Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying the Air in Mills, Weaving Sheds, and other Buildings.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Apr., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 17th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd, Feb., '1889
Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying the Air in Mills,
Weaving Sheds, and other Buildings.
I JAMES HOYLE of Albert Villa Chorley New Road Bolton in the County of
Lancaster Manager do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:
My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for humidifying the air in mills
weaving sheds and other buildings and the principal object of my improvements is to
enable the amount of moisture in the air required by the nature of the work being.
carried on in the building to be uniformly distributed and easily regulated and
maintained at the degree desired.
-
.'
I am aware that various appliances have already been designed to accomplish the
above object but all or nearly all of these have proved unsuccessful the chief cause of
failure having been the unequal distribution of the moisture as the air in one part of
the room would be heavily saturated and in another comparatively dry; also it has
hitherto been difficult if not impossible to get sufficient moisture without unduly
increasing the heat of the room.
In carrying my Invention into effect I employ throughout the room or building a
system of open troughs or cisterns coupled together preferably wide shallow and
V shaped in section these troughs can be conveniently carried by the pillars which
support the ceiling and they are connected by a pipe or equivalent to a small movable
tank or cistern which is arranged to be raised and lowered by adjusting screws or
equivalents. The cistern is supplied with water through a pipe controlled by a ball
valve or other suitable form of automatic valve which is arranged to shut off the supply
as soon as the troughs have been filled to the desired level which is regulated by the
height at which the movable tank or cistern is set. The cistern is also provided with
an overflow through which the surplus water from the troughs is run off when the
cistern is lowered.
:

page_text: As water evaporates from the troughs the level of the water in the cistern falls
thereby opening the ball valve and replenishing the troughs to compensate for such
evaporation the valve acting automatically to maintain a constant depth of water in
the troughs.
Any
When it is desired to partially empty the troughs in order to reduce the area of
surface water and so to reduce the amount of evaporation the cistern is lowered so as
to bring the mouth of the overflow below the level of the water in the troughs
whereby a certain quantity of water is run off and the depth reduced.
desired level of water may be maintained in the troughs by simply raising or
lowering the cistern as required. I have an arrangement of pipes and cocks whereby
the troughs can when necessary be rapidly filled or emptied independently of the
movable cistern.
To increase the humidifying power of the apparatus I may either supply the
troughs with hot water or I may furnish them with means such as steam or hot
water pipes for heating the water they contain as much or as little as may be
desired.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Humidifying the Air in Mills,
Weaving Sheds, and other Buildings.
I JAMES HOYLE of Albert Villa Chorley New Road Bolton in the County of
Lancaster Manager 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for humidifying the air in mills
weaving sheds and other buildings and the principal object of my improvements is to
enable the amount of moisture in the air required by the nature of the work being
carried on in the building to be uniformly distributed and easily regulated and
maintained at the degree desired.
I am aware that various appliances have already been designed to accomplish the
above object but all or nearly all of these have proved unsuccessful the chief cause of
failure having been the unequal distribution of the moisture as the air in one part of
the room would be heavily saturated and in another comparatively dry; also it has
hitherto been difficult if not impossible to get sufficient moisture without unduly
increasing the heat of the room.
In carrying my Invention into effect I employ throughout the room or building a
system of open troughs or cisterns coupled together, preferably wide shallow and
V shaped in section these troughs can be conveniently carried by the pillars which
support the ceiling and they are connected by a pipe or equivalent to a small movable
tank or cistern which is arranged to be raised and lowered by adjusting screws or
equivalents.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect I will describe the accomyanying Drawing which illustrates my improvements
in apparatus for humidifying the air in mills weaving sheds and other buildings.
rod
a represents a portion of one of the shallow V shaped troughs all of which are
connected together so as to maintain the water at one level; any suitable number and
arrangement of troughs can be employed and a convenient means of supporting the
troughs is by brackets c fixed on the pillars 6 of the room. A pipe d connects the.
troughs a to a small movable tank or cistern e which is held in position by a framingf
secured to the wall; this cistern is arranged to be raised and lowered by a screwed
g the thread of which passes through a fixed nut gl. The water pipes in connection
with the cistern are all arranged to allow for the movement of the cistern which is
supplied with water through a pipe h fitted with a stop cock i from the main supply
pipe j; the level of the water in the cistern is controlled automatically by a ball
valve which shuts off the supply as soon as the troughs have been filled to the desired
level which is regulated by the height at which the cistern is set. An overflow pipe
is secured to the cistern for the purpose of carrying off the water from the cistern
and so preventing the troughs overflowing in case of accident to the ball valve
and also to drain off the surplus water from the troughs when the cistern is
lowered.

page_text: As water evaporates from the troughs the level of the water in the cisterne falls
thereby opening the ball valve k and replenishing the troughs to compensate for such
evaporation the valve acting automatically to maintain a constant depth of water in the
troughs.
When it is desired to partially empty the troughs in order to reduce the area of water
surface in them and so to reduce the amount of evaporation the cistern is lowered by
turning the handle on the rod g so as to bring the mouth of the overflow pipe below
the level of the water in the troughs whereby a certain quantity of water is run off and
the area for evaporation reduced.
In order to fill the troughs rapidly an extra pipe m controlled by a tap m¹ connects
the feed pipe direct to the pipe d and further for rapidly emptying the troughs a
pipe n controlled by a tap n' is connected to the pipe d so that by means of these
pipes mm the troughs can when necessary be rapidly filled or emptied independently
of the cistern.
In order to increase the humidifying power of the apparatus where cold water is
supplied to the troughs I propose to employ circulating steam or hot water pipes o
which pass along all or some of the troughs the quantity of steam or hot water being
governed by a suitable tap or valve p preferably arranged so as to be capable of very
fine adjustinent or variation in its setting.
It will be readily understood that the movable cistern e might be dispensed with and
the system of V shaped troughs or cisterns filled directly from the pipe m. The water
in the troughs could be lowered to any desired level so as to diminish the surface area
by simply opening the tap n' or an equivalent and allowing a certain quantity to
escape.
A waste or overflow pipe would be employed to prevent the water over-
flowing when the troughs were full and the maximum surface area had been
obtained.
I prefer in all cases however to employ an adjustable cistern or reservoir with a ball
valve or equivalent therein as thereby the surface area of the water in all the troughs
will be automatically maintained.
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
1 claim is
1. The combination with a series of open troughs or cisterns connected together
and placed about a room or building, of a movable cistern or reservoir for supplying
to and maintaining any desired level of water in said troughs or cisterns substantially
as and for the purposes herein set forth.
2. The use and application of open V shaped troughs or cisterns combined with
means for filling and emptying the same either automatically or by hand for the purpose
of humidifying the atmosphere in buildings or rooms.
3. The combined arrangement of parts constituting my improved apparatus for
humidifying the atmosphere in rooms or buildings substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 16th day of January 1888.
H. B. BARLOW,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,
Agent for Applicant.