Disinfecting appliance.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1899.)

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ATTQftNEY

THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PWOTO-LITHO WASHINGTON. D. C.

United States PATE^g^gicE.

THOMAS N. THOMSON, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

DISINFECTING APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION· forming part of Letters Patent No. 668,762, dated February 26, 1901.

Application filedNovember 29,1899. Serial No, 738,691. (No model.)

To all whom tb may concern:

Be it known that I, Thomas N. Thomson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and 5 State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Disinfecting Appliances, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

io This invention relates to plumbing accessories; and the object of the invention is to provide a convenient and economical device for diffusing disinfectant through the plumbing system of the habitation where it is used.

To this end the invention consists of the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my disinfecting appliance when set in the upright position for use. Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on the line x x of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 1 designates a can or re25 ceptacle conical in form, preferably made of tin, and provided near its base with a bottom 2, which is designed to be soldered into its place after the disinfecting salts are placed within. The said disinfecting salts may be 30 cast or molded into cakes in the shape of a frustum of a cone, so that they can be readily placed within by hand during the making of the device. The upper end of the can has an opening 3, designed as an air-passage, and 35 intermediate of the base and the top is a small water-passage 4. The opening 3 is covered with a hood 5, which is suitably attached near the apex of the conical can, leaving air-passages downward at 6 6, which passages, open40 ing below the level of 3, are designed to form an air-trap when the can is submerged.

The operation of the device is as follows: The receptacle of the can is filled about threefourths full with permanganate of potassium 45 or any other suitable disinfecting salts. I prefer permanganate of potassium, among other reasons, because of the coloring which it gives to the water in which it is used, thus evidencing the diffusion of the disinfectant, 50 so that replenishment may be attended to when the coloring is less noticeable. The can, with its contents, is designed to be set upright on the bottom of a flushing-tank, such as is used in modern lavatories and closets. When the water fills up in the tank, it passes 55 in through the opening 4, filling the space there may be in the can and dissolving some of the disinfecting salt 7. When the device is fully submerged, the water will stand with in the hood about on the level of the line y y, thus 60 sealing the passage 3 against any circulation of water therethrough. This is a provision against wasting of the disinfectant, since if the passage 3 were left open the liquid within the upper part of the can becoming heavier with 65 the solution would pass outward at 4 gradually and diffuse the contents continually through the flushing-tank. By preventing the said circulation through the openings the device may set in a flushing-tank for an un- 70 limited amount of time without diffusing any appreciable amount of the disinfectant, except when the water is drawn from the tank as it is casually used. It will be readily seen that when the water is drawn from the tank 75 or when it sinks below the level of the opening 4 the solution will discharge into the water of the tank until it sinks to the level of the opening 4. In this way a small or limited portion of solution of -the contents of the 80 can is diffused into the flushing-tank every time that it is drawn off, and it is evident that the oftener. it is drawn off the less length of time it will have for becoming a strong solution, and hence will not waste the disinfect- 85 ant by being drawn frequently; but if it is not used so frequently the solution becomes stronger, and consequently more effective, which is a condition of things desirable, so that a certain amount of disinfecting will be 90 accomplished in any event and the disinfectant not needed is preserved from waste when the tank.is not used.

I do not wish to be confined to the exact construction shown in the drawings, as it is 95 evident that the details of my invention may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. For exam pie, the receptacle might be made any ordinary shape having a small pipe extending upwardly to serve for 100 the purpose of an air-passage.