Improvements in Water-closets suitable for Railway Carriages.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 8th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 10th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Water-closets suitable for Railway Carriages.
I, OSCAR ELPHICK of the Lambeth Sanitary Engineering Works, Albert Embank-
ment in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
:-
In railway carriage closets as at present constructed the outlet is entirely open or
there is a flap which fits tight up against it and is opened intermittently by the weight
of soil, according to the amount deposited.
The objections to the above forms of closet are as follows:-
In the former the outlet being entirely open there is a great draught which is very
unpleasant and dangerous besides often blowing the paper up into the compartment
immediately it is thrown down.
In the latter after the closet has been used it may be some hours before it is used
again therefore the soil deposited by the first person is left in the basin, the weight not
being great enough to open the flap and in some instances the closet may be used three
or four times before the contents of basin are let out.
According to my invention the outlet is normally open but before use it is auto-
matically closed and sealed with water and after use is automatically opened and the
pan washed out.
For these purposes the seat is provided with a counterbalance weight which tends
to gradually raise it when not held down. The scat carries an arm having a roller at
its end which as the seat moves either way passes across a valve opening it and
admitting water to the pan. The soat also has pivotted to it one end of a connecting
rod which actuates one end of a bell crank lever whose other end carries the valve for
closing the outlet to the pan.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When it is wished to use the closet the
seat is pulled down and thereby the outlet valve is closed. The motion of the sent
also causes the roller to pass across the water valve admitting a small quantity of water
to the pan thus sealing the outlet. When the person gets off the sent it is gradually
raised by its counterbalance weight opening the outlet. The motion also causes the
roller to again pass across the water valve, this time very slowly, thereby admitting
water to the pan and washing it out.
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1
1004
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Water-closets suitable for Railway Carriages.
I, OSCAR ELPHICк of the Lambeth Sanitary Engineering Works, Albert Embank-
ment, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
In railway carriage closets as at present constructed the outlet is entirely open or
there is a flap which fits tight up against it and is opened intermittently by the weight
of soil, according to the amount deposited.
The objections to the above forms of closet are as follows:-
In the former the outlet being entirely open there is a great draught which is very
unpleasant and dangerous besides often blowing the paper up into the compartment
immediately it is thrown down.
In the latter after the closet has been used it may be some hours before it is used
again therefore the soil deposited by the first person is left in the basin, the weight

page_text: not being great enough to open the flap and in some instances the closet may be used
three or four times before the contents of basin are let out.
According to my invention the outlet is normally open but before use it is automatically
closed and sealed with water and after use is automatically opened and the pan
washed out.
For these purposes the seat is provided with a counterbalance weight which tends
to gradually raise it when not held down. The seat carries an arm having a
roller at its end which as the seat moves either way passes across a valve opening it
and admitting water to the pan. The seat also has pivotted to it one end of a con-
necting rod which actuates one end of a bell crank lever whose other end carries the
valve for closing the outlet to the pan.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When it is wished to use the closet the
seat is pulled down and thereby the outlet valve is closed. The motion of the seat
also causes the roller to pass across the water valve admitting a small quantity of water
to the pan thus sealing the outlet. When the person gets off the seat it is gradually
raised by its counterbalance weight opening the outlet. The motion also causes the
roller to again pass across the water valve, this time very slowly, thereby admitting
water to the pan and washing it out.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figure 2 a plan of a closet constructed according
to my invention.
a is the pan which is carried by a pipe or casing 6-fixed to the floor c of the carriage.
d is the seat pivotted. at d. The seat has a projection behind its pivot which carries
the roller ef is the water supply pipe and a valve upon it. The stem of this valve
lies in the path of the roller so that water is admitted-to-the-pan-each-time-the-seat-is-
put either. up or down. h is the valve or flap closing the bottom of the pan, it is fixed
at one end of the bell crank lever pivotied at j. The other end of the lever j is
slotted to receive a pin on one end of the rod &, the other end of which is pivotted to
one end of the connecting rod whose other end is pivotted to the seat. In the
arrangement shown the flap acts as a counterbalance weight but a separate weight
or string may be provided to tend to keep the seat raised.
It will be obvious that the same results may be obtained by the movements of a
lid or cover which is normally kept closed but is raised when the closet is to be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Closets in which the movement of the seat or cover opens and closes the outlet.
2. Closets in which both the lowering and raising of the seat or cover admits water
to the pan.
3. Closets having the outlet normally open and provided with mechanism for auto-
matically closing the outlet before use and sealing it with water and mechanism for
automatically opening the outlet after use and washing out the pan.
4. Closets in which the lowering of the seat or the raising of the cover closes and
seals the outlet and the raising of the seat or the lowering of the cover opens the outlet
and washes out the pan.
5. Closets substantially as described and shown in the drawings.
O. ELPHICK.