IMPROVEMENT IN SPIROMETER
Year: 1885

page_text: I JOHN WILLIAM WADDINGTON of 2 Vincent Street Bradford in the County of
York, Chemist & Druggist, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENT IN SPIROMETER to be as follows:-
Improvement in Spirometer according to this invention consists principally of
two parts.
One of the parts is what I call an air-bag or bag, with plain or flat circular ends,
flexible inelastic sides without sectional foldings, and of drum shape when inflated;
large enough to hold as much air as a very tall person can voluntarily expire at
once; made of thin water-proof cloth and sheet metal; two pieces of sheet metal in
circular form with groved flanges turned at the edges forming the upper and lower
ends of the bag: the lateral piecing of the cloth being such that the borders of the
cloth at the top and bottom sides of the bag fit tightly round the flanges: then thread
wound several times round in the grooves over the cloth so as to make these joinings
air tight. The upper end I call Piston because it serves as a piston to a cylinder.
A piston-rod connected with the piston is partly spiral for to turn an index: and
otherwise formed so as to serve for a scale of a Thermometer, the bulb only being
inside the bag. A pipe which I call air-pipe 1 inch long is fixed just into the
bottom flange; ending externally obliquely to receive one end of a yard of elastic
tubing, lined spirally with wire, the other end being provided with a mouth piece.
The other part is a hollow right cylinder; large enough to contain the air-bag
without the cloth unduly touching the sides. It has a dial-plate fixed about an
inch from its top-end, and has a curved aperture partly round an index pivit which
is situated in the centre of the dial. The cylinder has also a pipe-hole near its own
bottom end, for the air-pipe of the bag to come through: And a lid at its bottom-
end and another for its top-end.
In using The Spirometer the breath of a person being breathed through the tube,
the piston-rod moves upwards from a starting point through the aperture in the
dial-plate, and thereby turns the index so as to indicate on the dial any number of
cubic inches of air between 20 & 310 which a person may breath: the piston-rod
immediately after becoming self adjusted ready for another trial.
In order to make measurements of air by this spirometer appear what they would
be at one temperature, a table of cubic inches is printed on the spirometer, showing
ru 011

page_text: how many should be added to, or deducted from any quantity of air thus measured
to make the air appear what number of cubic inches it would measure to at
the temperate degree. Also "a table taken from a work of Dr. Hutchinson's,
showing how many cubic inches of air a healthy person should breath for his
stature. And how many in early and advanced stages of consumption, with some
observations."
I JOHN WILLIAM WADDINGTON of 33 Abingdon Street Bradford in the County
of York, Late chemist and Druggist do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for IMPROVEMENT IN SPIROMETER and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Improved spirometer according to this invention is constructed as shewn in the
accompanying drawings.
A (fig. 1) represents a cylinder 9 inches in diameter and 9th inches deep, of
sheet metal, having a mould (b) all round for a lid to fit to and another mould
inch from the bottom for a lid to fit to upwards. Inside the cylinder the
wire (a) fig. 3 fills the groove of the mould b and forms a ledge all round for what
I call a dial plate or index plate (E) to rest on. F (fig. 1)-A pivot with nut or
cap on.
G-An index one inch of which is twisted so that 1 inch from the pivot
is edgway upwards the other part not twisted being flat. H an aperture within
the circle of an inch in diameter, 24th of an inch broad and extending th of an
inch directly towards the rim and widened in part as the drawings show. The
neck I (fig. 4) is strengthened with a piece of wire revitted, or soldered on the
underside of the plate. In fig. 2 the round hole N I call pipe hole it is 4th of an
inch in diameter. Opposite is an aperture marked (o) an inch long upwards and
Tth broad. Each of the two apertures being one half of an inch from the bottom
end of the cylinder. The bottom lid (c) is of sheet metal and hollowed upwards as
shown in fig. 2 & 3 th of an inch with a hole D in the centre about th of an
inch in diameter.
Within the cylinder there is a circular air proof bag J, K, K¹ (fig. 2 & 3)
Figure 3 representing the bag as when crumpled: figure 2 as when partly inflated,
J being made of flexible inelastic water proof cloth, such as is made of fine cotton or
linen fabric and india rubber. The ends K, K¹ of sheet metal in circular form and
flanged. The flange of the bottom end K¹ being turned on the rim upwards 14th of
an inch. The flange K being downwards 4th of an inch; each flange having the

page_text: same diameter of about 88th of inches and each having a groove (L L) swaged all
round. The top end serves as a piston and is more in diameter than its flange by
th of an inch or so much more that in sliding up and down in the cylinder the
cloth of the bag does not unduly touch the sides. M-Air-pipe th of an inch in
diameter and 1 inch long, one end of which is obleque, the other end being fixed
just into and near the bottom of the flange of K¹. Opposite the air-pipe and
soldered as low in the same flange is a piece of sheet metal (P) about inch square
with edgway outwards and upwards. A piece of wire Q about 2 inches and
th thick is fixed through the centre of the bottom end of the air-bag, the piece of
it which has to be outside, having a thread & nut or pin. The length of that
portion of the wire which has to be inside the bag must be so long as to keep the
two end of the bag when the bag is crumpled not less than 1th of an inch from
one another. The inside end of this wire I call the starting point for the piston.
The piston has what I call a spiral formed piston-rod R (fig. 2 & 3) The piston-
rod may be made of two pieces of sheet metal one piece, firstly being the shape of
a right angled triangle fig. 5, the shortest edge being 3 inches long; the longer edge,
anywhere between 5 and 5ths inches Secondly, it is turned so as to form a
semi tube of conic shape as R, the shortest edge forming a circle, then 12th of an
inch of this circle at the point cut off parallel with the longer edge. The circular
edge is afterwards soldered in a central position on the top of the piston with the
longer edge perpendicular to the piston. The other part of the piston-rod S is
fixed to the spiral piece edgeway outwards, making the piston-rod be longer than
the spiral piece by about an inch or be as high as the pivot when the piston is on
the starting point, S-is also one part of a thermometer, the bulb U being inside
the air-bag supported by a bit of bent metal Y soldered on the underside of the
piston and the upper end by a eyelet: the hole in the piston which admits the glass
tube, being made air-proof by the application of white lead paint.
Any one or each of the aforesaid sheet metal parts may be of either tined iron,
brass, coper zink or puder.
To join the cloth on the flanges:-(1) Let there be a piece of the cloth as much
in length in the direction of the warp as will fit tightly the circumference of one of
the flanges and about th of an inch more for a lapping. (2) Let it be as much
in breadth as will be sufficient for the depth of the bag. (3) Smeer the lapping
and as much of the boarder of the other narrow end with india rubber in solution
(4) join and press the smeered parts together (5) After 24 hours, don one of the
circular boarders of the cloth just over the groove of the flange of the piston with
the india rubber side of the clothe to the flange. (6) Wind a piece of thread
several times round over the cloth in the groove and tye the ends thereof (7) Put
the piston into the hollow of the cylinder with the piston-rod through the aperture
in the index plate and draw the piston up to the plate. (8) Mark a circle on the
cloth through the pipe-hole. (9) Withdraw the piston and within the circle punch
a hole to admit tightly the air-pipe and place other parts of the boarder over
the groove then wind thread several times round over the cloth in the groove,
making this end of the bag like the other-air-tight.
To replace the parts together:-(1) Thread a piece of thread through the
hole of S and upwards through the aperture in the index-plate. (2) Place the top-
end of the air-bag into the hollow of the cylinder and the air-pipe to the pipe-hole
(3) Draw the piston-rod through the aperture by the thread. (4) Place the air-
pipe through the pipe hole. (5) Place the bit P in the aperture O. (6) Replace
the bottom lid C with the wire Q through the hole D and fasten them. Lastly
cushion the bottom lid.
Before you write the necessary indexical numbers you must understand that every
person is supposed to be able to volantarily expire more than 20 cubic inches of air
at once. For this reason the piston-rod is of that shape which, firstly, does not
commence moving the index untill about this quantity is breathed into the
spirometer. And 2ndly the different quantities are indicated by the divisions being
wider apart.

page_text: To write the indexical numbers: -(1) The water of a gass-ometer and the
materials of the spirometer and also those of an elastic tube and the atmosphere
surrounding these aperatus must be all of one temperature of heat, so that a volumn
of air when in one of the aperatus will be the same as when it is in the other.
(2) Let the index touch the piston-rod ready to be moved (3) draw 20 cubic inches
of air into the gassometer (4) Connect one end of an elastic tube to the air-
pipe of the spirometer and the other end to the tube of the gassometer (5) Press
the air out of the gassometer into the spirometer (6) Just at the point on
the index-plate, or on the inside of the cylinder where the index is moved to
by the rising of the piston rod mark 20. (7) Disconnect the elastic tube and
the piston will fall to the starting point (8) Draw 30 cubic inches of air into
the gassometer (9) Reconnect the tube and press the 30 inches into the spirometer.
(10) Mark 30 where the index is moved to. (11) Divide the space there is
between the mark indicating 20 and that indicating 30 inches of air into 10 equal
parts. In a similar manner increase the quantity of air by 10 till there are 310
thus indicated.
for air.
In employing this spirometer a suitable elastic tube having a mouth piece is to
be provided one lined spirally with wire is preferable as favouring a free passage
It should be about one yard long and inch diameter within the lining.
Rule (1) Take the lid off and uncoil the tube off the index-plate and slip its
soft end on the air-pipe. (2) Let the index touch the spiral side of the piston-rod
(3) The person whose lungs have to be tested must fully inflate them, then breath
all that he can at once into the spirometer through the tube, the index will then
indicate the number of cubic inches of air that he breathed. As soon as he takes
his mouth from the tube the air in the bag begins to escape through the same tube;
the piston with its rod begins to fall and falls gently by their own weight pressing
out the air untill the piston reaches the starting point. But during these retrograde
motions the index remains still, still indicating the amount of air there had been
breathed. The person may try to breathe more without touching the index. After
the maximum quantity is thus ascertained it should be remembered that a volumn
of air measured at one degree of heat measures to a different quantity at another
degree: therefore a table is formed and printed on the spirometer or on paper by
which you can calculate readily, what any quantity of air measured at different
temperatures by this spirometer would be if measured by it when it were at the
temperate degree.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
I claim improvement in spirometer as substantially herein described.