IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Shanks, of Barrhead, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Sanitary Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, AND
APPLICABLE OTHERWISE."
Sealed the 9th April 1869, and dated the 14th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Shanks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th October 1868.
I, JOHN SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
.Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS FOR
AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has principally for its object the simplifying of the
details of and connected with waterclosets with the view of rendering
them inexpensive, and at the same time not liable to get out of order.
Que improvement consists in forming a channel round the rim of
and in the same piece with the earthenware or enamelled iron basin of
the closet. The flushing water is made to pass through this hollow
rim, and thereby has a whirling motion imparted to it, whilst enough
Price 8d.]

page_text: water will run out of it after the tap is closed to fill the pan, and seal the
outlet. This simple contrivance renders any complicated regulator
quite unnecessary. Fine holes are made at various points in the inner
and under side of the hollow rim to admit air and thereby make sure of
the emptying of the channel. The water tap of the closet is made so as
to dispense with packing. A plunger filling and working in an open
barrel closes down against a raised annular valve seat, being provided
with a face of lead or soft metal to meet the seat. Immediately above
the seat there is a branch pipe communicating as directly as possible
with the hollow basin rim, and the area of this discharge outlet is larger
than that of the plunger, so that the water retains little or no surplus
pressure tending to make it work past the plunger. The top of the
barrel is coned or cup-shaped to retain any small amount of water
working past. The plunger is worked directly by a rod or wire from the
main lever of the closet extended beyond its fulcrum for the purpose.
An important application of the improved tap is in the case of a street
well, wherein it may be shut by a weighted lever arranged to be lifted
by a short arm on a spindle which is made to project through the casing
of the well and has a handle externally to turn it by.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Shanks in the Great Seal l'atent Office
on the 13th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Sanitary
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Shanks, Her special
licence that I, the said John Shanks, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Shanks, 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

page_text: IN
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
WATERCLOSETS, AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE." проп
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Shanks, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said John Shanks, 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 in writing; reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say:
My said Invention has principally for its object the simplifying of
the details of and connected with waterclosets with the view of rendering
them inexpensive and at the same time not liable to get out of order.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I have hereunto appended a Sheet
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to and representing
watercloset and other apparatus as made with my improvements.
One improvement is shown in Figure 1 which is a sectional elevation,
and it consists in forming a channel I round the rim of and in the same
piece with the earthenware or enamelled iron basin 2 of the closet. The
flushing water entering by the inlet 3 is made to pass through this
hollow rim 1 and thereby has a whirling motion imparted to it whilst
enough water will run out of it after the tap 4 is closed to fill the basin
to the desired height and seal the outlet. This simple contrivance
renders any complicated regulator" quite unnecessary, and the water
tap 4 may be arranged to close simultaneously with the main valve 5
which admits of the simplest possible connections of the working parts.
In making the channel 1 in earthenware it is convenient to form it
completely round the basin rim at first and then to insert a nozzle piece
at one side of the inlet 3 in such a way as to stop direct communication
with the inlet and compel the water to make the complete circuit of the
rim. In Figure 1 the section is supposed to be taken partly through the
nozzle 6 by which the water issues from the rim channel into the
basin.
Fine holes 7 are made at various points in the inner and under

page_text: side of the hollow rim 1 to admit air and thereby make sure of the
emptying of the channel.
The improvement herein-before described may be adopted in closets
with pan valves or with other forms of main discharge valves, but!
prefer to use a main discharge valve of the kind shown in Figure 2,
which is a section corresponding to the lower part of Figure 1. It
consists simply of a flap valve having a sheet of vulcanised rubber fixed
on a metal back 8, but differs from ordinary valves of that kind in having
the metal back 8 made smaller than the seat or mouth of the pipe 9
against which it closes whereby the valve is made tighter, the pressure
of the lever 10 outside forcing in the metal part 8 and bending the
projecting rim of the rubber sheet, and so taking advantage of its
elasticity. The water tap 4 of the closet is made so as to dispense with
packing. A plunger 11 filling and working in an open barrel closes
down against a raised annular valve scat 12, being provided with a
face of lead or soft metal (shown black) to meet the seat. Immediately
above the valve sent 12 there is a branch pipe 18 communicating as
directly as possible with the hollow basin rim 1, and the area of this
discharge outlet is made so large that the water retains little or no
surplus pressure tending to make it work past the plunger 11. The top
of the barrel 4 is coned or cup-shaped to retain any small amount of
water working past, and this amount passes off by a small drill hole 14
(seen best in Figure 3) leading in an inclined direction into the outlet 18.
The inductive or sucking action of the main current through the
outlet 13 effectually clears the water from the cup at the top of the
plunger barrel. The plunger 11 is worked directly by a rod or wire 15
from the main lever 10 of the closet extended beyond its fulcrum for the
purpose, the wire 15 being connected to a lever which passes through a
slot in the head of the plunger 11 and which is weighted to close
the tap.
Figure 3 is a section of a nose, cock, or tap as made with my improved
plunger valve 11 and with the hole 14 for leading off any water working
up past the plunger. It is closed or opened by screwing, and is shown
with two forms of handle or knob, an ordinary crosshead in sharp lines,
whilst in dotted lines there is shown a dise the edge of which is hollowed
to receive a rubber ring which makes the handling of the tap or cock
more convenient, particularly when used for hot water or steam.
An important application of my improved tap is in the case of a street
well, and a modification arranged as such is shown in Figures 4 and 5,

page_text: the former being a front view with the cover removed, and the latter
a vertical section at right angles to the former. The plunger valve is
opened and closed by a screw action, but the screw is formed on the
outside of the barrel 4 instead of the inside, and the counterpart screw is
on the inside of a cap 16 which bears against the plunger 11, and which
is made with a projecting squared spindle to receive a key 17 for turning
it by. The cap 16 is formed with a short arm 18 on which a weight 19
is fixed to close the tap. The tap is enclosed in a casing 20 which is
formed with a stop 21 to prevent the weight from being turned over to
the other side. Any leakage through the cap 16 is caught and passes off
by the outlet 14.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I
do not restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated,
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
1. The making of earthenware or enamelled iron basins for water-
closets with a hollow rim in the manner and for the purposes substantially
as herein-before described.
2. The making of a tap with a plunger valve without packing and
with or without the leakage outlet (14), substantially as herein-before
described.
3. The arranging and combining together of the parts of street wells
or similar taps, substantially in the improved manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Shanks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN SHANKS. (L.S.)