Improvements in Hot-houses and Conservatories.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 31st Jan., 1891-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hot-houses and Conservatories.
I, CHARLES TOOPE, of Stepney Square, Stepney, in the County of Middlesex,
Horticultural Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has for its object to enable plants of the more delicate and costly
kinds, such as orchids for example, to be grown to greater perfection more especially
in towns and other places where the impurities of the atmosphere are liable to
prejudice the cultivation of the plants.
To attain this object it is necessary that the atmosphere of the hothouse or
conservatory should be thoroughly pure and constantly renewed, and this I obtain
by providing means of maintaining a continuous through current of purified air.
The structure, which is otherwise closed against the external atmosphere, is
provided with air inlets at the lower part leading into purifying chambers situated
preferably beneath the heating pipes and containing series of superposed perforated
trays supporting pieces of charcoal or other air filtering or disinfecting medium so
arranged with regard to the orifices of the trays that the air is compelled to traverse
the mass of the filtering medium or otherwise brought into intimate contact there-
with in traversing the series of trays in succession or otherwise.
One or more of the series of trays may carry a layer of borax, sanitas, or other
antiseptic agent through which also the air is compelled to pass.
At the upper part of the structure an exhaust pipe is provided, said pipe
extending longitudinally beneath the ridge or highest part of the roof and being
furnished with rows of lateral orifices for the passage of the air. This pipe com-
municates with one or more stack pipes rising through the roof and each provided
with an exhaust cowl or other means of continuously extracting the air. The lower
unperforated part of the pipe serves as a channel to collect the moisture condensed
within the pipe which is discharged outside the structure by a suitable drip pipe.
Dated M and 1800
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hot-houses and Conservatories.
I, CHARLES TOOPE, of Stepney Square, Stepney, in the County of Middlesex
Horticultural Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object to enable plants of the more delicate and costly
kinds, such as orchids, to be grown to greater perfection in towns and other places
where the impurities of the atmosphere are liable to prejudice the cultivation of
the plants.
To attain this object, it is necessary that the air should be entirely deprived of
the deleterious properties of fog, smoke, and other impurities affecting plant-life,
before being admitted to the plant-house and that the atmosphere of the plant-
house, besides being thoroughly pure, should be constantly renewed. This
purification and renewal I obtain by means of the air filtering and ventilating
contrivances hereafter described whereby a continuous through current of purified
air is constantly maintained through the plant-house.

page_text: Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, wherein
Figure is a cross-section of a plant-house, showing the application of my inven-
tion thereto.
Figure 2 is a side view and Figure 3 is a vertical section of a modified form of
.air filter, drawn to a larger scale.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
The plant-house is closed against the external atmosphere otherwise than
through air inlets A at the lower part provided with a shutter and leading into
purifying chambers B situated preferably beneath the heating pipes and
staging D, containing superposed perforated or openwork trays or shelves E
supporting pieces of charcoal For other air filtering or disinfecting medium so
arranged with regard to the orifices of the trays that the air will necessarily
impinge against the filtering medium and be brought into intimate contact there-
with in traversing the series of trays in succession or otherwise.
In Figure 1 the charcoal is in the form of rods secured by wires to the undersides
of the trays and immediately opposite the holes in the trays below, but the charcoal
may be in other forms and may rest on the trays in a loose mass; if preferred.
In Figure 3 the chamber B contains superposed inner frames with inwardly-
turned flanges at the ends by which top and bottom gratings o perforated trays E
are secured with the purifying and disinfecting material paked between and the
gratings tied together by wires threaded to and fro through the mass. The lower-
most layer may, in this case, be rough borax or sanitas alone or mixed with asbestos
in order to maintain sufficient porosity of the mass, whilst the upper layers are
of charcoal either alone or mixed with borax or sanitas powder, or other antiseptic
agent.
The purify ing chambers are open at top, and being placed directly beneath the
hot water circulation pipes C the purified air becomes warmed before reaching
the plants, and thus any injuries which would result from the admission of cold air
are avoided.
At the upper part of the plant-house an exhaust-pipe G is provided, said pipe
extending longitudinally beneath the ridge or highest part of the roof and being
furnished with rows of "lateral orifices y for the escape of the air. This pipe com-
municates with one or more stack-pipes rising through the roof and each provided
with an exhaust cowl II or other means of continuously extracting the air.
lower unperforated part of the pipe serves as a channel to collect the moisture
condensed within the pipe which is discharged outside the structure by a suitable
drip-pipe.
The
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described combined means of purifying and warming the air
admitted to plant-honses, substantially as specified.
2. The herein described construction of air purifier, as specified.
Dated this 1st ⱭRY 01 January 1891.
C. TOOPE.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.