IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS POR PREVENTING WASTE OF WATER IN OR FROM WATERCLOSETS AND DRINKING FOUNTAINS, CISTERNS, TANKS, AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Fell, of Robinson's Row, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, and Robert Barlow, of Shacklewell Lane,
in County of Middlesex, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS POR PREVENTING WASTE OF WATER IN OR FROM
WATERCLOSETS AND DRINKING FOUNTAINS, CISTERNS, TANKS, AND OTHER
LIKE RECEPTACLES."
Sealed the 24th November 1868, and dated the 28th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Foll and
Robert Barlow at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 28th May 1868.
We, RICHARD FELL, of Robinson's Row, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, and ROBERT BARLOW, of Shacklewell Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Builder, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR PREVENTING WASTE OF WATER
IN OR FROM WATERCLOSETS AND DRINKING FOUNTAINS, CISTERNS, TANKS, AND
OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES," to be as follows:-

page_text: This Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrange-
ments of apparatus to be applied to waterclosets and drinking fountains,
cisterns, tanks, waterbutts, and other like receptacles, and consists as
applied to waterclosets and drinking fountains in combining with the
service pipe as herein-after described a three-way cock in connection
with a compressed air vessel. The three-way cock is situate under the
balance bar of the closet, when applied thereto, a lever in connection
with the balance bar being coupled to the key or plug of the cock.
The service pipe is connected with one of the openings in the cock
whilst the other two passages or openings are respectively in commu-
nication with the compressed air vessel and the basin of the closet.
On drawing up the handle or pull of the closet the lever which is
connected with the key or plug of the cock opens the passage com-
municating between the service pipe and air vessel. On releasing
the handle or returning it to its former position the condition of the
cock will be changed, a communication being then established between
the air vessel and the basin of the closet, the compressed air in the
air vessel forcing the water into the basin with a pressure equivalent
to that due to the height of the column of water in the pipe or main.
The peculiar self-acting apparatus which we propose to apply to cisterns,
tanks, waterbutts, and other like receptacles for the purpose of
preventing waste of water therefrom arising from overflow consists of
a peculiar equilibrium float valve worked by the action of a float
lever, the float of which rests upon the surface of the water in the
cistern or tank.
The supply valve itself may be the ordinary leather faced flat
bottomed valve, but it is fixed on to a tubular spindle which projects
above the valve and carries at its upper end a piston of the same area
or nearly so as the valve itself, so as to balance the pressure thereon;
this piston works fluid-tight in a small closed cylindrical chamber
contained in a suitable casting fitted to the service pipe. The lower
end of the valve spindle is connected to the float lever in such a way
as that when the float descends, owing to the drawing off of the
water from the cistern, the valve will be lifted and consequently
opened, thereby allowing a further supply of water to flow into the
cistern; any air or fluid which may find its way above the equilibrium
piston in the cylinder will have free escape down the tubular spindle
into the cistern. As the water pressure acts equally upon the upper

page_text: surface of the valve and the under surface of the piston it follows that
the smallest amount of power will suffice to open or close the valve,
and hence all risk of the float lever not opening or closing the valve is
obviated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Fell and Robert Barlow in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
FELL, of Robinson's Row, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, and
ROBERT BARLOW, of Shacklewell Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Richard Fell and Robert Barlow,
Her special license that we, the said Richard Fell and Robert Barlow,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Richard Fell and Robert Barlow, our executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and 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 APPARATUS FOR
PREVENTING WASTE OF WATER IN OR FROM WATERCLOSETS AND DRINKING
FOUNTAINS, CISTERNS, TANKS, AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Fell and Robert
Barlow, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Richard Fell and Robert Barlow,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
Our suid Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and
arrangements of apparatus to be applied to waterclosets and drinking-
fountains, cisterns, tanks, waterbutts, and other like receptacles for the
purpose of preventing waste of water therefrom, and consists, as applied
to waterclosets and drinking fountains, in combining with the service
pipe in the manner herein-after described a peculiar three-way cock in
connection with a compressed air vessel. This peculiar three-way cock
has about one-third of the diameter of its plug cut away so as to leave
an opening or space inside the body of the cock for the forming of a
communication between two out of the three passages learling from the
barrel of the cock. This cock is situate under the balance bar of the
closet (when applied thereto), a lever in connection with the balance
bar being coupled with the key or plug of the cock. The service pipe is
connected with one of the openings in the barrel of the cock, whilst the
other two passages or openings are respectively in communication with
the compressed air vessel and the basin of the closet. On drawing up
the handle or "pull" of the closet the lever or balance bar which is
connected with the key or plug of the cock opens the passage communi-
cating between the service pipe and air vessel. On releasing the handle
or returning it to its former position the condition of the cock will be
changed, a communication being then established between the air vessel
and the basin of the closet, the compressed air in the air vessel forcing
the water into the basin with a pressure equivalent to that due to the
height of the column of water in the pipes or main in addition to the
pressure of the air in the air vessel.
The peculiar self-acting apparatus which we propose to apply to
cisterns, tanks, waterbutts, and other like receptacles for the purpose of
preventing waste of water therefrom arising from overflow, consists of a
peculiar equilibrium float valve worked by the action of a float lever,
the float of which rests upon the surface of the water in the cistern or
tank. The supply valve itself may be the ordinary leather faced flut

page_text: bottomed valve, but it is fixed on to a tubular spindle which projects
above the valve and carries at its upper end a piston of the same
area or nearly so as that of the valve itself, so as to balance the
pressure thereon. This piston works fluid-tight in a closed cylindrical
chamber fitted to the service pipe. The lower end of the valve spindle
is connected to the float lever in such a way as that when the float
descends, owing to the drawing off of the water from the cistern, the
valve will be lifted and consequently opened, thereby allowing a further
supply of water to flow into the cistern. Any air or fluid which may
find its way above the equilibrium piston in the cylinder will have free
escape down the tubular spindle into the cistern. As the water pressure
acts equally upon the upper surface of the valve and the under surface
of the piston, it follows that the smallest amount of power will suffice
to open or close the valve, and hence all risk of the float lever not
opening or closing the valve is obviated.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of our Drawings represents a sectional elevation of a water-
closet with our improvements applied thereto. A is the basin, and B
the metal container; C is the peculiar three-way cock, and D, D', are.
two air vessels connected together by the pipe D". From the body or
barrel of the cock lead three pipes, the one E communicating direct with
the main, the pipe F leading from the cock to the air vessel D, and
the pipe G leading into the basin of the closet. The plug of the cock
is so constructed as to be capable of establishing a communication
either between the main supply pipe E and the air vessel D through
the pipe F, or of connecting the air vessel D direct with the basin A
through the pipe G (as shown in the Drawing) according to the position
which the plug of the cock is made to assume. This plug is provided
with a lever arm H, which is coupled by a link I to the weighted
balance bar or lever K, such bar being connected in the usual manner
to the pull or handle L, and to the pan L' of the closet. In the
position of the plug shown in the Drawing the water from the main is
shut off, and that which was in the air vessel D is discharged into the

page_text: basin through the pipes F and G. On raising the pull L the communi-
cation between the air vessel and the basin will be closed, whilst that
between the main or supply pipe and the air vessel will be opened in
order to allow the water to flow into the air vessel so long as the pull
remains elevated. The capacity of the second air vessel D' should be
double that of the air vessel D, which latter should contain sufficient
to fill the copper pan of the closet, or for a single discharge into the
closet. If the pressure be above fifteen pounds per square inch we place
the larger air vessel D' some distance above the closet, but for all pressures
below fifteen pounds per square inch we place the second air vessel D¹
below the seat of the closet as shewn in dotted lines.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a three-way sluice valve which we
prefer to use in conjunction with the air vessels in lieu of the three-way
cock last described. E is the pipe leading from the main; F is a branch
leading to the air vessel, and G is a branch from the pipe F, leading
through the sluice to the basin of the closet. The communication
between the pipes E and F is shown closed in the Drawing by the sluice
valve C, which slides vertically inside the outer valve case by having its
spindle connected with the balance lever or bar of the closet. The
connection between the air vessel and the pipe G is shown open in the
Drawing, but on lifting the sluice valve C that connection will be
closed, and the communication between the main supply pipe E and the
air vessel through the pipe F will be opened.
Figure 3 represents our improvements as applied to a drinking
fountain. A, A, are the basins fixed to the outer casing B, and provided
with drain pipes a for the waste to flow away. C, C, are the peculiar
three-way cocks, and D, D, are the air vessels, the number of which
will depend on the number of cocks. E is the supply pipe from the
main, which is brought into communication with or shut off from the
air vessels, as the case may be, by turning the three-way cocks. When
the supply from the air vessel is turned on through the supply pipes G,
the air vessel will be simultaneously shut off from the main by the
peculiar formation of the three-way cock, as shown in the left-hand cock
in Figure 3, and thus no direct supply of water can be drawn from
the main, but must always be directed first into the air vessel, as shown
in the right-hand cock in Figure 3.

page_text: Figure 4 represents a sectional view of our improved equilibrium self-
acting ball or float valve for supplying cisterns. A is the supply pipe,
on the end of which is fitted the cylindrical closed chamber B. On the
under side of this pipe and opposite to the chamber B is formed the
supply opening which is provided with a flat leather faced or mitre
valve C. This valve is secured to the tubular spindle D, which spindle
carries at its upper end a piston E working fluid-tight inside the closed
chamber B. As the arm of the piston E is the same as that of the
valve it follows that the pressure on the latter will always be balanced,
and hence it will move with the greatest ease. The valve is opened and
closed by having its spindle connected at its lower end to the end of the
float lever F, working on a fulcrum G, so that as the float rises with
the rising level of the water when the cistern is being filled, the lever F
will draw down and close the valve, thereby shutting off any further
supply until the level of the water is lowered, whereupon the descent
of the float will lift the valve and admit of a further supply entering
the cistern. By making the valve spindle tubular any water or air
which might become imprisoned above the piston in the closed cylindrical
chamber, or which might leak through the piston packing will be
enabled to escape freely down the valve spindle into the cistern.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Inven-
tion secured to us by the hercin-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
First. The peculiar combination and arrangement of apparatus and
the mode of operating the same when applied to waterclosets as and for
the purpose hercin-before described and illustrated by our Drawings.
Second. The peculiar combination and arrangement of apparatus
as applied to drinking fountains for the purpose of preventing waste
of water therein as herein-before described and illustrated by our
Drawings.
Third. The combination with an equilibrium ball or float valve of a
tubular valve spindle, operating substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.

page_text: Fourth. The peculiar construction of and mode of working equilibrium
ball or float valve for cisterns as herein-before described and illustrated
by our Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Fell, on behalf of myself
and the said Robert Barlow, have to this Specification set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
RICH. FELL. (L.S.)