IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER, AND IN SEWERS OR DRAINS FOR RECEIVING THE SAME
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah George Jennings, of Palace Wharf,
Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Sanitary Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN APPARATUS FOR
SUPPLYING WATER, AND IN SEWERS OR DRAINS FOR RECEIVING THE SAME."
Sealed the 18th September 1868, and dated the 21st March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah George Jennings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st March 1868.
I, JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS, of Palace Wharf, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN APPARATUS FOR
SUPPLYING WATER, AND IN SEWERS OR DRAINS FOR RECEIVING THE SAME," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in waterclosets and
in apparatus for supplying water, and in sewers or drains for receiving
the same.
In constructing waterclosets I employ at the bottom of the pan a
valve closing up against a face and held against it by a counterbalance

page_text: weight sufficient to retain in the pan as much water as it is desired,
but which nevertheless allows the valve to open and discharge any
surplus water. This valve is held open when the handle of the closet
is raised (or moved), and the same handle then opens a tap or valve
to admit water to the pan. When the handle descends (or is replaced)
the water supply tap or valve and the pan valve close immediately.
The following is the method in which I construct the closet:-I cast
the trap of the closet so as to form a secure base for the support of the
pan, and the inverted partition which forms the water joint of the trap
I, for convenience of manufacture, form as a separate piece, which I
set air-tight into its place by bedding it in cement or otherwise. In the
sides of this trap the bearings for the spindle of the pan valve are
fitted, and on this spindle is an arm within the upper part of trap
which carries the valve, and another or other arms on the outside to
carry the counterpoise weights and to be acted upon by the closet
handle, so that the spindle may be partly turned and the valve removed
from its seat to discharge the soil when the handle is raised.
The pan is fitted and cemented into a socket which is fixed to the
top of the trap; the pan valve, however, does not work up against
the mouth of the opening at the bottom of the pan but against an
elastic seat contrived in the following novel manner:-Between the
top of the trap and the mouth of the opening in the pan an india-
rubber disc is fixed by clamping it around its outer edge all round.
This disc has a hole in its centre concentric with the opening in the
pan, and of larger diameter, so that soil in passing out of the pan
is not liable to come in contact with the india-rubber. The pan valve,
when it closes, comes up against this india-rubber disc and covers the
hole in it, and then, as the india-rubber is free all round the hole, the
weight of the water above it causes it to adapt itself to the valve, and
so a tight joint is made without any fitting of the surfaces being
required.
The water supply valve may be of any convenient construction,
opening and closing directly by the action of the handle, and without
the interposition of any regulating apparatus. The fan which distributes
the water in the pan I form in one piece of earthenware with the pan
so as to discharge the water around the circumference of the pan
in two streams flowing in opposite directions so that they may meet
opposite the fan, and I arrange the fan openings so that much more

page_text: water flows in one direction than the other; in this way I obtain a
proper scour of the pan and a proper quantity of water retained in it
when the pan valve is closed. I prefer, in order more compactly to
arrange the apparatus, that the hole in the pan should be eccentric
to it.
In order to prevent waste of water in supplying closets, basins, and
other vessels, I in some cases draw the supply from a closed vessel
of limited capacity, and which receives water from the main through
a small orifice constantly open. At the top of the vessel is an air valve
closed by a float when the vessel is full.
So far the apparatus is such as is described in the Specification of
a former Patent granted to me, and dated the 14th day of May 1867
(No. 1426). It will be seen that by this means after the contents of
the vessel have been drawn off, only the small flow of water through
the filling orifice can be obtained. It is desirable, however, that the
flow should be absolutely stopped as soon as the measured quantity
has been discharged; this I effect by placing a syphon in the vessel
and drawing the water from the vessel through it. The water flows
as before until the vessel is empty, and then air entering the syphon
throws it out of use until the water again rises in the vessel so high
as to cover the top of the syphon and set it again into action, there
being an air valve at the top of the syphon also actuated by a float.
In the construction of sewers and drains where the upper part of
the sewer or drain is of concrete and the bottom is a pottery invert, I
make pottery skew back blocks to fit accurately to the sides of the
invert, and also to receive the haunches of the concrete arch. Each
skew back has three faces, one fitting to the side of the invert, as above
described, and this face is by preference of angle form, thus \) in
vertical section; another face of the block forms a part of the inner
surface of the sewer, and is suitably curved; and the third face is flat.
and rests on the bottom of the trench in which the invert block is laid.
This skew back is open at the back, so that the concrete forming the
haunches of the arch may enter into it and form a backing to each of
the faces of the block. Each block is made with suitable ends or flanges
to give it the necessary strength.
In the manufacture of invert blocks for sewers and drains by
expressing clay through dies it is usual to form passages through the

page_text: block, both to lighten it and to facilitate the burning; these passages
have usually been filled in with concreto. According to the present
Invention I close these passages before the block is burnt by means
of slabs of clay applied so as to form ends to the block; they are
perforated with small holes so as not to interfere with the burning of
the block, and in burning they become firmly fixed to the other parts of
the block.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Josiah George Jennings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
GEORGE JENNINGS, of Palace Wharf, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Sanitary Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Josiah George Jennings, Her special
licence that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Josiah George Jennings,
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 WATERCLOSETS AND IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER,
AND IN SEWERS OR DRAINS FOR RECEIVING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in waterclosets and
in apparatus for supplying water, and in sewers or drains for receiving
the same..
In constructing waterclosets I employ at the bottom of the pan a
valve closing up against a face and held against it by a counterbalance
weight sufficient to retain in the pan as much water as it is desired,
but which nevertheless allows the valve to open and discharge any
surplus water. This valve is held. open when the handle of the closet
is raised (or moved), and the same handle then opens a tap or valve
to admit water to the pan. When the handle descends (or is replaced)
the water supply tap or valve and the pan valve close immediately.
The following is the method' in which I construct the closet :-I cast
the trap of the closet so as to form a secure base for the support of the
pan, and the inverted partition which forms the water joint of the trap
I, for convenience of manufacture, fórm as a separate piece, which I
set air-tight into its place by bedding it in cement or otherwise. In
the sides of the trap the bearings for the spindle of the pan valve are
fitted, and on this spindle is an arm within the upper part of the trap
which carries the valve, and another or other arms on the outside to
carry the counterpoise weights and to be acted upon by the closet
handle, so that the spindle may be partly turned and the valve removed
from its seat to discharge the soil when the handle is raised.
The pan is fitted and cemented into a socket which is fixed to the
top of the trap; the pan valve, however, does not work up. against
the mouth of the opening at the bottom of the pan,. but against an.
elastic seat contrived in the following novel manner :-Between the top.
of the trap and the mouth of the opening in the pan an india-rubber.
disc is fixed by clamping it around its outer edge all round. This disc
has a hole in its centre concentric with the opening in the pan, and
of larger diameter, so that soil in passing out of. the pan is not liable
to come in contact with the india-rubber. The pan valve, when it closcs,
comes up against this india-rubber disc and covers the hole in it, and
then; as the india-rubber is free all round. the hole, the, weight of the

page_text: water above it causes it to adapt itself to the valve, and so a tight joint
is made without any fitting of the surfaces being required.
The water supply valve may be of any convenient construction,
opening and closing directly by the action of the handle, and without
the interposition of any regulating apparatus. The fan which distributes
the water in the pan I form in one piece of earthenware with the pan
so as to discharge the water around the circumference of the pan in two
streams flowing in opposite directions so that they may meet opposite
the fan, and I arrange the fan openings so that much more water flows
in one direction than the other; in this way I obtain a proper scour
of the pan and proper quantity of water retained in it when the pan
valve is closed. I prefer, in order more compactly to arrange the
apparatus, that the hole in the pan should be eccentric to it.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 a vertical section, and Figure 8 a
plan of a closet thus constructed.
a, a, is the trap; it is cast so as to stand securely on a floor; a circular
opening is cut in the floor to allow of the soil pipe being adapted at a³.
Within the trap is a partition a² which is part of the main casting, and
there is also a partition a³ which for convenience is cast separately; it
rests upon ledges on each side of the main casting, as is clearly shewn
in Figure 2, and it is set on these ledges with red lead cement to ensure
a gas-tight joint. a is a socket to which a rain water pipe, or the
descending pipe from a sink may be fitted, or if not required this socket
may be closed with a plug; b, b, are brasses to carry the spindle c of
the pan valve; they are dropt into notches in the sides of the trap a, and
they have flanges to keep them in their places; they rest on the top
of the partition a³ and serve to keep it down. c¹ is an arm fixed on the
spindle c and carrying at its other end the disc or valve d, which may
conveniently be made of pottery ware and have a screw nut cemented
into it to receive a bolt, as shown; e is a small piece of vulcanized
india-rubber over the head of the bolt to soften the blow if in case
of the valve being violently opened it should strike upon the partition a³
of the trap; ff*, are counterbalance weights cast upon arms having
sockets at their ends which fit to the extremities of the spindle c and
are fastened by set screws; these weights, as before mentioned, are
sufficient to keep the valve closed until the quantity of water in the pan
exceeds what is necessary, and then they yield and allow it to escape;
f' is an arm cast in one piece with the counterpoise f; by it the valve

page_text: is opened when the handle of the closet is raised. On to the top of the
trap a there is fixed by bolts the cover g having a socket upon it into
which the pan h is set, and it is secured by binding screws around the
socket, the joint also being made air-tight by cement. On the under
side of the cover g the ring i of vulcanized india-rubber is secured by
the binding ring k, which is held on to the cover by screws, as is shown.
On one side of the cover g is cast the bracket g¹ from which the two
standards g and g³ rise and the leg g' descends; the leg serves to steady
the structure, and the standard g³, which is forked at its upper end,
receives the water supply valve 7, and the parts which connect the valvo
to the standard are made of an H form section to fit into the fork. ¹is
the stem of the valve; it is acted on by a lever m to which the handle »
of the closet is jointed so that when the handle is drawn up the valve
is depressed off its seat, the valve stem being slotted and receiving the
end of the lever into it; o is a bowl carried by the standard g³, it forms
a guide for the handle n; p is a weight with a forked end p¹, and which
is hung on to the lever m so as to cause it to hold the water supply valve
up to its seat when the handle is down; p' is a pin passed through the
forked stem of the weight p, and which when the handle is raised comes
against the arm f¹ so as to open the pan valve; the end of the arm f¹
enters between the two parts of the stem p¹. The connection between
the water supply valve and the socket 9 on the pan is made in the usual
way with cement, and the fan which distributes the water within the
pan allows it to escape in a horizontal direction, and tangentially on
either side, but the area of the openings on one side of the fan are
considerably larger than on the other.
In order to prevent waste of water in supplying closets, basins, and
other vessels, I in some cases draw the supply from a closed vessel
of limited capacity, and which receives water from the main through
a small orifice constantly open. At the top of the vessel is an air valve
closed by a float when the vessel is full.
So far the apparatus is such as is described in the Specification of
a former Patent granted to me, and dated the 14th day of May 1867,
No. 1426. It will be seen that by this means, after the contents of the
vessel have been drawn off, only the small flow of water through the
filling orifice can be obtained. It is desirable, however, that the flow
should be absolutely stopped as soon as the measured quantity has been
discharged; this I effect by placing a syphon in the vessel and drawing

page_text: the water from the vessel through it. The water flows as before until the
vessel is empty, and then air entering the syphon throws it out of use
until the water again rises in the vessel so high as to cover the top
of the syphon and set it again into action, there being an air valve ab
the top of the syphon also actuated by a float..
Figure 4 is a vertical section of a water supply post thus arranged.
a is the measure vessel upon it; b, a nozzle of small size through which
water enters it from the main; c is the draw-off cock connected with
the syphon pipe d; d¹ is a valve at the top of the syphon opening
outwards, and a¹ is a valve opening inwards at the top of the measure
vessel a; both these valves are on the same stem, and on this stem. the
float e is fixed.
Figure 4 shows a similar apparatus in connection with a small
measure cistern to be fixed against a wall.
Figure 4 shows an arrangement in which the measure vessel is. of
earthenware and adapted to be fitted withir a cistern. Here there is
no float required, an air pipe being substituted for the valve at the top
of the measure vessel; the water rises in the air pipe until it is level.
with the external water.
Figure 4° is a similar arrangement with an iron measure vessel, and
the valve of a closet is shown in connection therewith.
Figure 4 shows a similar arrangement, but fixed beneath the bottom
of the cistern.
For the construction of sewers and drains where the upper part of the
sewer or drain is of concrete, and the bottom is a pottery invert, I make a
pottery skew back blocks to fit accurately to the sides of the invert, and
also to receive the haunches of the concrete arch. Each skew back has
three faces, one fitting to the side of the invert, as above described, and
this face is by preference of angle form, thus) in vertical section; another
face of the block forms a part of the inner surface of the sewer, and is 3
suitably curved; and the third face is flat and rests on the bottom
of the trench in which the invert block is laid. This skew back is open
at the back so that the concrete forming the haunches of the arch may
enter into it and form a backing to each of the faces of the block. Each
block is made with suitable ends or flanges to give it the necessary 3
strength.

page_text: Figure 5 is a vertical section of a skew back block thus made; and
Figure 6 shows on a smaller scale a transverse section of a concrete
sewer or drain showing the manner in which it is employed.
In the manufacture of invert blocks for sewers and drains by expressing
clay through dies it is usual to form passages through the block both
to lighten it and to facilitate the burning; these passages have usually
been filled in with concrete. According to the present Invention I close
these passages before the block is burnt by means of slabs of clay applied
so as to form ends to the block; they are perforated with small holes
so as not to interfere with the burning of the block, and in burning they
become firmly fixed to the other parts of the block.
I claim the constructing watercloset apparatus with the pan valve
counterbalanced so as to allow the escape by its self-action of any excess
of water from the pan, such valve being at the same time so arranged
that it may be opened by means of the handle of the closet.
I also claim the method of arranging the valve and valve seat of closet
apparatus, as herein described.
I also claim the general arrangement of the closet apparatus, as herein
described.
I also claim the arranging apparatus to regulate the drawing-off of
water in the manner described and illustrated by Figures 4, 4, 4, 4°,
and 4d of the Drawings.
I also claim the manufacture of skew back blocks for the construction
of concrete sewers and drains, in the manner described and illustrated
by Figures 5 and 6 of the Drawings.
I also claim the manufacture of the invert blocks of sewers and drains,
in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah George Jennings, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS. (L.S.)