Improvements in Spittoons for Railway and other Carriages.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 31st July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 1st Apr., 1891-Accepted, 16th May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spittoons for Railway and other Carriages.
I CHARLES EDWARD SMITH of The Limes Wednesbury in the County of
Stafford Major in the Second Volunteer Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in spittoons;
the spittoons constructed according to my invention being especially adapted for
use in railway carriages but are applicable also for use in other carriages.
I will describe my invention in connection with a railway carriage.
On the floor of the carriage and preferably along the middle I fix opposite each
seat in a first class carriage and in any required positions in second and third class
carriages a shallow funnel shaped dise with a central opening the said disc having
the figure of a trumpet mouth. The opening in the middle of the disc terminates
in a short tube passing through the floor or bottom of the carriage. To the
lower end of this short tube external to the carriage another longer tube is connected
by a union joint or other joint in such a manner that it can rotate freely upon the
end of the fixed short tube. The top of the longer tube is in line with
the short fixed tube but the greater part of the said longer tube makes an angle of
about forty five degrees with its upper part. On the upper side of the inclined
part of the longer tube a light vane is fixed. When the railway carriage is in
motion the said vane is by the action of the air turned towards the rear of the train
and there is consequently a slight draught down the said tube by which draught
saliva falling into the spittoon is rapidly removed and the passage of air through
the said tube into the carriage prevented.
In place of a union joint a ball and socket joint may be employed for connecting
the longer tube with the fixed tube of the spittoon.
The spittoon may be fixed to the floor of the carriage by screws driven home either
from the interior or exterior of the carriage.
Dated this 31st day of July 1890.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spittoons for Railway and other Carriages.
I CHARLES EDWARD SMITH of The Limes Wednesbury in the County of
Stafford, Major in the Second Volunteer Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment
do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in spittoons; the
spittoons constructed according to my invention being especially adapted for use
in railway carriages but are applicable also for use in other carriages.
I will describe my invention in connection with a railway carriage.
On the floor of the carriage and preferably along the middle I fix opposite each
seat in a first class carriage and in any required positions in second and third class
carriages a shallow funnel shaped disc with a central opening, the said disc having
the figure of a trumpet mouth. The opening in the middle of the disc terminates
in a short tube passing through the floor or bottom of the carriage. To the lower
end of this short tube external to the carriage another longer tube is connected by
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page_text: :
a union joint or other joint in such a manner that it can rotate freely upon the end
of the fixed short tube. The top of the longer tube is-in line with the short fixed
tube but the greater part of the said longer tube makes an angle of about forty five
degrees with its upper part. On the upper side of the inclined part of the longer
tube a light vane is fixed. When the railway carriage is in motion the said vane
is by the action of the air turned towards the rear of the train and there is
consequently a slight draught down the said tube by which draught saliva falling
into the spittoon is rapidly removed and the passage of air through the said tube
into the carriage prevented.
In place of a union joint, a ball and socket joint may be employed for connecting
the longer tube with the fixed tube of the spittoon.
The spittoon may be fixed to the floor of the carriage by screws driven home
either from the interior or exterior of the carriage.
Figure of the accompanying drawings represents in elevation; Figure 2 in
vertical section and Figure 3 in plan a spittoon for a railway (or other) carriage
constructed according to my invention Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent the same
views as Figures 1, 2 and 3 but the spittoon is provided with a modified form of
joint as hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
I will first describe the spittoon represented in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
a is the shallow funnel shaped disc for receiving the saliva the said disc terminating
in the short tube which is passed through the floor of the carriage. The
combined shallow funnel shaped disc and tube a, bis fixed flush with the floor of
the carriage by screws passed through the countersunk holes d, d, d in the said disc
part ae is the longer tube below the floor of the carriage connected to the fixed
short tube by the union joint at f so that the said longer tube e can rotate freely
upon the fixed short tube b. It will be seen by an examination of the drawing that
the top of the longer tube e is in line with the short fixed tube but the greater
part of the said longer tube makes the angle represented with its straight upper
part; that is, makes an angle of about 45 degrees; g is a light vane fixed on the
upper side of the inclined longer tube e for causing its rotation. The railway (or
other) carriage being put in motion in the direction indicated by the arrows h, in
Figures 1 and 2, the vane g is by the action of the air turned towards the rear of
the train or carriage. A slight draught or current of air is thereby made to pass
down the funnel shaped disc a, short tube and longer tube e, as indicated by the
small arrows on the said parts, and the saliva received in the funnel shaped disc a
of the spittoon is rapidly carried through the tubes band e and thus removed. An
upward current of air through the spittoon into the carriage is prevented in
consequence of the position of the lower end of the tube e as will be understood
by an examination of the drawing.
The spittoon represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6 is constructed and operates in the
manner before described with respect to the spittoon represented in Figures 1, 2,
and 3 but the connection of the longer tube e carrying the vane g with the fixed
short tube on the funnel shaped disc or mouth piece a of the spittoon is effected by
a joint somewhat resembling a ball and socket joint. That is to say, on the
bottom of the fixed short tube the cup, socket or hollow scat i is screwed and on
the top of the longer tube e the nearly hemispherical head k is screwed for working
in the fixed cup, socket or seat i as seen in Figure 5. The top of the hollow
head is expanded or cupped for facilitating the passage. into it of the saliva
from the top fixed tube b.
In order to balance the inclined tube e and vane gin either of the arrangements
described and represented and thereby to preserve freedom of motion in the said
parts e and a counterbalance weight may be attached to the upper part of the
tube e opposite the vane g.
I do not limit myself to any particular kind of joint for connecting the lower
rotating tube and vane e, g with the fixed tube and funnel shaped mouth piece a

page_text: of the spittoon as any kind of joint may be used which will permit of the free
rotation of the lower vane tube upon the fixed upper tube.
The spittoons which I have described and represented may be arranged in the
carriages of a railway train in the positions before explained, but the positions of
the spittoons in the carriages must vary with the particular kinds of carriages with
which they are used.
In applying my invention to carriages which are not reversible, such for example
as private carriages and coaches, the tube connected with the spittoon need not be
capable of swivelling. In such cases the fixed tube passing below the bottom of
the carriage is bent backwards, that is towards the rear of the carriage and has no
vane.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
as my invention :-
Spittoons for railway and other carriages consisting essentially of a fixed funnel
shaped disc or trumpet shaped mouth piece terminating in a short tube for receiving
the saliva and a longer angled or curved tube carrying a light vane on its upper
side, the said vane tube being situated on the underside of the carriage and being
connected by a union or other joint with the fixed short tube so that it can rotate
freely upon the said fixed tube for the purpose and substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings; also the modified spittoon
for non-reversible carriages herein before described.
Dated the 24th day of March 1891.
CHARLES EDWARD SMITH.