IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, URINALS, AND LAVATORIES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah George Jennings, of Holland Street, Black-
friars, in the County of Surrey, Sanatory Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, URINALS, AND LAVATORIES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah George Jennings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th February 1860.
I, JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County
of Surrey, Sanatory Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, URINALS, AND LAVATORIES" to be as
follows:-
My improvements consist in forming watercloset. urinal, and lavatory
basins each with a lip or hollow projection, and when requisite, mounting
them so as to work on centres or axes, which by preference form part of the
basin. Above the basin I fix a cistern, formed with a small compartment at
the bottom, the size of which regulates the quantity supplied to the basin each
time it is used. When the basin is turned on its axes the contents are dis-
charged over the lip, and a valve in the bottom of the measuring compartment,
which before was kept open by the lip, closes, and a valve in the bottom c
[Priss 8d.]

page_text: the cistern, which before was kept closed by the lip, opens, and allows water
from the cistern to flow into the measuring compartment.
When the basin is again brought into position the lip acts on the valves so
as to allow the water in the measuring compartment to flow into the basin,
and at the same time prevent the flow from the supply cistern into the mea-
suring compartment.
In place of the arrangement above described, the basin in each case may be
supplied by a pair of valves, so regulated as to give the required supply when
acted upon by the motion of the basin, but I prefer the arrangement first
described. These closet, urinal, and lavatory basin may (when so desired) be
made self-acting, so that when one is approached, a lever, may be made to act
upon and restore the basin to its position, giving at the same time the supply
of water necessary, and when left, the basin, by its own gravity, discharges its
contents. I also form urinal basins with a lip in front, the object being that
the lip may pass between the legs of the user.
The mode of supplying a cistern is by a hydrostatic cock or valve, the
arrangement being, that the supply valve closes against the pressure when the
rising of the ball or float closes the passage leading to the superior area;
the fall of the ball or float relieves this chamber, and the water continues to
flow until the passage is again closed by the rising of the ball or float.
This arrangement permits the use of a float or ball without the usual
stem, and for security sake, and to prevent the ball or float-cock of a cistern
being tampered with, I enclose it in a case.
In connection with the waste pipes of cisterns, lavatories, or urinals, I use
a flap or back valve, which permits of the flow through the waste pipes, but
prevents the return of impure air from the drains with which such waste pipes
may be in connection.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Josiah George
Jennings in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
.GEORGE JENNINGS, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
Sanatory Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said Josiah George Jennings, Her special licence that I, the said
Josiah George Jennings, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS, URINALS, AND LAVA-
TORIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Josiah
George Jennings, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or before the Fifteenth day of
September, One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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, that is to say:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a plan, and Figure 2 a transverse section, of a watercloset
constructed according to my Invention. a is the basin, which is made to turn
on hinges or axes at b, b, in such manner that it may be tilted back to dis-
charge the water and soil contained therein. I have not shewn the means of
supplying the basin with water after it has been used, as the supply may be by
any convenient means, but I prefer that apparatus such as is herein-after
described should be used, so that by the act of bringing the basin again into
position to be used, it may be supplied with the proper measure of water. The
upper edge of the basin is made with a flanch, by which it is fixed to the under
side of the seat or flap c, or it may be formed and fixed thereto in any con-
venient manner. The basin is made with a lip or spout a' at the back, so that
when the basin is tilted the water and soil may be conveniently emptied into
the vessel below, which at its outlet at bottom is connected with a bent pipe,
so as to form a water joint.
The peculiarity of this part of my Invention consists in the basin of a water-
closet being mounted on axes, and having a lip to discharge its contents, as
above explained.
Another part of my Invention relates to urinals. Figure 3 shows a vertical

page_text: a
section, and Figure 4 a front elevation, of a urinal constructed according to
this part of my Invention, in the position of the parts when out of use.
Figure 5 shows a vertical section of the urinal when in a position for use.
is the basin, which turns on axes b, b, and it has projecting lips at a¹, a²; the
one at a¹ is for discharging the contents, and the one at a is for the purpose of
passing between the legs of the user, so as to prevent any drops of urine
descending to the floor. The basins of urinals according to this part of my
Invention, I prefer to be supplied with a measured quantity of water by appa-
ratus connected therewith, in like manner to what is hereafter described with
reference to basins of lavatories. The basin of a urinal is brought into position
for use by means of a lever c, connecting rod d, a rack e, and pinion f; the
lever c being acted on by the hinged platform g. The peculiarity of this part
of my Invention consisting in mounting the basins of urinals on axes, and
forming such basins with lips a¹, a, as herein described, and also in arranging
apparatus to render the urinal self-acting, as explained.
Figure 6 shows a vertical section, Figure 7 a front elevation, and Figure 8
a is the basin.
a plan, of a lavatory constructed according to my Invention.
which turns on axes at b, b, and it has a lip a' at the back to empty the contents
when the basin is tilted; h is a small cistern or reservoir, to which a constant
supply of water is laid on by the pipe i, and the supply to the upper compart-
ment of the reservoir is shut off by the float and cock j. The upper compart-
ment of the cistern communicates with the lower compartment, there being a
valve to shut the communication, and on the same spindle or stem there is
another valve l, which closes the outlet passage of the lower compartment
The lower end of the
when the valve to the upper compartment is opened.
spindle or stem of the valves k, l, descends through a stuffing box, and comes
into a position to be lifted when the basin a is in a position to be used. By
means of this arrangement the supply of water contained in the upper part
of the cistern will descend into the lower compartment when the basin is tilted,
and the measured supply in the lower compartment will descend into the basin
immediately the basin is brought into a horizontal position for use, at which
time the upper compartment of the cistern will be again supplied with water.
The Drawing shews the basin and apparatus to be placed above a dwarf
cupboard, but this may be varied, and the red lines below the basin shew
In place
another device for a suitable stand, but these may also be varied.
of the arrangement of apparatus for supplying water to a lavatory basin, or to
the basin of a urinal, or the basin of a watercloset, being such as is shewn in
Figures 6, 7, and 8, a combination of apparatus such as is shewn in Figures 9
and 10 may be employed.

page_text: m is a small reservoir, suitable for containing a quantity of water, such as it
is desired should be supplied to the basin of a watercloset, or urinal, or lavatory;
n is the supply pipe from a suitable cistern or reservoir; o is a valve formed
with two faces, one to act against the lower end of the supply pipe, and the
other face to cover the outlet leading from the reservoir m to the spout which
conveys the water to the basin; p is the stem or spindle of the valve, which
passes through a stuffing box, and its end comes into a position to be acted
on by the lip of the basin a, so that when the basin is in a horizontal position
the valve is lifted, and the quantity contained in the reservoir m is delivered to
the basin. In constructing the waste pipes for the cisterns of lavatories and
urinals I prefer to do so in the following manner: -Figure 11 shews a vertical
section, and Figure 12 a plan, of an arrangement of apparatus suitable for
carrying out this part of my Invention. is part of the bottom of a cistern;
r is part of the waste pipe in the cistern; and s is the upper part of waste pipe
exterior of the cistern, which may be made of earthenware or other suitable
material; and the peculiarity consists in applying a flap or back valve (, which
permits the flow from the waste pipe, but prevents impure air passing from the
drain up the waste pipe. The frame of the valve t is made to fit into a recess
t', as shown, so that by disconnecting the lower part of the waste pipe, the
valve can readily be got at. The improvements in lavatories consist in
arranging the basins to move on axes, and constructing them with lips as
herein described.
And, lastly, I claim the apparatus above described for supplying water to
basins of waterclosets, urinals, and lavatories, and I also claim the application
of valves to the waste pipes, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah George Jennings, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS. (L.S.)