AN IMPROVED SHOWER BATH
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
HILL, of the Slad Parsonage, near Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Clerk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-seventh day of May (One thousand eight hundred and
forty-three), in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Arthur Hill, my exors, adiñiors,
and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority.
that I, the said Arthur Hill, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Arthur Hill, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED SHOWER BATH;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Arthur Hill, to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrumen
in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her said 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

page_text: 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-
Arthur Hill, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, and by the Drawings therein
referred to and hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved shower bath, and consists in a novel
and peculiar combination and arrangement of certain parts, and in the appli-
cation of an ordinary force pump, whereby the bather is enabled to produce by
pressure the effect which, in ordinary shower baths, is obtained by height, and
also to regulate the force of the shower; the parts constituting the improved
bath are likewise so arranged, combined, and acted upon as to cause con-
tinuous circulation of the water, and requires but a small quantity for that
purpose; unlike the ordinary shower bath, whose reservoir, though necessarily
large, consequently cumbrous and importable, contains but a limited supply,
which is speedily exhausted, and to refill which the bather must relinquish his
bath, or wait until the reservoir is replenished. I would here remark, that I-
am aware of shower baths having been constructed upon the principle of
pressure, the water being raised by means of an air pump, to work which the
bather must relinquish his bath. And, further, I am aware of forcing pumps
being employed in shower baths generally; but such pumps have only been
employed for the purpose of filling and refilling a reservoir with water. The
baths so constructed are likewise importable, and consequently very objection-
able. In order, therefore, to obviate these objections, and to explain my said
improvements as completely as possible, and likewise to point out in what
respect they differ from the ordinary shower bath, I will proceed to describe
the arrangement of parts which I consider well calculated for carrying out my
said Invention, and which will be found to answer extremely well.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of the shower bath as out of use, the
curtain being removed. Figure 2, a vertical section of the same as in use,
shewing internal arrangement of the parts. Figure 3, a plan view of a foot-
stool. Figure 4, a vertical section of a box for containing a supply of water.
Figure 5, a plan view of the same. Figure 6, a perspective view of box and
sliding case. Figure 7, a detached view (in section) of another arrangement
for producing a more uninterrupted stream of water. Figures 8, 9, and 10,
an arrangement for regulating the force of the shower; Figure 8 being a plan

page_text: view of a perforated plate or rose; Figure 9, a.plan view of a fan; Figure 10,
a vertical section taken through the rose. Figure 11 is a modification of
Figures 8, 9, and 10. Figure 12, a detached view of curtain ring. In
Figure 2, A, A, represents an ordinary washing tub, with the apparatus
therein, which is put together in the following manner :-B, a footstool or
platform, of wood or other suitable material, constructed in such a manner that
the feet will sprawl out or shut up (as shewn at Figures 1 and 3); at any con-
venient part of this stool a casting C, having a valve therein, is secured by a
thumb nut D. This casting has a screw cut therein for receiving the lower
end of the pump barrel E, which has a corresponding screw cut around it for
that purpose; (the action and construction of forcing pumps being well known,
it is unnecessary to enter into any explanation thereof). The punip, together
with its pistons and
I valves, being thus secured to the footstool (the curve which
branches from the top of the pump barrel being turned outwards), the tube F,
which is constructed with a cock a for letting off the water contained in the
tubes, is connected thereto at X, by screwing the parts together as shewn, a
washer of leather or other suitable material being interposed so as to make a
tight joint. The tube G is next connected thereto in a similar manner to the
foregoing; and finally the syphon-shaped tube H, at the extremity of the
shorter leg of which the perforated convex plate or rose I is attached by
screwing in manner. as before, care being taken that the rose be turned in the
direction of the centre of the platform. The curtain ring K, which is con-
structed with a view to portability in the following manner, is attached to the
apparatus, as shewn at Figures 1'and 2-In the detached Figure 12, K
represents the curtain ring, which is constructed of four parts or segments,*
three of which, b, c, d, are connected together by hinge joints at **, the
fourth or detached segment e, e, being constructed with screwed nuts f, f, which
pass over the screwed ends of the segments b, d, at the points f, f; the oiled
curtain L, L, being put thereon by loops and buttons, or other convenient
manner.. The apparatus is ready for use, and its action as follows:-The
bather having provided himself with a washing tub, foot bath, or other similar
vessel, and placed the apparatus therein, proceeds to pour into the tub or other
vessel three, four, or five jugs of water. He then mounts the platform or stool,
and, drawing the curtain round him, closes the same by buttoning; the curtain
being so cut as that the bottom of the curtain when buttoned shall be about
one half the diameter of the top so as to concentrate the falling water, and to
prevent it splashing over the edge of the tub or vessel. The bather has now-
to impart motion to the piston of the pump, which is peculiarly. arranged, as
shown at detached Figure 1, being constructed with one piston rod sliding

page_text: within the other, the inner rod g having holes across it at certain distances,
and into either of which a set screw h can be inserted, thus avoiding the
necessity for stooping while working the pump, and also of adapting the bath
to persons varying in height. When used for children-the-tube-G-may-be-
removed if necessary.
It will obviously occur that so long as the bather con-
tinues to work the pump (which requires little exertion), a continuous shower
may be kept up. Moreover, by an arrangement shown at detached Figures 8,
9, 10, the bather is enabled to regulate the force of the shower, or vary. the
size of the drops of water by constructing the rose in the following manner :-
The bottom of the rose is divided into eight equal parts, four of which, 1, 2,
3, 4, are perforated with large holes, and the other four, 5, 6, 7, 8, with small
holes; immediately above and in close contact with this perforated plate is a
metal fan N (see detached Figure 9) consisting of four equal parts. This fan
has a projecting pin i at its centre, which passes through the perforated plate I,
and is furnished with a button k at its lower extremity, by turning which the
bather can, by covering the large or small holes, produce a fine or heavy
shower at pleasure, or, by covering half of each, produce a mixture of both (a
modification of the foregoing is shewn at detached Figure 11, in which the
rose is constructed with two bottoms; the outer one 7, which moves on a hinge
somewhat similar to a watchcase, having fine holes, and the inner one m large
holes therein). Should a wider spread shower be required the same may be
obtained by making the bottom of the rose more convex. At detached
Figure 7 another arrangement is shewn affording a more uninterrupted stream,
which is effected by the application of a hollow sphere n, connected to the
syphon-shaped tube H, and immediately above the rose a stopcock o being
situated at the lower part of the sphere for discharging or stopping the contents
thereof.
In Figure 4 an arrangement is shewn wherein the bath, though more costly
and less portable, differs from the foregoing, inasmuch as the box containing
the apparatus is substituted in the place of the tub, being arranged and con-
structed in the following manner:-0, 0, a japanned box or vessel of any
suitable material, about twenty-four inches long, thirteen or fourteen inches
wide, and six and a half inches deep, serving the double purpose of a foot bath
and case for the other parts of the apparatus, the same being constructed with
an internal reservoir P, and likewise a bottomless case Q, which slides inside
the box when out of use, and, when required, is adjusted thereto by placing the
metal pieces p, p, upon the sides of the box, by which the water is prevented
from splashing over the sides of the vessel between the reservoir P and one
side of the box; and to the bottom thereof a casting R, having a valve in its

page_text: centre and several small openings at its base, is made fast; into this casting
the pump barrel is screwed as in the former apparatus shewn at Figures 1 and
2; in other respects the apparatus is similarly arranged.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be and may be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not claim the exclusive use of any of the separate parts
herein-before mentioned and referred to, except so far as the same may be
employed for the purposes of my said Invention, which I declare to consist
in, and I claim, the application of a forcing pump when used in combination
with certain other parts forming a portable shower bath, as herein-before
particularly described and represented by the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
Enrolled the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.