Improvements connected with the Ventilation and the Warming or Cooling of Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and like Structures having one or more Seating Galleries.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 26th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 16th Oct., 1897
Improvements connected with the Ventilation and the Warming or
Cooling of Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and like Structures
having one or more Seating Galleries.
I, JAMES STOTT, of Vernon Works, Lee Street, Oldham, Lighting, Heating and
Ventilating Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to certain improvements connected with the ventilation
and the warming or cooling of Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and like Structures
having one or more seating Galleries.
To carry my invention into practice, I arrange in an apartment, say in the
basement or over a Shop or Room on the ground floor a series of tubes from a hot
water service, said tubes being so arranged that air from the atmosphere can by
a fan be sucked into a lower chamber and thence through the meshes of some
openworked or loosely woven fabric into a well or vertical shaft in which a heater
is affixed and through which the warmed air is forced to increase its temperature.
The heated air from this shaft now passes into an expansion box or reserve
chamber at the top or near the top of a Building from which there is no escape
for the heat except downwardly from the dome or other ceiling provided with the
necessary apertures with deflectors, the hot air to flow or to be forced for distribu-
tion in the body of the Building, or large open space, or Auditorium, and for
circulation to outlets provided at as many places and at various positions for
ensuring a gentle outflow at several spots of vitiated air while fresh currents of
warm or cooling air are being forced into the Building in a downward direction.
The important feature in the combination or down-flow system of heating
Buildings in this invention is the construction and employment of the reserve
chamber above the ceiling into which heated air is forced mechanically and its
downward flow for distribution for ventilating purposes.
If the lower chamber of the structure be provided with an ice tank, the warm
air of the atmosphere can be cooled and then by the fan be forced into the
reserve chamber for downward distribution in the body of the Building reducing
the temperature and for ventilating purposes.
In Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and other Structures having one or more
seating galleries my system, as aforesaid, of effecting the warming or the cooling
and at the same time the ventilation of the Building by gentle down flow and
distribution without perceptible draughts will be found to be essential and of
greater value and more effective than rushes of cold air through open doors, to
supplant as at present the uprising heated and vitiated air under the upflow
system of ventilation now so universal.
By my invention the opening of doors will facilitate the escape of warm air
in the opposite direction through those openings, and thereby prevent draughts.
If necessary a soft pleasant odour of Scent can be wafted through a Building

page_text: for purifying the air, such as by impregnating the travelling screen of open
meshed canvas such as I have described in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 5806 of year 1894 and granted to me on the Tenth day of March in
that year.
DJ
OFL 1
ex
1000
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said James Stott.
Improvements connected with the Ventilation and the Warming or
Cooling of Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and like Structures,
having one or more Seating Galleries.
I, JAMES STOTT, of Vernon Works, Lee Street, Oldham, Lighting, Heating and
Ventilating Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to certain improvements connected with the ventilation
and the warming or cooling of Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and like structures
having one or more seating galleries.
To carry my invention into practice, I arrange in an apartment, say in the
basement or over a Shop or room on the ground floor a series of tubes from a hot
water service, said tubes being so arranged that air from the atmosphere can by
a fan be sucked into a lower chamber and thence through the meshes of some
openworked or loosely woven fabric into a well or vertical shaft in which a heater
is affixed and through which the warmed air is forced to increase its temperature.
The heated air from this shaft now passes into an expansion box or reserve
chamber at the top or near the top of a Building from which there is no escape
for the heat except downwardly from the dome or other ceiling provided with the
necessary apertures with deflectors, the hot air to flow or to be forced for distribu-
tion in the body of the Building, or large open space, or Auditorium, and for
circulation to outlets provided at as many places and at various positions for
ensuring a gentle outflow at several spots of vitiated air while fresh currents of
warm or cooling air are being forced into the Building in a downward direction.
The important feature in the combination or downflow system of heating
Buildings in this invention is the construction and employment of the reserve
chamber above the ceiling into which heated air is forced mechanically and its
downward flow for distribution for ventilating purposes.
If the lower chamber of the structure be provided with an ice tank, the warm
air of the atmosphere can be cooled and then by the fan be forced into the
reserve chamber for downward distribution in the body of the Building, reducing
the temperature and for ventilating purposes.
In Theatres, Churches, Chapels, and other structures having one or more
seating galleries, my system as aforesaid, of effecting the warming or the cooling
and at the same time the ventilation of the Building by gentle down flow and
distribution without perceptible draughts, will be found to he essential and of
greater value and more effective than rushes of cold air through open doors, to
supplant as at present the uprising heated and vitiated air under the uplow
system of ventilation now so universal.

page_text: By my invention the opening of doors will facilitate the escape of warm air
in the opposite direction through those openings, and thereby prevent draughts.
If necessary a soft pleasant odour of Scent can be wafted through a Building
for purifying the air, such as by impregnating the travelling screen of open
meshed canvas such as I have described in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 5086, of year 1894 and granted to me on the Tenth day of March in
that year.
The annexed drawings illustrate my invention.
Figure 1 represents a Theatre with a main vertical ventilating shaft A rising
from basement B up to within say two feet of the square of the walls, thence
from C where the air is delivered into a circular or square chamber D E
according to the nature of the Building to be so heated and ventilated, but for
the purposes of this invention I make it circular in plan, and convex or flat on
the top as may be found most convenient.
From this chamber D E the air is forced down through the ornamental
ceiling For through other openings provided in the ceiling for that purpose.
The accompanying drawings show a Theatre with only one large ascending air
duct A but where such a large amount of space in one particular part of the
Building is an objection, the air chamber D E may be fed by two, three, four or
even more ascending ducts of smaller size by providing horizontal main air ducts
from the heating chamber in or below the basement B to the smaller ascending
ducts to the air chamber.
The air may be supplied by suitable fans G or silent blowers (but preferably by
blowers) by means of an intake shaft H from the outside.
The heating medium may be high or low pressure steam or hot water passed
through suitable radiators or pipes I or through one or two large heating batteries,
built up of three-inch or other suitable size cast iron pipes provided with a series
of gills say two inches deep and about two inches apart, the whole length of
the pipes to present a large amount of heating surface in a compact form as shown
at J Figure 1.
The power for driving the blower blowers or fans G may be steam gas oil or
electricity, as at K as may be found most convenient.
The outlets for foul air may be by opening and closing gratings L L better
known as hit and miss gratings, at points in the Pit Stage Circles and Galleries
at or near the floor line thence by ascending flues M M in the walls as indicated
in dotted lines in Figure 1 up to that part of the roof N coming above the air
chamber D E or to that part of the roof surrounding my air chamber, where
such air chamber occupies the centre of the roof or ceiling only.
I prefer in all cases that the various doors should form the outlets, such doors
being hung to swing to the outside only and so balanced that they will open with
the pressure passed into the building by the fans or blowers. By this means
draughts both on the stage and at the entrances are largely minimized if not
altogether prevented.
Figures 2 and 3 represent a heating and ventilating, or a cooling and ventil-
ating installation such as I should use in conjunction with my air chamber.
The air is drawn in at the intake H through first battery I and thence my
Patent Washing Screen P by fan or blower G thence between the pipes of the
heating battery Q or up the cold duct at will, by simply operating the valve or
door R.
The ice tank S may be used in summer for cooling the water supplied to the
Washing Screen P, the motive power in this example being electricity.
The following advantages are derived from my invention:
The Building is perfectly ventilated without draughts, the air being delivered
into the Building at a considerable altitude and through such an extensive area
of inlets in the ceiling that the air is held in compression and that when a door
is opened warm foul air is pressed outwards instead as under the old system, a
rush of cold air coming in.

page_text: Another advantage in connection with my invention is that acoustic sound is
much improved, the downward pressure of the introduced fresh air tending to
keep the sound waves lower down than would otherwise be the case, and at the
same time carrying it into the most remote parts of the Pit and Galleries by
reason of the exits being made the medium of outlet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The ventilation of Buildings such as before referred to, by conveying or
forcing temperated air into a reserve chamber situated above the ceiling and
allowing such air to pass into the body of the Building in a downward direction
for distribution, and to finally flow through many air bricks or gratings arranged
near the floor into uptakes for escape through or from or above the level of the
roof, as set forth and substantially as shown in the annexed drawings.
2. In the ventilation of Buildings such as before referred to, forming an air
reserve chamber of large capacity immediately above the ceiling from which air
supplied from low level conduits is deprived of pressure and allowed to flow
downwardly for gradual and general distribution into the body of the Building,
and from thence into low level outlets to pass by uptakes terminating above the
level of said reserve air chamber, as described.
Dated this 26th August 1897.
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for J. Stott.