IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRY EARTH AND WATERCLOSETS."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Taylor, of Bury, in the County of
Lancaster, Clerk of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRY EARTH AND WATERCLOSETS."

page_text: 2. To prevent by means of a self-acting slide the dust from the
deoderizing material soiling the upper part of the seat.
3. To insure by novel contrivance the necessary quantity of deoderizing
material being cast on the excreta or water on each occasion when the
cabinet has been used.
The cabinet is placed in a closet of the ordinary size and form. This
closet has a door either on the side or front; this is hung so as to open
towards the cabinet which is placed at the end of the closet. The
cabinet is enclosed with a door immediately in front of the seat; this
is hinged so as to open towards the outer door, and kept in its open
position by a self-acting catch in such a manner that it is impossible to
open the latter without previously allowing the door of the cabinet to
close. The hinges are placed some of the door, and the leverage thus
gained is the motive power which influences the whole of the mechanical
actions of the cabinet.
The second object is gained by means of a slide worked in grooves
underneath the seat. The action of the lever previously described is
communicated by means of cords and pulleys, and opens the slide when
the door is opened. The opposite end of the slide is attached by means
of cords and pulleys to a weight, which when the cabinet door is released
acts on the lever, and at the same time closes the door and the slide,
and performs the other mechanical actions hereafter described.
The third object is attained by means of an apparatus consisting of a
cylinder with a recess in the form of a parabolic section, and placed
under a brush at the bottom of the hopper where the deoderizing
material is stored. This brush is made with a hole through the centre in
the form of a parellelogram, through which the material passes from the
hopper above to the recess in the cylinder below. The under surface
of the brush is formed segmental so as accurately to fit the curved outer
surface of the cylinder.. When the user of the cabinet opens the door,
the cylinder (by the action of the lever before described) turns about one-
quarter round and brings the recess in the cylinder beneath the lips of
the brush through which the required quantity of material passes from
the hopper above into the recess. When the door is allowed to close the
cylinder returns to its original position, tossing the required quantity of
material upon the excreta below. The brusli is then left in immediate

page_text: contact with the round portion of the cylinder and effectually prevents
the passage of dust when the cabinet is in use.
The leverage of the door is applicable to the working of a self-acting`
watercloset as well as to a dry closet.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John'
Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th February 1876.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TAYLOR, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Clerk of Works, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Taylor, Her special licence
that I, the said John Taylor, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Taylor, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRY EARTH AND WATERCLOSETS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Taylor, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and scals, 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 on or before the Twenty-fifth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Taylor, 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 (that is to say) :-

page_text: First. To ensure by a simple automatic action the necessary covering
of the excreta by the dry deodorizing material.
Second. To prevent by means of a self-acting slide the dust from the
deodorising material soiling the upper side of the seat.
And, Third. To ensure by a novel contrivance the necessary quantity
of deodorising material being cast on the excreta on each occasion when
the cabinet has been used, the said contrivance being also applicable to
waterclosets.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a plan of a closet containing my improved apparatus ;
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same; Fig. 3 is a side elevation;
and Fig. 4, an elevation with the back door removed.
In Fig. 1 a is the brickwork of the closet, and the entrance door
opening inwards, as shewn by dotted lines, there is also a back door c
when convenient; d is the door in front of the cabinet; this door is
hinged at d, and the dotted lines shew the position when open; this
door d is held open and shut by means of the weight i, and parts acting
in combination therewith as will be described hereafter; by this arrange-
ment the user of the cabinet cannot leave the closet without closing the
the door d; e is the seat of the cabinet, shewn best in Fig. 2, and f, is
a plate under the seat; between the seat and the said plate is placed the
slide I which works in side grooves, and this slide is opened by the lever h,
and it is closed by the counterweight i, the lever / being connected by
a cord to the slide g, as shewn in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. The lever his fixed'
to the axle of the cylinder ; which is provided with a recess in the
form of a parabolic or other suitable curve, the cylinder j is placed
under the hopper containing the dry carth or other deodorising
material; at the bottom of the hopper is the brush 7 which is made with
a hole in the centre in the form of a parallelogram through which the
material passes. The object of the brush is to prevent the escape of the
deodorising material when the closet is not in use, and the bearings of
the axle of the cylinder j can be set up to compensate for the wearing
of the brush. The material when discharged from the recess in the
cylinder falls down the spout minto the receiving vessel n, shewn in

page_text: Fig. 4, and in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The lever is actuated by the
heel d² of the door d, as shewn in Fig. 1, the said heel acts as a lever on
the link which is jointed to the lever h.
The mode of operation is as follows, and the Drawing shews the
parts in the positions they occupy when the door d is closed, and the
slide g is over the receiving vessel n:-As soon as the door d is opened
the heel d acting on the lever brings the recess in the cylinder j
directly under the hopper k to receive a supply of deodorising material;
at the same time the slide g is drawn to one side to uncover the receiving
vessel n.
When the closet has been used and the door d is closed the
cylinder jis turned partly round to discharge the deodorising material
into the spout m, from whence it falls on the excreta in the vessel n,
and at the same time the counterweight i closes the slide y and brings
all the parts into the positions shown in the Drawings.
In waterclosets the lever is connected to the tap of the flushing
water and the slide g is not required.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention,
I declare that I claim the improved dry earth closet shewn and
described, and particularly the mechanism for holding the door & open
and shut; also the slide and the parts for actuating the same; also
the cylinder with a recess to contain a fixed supply of deodorising
material and the parts for actuating the same, and the brush 7 between
the hopper and the cylinder to prevent the escape of the deodorising
material; I claim also the leverage of the door to actuate the parts for
flushing waterclosets.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Taylor, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, One thousand