AUTOMATIC FLUSHING TANK
Year: 1884

page_text: I, FRIEDRICH CUNTZ of Karlsbad Bohemia, Austria, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AUTOMATIC FLUSHING TANK" 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:-
My Invention relates to an automatic flushing tank for flushing sewers, drains,
urinals water closets and the like, wherein an automatic periodical discharge of
the tank is effected by the combined action of a siphon and a small continuous
water supply under pressure, the said water supply, at the same time that it
gradually fills the tank, being also made to act as an ejector apparatus for
exhausting the air from the top of the siphon bend, so that the siphon is brought
into action as soon as the water has risen to a certain level in the tank.
The accompanying Drawing shews a vertical section of the construction of such
apparatus which I prefer to employ. It consists of the bell siphon a having a
trapped bend at bottom, to prevent ingress of air, and provided at top firstly with
a small bent pipe c establishing a communication between the interior of the
siphon and the atmosphere, and secondly with an ejector apparatus b, that is
worked by a water jet from a nozzle on the pipe e that supplies the tank. with
water, the suction pipe 6₁ of which apparatus also enters the top of the siphon
while the discharge pipe f thereof enters the tank.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Assuming the tank to have been
discharged down to the level of the lower end of the bell siphon the trap of which
remains sealed; the tank will then become slowly filled again, so that the siphon
As the water
only communicates with the atmosphere through the bent pipe c.
flows through the pipe e, the action of the jet thereof in the ejector b will be to
exhaust the air from the siphon through the pipe 61, both ends of the siphon being
now sealed. But as the air is free to enter the siphon through the pipe c no
vacuum will be formed in the same until the outer end of the pipe c, (which is at a
level somewhat below the top of the inner pipe of the siphon), is sealed by the
rising level of the water in the tank. The air in the siphon will then be exhausted
by the ejector, causing the water to rise in the same so as to bring it into action
and discharge the tank. Thus if the ejector be supplied with 0.21 gallons of
water per minute and the discharged contents of the reservoir be 305 cube ft.,
standing at a level of 6ft 6in, while the inside diameter of the siphon is 5.9ins, the
tank will take 6 days to fill, while the discharge will be effected in 2 minutes.

page_text: By providing a branch pipe with cock d, the charging of the tank may be
effected in any desired shorter space of time.
The apparatus will also work without the air pipe c, the suction of the ejector
being in that case so regulated as only to bring the siphon into action when the
tank is nearly full. The use of the pipe c however greatly increases the certainty
of working and also prevents sewer gases from being drawn into the water supply
pipe in the event of a fracture in the same causing an in-draught instead of a
discharge therefrom.
The diameter of the air pipe is so proportioned that it will not admit sufficient
air into the siphon while this is discharging to interfere with its action. Having
thus described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, I claim :-
1. Constructing automatic flushing tanks wherein the top of a discharge siphon
is made to communicate with the suction pipe of an ejector apparatus worked by a
water supply under pressure that at the same time serves to charge the tank,
substantially as herein described.
2. In combination with automatic flushing tanks arranged and operating as set
forth in the preceding claim, the use of an air pipe, connected to the top of the
siphon and so arranged as to become sealed by the water in the tank when it has
risen to the level at which it requires to be discharged, substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth.