An Improved Contrivance for Ventilating and Preventing the Entrance of Draughts into the Windows, Doors, and other Openings in Vehicles and Ships.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 9th May, 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Contrivance for Ventilating and Preventing the
Entrance of Draughts into the Windows, Doors, and other
Openings in Vehicles and Ships.
I JOHN ALVES of No. 17 Market Buildings Melbourne in the Colony of
Victoria Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has been devised for the purpose of preventing the entrance of
draughts into the windows and doors and other openings in vehicles and ships and
also for efficiently ventilating them without inconvenience to the occupants.
It consists in securing a projecting strip or bead of wood or other material down
each side of the windows, port holes, or other openings in the vehicle or ship from
top to bottom thereof so as to cause the currents of air induced by the movement
of the vehicle or ship to be diverted outwards instead of inwards.
This produces a vacuum at the opposite side of said strip or bead which induces
a current of air from the inside to the outside of the vehicle or ship and thereby
withdraws the impure air from the interior of such vehicle or ship without creating
draughts, the fresh air being supplied through the usual ventilators.
These projecting strips or beads may be of any preferred section and width
which may be found to answer the purpose. In practice I find that if made about
two inches deep they answer very well for use on trains travelling at about the
rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour. For slower vehicles such as tramcars
carriages, and closed cabs, they act better if a little deeper, whilst for faster ones
such as express trains they need not be so deep.
In any case they are preferably made somewhat in the form of an acute angled
isosceles triangle in cross section with the sides slightly coucave.
Dated this Sixth day of July One thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.
An Improved Contrivance for Ventilating and Preventing the
Entrance of Draughts into the Windows, Doors, and other
Openings in Vehicles and Ships.
I, JOHN ALVES, of No. 17 Market Buildings, Melbourne in the Colony of
Victoria, Gentleman, 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 :--
This invention has been devised for the purpose of preventing the entrance of
draughts into the windows, doors and other openings in vehicles and ships, and
also for efficiently ventilating them, without inconvenience to the occupants.
It consists in securing a projecting strip or bead of wood, sheet iron, or other
material down each of the outer sides of the windows, port holes or openings in
the vehicles or ships from top to bottom thereof, and in so arranging it that the
current of air caused by the movement of the vehicle or ship will be diverted
outwards instead of inwards, and will set up a vacuum on the opposite side of said
strip or bead so as to induce a current of air to pass from the inside to the outside
Price &?

page_text: of the vehicle or ship, thereby withdrawing the impure air from the interior of
said vehicle or ship without creating draughts, the fresh air being supplied through
the usual ventilators or other openings.
When required for use on railway carriages or other vehicles that are run in
either direction, these projecting beads or strips are by preference hinged to the
vehicle alongside each of the windows, port holes or openings, in such a manner as
that they will be free to automatically adjust themselves according to the direction
of travel of the vehicle, the angle at which said strip or bead lies relatively to the
body of the vehicle being arranged to suit the rate of such travel. For instance,
on slow vehicles, such as tram cars, or suburban carriages or cabs, they are best
Bet at an angle of about forty degrees, whilst on express trains and similar vehicles
travelling at about fifty or sixty miles an hour, they may be set so as to lie closer
to the body of such vehicle, that is, at about an angle of thirty-five degrees.
If preferred, a spiral or other spring may be attached to this strip or bead in
such a manner as to always tend to hold it at right angles or approximately so to
the vehicle, especially in cases where the invention is required to be fitted along-
side a door, in which case the spring holds the contrivance out of the path of the
door, and thus allows the latter to be closed without damaging the contrivance.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Figure is a diagrammatic side elevation of part of a railway carriage,
illustrating the application thereto of my invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the lower part of my invention drawn to about
full size, in order to better illustrate its construction.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3, Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the action of the invention, and
indicating the different angles at which the projecting bead or strip can be placed,
whilst
Figure 5 is a side elevation of the upper part of the contrivance, illustrating the
application thereto of a spiral spring for the purpose of retaining it in its projected
position, when the train is at rest and the doors are likely to be opened or closed.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures.
A represents the strip or bead which is, according to my invention, hinged to the
outside of the vehicle or ship, alongside each of the windows, port holes or other
openings therein, as illustrated in Figure 1. Said strip is free to turn upon its
hinges within certain limits, as indicated by the full and dotted lines in Figure 3,
the object being to enable it to automatically adjust itself according to the direction
of travel of the vehicle.
The hinge or hinges for connecting this strip or bead to the vehicle may be
arranged in many different ways. I prefer, however, to provide a long flat strip B
with forwardly projecting lugs at each end, and to pass a rod 6 through said lugs
and through a loop a formed for the purpose on the inner edge of the bead or
strip A, the ends of said rod being rivetted over, as shown, to maintain it in place.
Lugs Care provided on each side of the strip or bead A at both top and bottom
thereof in order to determine the angle at which it will lie relatively to the vehicle
whilst travelling, as indicated in Figures 3 and 4.
If intended to be used on quick moving vehicles, such as express trains, these lugs
may be made of such a width as to retain the strip or bead in about the position
indicated in full lines in Figure 4, but if intended for slower vehicles, such as
ordinary suburban trains, the lugs could be made wider in order to hold the bead
or strip A in the position indicated by dotted lines in said figure, that is, so that it
projects at a greater angle from the vehicle. These angles would be varied to suit
different requirements, as will be well understood.
One or more additional guides &* for the rod b¹ may be secured to the strip B
about the centre of its height, as indicated at Figure 1, instead of relying entirely
upon the lugs b at top and bottom thereof.
The lugs C are preferably made by bending over the corners of the strip of

page_text: material which forms the loop a, and which is secured to the strip or bead A by
rivets, as shown.
.
The
The operation of the invention will be readily understood on reference to Figure 4,
where the current of air outside the vehicle is indicated by long thin arrows.
effect of such a current striking against the inclined surface of the bead or strip A
would be to deflect it outwards, and the effect of such deflection would be to cause
a vacuum at the back of said strip, the consequence being that the air inside the
vehicle would be drawn out of it, as indicated by the short arrow in Figure 4, and
thus the efficient ventilation of such vehicle would be accomplished.
D, in Figure 5 represents a spiral spring which is coiled around the upper end of
the hinge bar b¹ and is secured at one end to the uppermost lug b and at its other
end to the bead or strip A, said spring being so arranged that its tendency is to
always keep said bead or strip at or about right angles to the travel of the ship or
vehicle, thus enabling the door to be opened or closed when the carriage is at rest.
without interfering with said bead or strip, and at the same time preventing the
strip or bead A from swinging to and fro before coming to a standstill.
It will be obvious that this spring D might be arranged in many different ways,.
but I prefer the arrangement shown because of its neatness and simplicity but if
desired a spring might be attached to each side of the strip or bead and be adjusted.
to obtain the result desired.
In either case, this spring might be enclosed in a metal tube or casing to protect
it against injury.
When used on vessels or vehicles which are always run in the one direction, the
strips or beads above described may be secured to the sides instead of being hinged
thereto, as is preferable with vehicles which sometimes run in one direction and
sometimes in the other.
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 I
claim is :-
First. The herein described contrivance for ventilating and preventing the
entrance of draughts into the windows and doors of vehicles and ships consisting
essentially of a strip or bead secured to the outside of said vehicles and ships, down
each side of the windows, port holes or openings therein, so that it projects at a
more or less acute angle therefrom, substantially as and for the purposes herein:
described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Second. In a contrivance for ventila ing, and preventing the entrance of draughts.
into the windows and doors of vehicles, a strip or bead of sheet metal or other
material, hinged to the outside of the vehicle down each side of such window or
door, so that it will automatically adjust itself according to the direction of travel
of the vehicle, substantially as and for the purpose herein described and explained.
and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Third. In a contrivance for ventilating, and preventing the entrance of draughts
into the windows and doors of, vehicles, the combination of a strip or bead (such
as A) hinged to the outside of said vehicle or ship, down each side of the window,
port hole or other opening therein; with a spring (such as D) whose tendency is to
always maintain said strip or bead in its projected position, that is, at right angles
to the travel of the vehicle, substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
and explained and as illustrated in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Third day of April One thousand eight hundred and ninety-four.