IMPROVEMENTS IN LAVATORY BASINS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Finch, of High Holborn, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAVATORY
BASINS."
Sealed the 20th April 1875, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord
Chancellor, and dated the 15th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Finch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1874.
I, BENJAMIN FINCH, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LAVATORY BASINS," to be as follows:-
Lavatory basins are liable to become soon soiled by an accumulation
of scum, or soap, or dirt on the sides of the basin in consequence of the
water supply, which is generally by a tap or nozzle above, passing down
directly to the bottom of the basin without cleaning the sides.
My Invention relates to a means of making the water scour the sides.
of the basin each time it is used, and consists of a flushing fan at the

page_text: discharge inlet to basin so formed that the water shall be distributed in
horizontal jets from both sides of the fan at or about the usual water
level, passing around the basin in a horizontal direction, and so cleansing
the surface. For this purpose the supply pipe by which the water is
introduced is fitted in a socket formed on the outside of the basin, and
over the inlet on the inside of the basin the flushing fan is fitted to
allow the the water to pass into the basin by flattened jets on opposite
sides of the fan, whereby the water is caused to scour the inner and
upper surface of the basin and wash down all impurity to the bottom
ready to escape when the plug is opened.
The fan may either be moulded in potteryware in one with the basin,
or be made of metal and attached thereto.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Benjamin
Finch in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
FINCH, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Finch, Her
special licence that I, the said Benjamin Finch, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin
Finch, executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAVATORY BASINS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Benjamin Finch, 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

page_text: F
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or before
the Twenty-second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Finch, do hereby declare.
the nature of the 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :—
Lavatory basins to which the water is supplied by a tap or nozzle
above are liable to become soon soiled by an accumulation of scum or-
soap on the sides of the basin in consequence of the water supplied-
passing down directly to the bottom of the basin without cleansing the
sides..
Now my Invention relates to an improved means of making the water
scour the sides of the basin each time it is used, and the Invention
consists in the adaptation to the water inlet of a flushing fan of the
following construction :-
The water inlet is in the side of basin and at about the level to which
the basin is generally filled when in use, and where the scum is conse-
quently deposited, and which I therefore call the scum line.
The flushing fan is made of potteryware in one with the basin in the
usual way of making earthenware, and it is made to cover the water
inlet, and has an orifice on either side of such form as to distribute
the water in two horizontal jets around the sides of the basin at the
stum line, whereby the surface is scoured each time the water is
admitted.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I have
illustrated it in the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 represents
a sectional view of part of a basin provided with the improvement of
my Invention, the section being taken through the flushing fan; and
Figure 2 represents a front view of the latter.
a is the water inlet, the water supply pipe being received in a socket 6
formed on the outside of the basin; c is the flushing fan enclosing the
inlet a, and projecting on the inside of the basin, the said fan being
made of potteryware and in one with the basin, as before mentioned.

page_text: The flushing fan, which is preferably made slightly convex, as shown,
is provided with two apertures d, one on each side, from which the water
is discharged in the form of flattened jets, which scour the sides of the
basin, as before mentioned, and wash down all scum or impurity to
the bottom, whence it escapes when the plug is opened.
The fan being made entirely of potteryware is not liable to be acted
on by the soap and impurities contained in the water, and consequently
there is no deposition of verdigris, as is common on metal plugs and
mountings in lavatory basins. Perfect cleanliness-is thus ensured.
.
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, providing
lavatory basins with fans made of potteryware and in one with the
basin, and with two side apertures for the discharge of the water at the
scum level, as and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Finch, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.