AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR VENTILATING SHIPS OR VESSELS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexandre Hubert, of Bordeaux, Departement de la
Gironde, in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Captain in the Navy, and Knight of the Legion of Honour, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR VENTILATING SHIPS OR VESSELS,"
Sealed the 7th November 1856, and dated the 22nd May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexandre Hubert at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
May 1856.
I, ALEXANDRE HUBERT, of Bordeaux, Departement de la Gironde, in the
Empire of France, & 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Captain in the Navy,
& Knight of the Legion of Honour, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR VENTILATING SHIPS OR VESSELS," to
be as follows, that is to say -
The Invention consists in the construction of improved apparatus for venti-
lating ships or vessels. a, a, ventilating box for extracting air; b,b, b, vacuum
of the box or air sucker; c, c, c, pulleys for transmitting motion; d, d, d,
spokes of the flappers for propelling the wind; e, e, e, large cast-iron fly wheel;
ff, strap for transmitting motion; g, handle for working the fly wheel; h,h, an
escape pipe; J, J, brass box at the upper part of the pipe h, h, and shutting
by pressure; P, P, brass elbow for allowing the air to escape; this elbow
screws on to the brass box, J, J; 0,0, poop; m, n, the hold; n, n, box for
Price 8d1

page_text: fixing the ventilator to the hold by means of bolts 7, 7; S, S, planks for fixing
the large wheel between the two holds. In lieu of being worked by hand, the
apparatus can be worked by steam, water, or the wind, by the adjustment of a
pulley, or of a pinion placed on the axis of the flappers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexandre Hubert in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDRE
HUBERT, of Bordeaux, Departement de la Gironde, in the Empire of France,
and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Captain in the Navy, and Knight of
the Legion of Honour, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alexandre Hubert, Her special license that I, the said Alexandre
Hubert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alexandre Hubert, 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 "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR VENTILATING SHIPS OR VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alexandre Hubert, 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 Alexandre Hubert, 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 thereof, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved apparatus for
ventilating ships or vessels. In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1, which
represents an elevation of the improved ventilating apparatus, A is the

page_text: ventilating fan, composed of four or more arms or wings B,fixed to the axis C,
which is placed in the centre of a cylindrical box or case D). This axis is made
to rotate with considerable rapidity by means of a small pulley E, fixed at the
extremity of the axis C, upon which pulley a strap or band F passes, and
thence over a large fly wheel G, the axis H of which is secured to the upright
frame or support I, attached by means of bolts and nuts J to framework K of
the poop L, and lower deck M; N is a short brass tube fixed to the poop
deck L, and frame K, which tube may be closed by any suitable means. To
the top of this tube the bent pipe O is screwed, and at the bottom the vertical
pipe P is fixed. This pipe passes through the deck M. and frame K, and is
attached to the upper part of the cylindrical case of the ventilating fan A.
This fau is placed in the hold Q of the vessel, and by turning the handle R,
keyed or otherwise fixed to the axis E of the fly wheel, a rapid rotatory
motion is given to the arms or wings of the fan, which causes the impure air
in the vessel to enter through the opening S on each side of the cylindrical
case D, when it becomes forcibly expelled up the pipe P, and passes out to
the external air through the bent pipe O. In this manner the foul air of the
vessel is removed, and a thorough ventilation obtained.
The apparatus can be put in motion by steam, wind, or other motive power.
Figure 2 is a modification of the ventilating apparatus applicable to steam
vessels. A is a toothed wheel of any suitable diameter, the axis of which
works in bearings on the frame B (or the wheel may be placed on the main
shaft of the steam vessel); C is the crank for putting it in motion; D is a
pinion wheel, one-tenth the diameter of the wheel A, with which it gears. On
the shaft of the pinion is keyed or otherwise fixed a grooved pulley E, of the
same diameter as the wheel A. From this pulley passes the endless cord or
strap F to the small pulley G, also one-tenth the size of the pulley E. The
pulley G is fixed on the axis of the ventilating fan H, constructed as the one
herein-before described, of four arms or wings, each having an area of twelve
square inches. These wings are fixed to the axis, and surrounded by a cylin-
drical casing, at the bottom of which is placed the escape pipe I. If the
wheel A makes fifty revolutions per minute, it will cause the fan to revolve five
thousand times per minute, and displace about seven hundred and forty cubic
yards of air per minute.
Figure 3 represents a section of the ventilating fan applied as a portable
ventilator. A, A, are the wings or arms revolving on the axis B, fixed in
bearings on the case C. On the axis B may be placed a worm D, in gear
with a worm wheel E, put in motion by the handle F, or any suitable means.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I not confine
myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what I claim is, the
construction of the ventilating apparatus as herein-before described, and
represented in the accompanying Drawings, for ventilating ships or vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexandre Hubert, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
HUBERT. (L.S.)