USRE1697E - Improvement in water-closets - Google Patents

Description

' ting 'Y UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE,v

GEUNDY, DEoEAsEn') AND JOSEPH GEUNDY, 0E MELROSE, MAssAcEUsE'rrs,

GRUNDY.

GRUN DY, 0F STONEHAM, AND JAMIE ASSIGNEES 0F SAID THOMAS iMPRovl-:MENT IN wAlfsn-cLos'srs.

` Bpecication forming part o f ietters Patent No. $28,863, defied June 26, '1860; Reissue No. 1,697, dated J uns 14, 1861'. f

.To all` whon it may concern:

Be it known that the late THOMAS GBUNDY,

' formerly of Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, invented an Improvement in Water Closets; and we, do hereby declare that the following, taken in Iconnection with the drawings which accompany and form part of y this specification, is a.

description of his inventionsufiicient Ito enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

In the operation of water-closets it is always important to have and to keep the pan and the hopper partially filled with water when the pan is closed, so as to seal the hopper, and thereby etfectually cnt oi communication with the soil-pipe, thus preventing the escape of foul gases; but in general the valve of the cock controlling the iiow of water into v and through the hopper and pan is closed as quickly asis the pan, and thus when the pan is closed the ow of water is shut o', anda suiciency of water is not obtained from its entrance of a sulcent supply of water into the pan afte qnickns with which it has its closing movement, so that the hopperwill be sealed by tbe immersion of its lower open end in the' water contained in the pan is theend proposed to be attained .by this invention.' The invention consistsin the peculiar arrangement of a plunger-connected with the valve of the water-controlling device, and fitend with relation to the inlet and outlet passages of said device or cock, so that said valve and plunger are less subject to the influence of the current tending to close the valve than in other devices designed for the same purpose, andso that the valve and plun er descend by the iniluencev of gravity one as fast as thewater can pass the plunger into the space left inthe cylinder abovp by the d'egitudinal section, taken in the line z z.

ritl is closed,without regard to the loosely within a cylinder closed at'one v scent of the plunger, and` no faster, said arrangement rendering it practicable to lift the valve from beneath by suitable mechanism there operating, which is a desideratum,be canse unpacking is required where-the-parts which lift the valve pass through the case of the cock, inasmuch as the water which leaks pastsaid parts may be easily conducted into the hopper of the closet, which' leakage is less cnthe exit side of the valve than it would be through like apertures in the inlet or pressure side. The said peculiar arrangement, by bringing both the valve and plunger above the valveseat, renders it possible to make the valve and plunger in one piece, whereas in cases where the valve is on one side of .its seat and its plunger is on the other side, they have to 'f be connected by a joint of some kind, such construction being more expensive an diilcult than that herein shown.

- Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a 1 plan or ltop view of a water-closet provided with a cock embodying this invention. Fig. 2 .is a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is al detailed view of` said cock, showing it in vertical lon- (Seen Fig. 1'.)

a represents the outer case of the closet; b,

the hopper; c, the pan,which is secured to the r rock-shaft d, so that by turning said shaft the pan will be tipped down to discharge its conltents, and so that when the pan is in its normal position, as seen in Fig. 2, it bsurrounds the openlower end of the'hopper.

The pan is operated by means of the handle c, which takes hold of one end of the weighted lever f, ythe other end of the lever being pivoted to the case a at g, To this lever there is xed a-pin, 1|, so arranged as to vibrate in a groove formed in an arm, l, said arm beingiixed on the;rockshait d. It is obvious that in the vibration of the lever pin h will impinge against one side or theother of the groove Vin he rocker-arm l, and that this will partially rotate the rok-shaft d, this causing the pan c to open or close, according as the handle c' is drawn up or pushed down, and,

supplies the closet.

`the water pass through i is. shown by the A arrows in Fig. 3. The, valve which'rests on the valve-seat n is elongated, so that it forms' Y serves also for the rest on its' seat n,

`1n t above-n and in j will be filled withvwater. N ow,1f k israised l It -is true that this further,`th'at the weight on leverfalwys tends to close 'the pan and keep itclosed.l o Located in or between two parts of thesupply-pipep p is a cock -or water-controlling device, the main body or outer casing of which d s b l'ancheaf` One (marked o) receives the water and is provided with lateral from p into 'the' body of the cock and above the valve-seat n therein,'and the other (marked g) receives the waterl as. it passes `the valveseat, and discharges'it into the pipe p', which The direction in which acylinder, (marked k,)which fits like a plunger .loosely 1n a cylinder, j, contained in case i, and closed at its upper end'. There is astem,

r, to the plunger-valve k, which passes as a.

guide through the hub a of thevalve-seat, and cam m to l impinge. against 1n lifting k to permit the flow of water. The shaft; d projects space within and beneath the valve'seat n, and

`there is fixed to the end of shaft (l, within a cam, m', so arranged that it turns upward when shaft d is turned by the lifting of handle c. This causes m to impinge against r and to lift k od' from its seat n, allowing water to flow through i to supply the closet. v When the pan of the closet is closed, it is obvious that kwill and that o and all the space by the mechanism described, 1t 1s Fobvious that the water in j above k must be displaced byvbeing forced out of j past k. When the handle e is dropped, m at fonce assumes the positionshown in Fig. 3, and the pan c closes, but k remains suspended abovethe .valve-seat n, and it is evident that it cannot descendany faster in the water filling the'case- 1 than the water can fill the space above k inj, caused by the gravitation of lcl downward'.

The plunger-valve k therefore remains open for some time-after the pan c closes, and the consequence isthat the water conti nuesto flow pan is flooded, sealing therein the vlower end of the hopper.- Thetlirough i, and the less the difference between the diameter of -k and bore ofj the longer will be the time of the descent ot 7c, because as the space between the sides of kand j is diminished the more dillicult and slowwil'l-be the passage of thewater to supply the space left `in j ask descends. Were it not that water can' thus pass ,into j above k the valve-plungercould not descendat all,

lbecause .a vacuum would be produced above k and the pressure ofthe fluid contents in i and the friction between j and Ic would more than counterbalance tho weight of la, and would keep the plunger fixed at its highest elevation. is not `the rst fluid-com' -trolling device which has a retarder connected with the valve operating to retard its close by the diiculty with which fluid escapes pastor through the case i into the to the use of a connected valve Aand plunger when arranged relatively to the inlet vand outlet of the cock as described-that is to say,

`with the :top of the valve exposed to the current of water passing through the cock,`

the valve being above the seat on the pressure side of the cock, and the plunger being below the valve-seat, also exposed to the rush of water as it passes through the cock.

The arrangement of the valve and plunger claimed in said patent is objectionable, be-

;cause of the tendency of the currents through the cock to close the valve therein and to close vit with a blow; but in this invention it may be plainly seen that neither the valve nor plunger is exposed to superimposed action of the current, and that, therefore, other things being equal, this valve will not close asquickly-as will the valve in said patent, nor will it close as Adoes the one referred, to, with a blow. When this valve falls the water passes downward against part o the periphery of the plunger andv upward against so 4much of its periphery'as is contained in the cylinder j. The cylinder j is made adjustable within t', as shown, by means of' screw-threads, the object being the regulation of the time of of the valve. If the cylinder j is raised, then the plunger k will not be entered therein as -far as before, and( the passage between j and k to the space left, in the descent of 7c being shortened, the friction of the water will be less in passing to the supply of said space, which, in consequence, will be more `quickly filled. Thus itwillbe seen that the fall of the valve may be 'm'ade'quick or slow, according as the cylinder j isadjusted up or down, with reference to the valve and its seat.

In this specification the word plunger A isusejd in its exact technical' sense, as meaiuing 'a device-fitted so loosely lwithin Vits containing case or cylinder that one does not come into contact with the other, but leaves room for the passage of fluid between the two.

'A plunger is distinguished from a piston in that a `piston is made to fill closely its cylinder o r containing-case, the substance of both partsV being actually in contact and not intended to allow fluid to pass the surfaces in contact.

v Water-closets are frequently unused for some y during, which a piston would length of time, stick or become set in its cylinder from oxidation or from stiening of its packing.' Where a diaphragm is usedit will become stili, if

.made of rubber or leather or other similar material, and thin metallic diaphragms break under jconstant iiexure. not give the trouble norhas it thefaults in use o f either the Apiston or diaphragm, both of. which are herebyspecially disclaimed as. not

the falling f The plunger does being the equivalents of the plunger for use in water-closet valves.

Arranging a valve or plunger, or both, above the vulve-sea.t, and with reference to the inlet and outlet passages of a water-controlling device, substantially as specifiedthat is to say, so thateither or boththe valve und plunger shall be relieved or protected from the superimposed impngement thereupon of the current. lpaesing through such a device.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our signaturesl this 15th day of December, A. D., 1863.

VILLIAM E. PARMETER.

Administrator with the will annexed of l Thomas Grundy, and assignee.

JosEPHhenUNDY. y Il JAMES GRUNDY.

- mark. Witnesses:

S. M. MCINTIRE,

J. B. CROSBY.

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