IMPROVEMENTS IN INHALING, DISINFECTING, AND VENTILATING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO MEDICATED AND VAPOUR BATHS
Year: 1875

page_text: •
LETTERS PATENT to John Robert Harper, of Clerkenwell, in the
· County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INHALING,
DISINFECTING, AND VENTILATING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO MEDICATED
AND VAPOUR BATHS."
Sealed the 2nd November 1875, and dated the 4th May 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robert Harper
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th May 1875.
I, JOHN ROBERT HARPER, of Clerkenwell, in the County of Middle-
sex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INHALING, DISINFECTING, AND VENTILATING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE ALSO
TO MEDICATED AND VAPOUR BATHS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus of the character
described in the Provisional Specification for which Letters Patent were
applied for by Robert James Lee, dated 5 November 1872, No. 3277,
for "Improvements in Inhaling Apparatus, Applicable also for Heating
Medical Baths."

page_text: In the apparatus described in the Provisional Specification above
referred to the safety valve of the boiler was combined with a com-
paratively small screw stopper, which was liable to set fast and cause
much difficulty in removal by hand to obtain access to the interior of the
boiler and jet pipe for filling, cleaning, or otherwise, and one feature of
my improvements consists in combining the safety valve with a spun or
stamped metal cover of considerable size, a quick-threaded screw being
formed thereon, by which means the cover can be readily removed or
replaced when required. Or the cover may be secured by projections
and slots, or fixed like an ordinary man-hole plate or otherwise if
desired.
According to another part of these improvements the interior jet pipe
is fixed or soldered to a transverse pipe fixed in the air pipe so as to
render the jet readily accessible for cleaning or otherwise.
Another of my improvements consists in forming the external jet or
conducting pipe with a universal joint. This joint is formed in spherical
and semi-spherical parts in such manner that when combined the parts
of the pipe will move in any desired direction and maintain themselves
in the position required.
Another feature of my improvements consists in the improved method
of arranging the handle of apparatus of this character by combining it
with wood or other non-conducting material.
Apparatus of this character may be employed for generating medicated
and other vapours for inhaling purposes for medicated and vapour baths,
or for disinfecting and ventilating purposes by exhausting or discharging
air from rooms, ships' holds, or other places.
•

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Robert Harper, Her
special license that I, the said John Robert Harper, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Robert Harper, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INHALING, DISINFECTING, AND
VENTILATING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO MEDICATED AND VAPOUR BATHS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Robert
Harper, 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 John Robert Harper, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus of the character
described in the Provisional Specification for which Letters Patent were
applied for by Robert James Lee, dated 5th November 1872, No. 3277,
for "Improvements in Inhaling Apparatus, Applicable also for Heating
Medical Baths."
In the apparatus described in the Provisional Specification above.
referred to the safety valve was combined with a comparatively small
screw stopper, which was liable to set fast and cause much difficulty in
removal by hand to obtain accsss to the interior of the boiler and jet pipe
for filling, cleaning, or otherwise, and one feature of my improvements
consists in combining the safety valve with a spun or stamped metal
cover A of considerable size (as represented in section by Figure 1 of the
Drawings hereunto annexed), when compared with the ordinary screw
stopper, safety, and supply valve B of the boiler C, shown in Figures 2,

page_text: 3, and 4, which show a vertical section, side view, and plan of inhaling,
disinfecting, and ventilating apparatus having my improvements applied
thereto. A quick-threaded screw a is formed on the screw stopper shown
in Figure 1, by which means the cover and safety valve can be readily
removed or replaced when required. Or the cover may be secured by
projections and slots, or fixed like an ordinary man-hole plate or other-
wise if desired, in order to facilitate the removal and replacing of the
cover A when required.
According to another part of these improvements the interior jet
pipe b is fixed or soldered to a transverse pipe c fixed in the air pipe d
so as to render the jet readily accessible for cleaning or otherwise.
Another of my improvements consists in forming the external jet or
conducting pipe d with a universal joint D shown separately by Figure 5.
This joint D is formed in spherical and semi-spherical parts in such
manner that when combined the parts of the conducting pipe will move
in any desired direction and maintain themselves in the position required.
The inner semi-spherical part d* of the joint D is fixed on the end of the
pipe d³, the semi-spherical part d** being fixed on the end of the pipe d²,
and the two parts are kept together by the outer semi-spherical part d***,
which is kept in position by the spiral spring d³, one end of which is
fixed to the pipe d¹.
Another feature of my improvements consists in the improved method
of arranging the handle E of apparatus of this character by attaching
it to or combining it with a block of wood or other non-conducting
material E', which slides or fits into a socket fixed on the apparatus.
I also apply a handle F" of wood or other non-conducting material to
the spirit lamp F, the stem f being a metal pipe for carrying off any
excess of vapour generated in the oil or spirit vessel of the lamp.
Apparatus of this character may be employed for generating medi-
cated and other vapours for inhaling purposes for medicated and vapour
baths, or for disinfecting and ventilating purposes by exhausting or
discharging air from rooms, ships' holds, or other places.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements and the manner
of performing or carrying the same into practice, what I claim is the
improved arrangement and construction of inhaling, disinfecting, and
ventilating apparatus, substantially in the manner and for the purposes

page_text: herein-before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robert Harper, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
JOHN ROBERT HARPER. (L.S.)
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
W.C.