IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Thomson, of the Town and County of
Southampton, Plumber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATERCLOSETS."
Sealed the 22nd December 1868, and dated the 26th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Thomson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th June 1868.
I, ANDREW THOMSON, of the Town and County of Southampton,
Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing waterclosets in which a disc
valve which closes the bottom of the pan is moved on one side clear of
the pan when a handle in the seat or in other position is moved in a
curved slot, while by the same movement a valve for admitting a supply
of water to the flush pipe is opened and the pan is thus flushed. The
arm of the disc valve at the bottom of the pan is carried on a vertical
spindle operated by a bent rod leading from the handle. When the

page_text: handle is moved in the curved slot as before mentioned, the spindle
turns on its axis, and the disc valve is moved clear of the pan. During
the movement of the handle a roller carried by the rod presses upon an
incline on the top of a spindle, the lower end of which carries the valve
for admitting the water supply. This valve is thus opened, and the
necessary amount of water enters the flush pipe. When the handle is
returned to its normal position a spring closes the supply valve, while
the disc valve returns to its position below the pan. I apply to the
handle a weight carried, by a cord or chain passed over a roller; the
return of the handle to its, normal position is thus ensured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
THOMSON, of the Town and County of Southampton, Plumber, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Andrew Thomson, Her special licence
that I, the said Andrew Thomson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew Thomson, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Andrew Thomson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew Thomson, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing waterclosets in which a disc
valve which closes the bottom of the pan is moved on one side clear of
the pan when a handle in the seat or in other position is moved in a
curved slot or otherwise, while by the same movement a valve for
admitting a supply of water to the flush pipe is opened and the pan is
thus flushed. The arm of the disc valve at the bottom of the pan is
carried on a vertical spindle working through a stuffing box and operated
by a bent rod leading from the handle. When the handle is moved in
the curved slot as before mentioned, the spindle turns on its axis, and
the disc valve is moved clear of the pan. During the movement of the
handle a roller carried by the rod presses upon an incline on the top of
a spindle, the lower end of which carries the valve for admitting the
water supply. This valve is thus opened, and the necessary amount of
water enters the flush pipe. When the handle is returned to its normal
position a spring closes the supply valve, while the disc valve returns to
its position below the pan. I apply to the handle a weight carried by
a cord or chain passed over a roller; the return of the handle to its
normal position is thus insured.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional elevation of a
watercloset constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan;
Figure 3 a section through the line 1... . 1; and Figure 4 a view
taken at the line 2. . . . 2 of Figure 2.
A is the pan fixed or brazed to the cover B; C is the disc valve, the
arm C of which is fixed on a vertical spindle D working in a stuffing
box F and operated by a bent rod E connected with the pull rod E';
the stuffing box F prevents the escape of any effluvium from the soil
pipe. I is a roller carried by the rod E, and which when the rod E' is
pulled in, the slot of the seat as before mentioned presses upon an incline
on the top of the spindle J, the lower end of which carries the valve M
for admitting water from the supply pipe N; the valve M being thus
opened water passes through it into the flush pipe O and thence to the
pan; P is a spring to close the valve M when the handle is returned to

page_text: its normal position; K is a weight attached by a chain to the rod E¹ to
insure the return of the handle; L is the soil pipe.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a closet constructed in the manner
herein-before described, except that the pull rod E¹ instead of being
moved in a curved slot in the seat is pulled outwards through an aperture
in the front board of the seat.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
Improvements in Waterclosets,"-
First. The arrangement for operating the disc valve at the bottom of
the pan, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second. The general arrangement or combination of parts of water-
closets, as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Thomson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
A THOMSON (L.S.)