IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER CLOSET SEATS
Year: 1885

page_text: I ROBERT ROBINSON HEAP of 13 Park Street Greenheys Manchester in the
County of Lancaster Earth Closet Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER CLOSET SEATS" to be as
follows:-
The said Invention relates to the wooden seats of water closets and particularly
to the class of closet wherein the seat is hinged at the back of the flushing pan so
that the seat can when desired be turned back on its hinges leaving the pan
uncovered and suitable for use as a urinal or receptacle for slops or other refuse
When the usual aperture is cut out of the centre of such seats & comparatively
narrow and weak margin of wood is left around and the seat is apt to split at
certain parts especially when the grain of the wood forming the seat runs from
front to rear in which case the seat is most liable to give way at the front. As
these seats are usually made of hard wood or mahogany and carefully finished with
the object of presenting a good appearance it is desirable that any means which
may be employed to strengthen them should not be unsightly or noticable from
either side of the seat. In strengthening a seat the grain of which runs for
example from front to rear the most important part to sustain is the narrow and
weak margin which exists between the edge of the aperture and the outer front
curve of the seat. To give the required support I bore a hole across the said
curved margin or are and across the grain and insert therein a rod, screw or bolt
with a head at one end and screwed to receive a nut at the other the hole being
enlarged at both ends so that the said bolt head and nut are each sunk beneath the
level of the outer edge of the curve. The bolt head is or may be formed with a
saw cut or nick so that the bolt can be turned in the nut by means of a screw-
driver or other suitable tool so as to bind the portion of the seat between the bolt
head and nut firmly together. The enlarged ends of the hole are then filled up
with plugs of the same wood which forms the seat. A means of support is thus
provided which obviates or lessens the risk of splitting while at the same time its
application can scarcely be detected. To strengthen the seat on each side of the
aperture may in a similar manner introduce bolts or screws or dowel-pins and
to support and strengthen the back employ a cross-piece secured by tenons or
dowels or by both to the seat. When using dowel-pins I prefer to introduce them
at an angle so as to cross the grain of the seat and thereby tend to give greater
support. Although herein before specified as specially applicable to water closet
seats my improved modes of strengthening may also be applied to the seats of
earth closets.

page_text: Improvements in Water Closet Seats.
I ROBERT ROBINSON HEAP of 13 Park Street Greenheys Manchester in the
County of Lancaster Earth Closet Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER CLOSET SEATS" and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
:-
The said Invention relates to the wooden seats of water closets and particularly
to the class of closet wherein the seat is hinged at the back of the flushing pan so
that the seat can when desired be turned back on its hinges leaving the pan
uncovered and suitable for use as a urinal or receptacle for slops or other refuse.
When the usual aperture is cut out of the centre of such seats a comparatively
narrow and weak margin of wood is left around and the seat is apt to split at
certain parts especially when the grain of the wood forming the seat runs from
front to rear in which case the seat is most liable to give way at the front. To
give the required support in such a case I bore a hole across the said curved
margin or arc and across the grain of the wood and insert therein a rod, screw or
bolt with a head at one end and screwed to receive a nut at the other the hole
being enlarged at both ends so that the said bolt head and nut are each sunk
beneath the level of the outer edge of the curve.
The bolt head is or may be
formed with a saw cut or nick so that the bolt can be turned in the nut by means
of a screw-driver or other suitable tool so as to bind the. portion of the seat
between the bolt head and nut firmly together. The enlarged ends of the hole are
then filled up with plugs of the same wood as that which forms the seat. A means
of support is thus provided which obviates or lessens the risk of splitting while at
the same time its application can scarcely be detected. Instead of such a bolt or
rod a dowel of wood or metal might be employed. To strengthen the seat on each
side of the aperture I may in a similar manner introduce bolts or screws or dowel-
pins and to support and strengthen the back I employ a cross-piece secured by
tenons or dowels or by both to the seat. Although herein before specified as
specially applicable to water closet seats my improved modes of strengthening may
also be applied to the seats of earth or other closets.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I will now
proceed to describe the same more particularly with reference to the annexed sheet
of drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a plan of a closet seat and Fig. 2 a sectional view of
the same.
In the drawing the seat C. is hinged at D. D. to a back board E. or it might be
so hinged to the back of the flushing pan or to an adjacent part so that it can be
turned back on its binges leaving the pan uncovered. In the plan view on the
drawing it will be observed that the grain of the wood composing the seat runs
from front to rear that is to say in the direction of the arrow marked F. so that
when the usual aperture G. has been cut out of the material it will be obvious that
the weakest part of the front of the seat is at the part marked H. To strengthen
this weak part and to prevent the seat from warping and splitting I bore a hole in

page_text: a direction across the curved margin H. and across the grain of the wood and
insert therein a bolt I. which is seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines
at Fig. 2 of the drawings which is a section of the seat at the line A. B. Fig. 1.
The bolt I. is formed with a head at one end and is screwed to receive a nut J. at
the other end the bolt hole in the seat being recessed at each end so that the said
bolt head and nut are sunk beneath the level of the outer edge of the seat.
I prefer to form the bolt head with a saw gate or nick so that the bolt may be
turned in the nut by a screw driver or other tool so as to bind- the portion of the
seat between the bolt head and nut firmly together. The enlarged ends of the
bolt hole are filled up with plugs K. of the same wood or material which forms
the seat so that when the margin is finished the presence of the strengthening bolt
can scarcely be detected. In some cases instead of a bolt and nut as described
I may insert a screw or rod or dowel pin of metal or of wood and instead of one
such bolt, screw, rod or dowel pin I may use two or more and may insert the same
at any suitable angle or angles to correspond with the requirements of each case.
To strengthen the seat on each side L. L¹ of the aperture, I may introduce bolts
similar to the bolt I. but in the most of cases if means to strengthen the sides are
employed at all it will be sufficient to employ dowel pins M. M¹ either set straight
across the grain as in the case of the dowel marked M. or diagonally as in the
dowel marked M¹. Any desired number of such strengthening dowels, bolts screws
or pins may be employed. The back of the seat is strengthened by a cross bar N.
secured to the seat by a feather and groove or by tenons or dowels or by a com-
- bination of such fastenings. Strengthening dowel pins O. O¹ are inserted through
the cross bar into the material of the seat proper the said strengthening dowel pins
either running parallel with the grain of the wood as in the case of the dowels O.
or traversing the grain diagonally as in the case of the dowels O'. The herein-
before described strengthening bolts, rods, screws or dowels can be applied to the
seats of water, earth or other closets.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
Strengthening the seats of water, earth and other closets by the application
of bolts, screws, rods or dowel pins of metal, wood or other suitable material
substantially as hereinbefore described and shown.
Dated this 4th day of March 1986
DUTTON & FULTON,
Agents.