IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF ACTING APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN VENTILATING HOTHOUSES, CONSERVATORIES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Hiscocks, of Swallowcliffe, near Salisbury, in
the County of Wilts, Miller, for an Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF ACTING APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN VENTILATING HOTHOUSES,
CONSERVATORIES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hiscocks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd February 1880.
JAMES HISCOCKS, of Swallowcliffe, near Salisbury, in the County of Wilts,
Miller. " IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF ACTING APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
VENTILATING HOTHOUSES, CONSERVATORIES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS."
This Invention relates to a peculiar combination or arrangement of self acting
apparatus for ventilating hot houses, conservatories, & other buildings, & is based
on the principle of the expansion & contraction of metals under varying
temperatures. According to one mode of carrying out my Invention, I employ a
rod or tube of brass or other metal which readily expands and contracts under
varying temperatures. This rod or tube may or may not be supported by pullies
or guide rollers either in a horizontal, vertical, or inclined position, one end being
caused to bear against a fixed point which may or may not be adjustable, or the
length of the rod or tube itself may be adjustable. The opposite end of this rod
or tube is jointed to a multiplying lever, which is again connected by a rod or
other suitable connection with a second multiplying lever, & so on throughout
as many levers as may be found requisite in order to obtain the desired range or
amount of motion. The last of series of multiplying levers is coupled or connected
in any convenient manner to sliding or other ventilators, which by their motion
open & close, more or less, the apertures for the exit of warm air from the upper
part of the apartment or building to be ventilated, the same system being also
applicable to the regulating of the admission of fresh air. I have found in practice
that a jointed connecting rod or a chain & pulley in conjunction or not with a
counterweight to restore the parts always to their original position answers
satisfactorily as the connection between the actuating lever & the ventilator. As
the temperature varies the metal rod or tube will expand or contract, & by its
action on the multiplying levers will impart sufficient motion thereto to open or
close the ventilators as the case may be. The air exit apertures may or may not
be fitted with ventilating shafts or pipes of any desired length or height, in order
to assist in drawing out the heated air from the building or apartment, fresh air
entering the same by any of the usual inlets.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Hiscocks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th July
1880.
JAMES HISCOCKS, of Swallowcliffe, near Salisbury, in the County of Wilts,
Miller. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF ACTING APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
VENTILATING HOTHOUSES, CONSERVATORIES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS."
My said Invention consists in the application and use to and for controlling or
regulating automatically the ventilation of hothouses, conservatories, and other
buildings, of an arrangement of self acting apparatus actuated by the expansion
and contraction of tubular or solid metal rods or bars under varying temperatures.
According to one mode of carrying out my Invention, I employ a rod or tube of
brass or other suitable metal which readily expands and contracts under varying
temperatures, and which may or may not be supported or guided by guide rollers
or other convenient arrangement, either in a horizontal, vertical, or inclined
position, one end of such rod or tube being caused to abut against a fixed point,
which may if desired be made adjustable, or the length of the expanding rod or
tube itself may be made adjustable in any convenient manner. The opposite end
of this rod or tube is connected to a multiplying lever, which is again connected
by a second expanding rod or by an ordinary coupling rod or other suitable
connection with a second multiplying lever, which is in its turn connected to a
third lever, and so on through as many levers as may be found requisite in order
to obtain the desired range of motion. The last of the series of multiplying levers
is coupled or connected in any convenient manner to one or more sliding or other
ventilators, which by their motion open and close, more or less, the apertures for
the exit of warm air from the upper part of the building to be ventilated, the
same system being also applicable to the regulating of the admission of fresh air.
I have found in practice that a jointed or flexible connecting rod or a chain or cord
passing over pulleys in conjunction with counterweights or springs to assist in
moving the ventilators to their required positions answers satisfactorily as the
connection between the actuating lever and the ventilator or series of ventilators.
The expanding rods or tubes with their multiplying levers may either be
attached directly to the wall itself of the building to be ventilated, or if preferred
to a suitable frame or holder capable of being readily removed and replaced as
required. As the temperature varies the metal rod or tube, or rods or tubes, will
expand or contract, and by its or their action on the multiplying levers will
impart sufficient motion thereto to open and close, more or lesa, the ventilators as
the case may be. The air exit apertures may or may not be fitted with ventilating
shafts or pipes of any desired length or height in order to assist in drawing out
the heated air from the building or apartment, fresh air entering the same by any
of the usual inlets. The said apparatus is equally applicable to a "lean-to" roof
or to a span building.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the explanatory Drawing hereunto annexed which represents the inside face view
of the back wall of a conservatory or hothouse with "lean-to" roof, having one
form of my improved automatic arrangement applied thereto.
a, a, is the back wall of the building, and b, b, is a wooden frame suspended to
such wall, the said frame carrying the self acting arrangement for regulating the
exits for the warm air or the inlets for fresh air, as the case may be; c, c', are two
expansion rods or tubes, the primary rod or tube c being caused to bear or abut
at one extremity against a fixed point d, which may or may not be adjustable by
a nut and screw or otherwise, or if preferred the length of the rod or tube itself
may be made adjustable by making it in two or more lengths connected together

page_text: by adjusting nuts or bosses, as is well understood. The free end of the rod or
tube c is connected to the lever e near its fulcrum or fixed centre d³, and the free
end of this lever is jointed to one end of a second rod or tube c¹, which may or
may not be capable of ready expansion and contraction under varying temperatures.
The opposite end of the rod or tube c¹ is jointed to the lever e¹ at a point close to
the fixed fulcrum d thereof, the said lever working through a mortise in the
frame b (when such frame is employed), and being connected at its free end to one
end of a connecting or coupling rod f. The length of the coupling rod f is by
preference adjustable, as shown, and its opposite end is connected to the lever e¹¹
at a point close to its fulcrum or fixed centre of vibration. The free end of the
lever el is connected in any convenient manner with the ventilator which is to
be regulated, and in the case of operating simultaneously upon several ventilators g,
as illustrated by my Drawing, the free end of the lever el is connected to a
rigid or flexible connector (shown by a dotted line), which is in turn connected
to each of the ventilators g of the series. These ventilators may consist of
suspended slides running by means of rollers along guide rails i, i, fixed in the wall
in such positions as to enable the slides to cover or to partially cover the exits k, k,
for the hot air, or the said ventilators may be arranged so as to turn or pivot on
centres when closing or opening the apertures. When using a flexible connector h,
such as a chain or cord, the ends may be passed over guide pullies, and carry
counterweights 1, 1, for the purpose of straining the chain or cord, and assisting in
moving all the slides, shutters, or ventilators g to their required positions.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
The application and use to and for the opening and closing automatically of
the ventilators of hothouses, conservatories, and other like buildings, of one or
more rods or tubes of metal capable of ready expansion and contraction under
varying temperatures, in combination with one or more multiplying levers,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hiscocks, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.