AN IMPROVED APPARATus for THE INTERMITTENT DELIVERY OF WATER FROM FLUSHING TANKS AND FOR LIKE USES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM BARTHOLOMEW of Mess" Doulton & Co Sanitary Engineering Works,
Albert Embankment Lambeth in the County of Surrey, Sanitary Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATus for
THE INTERMITTENT DELIVERY OF WATER FROM FLUSHING TANKS AND FOR LIKE
USES and in what manner the same is to be performed to be. particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
This Invention has for its object an improved apparatus for the intermittent
delivery of water from flushing tanks and for like uses.
This apparatus is represented in vertical section by the Drawing annexed. It is
an improvement on apparatus described in the Specification of a former Patent
granted to me N° 1432 in the year 1882.
It consists of a vertical pipe a inserted through the bottom of a flushing tank or
other cistern b; it projects upwards nearly but not quite to the level at which the
water stands in the tank or cistern when full, and it projects also downwards for
some distance below the bottom of the tank or cistern. Within the cistern it is
covered by a bell which is so supported that its open mouth is a short distance
above the bottom of the tank or cistern. The lower end of the pipe dips into a
box or receptacle d in which water stands to the depth of some inches above the
mouth of the pipe.
C
So far the apparatus is similar to that described in the Specification of my said
former Patent but I now provide within the large pipe a a small pipe e passing
down within it from the top nearly to the bottom where it is bent to a U form and
is passed through the side of the larger pipe. At the upper end of the small pipe e
there is a funnel shaped receptacle f covered at the top by a strainer and at the
bottom it communicates by a small passage with the interior of the descending
pipe e.
Also I provide in the top of the bell a vent tube g which is adjustable by means
of a screw. The air vent is bored through the screw from end to end and the vent
is prolonged downwards by a small tube fitted to the lower end of the screw. By
means of the screw the position of this vent tube can be adjusted. These parts
work together in the following manner:-
As the tank or cistern fills the water rises within the bell as rapidly as it does
on the outer side until the mouth of the vent tube is covered by the water and then

page_text: no more air is able to escape from the bell or from the pipe a passing down within
it for this is sealed at its lower end by dipping into the box or water receptacle d
as already described. The water continuing to rise in the tank or cistern compresses
the nir confined within the bell and this goes on until a sufficient head is obtained
to ensure the effectual action of the apparatus and until the water contained in the
U bend of the small descending pipe is insufficient to withstand the pressure; this
water is then suddenly blown out of the bend and the compressed air escapes. The
air finds vent in this direction rather than beneath the lower end of the large
descending pipe a because the depth of water in the U bend is less than the
immersion of the lower end of the pipe a in the box or water receptacle d into
which it dips.
As soon as the air escapes from within the bell the water which was already
near to the upper end of the pipe a (the vent tube having been so adjusted that
this may be the case) rises within the bell and pours in considerable volume down
the pipe u. A siphon like action is at once set up and the water from the tank or
cistern ascends within the bell and pours over down the pipe a until the tank or
cistern is nearly empty. Air then enters into the bell beneath its lower edge and
also by the vent tube and the action is arrested until the tank or cistern has again
filled.
During the discharge a small quantity of water enters and is retained within the
receptacle and when the action terminates this water passes into the U bend at
the lower end of the pipe e and if need be closes it ready for another action but usually
this bend will be refilled from the lower end during the delivery of the contents of
the tank or cistern by the siphon like action. The strainer at the top of the
receptacle stops back solid matters which might choke the orifice at the bottom
and so rend it inoperative.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained 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 improvement made by the addition of the small pipe e with the
U bend at its lower end whereby the air in the siphon apparatus is entirely retained
until a sufficient head is attained and is then, suddenly liberated substantially as
described.
-Second.-Tho-receptacle-f-supplying-water to the bend of the pipe e and reclosing
it after each siphon action substantially as described.
Third. The air vent g upon the bell c adjustable in its distance below the upper
end of the pipe a substantially as described.
Fourth. The improved apparatus for the intermittent delivery of water from
flushing tanks and for like use substantially as described and represented by the
annexed Drawings.
Dated thin and dow of N 1001