IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING EXCREMENT AND URINE IN CONNECTION WITH WATERCLOSETS, PRIVIES, AND COMMODES, AND IN THE CLEANSING AND REMOVAL THEREOF.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Southwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING
EXCREMENT AND URINE IN CONNECTION WITH WATERCLOSETS, PRIVIES, AND
COMMODES, AND IN THE CLEANSING AND REMOVAL THEREOF.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Southwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1871.
I, JOSEPH SOUTHWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR RECEIVING EXCREMENT AND URINE IN CONNECTION WITH WATERCLOSETS,
PRIVIES, AND COMMODES, AND IN THE CLEANSING AND REMOVAL THEREOF," to be
as follows:-
:―
My Invention relates to an improved receptacle as hereafter described
for excrement and urine, and it consists of a portable vessel of any
desired diameter and depth, by preference made of zinc and of a
cylindrical form, though not necessarily so. At or near the upper part

page_text: and inside this vessel I place a frame curved or bent to a crescent-shaped
form to lead the excrement into the interior, which at the same time
acts as a shield or guide, prevents splashing, and covers the matter
deposited from view. This shield or guide may be taken out at pleasure
to be cleaned.
The vessel fitted as before described may be either suspended under-
neath the seat or allowed to rest on the floor.
Instead of the shield or guide I sometimes employ a ball or revolving
float made of sheet copper or other material. When a float is used I
place it in the vessel and it floats on the contents, the upper portion
thereof being in a fluid state. When sufficiently full the vessels are
taken out and replaced by empty vessels. An air-tight lid (which
consists of a plate of a diameter sufficient to cover the top of the vessel
to which it is to be applied is secured to a ring of caoutchouc or
other elastic material) is then put on and secured to the top of the full
vessel by screws or wedges, whereby all gases and obnoxious matters are
retained in the vessel. For the purpose of more easily lifting the vessels
and the removal thereof I provide loops or handles on the exterior
thereof. The matter is conveyed away in the vessels on carts or other
suitable conveyances.
The vessels are then emptied and cleansed as
hereafter described ready for use again. After emptying and cleansing
the vessels and before again using them a quantity of any known dis-
infecting substance is put into them, such as carbolic acid or creosote,
either alone or in combination with salts, such as sulphate of magnesia
or sulphate of iron or some metallic oxide, or the salts and oxides may
be used in combination without the acids.
For cleansing the vessels I employ a tank of any required size fitted
with a shaft or shafts carrying brushes. For this purpose I mount
either vertically or horizontally in bearings a shaft or shafts carrying a
oircular brush or circular brushes, to which rotary motion is imparted by
gearing or otherwise. These brushes are of such dimensions as to be
capable of being passed into the vessels to be cleaned by an attendant.
The brush or brushes when in the interior is or are made to revolve at a
suitable velocity untill the cleansing operation is completed. A quantity
of water is placed in the tank, to which may be added other cleansing of
disinfecting substances, so that as the brushes revolve the water is
carried with them into the interior of the vessels, which are thus
thoroughly cleansed and ready for use again, as before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Southwood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SOUTHWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joseph Southwood, Her special licence that I,
the said Joseph Southwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Joseph Southwood, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Island's, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING
EXCREMENT AND URINE IN CONNECTION WITH WATERCLOSETS, PRIVIES, AND
COMMODES, AND IN THE CLEANSING AND REMOVAL THEREOF," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Southwood, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Southwood, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved receptacle as hereafter described
for excrement and urine, and it consists of a portable vessel of any
desired diameter and depth, by preference made of zinc and of a cylin-
drical form, though not necessarily so. At or near the upper part and
inside this vessel I place a frame curved or bent to a crescent-shaped
form, to lead the excrement into the interior, which at the same time acts

page_text: as a shield or guide, prevents splashing, and covers the matter deposited
from view. This shield or guide may be taken out at pleasure to be
cleaned.
The vessel fitted as before described may be either suspended under-
neath the seat or allowed to rest on the floor.
Instead of the shield or guide I sometimes employ a ball or revolving
float made of sheet copper or other material. When a float is used I
place it in the vessel and it floats on the contents, the upper portion
thereof being in a fluid state. When sufficiently full the vessels are
taken out and replaced by empty vessels. An air-tight lid (which
consists of a plate of a diameter sufficient to cover the top of the vessel
to which it is to be applied is secured to a ring of caoutchouc or some
other elastic material) is then put on and secured to the top of the full
vessel by screws or wedges, whereby all gases and obnoxious matters
are retained in the vessel. For the purpose of more easily lifting the
vessels and the removal thereof I provide loops or handles on the
exterior thereof. The matter is conveyed away in the vessels on carts
or other suitable conveyances. The vessels are then emptied and
cleansed as hereafter described ready for use again. After emptying
and cleansing the vessels, and before again using them, a quantity of any
known disinfecting substance is put into them, such as carbolic acid or
creosote, either alone or in combination with salts, such as sulphate of
magnesia or sulphate of iron, or some metallic oxide, or the salts and
oxides may be used in combination without the acids.
For cleansing the vessels I employ a tank of any required size fitted
with a shaft or shafts carrying brushes. For this purpose I mount either
vertically or horizontally in bearings a shaft or shafts carrying a
circular brush or circular brushes, to which rotary motion is imparted
by gearing or otherwise. These brushes are of such dimensions as to be
capable of being passed into the vessels to be cleaned by an attendant.
The brush or brushes when in the interior is or are made to revolve
at a suitable velocity until the cleansing operation is completed. A
quantity of water is placed in the tank, to which may be added other
cleansing or disinfecting substances, so that as the brushes revolve the
water is carried with them into the interior of the vessels, which are thus
thoroughly cleansed and ready for use again, as before described.
And in order that my Invention may be more completely understood
I annex and proceed to describe the accompanying Sheets of Drawings.

page_text: Figs. 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 represent a portable receptacle or can accord-
ing to my Invention, Fig. 1 being a transverse section, and Fig. 2 a plan
of same with the lid on; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of another
construction of can or receptacle, and Fig. 4 a plan of same with the
lid off; Fig. 5 is a transverse section shewing another arrangement of
lid, and Fig. 6 shews an end elevation of the cross bar for the same.
Sheet 2 represents the means or apparatus for cleansing the cans and
removal thereof, Fig. 1 being a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 a transverse
section through A, B, (Fig. 4,) Fig. 3 a transverse section through C, D,
(Fig. 4,) and Fig. 4 a plan; Fig. 5 shews the position of can when in
use and the mode of changing the same.
My Invention relates to an improved receptacle for excrement and
urine, as hereafter described and as shown on Sheet 1. The said portable
can or vessel a is of a suitable depth and diameter, by preference made
of zinc and of a cylindrical form, though not necessarily so; it may be
made of sheet iron, by preference galvanized after the can has been
formed.
In the can a is placed the shield or guide 6 curved or bent in a
crescent form, as shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, to lead the excrement into the
interior, so as to avoid splashing, and at the same time covering the
matter deposited from view. The shield or guide is supported on the
brackets c, and may be taken out at pleasure for the purpose of
cleansing. Instead of the shield a ball float d, as shewn in Figs.
1 and 2, may be employed, or a cylindrical float e, as shewn in dotted
lines in Figs. 3 and 4. These are placed in the vessels and float on the
matter, the upper portion of the latter being of a fluid form. The
vessels may either be suspended underneath the seat or allowed to rest
upon the floor, as shewn on Sheet 2, Fig. 5. When sufficiently full the
vessels are taken out and replaced by empty vessels. An air-tight lid ƒ is
put on, which may be formed, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, provided with
the internal and external rings g and h, which are made so as to allow
the top to pass in between them as shewn, and there fitted with
packing i, which I disinfect, and which may consist of hemp, rope, or
other suitable sustance. In the outer ring h I provide one or more
slots j, into each of which passes a pin k secured to the top of the can a.
By turning the lid (by the attendant) it is forced tight down by the
action of the pin k on the incline 7; or the air-tight lid may consist of
a plate m, Fig. 5, of a suitable diameter, to pass inside the can resting

page_text: on the flange n, and between the lid m and flange n is provided the
packing o, which I disinfect, and which may either be secured to the
lid or to the can. The lid is forced down on to the flange by means of
the screw p, which is screwed through the bar q. Each end of the bar
is passed into a hole or recess in the can prepared to receive the same.
It will be readily understood that by turning the screw p to the right
or to the left the lid m may be either released from or pressed down on to
the flange n at pleasure. Other suitable air-tight lids or covers may be
used. By closing up the vessels in this manner all obnoxious gases and
matter are retained in the can, but should any gas pass through the
packing it is disinfected as it passes through.
For the purpose of more easily lifting and removing the cans I provide
handles placed in suitable positions on the exterior. The matter is
conveyed away in the closed cans on carts or other suitable conveyances.
They are then emptied and cleansed ready for use again. After
emptying and cleansing the vessels, and before again using them, a
quantity of any suitable known disinfecting substance is put into them,
such as carbolic acid or creosote, either alone or in combination with
salts, such as sulphate of magnesia or sulphate of iron, or some metallic
oxide, or the salts and oxides may be used in combination without the
acids.
Sheet 2 shews the means or apparatus used for cleansing the cans.
I provide a tank a of any required size, in which I mount, either
vertically or horizontally, but by preference the latter, the brush or
brushes constructed with bristles placed helically as shewn. Each
brush is fixed on the end of a shaft c, and is made of such dimensions as
to be capable of being passed into the vessel. The brush or brushes
when in the interior of the can are made to revolve at a suitable velocity
until the cleansing operation is completed, motion being transmitted
through the tooth wheels d and e from the driving pulley f, mounted on
a shaft in bearings f¹. The cans are shewn at g supported on a carriage,
which consists of the framework connected together by the cross bar i
and beams j. The beams j also act as supports for the cans. The
carriage is mounted on flanged wheels k, whereby the attendant is
enabled to traverse it backwards and forwards, carrying by so doing the
can or cans on to and off the brush or brushes.
employed as bearings for the wheels or rollers k.
for the pinions e, each bearing being provided with
intermediate pinions o run loose on the studs p.
The angle irons / are
m, m, m, are bearings
a loose cap n. The
The brush shafts c

page_text: are passed into holes q (which by preference are made square) in the
bosses of the pinions e. In this manner the motion is transmitted from
the pinions e to the brushes b. To avoid any splashing during the
cleansing operation I provide the cover r, which may be made of sheet
iron, and is supported on suitable brackets 8. The partition & is employed
to prevent the water with which the tank is partially filled from getting
to the gearing.
When necessary, suitable stuffing boxes of ordinary construction may
be employed at the openings u for more effectually keeping out the
water. A quantity of disinfecting substance is added to the water to
assist in cleansing.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would remark, in conclusion,
that I do not limit myself to the exact details, limits, and configuration
of parts I have explained and shewn, as the same may of course be
varied or modified without in any way departing from the nature and
principle of my Invention, but what I do claim and desire to be secured
to me by Letters Patent is,-
Firstly. The arrangement, construction, and application of portable
cans or cylinders for the reception and removal of excrement and urine
shewn on Sheet 1, substantially as and for the purposes hercin set
forth.
Secondly. The arrangement, construction, and application of a float
or shield shewn on Sheet 1, substantially as and for the purposes herein
set forth.
Thirdly. The arrangement, construction, and application of the
machine for cleansing the cans, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Southwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.