IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING PUNKAS AND APPARATUS FOR AGITATING AIR PROVISIONAL SPECIFIC
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cook, Lieut. R. N., Professor of Fortifica-
tions, of Addiscombe, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING PUNKAS AND APPARATUS FOR AGITATING AIR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Cook at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th February 1855.
I, THOMAS COOK, Lieut' R. N., Professor of Fortifications, of Addiscombe,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING PUNKAS AND APPARATUS FOR AGITATING AIR IN
CHURCHES, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
There is already made in India and other warm climates a machine called
punka, (a kind of fan on a large scale,) the object of which is to agitate the
air in churches, hospitals, and other rooms. The one most generally in use
consists of an oblong frame, covered with cotton or light canvas, with a fringe

page_text: below, which, being suspended by cords, is swung backwards and forwards by
manual labour. In some cases, in wards of hospitals or barracks, several of
these frames are connected together by ropes, and are pulled by a man
or men at each end of a row. By my improvements in working punkas,
advantages will be gained, and some of the evils connected with the present
system will be avoided. Thus, for example, supposing a case of common
occurrence, in which there are four rows of beds, that is, a room with two
rows, and a verandah on either side, each containing one row, I suspend a
punka on pivots between cach pair of beds through the length of the room
by a rigid rod. All the punkas in each row I connect together by a
horizontal rod, which passes through mortices in the vertical rods by which
the punkas are suspended, in such a manner that any one punka may be
detached from the others at pleasure without affecting their motion. These
connecting rods are attached to horizontal bars at each end of the room,
which are themselves attached by ropes to a double drum head or wheel,
which is worked by a lever in such a way, that when the lever moves the bars
are set in motion, and, as a consequence, all the four rows of punkas, and, by a
counterpoise weight at the other end of the lever, they are all brought back to
their original positions.
In some cases I employ revolving fans to put the air in motion; in which
cases, supposing an apparatus be used over a bed or otherwise, at a con-
venient height above I place a fan or fans, fixed to a revolving axle, which is
set in motion by wheels and pinions arranged to turn a barrel, upon which a
cord or wire rope is wound, and the barrel is set in motion by a weight or
spring, or by manual power, as above explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Cook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
Cook, Lieut R.N., Professor of Fortifications, of Addiscombe, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Cook, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WORKING PUNKAS AND APPARATUS FOR AGITATING AIR IN CHURCHES,
HOSPITALS, AND OTHER BUILDINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Cook, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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, tho said Thomas Cook, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
There is already made in India and other warm climates a machine called
a punka, (a kind of fan on a large scale,) the object of which is to agitate the
air in churches, hospitals, and other rooms. The one most generally in use
consists of an oblong frame, covered with cotton or light canvas, with a fringe
below, which, being suspended by cords, is swung backwards and forwards by
manual labour. In some cases, in wards of bospitals or barracks several of
these frames are connected together by ropes, and are pulled by a man or men
at each end of a row. By my improvements in working punkas, advantages
will be gained, and some of the evils connected with the present system will be
avoided. Thus, for example, supposing a case of common occurrence, in
which there are four rows of beds, that is, a room with two rows and a
verandah on either side, cach containing one row, I suspend a punka on pivots
between each pair of beds through the length of the room by a rigid rod. All
the punkas in each row I connect together by a horizontal rod, which passes
through mortises in the vertical rods by which the punkas are suspended, in
such a manner that any one punka may be detached from the others at
pleasure without affecting their motion. These connecting rods are attached
to horizontal bars at each end of the room, which are themselves attached by
ropes to a double drum head or wheel, which is worked by a lever in such a

page_text: way, that when the lever moves the bars are set in motion, and, as a con-
sequence, all the four rows of punkas, and, by a counterpoise weight at
the other end of the lever, they are all brought back to their original
positions.
In some cases I employ revolving fans to put the air in motion; in which
cases, supposing an apparatus be used over a bed or otherwise, at a convenient
licight above I place a fan or fans, fixed to a revolving axle, which is set in
motion by wheels and pinions arranged to turn a barrel, upon which a cord or
wire rope is wound, and the barrel is set in motion by a weight or spring, or
by manual power, as above explained.
Explanation of Plate 1, which is intended to illustrate the method of using
the punka in an hospital or other similar buildings, modified of course according
to the particular object in view.
Figure 1 gives a perspective view of a part of the inside of an Indian hospital,
sufficient to show the arrangement of the four rows of punkas, two rows being
within the main longitudinal walls, and two without, in the verandahs, supposed
to form a part of the hospital. The beds are usually about eighteen inches
apart when placed in pairs, but a wider space, in which is a door or arch com-
municating with the verandah, is between each pair of beds. As a punka is
supposed to fan two beds, it is suspended above the space between them.
This transverse section (Figure 1) is taken just within the near wall or gable
end of the building. The punkas (as shown at a, a, a, a,) are suspended to
circular loops b, b, b, b, having ears, into which they are lodged, shown more
distinctly on an enlarged scale in Figures 5 and 6. They are connected
together by horizontal rods c, c, c, c, which pass through mortises in the vertical
staves or punka rods at d, d, d, d, the notches resting on the pins when in
action, as in Figure 6, or when disengaged suspended above the pins, as in
Figure 5, by a cord, which passing over the pulley e, e, leads to the head
of the bed within the reach of the patient, where it may be hooked up by
ring to a stud until it is wanted to set the particular punka in motion again.
The connecting rods c, c, c, c, are tightly attached to horizontal transverse bars
ffff, which work on centres 9, 9, 9, at each end of the buildings, so that
when the bars move, both rows of punkas attached to them must move also,
but in opposite directions. These horizontal bars are set in motion by the
lever h, h, h, h, see Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the machine i, i, i, i. The near
wheel k, k, k, k, has a cord or rope wound round it, 1, 1, 1, 1, which leads to the
two furthest ends of the horizontal bars, while the off or furthest wheel
m, m, m, m, has a rope wound round it, n, n, m, n, which is attached to the
a

page_text: inner ends of the same bars. These ropes on their way pass through
sheaves 0, 0, 0, 0, shown only on the left-hand side of Figure 4, in the heads
of bolts from the wall. The machine i, i, i, i, is fixed to two transverse
beams p, p, Figure 3, sufficiently far asunder to allow the lever h, h, to pass
between them; and another light beam 7, 9, 9, 9, shewn in Figures 1, 6, and 7,
is placed at each end of the room or building across it, with its upper surface
just below the horizontal plane of the connecting rods c, c, c, c, having cleats
r, r, screwed or bolted to receive the fulcrums g. 9, of the transverse bars
ffff, which should move clear of the beams in question. The parts 8, s,
tinted pink, represent the near gable wall of the building, which is not shown
in Figure 1. Figure 7 gives a view of one of the transverse bars. On the left
of the same Figure a bird's-eye view of the upper edge of a suspended punka,
the horizontal plane or section passing just above the circular hoop or plate b
and under the beam, while the plane on the right hand of the Figure is sup-
posed to cut the vertical punka rod just above the pin in the mortise d. The
cords t, t, t, t, have a ring at each end, one being on cach side of the mortise
and one above the beam, through which the bight of the cord runs freely. To
this latter ring a cord is attached, which, passing over a pulley on a standard,
leads to the head of the beds, between which the punka is suspended.
The cord terminates in a ring, which the patient in either bed may pull at
any time when he wants the action of the punka to cease, the effect produced
by the pull being to disengage the notch from the pin (as seen in Figure 5),
but the instant the cord is slacked the notch catches the pin, and the punka in
question joins the rest in their forward motion. At the extremity of the lever
which puts the system in motion, a line u is attached, having a handle or ring
at its lower end. A line (v, shown as a dotted line,) is also attached one-third
out from the centre of motion. The lower end of this line is so fastened to a
treadle as to be quite tight when the lever and treadle are both in a horizontal
position. The machine may thus be worked by hand or by the treadle, the
Jatter being fixed to a small platform on which the man stands, in which is an
oblong hole through which the treadle passes freely when at work. By
changing the method of working the machine, the man will find relief in his
monotonous labour.
It is evident that the principle of this machine will admit of many modifica-
tions; even the motive power may be of various kinds. In very large buildings,
whether hospitals, barracks, or churches, the best of all motive power would
be steam. The piston of a small steam cylinder would act admirably in setting
such a machine in motion. The conuection might be extended to almost any

page_text: number of adjacent buildings by simple directing cranks. The shape and
texture of the punkas may be of different kinds. The texture of the one above
described is of cotton, with a deep fringe. One of a revolving character (similar
to that appropriated to single bells, hereafter to be described,) might be made to
act with great advantage by so connecting the spindles as to make them all
move by the same power, which might be that of steam, of a horse, of an ox,
or of a man; as one man with a lever machine like that described above will
do the work of eight by the system at present in use in India, and in a far
better and more satisfactory manner
the revolving principle. The bedstead is supposed to be standing by the side
of a wall, behind which is a machine (Figure 2, see vignette below,) for setting
the fans a in motion; Figure 3 is a front view of the same machine. It is
acted upon by a weight b, supposed to be suspended to a pulley of four, six, or
eight cords outside the house (or anywhere with a sufficient fall to obtain the
requisite duration of action), which turns the barrel c, affixed to which is the
wheel d, that acts upon the pinion e, and thus turns the wheel f, which causes
the second pinion g to revolve, and with it its axis, which, being keyed to the
spindle h of the fans a just within the wall, produces the required revolution of
the latter with a velocity proportionate to the weight b. Should it be preferred,
the frame being somewhat modified for the purpose, the machine, Figure 2,
instead of being fixed outside the wall may be reversed, and attached by small
bolts and nuts to a plate or frame on one side of the curved part of the
bedstead, the axis of the pinion g and the spindle h being in the same straight
line, by which arrangement the bed may stand in the middle of the room. The
cord from the barrel in this case must lead to a pulley fixed above the machine
to the ceiling of the room, from whence it would be taken in the most con-
venient manner to the direction of the weight or moving power. It may be
requisite, should this plan be followed, to secure the bedstead to the floor of the
In winding up the barrel the pall i should be placed as in the Figure,
and the nut must be unscrewed sufficiently far to allow the pinion g to clear
the wheel f, when the axis c and with it the fans is pushed forwards for the
purpose, by which means the fans are thrown out of gear during the process;
when finished, the pinion is to be brought back again, and the nut & screwed
up as before. When the machine is to be set in motion the pall i must be
reversed. A cord at the head of the bed (with a ring attached at its lower end

page_text: to hook to a stud) leading to a friction strap will enable the occupant of the
bed to stop the fans or set them in motion at pleasure. The bed should be
furnished with musquito curtains.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Cook, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
THOS COOK. (L.S.)