Specification of Robert Henry Emerson : siphon drinking cup.

  • Emerson, Robert Henry.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of Robert Henry Emerson : siphon drinking cup. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/8 (page 3)
    Emersons New or Improved Invalid or Siphon Drinking Cup. NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Henry Emerson, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings ;— 5 For the purpose of allowing the fluid contents of cups or other drinking vessels, whether used for medicinal or other purposes, to be administered to invalids or other persons while in a recumbent position, I adapt to or form as part of cups or other drinking vessels a bent tube, forming a siphon, in communication with the interior of the cup or other vessel; a small opening 10 or air couise penetrates the siphon tube, this opening being easily stopped or closed by the finger of the attendant in administering the drink or medicine, when the end of the siphon tube being placed in the mouth of the patient and the air opening being closed a very slight inspiration creates the necessary vacuum therein, and the contents of the vessel will flow through the siphon 15 until the vessel is empty, or until the finger of the attendant is removed from the air hole or opening; or where the air passage can conveniently be formed within the spout and parallel to the passage in which the fluid or semi-fluid is intended to pass from the vessel to the mouth of the patient, the opening by which the vacuum is regulated and the siphon action produced may ter- 20 minate close to the nose or opening of the spout, and the lip of the patient may perform the same functions as the finger or stopper. I adapt the size and shape of cups or drinking vessels, according to my Invention, to the particular uses for which they are intended. The form of the siphon and its position in relation to the several parts of the cup may be varied, as also that 25 of the air course or opening by which the action of the siphon is controlled. Ihe cups or vessels may be made of china, glass, earthenware, or other suitable material or combination of materials, and they may be either open or be provided with a lid, and be made to any suitable design, or ornamented in any manner which may be desired. The siphon tube may either form part of the vessel, 30 or the vessel and the siphon may be made separately, and be afterwards com¬ bined together, and the siphon tube may be adapted to receive mouth-pieces of varying lengths. The cups used for administering medicines and stimulants may be graduated to indicate the necessary doses. In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 represents a vertical 35 section of a cup the siphon forming an integral part thereof, it being supported or strengthened by means of a web between the side of the cup and the projecting leg of the siphon. In this Figure the air channel or means of regulating the siphon action of the apparatus is formed around the rim or upper edge of the cup, and the opening by which the action is regulated by