A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING WATER CLOSETS AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM HENRY BARACLOUGH of Princess Road Edgbaston in the County of
Warwick Engineer do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING WATER CLOSETS AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
My Invention has reference to what are commonly known as Syphon flushing
cisterns or water waste preventers for water closets, and for other like purposes, in
which a determinate or fixed quantity of water is only allowed at a given time, to
flow from a cistern or other reservoir, to the pan of a closet or other similar object
to be flushed.
The flushing can only be effected intermittently, from the fact that when the
flushing has once started the cistern automatically empties itself by atmospheric
pressure, exerting itself upon the whole exposed water surface in the cistern, and
cannot be thus again started until water from the main supply has risen to a fixed
height in the cistern; by the means hereinafter described a perfect water waste
preventer is produced.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the flushing apparatus of a closet.
The conduit for conveying water from the cistern to the closet consists of a
vertical pipe or tube, preferably funnel mouthed at its open end, which stands
somewhat above the level of the top of the cistern itself. Situated underneath
this down pipe in the floor of the cistern, is a small box or chamber, through which
water passes to the delivery pipe, and from thence to the closet pan And within
this small box or chamber between the bottom end of the down pipe and the top
of the delivery pipe, a valve is situated for the purpose hereinafter described, which
seats itself against the open end of the down pipe.
A bell or vessel closed at its upper end covers the vertical down pipe in the
flush box or cistern, leaving only a small space when not raised, between its open
end and the bottom of the cistern. The bell described being of larger internal
diameter than the down pipe, the division thus left forms an annular space.
The valve described, has a stalk or stem, passing up the down pipe, which is
connected by a coiled spring to the top of the inside of the bell, while the lower
side has a long peg, which moves in a guide at the above of the delivery pipe, or
the said guide and peg may be dispensed with if desired.
The top of the bell is linked to the end of a pointed lever in the usual way.
The action of the apparatus is as follows: when the water in the cistern is at
its proper height. The bell is raised by pulling one end of the jointed lever by a

page_text: chain, and on the first rising of the said Bell, the valve is drawn to its seat at the
orifice of the down pipe, thereby stopping the passage thereof. On the continued
upward movement of the bell, and the consequent elongation of the spring forcibly
holding the valve to its seat, the hermetrically sealed space in the top of the bell,
and the down pipe being considerably augmented in area, and consequently an
equivalent rarefication thereof; produces an unequal atmospheric pressure on the
inside, and on the outside of the bell; the consequence is that water rises and flows
over the mouth of tlie down pipe; and on the lever being released, the bell falls,
the spring contracts, and the valve is removed from the end of the down pipe.
The rush of water to the closet pan through the down and delivery pipe, being
most precipitous; until the determined quantity of water in the cistern has been
exhausted.
So that on simply pulling the lever by its chain and again releasing it, the
flushing is automatically and instantaneously effected. The delivery and down
pipe thus described constitutes the long leg of the syphon arrangement, while the
annular space between the inside of the bell and the outside of the down pipe
forms the short leg of the said syphon.
Dated this first day of January One thousand eight hundred and eighty

page_text: I WILLIAM HENRY BARACLOUGH of Princess Road Edgbaston, in the County of
Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING WATER CLOSETS, AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
My invention has reference to what are commonly known as Syphon flushing
Cisterns or water waste preventers for water closets, and for other like purposes;
in which a determinate or fixed quantity of water is only allowed at a given time,
to flow from a cistern or other reservoir, to the pan of a closet or other similar
object to be flushed.
The flushing can only be effected intermittently, from the fact that when the
flushing has once started, the cistern automatically empties itself by atmospheric
pressure, exerting itself upon the whole exposed water surface in the cistern, and
cannot be again started until water from the mainsupply has risen to a fixed
height in the cistern; by the means hereinafter described, a perfect water waste
preventer is produced.
I will describe my invention as applied to the flushing apparatus of a closet.
The conduit for conveying water from the cistern to the closet consists of a
vertical pipe or tube, preferably funnel mouthed at its open end, which stands
somewhat above the level of the top of the cistern itself. Situated underneath this
down pipe in the floor of the cistern, is a small box or chamber, through which
water passes to the delivery pipe and from thence to the closet pan. And within
this small box or chamber, between the bottom end of the down pipe, and the top
of the delivery pipe, a valve is situated for the purpose hereinafter described;
which spats itself against the open end of the down pipe.
A bell or vessel closed at its upper end, covers the vertical down pipe in the
flush box or cistern, leaving only a small space when not raised, between its open
end, and the bottom of the cistern. The bell described being of larger internal
diameter than the down pipe, the division thus left forms an annular space.
The valve described, has a stalk or stem, passing up the down pipe; which is
connected by a coiled spring to the top of the inside of the bell, while the lower
side has a long peg, which moves in a guide above the delivery pipe, or the said.
guide and peg, may be dispensed with if desired.
The top of the bell is linked to the end of a jointed lever in the usual way.
The action of the apparatus is as follows when the water in the cistern is at its
proper height-
The bell is raised by pulling one end of the jointed lever by a chain, and on the
first rising of the said bell, the valve is drawn to its seat at the orifice of the down
pipe; thereby stopping the passage thereof. On the continued upward movement
of the bell, and the consequent elongation of the spring forcibly holding the valve
to its seat, the hermetrically sealed space in the top of the bell, and the down pipe
being considerably augmented in area, and consequently an equivalent rarification
thereof, produces an unequal atmospheric pressure on the inside, and on the outside
of the bell; the consequence is, that water rises and flows over the mouth of the
down pipe; and on the lever being released, the bell falls; the spring contracts,
and the valve is removed from the end of the down pipe-The rush of water to the
closet pan through the down and delivery pipe, being most precipitous; until the
determined quantity of water in the cistern has been exhausted.

page_text: So that on simply pulling the lever by its chain, and again releasing it, the
flushing is automatically and instantaneously effected. The delivery and down
pipe thus described constitutes the long leg of the syphon arrangement, while the
annular space between the inside of the bell and the outside of the down pipe
forms the short leg of the said syphon.
Having described the nature of my invention I will proceed to describe with
reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which my invention may
be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal vertical section, a flushing cistern or water
waste preventer containing apparatus constructed according to my invention for
flushing a pan of a water closet or for other like purposes, the parts being
represented in the positions which they respectively occupy when the cistern or
flushing apparatus is ready for use-Figure 2 is a plan of the same, exhibiting the
respective positions of some of the parts. Figure 3 represents the same view as
figure 1 with the bell raised for the starting of the flushing; this view also shows
the valve closing up the down pipe, and the water in the cistern, flowing over its
top prior to the flushing-Figure 4 represents the same view with the bell down
in the act of flushing, the parts resuming their normal positions as in figure 1; so
that as soon as the cistern has emptied itself, the ball valve is opened by the
falling of the float, thus allowing the cistern to again fill until water has risen to
its proper height, when the cistern is again ready for use.
In tigure 5 the spring for operating the valve is placed upon the crown or
summit of the bell, the bell being raised by the lever picking up the said bell by
trunnion like arms-The mouth of the bell is scollopped, for admitting water to
the inside thereof on resting at the bottom of the cistern-Figure 6 is a plan of
figure 5, and figure 7 shows the bell and some of the principal parts separately―
The bell is shown raised, and the spring for operating the valve being compressed.
In this arrangement, no guide is requisite for the valve rod or stem-Figure 8. is
an elevation of the valve box, and figure 9 is a plan of the same-Figure 10
shows my invention in which the spring for operating the valve is made automatic
and the valve pushed from its seat by the weight of the bell-The valve chamber
in this view is shown in the middle of the down pipe and is made bulbous so as to
allow water to pass the valve, when the bell is down-The view represents the
cistern in which the flushing is in the act of being started, the water flowing over
the down pipe Figure 11 is a complete section of figure 10, the cistern being in
the act of flushing-Figures 12 and 13 is an elevation and plan of the bell-
Figure 14 is an elevation of the down pipe and valve closing arrangements-
Figure 15 is a plan of the same, and figure 16 is a vertical section of the down
pipe, before its top has been screwed to the bulbous part-Figure 17 is a plan of
the same The other figures represent parts of the valve arrangement separately.
a is the cistern or flush box, and b is the down pipe or conduit for conveying
water from the cistern to the closet pau-The said down-pipe b is preferably
funnel mouthed at its open end which stand somewhat above the level of the water
in the cistern c is a valve box or chamber situated underneath the down pipe b
through which water passes to the delivery pipe d and from thence to the closet
pan to be flushed-The connection between the valve box and delivery pipe is
made by an ordinary union ue is the valve for closing up the mouth 62 of the
down pipe b-This valve works within the box c-f is a closed bell or vessel
which covers the open end of the down pipe b and comes nearly to the bottom of
the cistern, leaving only a small space when not raised between its open end at the
bottom of the cistern-The said bell ƒ is of larger internal diameter than the down-
pipe, the division thus left forins an annular space constituting the short leg of a
syphon The valve e is provided with a stalk or stem e passing up the downpipe,
which is connected by a coiled spring g to the top of the inside of the bell fby
loop or other connector g-The lower end of the said stalk e carrying the valve,
has a peg e³ which moves in a guide c² above the mouth of the delivery pipe d―
it

page_text: The top of the bell f is linked to the lever k, turning upon the fulcrum h-The
lever is actuated by the pull i.
The action of the apparatus is as follows-
On lowering the pull i figure 1, the bell is raised by the lever turning upon
its fulcrum ; so that on the first rising of the said bell f the valve e is drawn to
its seat b at the orifice of the down pipe b, as represented in figure 3, thereby
stopping the passage of the said down pipe-On the continued upward movement
of the bell, and the consequent elongation of the spring g which forcibly holds the
valve e to its seat 6 and prevents the ingress of external air to the down pipe and
the chamber of the bell above the water level-The upward movement of the bell f
when the down pipe is closed, rarifies the air enclosed within, and so produces
an unequal atmospheric pressure on the inside and outside of the bell; the
consequence is, that water rises and flows over the mouth of the downpipe and on
the chain being released, the bell f falls, the spring g contracts, and the valve e is
removed from the end of the down pipe b, as represented in figure 4-A rush of
water now takes place to the pan of the closet to the bell, down pipe and delivery
pipe, until the whole contents of the cistern have been exhausted.
The simple pulling of the chain and again releasing it, flushing is automatically
and instantaneously effected. In figure 5 the spring for actuating the valve e is
placed outside upon the crown of the bell with a rod e² extended in the form of a
link e which passes through the top of the bell-The spring g abuts at its lower
end upon a washer; and at its upper end against a collar on the terminal end of
the rod e, the bell is picked up by a lever h provided with forked arms h³ taking
onto trunnion arms f-By pulling the chain pull i, the lever is moved upon its
fulcrum, raising the bell and with it the valve e which closes up the down pipe b
while the continued movement of the bell f compresses the spring g and so rarifies
the air in the interior of the bell and down pipe, causing the water in the cistern
to rise up the inside of the bell and flow down the down pipe as before described
the mouth of the down pipe during this time being closed by the valve.
On releasing the pull i, the bell falls by its own weight carrying the valve into
its chamber c, and so allows water to freely pass to the delivery pipe for the
flushing.
The washer is pressed around the rod e' on the upward movement of the bell,
so as to prevent the ingress of air into its chamber as best seen in figure 7-In
figure 10 the valve e is pressed to its seat automatically by a coiled spring g
situated between a fixed bridge guide or support, and the end of the rod e².
The cistern is operated as follows-
On lowering the chain pull i, the bell f is raised, as represented in figure 10;
relieving its pressure or weight from the head k of the rod e², the tension of the
spring g (which is now liberated) compels the valve e to take to its seat b³, and so
prevents the ingress of air into the bell chamber above the water level; so that
the raising of the bell, compels the down-pipe to be stopped automatically and at
the same time rarifies the air in its interior, and that in the upper part of the
down-pipe, the water now rises up the sides of the bell and overflows the down-
pipe for the starting the flushing as before described-The liberation of the lever
by the chain allows the bell to fall to the position represented in figure 11-The
weight of the falling bell acting upon the head k of the rod e compresses the
spring 9 and 80 compels the valve e to take to its chamber in the middle of the
down pipe b, so allowing the water which had accumulated in the upper part of
the down pipe, to flow past the valve g and so create the final flushing-The weight
of the bell is sufficient to compress the spring and keep the valve from its seat as
represented in figure 11.
Having now described the nature of my said invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is―
First: The improvements in flushing cisterns herein before described and
illustrated in figures 1. 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying Drawings; that is to say,
stopping up the bottom of the down-pipe by means of a valve carried by the

page_text: moveable bell; which said valve prevents the ingress of air to the bell chamber
and down pipe on the starting of the flushing. The spring connecting the valve
rod to the top of the bell chamber is elongated on the continued rising of the bell
after the valve has taken to its seat, the parts being arranged, combined and
operating in the way and for the purpose as described and illustrated.
Secondly -The improvements in, and appliances for flushing water closets, and
for other like purposes consisting essentially of a bell f, a downpipe b, a valve
chamber c, a valve e and a spring g, for the purpose, and acting in the manner as
herein before described and set forth in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Thirdly Constructing and arranging the parts of water waste preventers or
flushing cisterns hereinbefore described and illustrated in figures 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
of the accompanying Drawings; whereby the upward movement of the bell closes
the bottom of the down-pipe by a valve e, the continued upward movement of
the bell being allowed by the spring g, the several parts being arranged combined
and operating substantially as described and illustrated.
Fourthly Constructing and arranging water waste preventers hereinbefore
described and illustrated in figures 10 to 24 both inclusive of the accompanying
Drawings; whereby the upward movement of the bell allows the down pipe to be
automatically closed by a valve forced upwards by a spring which is liberated by
relieving the bell's pressure from upon it, the valve being pressed from its seat by
the weight of the falling bell, also the valve chamber in the middle of the down-
pipe; the parts operating substantially in the manner as described and set forth.
Fifthly The general arrangement or combination of the parts as herein before
described and illustrated in the several figures of the Drawings.
-
Dated this twenty-ninth day of September 1884.