CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MECHANISM OF WATER-CLOSETS
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SNELSON SHENTON, of Husbands Bosworth, in the County of Leicester,
Plumber and Glazier, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twelfth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-seven, in the eighth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Snelson Shenton, His
especial licence, that I, the said John Snelson Shenton, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Snelson Shenton, my exors,
adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MECHANISM OF WATER-CLOSETS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Snelson Shelton, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Snelson Shenton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly

page_text: described and ascertained in the following description thereof (that is to
say):-
My Invention of Improvements in the Mechanism of Water-closets consists
in the construction of an apparatus or combination of mechanism by which
the valves of a water-closet are opened and closed by the act of a person
sitting down and rising up from the seat. The improved mechanism therefore
'constitutes what may be called a self-cleansing water-closet, that is, the soil is
let out of the basin after every time of using, and a sufficient quantity of fresh
water is turned into the basin, and retained therein so as to constitute a stink
trap without the trouble of raising a handle or lever, as in the ordinary
construction of water-closets, the particular advantage of which improvement is
that the closet cannot be left in a foul state, and the water retained in the lower
part of the basin prevents the passage of any effluvia from the air trap below.
The manner in which I construct this improved apparatus is shown by the
Drawing hereunto annexed, which will be fully understood by the following
explanation thereof, that is to say :-
Fig. 1. a is the seat of the water-closet, the side being removed for the
purpose of exhibiting the mechanism beneath. 6 is the basin having a pan,
<lish, or valve at the bottom of the ordinary construction. c is the closet
or vessel into which the soil is passed from the basin. d is the soil pipe
leading to the air trap. e is a reservoir of water, shewn in section, which may
be placed in any convenient situation above. The water passes from the
reservoir through the service. box f and the pipe 9 to the basin. A person
stepping upon the foot-board h, or sitting upon the seat a will cause the right
angle bar i, i, to be depressed, which bar i'being affixed to the seat and to the
foot-board, and connected by a joint to the shorter arm of the lever k, will, by
its descent, raise the longer arm of the lever le turning upon a fulcrum 1, and
effect the movements of the mechanism about to be described. The rising of
the longer arm of the lever k lifts the vertically sliding bar 7, which has a
small catch lever m jointed to it, and the lower end of this catch lever by the
lifting of the bar is brought up and made to act upon the end or nose of the
lever n, turning upon a fulcrum 2, which is a preparatory movement for
the purpose of opening the dish, pan, or valve at bottom of the basin, when
the lever and bar descend again. This part of the mechanism is shewn
detached upon a larger scale at Fig. 2. The first thing effected by the
descent of the seat a, and foot-board h, when a person sits or stands thereon, is
to cause a supply of water to pass from the cistern or reservoir e into the
service box f, which is done by the following means:-The bar i descending
with the seat and foot-board raises the longer arm of the lever as
described, and the longer arm of this lever, being connected by a chain

page_text: to the end of the lever o (mounted upon a fulcrum 3) causes that end
of the lever to be raised, and consequently the reserve end depressed,
which draws down the rod or wire p connected to it, and the top of this rod
or wire being fastened to the longer arm of a lever 9 mounted upon a
fulcrum 4 above the cistern or reservoir e, the longer arm of that lever is
depressed also. Near the middle of the longer arm of the lever 7 a chain or
wire is attached, which suspends the valves r and s coupled together by links
within the service box f; by the descent therefore of the longer arm of the
lever q, the valve r falls, and by opening the upper aperture allows the water
to flow from the cistern into the service box f, and at the same time the valves,
being permitted to rest upon the bottom part of the service box, closes the lower
aperture and prevents the water from escaping through the pipe g. The water
thus admitted into the service box f flows also into the float box t, and conse-
quently raises the float u, which is a hollow vessel. The float being connected
by a wire or rod to a lever w, turning upon a fulcrum 5, lifts the shorter
arm of the lever w also, and the longer arm of this lever (that is, its reverse
extremity) having a rod or wire x attached to it, and leading down to a lever y
below, causes the lever y (which moves upon a fulcrum at 6, to be depressed by
the rising of the float in the manner described. The service box and float box
being now full of water, the supply remains there ready to be passed through
the pipe g into the basin for the purpose of cleansing it, which takes place
when the person rises from the seat, all the parts of the mechanism remaining
till then quiescent and in the position shewn by dots. On the person rising from
the seat a and stepping off the foot-board h, the right angle bar i is immediately
thrown up by the gravity of the weight at the end of the longer arm of the
lever k. The lever o is by that means allowed to assume its former position
and to raise the rod p, which, permitting the longer arm of the lever to rise,
causes the valves and s to be drawn up, the former closing the upper
aperture of the service box and preventing any more water flowing into it
from the cistern, while the valves being raised off its seat permits the water
contained in the service box and float box to flow out through the pipe g into
the basin b. At the same time the descent of the longer arm of the lever /
brings down the bar l, and the lower end of the catch lever m conected to
this bar pressing upon the nose of the lever n (seen more distinctly in the
detached Fig. 2) by the descent of the bar 7 throws up the longer arm of the,
lever n, as shewn by dots in Fig. 2, for the purpose of opening the dish, pan,
or valve at bottom of the basin, which lets down the soil into the box c below.
The pan or dish at bottom of the basin is opened in the usual way by a
crank connected to the longer arm of the lever n, and hence by the rising
of that lever the pan or dish is opened. In order that the pan, dish, or valve

page_text: should not close instantly after discharging the soil, but remain open long
enough for it and the basin to be perfectly cleansed by the flowing of the
fresh water, the float n is employed. This float is raised in its chamber or
box t by the water which flows from the cistern into the service box in the
way above described, and when the water is allowed to pass away through the
pipe g, the float u descends gradually, by means of which the lever 3, connected
to it through the lever w and rod x, as already explained, is made to rise, and
a small friction roller mounted in this lever y, acting against the under side of
the catch lever m, by the rising of the lever y lifts the catch cover m until its
lower end slips off the nose of the lever n and allows that lever to assume its
former position, and the pan or valve at bottom of the basin to close, when the
water continuing for some short time longer to flow from the service box
through the pipe g into the basin, the lower part of the basin and pan, dish,
or valve, becomes filled with water, which acts as a stink trap and perfectly
prevents any effluvia from passing from the pipe or vessel below into the
apartment.
Lastly, though I have described fully the several parts of the mechanism of
the improved water-closet, yet I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
every part of the said mechanism as new, or of my Invention; I therefore
desire it to be remembered that the particular features of my Invention are
the bar, the catch lever m, the float n, and the appendages to work the same
(however formed) for the performance of the actions and accomplishment of
the objects before stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Snelson Shenton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.