IMPROVED APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE WATER SERVICE OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Morris, of Carlton Chambers, 12, Regent
Street, St. James's, London, S.W., Architect, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE WATER SERVICE OF
BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES.”
Sealed the 1st November 1872, and dated the 7th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Morris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1872.
I, THOMAS MORRIS, of Carlton Chambers, 12, Regent Street, St.
James's, London, S.W., Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE WATER
SERVICE OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
To the main pipe, by which water is admitted into a building and
conveyed in the direction and to the height required, I attach branch
pipes leading to the points to be supplied, and terminate them with
apparatus suitable to the respective purposes. Stop-cocks may be used

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office
: on the 5th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Thomas
MORRIS, of Carlton Chambers, No. 12, Regent Street, Saint James's,
London, S.W., Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Morris, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Morris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Morris, my 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES
FOR THE WATER SERVICE OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Morris, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: nature of the said Invention, and 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Morris, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :—
To the pipe by which water is brought into a building, or other suitable
pipe, I attach an instrument or instruments, allowing the fluid to enter or -
be shut off at will, but not to return in an outward direction, it being a
principle of my system or arrangement that the chief pipe or pipes within
the building shall as far as external circumstances permit be kept full,
whether the mode of supply be constant or intermittent. To obtain this
novel result I employ any instrument or instruments already available,
but for more perfect and efficient control have devised one that I con-
ceive to be entirely new both in formation and use. A convenient pattern
consists of three concentric vertical hollow cylinders some space apart.
The innermost and smaller of these is of woven or perforated material, the
second is of closer fabric, whether woven, perforated, or porous, and thie
third, which is of solid material encloses the whole, and although pre-
pared for the pressure to which it is commonly subjected, has provision
for occasionally opening the top. The inlet or communication pipo
enters at the middle of the base and rises nearly to the top, where a screw
› down valve seating closes it when necessary. At some part of this inlet
pipe is a globe of greater specific weight than water, but yielding readily
to the inward current. The globe is surrounded by a spherical or
bulbous enlargement of the pipe of greater internal diameter than the
globe, and there may if necessary be a guard bar in order that the globe
shall not be carried by the force of the water to the upper orifice of the
cavity in which it is placed.
From the above-mentioned instrument I convey the water by as many
pipes as there are distinct states of water within it. The innermost
cylinder contains water in the condition supplied. In the second com-
partment it has been freed from the grosser impurities, and the third
contains water that has been again screened or filtered. From cach
compartment of the receiver I carry a pipe to the exterior of the in-
strument and thence to the uppermost point of demand for water of the

page_text: quality it contains, and that pipe I call the rising main. In habitable
buildings the pipe from the central compartment will serve the commoner
wants, and may frequently be confined to the lower story. The water
from the second compartment, which is fitted for the smaller pipes this
system brings into use, may be employed for general purposes, and that
from the third compartment be appropriated to drinking and personal
application.
If the pressure on the main or district pipe be greatly in excess of the
force requisite for the supply so as to throw an undue stress upon the
system of pipes or any part thereof, I apply to the district pipe, or the
communication pipe, a moderating valve on the following principle:-
In figure it may be a hollow cylinder with a dome above and invert
beneath. The water enters at the base of the invert, and proceeds by
way of the cylinder or dome, but has to overcome the resistance of a
loose heavy ball within the invert. This instrument may be made to
serve as a stop valve by a screw down movement through the dome, or by
means of a chain fixed to the movement at one end and to the ball or
globe at the other; the latter may be wholly lifted from the waterway.
A single valve of this kind applied to a district pipe would relieve
several house pipes without diminishing the force at command in case of
fire or public emergency.
I make use of each rising main as well for drawing off as for admitting
water, and having conducted such pipes in the direction and to the height
required, I attach to the summit in such instances as require it a valve
of the spindle or other sort that allows air to pass out or re-enter, but
prevents the escape of water. And I use air valves and air pipes through-
out as required. I attach to each rising main such branch pipes as are
necessary, and prefer that at least one horizontal pipe should be carried
as far about the building as requisite, and that vertical pipes should
proceed therefrom at the proper points. I make choice indeed of a
right lined arrangement, and make the requisite changes of direction, as
well as connexions and reductions, by means of properly prepared parts
instead of bending and collapsing the tubes as is now too commonly the
case, so that a large pipe frequently becomes effectively inferior to a
small one.
In this way I so provide and proportion the pipes and other
fittings as, with moderation of cost and material, water may be suddenly
and copiously drawn off though only gradually supplied.

page_text: I adjust in an approximate degree the capacity of cisterns and the
nature of the service, so as to afford a simple accommodation of supply
and demand. Where the service is intermittent I provide or utilize,
irrespectively of any other receptacle, a cistern of the ordinary kind at
the upper part of the system, and feed it at the top by the rising main
containing screened water, or a branch therefrom. To that cistern, either
within or preferably below it, I apply a divider which is in fact a modifi-
cation or copy of the receiver already described, except that it is fed
from above instead of below, and the apparatus for checking and stopping
the water is omitted. There may however be a plug and washer to the
mouth of the feed pipe in the bottom of the cistern for shutting the
water off if necessary. From the exterior of the divider I carry a branch.
'from the screened water outlet to the corresponding rising main from
the receiver, and another branch to the rising main for filtered water.
To each of these branches I apply a valve to stop any reverse current.
that way to the cistern. In order to secure a reserve of filtered or
drinking water I provide near the top of the rising main of that condition
or any suitable place, a close cistern without aperture, except a manhole
and water-tight cover, and the inlet pipé at the top, and the outlet,
which is a valved branch to the main pipe as before described. The ·
branches generally however may be taken in any other direction if more
convenient. If the service be constant I modify the above arrangements
to suit the particular circumstances.
Instead of controlling the service of cisterns by means of a cock or
› valve governed by the circular action of a ball floating in the contents
thereof, and taking up for its due operation a part of the depth multiplied
into the whole area, I use a small separate vessel containing a vertical
action float, giving preference to a square or oblong form on plan. I
bring the mouth of the feed pipe with a downward exit to about the
centro of the vessel at the top, and with cams or arms at the sides
thereof. From each of these arms as a fulcrum or pivot I take a bent
lever to the opposite extremity of the float, and spread the lever at the
foot so as to reach the corners of the float, where fixed pivots or rollers
move in slots at the lever ends. The vertical motion of the lovers at
their place of crossing under the feed pipe gives action to the valve
seating, and forms a compact and powerful regulator that may be placed
upon or otherwise externally to the cistern. I apply such regulators
also to branch pipes not in immediate connexion with cisterns.

page_text: Close tanks have been used for hot water, and regulating cisterns have
been applied to boilers; but such vessels have not been combined, and
in their respective applications they concern the secondary use and
treatment of water, and arc consequently out of that primary service and
supply to which this Patent chiefly relates.
I provide for the flushing of waterclosets in the following way, vide-
licet: If the quantity to be consumed at each flush be limited, I
provide a close vessel or guage of the given capacity, and feed it by a
branch from the rising main or a cistern, in the manner described below.
From the bottom of the measuring vessel or guage proceeds a large 1
short pipe that ends in the lower chamber of a barrel, somewhat in the
nature of a pump barrel, having a horizontal partition at about the
middle of its height. The feed pipe that supplies the guage also enters
the barrel at the centre of its base, and is governed by a top valve.
Centre for centre over this is a large aperture in the partition of the 1
barrel closable by a valve beneath. These two last mentioned valves are
made to act in concert, so that the feed pipe may be stopped before the
aperture in the partition can be opened, though both are moved by a rod
actuated by a weighted lever connected with the upper part of the
barrel. Between the rod and the loaded end of the lever is the fulcrum :
affixed to the barrel. At about the middle of the length of the said
lever, where the top of the rod is connected, is a slot for maintaining the
verticality of the rod, and at the other end of the lever (which may be
curved or bent upwards) the power of the hand is communicated by a
wire or other means. The valve beneath the partition of the barrel has
a circular aperture, in the middle to which a pipe is fitted that rises to a
sufficient height in the upper chamber, and has a couple of vertical slots
opposite each other. Within this pipe, and with arms adjusted to the
slots, is the vertical rod in connexion with the lever. Between the valvo
under the partition and that over the feed pipe is an elastic seating, such
as a coiled spring, in a waterproof pouch, which being fixed to the under
side of the partition valve prevents the passage of water between the two.
When the rod is forced down by the action of the lever it presses the
lower seating, and closes the feed pipe. By further depression the arms
of the rod reach the bottom of the slots and carry the pipe and the
attached valve downwards, laying open the aperture in the partition, and
admitting the water into the upper chamber of the barrel, whence by
means of a suitable pipe it is conveyed to the closet. I put a coil spring

page_text: under the edge of the upper valve beneath the partition to prevent any
unintended movement while the power of the weight is taken off. If
there be no limitation of quantity, the flushing pipe may be taken from
a cistern to the barrel, and thence to the closet. The compressible and
3 telescopic property of the rod may be otherwise imparted.
For greater cleanliness in waterclosets I propose to make the backs of
the basons recede as they go downwards in the manner of a right cone,
and thus prevent their being readily soiled.
In order that waterclosets on the "pan" principle may not be left
) empty after a flush I make the bason thereof with a weeping box, in
which the flushing pipe is made to terminate. The water rushes freely
from the top of the full box while the current is in force, and the box
itself being then slowly emptied through a minute orifice at the base
lutes the pan; and I make the pan automatic by attaching it to a fulcrum
5 bar, and causing it to be balanced by a weight equal to pan and contents
at a fixed level, where a weeping orifice is made. At the time of the
flush the water entering rapidly overcomes the balance weight and tips
its contents into the container or trap. The pan recovers its ordinary
position, and is luted as above described. The power of the hand may
O be communicated by means of the ordinary socket handle in the seat,
or by a pull, or by a movement fixed to the wall in the form of a drawing
room bell lever.
I however adapt my appliances as far as possible to closets of every
principle, avoiding always the continuance of an empty pipe to the
5 interior of a cistern, and I abandon the old kind of service box for the
above mentioned exterior fittings.
For other flushing purposes I employ such parts of the foregoing
apparatus as the occasion requires.
By affixing a nozzle to the chambered barrel, and substituting internal
O spring power for the weight and lever, I make a serviceable instrument
for drawing off water in limited quantities, or otherwise using or omitting
the gauge accordingly.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, I have to state
that I use and apply any part of the above-mentioned apparatus irre-
5 spectively of the rest, not restricting myself to the precise details herein
stated, but modifying the same and combining therewith such appliances

page_text: as occasion may require, so as to suit different structures and buildings;
but what I consider to be novel, and claim as the Invention secured to
me are, the reciprocating main pipes, receiving, dividing, purifying, and
moderating instruments, air-tight cisterns, detached vertical action
regulators, flushing gauges, barrels, and other external fittings for water- 5
closets and other uses. The specific improvements in closet basons and
pans and generally those articles now first devised and made, or for which
new applications are indicated, so that the hydraulic appointments of
buildings may be improved, economy in plumbing be promoted, and the
undue escape, exposure, and contamination of water be prevented.
And I further claim the advanced assimilation of constant and inter-
mittent modes of service, and to have rendered the transition from one.
to the other more easy of accomplishment.
1
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Morris, have hercunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of 1
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.