Improvements in or Appertaining to Flushing Cisterns.
Year: 1888

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or Appertaining to Flushing Cisterns.
DAVID WILLIAMS Jr. Sanitary Engineer Phoenix Works Frodsham Street
Chester do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN OR
APPERTAINING TO FLUSHING CISTERNS to be as follows :-
For water closet purposes I form an iron (or wood lined with lead) cistern to hold
from two to two & half gallons. In this I fit a hinged syphon made watertight by
an India-rubber washer. The syphon is charged in the ordinary way by chain pull & to
prevent the syphon being over balanced the chain is carried to opposite end of cistern.
Its advantages are
Firstly, simplicity in construction.
Secondly, superior flush which is obtained even when the cistern is only part full,
and
Thirdly, the syphon being hinged dispenses with the old fashioned drop valve which
continually gets out of repair.
Dated this 14th day of June 1988
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or Appertaining to Flushing Cisterns.
I, DAVID WILLIAMS of Phoenix Works, Frodsham Street Chester in the County of
Chester Sanitary Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to flushing cisterns applicable for water-closets and other
purposes, where the supply of water is constant and the demand intermittent, and
where a sudden and copious stream of water is required.
The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention adapted more especially for
water closets, in which
Figure 1 is a vertical section through the cistern showing the syphon and supply
valve in elevation.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a section showing a slight modification in construction.
In these A is a cistern constructed of iron, or of wood lined with lead or other
suitable material, B a main service pipe provided with a cock which is opened or
closed by means of a ball 6 floating on the surface of the water in the vessel, and
allowing the valve to remain open until the water has attained the proper height in
the cistern, when it is closed by means of a rod connection with the rising ball
aforesaid. The valve b is shown open and the water would, in the ordinary course,
flow through the main service pipe B, and fill the cistern, but an indication of the
in-flowing water is omitted so as not to obscure the working parts of the apparatus.
When the cistern is full the rod connection 62 takes a more or less horizontal position,
as shown by the dotted lines.
CC is a syphon hinged or pivotted at c, the short leg of which projects downwards
to within a short distance of the bottom of the cistern.
The longer branch C, has a seating c¹ of rubber or other suitable material.
D is the flush pipe, having a flat or other suitable surface d for the seating c. E is
a projecting rib, soldered or otherwise attached to the syphon, on which the rod
connection descends, when a flush is taking place, and the weight of the ball b¹,
attached thereto, has a tendency to keep the syphon held firmly down on its seating,
so that, if the pull F is operated when the cistern is empty, the operator is warned of
the fact. F is a lever pivotted at e and connected with the pivotted syphon by a
chain e¹. G is a portion of the hand pull.
The mode of action is as follows:-
:-
In the position shown by the full lines in Figure 1, water enters through the
supply cock b, fills the cistern and the short branche of the syphon C, C¹, forcing the
air in the latter into the longer branch C¹. When the water has attained such a
height as nearly to start the syphon, the cock aforesaid is automatically closed by the
floating ball b To start the flushing apparatus, the hinged syphon CC, is pulled by
the hand pull F, thus raising the longer branch C₁with its seating from the

page_text: flush orifice d'. Water now rushes down the flush pipe D drawing the air contained
in the longer branch of the syphon with it, thus creating momentarily a vacuum
therein. The longer branch C is therefore at once filled with water, and the syphon
is now free to act. When the chain pull is released, the flush continues until the
water sinks to the lower extremity of the short syphon leg, when the latter empties
itself and the syphon ceases to operate. The water rises in the cistern again, but
cannot start the syphon until the chain F is again pulled and the flush valve d¹ is
opened.
By regulating the area of the supply cock b the rate of feed, and consequently
the duration of each flushing, may be adjusted as required.
The syphon CC is adapted to operate as an overflow pipe when the water rises
above the proper height in the cistern. The bottom of the syphon bend is a little
below the top of the cistern, so that in case the water rises above the bottom of the
bend, owing to the automatic supply cock getting out of order, it will run to waste
down the longer leg of the syphon C₁ and the flush pipe D.
In the modification shown in Figure 3, the syphon is attached to a hinged valve,
instead of being itself hinged. In this Figure, CC₁ is a portion of the syphon,
having its longer leg C₁ attached to the back of the hinged flush valve d². The face
of the valve is raised from the orifice of the flush pipe D when the syphon is tipped
up by the handpull or its equivalent. The mode of action is the same as hereinbefore
described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A hand flushing apparatus operated intermittently by means of a syphon C C¹,
the longer leg C of which is seated on the flush orifice d'in direct communication
with the flush pipe D, and is hinged or pivotted in proximity thereto; the said syphon
being momentarily turned on its hinge or pivot when a flush is desired, so as to open
the flush valve aforesaid and permit the water to flow down the flush pipe D, thereby
exhausting the air from the longer leg C and causing the syphon to operate,
substantially as described.
2. In a hand flushing apparatus, the use of a hinged or pivotted syphon ( seated
with its longer leg on the flush orifice d¹, and adapted to syphon the water at intervals
as required from the cistern, and to operate at other times as an overflow pipe,
substantially as set forth.
3. In a hand flushing apparatus, the combination with a hinged flush valve, of a
syphon attached by its longer leg to the back of said valve, and having through
communication with the opposite side thereof, and a handpull or equivalent device for
tipping up the valve and starting the syphon, substantially as described.
4. The hand flushing apparatus constructed as a whole, substantially as described.
Dated this 14th day of March 1889.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.