IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER- CLOSETS.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Haigh, of Cubitt Town, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-
CLOSETS.
"
Sealed the 26th October 1875, and dated the 1st May 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Haigh
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st May 1875.
I, BENJAMIN HAIGH, of Cubitt Town, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WATERCLOSETS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of water-
closets, and it consists in such an arrangement of valve apparatus as to
prevent the return of the foul gases in the soil pipe under any back
pressure therein, whereby the closet is especially adapted for use on
board ship, as in ships' closets, where there is frequently back pressure
in the soil pipe owing to the movements of the ship in the water.
closet is also adapted for use in other cases.
The

page_text: According to my Invention a valve chamber of sufficient capacity is
placed between the pan and the soil pipe, in which chamber the contents
of the pan are first received. At the top of this chamber, beneath the
pan outlet, there is a slide valve working in guides and against a suitable
valve seat on the under side of the top cover of the chamber. This
valve serves to close the pan outlet, and there is another similar valve
over the entrance to the soil pipe at the bottom of the chamber. The
valve seats may be of metal or they may be faced with an india-rubber
ring to prevent any leakage. These two valves are opened and closed
alternately, so that when one is open the other is closed, to which end
they are operated simultaneously by the same mechanism, the valves.
being, however, so arranged that before the pan outlet valve is open the
soil pipe valve will be closed, and vice versa. A convenient arrangement
is to provide the valves with racks, with which gear two toothed sectors,
both keyed on the same rock shaft, which may be operated by the
ordinary pull handle through a lever and crank. There is an overflow
pipe from the pan into the chamber, where it is closed by a valve to
prevent the foul air rising through said pipe. This valve may, however,
be connected to the slide valve before mentioned as closing the pan
outlet, in order that when the last named valve is opened to discharge
the contents of the pan into the chamber the valve of the overflow pipe
may
be held open.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Haigh in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
HAIGH, of Cubitt Town, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Haigh, Her special licence, that
I, the said Benjamin Haigh, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Benjamin Haigh, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from

page_text: 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
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-
CLOSETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin
Haigh, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Benjamin Haigh, 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 accompany-
ing Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say :—
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of water-
closets, and it consists in such an arrangement of valve apparatus that
the return of the foul gases through the soil pipe is prevented, no matter
how great the back pressure therein. The closet is thus especially
adapted for use on board ship, where there is frequently back pressure
in the soil pipe in consequence of the movements of the ship in the
water. The closet is also suitable for general use in houses and public
buildings.
According to my Invention there is a box or chamber placed beneath
the pan and communicating therewith and with the soil pipe by orifices
governed by slide valves operated as hereafter described. This chamber,
in which the contents of the pan are first received, must be of sufficient
capacity to hold the contents and also the water used for flushing the
pan. One of the valves is fitted beneath the pan outlet orifice in the
top of the chamber and the other valve over the orifice of the soil pipe
in the bottom of the chamber, both valves working in guides against
suitable valve seats, which may be of metal or faced with india-rubber.
The valves are opened alternately, so that when the one valve is open
the other is closed. They are operated simultaneously by suitable
mechanism, and are so arranged that before the pan outlet valve is opened

page_text: the soil pipe valve will be closed so as to effectually provent any return
of the foul air in the pipe. A convenient arrangement for operating the
valves consists of two toothed sectors which gear with racks on the
valves, and are keyed on a rock shaft operated by the ordinary pull
handle through a lever and crank. These is an overflow pipe from
pan into the chamber, where it is closed by a valve to prevent the foul
air rising through said pipe. This valve may be connected to the top
slide valve in order that when the said slide valve is open to discharge
the contents of the pan into the chamber the valve of the overflow pipe
may be held open.
Figure 1 is a central section of the improved closet apparatus, and
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same on the line 1-1, Figure 1.
a is the ordinary pan fixed on a cast-iron box b, and communicating
therewith by an orifice c in the top cover of the box. A similar orifice
d in the bottom of the box leads to the soil pipe e. Both orifices c and
d are controlled by slide valves e, f, each working in guides g and against
a suitable valve seat on the top and bottom covers of the box
respectively. i, i, are toothed sectors fixed on a rock shaft k mounted
in bearings in the sides of box b, as shown in Figure 2. These sectors
gear with racks on the backs of the valves, as shown, and both the
sectors and racks have sharp angular teeth so as to cut up any rags or
cloth that may fall into the chamber, and which might otherwise clog
the valves. is the overflow pipe from pan to box 6, and m is a valve
covering the orifice of said pipe. This valve may either be pivoted to
the side of box b or attached to the end of valve e.
At one end of the rock shaft k is a crank arm h¹ having a stud
working in a slot in a lever c¹ pivoted at e¹, and connected to the ordinary
pull handle p, whereby the rock shaft is rotated sufficiently to operate
the valves. The valves are shown in their normal position in Figure 1,
the top valve being closed and the lower one open. The valves are also
shown in the reverse position in red lines.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The employment in a box' communicating with the closet pan
1st. The employment in a box' communicating with the closet pan

page_text: and soil pipe by orifices, as described, of two slide valves working over
and controlling the said orifices, as and for the purpose set forth.
2nd. The combination with the said slide valves of the apparatus for
operating the same as described, and consisting of the toothed sectors
gearing with racks on the valves and fixed on a rock shaft operated by
the pull handle, as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Haigh, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-.
five.