IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING PURE RAIN WATER
Year: 1885

page_text: I, CHARLES GAY ROBERTS, of Collards, Haslemere in the County of Surrey,
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING PURE RAIN WATER" and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In the specifications N° 3996 of 1878 and N° 858 of 1883 are described con-
structions of apparatus for collecting rain water with arrangements for automatically
separating the foul from the clean water, allowing the former to pass away and
directing the latter into the storage tank. My present invention relates to
modifications of such apparatus whereby their automatic action is made to vary
accurately with the heaviness of each fall of rain, and the apparatus can be adjusted
to suit various areas of roof or other space on which the rain falls, and can also be
adapted to the conditions of intermittent showers. I will describe the construction
which I adopt for these purposes referring to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1
is a side view and Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections on the lines X X and Z Z of
Fig. 1 respectively of the more simple form of apparatus; Fig. 4 shewing to an
enlarged scale the adjusting slide. Fig. 5 is a side view and Figs. 6 and 7 are
vertical sections, on the lines X X and Z Z of Fig. 5 respectively, shewing a similar
construction with additional arrangements to suit the conditions of intermittent
showers. In all these figures similar letters of reference are employed as far as
possible, to mark corresponding parts. The rain water, entering the uppermost
compartment by the pipe A, passes partly through a perforated strainer plate B,
and partly through an adjustable sluice passage C which, as shewn in Fig. 4, can
be made wider or narrower according as the area of roof is greater or less, the
number of square feet or other units of area being marked on a graduated scale as
shewn. The water that passes through the strainer B issues by small holes in a
plate E and enters the middle compartment of the apparatus. This plate E is
made to slide into a seating so that it can be readily removed and another plate
with larger or smaller holes substituted for it, to suit different localities where the
apparatus is used. The water that passes C issues by a spout D and enters a
passage F which sweeps round part of the circumference of the middle compartment
to an aperture M. In order to give access to the strainer B and sluice C, the upper

page_text: compartment has doors a a¹ (Figs. 1 and 2) which can be opened upwards, or has a
lid a' (Figs. 5, 6 and 7) which can be lifted off. The middle compartment, which is
of cylindrical form with a segment cut off from its upper part, is mounted on a
pivot J on which it can freely turn to an extent limited by the one or the other of
its upper edges kk meeting the base of the uppermost compartment. Part of the
space in the middle compartment is occupied by the channel F, and part of it in
Figs. 1, 2 and 3 by an air chamber H which is provided simply for balancing
purposes. In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 it is farther subdivided as will hereafter be described.
From the middle compartment K there is passage by a small hole S at the bottom.
The lowest compartment is divided by a partition into two chambers, L, from
which the foul water passes as waste to a drain or elsewhere by a pipe O, and N
whence the clean water, after passing through a perforated strainer plate n, flows
by a pipe P to the storage tank. The apparatus Figs. 1, 2 and 3 operates in the
following manner. In fair weather the middle compartment K has a position like
that shewn in Figs. 6 and 7, the apertures M and S being both immediately over
the chamber L. When rain falls, the greater part of what enters by A passes by
C. D. F and M into L and thence flows to waste, carrying with it the dirt, dust
and soot washed from the roof. Meanwhile a portion of the water passing through
B and E, in somewhat greater quantity than can escape by S, gradually fills the
middle space K until it reaches such a level therein that the load on the left side
of the centre outweighs that on the right. This causes the middle compartment to
cant to the attitude shewn in Fig. 2, both the apertures M and S being thus
brought over the chamber N so that the water, which is now clean, passes by P to
the storage tank. When the rain ceases, the middle compartment K becomes
gradually emptied by the issue of the water through S, and it cants back to its_
previous attitude, so that, when another shower comes, it is ready to act as before.
As it often happens that showers succeed each other at moderate intervals, during
-which-time there can be little or no fouling of the roof, the modified construction
shewn in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 is adopted, to provide for retaining the middle compart
home has ceased in the proper position for
1
the roof during the interval of several hours between one shower anu ne Педи
For this purpose the middle compartment is divided into an upper chamber Q, and
a lower chamber R partly below and partly in front of Q, and has also formed in
it a nearly vertical conical chamber U, within which is loosely placed a conical
vessel W, communicating by a siphon pipe V with the chamber Q. From the
chamber which is supplied from the holes in E, there is the small outlet
aperture S at the bottom, and there are also two lateral holes T opening into the
chamber Q. When U receives more supply from E than what can be discharged
at S, it gradually fills up filling also the conical vessel W which forms part of the
long limb of the siphon V. The water still rising in U, when it reaches the level
of the holes T, flows into Q, and after a certain time the load in Q overbalances
the left side of the middle compartment which thereupon cants over to the left,
directing both M and S into the chamber N of the lower compartment; so that the
water now clean flows by P to the storage tank. By the canting of the middle
compartment the stream from E is directed into the chamber R from the bottom of
which there is a small outlet hole Z, but, as the water does not flow from this
outlet so quickly as it is supplied from E, the chamber R gradually fills. As the
water sinks in Ŭ and W, the siphon V comes into action, gradually emptying Q.
Meanwhile the water is accumulating in R till it runs through the pipe Y and
slowly refills the chamber Q with clean water. After U is refilled the overflow
from it passes away by the channel F. When the rain ceases, the water still
contained in R and in Q retains the middle compartment in its canted attitude,
and as the outflow at Z is very small, this continues to be the case for several hours,
so that, if another shower should come within that period, no part of it is wasted
in the preliminary cleansing of the roof, which is not necessary after the previous
cleansing. The water in Q is brought back into R by the siphon pipe Y.

page_text: 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
1. The construction of apparatus for collecting rain water, herein described with
reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
2. The modified construction of apparatus for collecting rain water, herein
described with reference to Figs. 5, 6 and 7.