IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING MINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Low, of Lloft-Wen, near Wrexham, in the
County of Denbigh, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING
MINES"
Sealed the 11th May 1855, and dated the 16th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Low at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th November 1854.
I, WILLIAM LOW, of Lloft-Wen, near Wrexham, in the County of Denbigh,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VEN-
TILATING MINES," to be as follows:-
It is well known that in ventilating mines fires are employed in the shafts
to heat and rarify the air, so as to induce rising currents of air up the shafts,
and thus to carry off the impure air, and keep up a supply of fresh air to
the mines.
Now,, my Invention consists of obtaining the requisite heat of the air in a
shaft of a mine by the employment of steam in pipes, or other forms of appa-
ratus capable of offering. extensive heating surfaces to the passing air, and it is
preferred that the steam boiler used for supplying the steam should be the
ordinary one which works the steam engine, but this-is-not-essential. Tho
steam is conducted by a suitable pipe from-the-boiler down the shaft into

page_text: the air-heating apparatus, (composed of pipes or. tubes, or other forms capable
of offering extensive heated surface to the passing, air,) which is placed below
the shaft, where the ordinary furnace has heretofore been situated, or in other
convenient position; it is, however, preferred, where convenient, that the air-
heating apparatus should be made to the form of the shaft, and, as it were,
form a lining to it for some length.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Low in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Low, of Lloft-Wen, near Wrexham, in the County of Denbigh, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Low, Her special licence that I, the said William Low, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Low, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 VENTILATING MINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Low, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly 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 William Low, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof (that is to say) :-
It is well known that in ventilating mines fires are employed in the shafts
to heat and rarify the air, so_as. to induce rising currents of air up the shafts,
and thus to carry off the impure air, and keep up a supply of fresh air to
the mines.

page_text: Now, my Invention consists of obtaining the requisite heat to the air in a
'shaft of a mine by the employment of steam in pipes, or other forms of appa-
ratus capable of offering extensive heating surfaces to the passing air, and it is
preferred that the steam boiler used for supplying the steam should be the
ordinary one which works the steam engine, but this is not essential. The
'steam is conducted by a suitable pipe from the boiler down the shaft-into
the air-heating apparatus (composed of pipes or tubes, or other forms capable
of offering extensive heating surface to the passing air), which is placed below
the shaft, where the ordinary furnace has been heretofore situated, or in other
convenient position; it is, however, preferred, where convenient, that the air-.
heating apparatus should be made to the form of the shaft, and, as it were,
form a lining to it for some length.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
The form and construction of the steam-heating apparatus used for. heating
the air in the shaft of a mine, when carrying out my Invention, may be greatly
varied; but what I prefer is,. an apparatus constructed of tubes, and made to
the interior form of the shaft in which the apparatus is to be fixed. I also
prefer that the apparatus should consist of an upper and a lower horizontal
ring, connected together by numerous vertical tubes. Thus, supposing the
shaft of a mine to be nine feet diameter, I employ two horizontal rings of three-
inch tubes; the rings, being made about eight feet diameter, connect such
horizontal tubes by one hundred and twenty-eight vertical one-inch tubes,
twelve feet long; and I connect such steam apparatus with a steam boiler,
which may be at a distance from the apparatus, and either above or in the
mine, according to the convenience offered. I have, however, found it most
convenient to use the steam from a boiler above the mine and near the top
of the shaft, the boiler being used to work the steam engine of the mine. To
the lower horizontal ring of the steam-heating apparatus I apply a bent or
syphon pipe, to allow any water which may condense in the apparatus to flow
out therefrom. I affix such steam-heating apparatus near the bottom, or at any
other convenient part, of the shaft of a mine. By the use of this form of steam-
heating apparatus, the working of the mine may be carried on conveniently
through this upcast shaft; for it will be evident that the steam-heating apparatus
simply forms, as it were, a lining to part of the shaft, and therefore does not
interfere with or offer any obstacle to the working of the mine through the
apparatus. I would here remark, that although I prefer and recommend the
use of the construction of steam-heating apparatus above described, I do not
confine myself thereto, as my Invention may be carried out by the use of other

page_text: forms of apparatus heated by steam, and placed at the lower or other convenient
part of the shaft, or other part of a mine leading thereto, as such other forms of
steam-heated apparatus will produce a rarification of the air, and a constant
upward flow thereof in the shaft, and thereby ventilate the mine in a similar
manner to that which results from the application of the form and construction
I have above particularly described. It may be desirable that I should state,
that whatever be the form of steam-heating apparatus used to the shaft. of a
mine when carrying out my Invention, I recommend that the steam pipe
leading from the boiler to the apparatus should be provided with steam cocks
or valves to regulate the flow of steam.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
application of steam-heating apparatus to the shafts of mines for the purpose
of ventilating the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Low, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
E. BARKER.
WILLIAM LOW. (L.S.)