IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO CISTERNS AND WATERCLOSETS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wright, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Plumber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUSHING
APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO CISTERNS AND WATERCLOSETS."
Sealed the 15th December 1857, and dated the 20th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1857.
I, WILLIAM WRIGHT, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Plumber, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FLUSHING APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO CISTERNS AND WATERCLOSETS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in fixing, inside a cistern or tank, an inlet and an
outlet pipe in such manner that the mouth of one may come over the mouth
of the other, and in fitting upon an arm a vulcanized rubber, leather, or other
suitable diaphragm, which, upon the arm being moved in one direction or the
other, closes the inlet and opens the outlet, or opens the inlet and closes the
outlet pipe. For flushing waterclosets, I connect the arm through levers
and a rod or wire to the seat, and adjust the parts so that upon a person sitting
down upon the seat a weight upon the seat lever pulls down the lever in the
cistern (the action of this lever is also aided by a weight), presses the dia-

page_text: phragm on and closes the outlet pipe, and at the same time removes it from
the inflow pipe, and allows water to flow into the cistern. Upon the seat
being vacated the levers, rods, and weights act upon the diaphragm so as to
raise it from the outlet, and allow the whole contents of the cistern to flush
the closet; at the same time the diaphragm is carried under the mouth of and
closes the inflow pipe. This apparatus may be employed in an open cistern, a
ball-cock being employed to prevent the inflow rising above a certain level; or
it may be used in a closed vessel when no ball-cock will be necessary, but an
air pipe must be fixed therein; or I fit a valve in a cistern or tank, and
suspend the valve from the long arm of a weighted lever, the short arm of
which is connected by a wire or rod to the seat lever, from which a rod is
carried to a cock in a supply pipe, which is continued up and terminates in a
ball cock in the flushing cistern. Upon the seat being depressed, the cock is
opened and the valve in the cistern simultaneously lowered; water flows into
the cistern from a supply at a higher level or otherwise under pressure,
until the seat is vacated, or until shut off by the ball-cock. Upon the seat
being vacated, the supply is shut off, and the valve simultaneously lifted from
its seat, whereby the contents of the cistern flow out and flush the closet...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WRIGHT, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Plumber, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred. and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Wright, Her special licence that I, the said William Wright,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or. such others as I, the said
William Wright, 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
FLUSHING APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO CISTERNS AND WATERCLOSETS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Wright, my executors or

page_text: administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Wright, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
The seat a being occupied presses down the lever b, communicating with
the levers c, c, which turn down the tongue d on the outlet of the escape pipe
e, and closes it up, at the same time opening the orifice of the supply pipe f,
thro' which the water flows from the cistern g into the box h, and backs up
the pipe i into the flush box k. When the pressure is taken from the seat a,
the lever brises by means of the weight 2, which again acting on the levers
c, c, raises the tongue d, and closes up the orifice of the supply pipe f, which
then leaves the mouth of the escape pipe e open, thro' which the water
contained in the flush boxes k and h forces itself and flushes the basin m.
Fig. 1 is a section showing the connection of the water cistern, box, and
basin; a is a moveable seat over the closet basin; b and c, c, are levers
which work the spindle connected with the tongue d; d is a metal tongue
covered with india-rubber, gutta percha, or any other soft material, or brass
faced valves, working thro' a stuffing box by means of a spindle to close the
mouth of the pipes e and f; e is the escape pipe, into which the water flows
from the box h to flush the basin m; f is a pipe to supply water from the
water cistern g into the box n; h is a metal box; r is a box into which
the water backs up thro' the pipe i, when the box h becomes filled. The box
r can either be open, as shewn, or it can be enclosed and have an air pipe
connected with it, which will act as an overflow pipe to the cistern g. 1 is a
weight to keep the tongue & in its position; m is a closet basin.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of the box h, showing the supply and escape pipe
connected with it.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the box h, enclosed.
Fig. 4 is an end view of do.
Fig. 5 is a plan of the tongue d and spindle.
I claim an exclusive right to the metal box and tongue complete; also the
mode of the water backing up into the flushing box R; also the box R and
h and pipe i being empty after the closet has been used.

page_text: The same apparatus can be attached to an air-tight cistern or box to work
by means of compressed air.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight. hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM WRIGHT. (L.S.)