IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Manuel. Leopold Jonas Lavater, of Bath. Street,
Newgate Street, in the City of London, India-rubber Manufacturer, and
Edward William Niblett, of Palace New Road, in the. County of Surrey,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Manuel Leopold Jonas
Lavater and Edward William Niblett at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th June 1864.
We, MANUEL LEOPOLD JONAS LAVATER, of Bath Street, Newgate Street, in
the City of London, India-rubber Manufacturer, and EDWARD WILLIAM
NIBLETT, of Palace New Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND
URINALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in waterclosets and urinals.
In constructing waterclosets according to this Invention we arrange them in
such manner that. the wash water used for cleansing the pan of the closet
shall, when the pan is emptied, pass away by a separate pipe or passage to that
by which. the solid or both solid and fluid fecal matters are to pass away.

page_text: When both the solid and fluid fecal matters are to be separated from the wash
water we arrange the apparatus in the following manner:-The bottom of the
pan is closed by a valve turning on a hinge at one side of the pan; through the
centre of this valve is an opening closed by another valve capable of opening
outwards from the pan, so that when this valve is opened any water contained
in the pan may flow away; this valve is connected by levers or otherwise to
the seat of the closet in such manner that when any person is upon the seat,
the weight of the person by depressing the seat shall open the central valve,
and allow any water in the pan to flow away, and after remaining open for a
short time the valve closes; the water passing away through this valve is
conducted by a surrounding case or funnel carried by the bottom of the valve
that closes the pan into the open end of a pipe or passage, by which the water
is conducted away. When the person rises from the seat the valve closing the
bottom of the pan is to be opened by pulling a handle, as is usual, any
solid or
fluid matter in the pan will then fall into the open end of a pipe or passage
separate from the passage into which the wash water was received, and may
thus be received into a receptacle separate from the wash water; when the
handle is lowered the wash water will flow into the pan, and will remain there
until the central valve is again opened by any one sitting on the seat.
When it is only desired to separate the solid fecal matters from the wash
water, then the bottom of the pan may be closed by a valve having perforations
formed through it, through which liquid can pass, and carried by the under
side of this valve is a chamber or vessel, closed at the bottom by a valve.
After the closet has been used this valve is opened by raising a handle, so
allowing the fluid to flow away into a pipe or passage, leaving any solid matter
resting on the perforated valve; by further raising the handle the perforated
valve is opened, when the solid matters upon it will fall into a pipe or channel
separate from the one that received the fluid matter. When the handle is
lowered, water is caused to flow into the pan, and will remain there until the
handle is again raised. Both these systems may be combined, and the wash
water, the urine, and the solid matters delivered separately.
We also in a similar manner arrange urinals so that the urine may be
received into a separate receiver from that into which the wash water flows
For this purpose we place
that is used for washing the pan of the urinal.
below the outlet of the pan of the urinal a funnel or gutter capable of rocking
or turning on a pivot, and we connect this funnel or gutter with a treadle or
platform, on which the person using the urinal stands, such a treadle or
platform is now commonly employed in urinals for giving motion to the tap

page_text: that governs the supply of wash water for cleansing the pan of the urinal.
We prefer to arrange the apparatus in such manner that when the treadle or
platform is depressed by the weight of a person standing upon it, the funnel or
gutter below the outlet of the urinal pan is moved in such manner as to direct
any urine that may flow from the pan into a pipe leading to a vessel into
which the urine is to be received: When the person leaves the treadle or
platform the treadle or platform returns to its original position, and this causes
the funnel or gutter below the outlet of the pan to be moved into. such a
position that any wash water that may be supplied to the pan may as it passes
away be directed into a separate pipe from that which. received the urine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater and Edward William Niblett
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, MANUEL.
LEOPOLD JONAS LAVATER, of Bath Street, Newgate Street, in the City of
London, India-rubber Manufacturer, and EDWARD WILLIAM NIBLETT, of Palace
New Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater and Edward William Niblett,
Her special licence that we, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater and
Edward William Niblett, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater and Edward William
Niblett, our 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 URINALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater and Edward William Niblett, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward William Niblett, on behalf
of myself and the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in waterclosets and urinals:
In constructing waterclosets according to this Invention we arrange them in
such manner that the wash water used for cleansing the pan of the closet shall,
when the pan is emptied, pass away by a separate pipe or passage to that
by which the solid or both solid and fluid fecal matters are to pass away.
When both the solid and fluid fecal matters are to be separated from the
wash water we arrange the apparatus in the following manner :-The bottom
of the pan is closed by a valve turning on a hinge at one side of the pan;
through the centre of this valve is an opening closed by another valve capable
of opening outwards from the pan, so that when this valve is opened any
water contained in the pan may flow away; this valve is connected by levers
or otherwise to the seat of the closet in such manner that when any person is
upon the seat, the weight of the person by depressing the seat shall open the
central valve, and allow any water in the pan to flow away, and after remaining
open for a short time the valve closes, and the water passing away through
this valve is conducted by a surrounding case or funnel carried by the bottom
of the valve that closes the pan into the open end of a pipe or passage, by
which the water is conducted away.
We also in a similar manner arrange urinals so that the urine may be
received into a separate receiver from that into which the wash water flows
that is used for washing the pan of the urinal. For this purpose we place
below the outlet of the pan of the urinal a funnel or gutter capable of rocking
or turning on a pivot, and we connect this funnel or gutter with a treadle or
platform, on which the person using the urinal stands, such a treadle or platform
is now commonly employed in urinals for giving motion to the tap that governs
the supply of wash water for cleansing the pan of the urinal. We prefer to
arrange the apparatus in such manner that when the treadle or platform is
depressed by the weight of a person standing upon it, the funnel or gutter
below the outlet of the urinal pan is moved in such manner as to direct any
urine that may flow from the pan into a pipe leading to a vessel into which

page_text: the urine is to be received. When the person leaves the treadle or platform,
the treadle or platform returns to its original position, and this causes the
funnel or gutter below the outlet of the pan to be moved into such a position
that any wash water that may be supplied to the pan may as it passes away be
directed into a separate pipe from that which received the urine. When the
person rises from the seat the valve closing the bottom of the pan is to be
opened by pulling a handle as is usual, and solid or fluid matter in the pan
will then fall into the open end of a pipe or passage separate from the passage
into which the wash water was received, and may thus be received into a
receptacle separate from the wash water. When the handle is lowered the
wash water will flow into the pan, and will remain there until the central
valve is again opened by any one sitting on the seat. When it is only desired
to separate the solid fecal matters from the wash water, then the bottom of
the pan may be closed by a valve having perforations formed through it,
through which liquid can pass, and carried by the under side of this valve is
a chamber or vessel closed at the bottom by a valve. After the closet has
been used this valve is opened by raising a handle, so allowing the fluid to
flow away into a pipe or passage, leaving any solid matter resting on the per-
forated valve; by further raising the handle the perforated valve is opened,
when the solid matters upon it will fall into a pipe or channel separate from
the one that received the fluid matter. When the handle is lowered,
water is caused to flow into the pan, and will remain there until the handle is
again raised.
Both these systems may be combined, and the wash water, the
urine, and the solid matters delivered separately.
Having thus stated the nature of our said Invention, we will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a section of the frame or base plate on which the basin
of a watercloset is received, and set within the socket a, a, below this plate
and socket is a double valve b, c, the central part 6 of the valve is capable of
an independent motion from the part c of the valve. Below the double
valve b, c, is a hollow chamber d, d, into which the part 6 of the valve opeus
to allow of the wash water to descend to the outlet e, to which a separate
pipe is connected, in order to convey the wash waters from the basin of the
watercloset separate from the solid matter and the urine which are deposited
n the basin on the closet being used; c¹ is a grating or perforated surface to
etain back any solid matter from passing through the valve b. The valve b, c,

page_text: with its hollow chamber d, is mounted on an axis f, which axis is put in con-
nection with the seat so as to be acted on by the person sitting on the seat of
the closet, and the communication between the seat and the parts c, d, of
the valve is so arranged that the parts c, d, remain in position notwithstanding
the axis f with its arm g is acted on by the weight of the person sitting on
the seat of the closet. The arm 9 acts on the part 6¹ of the valve b, .and
depresses it for a short time to admit of the wash water contained in the
basin getting away, when the part of the valve again closes by a spring or
weight in time to prevent the solid and fluid deposited in the basin by the
person using the closet from passing the part-6 of the valve. When the person
using the closet raises the ordinary handle, the whole valve b, c, d, is caused
to open downwards so as to allow the fluid and solid matters to descend into
the outlet h, which is connected with a suitable vessel or receiver. The closing
parts of the valve are rendered fluid-tight by vulcanized india-rubber, as shewn,
or by other well known means. When it is desired that the solid matters
should be separated from the wash waters and the urine, the valve employed
has a grating or perforated surface, through which the fluids can pass and the
solids be retained back and caused to pass to a different outlet from that to
which the fluids are directed. Figure 2 shews a section in elevation of the
base plate and socket a, in which the bottom of the basin of a watercloset is
set; Figure 3 shews a plan in section taken above the axle of the valve of the
closet. The valve is composed of two parts b and c, the part 6 is arranged to
be opened to admit of the fluids flowing to the outlet i, whilst by the opening
of the valve b, c, the solid matters are delivered to the outlet j, which is con-
nected to a suitable vessel or receiver. The part 6 of the valve is carried by an
axis 6¹, and is arranged to be acted on by a lever k, or it may be by any other
convenient means, and this lever is connected with the ordinary handle in such
manner as to be first moved, in order that the part 6 of the valve may be first
opened to run off the fluids from the solid matters, which are retained back
by the grating c¹ of the part c of the valve, which is mounted on the axis k*,
and is acted on by the lever 1, which is connected to the ordinary handle of
the closet, but is acted on later by that handle, in order that the other lever
and the whole of the valve b, c, may be caused to descend so as to deliver the
solid matters from the grating c¹ to the outlet j after the fluids have been
first run off, as above explained. In place of the levers and the toothed sector
levers shewn in the Drawing being used to act on the parts of the valve as
above explained, other arrangements of mechanism may be employed for that
purpose. When it is desired to separate the wash water from the urine
b

page_text: and from the solid matters, and the urine from the solid matters, the two
systems above explained are combined.
Figure 4 shews a vertical section of apparatus for this purpose. a is the
base plate and socket in which the bottom of the basin of a watercloset is to
be set. Two inclined valves are used, one of which is composed of two
parts b, c, this valve has also a grating or perforated surface c³, to retain back
the solid matters. The valve 6 is put in connection with the seat of the closet
by suitable mechanism in such manner that the person about to use the closet
will cause the valve 6 to open, and thus permit the wash water to flow out of
the basin and away at the outlet n, the valve 6 will then close, then, after the
closet has been used and the ordinary handle is lifted, the whole valve b, c, will
open, leaving the grating or perforated surface in position, thus admitting of
the urine flowing away to the outlet o, the continued raising of the ordinary
handle will by a suitable connection with the valve x cause that valve to open,
and the solid matters will descend to the outlet p, which is connected to
a suitable vessel or receiver. The supply of wash water to these closets is to
take place after the valves have been closed.
Figure 5 shews a modification of the arrangement shewn at Figure 4. In
this case, as in Figures 1 and 2, the wash water flows away by one outlet,
whilst the urine and solid matters pass away together by another outlet.
a is the pan; b, c, are two inclined valves, there being a grating or perforated
surface b¹ to retain back any solid matters from passing by the valve b; the
valve 6 is put in connection with the seat of the closet by suitable mechanism
in such manner that the person using the closet will cause the valve b
and permit of the wash water flowing away by the outlet q, the valve 6 will
then close, then, after the closet has been used, and the ordinary handle is
lifted, the valve c will open, and the solid matters and urine which have been
deposited in the pan will descend to the outlet r.
open,
Figure 6 shews a modification of the arrangement shewn at Figure 1. In
this case the double valve and grating are placed in an inclined position.
Similar parts are marked with similar letters of referrence to those employed
in Figure 1. In this case the valve 6 is connected with the lever g in such
manner that it shall for a time remain open to allow of the wash water
descending to the outlet e and then close, then when the ordinary handle is
raised the valve c will be opened, and the solid matters and urine will descend
to the outlet h.
Figure 7 shews a front view, partly in section, and Figure 8 a side view of
a urinal arranged according to our Invention. a is the pan of the urinal;

page_text: .
b, the pipe by which the wash water is conveyed to the pan; c is another
pipe to convey away the wash water and urine from the pan into the funnel
'or channel d, which is fixed to the axis e in such manner that when a person
is about to use the urinal the weight of such person standing on the platform
or treadle will depress the end g¹ of the lever g, thereby raising the end g
thereof, which is provided with teeth taking into the teeth e¹ on the axis e, by
which means the funnel or channel is turned partly on its axis, and the urine
caused to pass away by the outlet i. A weight g³ serves to return the parts
to their original position when the funnel d is directed to the passage or
outlet k, through which the wash water descends. The water supply may be
arranged to supply water continually to the pan whilst it is not in use, and
cut off on a person using the urinal, or it may be so arranged as to supply a
determined quantity of water to the pan.
Figures 9 and 10 show a modification of the preceding arrangement.
a is
the pan; b, the wash water supply tube; c is the outlet from the pan; d is a
funnel or gutter to conduct the wash water or urine to the outlets i or k; the
funnel d is mounted on the axis e, upon which is fixed a short lever e¹; this
lever is connected with the rod e, to the lower end of which the lever g is
pin jointed. Upon the treadle f being depressed, it acts upon the end g¹ of
the lever g, thereby raising the end 9³, and causing the funnel d to assume
the position shown by the dotted lines in the Drawing, when the urine will
flow away by the passage or outlet i, the weight g³ brings back the parts to
their original position, causing the funnel d to assume the position shown by
the full lines, when the wash water will flow away by the outlet k.
Figures 11, 12, and 13 show other modifications. In Figure 11 the funnel
or gutter d is only opposite the opening from the pan when the urinal is not
in use, but when a person is using the urinal it is caused to pass into the
recess k¹ in the pipe k, when the urine will flow away direct by the pipe i.
In Figure 12 the funnel d is mounted on a vertical axis e, to which motion
is given by bevil gear e¹, put in connection with the treadle by the rod e²,
by. which means when a person is using the urinal the lower end of the
funnel d is placed opposite the outlet i for the urine, and when not in use it
is in the position shown in the Drawing, when the wash water will flow away
by the outlet k.
Figure 13 shows a modification of Figures 7 and 8. In this case the
funnel d is mounted on an axis e, placed close under the pan, the arm e¹ being
connected with the treadle by the rod, to place the funnel opposite the
outlets i or k, as required.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately; but we claim the combined arrange-
ments thereof herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward William Niblett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
EDWARD WILLIAM NIBLETT. (L.S.)