AN IMPROVED WATER WASTE PREVENTING CISTERN
Year: 1885

page_text: I JAMES WHITE of Fore Street Ridgeway Plympton in the county of Devon
Ironmonger do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for AN IMPROVED
WATER WASTE PREVENTING CISTERN to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to produce a cistern for flushing water closets and
urinals and for other suitable purposes that shall be very simple in construction as
no valves are used and shall provide an extremely efficient flush when required
while at the same time as this my cistern cannot be emptied until it has been
duly filled through the ball valve any waste of water such as can be caused by
allowing a continuous flow is very effectively prevented.
To carry out this object I construct a suitable cistern of the required shape and
size to which the water is admitted through any usual ball valve and from which
the said water is discharged through any usual or suitable syphon connected with
the flushing pipe the bend or top of which syphon is as is usual above the
regulated water line of the cistern. At the proposed water level in the cistern is
an horizontal plate or partition which is tightly secured to the sides of the same
and round the bend or top of the syphon and the said plate or partition extend's
entirely over the said cistern except at one end where an aperture is made in and
through which the ball of the ball valve can float on the water which aperture is
preferably at the opposite end of the cistern to the said ball valve and may extend
entirely across the said cistern. At or near the edge of the plate or partition
where the aforesaid aperture is formed and immediately below the same or on the
underside thereof is pivotted transversely and horizontally across the cistern a
stout plate which forms a displacer or propeller and this plate is nearly of the
same dimensions as the transverse vertical area of the said cistern below the said.
partition or thereabouts to which displacer or propeller or to the pivot on which it
can turn is attached a suitably bent lever and the upper end of this lever is
connected with the pull either directly or through any other lever or otherwise as
may be necessary. This displacer or propeller is counterweighted so that in its
normal position it extends outwards from the plate or partition and away from the
syphon under the aforesaid aperture and the ball therein.
The action of this apparatus is as follows. When the cistern has been filled up
to the level of the horizontal plate or partition and the water supply has been shut
off by the ball valve the displacer or propeller is or can be suddenly moved by the
1

page_text: pull through the lever into a vertical position or thereabouts and the water
displaced or propelled by this movement is forced to the other end of the cistern
thereby but the horizontal plate or partition prevents the water rising in this part
of the said cistern and therefore this displaced or propelled water has no outlet
except up the short leg of the syphon and thus the bend or top of the said syphon
is filled therewith and the syphonic action is established which empties the cistern
and provides the required flush and this entire flush is obviously effected even if
the pull is very quickly released while if the pull is held no further flush can be
given and waste of water is thus prevented but if the pull is released and the
cistern allowed to fill all is in readiness for another flush.
An Improved Water Waste Preventing Cistern.
I JAMES WHITE of Fore Street Ridgeway Plympton in the county of Devon
Ironmonger do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to produce a cistern for flushing water-closets and
urinals and for other suitable purposes that shall be very simple in construction
as no valves are used and that shall provide an extremely efficient flush when
required while at the same time as this cistern cannot be emptied until the same
has been duly filled through the ball valve any waste of water such as can be
caused by allowing a continuous flow is very effectively prevented. This my
improved cistern can also be so arranged and fitted that an overflow pipe can be
provided notwithstanding that the cistern is emptied through a syphon and thus
the great evil that is experienced in syphonic cisterns in the practical impossibility,
of fitting overflow pipes thereto is obviated and avoided.
In order the more clearly to explain this my invention I refer to the accom-
panying drawing.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved water waste preventing
cistern.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
A suitable cistern A is made of the desired material and of the required shape
and size to which cistern A the water is admitted through any usual ball valve B
and from which cistern A 'the water is discharged through any usual or suitable
syphon C connected with the flushing pipe D the bend or top of which syphon C
is as is usual above the regulated water line of the said cistern A. 'In the drawing

page_text: I have shewn that style or form of syphon in which the short leg thereof is formed
by a cap placed over the end of the flushing pipe D which rises through the
bottom of the cistern A up to the level desired for the bend of the syphon and
forms the long leg thereof which style or form of syphon as so shewn I consider
to be the best for most purposes but I can also use in this my invention any other
style or form of syphon that may be desired in each particular case. At the
proposed water level in the cistern A is an horizontal plate or partition E tightly
secured in any convenient manner to the sides or walls of the said cistern A or to
plates placed inside the same and round the syphon C which plate or partition E
extends entirely across the said cistern A and from one end over so much of the
length of the same as may be desirable in each case for the purpose hereinafter
stated and to the end that this plate or partition E shall not so extend over too
much of the said cistern A but that a suitable space may be left wherein the ball
of the ball valve B can duly float on the surface of the water I preferably place
the said syphon C near to one end of the said cistern A at which same end may
also be situated the said ball valve B the discharge pipe wherefrom can very
suitably pass down tightly through the said plate or partition E to deliver the
water below the same. At or near the edge of the plate or partition E and
immediately below the same or on the underside thereof is pivotted transversely
and horizontally across the cistern A a stout plate F which constitutes and acts as
a displacer or propeller and this plate F is very nearly of the same dimensions as
the transverse vertical area of the said cistern A below the said partition E or
thereabouts. Thus when the plate F hangs vertically downwards a chamber is
formed into which the mouth of the syphon C opens the closed top of which
chamber is the partition E and one the opening side of which chamber is the said
plate F while the other the closed sides thereof are or may be the walls of the
cistern A or other plates placed inside the same and the bottom of which chamber
is the bottom of the said cistern A. To the propeller plate F or to the pivot on
which the same can turn is attached a suitable lever H and the upper end of this
lever H is connected with the pull K either directly in any convenient or usual
manner or as is preferable and as is shewn in the drawing through another lever L
pivotted on the outer side of the cistern A in the proper position on the opposite
end thereof to which lever L the said pull K is attached and the said lever L is
connected to the said lever H by the rope chain or rod M of the said lever H may
be actuated and governed in other usual or convenient manner as may be desired.
The propeller plate F is counterweighted by the weight N in such a manner that
instead of hauging vertically downwards the said propeller plate F normally hangs
as shewn in the drawing extending outwardly at the desired angle from the
perpendicular from the edge of the plate or partition E on or near which the same
is pivotted as hereinbefore described and away from the syphon C. A suitable
overflow pipe P can be fitted at any desired level between the regulated water
level and the level of the bend of the syphon C.
The action of this apparatus herein before described is as follows. When the
cistern A has been duly filled up to the level of the horizontal plate or partition E
and the water supply has been shut off by the ball valve B the propeller plate F
can be suddenly moved by the pull K through the lever H into a vertical position
or thereabouts and the water propelled by this movement is and must be forced as
a wave to the end of the said cistern A thereby but the said horizontal plate or
partition E prevents the water rising in this part of the said cistern A and
therefore this wave of water so propelled has no outlet except up the short leg of
the syphon C and thus the bend or top of the said syphon C is filled therewith and
the syphonic action is established which empties the said cistern A and provides the
desired flush and this entire flush is obviously effected even if the pull is very
quickly released and the propeller plate allowed to return to its normal position
while if the pull is held no further flush can be given and waste of water is thus
prevented but when the cistern is again filled and the pull is released all is in
readiness for another flush.

page_text: When this my improved cistern is formed as shewn in the drawing a cover can
very conveniently be fitted thereto when desired for purposes of cleanliness or
otherwise in which case the rope chain or rod M if any or other actuating
apparatus would pass through an aperture in the wall of the cistern as shewn.
The bend of the syphon in this my cistern can be placed at any desired and
suitable level above the regulated water line in every case the propeller plate
being caused by the counterweight normally to assume such an angle from the
perpendicular as to govern and propel as aforesaid such a body of water as will
suffice to fill the bend of this syphon above this regulated water line and the lever
or levers or other apparatus that actuates or actuate the propeller plate can be so
proportioned and arranged in each case that the required amount of motion may
be given to the propeller plate without unduly shortening or lengthening the
motion of the pull. In this manner when it is desirable so to do I can locate the
bend of the syphon above the upper edge of the cistern when obviously no overflow
pipe would be required and a cover can still be fitted round the syphon. When
however as will perhaps generally be the case the bend of the syphon is below the
top edge of the cistern I preferably allow such a distance between the level of the
bend of the syphon and the level of the regulated water line in the cistern as will
enable me to fit a proper overflow pipe to the cistern between such levels whereby
if the fittings or any of them are out of order and water is continuously flowing
into the cistern there can be no danger that the water shall pass away through the
syphon and not be noticed but instead thereof the water must flow out through
the overflow pipe and draw attention to the need for repair or adjustment as is
desired.
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. In a cistern the combination with a syphon of the horizontal plate E and the
propeller plate F substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and
declared.
2. The water waste preventing cistern substantially as set forth.