IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS OR VALVES FOR THE SAME, AND FOR WATER SUPPLY PIPES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Shanks, of Barrhead, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Sanitary Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS OR VALVES FOR THE SAME,
AND FOR WATER SUPPLY PIPES."
Sealed the 28th February 1873, and dated the 5th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Shanks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1872.
I, JOHN SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS AND IN TAPS OR VALVES FOR
THE SAME, AND FOR WATER SUPPLY PIPES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object economy in first cost combined with
durability in use and non-liability to derangement in watercloset appa-
ratus and in taps or valves for water supply pipes.
The basin of the improved watercloset apparatus is shaped with a.
curved enlargement round its upper part, and the water inlet horn is
applied obliquely to it so as to give the water a stronger whirling motion
than is produced by the ordinary arrangement, and so that such motion.
combined with the shape of the basin causes sufficient water to be

page_text: retained after the closet handle is lowered without any "regulator" or
similar appliance. The water supply pipe is connected to the basin by
inserting the end of it into the inlet horn with one or two rubber rings
applied between it and the inside of the horn. The main discharge valve
is in a vertical passage at the side of the basin, being connected directly
to the rod of the closet handle, and consists of a portion of a rubber ball
fixed to the bottom of a tubular piece. There is an opening up through
the ball, the rubber being formed with a flange turned up inside of an
inner tubular piece which rises up inside of an inverted cup fixed in the
top of the valve piece. When the valve piece is shut down its top
defines the overflow level, any water rising above that level flowing
inwards over its edge and finding its way up under the inverted cup
which acts as a trap, and thence down through the inner tubular piece
and ball.
1.
One modification of the improved taps or valves is specially suitable
for the supply pipe of a watercloset cistern and to be worked by the
usual float lever. It is made with a movable nozzle which acts as the
valve piece, and is embraced by a looped or bowed part of the float lever.
A groove is formed round it into which pins formed or fixed on the lever
enter, and by which the lever moves it. The valve piece is made tubular
for a part of its length inwards, the inner end of the bore communicating
by lateral openings with the chamber in which the valve piece works.
The inner end of the valve piece is recessed to receive a rubber or leather
washer, and when the valve is closed this washer bears against the outlet
orifice from the pipe.
.
In a second modification of tap or valve a rubber, washer, or disc which
closes upon an outlet orifice is held at its edges in the joint between the
body of the tap and the cover, and is moved away to open the tap, or
pressed down to close it, by a metal spindle fixed to its centre. The
spindle is connected to a button or handle piece which is screwed either
internally to work on an externally screwed part of the cover piece or
vice versa. With this arrangement the screwed parts can be made with
stronger threads and of larger diameter, and so as to be more durable
than some arrangements in use. A movable swan neck may be com-
bined with this modification of the taps or valves.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Shanks in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SHANKS, of Barrhead, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Sanitary Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Shanks, Her special licence that
I, the said John Shanks, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Shanks, 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 IN WATERCLOSETS AND
IN TAPS OR VALVES FOR THE SAME, AND FOR WATER SUPPLY PIPES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Shanks, 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 John Shanks, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object economy in first cost combined
with durability in use and non-liability to derangement in watercloset
apparatus and in taps or valves for water supply pipes.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of

page_text: explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
various modifications of apparatus embodying my improvements. In
these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same
or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan and Figure 2 is a vertical section showing
my improved watercloset apparatus. The basin 1 of this improved appa-
ratus is shaped with a curved enlargement 2 round its upper part, and-
the water inlet horn 3 is applied obliquely to it so as to give the water a
stronger whirling motion than is produced by the ordinary arrangement,
and so that such motion combined with the shape of the basin causes
sufficient water to be retained after the closet handle 4 is lowered, with-
out any «
regulator" or similar appliance. The water supply pipe 5 is
connected to the basin 1 by inserting the end of it into the inlet horn 3
with one or two rubber rings 6 applied between it and the inside of the
horn. The main discharge valve is in a vertical passage 7, 8, at the side
of the basin, being connected directly to the rod 9 of the closet handle
4, and consists of a portion of a rubber ball 10 fixed to the bottom of a
tubular piece 11. There is an opening 12 up through the ball 10, the
rubber being formed with a cylindrical flange directed upwards and
into an inverted cup 13 fixed in the tubular piece 11. This inverted
cup is cast in one piece with a flanged ring 14 to which it is connected
by radial arms, and which serves to secure the rubber piece 10 by a
flange round its top edge to the tubular piece 11. The tubular piece 11
and the inverted cup 13 are at once fixed together and upon the handle
rod 9 by two nuts screwed on the rod, one up against the inside of the
cup 13 and the other down upon a cross bar 15 spanning the top of the
tubular piece 11. When the valve piece 11, 10, is shut down the top of
the tubular piece 11 defines the overflow level, any water rising above
that level flowing inwards over its edge and finding its way up under the
inverted cup 13 which acts as a trap, and thence down through the
inner tubular part 12 of the rubber ball 10. The valve seat for the
rubber ball 10 is a flat ring of brass with a smooth rounded edge held in
place between the joint flanges of the pipes.
The water may be supplied by waste preventing apparatus or by a tap
of any known suitable kind, but the tap represented is of a kind herein-
after described, being actuated by a lever 39, the end of which is inserted
in a slot in the valve rod 9, with a rubber or other spring placed over it
to give a yielding pressure in closing.

page_text: One modification of my improved taps or valves is specially suitable
for the supply pipe of a watercloset cistern and to be worked by the
usual float lever. This tap, which is shown in vertical section in Figure 3,
is made with a movable nozzle 16 which acts as the valve piece, and is
embraced by a looped or bowed part 17 of the float lever 18, this bowed
part being formed with pins or projections on its inside, and which enter
a groove formed in the lower end of the nozzle 16. The valve piece or
nozzle 16 is made tubular for a part of its length inwards, the inner end
of the bore communicating by lateral openings 19 with the chamber in
which the valve piece works. A rubber or leather washer 20 is applied
to the inner end of the valve piece 16, being held thereon by a short
flanged tube or annular cap 21 screwed upon the valve piece, and the
valve seat against which the rubber or leather bears when the valve is
close is a conical rimmed orifice or nipple 22. The float lever 17, 18, is
jointed to a pair of lugs 23 formed on the tap body, and in order to
reduce the unpleasant resonance or noise due to the concussion of the
water, and which occurs with rigidly fixed float balls, the float ball 24 is
formed with a tube 25 through it to receive the float lever 18, whilst
short pieces of rubber tubing are applied at the ends, and rubber or
leather washers to prevent metallic contact and rigidity of fixture. This
arrangement materially reduces the noise, and the same end may also be
attained by interposing a portion of wood, carthenware, or glass in the
length of the lever 18.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of the tap as slightly modified by making
the inlet into the hollow nozzle 16 by a ring of small holes round the
rubber washer 20 and through the annular cap 21.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the improved tap as arranged to be
opened and shut by hand, the tubular nozzle 16 being in this case held
by a ring 26 connected by side rods, indicated by dotted lines, to a
screwed nut 27, which is acted on by a hand screw 28 held in a socket
in the top of the tap body.
In another modification shown in vertical section in Figure 6 the
tubular nozzle 16 is opened or shut by means of a handled nut 29 work-
ing on a screw thread formed on the outside of the tap body.
Figure 7 shows a similar arrangement with a curved tubular nozzle 16
which is prevented from turning by a pin 30 screwed through the tap
body into a slot formed in the inner end of the nozzle 16. In this modifi-

page_text: cation the rubber washer 20 is held in a loose valve piece of a square
form, as seen in face view in Figure 8, and which is held in a circular
recess in the inner end of the nozzle 16 so that the water gets past
through the spaces at the sides of the square.
Another modification of tap included in my present Invention com-
prises certain improvements in the details of the kind of tap known as
Lambert's. In this tap, which is shown in vertical section in Figure 9,
a small rubber washer or disc 31 which closes upon an outlet orifice 32
is combined with the usual larger rubber disc 33 that is held at its edges
in the joint between the body 34 of the tap and the cover 35. The discs
31, 33, are moved away to open the tap or pressed down to close it by a
metal button 36 fixed to their centre, and which is held loosely in a
socket in the bottom end of a hand screw 37 which works in an inter-
nally screwed part 38 of the cover 35. With this arrangement the
screwed parts 37, 38, can be made with stronger threads and of larger
diameter and so as to be more durable than the corresponding parts of
this kind of tap as hitherto made. The inside of the cover 35 is also
shaped so that the disc 33 fits closely against it when the tap is full open,
whereby the tendency to force it up and strain it is avoided. A movable
swan neck may be combined with this modification of the improved taps
or valves.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but
that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of watercloset
apparatus substantially in the improved manner herein described and
delineated.
2. The connecting of the water supply pipe to the closet basin by
inserting it into the inlet horn with one or more rubber rings applied
between it and the inside of the horn substantially as herein described.
. 3. The constructing of the main discharge valve piece 11, 10, substan-
tially in the improved manner herein described and delineated.
4. The constructing of a tap or valve with a movable tubular nozzle,
which also acts as a valve piece to close against the pressure, substan-
tially as herein described and delineated.

page_text: 5. The combination of parts constituting the improved Lambert's tap,
herein-before described with reference to Figure 9 'on the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Shanks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of March, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN SHANKS. (L.S.)