Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 14th May, 1898-Accepted, 23rd July, 1898
-
I, WILLIAM MCLAREN, of Moorgate Works, Moorfields, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention relates to an automatic water closet for railway carriages and
the like.
According to my invention I provide a pan the upper end of which can be
closed by a hinged cover and the lower end by a flap or other suitable valve in
such a manner that the lifting up or raising of the lid closes the flap valve
and the lowering thereof, to close the upper end of the pan, opens the valve.
In conjunction with the pan I provide a main water cistern and inside or in
connection with this main cistern I arrange a small cistern which will hold,
by preference, about two quarts of water, the said small cistern being filled from
the main cistern through a small hole preferably about 1/16 of an inch in
diameter and being in communication with the pan. A special valve controls
the communication between the small cistern and the pan and means are pro-
vided whereby the valve is opened when the pan lid is raised. With this
construction of closet, therefore, it will be seen that the pan is normally empty
and open at its lower end and that the lifting or turning up of the lid closes
the flap at the bottom of the pan and also at the same moment operates the valve
and allows the water from the small cistern to flow into the pan. Water
continues to run very slowly into the pan through the small hole as long as the
seat is occupied and to prevent the pan getting too full of water I provide an
overflow pipe. The shutting down of the lid opens the flap at the bottom of
the pan, Hushes everything away, and also stops the further flow of water from
the main cistern and the small, or half gallon cistern, then becomes filled again
through the small hole.
The valve and also the means for working the flap are advantageously fixed
at the back of the pan, and in order that ready access may be had to them a
sloping lid is fixed at the back of the seat, and this sloping lid is secured against
being improperly meddled with by means of a catch which prevents it being
opened except at a particular angle of the lid of the seat.
In order to provide for the easy cleaning and washing out of the pan and
the soil pipe underneath it I provide means at the back of the sloping lid by
which the attendant can open the flap at the bottom of the pan (which is
ordinarily closed when the lid is open) and so obtain easy access for cleaning
out the soil pipe.
A tight joint is made between the pan and the flap valve by means of india-
rubber packing.

page_text: I, WILLIAM MCLAREN, of Moorgate Works, Moorfields, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to an improved water closet for railway carriages and
the like and it comprises the novel features hereinafter described whereby the
raising of the lid or cover of the closet serves to automatically admit a quantity
of water into the pan and whereby the closing of the lid automatically causes the
opening of the discharge valve and the shutting off of the water supply.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of a water closet arranged in accordance
with my invention and showing the lid closed, that is to say, in the position which
it normally occupies when the closet is not in use; and,
Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the closet the parts being in the
position shewn in Figure 1:
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but shewing the parts in the position
when the closet is in use; and,
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation of some of the parts shewn in Figure
in the position which they occupy during the cleaning of the closet.
a is the pan of the closet which as shewn is mounted upon the top of a box b
in which works the valve c, the said pan as shewn in the drawing being enclosed
in a casing d. e is a slop seat which is hinged at f to the back part of the
casing and g is the lid or cover hinged at h to the casing and the lowering and
raising of which serves to operate the valve and water supply cock as hereinafter
described.
i is the main water cistern which is suitably enclosed and j is a small cistern
which is arranged inside the cistern i and is in open communication therewith
through the aperture & the said small cistern ; being connected with the nozzle a¹
of the pan by the pipe in which a supply valve is arranged. By preference
the small cistern holds about two quarts of water and the hole through
which the water enters the said cistern j from the cistern i has a diameter of
say 16 of an inch, so that the water will only flow through it slowly.
In Figure 1 the hole is represented as being formed through a kind of
small dome k¹ closed by a screw plug ². With this arrangement, if the hole k
becomes clogged the removal of the plug will permit of ready access to the
said hole k in order to unstop it.
The lid g has affixed to it a small bracket m in which an arm n is pivoted
upon a pin n¹ for a purpose hereinafter described, the said arm n being normally
held rigid relatively with the bracket m by a pin o which passes through the
bracket and through a hole o¹ in the said arm n. To the free end of the arm n
is attached one end of a rod p the other end of which is attached to a lever q
mounted upon a spindle q' which carries the valve c, the relative lengths of the
arm n and lever q being such that when the lid is in the position shewn in
Figure 2 the valve c will be opened and that when the lid is opened in the
position shewn in Figure 3 the said valve c will be closed against its seating c¹.
In order that the valve c shall always bear against its seating c¹ with a spring
pressure the rod p is preferably formed in two parts with a spring 2¹ between
them the said spring serving normally to slightly lengthen the rod p so that
when the seat is raised the said valve c will come against its seating just before

page_text: the lid or cover 9 reaches its uppermost position whereby the spring p¹ will
be slightly compressed and so produce the desired pressure between the valve c
and seating cl.
The operation of the valve ", which, as shewn in the drawing, is an ordinary
push valve normally held closed by a spring, is effected through the medium of
a roller r carried by a bracket r upon the lid g and so arranged that as the lid
is lifted the said roller strikes against the heads of the stem of the valve and
pushes in the said stem to open the valve.
With the construction of closet hereinbefore described it will be seen that
when the lid of the closet is closed down upon the seat the valve c will be open
and that the lifting or turning up of the lid from the position shewn in Figures 1
and 2 to that shewn in Figure 3 closes the valve c at the bottom of the pan and
also at the same moment operates the valve and allows the water from the
cistern to flow into the pan.
Whilst the closet is in use and the valve is held open water from the cistern
will continue to enter the pan at the rate at which the water flows from the
cistern i into the cistern through the hole k so that an ample supply of water
for properly flushing the pan is provided.
In order, however, to prevent the pan from getting too full an overflow pipe t
(Figure 1) is arranged between the pan and box b. The shutting down of the
lid. opens the valve at the bottom to discharge the contents of the pan and
also allows the closing of the valve so that the cistern ; will again become
full of water for future use.
To prevent the freezing of water in winter time I preferably form in the
casing and stem of the valve a hole u (Figure 3) into which a pin v shewn
in dotted lines in Figure 1 can be inserted in order to hold the said valve open
and allow the water to trickle through into the pan when the lid g is closed down.
The mechanism herein before described is enclosed within a casing which
practically forms part of the casing d around the pan. In order however to
obtain ready access to the mechanism the part of the casing immediately behind
the seat is formed as a hinge lid w which can be raised to the position_shewn
in Figure 4. In order to lock this lid so that it cannot be easily opened I form
upon the back of the lid a tongue and upon the arm n herein before described
I form the horn ¹ which horn when the lid is in its closed position intersects
the arc of the circle through which the said tongue moves as indicated by the
dotted line y in Figure 2. This horn is disengaged from the tongue when
the lid is in its open position but in this open position of the lid obviously the
part of the casing cannot be opened the lid being in the way. To open the
said part it is necessary that the lid g should be placed at such an angle
as will move the said horn out of the path of the tongue a.
In order that for cleaning purposes the lid g and valve c may be opened
simultaneously I remove the pin o from the bracket m so that whilst the lid
is open the arm n and the connecting parts may be moved to the position which
they occupy when the valve is open as indicated in Figure 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a water closet for railway carriages and the like the combination with
the pan of a hinged lid or cover for closing the top of the pan, a valve for closing
the bottom of the pan and a connection between the seat and the valve so arranged
that when the lid is raised the valve will be closed and vice versa, substantially
as described.
2. In a water closet for railway carriages and the like the combination of a
pan, a lid or cover for closing the top of the said pan, a valve for closing the bottom
of the said pan, a connecting device for causing the lifting of the lid or cover
to close the valve, a water supply pipe to the said pan, a valve in the said water

page_text: supply pipe, and means whereby on the lifting of the lid or cover the water
supply valve is opened and upon the lowering of the cover the said valve
is also closed to shut off the supply of water, substantially as described.
3. The combination with a water closet for railway carriages and the like
wherein the valve closing the bottom of the pan is connected with the lid for
covering the top of the pan in such a manner that when the lid is raised the
valve is closed and vice versa and wherein the lifting of the lid also serves for
opening a water supply valve of a main cistern, a smaller cistern in open
connection with the said main cistern through a small hole and a pipe for
conveying the water from the small cistern to the water supply valve, substan-
tially as described.
4. The combination with a water closet for railway carriages and the like
wherein the valve closing the bottom of the pan is connected with the lid for
covering the top of the pan in such a manner that when the lid is raised the
valve is closed and vice versa, of a bracket fixed to the said lid, an arm pivotally
mounted in the said bracket and means for fixing or releasing the arm relatively
with the said bracket such as described by reference to Figure 4 for the purpose
specified.
5. In a water closet for railway carriages and the like wherein the discharge
valve at the bottom of the pan is interlocked with the lid or cover of the closet
in such a manner that when the lid is raised the valve is closed and vice versa,
a casing enclosing the mechanism of the said closet and having one portion w
thereof hinged, a tongue upon the said hinged portion of the cover and a horn
upon the back of the lid of the closet, the said parts being arranged and operating
to prevent the unauthorised opening of the said hinged part w of the casing,
substantially as described.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.