AN APPARATUS FOR CREATING AN UPWARD DRAUGHT OR CURRENT OF AIR IN CHIMNIES, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF VENTILATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hawkins, LL.D., of Northfleet, in the
County of Kent, for the Invention of "AN APPARATUS FOR CREATING AN
UPWARD DRAUGHT OR CURRENT OF AIR IN CHIMNIES, WHICH APPARATUS IS
ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF VENTILATION."
Sealed the 6th October 1854, and dated the 17th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hawkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
April 1854.
I, THOMAS HAWKINS, LL.D., of Northfleet, in the County of Kent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN APPARATUS FOR
CREATING AN UPWARD DRAUGHT OR CURRENT OF AIR IN CHIMNIES, WHICH APPARATUS
IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF VENTILATION," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an apparatus, which is affixed or placed on the top
of a chimney or in any other convenient situation, for the purpose of creating
an upward draught or current of air; in the former case preventing what are
termed "smoky chimnies," and in the latter affording the means of producing
the ventilation of buildings or other places.
The apparatus consists of a conical or funnel shaped piece of metal or other
material, whose bottom circumference is of the size of the top of the chimney
or tube; across the upper or larger diameter of this cone or funnel is a bar or
rod, for the purpose of receiving the axis or shaft of a semicircular plate,
which serves as a horizontal moveable cover to one half or more of the top of
the cone or funnel.

page_text: On this plate is a vane, for the purpose of keeping the plate in the proper
position with regard to the direction of the wind. Thus, the wind passing over
the plate is carried against the interior of the cone or funnel, and, striking the
same at an obtuse angle, rushes upwards, and thus creates a partial vacuum,
which causes the smoke to rise with the draught or upward current which
For ventilating buildings, it is only necessary to place the apparatus
on the summit of a shaft or other suitable position.
The plate on the top of the cone may be made of larger dimensions than a
semicircle; it may be equal to three quarters of a circle, or any other conve-
nient size. Around the edge of the plate there is a rim or border, to prevent
the wind from rushing under it into the cone or funnel. The apparatus will
serve same purposes if made of a square or oblòng square shape equally well
as the conical shape, by preserving a suitable angle to its sides; but in these
cases it is obvious that the plate must be a fixture; or several of these..shaped
apparati may be placed in juxtaposition, if requisite. The top plate may
be placed within the upper part of the cone, and then the rim may be dispensed
with
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
...
by the said Thomas Hawkins in the Great Seal Patent Office-on-the
. 17th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HAWKINS, LL.D., of Northfleet, in the County of Kent, send greeting...]
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of- our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Hawkins, Her special licence that I, the said. Thomas
Hawkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Hawkins, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of "AN APPARATUS FOR
CREATING AN UPWARD CURRENT OR DRAUGHT OF AIR IN CHIMNEYS, WHICH
APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF VENTILATION," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Hawkins, by an

page_text: instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Thomas Hawkins, 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 (that is to say):-
The principle of my Invention consists in causing the wind to act upon or
against a surface slanting obliquely upwards, whereby its course is turned or
changed to such upward direction, the consequence being to create an upward
current or draught of air. I apply this' principle to the purposes of preventing
what are commonly termed smoky chimnies, which cause the rooms wherein
fires are lighted to become filled with smoke; or of increasing the draught of
chimnies, and of affording ventilation in all its applications.
I will now proceed to describe my apparatus in its various forms and modifi-
cations, such as I have found most advantageous. Fig. 1 of the Drawings is a
vertical section, and Fig. 2 a plan, of a form of apparatus suitable for creating
an upward draught or current of air in chimnies. A is a conical or funnel
shaped hollow tube, the lower part of which is made straight, in order to allow
it to fit into the chimney top; B is a cross bar or rod, for supporting a vertical
pin p; C is a semicircular plate, fixed to a little vertical tube d, working around
the pin on the bar B; V is a vane, also attached to the little tube d, but on
the opposite side of it. The semicircular plate is set a few inches below the
top of the funnel. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The wind,
blowing in the direction of the arrows e, e, keeps the vane V constantly in the
contrary direction from the quarter whence it comes; consequently the semi-
circular plate always covers that half of the top of the funnel over which the.
.wind first passes. The wind consequently acts against the opposite portion of
the funnel, as indicated by the arrow f; and immediately glances upwards, as
shown by the arrows g, g; the air below then rushes upwards in the direction
indicated by the other arrows, and thus a continual drauglit is created. I also
place the semicircular plate on a level with the top of the funnel; it is, how-
ever, then necessary to place a rim or flange around the same a few inches
wide; this prevents the wind from rushing under the plate into the funnel.
Sometimes I make the plate larger than a semicircle; it may be-a three-quarter
circle or other suitable size. Fig. 3 is a vertical section, and Fig. 4 a plan
view, of a form of apparatus somewhat similar to that just described, but

page_text: modified to suit the purposes of ventilation. Here it is seen that the vane is
dispensed with, the plate being a complete circle in form, fixed and supported
by little upright rods i, i, i. Thus, in whatever direction the wind may blow, it
passes over the surface of the plate, and acts upon the opposite side of the
apparatus in the same manner, and causing the same results as in the one first.
described, but in a more moderate degree; and it is evident that the opening at
the top of the funnel need not be so large here as in the apparatus for chimnies,
because in the latter a free egress to the smoke is essential; therefore the plate
is a fixture, and is placed, as before, a few inches below the surface of the top
of the funnel, a suitable space being allowed between its periphery and the
interior of the funnel to allow of the egress of air. For the sake of ap-
pearance, the apparatus may have an additional outer case with vertical sides,
as shewn at J, J. When the above apparatuses are of small dimensions the
vane and plate may be dispensed with, because the wind will traverse a small
diameter without falling when it would not a larger one.
When the chimney
top is of a square or other shape, it is only necessary to place a similarly shaped
short tube therein, which is soldered into a circular plate, having the same sized
aperture in its centre; on this plate I then place and fix my ventilator or
apparatus.
ار
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another form of my apparatus applicable to
chimnies. A is the side of the apparatus, slanting obliquely upwards, on which
the wind acts; this side is always kept by the vane V at a right angle to the
direction of the wind, so that the wind shall always act upon it in the most
efficient manner. The arrows here also show the course of the wind, as before
described.
Fig. 6 is also a perspective view of an apparatus somewhat similar to the
one last described, but it differs in having several sides or surfaces placed
near together, on all of which the wind acts; I thus increase the draught to
as great a degree as may be necessary. Although I prefer to use this appa-
ratus for the purpose of ventilation, and the former for chimnies, nevertheless
I can use either of them for either purpose.
Fig. 7 is a vertical section, and Fig. 8 a plan view, of another form of
my apparatus suitable for the purposes of ventilation. Here also A, A, &c.
are the sides or surfaces slanting obliquely upwards, upon which the wind
acts, and the arrows, as before described, indicate such action; but this
form of my apparatus differs from the preceding, as I will proceed to
describe. By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the wind is allowed
to act only upon one surface, namely, the inner semicircular portion of the
funnel; but in this apparatus I place a series of interior circular forms of

page_text: metal or other material, as shewn by the Drawings, having their outer and
inner peripheries slanting also obliquely upwards; by these means I constitute
between each of them conical or funnel shaped open spaces, through which
the air from below rushes upwards by reason of the action of the wind upon
these oblique conical sides or surfaces. These are supported and fixed on two
bars or rods k, k, which are set in the interior of the case.
It is needless to describe its action again, as I have already done so in the
previous forms of my apparatus; the arrows clearly indicate the subject. This
apparatus is suitable for all situations in which ventilation is required to be
effected; but I also use it for chimnies for creating a draught, and in such cases
I generally find it advisable to remove the centre conical piece and sometimes
one of the others, in order to allow a more free egress for the smoke.
When the apparatus is placed in such a situation that rain would pass
through the apertures on the top, and prove a source of annoyance, for in-
stance, in a railway carriage, I either place a metal plate covering a few inches
above the surface of the apparatus, and projecting a suitable distance all round
the same, so as to form a shield or protection from the rain; or I place a plate
1, Fig. 7, under the apparatus, having a circular or other shaped aperture o in
the centre; I make the outer case m of the apparatus deeper, and at its lower
part I place and fix another corresponding plate n, having a corresponding
aperture o in its centre, but I make this latter plate slope downwards from the
aperture to the lower part of the case m; around this lower aperture on the
plate I fix a few little vertical supports s, upon which is fixed a horizontal plate
t, a few inches larger in diameter than either of the apertures o, o. By this
contrivance, when the rain comes through the top orifices of the apparatus, it
passes on to the plate and falls through the aperture o on to the horizontal
plate t, and thence down to the lower sloping plate 24, thence it is carried off
by the openings q, q, which may have shields before them, to prevent any rush
of wind entering; or pipes may be let in to the openings to carry off the water.
The arrows show the direction of the draught or current of air. This con-
trivance I also apply to the apparatus shewn at Fig. 3 and 4, and that at
Fig. 6.
I adapt my Invention also to ventilating shop windows, which is most useful
for carrying off the noxious atmosphere or gases caused by the consump-
tion or combustion of gas, which injures and tarnishes the articles exhibited
for sale in the windows. For this purpose I enclose a gas burner in a case
or tube of glass, or glass and iron and wood; the case of course is open at the
lower part, and the upper part is conveyed to a balcony or chimney or other
suitable spot, and my ventilator is placed thereon to cause a current of air,

page_text: thus ventilating the shop and carrying off the impure products of combustion
of the gas at the same time. To regulate the draught of my apparatus, it is
only necessary to have recourse to any of the usual means, such as valves, &c.
For ventilation of drains and floorings, of vaults or cellars and such like
places, I make the grating or bars of such a shape that the sides slope obliquely
upwards; the Fig. 7 may serve to illustrate the shape of the bars in section,
supposing them to be straight instead of circular. The apparatus when made
of earthenware or similar material may be built in a wall of a house, to cause
ventilation in any apartment where desired.
I
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise forms of apparatus indicated, as it is evident that many modifi-
cations thereof may be contrived enibracing the principle of my Invention;
neither do I limit myself to any material or materials for the manufacture of
the apparatus because it is evident that metal, wood, pottery, porcelain, slate,
gutta percha, and many other substances are well adapted thereto; -neither do
I limit myself to the applications of my Invention, the same being so general;
may however name some of them. For instance, my Invention is applicable
to factory chimnies, and to the chimnies or chimney tops of houses or other
places; to the ventilation of buildings of all kinds, churches, private dwellings,
counting-houses, public offices, concert rooms, &c.; to the ventilation of railway
carriages, ships, and vessels; and the ventilation of shop windows while gas
burning therein, whereby I prevent the bad effects of the consumption or
combustion of gas upon the articles exposed for sale therein; but I claim as
my Invention, the apparatus in its various forms which I have herein described,
or any others substantially the same in principle or form thereto, wherein my
Invention may be embraced or included, as being applicable or useful to the
purposes intended or specified.
is
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hawkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-four.
THOMAS HAWKINS. (L.S.)