NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY VENTILATING FOR REGULATING THE THE INTERIORS OF BUILDINGS OR APARTMENTS, AND TEMPERATURE OF THE SAME, WHICH APPARATUS ES ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Ower at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 11th November 1879.
CHARLES OWER, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, Civil
Engineer. "NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY VENTILATING
FOR REGULATING THE
THE INTERIORS OF BUILDINGS OR APARTMENTS, AND
TEMPERATURE OF THE SAME, WHICH APPARATUS ES ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER
LIKE PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to a new or improved construction of ventilating appa-
ratus, designed for automatically regulating the admission of fresh or cold air to the
roons or apartinents of dwelling houses, factories, and other buildings, and the outlet
of heated and impure air therefrom at the same time, which is arranged so that the
inlet and outlet apertures shall be opened and closed to an extent depending on, or
varying with, the temperature of the room to which the apparatus is applied; and so
that the amount of air allowed to pass through either aperture will be correspondingly
varied, and will not, as heretofore, unduly heat or cool an apartment, or give rise to
strong draughts of hot or cold air.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consists as follows:-The improved
apparatus comprises a box made of thin sheet metal or other good conductor of
heat formed on, or fixed to, a metal or other plate, which is fixed in such a position
that the air from the apartment or space to be ventilated has access to the outer
surface of the box, and this box is divided by a vertical partition into two con-
partments, one of which is filled with air and closely covered, but communicating
with the upper part of the other by means of a pipe or tube entering at the bottom
from the first compartment, and passing up the centre of the second which is partly
filled with a liquid which does not evaporate or freeze. A cylindrical chamber or
tube, closed at its upper end, is dipped down into the liquid and surrounds the
small communicating pipe; and this tubular chamber is suspended at its upper
end to a lever swivelling on a horizontal spindle or stud fixed on the plate carrying
the close box and mechanism. The opposite end of this lever is fitted with a pair
of large valves or vanes, which, when the apparatus is not in operation, cover
apertures through which the air passes into and from the room for ventilating it.
One of these openings or apertures is formed in the metal or other plate and

page_text: admits fresh air direct from the outside, whilst the other aperture is formed in an
open box fitted on the plate, and permits the heated or impure air to pass through
it, and through a suitable passage leading out of the room. These inlet and outlet
apertures may be of any size to suit the dimensions of different apartments, and
allow of a free flow of air through them, and they are partially or entirely
uncovered simultaneously by their vanes or valves moving vertically over their
faces, when the swivelling lever by which they are actuated is raised or depressed.
The apparatus is put into operation by first filling the compartment, through
which the small tube rises, of the sheet metal box, to the desired extent with the
said non-evaporating liquid mixture, which may be composed of glycerine and
water in nearly equal parts, or other equivalent mixture might be used; the
cylindrical tube being then suspended and dipping into the mixture, an opening
through which air has been admitted to the other compartment is plugged or
hermetically sealed, and the air within that compartment on expansion by the heat
of the room flows by the communicating pipe into the inverted moving cylindrical
tube, suspended from the arm of the swivelling lever, which tube is accordingly
raised, and by its connecting rod or link also raises the end of the lever and
depresses the valves to open the inlet and outlet apertures to an extent proportional
to the amount of expansion of the air within the box or to the heat of the
apartment.
A sliding weight is fitted on the swivelling lever arm, which may be made to
balance the valves and adjust their positions over the apertures, to open or close
the passages at any degree of heat of the apartment, which may be further affected
by adding to or diminishing the quantity of liquid in the small compartiment of
the metal box; the arc or part of a circle, through which the end of the valves
swivel, may be divided and marked to represent degrees of heat, and the position
of the valve on the scale or marks at any temperature may be adjusted to
correspond with the number of degrees registered by a thermometer within the
room at the same time, so that the apparatus will also indicate the temperature
correctly. Although radial inlet and outlet air valves have been described connected
by a reverse arm lever with regulating weight, it will be evident that other forms
of these valves might be used, as well as other mechanical arrangements for con-
necting them with the automatic rising and falling or regulating tubular float, all
still in accordance with the main features and novelty of this Invention, consisting
essentially of the automatic float regulator actuated by the expansion or contraction
of the air within the regulating box for regulating the admission and emission of
air to and from the buildings or apartments to be ventilated, or in which the heat
is to be regulated.
Although in the foregoing description the improved apparatus has only been
described as applied to the ventilating of buildings and apartments where a
regulated temperature is desired, it will be understood that it is also applicable
for regulating the supply of air to other spaces or chambers, such as furnaces and
drying chambers.