Hygroscopic Regulator for Humidifiers.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 20th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 21st June, 1895
Hygroscopic Regulator for Humidifiers.
I JOHN WALLACE of 27 Medows Street, Fort, Bombay, India, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
―
My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for controlling the amount
of moisture employed for damping or for cooling the air in factories or other
buildings.
This moisture is generally furnished by apparatus known as humidifiers which
have hitherto been regulated by hand.
As it is already well known that the amount of moisture existing in the
atmosphere is a variable quantity which cannot be controlled, it has been found
necessary for the manufacture of textile goods and for other purposes to increase
the natural amount by artificial means.
Fibrous material used in textile manufacture becomes hard and brittle or pliant
according to the amount of moisture it contains and which it absorbs from the
atmosphere.
As this moisture in the atmosphere varies in quantity not only at various seasons
but at various hours in the same day, the object of this invention is to vary the
supply of additional moisture in order to keep the dampness of the air as uniform
as possible.
The effect of moisture upon vegetable fibres is to increase their thickness
and when in the form of a closely woven fabric or hard twisted cord an alteration
of the length of the fabric or cord takes place.
The influence of moisture upon animal fibres such as wool and hair is to alter
their length, so that both animal and vegetable fibres when woven or twisted are
subject under the influence of moisture to a movement of contraction or elongation
possessing sufficient power to allow them to be used for regulating the supply of
water or water vapour coming from a humidifier. Thus the atmosphere of any
chamber may be moistened to any required degree.
This invention consists of a fabric of cord or of woven cloth suspended in the air
that has to be treated. having a length sufficient to give the amount of movement
necessary to operate the valves or supply mechanism.
By connecting the valves with this regulator so that the supply of water or
vapour shall be cut off or opened when the regulator has shrunk or extended
beyond any fixed length the air is prevented from becoming too dry or too damp
for the required purpose.
For the manufacture of cotton 1 prefer to use a regulator made of closely
woven cotton cloths which possesses a large absorbing or evaporating surface in
proportion to the weight of material it contains. This piece of cloth is suspended
by the edge in the atmosphere to be regulated, it is fixed at one end and kept in
tension by a weight or spring at the other end. The upper edge is supported by
small rollers running on a horizontal bar so that the alteration of length may take
place freely. The loose end is connected with the valve or valves controlling the
supply of moisture or vapour.

page_text: The valves may be of any number according to the amount of moisture required,
and they are arranged to be operated in snecession for the better control of the
supply of moisture.
Dated this 20th day of June 1894.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70, Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.
I JOHN WALLACE of 27 Medows Street, Fort, Bombay, Indin, Civil Engineer,
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 said invention relates to improvements in apparatus for communicating
moisture to the air of factories or other buildings at a rate which may be
automatically controlled.
In the humidifiers hitherto used the amount of moisture has been regulated by
hand.
As is well known the natural humidity of the atmosphere varies and in the
manufacture of textile goods it is tound necessary to augment the natural humidity
by artificial means because the fibrous materials used in such manufacture become
hard and brittle supple and pliant according to the amount of moisture they absorb
from the atmosphere. The antural humidity of the atmosphere varies not only at
various seasons but at different hours of the same day and the object of my said
invention is to utilise such natural variations for the purpose of automatically
augmenting or diminishing the artificial supply of moisture to the air in order to
keep the dampness of the air as uniform as possible.
The effect of the humidity of the air upon vegetable or animal fibres and other
substances such as skin or leather hair parchment and paper is to produce move-
ments of contraction or clongation according to the particular kind or the particular
form of the material used. utilise sneh effect for controlling the admission of
water to the air. To this end I suspend in the room to be controlled a fabric of
suitable hygroscopic material of sufficient area to furnish by its movement the
power necessary for operating the valves which admit the water and so connect the
said fabric with suitable water valves that the supply of water or water vapour
shall be increased diminished or cut ofl according as the hygroscopic fabric expands
or contracts and thereby prevent the air in the room from becoming too dry or too
damp for the intended purpose. In some cases I increase the action of the material
forming the hygroscopic regulator by incorporating therewith or saturating or
impregnating it with absorbent or deliquescent salts or the like hygroscopic
materials.
In order that my said invention may be more clearly understood i will describe
the same with reference to the accompanying drawings.
For controlling the humidity of the air in a room devoted to the manufacture of
cotton prefer to use a hygroscopic regulator consisting of a band of closely woven
cloth which presents a large surface in proportion to the weight of the material it
contains. wish it however to be understood that my said invention is not restricted
to the use of a cotton band but I may employ band, ropes, or webs or sheets of any
suitable hygroscopic material.
Such a band is shown at a in Fig. 1. It is suspended by cords d d from the roof
or it may be suspended from rollers running on a horizontal bar or rail so that the
The
alteration in length may take place treely. One end of the band is fixed.
band is kept in tension by means of a cord e connected to the ende and passing

page_text: made of fine heald yarn closely woven will give a sufficient pull to operate the
valves in the manner as hereinafter described.
Figs. 234 and 5 show the water controlling device
water.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section.
Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the upper part of Fig. 3.
Fig 5 is a plan.
use with low pressure
Figs. 2 and 2 are respectively outside and sectional elevations to a larger scale of
one of the jets and nozzles.
is a bar sliding in a bracket h and connected with the cord e (of Fig. 1) in such
a manner as to slide to and fro as the band a (Fig. 1) expands and contracts and
thus to turn the plug of the water cock which regulates the outflow of water from
the pipe into a water trough / in which the jet nozzles mare situate, each jet is
screwed into the air pipe into which a supply of compressed air is forced by a
blower fan or pump.
Each jet nozzle has an adjusting cap screwed thereon perforated concen-
trically. The cap a bas lateral perforations a' for the admission of water. The
orifice of the jet is formed as the junction of two cones so as to give the escaping
air as much lateral spread as possible. When the water in the trough stands
above the level of the orifice a' and the cap n is slightly raised the escaping jet of.
air produces a partial vacuum under the cap whereby water rises through the cap
and is broken into a fiue spray or mist by the action of the compressed air jet.
The jets may be arranged in one or several groups fixed with the orifices n' at
different heights in the water troughs so as to come successively into action as the
supply of water is increased.
In practice the trough is placed in a chamber of suitable size through which
the whole supply of air to be moistened is caused to pass by the ventilating fan
and whence it is conveyed to the intended room through suitable distributing
pipes.
The regulator sliding bar operated as bereinbefore set forth by a cord or wire e
is provided with a pin which enters the jaws of the lever o' loosely mounted on the
spindle of the cock j. An adjusting quadrant o rigidly secured to the spindle of
the cock enables the final adjustment of the position of the cock with relation to
the slide bar to be effected. The slide bar gives to the lever o a certain fixed
movement from zero to full supply but if the imovement of the regulator a (Fig. 1)
should exceed this range the pin will leave the jaws of the lever o' and travel
freely beyond in either direction. On returning it engages with the jaws again.
The further end of the slide bar o ie. that not connected to the regulator cord e
is attached to a weight a weighted lever or a spring to keep the connections with
the regulator a in tension.
When water of high pressure is used for spray producing the opening and closing
of the supply valves is liable to offer a variable resistance which interferes with the
steady working of the band a. In such case I employ the device shown in Figs. 67
and to enable the water supply to be controlled by the band a. Fig. 6 is a plan.
Fig. 7 an elevation partly in section and Fig. 8 a detail view.
י
is the high pressure water pipe which supplies water at high pressure to groups
of spray jets through valves. The valve forms part of a piston working in
the cylinders and having ends of differing area as shown The pipe supplies
water from the main piper through the cock s to the head of the piston which
by reason of its greater area closes the valve r¹.
A valve when slightly open allows a constant leakage of a small amount of
water to take place from the top of the cylinders. If now the cock s be gradually
closed until its supply is less than the leakage through the valve the piston
will rise and open the valve and conversely if the cock s² is opened to admit water

page_text: in excess of the leakage through the valve the piston will descend and close the
valve. For regulating the high pressure water supply I limit the work of the
band a (Fig. 1) to the opening and closing of the cocks &.Ench valve ƒª supplies
a fourth or a fifth of the total water supply needed by the spray apparatus and
they are placed sufficiently near each other to be commected by means of a sliding
rod common to all the valves.
AL
The cock is operated by means of a small crank the pin of which takes
into a groove in the piece w. The piece a slides on the rod and provides
path for the crank pin and can be fixed to the rod by the thumb screw ².
The rod is carried by brackets and is connected at by means of a conl or
wire to the band a (Fig. 1) so as to transmit the movements of the latter.
Figs 6 and 7 show the cock full open and the valve shut. If now the
increasing dryness of the air elongates the band the movement of the rod u in the
direction of the arrow will carry the piece al along with it and raising the crank pin s
in the dotted groove a will close the cock. The leakage from the valve will then
release the piston and open the valve r. A small hole at e puts the unused part
of the cylinder in communication with the atmosphere. A reverse movement
takes place on the contraction of the band by the absorption of moisture.
By a suitable adjustment of the pieces on the bar a the valves may be caused
to open in succession and thus ensure a very steady control of the humidity of the
atmosphere in any room.
Various other means other than those shown may be employed for utilising the
expansion and contraction of the regulator band a. For instance it may be caused
to make and break the current passing through one or more electro magnets
controlling a balanced water valve.
It is to be understood that the number of valves or jets or their arrangement with
regard to each other may be varied to suit the requirements of each particular case
to which my invention miny be applied.
I wish it further to be understood that I do not in this Patent claim the particular
construction or arrangement of valves herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what ||
claim is
1. The automatic control of the humidity of the air in rooms by meaus of a
hygroscopic regulator in the room controlling the supply of water to the humidifier
substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
2. As an automatic hygroscopic regulator for controlling the admission of water
to a humidifier freely suspended woven or twisted fabric capable of elongating or
contracting with the varying humidity of the air of the room in which it is placed
substantially as set forth and shown.
Dated 18th day of Marsh 1805
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70, Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicants.