Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Heating Buildings by Means of Steam or Hot Water.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 9th Jan., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Heating Buildings
by Means of Steam or Hot Water.
I, PETER JENSEN, residing at No. 77 Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Patent Agents, 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. (A
communication to me from abroad by Andrew Greenleaf Paul of 311 Broadway,
in the City, County and State of New York, United States of America,
Engineer) :-
This invention relates to means for creating, maintaining and controlling free
and perfect circulation in a heating system of the heating fluid, and consists in the
combination with a heating system of an air pipe additional to the supply and
return pipe and an exhauster for drawing air from the system through said air pipe;
also in the combination with the additional air pipe and exhauster of an automatic
valve located at some suitable point in said pipe for controlling the flow of air
therethrough.
My invention further consists in certain novel features of construction and
arrangement of parts, as hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawings-
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a building showing radiators for heating
the several rooms thereof, in which a single pipe heating system is employed
and showing the additional air pipe communicating at one end with the radiators
and provided at the other end with an exhausting apparatus for drawing air through
the air pipe.
Figure 2 is a similar view showing another arrangement of my invention,
wherein each radiator is provided with a separate air pipe leading to the exhausting
apparatus, whereby each radiator can be controlled independently of the other.
In the drawings my improvement is shown as applied to what is commonly known
as a single pipe heating system, in which one and the same pipe serves as the
supply pipe to supply steam and also as the return pipe to permit the escape or
return of the water of condensation. My improvement, however, can be equally
well applied to what is commonly called a double pipe heating system, in which
there is a supply pipe for supplying the steam to the heaters or radiators and a
separate return pipe for permitting the escape or return of the water of condensa-
tion. As these two systems of heating are well known I have shown in the
drawings only one system, namely, the single pipe system.
In the drawings, A, and B, represent apartments to be heated, and C, C',
represent heaters or radiators of any suitable construction located in said
apartments.
A boiler, D, of any approved form or construction is shown located in the cellar
or any other convenient point, from which passes a pipe, E, which extends to and
communicates with the several radiators, the inlet of each radiator being controlled
by any suitable form of valve as shown at, F, the parts already shown thus con-
stituting a single pipe heating system in which the heating agent is supplied to the
radiators and the water of condensation returned therefrom to the boiler through
the same pipe, E.
G, is an air pipe which communicates with a series of radiators, as shown in
Figure 1, or with a single radiator, as shown in Figure 2, and which extends there-
from to the boiler room where it is connected with a suitable exhauster, by means
of which a vacuum or partial vacuum may be obtained in said air pipe. In the

page_text: best and most complete form of my invention the air pipe, G, is connected with
the radiator or heating apparatus at a place above that part of the radiator where
the water of condensation ordinarily collects, and the said air pipe is provided with
an automatic valve, H, which acts to open for the passage of the air, but to close
so as to prevent the passage of the heating agent, this operation being effected by
the effect of heat and cold respectively upon the said valve. As a result of this
construction the water of condensation does not get into the air pipe, but escapes
through the pipe, E, or, in a double heating system, escapes through the return
pipe of that system. The automatic valve opens when the heating apparatus is
cold, as it is when the apparatus is first started or when any considerable quantity
of air collects in the heater, and thus permits the exhausting or withdrawal from
the heater of such air both when the heating system is first put into operation and
at any time when it is in operation, and when for some reason air has collected in
the heater.
G³, is an exhauster or exhausting apparats uconnected with the air pipe, G, in
such a way as to enable the air to be exhausted from or drawn out of the heating
apparatus through the said air pipe. The exhausting apparatus may be made in
any suitable form, for example, it may be an exhauster connected with boiler or it
may be a pump or any other device which shall be found most convenient, or which
the nature of the case may require, and it may be connected with any part of the
air pipe.
The advantages of my invention may however be utilized to some extent by
connecting the air pipe to any part of the heating apparatus, provided that if the
air pipe is connected with the return pipe it is so connected above the point where
the water of condensation collects that escapes down through the said return pipe.
And the advantages of my invention may also be secured to some extent by an air
pipe in which no valve is employed, or in which some other form of valve is used in
place of the automatic valve, or any other suitable means for controlling the passage
of air through the air pipe.
Where each radiator or heater is connected with the exhauster by a separate air
pipe, each air pipe may be provided with a suitable stop cock or valve near the
exhauster, whereby the engineer or attendant may control the heat of each
independently of the other, or, where a single air pipe is used for a series of
heaters, a valve may be placed upon such air pipe near the exhauster, whereby the
entire system may be controlled in like manner.
The operation of the system is as follows:
When it is desired to supply the heating agent, the valves in the supply pipe are
turned on and the valve or valves in the air pipe or pipes near the exhauster are
opened, the exhauster being in operation, as a result of which the air is drawn
from the radiators or heaters, thereby removing the resistance to the heating agent
otherwise caused, and permitting a free and complete circulation of the heating
agent and preventing air from being suddenly compressed by the action of the heating
agent, and then expanding against the same to force the same backward, and
thereby preventing the usual hammering heretofore so objectionable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe in addition to the
supply and return pipe, connecting in said system, and an exhauster for drawing
air from the system through the said air pipe, substantially as described.
2. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe connecting in said system,
and exhauster for drawing air from the system through the said air pipe, and means
for controlling or restricting the flow of air through the said air pipe, substantially
as described.
3. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe in addition to the supply
and return pipe, connecting in said system, and an exhauster for drawing air

page_text: from the system through the said air pipe, and a valve located in the system
for controlling the escape of the air through said air pipe, substantially as
described.
4. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe connecting in said system,
and an exhauster for drawing air from said system through the said air pipe,
and an automatic valve controlling the said air pipe, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
5. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe in addition to the supply
and return pipe connecting in said system, and an exhauster for drawing air from
the system through said air pipe, and an automatic valve located in said air pipe,
substantially as set forth.
6. In combination with a heating system, an air pipe in addition to the supply
and return pipe connecting with a radiator above the part of the radiator where
the water of condensation ordinarily collects, and an exhauster for driving the air
from the system through the said air pipe, and an automatic valve located in said
air pipe, substantially as set forth.
7. In combination with a heating system, consisting of radiators and connecting
supply and return pipes and a suitable source of heat, an air pipe in addition to
the supply and return pipes, having branches connecting it with each radiator, an
automatic air valve connected with each of the branches of said air pipe, and
an exhauster for drawing air from the system through said air pipe, substantially as
set forth.
Dated this 8th day of D-1001
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.