IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS AND MEANS USED WHEN DRAINING CITIES, TOWNS, AND OTHER INHABITED PLACES AND LAND
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARTIN, K.L., of Allsop's Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Martin, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Martin, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Martin, my exors, admors, 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS AND
MEANS USED WHEN DRAINING CITIES, TOWNS, AND OTHER INHABITED PLACES AND
LAND;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
John Martin, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand. and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: disuniting constitutes one of the most important advantages of this mode of
constructing the pipes.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention. Figure 5 shows a
longitudinal section of part of the end of a pipe, having a valve applied thereto,
according to my Invention; and Figure 6 shows an end view thereof. The
upper part of the pipe has nebs or projections a, a, formed thereon, in order to
receive and support the valve b, and there is a recess formed in the end of the
pipe at c to allow the upper part of the valve to enter, so that the lower part of
the valve may open. The valve 6 is formed of slate, with projectious d, d, which
by their rounded under edges rest on the projections a, a. The valves 6 will
when at rest remain closed, but a slight pressure from the interior of the pipe
will press it open, whilst any pressure coming in the opposite direction will
keep the valve closed. I find slate not only a very cheap but a very strong
and useful material for such valves; and it is the employment of slate, and
making valves for pipes used for draining, of the form and hanging them in
the manner shewn, which constitute the peculiarities of the second part of my
Invention.
I will now describe the third part of my Invention. Figure 10 shows a trap
for the street gullies and house drains. It consists of a square or oblong box,
one side of which should be divided into three equal parts, the lower division
serving as the receptacle for the silt, and the middle division being an opening
with a slate or glass valve suspended in the manner described in the second
part of my Invention. The upper portion of the adjoining side should have a
long narrow opening or grating (not shewn), through which the water and silt
would run, the heavy silt depositing in the box whilst the water would pross
the valve open and run down into the sewer. By placing this trap under the
pavement, with the opening or grating towards the gutter, the construction
would be cheaper, as the paving flag would form the top of the trap. In some
cases it may be preferable to place the grating upon the top instead of at the
side of the box. For the house drain the same principle should be applied,
the grating or perforations being at the top. The advantages and peculiarities
of this trap are, that it allows an equally free passage for the fluid at all
periods; that it prevents the houses being flooded by any rise in the sewers;
that it effectually shuts out all smell or noxious air from the sewers; that the
self-acting valve affords means of perfectly ventilating the sewers; and finally,
that the sewer would be protected from the entrance of heavy extraneous
substances, as the silt would fall into the trap and be thence removed at
-intervals by the scavengers; thus effecting great saving in the cleansing of the
main sewers.

page_text: :
f
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention. Figure 7 shews a
machine or apparatus for cutting drains in clay or other soft wet land. It
consists of the upper part of compartment a for receiving dry sand, there being
a cutter 6 fixed at the under part, and immediately behind the cutter is an
opening, so that the sand may flow down and be deposited in the cutting made
as the machine advances. This machine is to be drawn along the surface
of the land as a sledge, the weight pressing the cutter into the land. d, d,
are the guiding handles, and e is the fore part or framing to attach the horses
or other means of draught. ff, are necks or axes to receive temporary
wheels for facilitating the transport of the machine on roads and land, where
the cutter is not to be brought into action. In using this machine and means
of making and filling drains, it is proposed that deep parallel trenches or drains
should be formed at considerable distances apart, and such deeper drains are
to have drain tubes layed therein and sand above, the tubes being made
according to the fifth part of my Invention, and the drains made by the
.machine, Figure 7, are to be made transversely of the larger drains, by which
means the water flowing into the trenches made by the machine will run into
the deeper trenches or drains having the pipes or tubes therein, and by them
will the water be conducted away.
I will now describe the fifth part of my Invention. Figure 8 shews a section
of a pipe in a suitable trench, and Figure 9 a longitudinal section of a per-
forated pipe, constructed according to this part of my Invention, and the
novelty consists in so forming the perforations that they incline to each other,.
and converge at a point above the top of the tube. By this arrangement,
although the tubes be covered with fine sand, yet the water will filter down-
wards and rise up through the perforations without carrying any of the sand
into the pipes or tubes.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the details herein shown and described, so long, as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is,-
First, the mode of constructing tubes or pipes and couplings, as described
in respect to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Secondly, I claim the mode of constructing valves and using slate as
described.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of constructing drain traps for houses and gullies
in the streets.
Fourthly, I claim the mode of constructing a machine or apparatus for
cutting and filling drains in land, as described in respect to Figure 7; and,