IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSET APPARATUS, URINALS, AND THE LIKE, AND APPLIANCES THERETO
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Kettle, of 41, Goswell Street, Clerkenwell,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATERCLOSET APPARATUS, URINALS, AND THE LIKE, AND APPLIANCES
THERETO."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Stephen Kettle at the
Office of the Commissioners, of Patents, with his Petition and Declara-
tion, on the 4th September 1865, pursuant to the 9tli Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
KETTLE, of 41, Goswell Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
"
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATERCLOSET APPARATUS, URINALS, AND THE LIKE, AND APPLIANCES THERETO,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that I am the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Kettle, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement::

page_text: parts of the apparatus of ttings used therem. The several improvements
are illustrated upon the accompanying Drawings to which the following
explanation refers :-
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing A, Fig. 1, is a sectional elevation shewing the improved valve,
tipping apparatus, basin, and enlarged trap; Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan
of the same; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the interior construction of
the valve, which constitutes one of my said improvements; Fig. 4, shows a
side view of the said valve and lever as fitted to a standard, so as to be self-
acting by a rising and falling seat, or other support for the body, foot-board,
or the like; the valve thus fitted is intended to be used for urinals, lavaratories,
basins, and other vessels, baths, cisterns, and the like, and may also be
used in lieu of an ordinary ball-cock.
a is the trap, which I make sufficiently large to receive the pan of the con-
tainer which is fitted therein, as shown by the dotted lines 1, 1, 1, and jointed
thereto at the line 2,2; by this enlargement of the trap, which forms one of
my improvements, I am enabled to diminish the height from the bottom part
of the trap (or floor line) to the top of the basin or seat; b is the container,
which I propose to make of any suitable plastic material or metal; c is the
basin formed with the hollow waterway c', and fan round the top for flushing
the basin on all sides; d is the soil pan which is made in an oval form, is
fitted to and tipped by the spindle or shafte, mounted in the angular bearings
e¹ and eattached directly to the sides of the container; ff, are two abutment
pieces or projections upon this spindle; g, g, flat flanges at the sides of the
abutment pieces, against which abutments the soil pan is supported, and is
secured to the spindle by the wire or strap h, which is passed round a flat or
groove formed at the bottom part of the pan to receive it; the two ends of
this wire or band are passed through holes in the flanges g, and secured and
tightened up by means of the nuts h, h'; i is a lever fixed to the end of the
spindle, which lever upon being raised and lowered, tips and raises the soil
pan; this lever is either raised by hand by means of the pull k, or by the
weight of the body resting upon the seat, as shown at Fig. 4, where the valve
lever l, which at Fig. I passes over the lever i and is raised thereby, is here
passed under the lever i and raises it. In the latter case the lever l,
which is jointed to the standard at 10, is formed with an elongated
end 6, which is depressed by the weight of the body resting on the seat 4,

page_text: and standard or lever pillar 5, or by the weight of the foot on the foot-
board 8, and lever rod 7; a stop 9 is also fitted to the elongated end of
the lever, which stop as the lever is depressed comes in contact with the
shoulder of the standard at 11; this supports the lever and prevents it from
being lowered more than is required; j,j, (Fig. 1) are counterbalance weights
by which the levers i and I are lowered and the valve closed, when the pull
k is released or the weights on the seat or foot-board are removed.
I will now proceed to describe the improved valve for admitting and stopping
off the water, and which I have shown upon an enlarged scale at Fig. 3, and
to which illustration the following explanation more particularly refers:―
a is the supply or inlet pipe; b, the body or outer case of the valve; c, the
outlet or flushing pipe; d is an internal flange with a hole in the centre,
dividing the body of the valve into upper and lower compartments and stopping
off the water above and below the flange when the aperture in the centre is
closed; d', 2 is a double disc valve connected by the coned shauk e, allowing
the water to pass freely through the aperture in the flange when raised into
the position here shown, but shutting off the water when lowered, so that the
washer of the disc d¹ rests upon the top of the dividing flange, and also
shutting off the water when the washer of the disc d² is raised against the
under side of the dividing flange. The mode of raising the valve has been
before explained, but in order that it may descend gradually when so raised,
1 form an enlarged under chamber f, f, at the bottom of the valve case, and
close the bottom thereof, with the screw cover g, having a leather or vulcanized
india-rubber; in this chamber I fit the shell i open at the top to receive the
end of the piston e (before described), and perforated at the bottom; to allow
the water from the pipe a which flows round it to enter the shell, in which the
lower end of the piston e is fitted water-tight; k is a small hole, a channel
through which the water in the interior of the shell can pass, when the
bottom j rests upon the washer h of the cover g; the action of this part of
the valve is as follows:-When the piston is lowered the bottom of the
shell rests upon the washer h, and the water inside the shell can only
escape through the channel, the size of this channel being very small and
the piston fitting water-tight in the shell, it is prevented from descending
therein until the water drawn in by the up-stroke is displaced by the down-
ward pressure of the counterbalance weights on the levers, and thus closing
the valve gradually and allowing the flushing water to flow a sufficient time
to thoroughly flush and cleanse the basin, soil pan, and container; when the
piston is raised it carries the shell up with it until the top edge of the latter
comes against the projection 1, 1, and then the piston, which at the commence-

page_text: ment of the stroke is some distance down in the shell is raised therein, the
up-stroke drawing in the water through the aperture j. When the valve is
self-acting, or when else required, a single disc piston may be used in lieu
of the twin form here shown.
Another of my said improvements consists of a turn-over closet or apparatus
constructed as shown on Drawing B.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section through the centre; Fig. 2 a right-hand
elevation, and Fig. 3 a left-hand elevation; Fig. 4 is a detached view showing
the mode of mounting the spindle; Fig. 5 a detached view of the turnover
soil pan.
a is the container, which may be made of metal or plastic material, by
preference of earthenware, and of a circular or oval form; b, the turn-over soil
pan, formed with the flange c, which answers the purpose of a curtain for
hiding the contents of the trap when the pan is tipped, and also acts as a lever
for raising the inverted cup herein-after described; c is the spindle upon
which the soil pan is supported and tipped; this spindle may be moved in any
of the usual ways, or directly by the hand applied at the end. The spindle,
soil pan, and curtain flange are intended to be formed in one piece of earthen-
ware, or the spindle may be made of metal and affixed thereto; is an
inverted cup trap suspended from the pan by the chains or other connections
e and e¹.
By this mode of construction, when the soil pan is tipped in the direction
shown by the arrow, the cup trap d is drawn up within the container leaving
the exit to the fixed trap free; the said cup when down, forming a second or
container trap, and preventing the escape of gases or offensive emunations
from the contents of the fixed trap; the soil pan is supplied by any of the
ordinary appliances and remains full, so that the whole of the containing
surface is covered with water, thus preventing the soil from adhering thereto.
The container is perforated with a circular hole as shewn at Fig. 2, to receive
the end of the pan spindle on one side, and with an oval hole at the other, as
shewn at Fig. 3, where f is a fixed lug, shewn also at Fig. 4; g, a small wood
sleeper placed between the fixed lug and the bearingh, which supports this end
of the spindle, the surface of the bearing is convex, and the end of the spindle a
is formed with a corresponding concave groove to prevent lateral motion. The
wood sleeper is inserted between the fixed lug and the bearing to receive
the screws by which the former and latter are fixed in position.
Fig. 6 shows another of my improved appliances or portable watercloset
apparatus, or night commode, in which a is the container; b, the basin; c, the
soil
pan, which is seated in the container at d, d, by a ring of india-rubber or

page_text: other packing; e, e, side handles and supports, by which the commode can
be moved from place to place bodily, and f, a handle for tipping the soil
pan; g, a lip at the side for pouring out the contents; h, a cover of wood,
with which exception this apparatus is intended to be made entirely of
earthenware or other suitable material.
Fig. 7 shews a lavaratory basin formed upon the plan of the commode,
above described, a vessel similarly formed may also be used as a spitoon or
for other analogous purposes.
a is the container for receiving the dirty or used water; b, the basin; and c,
the valve closing the opening between the former and the latter, and formed
with a seat and packing as before described.
Having thus described and illustrated the various improved appliances which
constitute my said Invention, I hereby further declare, that I do not absolutely
restrict myself to the precise shapes, forms, and relative proportions of the
parts of the apparatus shewn upon the Drawings, as the same will have to
be modified in detail as circumstances may require.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Kettle, haye hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
STEPHEN KETTLE. (L.S.)