AN INODOROUS CLOSET OR COMMODE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS, PATENT' to Joseph Marino, of the City of Stockholm, in the
Kingdom of Sweden, Mechanician, for the Invention of "AN INODOROUS
CLOSET OR COMMODE,"
Sealed the 16th April 1859, and dated the 29th January. 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the, said, Joseph Marino at the,
Office of the Commissioners, of. Patents, with this Petition, on the 29th
January 1859.
I, JOSEPH MARINO, of the City of Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden;
Mechanician;; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for. "AN.
INODOROUS CLOSET OR COMMODE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of inodorous closet, by the
use. of which the liquid and solid excrement from the human body may be
separated and retained for service as a manure, instead of being discharged
into the common sewer, and,lost..
The closet; although susceptible of many modifications, may be described as
consisting of a box, fitted with a lid that shuts down upon an open seat.
Under this seat is placed a pan or other detached vessel for receiving the solid.
excrement; and a little in advance of this is an open funnel for receiving the
urine and conducting.it away to another vessel.
The funnel may be detached from the tube which leads to the urine pan, or
Pine 81

page_text: it may form the lip of the urine pan, which in this instance will be
made sufficiently large to receive a vessel for the soil or solid excrement.
The vessels may be withdrawn from the box either by first removing the open
seat and lifting them out, or doors may be made in the side of the box to
-permit of their removal when required. When this closet is fitted in a
dwelling, it may be desirable to lead an air pipe from the box to an adjacent
flue, and to cause a draft through the pipe by means of a gas jet or
otherwise.
In hotels and other large buildings where closets are required at different
floors, it may be desirable, instead of having separate vessels for each, which
will require frequent removal, to connect such closets by means of vertical soil
pipes with general pans placed at the basement, and by means of branch pipes
leading to an air flue to draw off all the noxious gases from the soil pipes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Marino in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MARINO, of the City of Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden, Mechanician,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Marino, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Marino, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Marino, 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 "AN INODOROUS
CLOSET OR COMMODE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Marino, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Marino, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
This Invention relates to the use of a novel arrangement of inodorous closet
or commode, whereby the liquid and solid excrement from the human body
may be separated and retained for service as a manure, instead of being dis-
charged into the common sewer and lost.
The closet, although susceptible of many modifications, may be described as
consisting of a box fitted with a lid that shuts down upon an open seat.
Under this seat is placed a pan or other detached vessel for receiving the solid
excrement, and a little in advance of this is an open funnel for receiving the
urine and conducting it away to another vessel.
:
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is the side elevation,
and Fig. 2 a vertical section of a closet intended to be placed out of doors;
Fig. 3 is a top view of the closet with the lid or cover opened; and Fig. 4 is
a top view with the seat and cover removed. It consists of a conical case or
vessel a, in which the soil pan b, also of conical form, is placed. These vessels
may be made either of wood, metal, earthenware, or any other suitable
material. At the upper edge, and on the inside of the outer case, is placed an
openfunnelc forreceiving the urine; thisfunnel, whichis termed the "divider,"
is made of metal or earthenware, and has its spout inserted in a pipe d, which
leads down to the urinal. The "divider" is supported in position so that it may
be readily removed when the pan b is required to be emptied or cleaned.
Fitted to the top of the outer vessel or case a is the seat e, and to this seat is
hinged the lid f, which when opened rests against the support g.
The pipe d conducts the fluid from the "divider" into the urinal h, which is
placed under the footstep l. The urinal is provided with a funnel shaped
cover i, the pipe % of which descends (as shewn in the Drawing) to within
about half an inch of the bottom of the vessel."
In order to allow the foul air to escape, a draught pipe m is fitted to the
upper part of the case a, to lead off the foul air into a chimney or into the
open air at a proper elevation. On the opposite side, and at the bottom of
said outer vessel, is a hole of the same diameter as the draught pipe, in order
to create as thorough a draughtas possible, and to increase this when necessary
an oil lamp or gas burner n may be placed beneath and in an aperture of the
pipe m.
Figures 5 and 6 shew in side view and vertical section a "bed-room closet,"

page_text: and Fig. 7 is a top view thereof, the lid being removed. The outer case or
vessel is here divided into two compartments, the upper one receiving the pan
for the excrements, and the lower one containing the urinal. The letters of
reference used in describing the first, arrangement refer to like parts in these
and all subsequently noticed Figures. In the back of the outer case a hinged
doors o, o, are provided, by opening which the pans band h
withdrawn for the purpose of being emptied.
may be readily
Figures8 to 18 are varieties of the same constructionadapted tomeetdifferent
requirements. Thus, for example, the simplest and most economical form of
which the Invention is susceptible is shewnat Figures11,12,13,and 14. Inthis
arrangement the commode is constructed with an outer case a, which forms
the urinal, and encloses the soil pan b,which is suspended therein. The outer
case is formed with a lip, c in front, which acts the part of the funnel, or
divider in the other arrangements, and leads the urine to the lower compart-
ment of the commode.
Fig. 15 shows a mode of fitting to a commode a support for the back and
arms
of an invalid. This is effected by inserting bent rods g,, which project
downwards from the rest, into lugs p, formed on the sides of the outer case a.
Figures 19, 20, and 21 shew in side view,section, and top view, a "divider,"
which is to be fastened to the outer case, or vessel a by hooks or in, any
other way.
By the use of this construction of closet the human excrement will be saved
in the most available form for agricultural purposes. In the country the
urinals may be emptied one or more times a day; and their contents mixed
with compost, and in the towns persons may be appointed for collecting the
urine daily, and preparing it for farm use. As the more solid excrement will,
by the thorough draught established through the closet, in a very short time
become dried, and thereby reduced to a very small volume, the soil pan will
less frequently require to be emptied. This dried excrement will possess a
commercial value comparable to the best guano.
Experience having taught that it is the mixture of the urine and the
abdominal evacuation that generate the fermentation thereof,and produce the
exhalations the most obnoxious aud injurious to health, the mode of separating
these different matters, and the thorough ventilation established in these
closets, cannot fail to recommend them highly to the use of the public, the
inore so as the absence of moisture will make the use of peat, charcoal, or
othermattersnowemployedforbindingtheammoniacalexhalationssuperfluous,
or when used effective in less proportions.
In hotels, barracks, lodging, houses, &c., &c., where a great number of
.12

page_text: inmates renders it necessary to have closets on each floor, it will be proper to
place them above each other so that each one in the series will communicate
with one common pipe or conduit, the conduit widening for each floor so as to
allow the soil to fall with facility into a common reservoir at the basement of
the building.
In Sheet II., Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of the means whereby I
connect the closets with a common receptacle; and Fig. 2 is another longi-
tudinal section taken at right angles to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan
taken in the line. 1, 2; and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan taken in the line 3; 4, of
Figures 1 and 2: The reservoirs are closed by a lid made in two parts so as
to close round the conduit or pipe; a small pipe conducts the urine from the
"divider" in each closet to a general conduit n to the general urinal o, also
situate at the basement.
Behind the closets on each floor there is a conduit or pipe leading into a
general draught pipe or air chimney made in the wall, by which a draught or
ventilation is produced. The whole of this arrangement may easily be under-
stood by referring to the plans, in which a, a, represent the reservoirs for the
night soil or excrements; b, b, the closets; c, c, the front sides of the general
conduit sloping a little for each successive floor; d, the lower end of the
conduit; e, the cover of the reservoir in two parts; f, f, the air conduit or
chimney; g, g, the air conduits from each floor to the general air shaft;
h, h, i, i, the sides of the general conduit, which are held together by iron
hoops and bolts k, l, and m; n is the general urine conduit pipe, and o the
common urinal; q, q, are the pipes for leading the urine from the several
closets, and s the spout from the urine reservoir; t, t, are doors for gaining
access to the reservoirs, and u, u, is a floor easily taken up, so as to facilitate
the removing of the reservoirs; y, y, is a reservoir, which may be employed
for collecting the sweepings and refuse from the kitchen; a¹, the lid or cover
over the reservoir, and 6' an air pipe from this reservoir leading into a separate
air chimney c¹.
It is understood that the proportions and arrangements of all these parts
may be greatly varied, and also that they may be made of wood, china,
earthenware, slate, metal, gutta percha, or india-rubber, as it may be found
most expedient from climatical, mercantile, or other reasons.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Inodorous Closet
or Commode," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
1 claim the means herein described for effecting the separation of the liquid
and solid portions of human excrement, and the withdrawal from closets or

page_text: commodes of the gases arising therefrom whether the Invention be applied
to single closets or commodes, or to a series discharging into receptacles
common to all.
In witness whereof, I the said Joseph Marino, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOSEPH MARINO. (L.S.)