An Improved Automatic Flushing Syphon Cistern.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar., 1898-Accepted, 18th June, 1898
An Improved Automatic Flushing Syphon Cistern.
I, JAMES MARSH, of No. 477, Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, in the Colony of
Victoria, 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:—
This invention relates to what are known as syphon cisterns for automatically
flushing urinals, drains and the like, and its main object is to remedy certain
slight defects which I have noticed in an invention of a similar character for which
I obtained British Letters Patent numbered 18952 and dated the Sixteenth day of
August One thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven.
One of these defects was the difficulty of setting the depending arm or lever
carrying the ball that operated the starting bell so that when the cistern had dis-
charged its contents the ball would hang slightly behind the vertical.
Another of these defects was the liability of the levers carrying the balls to be
bent or displaced by careless workmen and so preventing its working satisfactorily.
In order that my present invention may be clearly understood I will describe it
with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved automatic flushing syphon cistern.
Figure 2 is a similar view but showing the parts in the positions they occupy
when the flushing is being proceeded with.
Figure 3 is a sectional view of the tap which I use for supplying water to the
flushing cistern.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the screw-threaded spindle of said tap.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.
A represents a cistern constructed in the ordinary manner to hold a sufficient
quantity of water for effective flushing purposes, whilst B represents the tap
whereby the water is supplied to the cistern and can be so regulated as to cause
it to supply as slowly or as quickly as required.
C represents an S-trap or syphon and D D¹ represent a combined starting bell
and float or ball which constitutes one of the essential features of this invention.
Projecting upwardly from this combined starting bell and float D D¹ is a guide
rod or spindle E which passes through a rigid bridge piece or support F extending
across the cistern A and carrying a sleeve f in which said guide rod slides. This
guide rod or spindle E has an annular notch e cut around it near its upper end to
receive and engage with one end of a small pivotted pawl, catch or trigger G the
other and outer end of which is made slightly heavier so as to cause said pawl
catch or trigger to drop into engagement with the notch e without offering any
impediment to its rising when released. This catch or trigger is mounted upon
a pin extending between lugs g¹ projecting from the bridge piece F. Its con-

page_text: struction can be varied in many ways as will be obvious to any practical man and,
if preferred, it can be arranged to engage with the top of the guide rod E instead
of with a notch in its side. The construction of the starting bell and float need
not be precisely as shown, it being obvious that they might be connected together
in many different ways without being made integral with one another.
The release of the starting bell and float D D is effected by means of a ball
or float H and lever I one end of which is pivotted upon the pin g alongside said
trigger the weighted end of which trigger projects over the float lever I in such a
way that as said float lever is raised by the water, it will act on said trigger, and,
when the level of the water in the cistern reaches a predetermined height will with-
draw the trigger out of engagement with the spindle E thus releasing the starting
bell and float D D which then rises and releases the pressure in the air lock of the
syphon and thus starts it in operation..
With a flushing apparatus which is sometimes required to be set so that it will
only discharge at long intervals say once every five or six hours it is necessary
to use a valve capable of allowing only a very small flow of water to pass. With the
valves hitherto constructed it has been found that if opened just far enough to
allow only a small quantity of water to pass, the fine passage quickly becomes
choked by the silting up caused by the fine solid particles in the water in which
case the supply is cut off and the apparatus rendered useless. I have therefore
invented an improved valve or tap marked B which is fitted with a screw-threaded
spindle J provided with a lock nut J' and the end of which is turned parallel as
indicated at L to fit within a corresponding parallel bore M within the casing or
body of the valve. At the end of this parallel portion L is a shoulder L' which
enables the valve to be closed altogether when required and a small hole N is
bored through into the hollow parallel part of this spindle to communicate with
the open interior.
0 represents the discharge port or opening leading from the interior
chamber O¹ of the casing of the tap or valve above the seat into which chamber the
small hole N discharges the water when the spindle J is screwed out sufficiently
to allow the desired quantity of water to pass. This valve can be fully opened by
drawing back the parallel part L of the spindle from the corresponding part M
of the casing in which case the full bore of the valve will be available for the dis-
charge of the water.
Having now 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:
1. The herein described automatic flushing syphon cistern consisting of the
various parts constructed arranged and operating substantially as and for the
purposes herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In an automatic flushing syphon cistern a starting bell and float (such
as DD combined the one with the other substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In an automatic flushing syphon cistern an S-trap or syphon (such as C)
in combination with a starting bell (such as D) directly attached to or forming
part of a ball or float (such as D¹) substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In an automatic flushing syphon cistern a starting bell (such as D) either
attached directly to or else forming part of a ball or float (such as D¹) in com-
bination with a pawl, trigger or catch (such as G) adapted to be released on the
rise of the water within the cistern substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. In an automatic flushing syphon cistern a starting bell (such as D) attached
to or forming part of a float or ball (such as D¹) a pawl, trigger or catch (such as G)
for holding said starting bell and float down in combination with another float
(such as H) adapted to release said pawl, trigger or catch when the water reaches

page_text: a predetermined level in the cistern substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Sixteenth day of February One thousand eight hundred and
ninety-eight.