CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS ON WATERCLOSETS
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONATHAN
DOWNTON, of Blackwall, in the County of Middlesex, Shipwright, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by Ilis Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of June, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Jonathan Downton, His especial licence that I, the said Jonathan Downton, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jonathan Downton,
my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all IIis said
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS ON WATERCLOSETS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso obliging mc, tho said Jonathan Downton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's Iligh Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jonathan Downton, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to

page_text: consist in removing soil, foul air, and water from the pan or basin of a water-
closet, and admitting fresh air and water into the same, by means of a pump
attached or applied thereto, and also in placing the feed cock inside of the said
pan or basin; and in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jonathan Downton, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention
is to be performed, by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing annexed, and the Figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view of my said Invention, shewing the principal parts of
the said improvements. A is the pan or basın of a watercloset. B is a
forcing pump placed at one side of the said basin. C is a pipe leading from
the bottom of the pan A to the bottom of the pump B, and is furnished with
a valve at each end, hereafter more particularly described D is a waste pipe,
and may either lead upwards, as at E, or downwards, as at F, or horizontally, as
shewn at D, which, it will be observed, is shaded, and of a darker tint than
the pipes E and F, which are only added to shew that the direction of the
waste pipe may be whatever is best suited to the particular situation of the
watercloset. G is a plug for the purpose of cleaning the waste pipe when
necessary. His a valve to prevent the return of the soil when it has once
been forced into the waste pipe, and J is a valve to prevent the return of the
soil into the pipe C after it has been drawn into the force pump. K is a
service or feed pipe to supply the basin with fresh water. L is an elbow pipe,
furnished with a valve at m, and leading from the upper part of the cylinder
of the forcing pump B into the discharge or waste pipe D for the purpose of
discharging the foul air from the basin, as will be more particularly explained
hereafter. P is the piston or plunger rod of the forcing pump. R represents
parts of the framework necessary to support the apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a front view of a watercloset shewing my said improvements.
In this view those parts which correspond with parts in Fig. 1 are marked
with similar letters. T is a small pipe furnished with a valve leading from
the upper part of the basin into the upper part of the cylinder of the forcing
pump, for the purpose of drawing off the foul air from the pan or basin, as will
be more particularly explained hereafter. S is a valve to prevent the return
of the soil into the basin when once it has been drawn out by the forcing
pump. The red lines in this Figure show another curve which the pipe C
might have if it were thought better to furnish the basin with an ordinary
floating valve instead of the valve S.
Figure 3 is a plan of a watercloset shewing parts of my said improvements,

page_text: lettered as before, and particularly shewing the situation of the handle W, by
which the piston of the forcing pump is worked, and which handle, it will
be seen, is connected with the service cock X in such manner that
working the piston of the pump up and down turns the water on and off as
required, and as will be explained hereafter. This cock X, it will be observed,
is placed inside the pan or basın A.
Fig. 4 is a separate view of the handle which works the piston and the
movement attached to it, by which the water is turned on and off as before
mentioned W is the handle which works the piston rod, and V, V, is a
double crank movement communicating to the water-cock X, and so arranged
that when the handle W is raised the water is turned into the pan or
basın A.
Now having described the various parts of my said improvements, I will
proceed to describe the effect produced by them when in action, referring to
the Figures before described and the letters marked thereon for that purpose
(that is to say)-If the handle W be raised by the hand, the piston rod P
and plunger of the forcing pump B will be lifted by it, the valves S and J of
the pipe C will open, and all the soil and foul water in the pan A will be
drawn out into the cylinder of the forcing pump B. Now as the top of the
cylinder B is to be closed air-tight, it is evident that the air above the plunger
must have a vent, or it would keep the plunger fiom rising the required
height, this is provided for by the pipe L and valve m, which valve opens as
the piston rod rises, and thus all the air above the plunger escapes into the
waste pipe. On the descent or down stroke of the handle W, the piston rod P
is forced down, the valves J and S and m close, while the valve II opens, and
the soil and foul water is driven out of the cylinder of the pump B into the
waste pipe D, wlule the cylinder is supplied with air again above the plunger
by means of the pipe T, which feeds it from the pan, the pan being supplied
with fresh air as the foul air is drawn off by a pipe and valve Z communicating
to the external or other pure air. Thus it will be observed that the apparatus
here described answers the double purpose of water pump to pump out the
foul air from the pan of the water closet, while the crank movement V, V,
keeps it constantly supplied with fresh water as needed. Now whereas the
parts herein-before described, which constitute my said improvements, and
which I claim as my said Invention, are the said forcing pump, and the
pipes
and valves connected therewith, for the purpose of pumping out the soil and
foul water, as also those for pumping out the foul air, and furthermore, in
placing the feed cock inside of the pan or basin; and these said improve-
ments being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never

page_text: before used within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His said Dominion of Wales, and Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in any of His said Majesty's Colonies and Plan-
tations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the said
improvements, and that I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the
said improvements, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth
comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso
in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I
do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonathan Downton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
ГАККЕК.
JONATHAN (LS.) DOWNTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of October, in the year
of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid Jonathan Downton came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.