Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application,, 10th Aug.,, 1887
Complete Left, 10th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 15th June, 1888;
A communication from FERNAND BISSON, of Paris, in the Republic of France,
Mechanical Engineer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, M.I.M.E.
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce a current or currents of air for the
purpose of contributing to personal comfort to a greater extent than can be attained
by the use of the ordinary hand fan and it is intended to apply the same to either
chain beds couches or to any suitable fixture.
The apparatus consists preferably of a rotary fan of suitable size and construction.
mounted in bearings placed conveniently to the person desiring the benefit of
the apparatus. On the axis of the fan is a small pinion or friction wheel
which gears with or bears against another wheel of larger dimensions which
has rotary motion imparted to it in each direction alternately the power to
produce the motion in one direction being exerted through suitable lever or cord.
mechanism by the person using the apparatus whilst the opposite movement is
produced by a suitable weight or spring. The power may either be applied by hand
or foot or it may be exerted unconsciously or automatically as for instance a weighted
lever may be mounted on the rocker of a rocking chair, the weighted end of the lever
resting on the ground whilst the other end is connected by rod or cord with the
mechanism for operating the fan. As the chair moves in one direction the weighted lever
will produce a movement of the fan and at the same time wind up the spring which will
relax or recover itself as the direction of the chair changes and reverse the motion of
the fan. This is merely given as an illustration as various modes of producing a
similar result may be devised, and the action of the rotary fan may be continuous and
in one direction if desired.

page_text: communication from FERNAND BISSON, of 15, rue de la Chapelle, Paris,
Republic of France, Mechanical Engineer.
in the
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, M.I.M.E.
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:
The object of this invention is to produce a current or currents of air for the
purpose of contributing to personal confort to a greater extent than can be attained
by the use of the ordinary hand fan and it is intended to apply the same to either
chairs, beds couches or to any suitable fixture.
In the accompanying drawings
--
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus attached to a rocking chair.
Fig. 2 is a back view of the same.
Fig. 3 and 4 are full sized details of the mechanism for actuating the fans.
A lever a b c is pivotted in 6 to the rocker of a rocking chair; this lever is weighted
nt a while to the end c is attached a chain or cord c d the other end d of which is
fastened to the arm de. Two screens ef fasten the latter to a circular disc g turning
with gentle friction on a rigid spindle h.
To the circular disc g is fastened the outer end of a coiled spring i by means of the
prolonged end of the screw f. The inner end of the said spring i is fixed to the
rigid spindle h. If desired the outer end of the spring may be attached to the barrel j
the same as in clocks and watches.
The circular disc g is free to turn in one direction and in doing so winds up or puts
tension on the spiral or coil spring i but when the disc g revolves in the opposite
direction a binding action takes place between it and the two spring clutches kl
which are morticed into the rim of the disc g, the projecting ends of the clutches
being thrown into gear with notches in the sleeve m fixed by means of screws to the
crown plate n. The parts being thus firmly connected one with the other move in
the direction indicated by the arrows carrying with them the tooth wheel o fixed by
the pins p to the sleeve of the crown plate n and this movement will last during the
time necessary for the unwinding of the coiled spring. The tooth wheel o com-
municates its movement to a pinion q fixed to the shaft r to which it imparts a rapid
rotary motion.
8
The ends of the shaft r are journalled in the uprights which are adjustably fixed
in the sockets t by means of set screws.
On the shaft is mounted a sleeve u to
which are attached a series of fans v.
A weighted cord d x is fixed to the arm de at d so that the apparatus may be put
in motion by hand when the chair is not being rocked, tension on the cord d
producing the same effect as on the cord c d.

page_text: The operation of the apparatus is as follow:-
When a person
is seated in the rocking chair he can operate the apparatus by hand
or by rocking the chair or by both combined.
If the apparatus is to be operated by hand the person seated in the chair pulls
the cord d x downwards and slackens it again alternately thus winding and unwinding
the spring i and operating the fans.
If the apparatus is operated by the rocking of the chair the lever a be will pull
the cord c d downwards, the weighted end a of the lever resting on the ground, and
the spring i will be wound thus, unwinding itself during the return movement of
the rocking chair.
The mechanism for the operation of the fans may be mounted on the right or
left side of the chair or on both sides.
The arrows indicate the direction in which the different parts turn or act.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :—
1. The fanning apparatus having a circular alternate movement which by its
intermittance produces a similar result to that of the ordinary fan and which is
completed or perfected by a continuous circular movement in the same direction for
the operation of the apparatus.
2. The movement of the apparatus produced by the hands or feet of the person
seated in a rocking chair or any other seat or similar article of furniture; and the
reaction producing the movement of the fanning apparatus which may be produced
by springs or by weights or by both combined.
3. The whole substantially as described as also the application to any article of
furniture or in any desirable position or situation and lastly the construction of the
different parts in any material.
4. The improved apparatus for producing a current of air consisting of fan blades
such as v mounted on a shaft to which rotary motion is imparted intermittently by
means of a clutch box operated in one direction by personal effort and in the other
by a coiled or other spring substantially as described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawing.
5. The complete apparatus for producing a current of air constructed and
operating in manner substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
Dated this 10th dow of Mov 1000
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents.