Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying Air, for Ventilating Buildings, and for Spraying, Spreading, Comminuting, Feeding, and Distributing Water, Oils, Disinfectants, Vapours, Gases, and generally all Liquids and Fluids.
Year: 1892

page_text: The decision of Comptroller-General, of the 7th day of November 1894, allowed,
under Section 18 of the Patents, &c. Act, 1883, an Amendment of this
Specification.
Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 28th July, 1893-Accepted, 16th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SITUATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying Air, for Ventilating
Buildings, and for Spraying, Spreading, Comminuting, Feeding,
and Distributing Water, Oils, Disinfectants, Vapours, Gases, and
generally all Liquids and Fluids.
I OTTO HOFFMANN of 17 Duke Street, Greenheys, Manchester in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
+6
My said invention relates to improvements upon and extensions of an invention
for which Letters Patent were granted on the 1st September 1891 No. 14765 to
Messieurs Kleiner, Bokmayer & Stehlik for Improvements in air moistening and
ventilating apparatus." In the Specification annexed to the said Letters Patent
there is described an air moistening apparatus, an essential feature of which is a
double nozzle, one nozzle being arranged opposite to the other and the nozzles being
of unequal diameter. The liquid forced through the said nozzles formed two jets
of unequal diameter which impinged upon each other and threw off a hollow cone or
curtain of liquid or spray or vapour. The nozzles were surrounded by a cylindrical
case open at both ends, the air being drawn in at one end and discharged in a
moistened state at the other end into a further casing and thence into the room all
as clearly set forth in the said Specification.
According to my present invention 1 still employ the said patent double nozzle
with jets of unequal size, but in conjunction therewith I use a cylindrical casing,
open at the top to admit the air and also open at the bottom.
The bottom of the casing is furnished with a flange and beneath the whole I arrange
a curved or inclined deflecting plate preferably furnished with a central well or pocket
to receive any liquid that may collect in the casing. A space is left between the
flanged bottom of the casing and the said deflecting plate, the result being that when
the apparatus is in action, the mixture of spray and air effected within the casing by
the action of the jets from the nozzles is dashed against the deflecting plate and thrown
out through the annular opening between the flanged foot of the casing and the
deflecting plate, in a vaporous or very finely comminuted condition to mix with the
air thus humidifying the atmosphere in the room or building. The air passed
through the apparatus may either be drawn from the atmosphere surrounding the
same or from another source and the apparatus may be made a ventilating agent as
well as a humidifier.
The double nozzle or opposing jets of different diameters for producing the
aforesaid cone or curtain of spray or liquid or vapour in the described apparatus,
might also be used for a variety of purposes where it is of importance to obtain a
finely sprayed or finely subdivided or dispersed spray or vapour. I might therefore
use the said double nozzle either alone or in combination with the described or
another similar or suitable casing as a means for distributing water or other liquids

page_text: for horticultural, agricultural or irrigatory purposes; for laying dust in coal mines
or in other enclosed places; for fire extinguishing purposes; for injecting petroleum
or other oil or combustible liquid into steam generator and other furnaces; for
heating and lighting; for mixing disinfecting agents with the atmosphere of hospitals
or rooms or closets the said disinfecting agents being blown from the jets either
in the form of liquids or gases or induced by the jets if in the form of gases;
for injecting steam and generally for all purposes to which it can be applied apart
from the specific use already secured in the said former Patent hereinbefore referred
to. The nozzles or apparatus might be arranged singly or in sets or series and
might be either fixed or portable.
Dated this 15th day of November 1892.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying Air, for Ventilating
Buildings, and for Spraying, Spreading, Comminuting, Feeding,
and Distributing Water, Oils, Disinfectants, Vapours, Gases, and
generally all Liquids and Fluids.
I OTTO HOFFMANN of 17 Duke Street, Greenheys, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, 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 and accompanying drawings
My said invention relates principally to the spraying apparatus for which Letters
Patent No. 14765 of the year 1891 have been granted to Messieurs Kleiner,
Bokmayer & Stehlik.
The said apparatus is provided with two nozzles, one nozzle being arranged
opposite to the other and the nozzles being of unequal diameter. The liquid
forced through the said nozzles formed two jets of unequal diameter which impinged
upon each other and threw off a hollow cone or curtain of liquid or spray or
vapour.
The nozzles were surrounded by a cylindrical case open at both ends, the air
being drawn in at one end and discharged in a moistened state at the other end into
a further casing and thence into the room all as clearly set forth in the said
Specification.
According to my present invention I still employ the said patent double nozzle
with jets of unequal size, but in conjunction therewith I use a cylindrical casing
open at the top to admit air and also open at the bottom.
The bottom of the casing is furnished with a flange and beneath the whole I
arrange a curved or inclined deflecting plate preferably furnished with a central
well or pocket to receive any liquid that may collect in the casing. A space is left
between the flanged bottom of the casing and the said deflecting plate, the result
being that when the apparatus is in action, the mixture of spray and air effected
within the casing by the action of the jets from the nozzles is dashed against the
deflecting plate and thrown out through the annular opening between the flanged
foot of the casing and the deflecting plate, in a vaporous or very finely comminuted
condition to mix with the air, thus humidifying the atmosphere in the room or
building.
The air passed through the apparatus may either be drawn from the atmosphere'
surrounding the same or from another source and the apparatus may be made a
ventilating agent as well as a humidifier.
The double nozzle or opposing jets of different diameters for producing the
aforesaid cone or curtain of spray or liquid or vapour in the described apparatus,
might also be used for a variety of purposes where it is of importance to obtain a

page_text: finely sprayed or finely subdivided or dispersed spray or vapour. I might therefore
use the said double nozzle either alone or in combination with the described or
another similar or suitable casing as a means for distributing water or other liquids
for horticultural, agricultural or irrigatory purposes; for laying dust in coal mines
or in other enclosed places; for injecting petroleum or other oil or combustible
liquid into steam generator and other furnaces; for mixing disinfecting agents with
the atmosphere of hospitals or rooms or closets, the said disinfecting agents being
blown from the jets either in the form of liquids or gases or induced by the jets if
in the form of gases; and generally for all purposes to which it can be applied
apart from the specific use already secured in the said former Patent herein before
referred to. The apparatus might be arranged singly or in sets or series and might
either be fixed or portable.
To render my invention more clearly understood I will now refer to the annexed
sheet of drawings which clearly illustrate my invention.
Fig. 1 is a sectional view of my improved humidifier casing with nozzle and pipes
complete.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a filter valve through which the supply water is
passed so as to remove impurities and prevent clogging of the nozzle.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the double nozzle.
Fig. 4 is a view of the nozzle with a suitable casing for supplying vapourised oil
to a steam boiler furnace flue.
I provide a cylindrical casing a open at the top and bottom. The foot of the
casing is splayed as at a' and rests upon supports which separate the splayed foot
of the casing for a certain distance from an inclined flange c. Bolts d hold together
the flange c, supports and foot a'. Thus there is practically an opeu annular
space between the foot a¹ and the flange c. In the centre of the flange c there is
formed a drip well e and above the well e there is a cover soldered to the upper
end of the screw g which passes through a nut h soldered to the flat bottom of the
well. A conical wall i protects the screw and nut from the surrounding water.
The cover is of curved section as shown and round the lower edge is a
series of recesses f¹ which allow water to flow into the drip well e from the
flange c.
By turning the screw the cover can be raised so as to allow of access for
cleaning purposes to the well through the annular space. A pipe k takes away the
deposited water from the drip well. The double nozzle the improved form of
which is shown to an enlarged scale in Fig. 3 is situated near the top of the casing a
and is supplied with water under pressure through the pipe m. The apparatus is
suspended by the bridle g. When the apparatus is in operation the cone spray
produced by the double nozzle is dashed against the side of the casing a and
descends with the air which is drawn in at the top, to the foot of the casing, where
the mixture of air and water issues through the annular space as a fine mist or
impalpable vapour, thoroughly moistening the atmosphere of the room into which it
is discharged. Any water which may be deposited in the interior of the casing a
flows down and is directed by the inclined ledger to the drip well, and any moisture
trickling down the under side of the foot a¹ is diverted by the arched slips s, which
stand perpendicularly from the flange, to fall upon the inclined flange c. I also
form a secondary gutter by adding an outer extra ring t at the extreme edge of the
flange c. This catches any condensed drops that might have been blown to
the edge of the ring. To purify the water and render the nozzles less likely to be
choked by foreign matter in the water we pass the feed through a filter valve v.
This valve is shown to an enlarged scale in plan section in Fig. 2 of the drawings.
It consists of two parts v and w screwed together as shown. The projecting barrel
portion w contains a filtering sieve a which consists of a cylinder of perforated metal
containing an inuer lining of fine wire mesh. The sieve is open at the end nearest
the valve and valve seat y and its other closed end rests upon a spring z. When
the two parts of the valve casing are screwed together the sieve is pressed by the
spring against the lip nearest the valve.

page_text: Water is admitted to the valve in the direction of the arrows. It descends through
the passage rises through the valve seat y enters the sieve and passes through it
and leaves the valve casing to proceed to the nozzles..
The filter sieve is very easily cleansed as it is only necessary to unscrew the
part w take out the filter, cleanse and replace it.
Fig. 4 illustrates one of the several uses to which I apply the improved double
nozzle hereinbefore described and illustrated at Fig. 3 of the drawings. The fig.
shows its application to the firing of a boiler.
The double nozzle is contained in a case A which is fixed in front of a boiler
flue B. Petroleum or other oil is fed by the pipe C and is blown into a spray by
the double nozzle. This fine spray also draws in air which thoroughly oxygenises
the carbonaceous liquid and enables it to burn more freely. A column of flame is
thus projected into the flue B and great heat developed whereby the boiler is
efficiently fired and steam generated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. The general arrangement, construction and combination of apparatus for
humidifying air, for ventilating buildings and for spraying, spreading, comminuting
feeding and distributing water and other liquids substantially as described and as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. The improved air moistening and ventilating apparatus consisting of a
cylindrical casing, provided with a ledge r containing the described double nozzle or
an equivalent spraying device, and open at both ends and connected at the foot to
a flange or deflecting plate so that an annular space is left between the foot of the
casing and the said flange to permit of the discharge of the moistened air, the said
flange also carrying a central drip well to receive deposited or condensed moisture
substantially as described and as shown.
3. The improved double-nozzle and its uses as a means for burning oil to fire
steam-boilers, for watering plants, laying dust and for distributing disinfectants,
substantially as described and as-indiented.
1.1 1002
Dated
1000
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.