Untitled record

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Strickland kneass, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, assignor to samuel james CRESWELL, OF SAME PLACE.

SEIVER-INLET.

Specification, of Letters Patent No. 32,401, dated May 21, 1861.

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Strickland Kneass, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cer5 tain new and useful Improvements in SewerInlets; and I do hereby declare the foil Giving to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accom10 panying drawing, making a part of this specification, and which represents a sewerinlet made of cast-iron, with my invention applied thereto.

There are two difficulties encountered in 15 sewer inlets, either of which, if not properly guarded against, are productive of great damage to adjacent property, and either of which are likely to occur at times, notwithstanding the greatest vigilance and atten20 tion. The first of these is, a proper escape for confined air in the sewer or inlet, without the annoyance of an escape of foul air, to prevent the sewer from choking, and overflowing the streets, pavements, and cellars, 25 or damage to the sewer itself. The second is, the filling up of the inlet, and thus stopping the flow of water into the sewer, in which event, the same overflow of the streets and filling of cellars occurs.

The object of my invention is not to prevent the compression of air in the sewers, or to prevent the filling up of the inlet, for this cannot be done.

My invention consists in the application 35 to a sewer inlet, of a ventilator, through which the air when under pressure in the sewer may escape, and the lid or cover of which may be raised from the outside to convert it into an inlet, when the inlet proper 40 becomes filled and choked up, and thus to prevent overflowing of the streets, and damage to contiguous property.

I am aware that a self acting valve has been so combined with a sewer, as to 45 allow the air when under pressure in the sewer, to open said valve, and escape. This, so far as it goes is beneficial, but it does not provide or furnish any remedy for choked up inlets. Besides when applied to the 50 sewer, they are difficult to arrange, as the sewer is generally in the center of the street, and it would then incommode the travel. But this is not my invention. I provide by one simple and cheap contrivance, a remedy against two of the greatest difficul- 55 ties to be encountered in city drainage.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings. 60

I have represented my ventilator as applied to a cast iron inlet. Of course I do not confine myself to such an inlet, as it is equally applicable to the ordinary brick and stone inlets, but as the iron inlets are 65 cheaper and better than the brick or stone ones, I prefer its application as represented.

The sump of the inlet is behind the plate A—the line B, designating the trap-plate. These when cast are in one piece. 70

C, is an arch,, the flue of which leads into the sewer. This is cast separately and bolted to the casting A.

D, is-the drip-plate. This is cast separately, and bolted to the casting A. This 75 drip-plate may also represent the bottom of ’ the street gutter.

The arch piece C, has a sleeve «/cast upon it, into which, a pipe or tube b, projects, the upper part of said pipe or tube being flush 80 with the top of the drip plate. Or this pipe may be cast on the ctrip plate if so preferred.

c is a cover to the pipe or tube b, and opening upward. This cover is made light, 85 and fastened to the tube or elsewhere by a chain cl, or otherwise to prevent it from being carried off.

When the sewer becomes choked up by the compressed air within it, the pressure 9Θ will raise the cover, and ventilate the sewer, and thus prevent one of the causes of overflow. When the inlet itself becomes choked up, by the filling up of the sump, and the water cannot pass through it, then the 95 cover c, is lifted off, and the pipe becomes an inlet to the flue of the arch without requiring the water to flow through the sump. By this arrangement of the ventilator, many overflows may be avoided, and much of the 100 annoyance and actual damage to property obviated.

£2 32,401