Water to Water Closets, Applicable also to other Purposes and with other Liquids.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Nov., 1886.
Complete Left, 17th Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 20th Sept., 1887.
RESERVE
Water to Water Closets, Applicable also to other Purposes and
with other Liquids.
I EPHRAIM SMITH of 4 Carlisle Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex,
Goldsmith, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The chief object of this invention is to provide means for supplying water under
pressure in regulated quantities to water closets, and for ensuring a good flush, but
the invention is also applicable to supplying water or other liquids for other purposes
in regulated quantities.
In carrying out my invention, I employ a closed tank, cistern, or vessel of a
suitable size, into which the water is allowed to flow by a suitable inlet pipe, either
direct from the main, or from any storage vessel placed at a higher level. At the
bottom of the tank or cistern is an exit opening, which will be closed by a suitable
valve or tap, to be operated by a lever and chain, or in any other convenient
manner. I prefer to so arrange the inlet pipe in relation to the outlet, that the
valve may be made to serve the double purpose of closing one, while it opens the
other.
The outlet being closed by the valve, water flows into the tank, cistern or vessel,
and as it flows in, it acts as a piston to compress the air in the vessel, until equilibrium
is established between the pressure of the water, say, in the main, and the pressure of
the compressed in the cistern, when no more water will enter the tank or cistern.
When the outlet valve is raised, the compressed air in the cistern will act to eject
the water with considerable force, thus ensuring a perfect flush out of the pan of the
closet. As the raising of the valve will close the inlet, no more water can enter until
the whole of the contents of the closed tank or cistern are discharged and the valve is
dropped; thus, the inflow is stopped until the regulated quantity, whatever it may be,
is discharged.
The valve may be of any suitable or well known construction, but I prefer to
employ the following construction, namely, a disc, or semisphere, having a cup or
annular guide on its upper side or part, into which the inlet pipe enters, and a three

page_text: or four armed stem which projects through the outlet opening in the bottom of the
tank. The lower end of this stem rests against an arm carried by an axle working in
glands in a discharge pipe, and having at its opposite ends a lever and chain and a
counter weighted arm.
In calculating the size of the closed tank or vessel, the pressure of the water in the
main must first be ascertained, and the tank will then be made of such an area that it
will contain the quantity of water it is desired to use (say two gallons), plus the
quantity of air which, when compressed by the given pressure in the main, will allow
the two gallons of water to enter before the equilibrium in the pressures of water and
air is established.
By the use of a closed tank or vessel, all possibility of overflow is prevented, the
use of a ball cock or other shutting off device is dispensed with, and the moving parts
of the apparatus are of such a simple character that their liability to get out of order
is reduced to a minimum.
It will be obvious that the invention can be applied to the supplying of water in
regulated quantities for other purposes than above stated, and also for the supply of
other liquids for various purposes in regulated quantities.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Mode of and Means for Regulating the Supply of
Water to Water-closets, Applicable also to other Purposes and
with other Liquids.
I, EPHRAIM SMITH of 4 Carlisle Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex,
Goldsmith, 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 :-
The chief object of this invention is to provide means for supplying water under
pressure, in regulated quantities, to water closets, thereby ensuring a good flush; but
the invention is also applicable to supplying water or other liquids for other purposes
in regulated quantities.
In carrying out my invention, I employ a closed tank, cistern, or vessel of suitable
size into which the water is allowed to flow by a suitable inlet pipe, either directly
from the main, or from any storage vessel placed at a higher level. At the bottom of

page_text: the tank or cistern is an exit opening, which will be closed by a suitable valve or tap,
to be operated by a lever and chain, or in any other convenient manner. I prefer to
so arrange the inlet pipe in relation to the outlet, that the valve may be made to serve
the double purpose of closing one before it opens the other.
The outlet being closed by the valve, water flows into the tank, cistern, or vessel,
and as it flows in, it acts as a piston to compress the air in the vessel, until equilibrium
is established between the pressure of the water, say, in the main, and the pressure of
the compressed air in the cistern, when no more water will enter the tank or cistern.
When the outlet valve is raised, the compressed air in the cistern will act to eject
the water with considerable force, thus ensuring a perfect flush out of the pan of
the closet. As the raising of the valve will close the inlet, no more water can enter
until the whole of the contents of the closed tank or cistern are discharged or the
valve is dropped. Thus the inflow can be stopped until the regulated quantity of
liquid, whatever it may be, is discharged.
The valve may be of any suitable or well known construction, but I prefer to
employ the following construction of valve, viz., a disc or semisphere, having a three
or four-armed, or a cylindrical stem, which projects through the outlet opening in the
bottom of the tank, and working on a spindle which enters the inlet pipe, and carries
a second disc valve to close the inlet. The lower end of the stem rests against an
arm carried by an axle working in glands in the discharge pipe, and having at its
opposite ends a lever and chain and a counterweighted arm.
In calculating the size of the closed tank or vessel, the pressure of the water in the
main should first be ascertained, and the tank will then be made of such an area that
it will contain the quantity of water it is desired to use (say, two gallons), plus the
quantity of air which, when compressed by the given pressure in the main, will allow
the two gallons of water to enter before the equilibrium in the pressures of water and
air is established.
By the use of a closed tank or vessel, all probability of overflow is prevented, the
use of a ball-cock or other shutting-off device is dispensed with, and the moving parts
of the apparatus are of such a simple character that their liability to get out of order
is reduced to a minimum.
It will be obvious that the invention can be applied to the supplying of water in
regulated quantities for other purposes than above stated, and also for the supply of
other liquids for various purposes in regulated quantities.
In the accompanying drawing, I have shewn, at fig. 1, a sectional elevation, on a
reduced scale, of my improved apparatus; Figs. 2 and 3 being full size sectional
elevations of my special arrangement of valve in two positions.
A is the air tight vessel or cistern in which the water is collected or measured, and
B is the inlet pipe.-C is the outlet pipe, in the top of which the valve D is arranged.
It will be seen that the inlet B and the outlet Care in the same vertical line, and that
the valve D is a double valve arranged to close both the inlet and outlet, but the inlet
and outlet pipes may be placed in any other position, so long as they are so arranged
that one shall be closed while the other is opened, and any arrangement of cocks or
valves may be used for this purpose.
The valve consists of a disc D formed with a hollow stem D¹ of any convenient
shape, and which works in a guide D2 arranged in the top of the outlet pipe (-E is
a spindle, the lower end of which works in the stem D', the upper end projecting into
the mouth of the inlet pipe, which thus forms a guide for the spindle. On the
spindle E, at about the middle of its length, is secured a disc F, and upon this is
placed a short piece of india-rubber tube F1, which acts as a spring to press the
dise Fagainst the bottom of the inlet tube when the spindle is raised, as will be
hereafter explained; or a helical or other suitable spring may be employed. An
india-rubber or other washer F3 is placed below the disc F to prevent water passing
down the stem D¹ when the valve D is closed.
G is a rock shaft which is mounted in bearings on a box formed on the outlet pipe.
This rock shaft carries, inside the box, an arm G₁, which, as the shaft is rocked,
presses against the stem of the valve D and the spindle E.-The shaft is rocked in one

page_text: direction by means of the lever G³, to which a cord or chain is attached, and in the
other direction by a counterweighted lever, or in any other convenient manner when
thought desirable.
As it is necessary that the inlet should be closed before the outlet is opened, the
spindle E projects beyond the valve stem D¹ (see fig. 2), so that the arm Ġ¹ will act
first on the spindle and raise it and the disc F to close the bottom of the inlet. B, in
doing which, it partly compresses the rubber or other spring F', as shewn in fig. 3.-
The continued movement of the arm G₁ into the dotted position fig. 3 then raises the
stem D and the valve D, and allows for the exit of the contents of the vessel A.
I would here remark that I do not intend to confine myself to any particular form
of valve or cock, except that it must be so arranged that the inlet must be closed
before the outlet is opened.
When the apparatus is to be used as a measuring apparatus for liquids, I may find
it convenient to attach a counting mechanism to the rock shaft or other convenient
part of the apparatus, which will shew the number of times the shaft is rocked to raise
the valve to completely discharge the contents of the vessel.
Having now particularly discribed 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 mode herein described of regulating the supply of liquids for various
purposes, and consisting in admitting the liquid to an air-tight vessel in which the
imprisoned air will be compressed by the entering liquid to such an extent as to
ensure a pressure in the vessel equal to that in the main or supply pipe, and thereby
to prevent the entrance into the vessel of more than a certain quantity of liquid; the
compressed air also serving to eject the liquid from the vessel with considerable force
when a valve is opened, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In regulating the supply of liquids for various purposes, the use of an air-tight
vessel of such capacity as to receive only a fixed quantity of liquid, for the purpose of
discharging the same in measured quantities, as above set forth.
3. The arrangement of valves as herein shewn and described.
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