IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO CISTERNS, AND FOR
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Hugh Kidd, of Merrion Square, in the City
of Dublin, Doctor of Medicine, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO CISTERNS, AND FOR
177
Sealed the 30th July 1867, and dated the 11th February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Hugh Kidd at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th February 1867.
I, GEORGE HUGH KIDD, of Merrion Square, in the City of Dublin, Doctor
of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO CISTERNS, AND
FOR PREVENTING THE BURSTING OF WATER PIPES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object, first, to diminish the pressure in pipes used
for the supply of water to cisterns; and, secondly, to prevent the bursting of
such pipes by frost. To effect these objects I place a stop-cock on the supply
pipe as near the main as possible, and close to it, but further from the main,
a tap, and I connect this cock and tap with the cistern so that they are
opened and closed as the water in the cistern rises and falls; I propose to
establish this connection in a twofold manner.

page_text: First, I make use of a small regulating tank near the main; into this
tank I conduct the overflow pipe from the cistern and place in it a float, and
in connection with it a stop-cock on the supply pipe. By this means the
overflow is used to fill the regulating tank and cut off the pressure at a point
near the main. To effect the second object I place another float in the
same tank connected with the tap on the supply pipe or a branch of the same,
and so arranged that after the overflow water in the tank has as above described
cut off the supply from the main it will open the tap and so permit all the
water lying in the supply pipes to run off and ensure their being empty
except when in actual use. In order to open the stop-cock for a renewed
supply to the cistern the regulating tank may be emptied by means of a valve
in the bottom, which may be opened by hand or rendered self-acting by means
of a float placed in the cistern. I further propose to connect this float with
the watercloset valve or other valve in the cistern, so that if the overflow pipe
should become at any time obstructed the valve will be opened so as to
prevent flooding over the sides of the cistern, and the valve thrown on a
book or catch so that it cannot be used till replaced, and thus notice will be
given of the obstruction in the overflow pipe..
Secondly, the stop-cock and tap on the supply pipe, as above described,
may be connected with a float or floats in the cistern, by means of connecting
rods, wires, or chains, cranks and levers, weights and counterweights, in such
manner that the rising and falling of the water in the cistern will open and
close them without the intervention of a regulating tank, but with like
effects.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Hugh Kidd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HUGH KIDD, of Merrion Square, in the City of Dublin, Doctor of Medicine,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Hugh Kidd, Her special licence that I, the said George Hugh Kidd,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said George

page_text: Hugh Kidd, 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 APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO CISTERNS, AND FOR
PREVENTING THE BURSTING OF WATER PIPES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Hugh Kidd, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 George Hugh Kidd, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the three Sheets of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention has for its object, first, to diminish the pressure in pipes
used for the supply of water to cisterns; and, secondly, to prevent the bursting
of such pipes by frost. To effect these objects I place a stop-cock on the
supply pipe as near the main as possible, and close to it, but further from the
main, a tap, and I connect this cock and tap with the cistern so that they are
opened and closed as the water in the cistern rises and falls ; I propose to
establish this connection in a twofold manner.
First, I make use of a small regulating tank near the main, into this
tank I conduct the overflow pipe from the cistern and place in it a float
in connection with the stop-cock on the supply pipe. By this means the
overflow is used to fill the regulating tank and cut off the pressure at a point
near the main. To effect the second object, that is to say, prevent the
bursting of the pipes by freezing the water allowed to remain therein, I place
another float in the same tank connected with the tap on the supply pipe, or
a branch of the same, and so arranged that after the overflow water in the
tank has, as above described, cut off the supply from the main, it will open the
tap and so permit all the water lying in the supply pipes to run off and ensure
their being empty except when in actual use. In order to open the stop-
cock for a renewed supply to the cistern the regulating tank may be emptied
by means of a valve in the bottom, which may be opened by hand or rendered
self-acting by means of a float placed in the cistern. I further propose to

page_text: connect this float with the watercloset valve or other valve in the cistern, so
that if the overflow pipe should become at any time obstructed the valve will
be opened so as to prevent flooding over the sides of the cistern and the
valve thrown on a hook or catch so that it cannot be used till replaced, and
thus notice will be given of the obstruction in the overflow pipe.
Secondly, the stop-cock and tap on the supply pipe, as above described, may
be connected with a float or floats in the cistern by means of connecting rods,
wires, or chains, cranks and levers, weights and counterweights, in such
manner that the rising and falling of the water in the cistern will open and
close them without the intervention of a regulating tank, but with a like
In the arrangement shown at Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings A, A,
is the supply pipe from the main which is carried upwards to the cistern. At
a point near where the supply pipe enters the house I provide a stop-cock B,
which by self-acting means, herein-after described, cuts off the supply when
the cistern is full, the said cock being again opened when the cistern is empty
to admit a fresh supply. To obviate the effects of frost I also place a cock C
on the waste pipe D of the main A, this cock is mounted immediately below
the cock B and has a reverse action, that is to say, opening when the cock B
is closed, and vice versa. When cock C is opened all the water remaining
in the main A after filling the cistern is allowed to run off through the waste
pipe D, and as this cock C closes again before the first cock B opens to let
in a supply no waste of water can take place. In this manner the main A
is kept empty, except when the water is actually running into it, and
consequently cannot be frozen.
The following is the action of one arrangement of the apparatus:-E shows
the overflow pipe from the house cistern, which I connect with a small
cylindrical tank F fixed in any suitable manner close under the cocks B, C;
in this tank F I place two floats, one above the other, at a regulated distance
apart; the lower one of these floats G is fixed at the lower end of a tube II
which passes up its centre to the level of the cock B on the supply main A
with the handle a of which it is connected at point b. The second float I
has also a tube J passing up through its centre of sufficient diameter to allow
of the tube H of float G rising and falling freely therein. The upper end
of the tube J is similarly connected to the waste cock C at point c for the
purpose of opening or closing the same, the action of said cock C being the
reverse of B as before mentioned, thus when the float I rises in the tank F

page_text: the cock C will be opened, while the float G in rising will close the cock B to
cut off the supply from the main.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the house cistern is full
the overflow water will run into the tank F by the pipe E, causing the float G
to rise and cut off the supply; the upper float I now rises and opens the
cock C of the waste pipe D so as to empty the main, the water running thence
into the tank F, thereby ensuring a sufficiency of water to render the action
certain; K is the overflow pipe of tank F. In order to repeat the action
it is simply necessary to empty the tank, for which purpose I place a valve d
in the bottom of the tank, to which a wire e is connected that passes up the
centre of the float tubes H, J, to a guide f, and thence upwards to the house
cistern where it may be connected to a float in such manner that when the
level of the water in the cistern falls the float will also fall and draw up the
valve in the tank F by reason of its connection with said float, thus allowing
the water in the tank to escape. As the cistern fills with a renewed supply
the float again rises and closes the valve d in tank; the valve d may also be
opened by hand by removing plug x if a supply of water is required in the
house where it is an object to economize water as much as possible; the
floats may be set in action by the aid of a jet of water discharged from a
nozzle placed just above the cock on the supply pipe A, Figure 2; this jet,
the size of which is regulated by a tap on the nozzle g, is discharged from the
supply pipe into the tank F while the house cistern is being filled in any
desired quantity, say, one pint, and sufficient to raise the float G and cut off
the supply by acting on the lever of the supply cock B. As the water
continues to flow from this jet it raises the upper float I and opens the
cock C on the waste pipe D, whereby all the water remaining in the supply
main A is rapidly drawn off.
In Figure 2 the various parts of the apparatus are the same as those
before explained with reference to Figure 1, except that the pipes are some-
what differently arranged in position.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 3 I avail myself of the jet above
mentioned to dispense with the lower float G and sliding tube H, Figures 1
and 2. In this case the jet always remains open, and serves in lieu of a
waste pipe for discharging all the water remaining in the supply pipes after
the supply cock B has been turned off by the action of the float G. The
cistern overflow pipe E, however, still preserves its connection with the tank
to provide against any accidental obstructions to the small jet.
Figure 4 shows another arrangement of the apparatus for effecting similar
objects operated by a float in the house cistern in lieu of the regulating tank

page_text: before described. This float is connected by a wire h with a sliding bar L
working up and down in suitable guides i, i, the lower end of this bar having
a weight attached. The float is connected to the sliding bar L in such
manner that it may rise as the cistern fills, the weight at same time drawing
down the bar, and when the level of the water in the cistern falls the sliding
bar and weight is drawn up by the said float. At the upper part of the
sliding bar L there is a pin or projection on which rests the upper end of a
weighted bar M also fitted to rise and fall in guides m, m. A recess or
notch n is made in this bar near its lower end, into which takes a projection
on a bent lever N pivoted at point o. As above mentioned the fall of the
float in the cistern causes the bar L to rise and with it the bar M by the
aid of the stud, by this movement the projection on the cranked lever N
is free to enter the recess in bar M, holding it so as to prevent said bar from
falling; on the contrary, as the cistern fills the sliding bar L fulls gradually
by the aid of the weight k until the pin p near its lower end comes in
contact with the lever arm N and throws it out of gear with the bar M, as
seen in dotted lines. The supply main R is provided with two cocks P, Q
one P for admitting or cutting off the supply, and the other Q communicating
with the waste pipe S for discharging the water left in the supply pipe;
these cocks act in reverse directions, being provided with long weighted rods
or levers p¹, q, acted on by tappets r, s, of bar M. When the cistern is empty
the bar M by the action of the bar L, above described, is drawn upwards, the
tappets r, s, being thus raised off the ends of the cock lever arms when the
weights at the opposite ends of the same fall, opening the cock on the supply
pipe R and closing that of the waste S. In order to prevent the supply pipe
being opened before the waste is fully closed or before the cistern is sufficiently
emptied, I employ a curved bar T pivoted at its upper end t immediately in
front of bar M. When the supply cock is closed this bar T rests on its lever
arm p', as seen in the dotted position Figure 4, and there holds it until the
tappet of bar M rises sufficiently to throw it out of contact with said
arm p'. The said tappet in rising first allows the arm 9 of the waste cock Q
to rise, the weight at its other end immediately falling and closing the cock the
tappet r, then in continuing to rise throws outwards the bar T, allowing the
arm of the supply cock P to rise in its turn for admitting a supply of
water. The sliding bar L falls as before mentioned when the cistern is full
until the tappet p near its lower end throws the bent lever N out of gear with
bar M and allows the latter to fall, on which motion taking place the
tappets r, s, on said bar M immediately act on the levers of the cocks so as
to simultaneously cut off the supply and open the waste cock for discharging

page_text: the water remaining in the supply pipe. The float in the house cistern is
suspended from a lever with arms of different lengths with which the sliding
bar L is connected by the wire h before referred to. By varying the position
of the pins 1, p, on the sliding bar L the float may also be connected directly
to the wire by means of a chain passing over a pulley, in which case the lever
connection with the float in the house cistern would be dispensed with. The
float may
be further connected to a watercloset or other cistern valve, so that
if the overflow pipe should at any time, become obstructed the said valve
would be opened and carry off the water to prevent its, flowing over the
top of the cistern, the valve being so arranged that when thus opened it shall
be held by a hook or catch or be otherwise retained and require to be
replaced by hand, notice will thus be given of any obstruction in the overflow
pipe.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the several apparatus herein
described and represented in the annexed Drawings, or any mere modifications
thereof, for regulating the water supply to cisterns or containers by cutting off
the pressure below, and also for preventing the bursting of the pipes by keeping
them empty at all times except during the supply, all arranged and applied
in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Hugh Kidd, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEORGE H. KIDD. (L.8.)