A SELF-ACTING FLUSHING APPARATUS, WHICH MAY BE ARRANGED FOR REGISTERING THE QUANTITY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUID FLOWING THROUGH IT
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gray, of the City of Dublin, M.D., for the
Invention of "A SELF-ACTING FLUSHING APPARATUS, WHICH MAY BE
ARRANGED FOR REGISTERING THE QUANTITY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUID
FLOWING THROUGH IT."
Scaled the 12th December 1854, and dated the 29th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gray at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th August
1854.
I, JOHN GRAY, of the City of Dublin, M.D., do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A SELF-ACTING FLUSHING APPARATUS, WHICH MAY
DE ARRANGED FOR REGISTERING THE QUANTITY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUID FLOWING
THROUGH IT," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, in the first place, in an improved arrangement of a
self-acting apparatus, by which cisterns, sewer pipes, or other receptacles of
fluid or of solid matter may be cleared, scoured out, or flushed at regulated
intervals, by sudden discharges through them of water in regulated quantities;
such cistern in certain cases being suitable or capable of being used as a self-
cleansing privy or description of water-closet.
The apparatus for this purpose must be placed in or in connection with a
cistern or other vessel in which there is an opening or aperture. The appa-
ratus cousists of the following principal parts in combination:-An outer
chamber or reservoir, an inner float chamber, a buoyant float which can rise
and sink in the float chamber (which parts I prefer to be cylindrical), a valve

page_text: of peculiar construction for closing the aperture or opening in the cistern;
another valve or valves, apertures, pipes, or openings for the admission and
discharge of liquid, an arm or rod for connecting the float with the valve or
valves and guide rods. The first-mentioned outer cylindrical chamber or reser-
voir can be dispensed with, and another chamber or contrivance be substituted
therefor. The water or liquid which is constantly admitted into the cistern
flows through any suitable pipe or aperture into the outer cylindrical reservoir,
or substitute therefor, and rises upwards till it arrives at a lip, open pipe, or
other aperture, through which it flows into the inner cylindrical or float
chamber, causing the float to rise slowly, and with it the arm, extending to the
valve rod in the cylindrical reservoir, or substitute therefor, and thereby open-
ing this valve. The opening of this valve admits a rapid flow of water into the
float chamber, and instantly causes the float to rise with rapidity, carrying with
it the valve of the cistern, which is connected to the float or its arm, and thus
causes the contents of the cistern to flow off with a rapid flush. The rising of
the float or valve can be made to stop the supply to the cistern during the dis
charge. A small pipe from the float chamber permits the water therein to
discharge itself slowly, and thus allows the gradual descent of the float and the
return of the apparatus to its former condition. The valve for closing the
discharge aperture or pipe of the cistern may be a tube, closed at top and
bottom; or it may be a cylinder of wool, the shape and substance being imma-
terial, so long as it is specifically lighter than the liquid, and extends upwards
to or near the highest level the fluid attains in the cistern; it is most conve-
niently placed within the inner casing of the float chamber, being surrounded
by it, but extending below it.
My Invention consists, in the second place, in an arrangement for regis-
tering the number of times a given quantity of water or liquid has been
discharged through the above-mentioned apparatus.
This object is effected by means of a lever (or rod) connected with a move-
ment similar or analogous to that known by horologists as the escapement,
and which is caused to register on a suitable dial the number of discharges,
the other end of the lever being raised by the float each time it rises; the end
of the lever thus acted on is caused to descend with the descent of the float by
means of a weight attached to it, or other suitable contrivance.
When the first-mentioned arrangement is united with that for registering
the discharges, the combined apparatus can be applied to other purposes
besides flushing or scouring out receptacles of refuse, &c.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
GRAY, of the City of Dublin, M.D., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Gray, Her special licence that I, the said John Gray, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gray, 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 "A SELP-ACTING FLUSHING APPARATUS, WHICH MAY
DE ARRANGED FOR REGISTERING THE QUANTITY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUID FLOWING
THRолоп IT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gray, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what inanner 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 John Gray, 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,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "A Self-acting Flushing Apparatus, which may be
Arranged for Registering the Quantity of Water or other Liquid flowing
through it," is intended to regulate with greater precision and otherwise to
control the supply of water or other liquid to the main cistern or receptacle,
and to cause the water so admitted in a small stream to act on a float, placed
within or in connexion with the cistern, with the same force as if it were sup-
plied in a large stream, and by means of that float and suitable connexions to
open a discharge valve, through which the water accumulated in the cistern,
or in any other receptacle with which it may be connected, may be rapidly

page_text: discharged. It is also intended to combine with such arrangement, when
required, a simple means of acting upon an indicator, so that the number of
flushings or discharges may be registered, and the periods between each
discharge and the quantity of water or other liquid passed through the
apparatus may be ascertained.
And my Invention with such object in view consists, in the first place, in an
improved arrangement of a self-acting apparatus, by which cisterns, sewer
pipes, and other receptacles of fluid or of solid inatter may be cleared, scoured
out, or flushed at regulated intervals, by sudden discharges through them of
water in regulated quantities, such cistern in certain cases being suitable or
capable of being used as a self-cleansing privy or description of water-closet.
The apparatus for this purpose must be placed in or in connection with a
cistern or other vessel in which there is an opening or aperture. The appa-
ratus consists of the following principal parts in combination:-An outer
chamber or reservoir, an inner float chamber, a buoyant float which can rise
and sink in the float chamber (which parts I prefer to be cylindrical), a valve
of peculiar construction for closing the aperture or opening in the cistern;
another valve or valves, apertures, pipes, or openings for the admission and
discharge of liquid, an arm or rod for connecting the float with the valve or
valves and guide rods. The first-mentioned outer cylindrical chamber or reser-
voir can be dispensed with, and another chamber or contrivance substituted
therefor. The water or liquid which is constantly admitted into the cistern
flows through any suitable pipe or aperture into the outer cylindrical reservoir,
or its substitute, and rises therein till it arrives at a lip, open pipe, or other
aperture, through which it flows into the inner cylinder or float chamber,
causing the float to rise slowly, and with it the arm, extending to the valve rod
in the cylindrical reservoir, or its substitute, and thereby opening this valve.
The opening of this valve admits a rapid flow of water into the float chamber,
and causes the float to rise with rapidity, carrying with it the valve of the
cistern, which is connected to the float or its arm, and thus causes the contents
of the cistern to flow off with a rapid flush. The rising of the float and valve
can be made to stop the supply to the cistern during the discharge. A small
pipe from the float chamber permits the water therein to discharge itself
slowly, and thus allows the gradual descent of the float and the return of the
apparatus to its former condition. The valve for closing the discharge aper-
ture or pipe of the cistern may be a tube, closed at top and bottom; or it may
be a cylinder of wood, the shape and substance being immaterial, so long as it
is specifically lighter than the liquid, and extends upwards to or near the
highest level the fluid attains in the cistern; it is most conveniently placed

page_text: within the inner casing of the float chamber, being surrounded by it, but
extending below it.
And my Invention consists, in the second place, in an arrangement for
registering the number of times a given quantity of water or liquid has been
discharged through the above mentioned apparatus. This object is effected by
means of a lever or rod, connected with a movement similar or analogous to
that known by horologists as the escapement, and which is caused to register
on a suitable dial the number of discharges, the other end of the lever being
raised by the float each time it rises; the end of the lever thus acted on is
caused to descend with the descent of the float, by means of a weight attached
to it, or other suitable contrivance. When the first-mentioned arrangement is
united with that for registering the discharge, the combined apparatus can
be applied to other purposes besides flushing or scouring out receptacles of
refuse, &c.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe more particularly the mode in
which it has been carried into effect by the aid of the accompanying Draw-
ings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of the apparatus, shewing the situations of
the parts when the valves are closed, that is, when the cistern is in the course
of being filled; Fig. 2 is a plan or horizontal view of the same; Fig. 3 is a
vertical section; and Fig. 4, an elevation, showing the situation of the parts
when the valves are raised, that is, to allow of the sudden emptying of the
cistern; and Fig. 5 is a detached representation on an enlarged scale of the
registering apparatus. In all these several Figures the same letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the cistern or reservoir for the water; B is the pipe for supplying water
thereto from the main; C is a pipe or tube of india-rubber, drawn over the
ends of and forming a flexible communication between the pipe B and another
pipe D, leading to the float ball E, through which the pipe D passes, and con-
veys the water to the cistern. The object of this arrangement is to afford the
means of regulating the supply as required. For this purpose, the float ball E
is tied up, as shewn in the Drawing, so that the india-rubber pipe, becoming
thereby bent, may serve to moderate the supply of water through it to the
eistern. It is important, however, that the float ball should be tied up at
the proper angle, for producing the required supply. F is the float chamber,
the upper portion of which is surrounded by the reservoir G; H is the float,
to the upper part of which is connected a cross bar I, in the centre of which is
an opening for the free passage of the guide rod of the valve J, which passes
through the centre of the annular float H, the bottom of which valve, being in

page_text: the form of a conical or flat disc, covered with leather or other suitable
material, fits into or on the seat K. This valve seat consists of a ring of
wood or metal, or other suitable material, and is fitted to the pipe L, leading
to the drain pipe. M is a pipe connecting the bottom of the reservoir G with
the float chamber F; N is a valve, which when lowered on to its seat, by the
descending of the float II, shuts off the communication between the float
chamber F and the reservoir G, which is again opened by the raising of the
valve N from its seat. The vertical movement of this valve is caused by its
connection with the cross bar I through the rod N⚫, which passes through an
opening in the bar I, and is furnished on the top with a nut or button larger
than the opening in the bar I. P is a vertical guide rod, fixed to the cross bar
I, and descending through a fixed ring into the reservoir G, at the opposite
side to the rod N*, in order to steady the motion of the float H. Q is an open
pipe, fixed in the bottom of the reservoir G, and rising a certain height in it,
through which the water enters froin the cistern A, and passes into the self-
acting apparatus as soon as it attains a higher level than the top of the said
pipe. R is a syphon pipe, which passes through the cistern A, for discharging
the water from the float chamber into the pipe L, outside the cistern, leading
from the valve to the drain pipe or sewer. When it is desirable to have the
discharging apparatus easily removed from the cistern, the end of the syphon,
instead of being passed through the cistern, may be made of flexible tube, its
extremity fitted to a float, so as to allow it to rise and fall with the level of the
water in the cistern, and when the cistern is discharged to descend, so as to
empty the float chamber into the cistern.
It will be seen, on reference to the Drawing, that the cross bar I is
extended so as to be connected with the registering apparatus, which is shewn
detached at Fig. 5. In this Figure, S is a projecting arm of a lever, having
its fulcrum at S*. This lever arm is acted on by the cross bar I at one end,
and at its reverse end is connected to a spring pall or click T, which works
into the teeth of the ratchet wheel U, in such a manner that as the cross bar I
rises, and carries the end of the lever arm S up with it, the spring pall T is dis-
engaged from the tooth of the wheel U, against which it had previously been
pressed by its spring; then, on the descent of the cross bar I, it is brought
suddenly up against the tooth, and made to urge the wheel U forward the
distance of one tooth, which causes the indicator V to mark an unit on the
dial. W is a retaining pall, to prevent the ratchet wheel U from turning
the wrong way.
I will now proceed to describe the action of the apparatus above referred to.
The cistern A is supplied gradually through the pipes B and D, at a rate regu-

page_text: lated by the india-rubber pipe C; as the water rises up the cistern it at length
enters the open pipe Q, and as its level continues to rise, flows over the open
top of this pipe into the reservoir G. By degrees the water attains a level in
the reservoir of sufficient height to overflow the opening at G*, through which
it passes into the float chamber F. After a short interval the float I will
become slightly raised, and will carry up with it the cross bar I. As this bar
rises, it comes in contact with the under side of the button or nut on tho
end of the rod N of the valve N, and thus lifts this valve, and opens the com-
munication between the reservoir G and the float chamber F; but the
discharge valve J is so adjusted that the cross bar I has to rise about three-
fourths of an inch higher before it comes in contact with the under side of the
button or nut O* on the end of its rod O. The opening of the valve N causes
a rapid rush of water through the pipe M into the float chamber F, and
thereby suddenly lifts the float H with a sort of jerk; the effect of which is, that
the cross bar I is brought suddenly in contact with the under side of the nut or
button O, and carries up the rod O, thereby raising the discharging valve J,
which, when liberated from the seat, bounds by its own buoyancy upwards,
frees the float II from its weight, and more perfectly opens the passage, when
the whole contents of the cistern will rapidly pass out into the pipe L lending
to the drain. It is to be here observed, that by the connection between the
cross bar I and the float ball E, the latter will be raised with the rising of the
bar, and the flow of water into the cistern stopped during the flushing; also,
that should the flushing apparatus from any cause fail of acting as described,
the rising of the level of water in the cistern itself will raise the float ball, and
stop the supply.
It is further to be observed, that the action of flushing above described is
registered each time that it occurs in the following manner:-The rising of the
lift bar I causes the end of the lever arm S to be raised, and the spring pall T
to be withdrawn from the tooth of the ratchet wheel U, and on the descent of
the float, after the flushing has taken place, the lever arm S, being deprived of
the support, falls by its own weight to its former position, and while in the act
of falling causes the spring pall T to be pressed into a position under a tooth
on the ratchet wheel U, causing the said pall to urge the wheel U forward the
space of a tooth, and thereby to move the indicator as required. This kind
of mechanism is so well understood that it is not necessary to describe it
further.
I will now describe the manner in which the discharge valve J becomes
again closed, so that the cistern may be again filled. When the water is at its
full height in the float chamber it fills the syphon R, and as its level falls in

page_text: the cistern during the discharge, the syphon begins to empty the float chamber
F, into which no water can enter after the level has sunk below the top of
the pipe Q. As the float chamber Fempties, the float H descends, and
allows the valve J to fall down upon its seat K and close the discharging
orifice.
. I would here remark that the self-acting flushing apparatus, above described,
may be either used by itself or in combination with the registering apparatus.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not mean or
intend to confine myself to the precise materials and forms, or to the precise
arrangements of the parts represented and described; but what I claim as of
my Invention is,―
First, the means described of regulating the supply of water to the cistern
so as to control the rate at which it fills, to prevent the overflow, in case of
accident or derangement of the discharging apparatus, and to cut off the
supply whenever requisite.
Secondly, the general arrangement of the discharging apparatus, by which
a float is made to open and temporarily retain open the discharge valve, as
described.
And, lastly, the combination of the self-acting flushing or discharging
apparatus with the registering apparatus, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gray, have hereunto subscribed
my name and affixed my seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of
JOHN NETTLETON,
5, Malpas Street, Dublin;
JOHN GRAY. (L.S.)
The words "reference being" written on an erasure
on the first page, the words "descend with the "
interlined on second page, and the words "in the
float chamber interlined on fourth page of this
Specification.
J. N.