IMPROVEMENTS IN SKYLIGHTS AND VENTIL ATORS FOR STEAM VESSELS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Norman, Willis Wheeler, of the City of Brooklyn, in
the County of Kings,, in the State of New York, in the United States of
America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SKYLIGHTS AND VENTIL
ATORS FOR STEAM VESSELS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER STRUCTURES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Norman Willis Wheeler at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 7th May 1867, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NORMAN
WILLIS WHEELER, of the City of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, in the
State of New York, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SKYLIGHTS AND VENTILATORS FOR STEAM VESSELS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE
TO OTHER STRUCTURES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same; and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first Inventor
thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Norman Willis Wheeler, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully. describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
•Price 20

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following state-
ment-
The first part of my Invention is intended to supersede those devices.
-heretofore used upon ships and buildings for the--purpose- of-lighting the..
cabins or rooms-from-the-deck-or-roof-which-have-usually-been-constructed-
of wood or metal and glass, and in which the ventilation has been accomplished.
or attempted by opening some part of the structure as the sash.
In the Drawings (Figure 1), a indicates a hood ventilator of well-known
construction; B, B, a metal or wooden frame; C, C, the roof thereof; and
D, D, a flange by which to bolt or otherwise secure the structure to the deck
or roof; this frame and its roof is made with numerous apertures into which
are set-by-means-of-the-frames-n, n, m, n, and rubber backing or other known
devices, as many glasses E, E, E, E, of corrugated or other form as may be
practical or necessary. The top of the frame is fitted to receive the ventilator a
to which is attached by the cross the rod g, by which the hood may be
turned in any position desired by persons below, and upon the rod g is fitted
a drip pan f; to the pan f are attached one or more pipes i. i, which fit in the
bent pipes i, i, which pipes are secured to the frame as shown in such a way
that any moderate amount of water which may enter the hood in the form of
spray or rain will be caught in the pan f; and run out upon the deck or roof
through the pipes i, j, and i, i; the pan f is fitted upon the rod g and held up
by the pin K, or by resting upon the pipes i, i, but the pin K may be withdrawn
from the position shown and placed in other holes through the rod g, so that
by carrying the pan at different heights in relation to the bottom of the
hood a, the degree of ventilation may be regulated at will.or suppressed by
raising the pan into contact with the hood; the pipes i, j, being made to slide
freely in the pipes i, i, to allow sufficient motion. The rod g may also be
fitted so as to be adjustable in the cross h, and the operation of adjusting the
pan be performed by a person standing upon-the deck or roof t, t, and-reaching
in at the mouth of the hood a, and shifting the pin 1 to different holes in the
rod g, and any ventilating skylight may thus be fitted to be manipulated from
above, or below, or both.
A useful modification in this Invention may be made by replacing the
glasses E, E, E, E, by small pyramidical glasses usually called "bull's-eyes"
and set in place with cement, but I prefer plain thick glass plates for the roof and
thick plates at the sides, with corrugations, at least upon their inner faces for
the purpose of refracting the light downwards as much as possible, and it
may be well in some cases to construct the pan f with a conoidal reflector
attached to its lower side for the purpose of reflecting the light downwards

page_text: and diffusing it through the rooms or cabins. Thus far the lighting and
ventilation of an apartment immediately below the deck or roof t, t, has been
considered. It is frequently necessary to light and ventilate apartments
situated one deck or story below the position of the ventilating skylight, and
at the same time in some cases light apartments immediately below the deck
or roof t, t. To accomplish this the trunk r is extended downwards until it
meets and passes through the deck or floor below, and for the purpose of
lighting the intermediate apartments there are inserted in the walls of the
trunk the glasses s, s, s, s. In many cases it is necessary to provide means
for the escape of air from apartments as well as for its entrance, for that
purpose one or more pipes o, o; 0, 0, 'are provided opening through the deck
or roof t, t, and each fitted with the well-known ventilating cap p, p, so that
if the hood a be turned towards the wind, and the trunk r suppressed the air
will enter through the skylight and escape through the pipes o, o, o, o. If it
be desired to light and ventilate the upper and lower between decks or
analogous rooms, the trunk and glasses s, s, s, s, are retained, and an open-
ing left in the intervening deck or floor for the passage of air, when the air will
enter the hood, traverse the trunk r to the lower between decks, rise through
the opening, and escape through the pipes o, 0, 0, o. In many cases ships
may be wholly lighted and ventilated from the upper deck without the use of
side lights, and yet the different classes of cabins kept separate, by the use of
my Invention; for instance, suppose a ship with the first cabin in the upper
between decks, and the second cabin in the lower between decks, the first
cabin being fitted with a double row of. state rooms upon each side of the saloon,
this being a difficult case for complete lighting and ventilation. In this
supposed case the saloon would be fitted with one or more ventilating skylights
as before described, with the pipes o, o, o, o, and caps p, p, suppressed, which
would deliver air into the saloon, and through proper scroll or lattice work into
the several state rooms; at the common corner of each group of four state
rooms a trunk r, surmounted by a ventilating skylight (Figures 1 and 2) would
be placed extending from the upper to the second deck; and having glasses
s, 8, 8, s, to light each room, the state room bulkheads v, v, v, v, meeting the
trunk, as shown in Figure 2, and the pipes o, o, o, o, each communicating with
a state room, thus securing the escape of air from each; and, moreover, if there
be two or more ventilating skylights communicating with the second cabin, a
part of the hoods a may be turned towards and a part from the wind, thus
securing light and active ventilation at the same time for all inhabited parts of
the ship.
By the use of this Invention the necessity for closing the lighting apertures

page_text: in the cabins of ships in heavy weather will be obviated, and even m
the frame being of sufficient strength for the purpose, it will only be necessary
to withdraw the hood a and put a cap in its stead to close the aperture, or to
put a canvass bonnet or covering over the mouth of the hood a, thus relieving
at least so much of the suffering as results from the deprivation of light when
hatches are battened down.
A-second-part-of-my-Invention-consists-in-combining-a-glass-top-or-light-
with any known ventilating hood, cowl, or top, in such a manner that the
ventilator will serve to transmit light to the room or space ventilated, and also
in a means of closing the hood or cowl when desired by swinging doors, which
also serve as air deflectors, all as herein-after described.
The construction and operation thereof is represented in the Drawings, of
which Figure 3 is a vertical section, and Figure 4 a plan of my improvement
in lighted ventilators, while Eigure_5_is_a_vertical_section, Figure_6_a_plan,
and Figure 7 a sectional plan, showing a modification or different application
of my Invention, like letters indicating, corresponding parts in the several
Figures.
In the Drawings; Figures 3 and 4, a is a flanged shaft which may be
secured permanently to the deck or roof over an aperture through the same,
and B the hood fitted to turn around upon the shaft a, and guarded against
leakage of falling water by the ring and cape 1, 1. At the top of the hood B
is fitted a frame d, d, within and to which is fitted one or more panes of
glass c which should be strong enough to resist any blows or shocks it will be
likely to receive, and the frame should also be scuppered, as seen at i,ii,i, so
At the upper
that any water falling upon the glass c will readily run off.
part of the hood B is fitted a visor dh projecting over the opening in the hood
to prevent in a great degree the falling of water into the opening and so down
the shaft, and to afford means of securing the deflecting doors E, E, in the
proper positions. The deflecting doors E, E, are hinged to the hood at m, m,
in such a way that they may be swung in to close the aperture in the hood
-and prevent the entrance of water completely, and also arrest the ventilation,
which it would be necessary to do in cold and rainy weather, or thrown more
or less open and held in position by pins inserted in holes as at i, i. At is
seen a cross bar secured to the hood B, to which cross bar is attached the
rod g by which the hood may be turned in any direction from below. At o is
seen a section of a truncated cone secured to the shaft a so formed as to catcl
what water may have come in and trickled down the side of the hood and ru
it out through small holes at k, k.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent a ventilator of ordinary construction, bu

page_text: itted with a glass top c to render it a lighting ventilator, the openings p, p,
being covered against rain and spray by the shields R, R, the draft being in
his case always outward.
Having described my Invention, I will indicate that which I consider new,
and for which I desire to secure Letters Patent, viz. —
First, claim the combination of the ventilator a, frame B, and glasses
E, E, E, E, or their equivalents, substantially as set forth.
Also the combination of the hood a, pan . pipes i, i, and i, i, and frame
B, B, or their equivalents, substantially as set forth.
Also the combination of the trunk r, glasses s, s, s, s, with the above,
substantially as set forth.
Also the combination of the pipes o, o, o, o, and lighted frames B, B, B, B,
substantially as set forth.
Second, I claim the combination of the glass top c with the hood B, or their
equivalents, substantially as described.
I also claim the hinged deflecting doors E, E, in combination with the
ood B, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Third day
NORMAN WILLIS WHEELER. (L.S.)
In presence of
THOMAS D. STETSON,
Solicitor of Patents,
5, Tryon Row, New York.