AN IMPROVED SPITTING BOX AP SDITTOON
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Louis Bergeon, Manufacturer, of Paris, in
the French Empire, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SPITTING BOX
AP SDITTOON" A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Louis Bergeon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th November 1855.
I, PIERRE LOUIS BERGEON, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the French Empire,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SPITTING
Box OR SPITTOON," (communicated to me from abroad,) to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing spittoons with a cover or lid, which
can be raised by depressing a pedal with the foot, and kept raised, if desired,
by means of a detent; and in fitting inside the case a moveable basin or other
suitable receptacle to contain sand, sawdust, or the like, and to receive the
dejections. The pedal has a spring connected to it, which forces it down, and
with it the cover of the spittoon, as soon as the foot is withdrawn from it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Louis Bergeon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
LOUIS BERGEON, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the French Empire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Der heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Pierre Louis Bergeon, Iler special licence that I, the said Pierro
Louis Bergeon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
tho said Pierre Louis Bergeon, 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 "AN
IMPROVED SPITTING BOX OR SPITTOON," (communicated to me by a foreigner
residing abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Pierre
Louis Bergeon, 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 Pierre Louis Bergeon, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner 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:
The Invention consists in constructing spittoons with a cover or lid, which
can be raised by depressing a pedal with the foot, and kept raised, if desired,
by means of a detent; and in fitting inside the case a removeable basin or other
suitable receptacle to contain sand, sawdust, or the like, and to receive the
dejections. The pedal bas a spring connected to it, which forces it down, and
with it the cover of the spittoon, as soon as the foot is withdrawn from it; or
the case containing the basin may be fitted in a drawer made to open and shut
by a spring pedal, &c., acted on by the hand or foot; or, instead of using a

page_text: pedal, a ledge or support may be connected to the case, so that the lid may be
raised and may rest against the support when the spittoon is to be open.
By these arrangements spittoons may be fitted into or concealed in stools,
desks, or other furniture, and thus the exposure of such articles in sitting
rooms avoided. The spittoon may be round, square, or of any other desired
shape, and mounted on feet and castors.
The manner in which I carry the Invention into effect is exemplified in the
annexed Drawings.
Figure 1 is a section of a spittoon constructed according to the present
Invention. a is a case supported on feet i, i; b, a basin fitted into the case;
care rings for lifting the basin; the basin is intended to contain sand, saw-
dust, &c., and to receive the dejections. d is a cover or lid, hinged at one end
to the inside of the case a; f is a pedal under the case, supported between
two lugs e, e, and free to move upward or downward; one end of this pedal
projects forward beyond the front of the case, and the further end is connected
by a hooked pin or link g to the lid d; h is a spring fitted between the
pedal and the bottom of the case. When it is desired to open the spittoon,
pressure is applied by the foot to the projecting end of the pedal f, whereby
the lid is raised in the direction indicated by the red line ; on removing the
foot, the spring h, which was itself compressed by the pressure on the pedal,
springs out and closes the cover d.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a modification of my improved spittoon.
A is the case, in which is placed a drawer B, which holds the vessel intended
to receive the dejections; 6 is a spring (formed of a strip of steel, shewn
detached in Figure 3,) fitted at the back of the case A; 9 is another spring,
placed at the top of the case; one end of this spring takes into a recess e
in the drawer B, and thus acts as a stop or catch, and prevents the drawer
from being pushed forward by the spring b. On pressing on the button f,
the catch is disengaged, the spring 6 distended, and the drawer pushed open;
it may be closed by pushing it back with the foot. The drawer may be
opened to a greater extent by forming a stop at the back to prevent its
coming completely out of the case, and the spring at the back may then be
made stronger, so as to push the drawer further forward. Instead of forming
the spring b of a strip of steel, a box spring, or any suitable spring may be
employed, or the arrangement of the springs otherwise varied.
Figure 4 represents another modification. Here the case c is provided with
a lid d, so formed as to project a little beyond the front edge of the case,
whereby it may be raised by the foot and rested against the support E when
the spittoon is to be opened.

page_text: And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that. I claim as of my said
Invention, the construction of a spittoon consisting of a case provided with a
lid opened by a pedal, and closed by a spring; and of a removeable basin to
receive the dejections, or of a case and removeable basin fitted in a drawer, all
as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Louis Bergeon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CII. ARMENGAUD, Ing Civil,
23, Boulev de Strasbourg.
P. L. BERGEON. (L.8.)