IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VENTILATORS FOR THE VENTI- LATION OF MINES AND FURNACES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theophile Guibal, of No. 43, Rue des Groseillers,
Mons, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Civil Engineer, for the Invention:
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VENTILATORS FOR THE VENTI-
LATION OF MINES AND FURNACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theophile Guibal at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
March 1862.
I, THEOPHILE GUIBAL, of No. 43, Rue des Groseillers, Mons, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF. VENTILATORS FOR THE VEN-
TILATION OF MINES AND FURNACES," to be as follows:-
The improved ventilator consists of a rotatory fan which is placed within a
cylindrical case, the axis of the fan being somewhat excentric to the centre of
The foul air enters at the sides of the case as heretofore. At the
outlet side of the cylindrical case there is a chimney which increases in
dimensions as it ascends, the upper end being of the largest section. In
order to regulate the dimensions of the outlet from the cylindrical case into
the chimney a regulator or slide is used at the outlet taking the curve of
the cylindrical case, and such regulator is capable of being moved by a chain
or wire cord passing over pulleys at the upper part of the chimney.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theophile Guibal in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEOPHILE
GUIBAL, of No. 43, Rue des Groseillers, Mons, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
. WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Theophile Guibal, Her special licence that I, the said Theophile Guibal,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Theophile Guibal, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully- might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,'
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF VENTILATORS FOR THE VENTILATION OF MINES AND
FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Theophile
Guibal, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly-describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said Theophile Guibal, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof; that is to say:-
⚫ This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
ventilators for the ventilation of mines and furnaces.
The apparatus is composed like all those to which the name of ventilator
or fan is given, of an axis, to which are fitted several flat wings, which axis
is placed upon two, bearers and receives a movement more or less rapid from
which the effect required is produced. But this elementary and very old
arrangement, which is only fit to agitate the air if the apparatus remained
isolated in space, allows of the drawing up or the blowing out of the air when
sides properly disposed are placed round it.

page_text: Up to the present time the ventilators or fans employed as blowing
machines for blast furnaces have been placed in a concentric or excentric
jacket or covering formed with two sides placed perpendicularly to the axis.
and having circular openings whose centres correspond with the axis. In.
this arrangement of parts constantly employed for the feeding of furnaces of
various kinds the air is drawn through the side openings and blown out
through the tubular opening placed at the circumference. The same appa-
ratus has been applied but not so frequently and even with less advantage
to draw up or extract the air from any given chamber, but in this case the
jacket or covering with which it is enclosed when blowing is required is
removed and the air which is still drawn through the centre is forced into
the atmosphere all round the circumference..
The new ventilator or fan has to appearance a great analogy to the ones just
mentioned, but it differs from them in. reality in so marked a manner that
the effects it produces cannot be compared with those obtained before..the
discovery of the modifications which characterize the new arrangement.
These modifications are as follows, as will be seen by the annexed Drawing,
of which Figure 1 is a vertical section; Figure 2 a horizontal section; and
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a ventilator or fan for ventilating a mine, the
other Figures shew some of the parts separately.
1:
1. Although the apparatus is intended to exhaust the foul air from the
mine, yet it is entirely enclosed by a jacket or covering as if it where intended
to blow it into a furnace.
J
2. The orifice through. which the air passes off is not always of the same
dimensions. It can be varied by the action of a regulating vane-which allows
the passage to be enlarged or diminished without, altering the shape of the
jacket or covering or the means of the escape of the air on which depend
the advantages to be obtained.. :
.
3. The orifice through which the air escapes is continued by a. pipe or
chimney, which gradually increases in size from base to top, by which means.
the air which rushes in with great force escapes with. hardly any velocity,
which causes a great part of the working. power which the air would
have carried away with it without such an arrangement to be retained.. To
these principles are added certain arrangements in the practical construc-
tion which make it more complete...
These practical arrangements are as follows:-
1.. The jacket or covering of, large apparatuses intended to ventilate. mines
is constructed of. brickwork, which allows the largest. works to be erected.
solidly and economically.

page_text: 2. The air is only admitted into this apparatus' at one side; this prevents
the production of conflicting currents, and allows the axis to be made much
shorter and consequently less liable to the deviations which are inevitable in
machinery revolving rapidly as is here the case.
ba
3. The naves are made polygonal and of cast iron, receiving at their sides
plain bars of ordinary iron, which by their frequent and reciprocal crossings
form a structure of great solidity without requiring much manual labor in
the production. The wings or floats which are made of wood fixed direct
to the arms thus arranged naturally incline to the angle which best suits the
working of the apparatus.
4. To regulate the size of the outlet a screen composed of simple planks
united by thin iron bands flexible enough to follow the curved form of the
fan case is employed; this by an easy up-and-down movement is made-to
slide in the cast-iron guides which receive it. This arrangement allows.of
regulating practically the dimensions of the opening through which the air
passes off and of remedying the impossibility of laying down the size of the
opening by calculation. The result of this arrangement is that apparatus
of a very great diameter may be constructed at a small expense, and con-
sequently great advantages are obtained both as regards the volume of air
passed through the apparatus, the degree of exhaustion obtained, and the
speed of rotation necessary. When the revolutions do not exceed 100 to
the minute, the axis of the ventilator or fan may be geared direct to the
motive power which simplifies and economizes the work; when high speed
is required the movement is given by a long band or strap.
The Drawing annexed to the present Specification being complete it is
not necessary to enter into any further details concerning the air extracting
apparatus applied to the ventilation of mines.
When the ventilator is used as a blowing machine the arrangement of
parts remains the same except that the chimney is put into communication
with a chamber enclosed on every side and acting as an air reservoir into
which enter the various pipes which distribute it amongst the furnaces.
It will be seen that the new ventilator is so far different from the former
ones inasmuch as the jacket or case with which it is provided when used
for extracting air has been up to the present time considered as prejudicial,
whereas by it great advantages are obtained, and whether for the extraction
of air or for the blast the new system gives a variation in the opening of
the orifice for escape of which the use up to the present time had not been
suspected.
"'
I claim the arrangement of a rotatory ventilator or fan the case of which

page_text: communicates with an outlet passage increasing in sectional area
passes away from the case, and which has a regulating slide following
the curve of the case to adjust the size of the outlet therefrom as herein-
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theophile Guibal, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
THEOPHILE GUIBAL. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Theophile Guibal in
the presence of
THOMAS NASMYTH,
of No. 9, Rue Keyenveld,
Brussels,
Gentleman.