IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERALASETS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin William De Rusctt, of Lewisham, in
the County of Kent, Engineer, and Richard Farrell Dale, of
Shoe Lane, in the City of London, Founder, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERALASETS "
Sealed the 21st July 1868, and dated the 24th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin William De
Rusett and Richard Farrell Dale at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 24th January
1868.
We, EDWIN WILLIAM DE RUSETT, of Lewisham, in the County of
Kent, Engineer, and RICHARD FARRELL DALE, of Shoe Lane, in the
City of London, Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERCLOSETS," to be as follows:-
The chief object of our Invention is to allow the flushing water to
enter the pan before the pan valve is opened and to retain water in the
pan after it is closed.
Our Invention has special reference to the waterclosets patented by
us on the 4th day of October 1865, No. 2546, and to the Invention
patented by us on the 15th August 1866, No. 2091.

page_text: The first part of our Invention consists in giving a peculiar form to
the tumbler, so that the part of the tumbler necessary to cause the pan
valve to open and close, as in ordinary tumbler closets, is prolonged,
the prolongation being truly radiused or nearly so from the fulcrum of
the lever, so that the pan valve is not opened until after the flushing
commences and is closed before the flushing ceases.
In applying this part of our Invention to closets worked by steam as
described in the Specification of our said Patent of 1865 we form the
spindle of the cock or valve of the flushing chamber (which is constructed,
as described in the Specification of our said Patent of 1866) with a
segmental rack, into which a corresponding rack on
prolongation of
the lever gears. When the lever is being raised by the plug rod in the
ordinary manner the racks immediately open the cock or valve to admit
steam to the flushing chamber, but owing to the form of the tumbler the
pan valve is not opened until the plug rod approaches the completion
of its upward movement; in the downward movement of the plug rod
the pan valve is closed before the steam is shut off, the racks not closing
the cock or valve of the flushing chamber until the plug rod is home.
There is thus continuous flushing during the whole movement of the
plug rod. By modifying the arrangement described the steam may be
shut off from the flushing chamber at the end of the up stroke of the
plug rod and again opened and closed in the down stroke, so that two
flushings instead of one continuous flushing are obtained.
In applying the arrangement before described to an ordinary water-
closet we connect the spindle of a valve to the lever near the fulcrum
end, this valve being fitted to the pipe leading from the tank to the
closet; the action is the same as before explained, a continuous flushing
being obtained.
Another part of our Invention relating to closets worked by steam
consists in the employment of a cock or valve hereafter described con-
nected with the steam supply, with the flushing chamber, and with the
soil chamber. The construction and action of this cock or valve are such
that in the up and down movement of the plug rod it first lets steam
into the flushing chamber to flush the pan, then lets steam into the soil
chamber to drive out the contents thereof, and then again lets steam
into the flushing chamber to cause a second flushing, in the meantime
cutting off the steam from the soil chamber so that the condensation
therein produces a vacuum under the pan, opens a counterweighted

page_text: valve at the bottom of the pan, and draws the contents thereof into the
soil chamber. The flushing chamber sucks in its own water supply
owing to the condensation of the steam as described in the Specification
of our said Patent of 1866. By modifying the arrangement of this
closet the water for flushing the pan may be admitted from a tank as
in the watercloset not actuated by steam before described, or otherwise
while the steam is used only to drive out the contents of the soil
chamber.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin William De Rusett and Richard Farrell
Dale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWIN
WILLIAM DE RUSETT, of Lewisham, in the County of Kent, Engineer,
and RICHARD FARRELL DALE, of Shoc Lane, in the City of London,
Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, 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 Edwin William De Rusett and
Richard Farrell Dale, Her special licence that we, the said Edwin
William De Rusett and Richard Farrell Dale, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edwin William
De Rusett and Richard Farrell Dale, our 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 WATERCLOSETS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edwin William De Rusett
and Richard Farrell Dale, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or one of our 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edwin William De Rusett and
Richard Farrell Dale, 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
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
The chief object of our Invention is to allow the flushing water to
enter the pan before the pan valve is opened, and to retain water in the
pan after it is closed.
Our Invention has reference in part to the waterclosets patented by us
on the 4th day of October 1865, No. 2546, and to the Invention patented
by us on the 15th August 1866, No. 2091.
The first part of our Invention consists in giving a peculiar form to
the tumbler so that the part of the tumbler necessary to cause the pan
valve to open and close, as in ordinary tumbler closets, is prolonged, the
prolongation being truly radiused or nearly so from the fulcrum of
the lever, so that the pan valve is not opened until after the flushing
commences and is closed before the flushing ceases.
In applying this part of our Invention to closets worked by steam as
described in the Specification of our said Patent of 1865 we form the
spindle of the cock or valve of the flushing chamber (which is con-
structed as described in the Specification of our said Patent, of 1866)
with a segmental rack into which a corresponding rack on a prolongation
of the lever gears. When the lever is being raised by the plug rod in
the ordinary manner the racks immediately open the cock or valve to
admit steam to the flushing chamber, but owing to the form of the
tumbler the pan valve is not opened until the plug rod approaches
the completion of its upward movement; in the downward movement
of the plug rod the pan valve is closed before the steam is shut off,
the racks not closing the cock or valve of the flushing chamber until
the plug rod is home. There is thus continuous flushing during the
whole movement of the plug rod. By modifying the arrangement
described the steam may be shut off from the flushing chamber at the
end of the up stroke of the plug rod and again opened and closed in
the down stroke so that two flushings instead of one continuous flushing
are obtained.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a water:
closet worked by steam and constructed according to this part of our
Invention.
A is the pan; C, the plug rod weighted at D, as usual; E is the
flushing chamber communicating with the upper part of the pan by the
pipe F leading from a delivery valve at the lower part of the chamber E;
G is the pipe by which the water enters the flushing chamber from the
sea, that is to say, when the closet is fitted in a vessel; H is the steam
pipe communicating with the upper part of the flushing chamber; I is
the cock or valve for regulating the supply of steam to the flushing
chamber; K is the lever actuated by the plug rod C, and having its
fulcrum at L; M is the tumbler for causing the pan valve to open and
close this tumbler, and the parts immediately connected therewith are
shown on a larger scale in Figure 2. The part 6 of the tumbler for
acting on the pan valve is prolonged from 6 to c, this prolongation being
truly radiused from the fulcrum L; N is a segmental rack on the spindle
of the valve I, and O is a corresponding rack on a prolongation of the
lever K, or the steam may be admitted and cut off by means of a spindle
or other valve, which may be worked off the end or other part of the
lever K. The action of this closet is as follows:-When the lever K
is being raised by the rod C the. racks N and O immediately open the
valve I to admit steam to the flushing chamber E, so that the water is
driven from this chamber through the pipe F into the pan; but owing
to the form of tumbler M the lever K does not cause it to act upon
and open the pan valve until the lever has in its upward movement
reached the point b. The pan valve being opened during the com-
pletion of the upward movement of the lever the contents of the pan
are discharged into the soil pipe P; then in the down stroke of the lever
the pan valve is closed as soon as the lever reaches the point b, but the
racks N, O, do not close the valve I until the plug rod and lever are
home. There is thus, as before stated, continuous flushing of the pan
during the whole movement of the plug rod. The condensation of the
steam in the flushing chamber E produces a vacuum therein, so that a
fresh supply of water is sucked up from the sea by the pipe G.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the spindle or stem of the tumbler
and of the pan valve, showing a mode we prefer to adopt for making
a water-tight joint. d is the tumbler spindle, it is formed with ȧ
flange e; y is the chamber below the pan; f is a gun metal bearing

page_text: with an inside and outside flange to receive the side of the chamber g;
h is a leather. or other washer or packing interposed between the
bearing and the flange e, or a stuffing box may be used for the same
purpose.
Figure 4 represents the manner in which we prefer to make a water-
tight seating for the pan valve. i is the seating plate to which the lower
edge of the pan is cemented or otherwise secured, and k is a ring of
india-rubber or other suitable material sprung or let into this seating,
as shown, and B is the pan valve, the top edge of which is turned up to
bear against the ring k.
In applying the arrangement before described to an ordinary water-
closet, we connect the spindle of a valve to the lever near the fulcrum
end, this valve being fitted to the pipe leading from the tank to the
closet; the action is the same as before explained, a continuous flushing
being obtained. Figure 5 represents this part of our Invention applied
to an ordinary watercloset. Letters the same as those in Figure 1
refer to corresponding parts. The spindle of the valve I in the valve
chamber F leading to the pan is pressed by the lever K, as shown.
Figure 6 represents an arrangement the same as that shewn in Figure 5,
except that the valve I is differently situated. Q, Figure 5, is an
overflow pipe which may be fitted to any of the closets herein described.
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 5, the spindle of the valve may
either be connected to the lever K or not; in the latter case it is opened
by the pressure of the water when the lever is acted upon by the plug,
and it is closed by the return of the lever to position.
•
Another part of our Invention relating to closets worked by steam
consists in the employment of a cock or valve, hereafter described, con-
nected with the steam supply, with the flushing chamber, and with the
soil chamber. This valve or cock is represented in section in Figure 7,
m is the way leading from the boiler or steam supply; n the way
leading to the flushing chamber, and o the way leading to the soil
chamber. The stem p of this valve has a passage narrow at one end
and broad at the other, as shown, the form being such that the narrow
end can never communicate with both the ways n and o at the same
time, while the broad end is in communication with the steam supply
or way m, when the narrow end communicates with either of the
ways n, o.
Figure 8 is a vertical section, and Figure 9 a horizontal section through

page_text: the line 1-1, of Figure 8, of a complete closet constructed according to
this part of our Invention. R is the valve or cock just explained, the
stem thereof being operated by the plug rod C and a lever K; E is the
flushing chamber, and S the soil chamber. In the upward movement
of the plug rod the valve or cock R first lets steam into the flushing
chamber E to flush the pan through the pipe G, and then lets steam
into the soil chamber S to drive out the contents thereof; in the
downward movement the valve again lets steam into the flushing
chamber E to cause a second flushing, in the meantime cutting off the
steam from the soil chamber S, so that the condensation therein produces
a vacuum under the pan, opens a counterweight valve B at the bottom
of the pan, and draws the contents thereof into the soil chamber. The
flushing chamber sucks in its own water supply, owing to the con-
densation of the steam, as described in the Specification of our said
Patent of 1866.
By modifying the arrangement of this closet the water for flushing
the pan may be admitted from a tank, as in the watercloset represented
in Figures 5 and 6, or otherwise, while the steam is used only to drive
out the contents of the soil chamber.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as
our improvements in waterclosets,―
First. The construction and employment in waterclosets of the
tumbler represented in Figures 1, 2, 5, and 6 of the accompanying
Drawings, and arranged and acting in the manner herein-before
described.
Second. The construction and employment in waterclosets of a rack
on the spindle of the valve of the flushing chamber, and a corresponding
rack on the lever arranged and acting together, substantially as and for
the purposes described and represented in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third. The general arrangement or combination of parts of water-
closets, herein-before described and represented in Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The general arrangement or combination of parts of water-
closets, herein-before described and represented in Figures 5 and 6 of the
accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Fifth. The construction and employment in waterclosets of the valve
or cock represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9 of the accompanying Drawings,
and arranged and acting in the manner herein-before described.
Sixth. The general arrangement or combination of parts of water-
closets, herein-before described and represented in Figures 8 and 9 of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Farrell Dale, for myself
and on behalf of the said Edwin William De Rusett, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
RICHP. F. DALE. (L.S.)