Improve- MENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Pearson, of No. 745, Old Kent Road,
in the County of Surrey, Carpenter, for the Invention of "Improve-
MENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, ALSO APPLICABLE TO
OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 2nd October 1874, and dated the 4th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Pearson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the:
4th April 1874.
I, EDWARD PEARSON, of No. 745, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, Carpenter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS FOR THE SAME, ALSO APPLICABLE
TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to waterclosets and valves or taps for the same,
which valves are also applicable to other purposes.
These improvements while diminishing the number of parts usually
required for this class of apparatus afford by a simple method self-

page_text: contained and self-acting means for trapping or preventing the return of
foul gases or effluvia from the drains or sewers; at the same time pre-
venting any leakage of the water supply into the usual woodwork of
the closet or into the dwelling-house in which the said closet may be
set up.
I use what I term a
"twin pan
" or a "twin basin." The main basin
is of one of the usual well known forms or shapes, and it is preferably
moulded or otherwise formed by well known means in one piece with its
twin basin. This smaller basin is by preference set to one side of the
main basin, and I shall in the following term it the "side basin." This
basin communicates in the usual manner at its bottom part with the
main basin by means of a pipe adjusted to a suitable fall for the passage
of the soil and liquids from the main basin into the said secondary or
side basin. The side basin is so proportioned and made of such a size
that it contains the whole of the purging or cleansing gear of the closet.
The bottom portion of the said side basin is shaped to a tubular form
at the part where it opens into the drain piping or other receptacle

page_text: basin.
The action of the apparatus is now obvious. On the fall or in the.
absence of water in the side basin the float drops down, keeping open
the tap until the flow of water into the main basin and from thence.
through the communicating tube into the side basin lifts up the said
float and closes the tap.
When the operator raises the valve closing up the main outlet the
whole contents of the side basin are discharged, the float at once falls,
a fresh jet of water rushes in to purge out the main basin, the piston
valve falls back, and so on. Any reflux of foul gases from the sewer is
thus prevented not merely by means of the piston valve with india-
rubber packing, but also by the considerable volume of clear water
resting on the said piston valve, while any leakage or drip merely adds
to this protecting body of water.
It is usual to provide apparatus of this class with a waste pipe to
carry off any water that may risc above a certain level. I prefer to
place the said waste pipe in communication, not with the drain, as is
usual, but with the nearest gully hole.
I may also set the waste pipe in communication with the drain, in
which case I use a suitable bent pipe trapped in the well known way by
means of water, the supply being kept up by means of a so-called fan-
piece suitably adjusted in the main basin.
The tap I prefer to employ is constructed as follows:-Its external
appearance is somewhat similar to that of an ordinary tap. The tubular
portion of the body of the tap, the flow of the liquid through which is
to be obturated or intermittently opened and closed, consists, as is usual
with common taps, of the frustrum of a cone cast at right angles to the
pipe or tube, through or past which the liquid is led. This cone is also
hollowed out in the usual tapered form. It may also be left entirely
open at the top, while at the bottom there is a small hole for the passage
of a slender stem, which is bored out or otherwise formed. The top
may be covered by a cap screwed on.
The tap plug is also a solid frustrum of a cone, but instead as in
ordinary taps being cut out with a central or with side passages, it is
made entirely solid. Its smaller end is also fitted with a slender stem,

page_text: and sufficient space is left between the top of the said plug and the
bottom of the cap or cover for an adjustment vertically. Instead there-
fore, as is usual with ordinary cocks or taps, causing the plug to vibrate
for a portion of a circle, the plug is lifted up vertically by its stem
below, thereby leaving sufficient space for the water to pass from one
portion of the pipe through the body of the tap to the other opposite
portion of the pipe. It is obvious that a guide for this novel form of
tap may also be formed by lengthening or continuing the upper cylin-
drical portion of the plug and shaping appropriately thereto the hollowed
out body of the tap. The solid plug is then raised or lowered by means
of a stem fitted to its
upper end.
Other similar modifications may be made without departing from the
essence of my Invention. This form of tap is applicable as a ball cock
for ordinary cisterns, as a bat cock in sinks, to other household appliances,
and to the innumerable purposes in fact to which the common forms of
taps or cocks or valves can be used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
.
filed by the said Edward Pearson in the Great Scal Patent Office
' on the 3rd October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
PEARSON, of Number 745, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrcy,
Carpenter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto the said Edward Peirson, Her special licence,
that I, the said Edward Peirson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Peirson, 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
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS

page_text: IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAP3 FOR THE SAME, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Peirson, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Peirson, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say) :-
This Invention relates to waterclosets and valves or taps for the same,
which valves are also applicable to other purposes.
These improvements while, diminishing the number of parts. usually
required for this class of apparatus afford by a simple method self-
contained and self-acting means for trapping or preventing the return of
foul gases or effluvia from the drain or sewer, at the same time preventing
any leakage of the water supply into the usual woodwork of the closet
or into the dwelling-house in which the said closet may be set up.
I use. what I term a twin pan or a twin basin. The main basin is of
one of the usual well known forms or shapes, and it is preferably
moulded or otherwise formed by well known means in one piece with its
twin basin. This latter, a somewhat smaller basin, is by preference sct
to one side of the main basin, and I shall in the following term it the
side basin. This basin communicates in the usual manner at its bottom
part with the main basin by means of a pipe adjusted to a suitable fall
for the passage of the soil and liquids from the main basin into the said
secondary or side basin. The side basin is so proportioned and made of
such a size that it can contain the whole of the purging or cleaning
gear of the closet. The bottom portion of the said basin is shaped to a
tubular form at the part where it opens into the drain piping or other.
receptacle below.
The gear for working the closet. merely consists, firstly, of a piston
valve or obturator adjusted into the outlet pipe of the side basin. This

page_text: valve is formed with a solid head, preferably of a cylindrical shape, and
tightened against the sides of the vertical outlet pipe by means of an
india-rubber ring stretched into a suitable groove formed for its reception
on the outside of the piston valve. The said valve is further provided
with a vertical stem fitted to an ordinary handle and suitably guided in
such wise that when the said handle is lifted by the operator all the solid
and liquid contents of the side basin flow down and clear out the said
basin through the vertical outlet pipe.
The water is supplied by a suitable piping adjusted to the upper part
of the twin basin in the usual manner, being in such wise that the water
jet may clear the main basin and drive or float the solid and liquid
matters into the side basin past the tube of communication between the
twin basins. The inlet of the water is regulated by means of a tap,
preferably of the peculiar form fully described and illustrated in British
Specification, No. 1176, A.D. 1874, but I may also employ any ordinary
and well known form of tap for this purpose. The said tap is adjustable
by means of a lever and ball float, the movements of which depend upon
the presence or the level of the water in the side basin.
The action of the apparatus is now obvious. On the fall or in the
absence of water in the side basin the float drops down, keeping open
the tap until the flow of water into the main basin and from thence
through the communicating tube into the side basin lifts up the said
float and closes the tap.
When the operator raises the valve closing up the main outlet the
whole contents of the basin are discharged, the float at once falls, a a
fresh jet of water rushes in to purge out the main basin, the piston valve
falls back, and so on. Any reflux of foul gases from the sewer is thus
prevented, not merely by means of the piston valve with india-rubber
packing, but also by the considerable volume of clean water resting on
the said piston valve, while any leakage or drip merely adds to this a
protecting body of water.
Further, instead of connecting as is usual the ordinary waste pipe of
the closet with the main drain, I may give the same a separate outlet
and outflow, or I may also adapt a syphon trap of the usual kind.
The tap which I prefer to employ in connection with the float is a
constructed as follows:-Its external appearance is somewhat similar to
that of an ordinary tap. The tubular portion of the body of the tap,

page_text: the flow of liquid through which is to be obturated or intermittently
opened and closed, consists, as is usual with common taps, preferably of
the frustrum of a cone cast at right angles to the pipe or tube through
or past which the fluid is to be led. This cone is also hollowed out in
the usual tapered form, and at the bottom a small hole for the passage
of a slender stem is bored out. With high pressures of water the joint
of this hole may be made by an ordinary stuffing box. The tap may be
covered by a cap screwed on.
The tap plug is also a solid frustrum of a cone, but instead.as.in
ordinary taps being cut out with a central or with side passages it is
made entirely solid. Its smaller end is also fitted with a slender stem,
and sufficient space is left between the top of the said plug and the
bottom of the cap or cover. for an adjustment vértically, or the plug may
be shaped somewhat like a so-called mushroom valve. Instead therefore,
as is usual with ordinary cocks or taps, causing the plug to vibrate for a
portion of a circle, the plug is lifted up vertically by its stem below,
thereby leaving sufficient space for the water to pass from one portion
of the pipe through the body of the tap to the opposite portion of the
pipe.
37
I will now proceed to make my Invention more clearly understood by
mcans of Drawings. In the Sheet of the same hereunto annexed Fig. 1
is a front elevation of the watercloset apparatus with twin basin, piston
valve, and float, etc., complete; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.
Fig. 3, a side elevation of the main pan.
Fig. 4, a hind elevation, and Fig. 5 the side elevation of the pan con-
taining the gear for working the apparatus.
This
In all the said five Figures A is the main basin, being cast, moulded,
or otherwise suitably formed in one piece, as shown, with the side basin
or receptacle B. The pipe of communication with a suitable form between
the two basins is indicated by C. . The piston valve to be worked by the
operator is shewn by D, and its stem and handle indicated by d.
piston valve bears against a narrow portion of the side basin indicated
by b. P is the pipe connected with the water supply and jointed to a
tap, by preference such as the one described, worked by the float F and
the lever L. The water jet may be spread or otherwise directed by any
of the well known methods used in such apparatus. S is a syphon trap
as is usually employed for relieving the apparatus from any accidental

page_text: undue supply of water, but the same function may be carried out by any
suitable pipe with an overflow separate from the drain.
-
Figs. 6 and 7 indicate to a larger scale the piston valve D, which is
turned out with a groove and fitted with an india-rubber ring d, as
shewn.
Having now fully described and illustrated my said Invention I
declare that I claim constructing waterclosets in the mode and with the
apparatus as herein set forth and shewn on Drawings or any colourable
imitation thereof..
1
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Peirson, have hereunto 1
set my hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
"
four.