Improvements relating to the Employment of Disinfectants.
Year: 1898

page_text: Complete Specification Left, 16th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 18th Mar., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Employment of Disinfectants.
I, WILFRID CAMPBELL LATHAM, of 88, Corbyn Street, Finsbury Park, London,
Manufacturer, and MARY ROSENNA LATHAM," Married Woman, of the same
address, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of the present invention is to facilitate the use of disinfectants for
household purposes.
The present invention more particularly has reference to the employment of
permanganate of potash and similar preparations for the purpose of disinfecting,
but it may also be used for other disinfecting agents which are soluble in water,
and are capable of being stored in a concentrated form in a small compass.
The most general method of employing permanganate of potash is to place a
few grains of the crystals in a vessel and pour water on them to form a solution.
To afford a still more convenient, ready, and economical manner of using this,
and other suitable disinfectants, I take a vessel of a convenient shape & size, for
preference a jug-shaped vessel capable of holding about a gallon, and I place
therein a smaller vessel with a capacity to hold about four ounces of fluid, this
vessel being so constructed that when filled only about one quarter of its con-
tents would be discharged were it inverted, and that it will automatically fill
when the larger vessel containing it is filled with any fluid.
To prepare the apparatus for use, the smaller vessel is first charged with about
two ounces of permangate of potash crystals, or other concentrated disinfectant,
and then placed with in the larger vessel being secured in position by any suitable
means which will render it easy to detach & remove it at will.
The apparatus is now ready for use, it only being necessary to fill the larger
vessel with plain water, when it will be found that the smaller vessel will first
fill, and then discharge a small quantity of concentrated disinfecting fluid which
will at once mix with the water in the larger vessel, thus forming the same into
a disinfecting solution-which may be poured down the drains or otherwise
employed. Each time the larger vessel is filled a small quantity of water enters
the smaller vessel, and a like quantity of concentrated disinfecting fluid is dis-
charged as above described, and in this way the apparatus may be used for a
considerable time without it being necessary to recharge the smaller vessel with
disinfectant, experiments having shown that one charge will be sufficient to
produce over 150 gallons of disinfecting fluid, suitable for household purposes.
This apparatus may be portable so that it can be carried about the house, or
made as a fixture in connection with the water closet, or the scullery-sink, in
which case there would be a pipe leading from the bottom of the larger vessel to
the drain, and another from the water supply to the top of the larger vessel for
the purpose of filling it.
The fact that this apparatus can be manufactured to sell at a low price, and
that it is particularly hand and convenient, owing to the ready manner in which
a quantity of disinfecting fluid can be produced, will no doubt make it popular,

page_text: and it should also be the means of encouraging the frequent and plentiful use of
disinfectants, which should have a beneficial effect on the general health in large
and crowded cities.
Dated this 13th day of April 1898.
Improvements relating to the Employment of Disinfectants.
We, WILFRID CAMPBELL LATHAM, of 88, Corbyn Street, Finsbury Park, London,
Manufacturer, and MARY ROSENNA LATHAM, Married Woman, of the same
address, 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 object of the present invention is to facilitate the use of permanganate of
potash and similar disinfectants, soluble in water, for household purposes.
It is well known that watery solutions of such disinfectants may be produced
to a given strength, but that an excess of, say, permanganate of potash crystals,
added to these saturated solutions, will remain undissolved until more water is
supplied, when the crystals will dissolve sufficiently to increase the weakened
solution to its former strength.
This saturated solution is far stronger than is necessary for ordinary disin-
fecting purposes, but according to the present invention a small quantity is kept
continually available for use with the required amount of added water, in the
manner now to be described with reference to the accompanying drawing:
In the said drawing is shewn a water can to which the present invention has
been applied.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the can, shewing the receptacle for the disinfectant in
dotted lines; and
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the receptacle for the disinfectant, detached,
on a larger scale.
A is an ordinary water can, and B is a small closed vessel, which is fixed in
any convenient manner near the bottom of the can.
In the drawing is shewn an attachment consisting of a metal strip a, soldered
or otherwise secured to the vessel B, and attached to the can A at its upper end
by means of a screw a¹.
The vessel B, which is supplied with permanganate of potash or other suitable
disinfectant to about a third of its depth (see Fig. 2), is entirely closed, except
for the pipe b, which extends downward through the cover b' some distance into
the vessel, say, half its depth.
This pipe has itself a cover, 6*, but is provided with lateral openings 62 outside
the receptacle, to allow the water, when the can is filled, to find access to the
disinfectant.
The vessel B being thus constructed, cannot be entirely emptied of liquid, and
there thus remains always a small quantity of water, which serves to dissolve the
disinfectant to the extent of its capacity.
When the can is filled, some of the water finds its way into the vessel B, mixing
with the solution therein, and driving out some of it, to mix with the water in
the can.
When the can is tipped for pouring, a further amount of solution escapes from
the vessel B, thereby impregnating the water, and producing, if the capacity of

page_text: the can is properly proportioned to that of the smaller vessel, a disinfectant of a
strength suitable for ordinary household purposes.
The vessel B, as before explained, is not entirely emptied, for, owing to its con-
struction, it will still retain some liquid, even if completely inverted; there is
therefore always in the vessel a supply of strong solution ready for dilution with
water, so long as any crystals remain undissolved. Thus, with the aid of this
apparatus, a disinfectant is obtained as easily as water can be drawn from a tap,
and there is no trouble whatever in preparing and mixing it in suitable propor-
tions, as is usually the case with ordinary methods.
A can to hold one gallon should be provided with a vessel for the disinfectant
capable of holding 4 ounces of liquid. A can of this size with permanganate of
potash crystals to a third of the depth of the smaller vessel B, would be capable
of producing about 150 gallons of disinfectant without recharging. When the
crystals are exhausted, the vessel B can be removed and recharged, or replaced
by another very easily, and at a nominal cost.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
The means hereinbefore described whereby the employment of disinfectants
for household purposes is facilitated, comprising a can for water and a smaller
vessel contained therein, the latter being so contrived as to retain, when the can
is emptied, a small quantity of water in contact with the disinfectant wherewith
it is charged, thus producing a supply of strong disinfecting solution, ready for
dilution and use when the can is filled, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 14th day January 1899.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.