Automatic Opening and Closing of Ventilators.
Year: 1885

page_text: Automatic Opening and Closing of Ventilators.
I BENJAMIN BOOTHROYD of Kirkstall House, Rawlinson Road, Southport in the
county of Lancashire, Cabinet Maker, do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC
OPENING AND CLOSING OF VENTILATORS," to be as follows:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the means of and apparatus
for the automatic opening and closing of ventilators for greenhouses, conservatories,.
and the like, and is also applicable to the ventilation of other buildings.
Hitherto apparatus for the same purpose has depended for its efficiency upon
delicately hinged or balanced valves, the power obtained from the expansion of air
or other fluid not being in itself sufficient to open or close the valves of ventilating
openings as usually constructed. The object of this invention is to overcome this
difficulty by the application of additional power, and for this purpose I.connect the
ventilating valves, by suitable levers and cranks, to the piston of a cylinder or other
equivalent mechanical appliance, operated by water or other fluid power admitted
thereto by a pipe, internally fitted with a valve or valves, actuated as follows:-
The expansion or contraction of air or other fluid contained in a vessel of suit-
able size and shape is made to act upon a collapsible bellows of suitable material,
or upon a vessel floating in mercury or other fluid, or upon a float in mercury or
other fluid contained in a U shaped tube. The rising or falling action of the
bellows, vessel, or float, caused by the variations of temperature, is utilized through
suitable connections to actuate the valve or valves. Or the valve or valves may
be actuated by a tube containing mercury or other fluid, and balanced on centres,
one end of the tube terminating in a closed vessel in which is air, alcohol, mercury,
or other fluid, and the other in a vessel open to the atmosphere; on the temperature
rising, the expansion of the contents of the closed vessel forces the mercury or other
fluid into the open vessel, and causes the tube to rock on its centres, and by suit-
able connections to open and close the valve or valves; the reverse action takes
place when the temperature falls, and the air, alcohol, mercury, or other fluid in the
closed vessel contracts. The said rocking tube may be directly fxed on to the
.
.f

page_text: valve spindle instead of upon its centres as described. Or the valve or valves may
be actuated by an electric motor, whose reciprocal action depends upon the making
or breaking of circuit, caused by the variations of temperature expanding or
contracting the mercury contained in one or more electric thermometers, which
action is communicated to the valve or valves by suitable connections thereby
automatically opening or closing the ventilators.
Dated this fifteenth day of Annil 100%
Automatic Opening and Closing of ventilators.
I BENJAMIN BOOTHROYD of Kirkstall House, Rawlinson Road, Southport in the
county of Lancashire, Cabinet Maker 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:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the means of and apparatus
for the automatic opening and closing of ventilators for greenhouses, conservatories,
and the like, and is also applicable to the ventilation of other buildings.
Hitherto apparatus for the same purpose has depended for its efficiency upon
delicately hinged or balanced valves, the power obtained from the expansion of air
or other fluid not being in itself sufficient to open or close the valves of ventilating
openings as usually constructed. The object of the present invention is to overcome
this difficulty by the application of additional power.
I will describe my invention in full and with reference to the annexed drawings
in which Figures 1 and 1ª, are views showing two alternative general arrangements
of my apparatus applied to operate a ventilating valve placed at the top of a
conservatory; Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are alternative methods of obtaining and
transmitting power; and Figure 7, is a section through a two way cock.
In the first arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2, I employ a balanced rocking
lever C, on one end of which is placed a closed vessel B, and on the other end a
second vessel B¹, open to the atmosphere and slightly smaller than B. The two
vessels are connected together at or near the base by the tube b, and both are
partly filled with glycerine, mercury, or other suitable fluid above which in closed
vessel B, ether or suitable element is placed.
In the second arrangement shown in Figures 1º, and 3, I employ a separate
air vessel A of suitable size and shape, the exact. capacity of which depends upon
the degrees of temperature between which the ventilator is required to act, and

page_text: I connect it by a partly flexible tube a to the closed vessel B as above described,
but in this case the vessels are of the same size.
The rocking lever and its vessels, and also the separate air vessel, may be fixed
against the wall or in any convenient position and enclosed in a casing if desired.
I find that from three to four feet is a convenient working length for the lever C,
but it is obvious that the longer it is the greater is the power gained by the
removal of fluid from B to B¹, on the oscillation of the lever. The normal position.
of the rocking lever C, is horizontal, but it may be set in some cases at a suitable
angle. The oscillating motion of this rocking lever is utilized to actuate a valve or
valves for which purpose it may be directly fixed on the spindle D as shown in
figure 2, but I prefer to arrange it as shown in figures 1, 1º, and 3, centred at c, on
a suitable bearing and connected to the valve spindle D, by levers E, and E¹, which
may be placed as shown or by compound levers or by tooth and pinion wheels or
any other suitable mechanical means for ensuring the sufficient rotation of the
valve. On the temperature rising the increased pressure upon and expansion of
the contents of the larger and closed vessel B, figures 1 and 2, or the combined
vessels A and B figures 1°, and 3, force part of the said contents of B through b,
into B, destroying the equilibrium of the balanced lever C, and causing the end
terminating in B¹, to descend, automatically actuating through the levers E, and E¹,
or equivalent medium, the spindle D of the valve F. Or instead of the above
arrangements of rocking levers, I can connect the tube a, from the air vessel A, to
a collapsible bellows G, as shown in figure 4, or to an inverted vessel H, floating
concentrically in an outer vessel H', containing glycerine, mercury, or other fluid,
as shown in figure 5, or to a U shaped tube partly filled with glycerine, mercury,
or other fluid, having one arm open to the atmosphere, upon the fluid in which a
float j, is placed as shown in figure 6. In all of these cases on the temperature
rising the expansion of the air in A, acting through a, automatically causes the
lever E to rise and actuate by suitable leverage or gearing the before mentioned.
spindle D of valve F: The valve I employ is a two way valve, a suitable form of
which is shown in figure 7, having the water ways bored at right angles to each other.
The valve is placed upon a pressure pipe K, supplied with fluid pressure either from
an ordinary water main, or other suitable source. In figure 7, the pressure pipe K
is shown open, and the discharge pipe k closed. In convenient position above the
valve F, a cylinder L, shown in section, figure 1, is placed fitted with a piston 7, in
the usual manner. The rise of temperature causing the spindle D, to be turned as
described admits the water or other fluid pressure in K to the underside of piston l,
and forces it up. The piston rod 1, working through ordinary guides is connected
by any suitable arrangement of levers and cranks, as for example M, M, figures 1
and 18, to the ventilating valve N, which is thus automatically opened when the
temperature rises beyond a fixed limit. This limit may be determined by the
adjustment of the levers actuating the ventilator N, or by the position of an
adjustable weight X, placed upon the rocking lever C. As the temperature falls
the reverse action takes place, closing the delivery and opening the discharge of
the two way valve F, and permitting the water to escape; the piston l, then
descends and allows the ventilating valve N, to close by its own weight. In cases
where a ventilating valve would not close freely by its own weight, for example
when placed in a vertical position, I employ either a counter-balance weight or a
second two way valve, connected to the first and operated as described. The
waterways of the second valve are arranged in opposite position to those of the
first valve F, described, so that the decrease of temperature will automatically
admit fluid pressure to the other side of the piston l, of cylinder L, at the same
time that the fluid pressure is shut off, and the exhaust k of the first valve F, is
opened and thus power is automatically supplied to close the ventilator.
I stated in my Provisional Specification that the above described valve or valves
might be actuated by an electromotor whose action was dependent upon the
automatic making or breaking of circuit by the expansion or contraction of
mercury or fluid in one or more electric thermometers but I have since found that

page_text: such a device is not novel, neither do I make any claim to any separate parts
above described, but having now particularly described and ascertained the nature
of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare
that what I claim is
•
1. In an apparatus for the automatic opening and closing of ventilators, the
combination of a rocking lever and apparatus connected therewith, with a two way
valve or valvės, controlling a power cylinder and its connections all arranged and
operated substantially as and for the purposes described and illustrated in
figures 1 and 2.
2. In an apparatus for the automatic opening and closing of ventilators the
combination of a separate air vessel connected to either, (1) a rocking lever
constructed as specified, or (2) a collapsible, bellows, or (3) an inverted vessel
floating in fluid, or (4) a U shaped tube with float as specified, with a two way
valve or valves controlling a power cylinder and its connections all arranged and
operated substantially as and for the purposes described and illustrated.