IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS FOR WATER CLOSETS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Lee, of No. 11, Belgrave Road, Torre, Torquay, in
the County of Devon, and Arthur Charles Moore, of Ida Wharf, Deptford,
in the County of Kent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS FOR WATER
CLOSETS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Lee and Arthur
Charles Moore at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th
August 1881.
EDWIN LEE, of No. 11, Belgrave Road, Torre, Torquay, in the County of
Devon, and ARTHUR CHARLES MOORE, of Ida Wharf, Deptford, in the County of
Kent. IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER
OR OTHER LIQUIDS FOR WATER CLOSETS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
64
Our Invention relates to improved apparatus for effecting the supply of a
definite quantity of water or other liquid from a tank or receptacle, either with
the object of preventing wate of water in water closets and for such like purposes,
or in order to supply definito quantities of liquids, such as may be required in
various processes of manufacture. For this purpose the water or other liquid is
supplied by a ball cock or float valve to a receptacle or tank having a capacity
corresponding to the quantity of liquid to be supplied at one time. In the bottom
of this tank is fixed a vertical discharge pipe reaching up to above the highest
level at which the water is to stand in the tank, the upper open end being by
preferénce trumpet mouthed. Surrounding this pipe is an annular passage having
openings at or near the bottom of the tank, so that the water can enter it there, and
having an annular opening at top surrounding the edge of the discharge pipe, so that
water passing up the annular passage can flow over such edge into the discharge pipe.
Surrounding the annular passage is a fixed cylindrical displacer, the upper edge of
which is attached to the edge of the annular passage, and carries an annular plate

page_text: or shield extending over the mouth of the annular passage and partly over the
mouth of the discharge pipe. The lower end of the displacer extends some distance
down the outside of the annular passage. Enclosing the above described parts is
a moveable cylindrical hood of a diameter slightly exceeding that of the cylindrical
displacer, and entirely closed at its upper end, while at its lower end it is closed
by a plate having a central hole fitting round the lower part of the annular
passage with sufficient freedom for the hood to move freely up and down thereon.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Assuming the cylindrical hood to be
in its lowest position, the tank being filled up to a certain level below the top of
the discharge pipe with water, such water will also .penetrate into the interior of
the hood through the small annular interstice between its bottom plate and the
outer surface of the annular passage, and will stand at the same level inside the
hood. If now the hood be raised it will lift the body of water contained within it,
and the fixed displacer will then cause the water so raised to be forced up through
the narrow annular space between it and the hood until it reaches the upper edge
of the displacer, when it will flow over the before mentioned annular shield into
the discharge pipe. This flow of water will, according to a well known law,
induce an upward suction in the annular passage, whereby the water in the tank
will be drawn up through the passage and made to flow over into the discharge
pipe, and a siphon-action being thus set up the water in the tank will continue to
flow off until the contents of the tank have been discharged. In order to insure
that the whole of the water or other liquid in the tank shall be discharged, the
lower end of the discharge pipe with the openings into the annular passage may be
situated in a small recess or sunk part of the bottom of the tank. Also in order
to insure that no more than the exact quantity contained in the tank shall be
discharged at one time, the ball cock that supplies it may be kept closed when the
tank is full until it has been completely emptied by a tumbling catch having an
arm provided with a float at its end, the buoyancy of which will keep the catch
under the lever of the ball valve until the tank is emptied, when the weight of the
float will draw the catch from under the ball valve and allow it to open.
When however the object of the apparatus is not so much to discharge an exact
quantity of liquid as to prevent waste, as in flushing water closets, sewers, and the
like, this may be effected by the well known arrangement of placing the ball
cock with its lever in a separate compartment of the tank, communicating with the
discharge compartment by a small aperture through which the water can only
slowly flow into the latter. We prefer however to arrange the ball cock and
separate compartment so that only the lever and ball are contained in the latter,
the cock itself being situated in the discharge compartment, so that when this has
been emptied and the discharge action stopped the ball cock being open can rapidly
fill the tank again, which cannot be done with the first described arrangement.
The raising of the discharge hood for bringing the discharge into action may be
effected by means of a lever, but by preference we effect it by means of a chain or
cord led first over a pulley above the hood and then over a second pulley situated
at whatever side of the tank is most convenient.
The above described construction of the annular passage and surrounding
displacer may be modified by forming the displacer as an enlargement of the
annular passage, but the first described arrangement is preferred. The displacer is
by preference made of some depth, as stated, in order to enable the apparatus to
act effectually even when the water stands considerably below the proper level;
but where allowance for variation in the level of the liquid is not desired the
displacer need only be made of a small depth.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edwin Lee and Arthur Charles Moore in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th February 1882.
EDWIN LEE, of No. 11, Belgrave Road, Torre, Torquay, in the County of
Devon, and ARTHUR CHARLES MOORE, of Ida Wharf, Deptford, in the County of
Kent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER
OR OTHER LIQUIDS FOR WATER CLOSETS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Our Invention relates to improved apparatus for offecting the supply of a
definite quantity of water or other liquid from a tank or receptacle, either with the
object of preventing waste of water in water closets and for such like purposes, or
in order to supply definite quantities of liquids, such as may be required in various
processes of manufacture. For this purpose the water or other liquid is supplied
by a ball cock or float valve to a receptacle or tank having a capacity corre-
sponding to the quantity of liquid to be supplied at one time. In the bottom of
this tank is fixed a vertical discharge pipe reaching up to above the highest level
at which the water is to stand in the tank, the upper open end being by preference
trumpet mouthed. Surrounding this pipe is an annular passage having openings
at or near the bottom of the tank, so that the water can enter it there, and having
an anular opening at top surrounding the edge of the discharge pipe, so that
water passing up the annular passage can flow over such edge into the discharge
pipe. Surrounding the annular passage is a fixed cylindrical displacer, the upper
edge of which is attached to the edge of the annular passage and carries an annular
plate or shield extending over the mouth of the annular passage and partly over
the mouth of the discharge pipe. The lower end of the displacer extends some
distance down the outside of the annular passage. Enclosing the above described
parts is a moveable cylindrical hood of a diameter slightly exceeding that of the
cylindrical displacer, and entirely closed at its upper end, while at its lower end it
is closed by a plate having a central hole fitting round the lower part of the
annular passage with sufficient freedom for the hood to move freely up and down
thereon.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Assuming the cylindrical hood to be
in its lowest position, the tank being filled up to a certain level below the top of
the discharge pipe with water, such water will also penetrate into the interior of
the hood through the small annular interstice between its bottom plate and the
outer surface of the annular passage, and will stand at the same level inside the
hood. If now the hood be raised it will lift the body of water contained within it,
and the fixed displacer will then cause the water so raised to be forced up through
the narrow annular space between it and the hood until it reaches the upper edge
of the displacer, when it will flow over the before mentioned annular shield into
the discharge pipe. This flow of water will, according to a well known law, induce
an upward suction in the annular passage, whereby the water in the tank will be
drawn up through the passage and made to flow over into the discharge pipe, and a
siphon action being thus set up, the water in the tank will continue to flow off
until the contents of the tank have been discharged. In order to insure that the
whole of the water or other liquid in the tank shall be discharged, the lower end
of the discharge pipe with the opening into the annular passage may be situated in
a small recess or sunk part of the bottom of the tank. Also in order to insure
that no more than the exact quantity contained in the tank shall be discharged at
one time, the ball cock that supplies it may be kept closed when the tank is full,
until it has been completely emptied, by a tumbling catch having an arm provided
with a float at its end, the buoyancy of which will keep the catch under the lever

page_text: of the ball valve until the tank is emptied, when the weight of the float will draw
the catch from under the ball valve and allow it to open.
When however the object of the apparatus is not so much to discharge an exact
quantity of liquid as to prevent waste, as in flushing water closets, sewers, and the
like, this may be effected by the well known arrangement of placing the ball cock
with its lever in a separate compartment of the tank, communicating with the
discharge compartment by a small aperture, through which the water can only
slowly flow into the latter. We prefer however to arrange the ball cock and
separate compartment so that only the lever and ball are contained in the latter,
the cock itself being situated in the discharge compartment, so that when this has
been emptied and the discharge action stopped, the ball cock being open can
rapidly fill the tank again, which cannot be done with the first described arrange-
ment. The raising of the discharge hood for bringing the discharge into action
may be effected by means of a lever, but by preference we effect it by means of
a chain or cord led first over a pulley above the hood and then over a second
pulley situated at whatever side of the tank is most convenient.
The above described construction of the annular passage and surrounding
displacer may be modified by forming the displacer as an enlargement of the annular
passage, but the first described arrangement is preferred. The displacer is by.
preference made of some depth as stated, in order to enable the apparatus to act
effectually, even when the water stands considerably below the proper level; but
where allowance for variation in the level of the liquid is not desired, the displacer
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shews a vertical section, and Figs. 2 and 3, transverse sections on lines:
X, X, Y, Y, of one arrangement of our before described apparatus. A is the
discharge pipe fixed in the bottom of the tank or receptacle B, the liquid contents
of which have to be discharged. The upper end A¹ of this pipe is enlarged to a
funnel or other shape, and surrounding it is a tube C communicating at bottom
with the interior of the tank by means of openings C¹, and arranged so as to
present an annular passage D all round the pipe A, extending to slightly above
the upper edge of the funnel A¹. Surrounding the tube C and secured to the same
is the cylindrical displacer E extending downwards any required distance, and
having fixed to its upper edge an annular shield F extending over the annular
passage D and funnel mouth A', the central opening of the shield having by
preference a downwardly curved lip, as shewn. Enclosing the whole of the above
parts is the moveable hood G, which when in the lowered position, shewn in full
lines, rests with its top surface upon the top of the shield F, while its lower end G¹
fits with a central opening round the tube C with sufficient freedom to enable it to
slide up and down upon the same. The diameter of the hood is such as to leave a
narrow annular space H between it and the displacer G. To the top of the hood
is attached a chain or cord I led over guide pullies down to a convenient point,
where, by pulling it, the hood can be raised to the dotted position.
Assuming the level of the liquid in the tank and inside the hood to be standing
at about the line Z, Z, it will be seen that on raising the hood its bottom plate G¹
will in raising the liquid contained within it force a portion thereof to pass up the
narrow annular space H, and to flow over the shield F into the pipe A; by means
of this flow of water a suction is induced in the annular passage D, causing the
liquid to be drawn into it through the openings C₁, and to be raised up to the top
of the pipe A so as to flow over into the same; the siphon action thus produced
will continue until the contents of the tank are discharged. The hood can of
It will be
course be allowed to drop again as soon as the siphon action is set up.
seen that the greater the depth of the displacer is made the lower can be the level
of the liquid at which it is possible to bring the apparatus into action. As before
described, the upper part of the annular passage D might be formed by the space

page_text: within the displacer G itself, that is, the tube C might terminate at the underside
of the displacer.
Fig. 4 shews a vertical section, and Fig. 5 a sectional plan of a modification in
which the tube C instead of surrounding the pipe A is arranged separate therefrom,
opening at top into one side of the funnel A'; or there might be two or more such
tubes arranged round the funnel, the bottom plate G¹ of the hood being made to fit
with as little intervening space as possible round such tubes, in order to insure
that while a sufficient interstice is left for the liquid to penetrate from the cistern
into the hood, the body of liquid within the latter shall be effectually raised up
when the hood is lifted.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we claim in respect of siphon apparatus that is brought
into action by means of a moveable hood,-
First. In combination with a discharge pipe the use of a separate passage
establishing a communication between the lower part of the receptacle, the contents
of which are to be discharged, and the top of the discharge pipe, a displacer and a
moveable hood, the said parts being so arranged that when the hood is raised the
liquid is caused to rise in a space between it and the displacer, and in flowing over
into the discharge pipe induces an upward flow of liquid in the separate passage,
substantially as herein described.
Second. The combination of the discharge pipe A, A¹, tube C, displacer E,
shield F, and hood G, arranged and operating substantially as herein described
with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The use, in combination with a discharge pipe and a moveable hood, of a
separate passage or passages so arranged that when liquid is made to flow into the
discharge pipe by the raising of the hood a suction is produced in the separate
passage, whereby the liquid is made to flow through the same from the tank or
receptacle into the discharge pipe.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Charles Moore, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.
ARTHUR C. MOORE. (L.s.)