IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAINS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. John William Hoffman, of Birmingham; in the
. County of Warwick; Gentleman; for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FOUNTAINS."
Sealed the 24th October 1866, and dated the 27th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Hoffman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents; with his Petition, on the
27th April 1866.
I, JOHN WILLIAM HOFFMAN; of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick;
Gentleman; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im
PROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAINS;" to be as follows:-
'This Invention consists in constructing fountains for gardens, for tables, for
shops, or other like uses in such manner as to contain their own reservoirs,
and to be self-acting. Upon a suitable base or stand I place a collapsible
bay or reservoir to contain the fluid; this reservoir is concealed by the parts
of the vase or other shape of the fountain which are made to cover it, and to
work with a telescopic action over the base. The reservoir is furnished with
two tubes; by preference made of elastic material, the one as a jet for ejecting
the fluid, the other as a return pipe to bring it back into the reservoir. The
jet passes upwards through the basin or tazza of the fountain, whilst the

page_text: return pipe is secured to the tazza. The-return pipe is so fixed within the
waist of the fountain that it may be closed at will, and when the jet has filled
the tazza, which is effected by the weight of the vase or fountain upon the
collapsible reservoir, raising the tazza by hand or by a lever placed in any
suitable position, or by other available means allows the water or other
fluid to flow down the return pipe into the reservoir, and the jet again plays
it nn
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John William Hoffman in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAM HOFFMAN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John William Hoffman, Her special license that I, the
said John William Hoffman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John William Hoffman, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 IN FOUNTAINS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John William Hoffman, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John William Hoffman, 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, réference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to say) :-

page_text: This Invention consists in constructing fountains for gardens, for tables, for,
shops, or other like uses in such manner as to contain their own reservoirs,
and to be self-acting. Upon a suitable base or stand I place a collapsible
bag or reservoir to contain the fluid; this reservoir is concealed by the parts.
of the base or other shape of the fountain which are made to cover it, and.
work with a telescopic action over the base. The reservoir is furnished, with.
two tubes, by preference made of elastic material, the one as a jet for ejecting,
the fluid, the other as a return pipe to bring it back into the reservoir.. The,
jet passes upwards through the bazin or tazza of the fountain, whilst the
return pipe is secured to the tazza. The return pipe is so fixed within the
waist of the fountain that it may be closed at will; and when the jet has filled
the tazza; which is effected by the weight of the vase or fountain upon the.
collapsible reservoir raising the tazza or basin by hand or by a lever placed,
in any suitable position, or by other available means, allows the water or
other fluid to flow down the return pipe into the reservoir, and the jet again

page_text: downflow of water as it is thrown into the tazza. The elevation (Figure 2)
shows the tazza full, and (in dotted lines) the reservoir exhausted, when by:
raising the tazza and inner tube (f) by means of the thumb knob (j) into:
the position shewn in this Figure, the pressure' upon the return pipe (e) will
be removed, and the water allowed to flow down that pipe to replenish the 5
reservoir. Should the fountain be of too large a size to admit of the basin or
tazza when full being raised by means of the thumb knob, a small lever
apparatus having a fixed fulcrum upon either of the tubes (for h) may be
employed to raise the basin, and for garden fountains this or any other.
suitable mechanical power may readily be applied.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim without limiting myself to these
exact details the improvements in the construction of fountains in manner
herein more fully set forth and specified.
-In witness whereof, I, the said John William Hoffman, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN WILLIAM HOFFMAN.. (L.B.).