IMPROVEMENTS IN SPITTOONS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Vale of the firm of Henry Vale and Sons of
Birmingham in the County of Warwick Manufacturers for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN SPITTOONS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Vale at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th June 1883.
WILLIAM VALE of the firm of Henry Vale and Sons of Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Manufacturers "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPITTOONS
"
My invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of spittoons in
the manner hereinafter described. Spittoons made according to my invention are
particularly applicable to railway and other carriages but may also be used in
rooms and public places. Spittoons made according to my invention are self
cleaning or self draining and upward draught through the floor of the carriage or
place to which the spittoon is applied is effectually prevented
I will describe my invention as applied to a carriage. In constructing a spittoon
according to my invention I use a case or body made preferably of metal having
the ordinary funnel or inverted cone shaped top with a central opening and I
make the bottom of the case or body with a central opening the said bottom
having a similar figure to the top the conical shaped top and bottom being turned
in the same direction so as to be parallel or nearly parallel with one another. The
central bottom opening in the spittoon forms the exit opening for the saliva. In
the interior of the case or body I fix a conical diaphragm the apex or point of the
cone being situated in the axis of the central opening of the conical top or funnel
but leaving a space between it and the said opening The base of the conical
diaphragm has a scolloped edge which rests on the bottom of the spittoon and
permits the passage of the saliva into the bottom. The conical diaphragm
constitutes a cap or deflector for checking or breaking the upward current of air
which enters at the central exit opening in the bottom of the spittoon and pre-
venting a draught entering the carriage through the spittoon. The spittoon
described is fixed in an opening made in or through the floor of the carriage a-
T

page_text: flange at the top of the spittoon serving to fix it to the floor. When so fixed the
saliva received in the hollow top of the spittoon passes between it and the conical
diaphragm or air deflecting cap and running down the sides of the said diaphragm
is received on the conical bottom and escaping by the central exit opening falls
beneath the carriage.
By this construction the spittoon is made self cleaning or self draining that is
the saliva is not retained in the spittoon but is drained therefrom in the manner
hereinbefore described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Vale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd November 1883.
'
WILLIAM VALE of the firm of Henry Vale and Sons of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers. IMPROVEMENTS IN SPITTOONS."
"
My invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of spittoons in
the manner hereinafter described. Spittoons made according to my invention are
particularly applicable to railway and other carriages but may also be used in
rooms and public places.
Spittoons made according to my invention are self cleaning or self draining and
upward draught through the floor of the carriage or place to which the spittoon is
applied is effectually prevented.
I will describe my invention as applied to a carriage.
In constructing a spittoon according to my invention I use a case or body made.
preferably of metal having the ordinary funnel or inverted cone shaped top with a
central opening and I make the bottom of the case or body with a central opening
the said bottom having nearly a similar figure to the top, the conical shaped top
and bottom being turned in the same direction so as to be parallel or nearly
parallel with one another. The central bottom opening in the spittoon forms the
exit opening for the saliva.
In the interior of the case or body I fix a conical diaphragm the apex or point
of the cone being situated in the axis of the central opening of the conical top or
funnel but leaving a space between it and the said opening. The base of the
conical diaphragm has a scolloped edge which rests on the bottom of the spittoon
and permits the passage of the saliva into the bottom. The conical diaphragın
constitutes a. cap or deflector for preventing a draught entering the carriage
through the spittoon. The spittoon, described is fixed. in an opening made in or,
through the floor of the carriage, a flange at the top of the spittoon serving to fix
it to the floor. When so fixed the saliva received in the hollow top of the spittoon.
passes between it and the conical diaphragm or air defecting cap and running,
**

page_text: down the sides of the said diaphragm is received on the conical bottom and
escaping by the central exit opening falls beneath the carriage.
I will now describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner
in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan and Figure 2 in vertical section a spittoon con-
structed according to my invention applied to the floor of a Railway or other
carriage; Figure 3 represents in side elevation the spittoon detached from the
floor; Figure 4 represents in plan and Figure 5 in vertical section the conical top
or cover of the spittoon and Figure 6 represents in plan and Figure 7 in vertical
section, the body or case of the spittoon and its conical or concave diaphragm
without the cover Figures 4 and 5.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
a is the slightly conical case or body of the spittoon having the ordinary funnel
or inverted cone shaped top or cover b with a central opening as usual. The said
body or case a and top or cover b are provided with flanges by means of which
flanges the two parts are secured together by the screws at c. o. The said flanges
also serve to fix the spittoon by means of the wood screws d, d to the floor e of
the railway carriage. The bottom a² of the case or body a has a central opening as
which forms the exit passage for the saliva. The said bottom a² has nearly a
similar figure to the top or cover b, that is, the conical top b and conical or concave
bottom a are inclined in the same direction so as to be parallel or nearly parallel
with one another (see the section Figure 2); f is the conical diaphragm fixed by
soldering or otherwise in the interior of the case or body a. The base of the
conical diaphragm f has a scolloped or perforated edge marked f which rests on
the bottom as of the spittoon the said scolloped or perforated edge affording
passages for the saliva onto the bottom of the case or body on its way to the exit
opening a³.
It will be seen by an examination of Figure 2 that the apex or point of the
conical diaphragm fis situated in the axis of the central opening of the conical
top or cover b, a space being left between the said diaphragm and the said opening.
It will also be seen by an examination of the said Figure 2 that the conical
diaphragm fforts a cap or deflector for checking or breaking the upward current
of air which enters at the central exit opening a³ in the bottom of the spittoon.
A draught is thereby prevented from entering the carriage through the spittoon.
The spittoon is placed in the opening g made through the floor e of the carriage
and is fixed in its place by the wood screws d, d passed through the flanges of the
body and cover and taking into the said floor as seen in Figure 2.
The manner in which the saliva is received in and passes out of the spittoon is
indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, that is, the saliva received in the conical top
or cover b passes by the central opening between the said top or cover and the
conical diaphragm or air deflecting cap f, into the body a and running down the
said conical diaphragm passes by the scolloped or perforated edge at f* onto
the conical or concave bottom a² down which it runs and escaping by the central
exit opening a³ falls beneath the carriage.
By this construction the spittoon is made self cleaning or self draining, that is,
the saliva is not retained in the spittoon but is drained therefrom in the manner
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
When the spittoon is fixed in the floor of a room or building or any stationary
structure the exit opening for the saliva may be connected with a pipe, passage
or drain by which the saliva is drained away.
Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed I wish it to be understood that I claim as my invention
of "Improvements in spittoons."
The combination with the ordinary funnel or cone shaped top or cover of the
spittoon of a case or body having a concave bottom and a central exit opening for
the saliva in conjunction with a conical diaphragm, cap or deflector having a

page_text: scolloped or perforated edge, the said diaphragm, cap or deflector being arranged
with respect to the other parts of the spittoon and acting substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, whereby the
spittoon is made self cleaning or self draining and upward draught through the
carriage or place to which the spittoon is applied is prevented.
In witness whereof I the said William Vale have hereunto set my hand and
seal this twenty first day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand.eight
hundred and eighty three