IMPROVEMENTS IN WHAT ARE KNOWN AS DRY EARTH CLOSETS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Thomas Bostel, of No. 21, Ship Street,
Brighton, in the County of Sussex, Plumber, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHAT ARE KNOWN AS DRY EARTH CLOSETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Thomas Bostel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th July 1869.
I, DANIEL THOMAS BOSTEL, of No. 21, Ship Street, Brighton; in the
County of Sussex, Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHAT ARE KNOWN AS DRY EARTH CLOSETS,"
to be as follows:-
In constructing what are known as dry earth closets according to my
Invention I place at some distance below the opening through the seat
of the closet a flat horizontal or nearly horizontal pan or table for the
soil to fall on to, and I arrange the closet in such manner that by pulling
up a handle, as in an ordinary watercloset or otherwise, a scraper shall
be caused to move across the flat pan to remove the soil therefrom into

page_text: a shoot, by which the soil is to be conveyed away, and also a supply of
dry earth or powdered charcoal or other dry powdered deodorizing
material shall be delivered to the shoot, and also (when the scraper
moves back) on to the surface of the flat pan on to which the soil falls.
For this purpose I connect the rod or stem of the handle by cords
passing around guide pulleys, or it might be by connecting rods to the
ends of a scraper, which I form by preference of a rod or plate carrying
a strip of vulcanized india-rubber; the rod or plate at its ends rests on
guides parallel with the flat pan on to which the soil falls, whilst the
bottom edge of the india-rubber strip rests against the surface of such
pan: The stem of the handle is also connected by cords or rods passing
over guide pulleys or between guides to two slides in a pipe or shoot,
by which the dry earth or other dry powdered material is led from a
cistern or reservoir to the closet. The space between the two slides
serves as a measure to supply a measured quantity of earth or other
material to the closet each time the handle is raised. When the handle
is raised the top slide is closed whilst the lower one is opened, so that
the measured supply of earth or other material is allowed to fall to the
shoot, and at the same time fills a horn-shaped shoot, which when the
scraper is moved back discharges on to the pan, and the closet is then
again ready for use; or in place of employing two slides to deliver a
measured quantity of earth, as above described, a sliding double drawer
may be placed below the bottom of the shoot which brings the supply
of earth or other material to the closet; this double drawer I so connect
to the scraper that when the scraper is moved to the back of the closet
the sliding drawer will also be moved back, so allowing the earth to fall
and mix with the soil, When the handle falls the scraper will fly
back to its original position, bringing with it the drawer, and at the
same time throwing a sufficient quantity of earth or other material on to
the flat pan of the closet.
In order to prevent smells rising into the closet from the pipe through
which the soil and powdered earth are conveyed away the space between
the seat and pan is enclosed on two opposite sides by fixed side
plates, whilst at the front of the closet this space is partially closed by
the vulcanized india-rubber scraper, and at the back of the closet
the space is similarly partially closed by a metal plate, which is con-
nected to the scraper in such manner as to move to and fro with it,
so that when the scraper moves back to its original position after

page_text: having swept across the table the plate moves back with it. The
spaces between the top of the scraper and of the metal plate and the
seat are closed by fixed back and front plates, and so, except when the
handle of the closet is raised, the outlet pipe or shoot from the closet
will be shut off from the opening through the seat,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Daniel Thomas Bostel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th January 1870,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
THOMAS BOSTEL, of No. 21, Ship Street, Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, Plumber, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Daniel Thomas Bostel, Her special
licence that I, the said Daniel Thomas Bostel, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel Thomas Bostel,
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 yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WHAT ARE KNOWN AS DRY EARTH CLOSETS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Daniel Thomas Bostel, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Daniel Thomas Bostel, do hereby

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In constructing what are known are dry earth closets according to my
Invention I place at some distance below the opening through the seat
of the closet a horizontal or nearly horizontal pan or table for the soil
to fall on to, and I arrange the closet in such manner that by pulling
up a handle, as in an ordinary watercloset or otherwise, a scraper shall be
caused to move across the pan to remove the soil therefrom into a shoot
by which the soil is to be conveyed away, and also a supply of dry earth
or powdered charcoal or other dry powdered deodorizing material shall
be delivered to the shoot and also (when the scraper moves back) on to
the surface of the pan on to which the soil falls. For this purpose I,
by preference, form the scraper of a rod or plate carrying a strip of
vulcanized india-rubber; the rod or plate. at its ends rests on guides
parallel with the surface of the pan on to which the soil falls, whilst
the bottom edge of the india-rubber strip rests against the surface of
such pan.
The apparatus employed for given motion to the scraper is
also arranged for giving motion to two slides in a pipe or shoot by which
the dry earth or other dry powdered material is led from a cistern or
reservoir to the closet. The space between the two slides serves as a
measure to supply a measured quantity of earth or other material to
the closet each time the handle is raised or the closet used. When the
handle is raised the top slide is closed whilst the lower one is opened, so
that the measured supply of earth or other material is allowed to fall
to the shoot and at the same time fills a horn shaped shoot, which when
the scraper is moved back discharges on to the pan and the closet is
then again ready for use. The two slides may be attached to side
plates so as to form a sliding double drawer below the bottom of the
shoot, and this double drawer I so connect to the scraper that when the
scraper is moved to the back of the closet the sliding drawer will also
be moved back, and by so doing will allow the earth to fall and mix with
the soil. When the scraper moves back to its original position it brings
back the draw and at the same time throws a sufficient quantity of
earth or other material on to the pan of the closet.
In order to prevent smells or a current of air rising into the closet
from the pipe through which the soil and powdered earth are conveyed
away the space between the seat and pan is enclosed on two opposite

page_text: sides by fixed side plates, whilst at at the front of the closet this space
is partially closed by the vulcanized india-rubber scraper, and at the
back of the closet the space is similarly partially closed by a metal plate,
which is connected to the scraper in such manner as to move to and fro
with it, so that when the scraper moves back to its original position
after having swept across the table the plate moves back with it. The
spaces between the top of the scraper and of the metal plate and the
seat are closed by fixed back and front plates, and so, except when the
handle of the closet is raised, the outlet pipe or shoot from the closet will
be shut off from the opening through the seat.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same,
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 shew two transverse sections of a dry earth closet
constructed according to my Invention. The closet as shewn at Figure 1
is ready for use, whilst in Figure 2 the parts of the closet are in the
position they assume when the scraper has been moved back to scrape
the soil off the fixed surface on to which it had fallen; Figure 3 is a
perspective view of the apparatus with the pan and seat removed,
In these Figures A is a wooden shoot or shaft leading from a cistern
containing dry earth or other material in the state of powder; B is an
iron hopper adapted to the end of the shoot A; C is the double drawer
or powder-measuring apparatus; D is the seat of the closet; and E, an
earthenware pan, down through which the excreta or soil falls and is
received on the enamelled iron pan F which is fixed in a horizontal or.
nearly horizontal position. This pan in the arrangement shewn in the
Drawing is semicircular in transverse section, but it might be of other
form. G is a metal plate which closes the front end of the pan F and
which has fixed around its semicircular side a strip of vulcanized india-
rubber G, as shewn, which bears against the surface of the pan; the
plate G is at its upper end connected to the forward end of the rect-
angular frame H. The sides of this rectangular frame pass through
slots in the side plates or standards K and have attached, to them toothed
racks L, L. These racks gear with quadrants M' on an axis M, so that
if the axis M. be turned the scraper G is drawn back and caused to sweep
the pan F from end to end, pushing back any soil which might have

page_text: been on the surface of the pan into the hopper I which leads to the soil
pit. The back end of the frame H has a semicircular plate O similar to
the plate G attached to it. This serves to close the passage between
the pan F and hopper I when the closet is in use or ready for use.
When the frame H and scraper G are moved backwards the back end
of the frame towards the end of its backward movement comes against
a projection C' on the under side of the double drawer and carries back
the drawer with it, so causing the upper plate C2 to move back and form.
a bottom for the hopper B, whilst the surface C which before closed the
bottom end of the hopper moves away and the quantity of earth previously
contained in the hopper B between the levels of O2 and C is delivered to
the soil pipe. A portion of the earth so allowed to fall is received on to
the surface C, and when the scraper moves back and the back end of the
frame H strikes the other projection O¹ on the under side of the double
drawer C the drawer is jerked back to its former position, and this portion
of earth is thrown on to the pan F.
. Other arrangements of apparatus than that above desorihed may be
employed for giving motion to the earth measuring apparatus at the time
the scraper is moved to and fro, and other arrangements of apparatus
might also be employed for moving back the scraper. P, P, are scrapers
for keeping the surface of the plates G and O clear of soil, they turn on
pins P¹, and lever arms projecting from them are received in the cam
grooves so that when the plates G and Q are moved backwards the
scrapers P are caused to sweep over their surface; R is a counterbalance
weight on the quadrant to tend always to bring the scrapers into their
forward position. When the closet has been used the scrapers and earth
measuring apparatus may be put in action by pulling a lever S con-
nected in the manner shewn with the axis M, or other arrangements may
be adopted for giving a partial rotation to the axis M each time the
closet has been used.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim
is,-
First. The general arrangement or combination of apparatus herein
described and shewn by the Drawings annexed.
Second, The employment of a moveable scraper (to be drawn across a
fixed surface on to which the soil falls) working in combination with

page_text: a dry earth or powder measuring apparatus, substantially as herein
described.
Third. The apparatus herein described and shewn by the Drawings
annexed for supplying measured quantities of dry earth or material to a
dry earth closet each time it is made use of.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Thomas Bostel, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
DANIEL THOMAS BOSTEL. (L.S.)