CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOWER AND OTHER BATHS,
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN LEE.
BENHAM, of Wigmore Street, in the County of Middlesex, Ironmonger, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirteenth day of December, in the first year of His reign,
did for Himself, Iis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Lee Benham, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John Lee Benham, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Lee Benham, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any
time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOWER AND OTHER BATHS," com-'
municated to me by a certain 'foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John Lee Benham, shall causo
a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what'
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Leo Benham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:
The Invention consists in causing jets of water to be thrown laterally
as well as downwards over the person taking such bath, and thus the body
is acted upon by jets of water in various directions, as will be more fully
described hereafter. These improvements being applicable as an addition
to the common shower bath now in use, or may be made separate, and thus
constitute another description of bath, which is novel and will be found
very agreeable in its application, whether it be used in conjunction with the
common shower baths or separately.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 represents a section of a bath, whereby the arrangement of the
pipes by which the object of the Invention is obtained will be readily seen;
Fig. 2 is a front view of the bath complete, excepting that part of the door
is removed; Fig. 3, plan of the top of the bath; Fig. 4 is a cross section,.
taken at the dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, by this Figure it will be seen
how the horizontal pipes are arranged by which the horizontal or lateral jets
of water are produced; Figure 5 shews the door separately, having horizontal
pipes aflixed thereto, to make up the circles of pipes, whereby, when the
person about to take the bath, has got withinside and shut the door, he or she
will be surrounded by a series of pipes having small perforations, and as soon
as the water is permitted to flow into such horizontal pipes, and through the
perforations, the person taking the bath will be subject to and surrounded by
showers or jets of water acting against the body laterally, while at the same
time a shower of water may be admitted to flow down on to the head or
well; also, by means of a bent pipe hereafter to be described, jets of water may
be thrown upwards, and thus will the body of the person be acted upon by
showers or jets of water in various directions, and these may act successively
or simultaneously, and thus this apparatus may be applied as the common
shower baths now in use, or as another description of bath, whereby the body
is acted upon by horizontal or lateral showers, which constitute the essential.
properties of this Invention. In all the above-named Figures the same letters
of reference indicate similar parts. a being the outer casing of wood or
other material; b, a reservoir of water at the top of the bath; c is a pipe
descending from the reservoir ; and d, d, d, are three horizontal pipes, which
are connected to the descending pipe c; these pipes d are perforated with one

page_text: or more rows of exceedingly small holes for the purpose of dividing the water
into very minute jets; c is another descending pipe, and is for supplying
water to the bent or curved pipe f, which projects outwards from the back of
the bath, and which curved pipe is perforated with fine holes on the upper
surface, whereby jets of water are thrown upward when desired; g is a pipe
descending from the reservoir b; this pipe is for the purpose of supplying water
to the horizontal pipes, which are affixed on to the door. In order to accom-
plish this object the pipe g is turned up at right angles at the end h, and has
a flanch affixed thereto; i, the main or descending pipe, which receives water
from the pipe g, and distributes it to the pipes j,j, j, which are horizontal,
and make up the remainder of the circles which are formed by the pipes d, d, d.
The pipe i is turned down at the end 7, and has a flanch affixed thereto, and it
is by the causing these two pipes to be so fixed that when the door is shut that
the two flanches shall close against each other, and by having a washer of
leather between them a connection sufliciently water-tight will be found
between the pipes y and i. On each of the descending pipes there is a stop-
cock, whereby water may be admitted to any one of them distinct from the
others; and I may here observe, that the ends of the pipes opposite to those
at which they receive their water are closed, to prevent the passage of the
water in any other way than through the perforations made in the horizontal
pipes. The manner in which the water is raised to the elevation of the
reservoir is by nicans of a pump m, and may be worked by the person taking
the bath by means of tho handle n and the connecting rod o, which passes
through the reservoir by means of the tube p; into the bath, as represented,
from the pump m there is a pipe descending at the back of the bath down into
the well or lower part of the bath, and water being placed therein may readily
be pumped up into the reservoir 6 by the pump m; or in case water can Lo
had at the elevation of the reservoir from a cistern or other place, then the
pump m will be unnecessary. is a flat circular vessel, perforated on the
under side with small holes; this vessel formning the common shower bath,
and is supplied with water from the reservoir 6 by the piper, which has a stop-
cock; s is the bottom of the bath, on to which the water falls and passes into
the lower part or well q, into which the water is first placed, when it is raised
by a pump into the reservoir b, as above described.
b
Ilaving now described the various parts of the Invention, I will describe the
manner of their action. In taking a bath standing, all that will be necessary
is that the person should step into the bath, and having closed the door, tho
cucks on the descending pipes c and g are to be opened, as also the one on the
piper, by which water will be thrown horizontally by the pipes d, d, d, and

page_text: jj, j, and downwards by the flat perforated vessel, and if desired, by
turning the cock on the descending pipe e, water will pass into the curved
pipe f, and will be thrown upwards against the person taking the bath. In
case the bath be desired to be taken in a sitting position, then a stool is to be
provided and placed on the bottom of the bath.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, I would have it understood that
although I have described the bath as being of cylindrical form, it is evident
that it may be of square or other form. But what I claim as the Invention
is, the producing lateral or horizontal showers or jets of water by the pipes
d, d, d, and j, j, j, and I also claim the pipe f for throwing jets of water
upwards, as above described; but lay no claim to any other of the parts above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lee Benham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
JOHN LEE (L.S.) BENHAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1831, the aforesaid John Lee Benham came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.