IMPROVEMENTS IN FANS, PUMPS, AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING AIR, FLUIDS, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BY Centrifugal FORCE
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christian Schiele, of Clarence Buildings, in the City
of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FANS, PUMPS, AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING AIR,
FLUIDS, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BY Centrifugal FORCE.”
Sealed the 9th February 1864, and dated the 14th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL-SPECIFICATION left by the said Christian Schicle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
August 1863.
I, CHRISTIAN SHIELE, of Clarence Buildings, in the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FANS, PUMPS, AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING
AIR, FLUIDS, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE," to be as follows:-
I construct a casing in which blades mounted or otherwise fixed on the
circumference of a disk revolve. I have central openings in the sides of this
casing which have a less radius than the inside edges of the blades, so that
any motion given to the fluid, air, or other substances may assist in the pro-
pulsion, and may not waste by flying out at the edges of the inlets, and also
any fluids returning between the blades and the casing (which may thus be
constructed less carefully and wider apart, taking less power to drive), will
keep revolving, and requires little additional impetus when entering between
the blades again. I prefer to construct this entrance room much larger in area
than the discharge room on the tips of the vanes, so that the fluid, air, or other

page_text: substances may have time to acquire rotatory motion before entering between
the blades, thus avoiding sudden impinging. Beyond the lips of the vanes I
still further contract the opening slightly to a short distance, so as to prevent
fluids of a slower speed beyond from impinging on the blades. I prefer
casting or otherwise fixing the bearings of the spindles to the casing. Where
exhaustion or suction only is required, I close the inlets by suitable piping, or
form channels for the purpose, allowing the fluids to escape on the circum-
ference of the casing. Where, however, propulsion is required beyond the
machine, I increase the casing beyond the part described, widening it in its
area towards the delivery, and formning it so that the fluids in motion collecting
in this increasing channel (which I prefer round) will be discharged freely
without hindrance and with an even flow. I construct pipes for the convey-
ance of water from mines or deep wells in such a way that there are valves
opening upwards at intervals. I provide 2 branch pipes above and below the
valves, each having a flange. At suitable intervals I fix centrifugal pumps
driven from a perpendicular shaft, and join these pumps to take the water
from the lower branch pipe, and discharge it in the upper one, the valve pre-
venting the return of the water along the piping. Where, however, no pump
is attached, I close the branches, and the water propelled by the pumps
attached to other branches opens the valvo and is propelled through it. Where
water has to be taken into the pipes at any height I attach a pump to the
upper branch and forco the water into the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christian Schiele in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTIAN
SCHIELE, of Clarence Buildings, in the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One 3
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Christian Schiele, Her special license that I, the said Christian Schiele, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Christian
Schiele, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time 3
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FANS, PUMPS, AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING AIR, OR FLUIDS, OR OTHER SUB-
STANCES BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,.
the said Christian Schiele, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Christian Schiele, 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Figs. 1 and 2 represent my improved fan as applied to blast furnaces,
smiths' forges, and other places where a blast of air under pressure is required.
Fig. 1 is an edge view (partly in section, and Fig. 2 is a side view with one
side of the casing removed to shew the interior with revolving portion of the
fan in its position. :
I prefer to.
B'; these
the top of
A is a disk, on the periphery of which blades or vanes F of the form repre-
sented in the Drawings are mounted. The blades or vanes F are supported
on their backs by means of ribs or brackets F', which with the blades or
vanes F spring from the periphery of the disk A. This disk, with the vanes
and their supporting brackets, may be constructed even of the largest
dimensions in one solid piece either by casting or forging. B is the spindle
on which the disk A is mounted; it runs in the bearings C.
make the spindle B of wrought iron with cast-iron bushes
bearings C are cast with and form part of the casing D, and on
each of them is an oil cup X to hold oil to lubricate the spindle. The radius.
of the disk A is larger than that of the central openings E in the casing D. for.
the admission of air fluids or other substances. The casing D is formed of?
two halves similarly shaped (but so as to form right and left sides); each of
these balves is of a curvelinear shape curving towards the inside, and in. the
centre having the entrance openings E. The vanes F are to be constructed.
of such a form and in such proportion to the casing D, as that they shall
gradually widen from the periphery of the disk to a point beyond the central
openings E in the casing D. From this point they decrease in. width as the

page_text: casing D narrows and follow the contour of the casing D, the tips of the
vanes terminating a short distance from the narrowest portion of the
ensing D. Beyond the tips of the vanes F the casing D slightly contracts
for a short distanco, so that the fluid, et cetera, of a slower speed, and which
has gone beyond the vanes F, is prevented from returning, and so impinging
on the vanes or blades F.
As has been already stated, the radius of the disk A is greater than that of
the central openings E tnade in the casing D; and it is evident that the
radius of the circles formed by the inside edges of the vanes F in their revo-
lution at every point from where these vanes spring from the periphery of
the disk A to where they reach the casing D must be considerably greater
than the radius of the central openings E. By this construction the fluid
which has entered the casing, and is contained in the space between the
revolving disk A and the inside of the casing is put into rotatory motion, and
forms a ring of revolving fluid which not only assists by centrifugal force in the
forward propulsion of the fluid, but avoids waste by preventing it from flying
out at the edges of the said entrance openings E. The return of the fluid,
et cetera, from the chamber G between the vanes F and the casing D is also
by this means greatly diminished, and any portion of fluid which does return
enters the revolving fluid ring, and is discharged into the chamber G with the
fresh fluid entering the central openings E. I am also enabled thereby to
construct the vanes so that they run farther from the casing than usual,
thereby taking less power to drive, and requiring less care and expence in
fitting. I am also enabled thereby to give considerable end play to the
spindle B, whereby the insides of the bearings C and portion of the spindle
running therein become polished, and the spindle may be driven at a higher
-speed, and cast iron may be used. I construct the entrance room or annular
space between the casing D and the beginning of the vanes F much larger in
area than the discharge room. on the tips of the vanes F, so that the fluid,
et cetera, may have time to acquire rotary motion before entering between the
vanes F, thus avoiding sudden impinging. I gradually decrease the area for
the passage of the fluid from the point where the vanes F are widest towards
their tips where the area is least, giving the fluid, et cetera, the form of a jet of
the shape represented in Fig. 8; this enables me to discharge the fluid,
et cetera, at a higher speed than it enters between the vanes, which is the best
mode of construction for the discharge of fluids.
Where propulsion is required beyond the machine, I add the tubular
chamber G, which gradually increases in area, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 of
the Drawings. Where it is desired to have the receiving openings of the

page_text: machines connected with a pipe or other channel so as to be used as an
exhaust and blast fan or centrifugal pump, I do this as shewn in Figures 3
and 4, and when it is used as an exhaust fan, I do it as represented in Figs. 5
and 6 by means of connecting tubes K.
My improved machine acts as follows:-On starting, the fluid enters the
machine through the openings E, and is gradually set in motion by the
revolving vanes F. A revolving body of fluid is formed within the annular
spaces on each side of the disk between the edges of the vanes F and the
casing. Any further fluid entering is set in motion by this revolving body of
fluid before it reaches the vanes F. From this revolving body fluid passes
between the vanes F. It gradually increases in its radial speed, and when it
reaches the tips of the vanes F, it has attained its greatest velocity. Whero
further propulsion is required, the fluid by the centrifugal force keeps to the
outside of the tubular chamber G, without tendency to return and act
obstructively on the tips of the vanes. The increasing area of the tubular
chamber makes room for the accumulating volume of fluid; the discharge
finally takes place at H, from whence it may be conveyed by tubing or
otherwise.
"
My improved machines as herein-before described, as compared with other
machines, are cheaper in construction, require less power to work, are safer in
working, and less liable to get out of repair, are more easily repaired, and are
less noisy when used for the propulsion of air.
In conveying water from mines or deep wells, I place valves in the main
range of piping opening upwards at intervals. I provide branch pipes above
and below the valves, each having a flange. At suitable intervals I fix
centrifugal pumps driven from a perpendicular shaft, and join. these pumps to
take the water from the lower branch pipe, and discharge it in the upper one,
the valve preventing the return of the water along the piping. Where,
however, no pump is attached, I close the branches and the water propelled
by the pumps attached to other branches opens the valve, and is propelled
through it. Where water has to be taken into the pipes at any height, I
attach a pump to the upper branch and force the water into the same. This
will be better understood by reference to Fig. 7. L is a range of main piping
through which the water has to be raised; M is the shaft in connection with
the driving power; N, O, are the bevil wheels for driving the centrifugal
pump P; Q is a valve in the main pipe L. The pump P is supplied by the
branch pipe R, which takes the water from below the valve Q, and discharges
it by the branch pipe S above the valve Q. Where water has to be taken'
into the main pipe L at intervals, I attach a pipe T (shewn in dotted lines)

page_text: which conveys the water to the centrifugal pump P, which discharges it into
the main range of piping L. In this case I prefer to dispense with the
branch R, and provide another valve in the branch S, which prevents any
water discharged into the main pipe L from returning. The valve Q opens
for the passage of the water passing upwards when the water is not
required to pass through the pump P. By repeating these arrangements
water can be pumped to any height required.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed or carried into effect, I
declare that what I claim as tho Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
The construction, combination, and arrangement of machinery or apparatus
herein-before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed
for propelling air, fluids, or other substances by centrifugal force.
I also claim the arrangement of machinery or apparatus for pumping fluid 1
by a series of centrifugal pumps to great heights and from intermediate
heights in the main range of piping, as herein-before described and represented
in the Drawings hereto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christian Schiele, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
CHRISTIAN SCHIELE. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and executed by the
within-named Christian Schiele,
in the presenco of
J. B. DODSON,
Clerk with Messrs. Rowley & Son,
Solicitors,
Manchester.