IMPROVE- MENTS IN VENTILATING APPARATUS.
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an invention of IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VENTILATING APPARATUS.-A communication from abroad by Emil
Oehlmann, of Berlin, in the German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th February 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No 28, Southampton Buildings Chancery-Lane in
the County of Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING APPARATUS." [A com-
munication from abroad by Emil Ochlmann, of Berlin, in the German Empire.
This invention relates to a construction of ventilating apparatus in which a
turbine driven by a water jet, carries on its shaft helical blades or vanes by the
rotation of which the air is propelled in the axial direction of the apparatus.
Such ventilating fans are made to act, at will, either as exhaust or as forcing
fans by providing the turbine with two nozzles for the water jet, such nozzles
being inclined in opposite directions to each other, so that by causing the water
jet to issue through the one nozzle, the turbine and fan will be rotated in the one
direction and consequently cause the air to be, for example, exhausted from the
locality with which the apparatus is connected, while by causing the water jet to
issue through the other nozzle the apparatus will be rotated in the contrary
direction, causing the air to be forced into the said locality.
According to another improvement there is combined with the ventilating fan a
water spray apparatus for moistening and purifying the air of the following
arrangement. The turbine casing, which is closed by a cover at top so as to
prevent the escape of water, has at bottom firstly, an annular trough into which
the water from the turbine falls, and secondly, a central funnel-shaped opening
through which water from the trough can flow into a cylindrical receptacle attached
to the ventilator shaft below, such receptacle forming a continuation of the boss of
the ventilator fan. Within this receptacle is a conical shield fixed on the shaft,

page_text: the lower end of which is notched and just touches the sides of the receptacle; by
this means the water entering from the turbine casing in flowing down the said
shield, enters the receptacle without noise. The receptacle has a series of holes in
its sides through which the water issues, and on its outer surface are fixed a series
of conical or dished flanges, inclined upwards against which the small jets of water
are dashed and are thereby transformed into spray which, in being thrown by
centrifugal action against the current of air passing in the axial direction, effectually
moistens the latter and frees it from dust. When the air merely requires
moistening to a moderate degree by this means, only a small portion of the water
is made to flow through the central opening of the turbine casing as described, the
greater part being made to pass away from the annular trough through an escape
pipe.
When, however, it is desired to act on the air with a larger quantity of water,
this escape pipe is closed and the larger body of water, being thrown among the
air as described, falls into a parabolic funnel or shield surrounding the ventilating
fan, and thence into an annular trough below, from which it escapes by another
branch of the discharge pipe. The parabolic funnel or guide for the water also has
the object of leading the air current past the last named trough without being
impeded thereby.
According to another improvement the ventilating apparatus is also supplied
with means for disinfecting or purifying the air as it passes through. For this
purpose the ventilator shaft carries radial arms that support annular trough shaped
receptacles of perforated metal or wire-gauze filled with sponge or other absorbant
material, and a pipe passing through the ventilator casing conducts a jet of any
suitable disinfecting or purifying fluid on to the said absorbant material, the
rotation of which together with the shaft causes a spray of the disinfecting fluid to
be thrown among the air passing through.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th August 1882.
33
A com-
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings Chancery Lane in
the County of Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING APPARATUS
munication from abroad by Emil Oehlmann of Berlin in the German Empire
This invention relates to a construction of ventilating apparatus in which a
turbine driven by a water jet, carries on its shaft helical blades or vanes by the
rotation of which the air is propelled in the axial direction of the apparatus.
Such ventilating fans are made to act, at will, either as exhaust or as facing fans
by providing the turbine with two nozzles for the water jet, such nozzles being
inclined in opposite directions to each other, so that by causing the water jet to
issue through the one nozzle, the turbine and fan will be rotated in the one

page_text: Consequently cause the air to be, for example, exhausted from the
locality with which the apparatus is connected, while by causing the water jet to
issue through the other nozzle, the apparatus will be rotated in the contrary
direction causing the air to be forced into the said locality.
According to another improvement there is combined with the ventilating fan a
water spray apparatus for moistening and purifying the air of the following
arrangement. The turbine casing which is closed by a cover at top so as to
prevent the escape of water, has at bottom, firstly, an annular trough into which the
water from the turbine falls, and secondly, a central funnel-shaped opening through
which water from the trough can flow into a cylindrical receptacle attached to the
ventilator shaft below, such receptacle forming a continuation of the boss of the
ventilator fan. Within this receptacle is a conical shield fixed on the shaft, the
lower end of which is notched and just touches the sides of the receptacle; by this
means the water entering from the turbine casing in flowing down the said shield,
enters the receptacle without noise. The receptacle has a series of holes in its sides
through which the water issues, and on its outer surface are fixed a series of
conical or dished flanges, inclined upwards, against which the small jets of water
are dashed and are thereby transformed into spray, which in being thrown by
centrifugal action against the current of air passing in the axial direction, effectually
moistens the latter and frees it from dust-When the air merely requires
moistening to a moderate degree by this means, only a small portion of the water
is made to flow through the central opening of the turbine casing as described, the
greater part being made to pass away from the annular trough through an escape
pipe.
When, however, it is desired to act on the air with a larger quantity of water,
this escape pipe is closed and the larger body of water, being thrown among the
air as described, falls into a parabolic funnel or shield surrounding the ventilating
fan, and thence into an annular trough below, from which it escapes by another
branch of the discharge pipe. The parabolic funnel or guide for the water also has
the object of leading the air current past the last named trough without being
impeded thereby.
According to another improvement the ventilating apparatus is also supplied
with means for disinfecting or purifying the air as it passes through. For this
purpose the ventilator shaft carries radial arms that support annular trough-shaped
receptacles of perforated metal or wire-gauze filled with sponge or other absorbent
material, and a pipe passing through the ventilator casing conducts a jet of any
suitable disinfecting or purifying fluid on to the said absorbent material, the
rotation of which together with the shaft causes a spray of the disinfecting Buid to
be thrown among the air passing through.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the whole apparatus according to this invention,
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the upper part with the disinfecting arrangement
applied to it, Fig. 3 on the left side is a half plan, and on the right a half sectional
plan on a b (Fig. 1), Fig. 4 is a sectional plan on c d (Fig. 2.) half shewn with and
half shewn without the disinfecting arrangement. e is the cylindrical casing, f the
turbine and i the ventilator on the same shaft g on which also is fixed the spray
apparatus h. This consists of a cylindrical shell t which is a continuation of the
ventilator boss and has attached to it a number of conical shields & inclining to
their exterior upwards. Within the cylindrical shell t which has a close bottom oll
is placed a cone T on which water from the turbine case o flows by the annular
1
•

page_text: scattered by the cones & gathers and flows along the parabolic surface p to the
outlet Չ which joins the discharge at r. The cover of the turbine case has a hole
fitting nearly the oil cup which revolves with the turbine, so that there is no
escape of water upwards. The arrangement D (Figs. 2 and 4) for disinfecting is
fixed above the spray apparatus h. It consists of annular troughs S¹ having narrow
bottoms u¹ made of perforated metal or wire gauze and charged with sponge or
other absorbent material, which receives disinfecting fluid dropped on the inner
trough from a pipe v, this fluid being by the centrifugal force driven to the outer
trough and thence into the air space within the casing mingling with the air which
is made to pass through the casing from below upwards by the action of the blades i.
The direction of the air may be reversed by altering the direction of the impact of
the water on the turbine blades as shewn in Fig. 3 where instead of the nozzle w
another differently directed nozzle w¹ can be employed, either being connected to
the supply pipe by a three way cock or valve. The disinfecting arrangement D
might obviously be placed below the spray apparatus h. The surface p is made
parabolic to suit the flow of the water along it and at the same time to give free
room for the air passing the spray and disinfecting apparatus.
Having thus described the nature of the said invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent
I claim :
First. The disinfecting apparatus D consisting of annular perforated troughs
containing absorbent material charged with disinfecting fluid which is dispersed
through the air by centrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the troughs along
with the turbine and ventilator.
Second. The means herein described of reversing the direction of the air current
by the use of nozzles arranged to reverse the direction of rotation of the
turbine.
Third. The spray apparatus a consisting of the inverted cones s attached to the
perforated cylindrical shell t having within it the cone T, substantially as herein
described.
Fourth. The construction of the turbine casing o with its cover, its coned
middle having an annular mouth o¹ and its discharge pipe m with regulating
cock, substantially as herein described.
Fifth. The parabolic casing p of the ventilator operating as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
Sixth. The combination of turbine and ventilator on one shaft with or without
the disinfecting arrangement, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof I the said Charles Denton Abel have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty fifth day of August in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
OTTAS D AREL