have shown that the front is removable for admitting
the pail, and this will be the best mode when the spreader is made
to dip well into the pail to prevent the earth being thrown over the edges
of it should it not be pushed in far enough, but in order to prevent such
an occurrence happening I fit a frame for the pail to bear against
when it is pushed in, when it will be found to occupy a position proper
for the effectual action of the closet. The shoot; and spreader are
provided with side plates to ensure the descent of the earth into the pail.
In the Drawings I have shown that the valves and spreader are con-
nected to the axle, so that when the seat is depressed the edge of the
spreader is thrown towards the back of the pail so as to be clear of the
falling excrement and to come towards the front to sprinkle the carth
equally over the soil each time the closet is used, but I do not confine
myself to giving a to-and-fro movement to them or to one of them
alone as for some closets it will be unnecessary to give such motion
thereto.
Figures 3 and 4 represent similar views of another mode of with-
drawing the earth from the reservoir or carth chamber at the back of
the case a. Here the valves are arranged as plates on the top edges of
the side walls of the shoot j, and as they are brought alternately
under the opening e they cut off the supply. The depression of the
seat causes the front of the shoot to rise to bring its face nearly into
a horizontal position for receiving and retaining a supply of carth from
the opening e as it moves over the distance from the valve or plate d

page_text: to the front valve or plate, but the moment the seat is released from
the weight of the person the counterpoise y causes the shoot to fall
towards the front and throw the earth which was lodging on it on to and
over the soil in the pail.
Figure 5 is a face view of an article of furniture similar to a chest of
drawers or a wardrobe, in which two reservoirs are used, one being at each
side of the seat instead of at the back as in the former Figures. Of
course in such a piece of furniture two sets of moving apparatus are
required, one being necessary for each reservoir to throw the earth into
the pail from the sides.
In the foregoing Figures and description I have referred to the shoot
or to the spreader, or to both of them as being made to rise and fall
about a centre or an axic, but I do not confine myself to that mode
of moving them as they or one of them may be made to slide upwards
or be moved towards the back, the front, or the sides, as found most
convenient.
And in order that this part of my Invention may be well understood I
have in Figures 6 and 7 shown in perspective sectional and in plan views
a closet of the chair or cheffonier pattern for that purpose. The axle n
has a rod u connected to it, and its lower end passes through an eye of a
lug or pin so that when the seat is depressed the rod is moved about
the centre whereby the spreader is cause to partake of a sliding move-
ment towards the rear by its frame bars w, w, sliding in the cross
picces x, x, which act as a support to them. The lower end of the
spreader may have ribs or grooves formed in or on the face to prevent
the earth finding its way to one corner of it should the apparatus by any
chance become tilted by reason of the ground sinking upon which it may
be standing.
It will be observed that the spreader moves back bodily and becomes
disconnected from the shoot j in the above described mode, but it can be 3
made to slide upwards against the under surface of the shoot, as in
Figure S, in which case the spreader may rest upon the heads of pius or
bolts fastened on the bottom of the shoot.
In some cases, such as when it is thought desirable to make carth
self-supplying closets over existing priveys, I propose to arrange the a
back containing the carth and the front frame to which the seat is
attached in the form shown at Figure 9, so that the apparatus complete
can be fitted over an ordinary cesspool or pit. By this last arrangement

page_text: my Invention can be made available for blocks of houses in thickly
populated towns and for small cottages and other residences in the suburbs
where no sewerage exists.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the special modes of causing a limited
supply of carth to fall automatically from a reservoir into a pail or
receiver of dry earth closets, as the arrangements of the mechanism may
be varied to suit the special position or locality in which such closets are
to be fitted or used, nor do I confine myself to operating the levers and
valves by a drop-down motion of the seat as an ordinary pull-up or
push-down handle or push-over lever may be fitted as a means of com-
municating the necessary movements to the valves, so that the supply
of carth may be under the control of any person whether the closet is
being used by them or not. This arrangement allows of the soil being
immediately covered to prevent escape of eflluvium or noxious moisture,
but what I do claim as my Invention is,―
Firstly, Supplying earth to dry earth closets automatically by the
depression and elevation of the scat of such closets in the manner
herein-before described and shown.
Secondly. The employment of valves arranged and acting in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described and shown.
Thirdly. The modifications of the mode of action of the whole as
before referred to and represented.
And fourthly. The arrangements of apparatus for moving the spout.
or spreader of dry earth closets in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Parker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.