A SELF- ADDADAMITE "APPLICABLE TO SANITARY PURPOSES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gray, of the City of Dublin, Medical
Doctor and Newspaper Proprietor, for the Invention of "A SELF-
ADDADAMITE "APPLICABLE TO SANITARY PURPOSES."
Sealed the 8th February 1854, and dated the 31st October 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st October 1853..
I, JOHN GRAY, of the City of Dublin, Medical Doctor and News-
paper Proprietor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A-SELF-ACTING FLUSHING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE TO SANITARY PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
"
My Invention consists in an arrangement by which a cistern (in
connexion with a water-closet, privy, sewer, or other similar receptacle
of refuse) can be so constructed as at regulated intervals to discharge

page_text: itself with a flush of its contents, and after such discharge return by
its own action to its former condition, and so that such cistern can be
itself used as a water-closet, as a part of the sewer, or other similar
receptacle of refuse.
In the side or bottom of said cistern I place a valve, attached to
which is a connecting rod or line extending to one arm of a lever,
whose fulcrum is placed at a level higher than said valve; to the other
arm of the lever is attached by suitable connection a bucket or other
suitable receptacle. Water is supplied to the cistern in the usual way.
When the water attains 'a certain level in the cistern an arrange-
ment is made to allow it to "flow by a syphon or other pipe into the
said bucket; when a sufficient quantity has accumulated in the bucket
its weight will over-balance the valve, and cause it to open, when
immediately the contents of the cistern will be discharged, so as to
flush itself and the sewer or other outlet with which it may be con-
nected. In the lower part of the bucket is one or more holes or
apertures, of much smaller diameter than the supply pipe, and when
the bucket is emptied through these the balance will be reversed, the
bucket will rise, and, the valve close. To guard against any stoppage
of the small holes in the bucket or injury to its efficiency, and to secure
a certain supply of water into it, I propose in certain cases to con-
struct a separate chamber, either in or without the cistern, for supplying
the buckets, into which chamber a flow of clean water only is admitted;
in this chamber I place a syphon or other pipe for supplying the
bucket, which acts as herein-before described; this chamber may
also supply the cistern, and an arrangement be made for stopping the
supply to the cistern and allowing the water to flow off into the bucket
when the contents of the cistern attain a certain height; the bucket and
cistern may be supplied by separate pipes; the action of the bucket may
be assisted by a float. The intervals at which the flushing will.occur, s
and the duration thereof, can be regulated by the diameters, of the
supply pipe or pipes and of the holes for emptying the bucket.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN GRAY;. of the City of Dublin, Medical -Doctor-and- Newspaper.
Proprietor, send greeting
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by; Her,
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven,
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, 'the, said John Gray, "Her special licence
that I, the said John Gray, my executors,, administrators; and assigns,
or such others as the said John Gray, my executors, administrators;
and assigns, isliould 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 "A SELF-ACTING FLUSHING APPA
RATUS, APPLICABLE TO SANITARY PURPOSES, upon the condition (amongst
others), that the said John; Gray, 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 per-
formed, and cause the same to besfiled in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six-calendar months next and immediately after: the date of the
said Letters: Patent to
NOW KNOW YEthat I the said John Gray, 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, reference being had to the Drawings- hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereons (that is, to say):
My Invention of "A Self-acting Flushing: Apparatus, applicable to
Sanitary-Purposes, has for its object the clearing or scouring out of
cisterns, sewer pipes, or other receptacles of fluid and, of solid matter.

page_text: by sudden discharges of water through them at intervals, and in
quantities regulated by the extent of the supply of such water to the
apparatus, and by the capacity of the cistern, such cistern with the
apparatus being itself suitable or capable of being used as a self-
cleansing privy or description of water-closet.
And this object is accomplished by means of a cistern, which may
be in connection with a water-closet, privy, sewer, or other similar
receptacle of refuse matter, or may itself be fitted with a seat and used
as a privy, so constructed and arranged with reference to certain appa-
ratus herein-after described as to be capable of discharging itself
with a flush of its contents at regulated intervals, and after such
discharge return by its own action, in connection with such apparatus,
to its former condition. By means of the gradual filling and the
sudden emptying periodically of the cistern by the agency of the self-
acting apparatus connected with it, the process of flushing or scouring
out may be continually repeated at regulated intervals while the supply
of water to the apparatus is maintained.
The apparatus through which the cistern becomes thus filled and
periodically emptied, as required, consists of a chamber or cylinder
furnished with valves, which are kept closed by the pressure of the
water supplied to this chamber, and allow such water to pass through a
pipe into the cistern. The cistern thus becomes gradually filled up to
a certain level, on rising above which the water passes into an exterior
chamber in which the first-named chamber is situate. This second
chamber contains a float, and the water by raising the latter opens the
valves in the first-named chamber, thereby causing a sudden flow of
water from the supply pipe into the float chamber, and from it by a
syphon or other pipe into a bucket. The suddenly increased weight
of this bucket is then sufficient to raise a weight connected to the
opposite end of a lever, and to open a valve, by which the contents of
the cistern are at once discharged. The parts of the apparatus resume
their original positions by the float valves becoming closed and prevent-
ing the supply of water to the float chamber, the bucket at the same
time becoming gradually emptied and allowing the weight to descend
and close the discharge valve leading from the cistern. The intervals

page_text: at which the flushings should take place may be regulated by increasing
or diminishing the diameter of the pipe, admitting water into the
cistern or the level of the float, and their duration by the diameter of
the discharge valve.
.
SA.
This apparatus may be varied in some particulars without departing
from its main purpose, which is to cause the water, as it is supplied to
the cistern at a regulated rate, to effect by suitable self-acting appȧ-
ratus the sudden opening at regulated intervals of a valve leading from
the cistern, and thereby cause the contents of the cistern to flow off,
the above-mentioned valve being again allowed to become closed, so as
to admit of the cistern being refilled.
..In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will
proceed to describe, by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, a mode
by which it may be readily carried into effect.
Fig. 1, is a plan or horizontal view; Fig. 2, an end elevation, the
outer part of the casing being removed; and Fig. 3, is a longitudinal
vertical section of the cistern and apparatus connected therewith.
In all these Figures the same letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts..
;
.A, A, is the outer casing of the apparatus; B is the cistern; B',
the pipe or neck at the lower part of the cistern, through which its
contents are discharged at the regulated intervals. This pipe may be:
made in one piece, closed by the valve herein-after mentioned, or it
may be a smaller pipe entering loosely into a larger pipe B, as shewn,
(Fig. 4), having a flange bolted or suitably fastened at b, b, to the
framing dividing the valve chamber and cistern. C is a supply pipe
througli which the water is supplied to the apparatus from the main;
D is a small chamber or cylinder into which the water passes from the
pipe C. This chamber D is furnished with two valves d, d, connected
to the rod *, which valves are kept closed by the balanced upward and
downward pressure of the water in the chamber D, so as to prevent
the water from passing from the chamber at those parts; E is a float
fixed to the rod by the rising of which the equilibrium of the valves.
d, d, is disturbed and the valves opened; F' is a pipe through which
water may pass from the chamber D to the cistern B; and Fis

page_text: a pipe of communication between the cistern and the float chamber
G. Within this float chamber is a syphon pipe H. through; which
water, may pass from the chamber to the bucket. I, which is provided
with a syphon i, for the passage of water out of the bucket to the main
discharge pipe N, through the small pipe,n. The bucket I, is sus-
pended, to one arm of a lever J, having its fulcrum at J, the weight K
being suspended by the chain k to, the arm on the opposite side of the
fulcrum (a pulley and line, or cord. might be, substituted for the lever
and chains). This weight is sufficient to raise the bucket when empty,
or with a small quantity of water in it; but the bucket may be made
heavier than the weight, and capable of raising.it. by the.injection of a
considerable quantity of water into.. it through the syphon H.. L is
a.valve fitted ito, the pipe. B, and having on it a projection m, which
valve is kept closed in its seat. by the pressure, of the weight.K, which
drops as a wedge into. the space between the two projections m and m*;
lis à bridle chain for connecting the valve.E to the weight K; M is
the valve box; and N the pipe for conveying.away. the.contents of the.
cistern as they are periodically discharged into. it..
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-On water being supplied
by the pipe C; it passes into the chamber D; and the valves d, d, being
closed, it has no other exit. but through the pipe F' into. the cistern B;
and this continues until the water in the cistern attains a level of
sufficient. height to cause it to pass. through the pipe. F into the float
chamber. G, by which means the float E will be raised, the valves d, d,
opened, and thereby a communication formed between the supply pipe
C and the chamber G.. The water-thus rapidly accumulating in this
chamber will pass through the syphon pipe H into the bucket or
vessel I, which will increase the weight of the bucket so far as to over-
balance the weight K, and cause it to rise. The rising of the weight
K will raise the valve L,-(through the bridle chain 1,) and open the
end of the pipe B' (or 'B', as the case may be), through which the con-
tents of the cistern will be discharged; and the parts of the apparatus
will resume their positions suitable for the refilling of the cistern B, by
the water leaving the chamber G, through the pipe F, and the syphon
pipe II, thereby lowering the float E; and removing its action from the

page_text: valves d, d; which agaiir become closed, the water. at the same time:
passing slowly out of the bucket I, through the syphion. i, or other,
aperture or apertures (the diameter of which, or of all of which toge-
thér, is much smaller than that of the syphon which supplies it), and
allowing the weight.K. to 'descend and shut down the valve: L:after,
the contents of the cistern have been discharged. The parts. being in
such position the supply. of water through the pipe. C will flow on
through the chamber into the cistern. B, until the water attains the
level above referred to::
I have thus described a mode by which my Invention may be carried
into effect, but I am aware that such arrangements may be considerably!
modified with advantage to suit certain cases: ':.
'I will proceed to describe one modification of the intermediate ap-
paratus for regulating the transmission of the water from the cistern to:
the bucket at the proper. intervals or periods.
. Fig. 4, represents the cistern combined with this modification of the
apparatus. In this Fig. the weight is shewn raised and 'the discharge
valve open; parts ouly of the cistern are shewn. The supply pipe is
transferred to the other side of the cistern B, and its diameter regulates
the rate of supply, as the pipe F does in the modification first herein
described; the pipe F3 communicating between the cistern and the
float chamber is inserted at a higher level. 1, is the chamber to be
used instead of the chamber G; within it is contained the 'smaller
chamber or cylinder 2, one end of which is passed through the bottom
of the chamber,, and extends into the cistern B in the form of a bent
pipe 24, with an open end; this chamber or cylinder extends upwards
within the chamber. 1, and has a neck 2b inserted in the upper part of
it, which neck is closed by a weighted valve 3. The valve rod 4 is
passed through suitable guides to keep it steady in its vertical action,
and extends-into the chamber or cylinder 2, as shewn, having a weight 5
fixed to its lower. end, its upper end being united to a float 6. The
weight 5 is intended to be sufficient to keep the valve 3 closed,. not-
withstanding the upward pressure of the water flowing into the chamber
or cylinder 2, through the pipe 2; and the float 6 is intended to be of
sufficient buoyancy in water to support the valve and its appurtenances,

page_text: and to carry them upwards as the water rises under it. In the
chamber 1, is placed a syphon H, for supplying the bucket, as in the
former instance.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-When the water in the
cistern, admitted through the supply pipe C, has risen above the level
of the open pipe 2ª, it passes into the chamber or cylinder 2, and
continues to maintain an uniform level in both vessels.
At length,
however, it reaches the under surface of the valve 3, by which the
neck 2 is kept closed, but the pressure is not sufficient to raise the
valve and open the communication into the chamber 1. The water in
the cistern still rising reaches the level of the open pipe F2, and passes
through it into the chamber 1, and slowly rising therein reaches the
bottom of the float 6, which it raises, carrying up with it the valve 3,
and thus opens the communication from the chamber or cylinder 2, for
the greater body of water to pass rapidly from the cistern B to the
chamber 1. The level of water within the chamber 1 will thus soon
rise above the, bend of the syphon H, and pass through the same into
the bucket, which being thus rapidly increased in weight will descend
and open the valve leading from the cistern, and discharge its contents,
as in the former instance; and the parts of the apparatus will become
restored to their position for allowing the cistern to be refilled by the
sinking of the level of water in the chamber 1, allowing the float 6 to
be drawn down, and the valve 3 again closed, thereby preventing the
passage of water into the chamber 1, through the chamber or cylinder
2, until the period regulated by the position of the pipe F, and the
rate of supply to the cistern. The bucket will by degrees have parted
with its excess of weight by the running off of the water, and will
allow the weight K to descend and close the cistern valve.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise forms and
arrangements of the parts of the apparatus shewn and described; and
I would also remark, that although I have described two forms of
intermediate apparatus, by means of which the alternate filling, and
periodical emptying of the cistern may be accomplished, yet I do not
+

page_text: confine myself to such forms of apparatus, nor to the position thereof;
neither do I confine myself to the precise form or situation of the
cistern discharge valve, nor to the form of the cistern and the discharge
pipes or other similar apparatus with which it may be combined;
neither do I confine myself to the precise form of the bucket, and the
means by which it is filled and emptied, and acts on the discharge
valve. But what I claim as secured to me by the above in part recited
Letters Patent is, the combination of a cistern with suitable self-acting
apparatus, the cistern being filled at a regulated rate, and suddenly
emptied at regulated intervals by means of a bucket chamber or other
similar vessel os described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gray, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gray, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of
JOHN NETTLETON,
5, Malpas Street,
Dublin.
JOHN GRAY. (L.S.)