IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO WATER- CLOSETS AND OTHER PLACES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore Prestige,
Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige, trading under
the Firm of Josiah Stone and Company, of High Street, Deptford,
in the County of Kent, Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO WATER-
CLOSETS AND OTHER PLACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Philip
Preston, John Theodore Prestige, Edwin James Preston, and
William Alfred Prestige at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th May 1872.
We, FREDERICK PHILIP PRESTON, JOHN THEODORE PRESTIGE, EDWIN
JAMES PRESTON, and WILLIAM ALFRED PRESTIGE, trading under the
Firm of Josiah Stone and Company, of High Street, Deptford, in the
County of Kent, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said

page_text: Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF
WATER TO WATERCLOSETS AND OTHER PLACES," to be as follows:-
--
One of our improvements in apparatus for regulating the supply of
water to waterclosets and other places consists of a vessel containing a
piston and a valve with a spindle arranged so as to operate both the
piston and the valve above referred to. The vessel is fitted with a
separate inlet and outlet for the fluid. The supply of water is regulated
by the time the piston and the valve are traversing to and fro in the
cylindrical part of the vessel above referred to, the said time being
.governed by the admission of air through a regulated aperture to the
opposite side of the said piston to that upon which the valve is placed.
Sometimes we make the vessel with a projecting cylindrical part to
contain a piston, which is connected with the spindle above referred to,
or we make the end of said spindle pass through a stuffing box to
prevent the escape of the fluid from any part of the apparatus except the 1
proper outlet.
Sometimes we make the apparatus so that the time occupied in the
traverse of the piston and valve to and fro in the cylindrical part of the
vessel above referred to is governed by the emission of air or water
through a regulated aperture at the opposite end of the cylinder to that 2
in which the valve is placed.
Another of our improvements in apparatus for regulating the supply
of water to waterclosets consists of a cistern containing a certain
quantity of water, to which we fit two valves, one the inlet or ball valve,
which we make so that pressure of the water from the source of 2
supply tends to keep it closed, and so that the valve itself works loosely
in a slide or socket and is only acted upon when the slide has travelled
a certain required distance up the stem of the valve. Connected with
this slide is an arrangement so that the ball and lever of the inlet or ball
valve shall only act upon it in one direction, viz., so as to close the inlet &
or ball valve, the slide being made of such a relative diameter as com-
pared with the inlet valve that the pressure on it from the source of
supply will cause it, from its larger area, to overcome the pressure on the
back of the inlet valve and so raise it off its seat, so that the inlet valve
is opened by the excess pressure on the sliding socket and closed by the
floating power of the ball. The other valve in the cistern we term the

page_text: outlet valve, as it governs the flow of water from the cistern. In con-
nection with this valve we fit a lever, so arranged that it first presses on
the slide of the inlet valve, thus keeping the inlet valve closed, and then
opens the outlet valvo, allowing the contents of the cistern to be
discharged, at the same time keeping the inlet valve perfectly closed, so
that it is impossible for the inlet and outlet valves to be open or partly
open at the same time. The quantity of water admitted to the closet or
other place is therefore so regulated that in no case can more than the
contents of the cistern be made to flow at one operation; besides, the
> whole operation is performed so that the inlet or ball valve lever is
perfectly free when the outlet valve is opened, while in other cisterns
this lever has to be held up, thus rendering it liable to injury.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore Prestige,
Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 11th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
PHILIP PRESTON, JOHN THEODORE PRESTIGE, EDWIN JAMES PRESTON,
and WILLIAM ALFRED PRESTIGE, trading under the Firm of Josiah
Stone and Company, of High Street, Deptford, in the County of Kent,
Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore
Prestige, Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige, Her
special licence that we, the said Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore
Prestige, Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige, our exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore Prestige, Edwin James Preston,
and William Alfred Prestige, our 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

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF
WATER TO WATERCLOSETS AND OTHER PLACES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Frederick Philip Preston, John Theodore 5
Prestige, Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige, our, or one
of us, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our or one of our, or their or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 1
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 we, the said Frederick Philip Preston, John
Theodore Prestige, Edwin James Preston, and William Alfred Prestige,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner 1
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
One of our improvements in apparatus for regulating the supply of
water to waterclosets and other places consists of a vessel containing a 2
piston and a valve with a spindle arranged so as to operate both the
piston and the valve above referred to. The vessel is fitted with a
separate inlet and outlet for the fluid. The supply of water is regulated
by the time the piston and the valve are traversing to and fro in the
cylindrical part of the vessel above referred to, the said time being 2
governed by the admission of air through a regulated aperture to the
opposite side of the said piston to that upon which the valve is placed.
This first part of our Invention will be readily understood by reference
to the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a sectional
elevation of our improved regulating supply apparatus for waterclosets.
A is the inlet from the source of supply; B is the outlet leading from
the regulating supply apparatus to the watercloset; C is the piston and
D is the valve; E is the spindle, to which both the piston O and the
valve D are connected, and by which they are operated; D' is the seat
upon which the valve D falls; F is the small regulating aperture which
can be adjusted so as to govern the admission of air into the cylinder H,

page_text: and thus regulate the speed at which the piston O travels; G is the
stuffing box through which the spindle E works.
Figure 2 shows our improved apparatus fitted on an iron stand with
lever ready to be attached to a watercloset.
Figure 3 shows our improved apparatus fitted to an ordinary pan
watercloset.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the pull up of the
watercloset is raised it causes the spindle E to rise, carrying with it the
piston O and the valve D, thus opening the communication between the
inlet or source of supply A. through the seating D' to the outlet B.
When the pull up of the closet is let go it falls by means of the weighted
lever connected to it as in the ordinary manner, leaving the separate
weighted lever that actuates the spindle of the apparatus to follow gra-
dually, which it is caused to do by the admission of air through the
regulated aperture F into the cylinder H, the large or smaller aperture
for the admission of air regulating the time the piston C, and with it the
valve D is travelling from the top of the cylinder H until the valve D
rests on its seat D', when the communication is cut off between the
inlet A and the outlet B.
Sometimes we make the vessel with a projecting cylindrical part to
contain a piston, which is connected with the spindle above referred to,
or we make the end of said spindle pass through a stuffing box to
prevent the escape of the fluid from any part of the apparatus except the
proper outlet.
Sometimes we make the apparatus so that the time occupied in the
traverse of the piston and valve to and fro in the cylindrical part of the
vessel above referred to is governed by the emission of air or water
through a regulated aperture at the opposite end of the cylinder to that
in which the valve is placed.
This will be understood by reference to description of Figure 4, which
is a sectional elevation of our regulating supply apparatus for water-
closets which is governed by the admission of water instead of air, as in
Figure 1. A is the inlet from the source of supply; B is the outlet
leading from the regulating supply apparatus to the watercloset; C is
the piston and D is the valve; E is the spindle to which both the
piston O and the valve D are connected, and by which they are operated;

page_text: D¹ is the valve seat upon which the valve D falls; F is a regulator valve
which can be adjusted as to the extent of opening it leaves between it
and its seating F by means of the adjusting screw attached to it, thus
governing the emission of water from the cylinder H, and so regulating
the speed at which the piston C travels; G is the stuffing box through
which the spindle E works.
The action of the apparatus shown in Figure 4 is as follows:- -When
the pull up of the watercloset is raised it causes the spindle E to descend,
carrying with it the piston C and the valve D, thus opening the com-
munication between the inlet or source of supply A through the valve ]
seating D' to the outlet B. When the pull up of the closet is let go it
falls by means of the weighted lever connected to it as in the ordinary
manner, leaving the separate weighted lever which actuates the spindle
of the apparatus to follow gradually, which it is caused to do by the
piston C having to force the water containes in the cylinder H through 1
the regulated aperture between the valve F and its seat F, the size
of said aperture regulating the time the piston C, and with it the valve D
is travelling from the bottom of cylinder H until the valve D rests on its
seating D', when the communication is cut off between the inlet A and
the outlet B.
Our last improvement relating to apparatus for regulating the supply
of water to waterclosets consists of a cistern containing a certain
quantity of water, to which we fit two valves, one the inlet or ball valvo,
which we make so that the pressure of the water from the source of
supply tends to keep it closed, and so that the valve itself works loosely a
in a slide or socket, and is only acted upon when the slide has travelled
a certain required distance up the stem of the valve. Connected with
this slide is an arrangement so that the ball and lever of the inlet or hall
valve shall only act upon it in one direction, viz., so as to close the inlet
or ball valve, the slide being made of such a relative diameter as com- 3
pared with the inlet valve that the pressure on it from the source of
supply will cause it, from its larger area, to overcome the pressure on the
back of the inlet valve and so raise it off its seat, so that the inlet valvo
is opened by the excess pressure on the sliding socket and closed by the
floating power of the ball. The other valve in the cistern we term the
outlet valve, as it governs the flow of water from the cistern. In con-
nection with this valve we fit a lever so arranged that it first presses on

page_text: the slide of the inlet valve, thus keeping the inlet valve closed, and then
opens the outlet valve, allowing the contents of the cistern to be
discharged, at the same time keeping the inlet valve perfectly closed, so
that it is impossible for the inlet and outlet valves to be open or partly
open at the same time. The quantity of water admitted to the closet or
other place is therefore so regulated that in no case can more than the
contents of the cistern be made to flow at one operation; besides, tho
whole operation is performed so that the inlet or ball valve lever is per-
fectly free when the outlet valve is opened, while in other cisterns this
lever has to be held up, thus rendering it liable to injury.
. Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of our improved regulating supply
apparatus for waterclosets as last described. A is the body of cistern;
B is the inlet or supply valve with ball constructed so that the pressure
of water from the source of supply tends to keep it closed, and so that
the valve stem itself works loosely in a slide or socket C, and is only
acted upon when the slide has travelled a certain required distance up
the stem of the valve; D is a long slot, so that the ball valve lever B
will not act on the slide or socket C except to close the inlet or ball
valve B' when the ball is raised; E is the outlet valve from cistern; F is
a lever so arranged that it presses on the slide C of the inlet valve B,
thus keeping the inlet valve B' closed, and then opens the outlet valve E,
so that it is impossible for both the inlet valve B and the outlet valve E
to be open or partly open at the same time.
The action is as follows:-Supposing the contents of the cistern to
have just been discharged and the outlet valve closed, the water from
the source of supply presses against the under side of slide or socket C,
causing it to rise and carry with it the valve B', allowing the water to
flow into the cistern, in doing which it gradually raises the ball B, the
stem of which pressing on the slide or socket C causes it to descend, thus
freeing the inlet valve B', which is carried on to its seating and kept
there by the pressure from the source of supply. When it is required to
discharge the contents of the cistern the lever F is pulled, and first
presses on the slide of the inlet valve B', thus keeping it firmly closed,
and then opens the outlet valve E, allowing the contents of the cistern
to be discharged. By freeing the lever the outlet valve is first closed
and the inlet valve B opened, as above described.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim, the
general arrangement and construction of parts, substantially as herein-
before described and for the purposes herein-before mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Philip Preston, for myself 5
and on behalf of the said John Theodore Prestige, Edwin James
Preston, and William Alfred Prestige, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eleventh day of November One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-two.