IMPROVEMENTS IN. VENTILATING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clay, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Iron Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
VENTILATING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
THEREFOR."
Sealed the 12th December 1865, and dated the 19th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th June 1865.
I, WILLIAM CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VENTILATING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object to introduce into the several compartments
of a railway carriage air, under pressure, so that when it issues from the
supply tube or aperture it will prevent the entrance of other external air, by
causing a current outwards through the ordinary apertures, such as the
windows or other openings. By thus excluding the external, air, except
through the supply pipe or aperture connected with my apparatus, I am
enabled to exclude dust, which in summer time causes great annoyance to the
passengers. This object is effected by causing the air to be conducted along

page_text: a pipe into a close vessel containing water, in which any dust and solid
matters that enter with the air will be deposited, and the purified air will. pass
off through another pipe to a ventilator placed in the roof side, or any other
convenient part of the carriage, and provided with sliding regulators or other
well-known valve arrangements for regulating the admission of the air. The
air may be conducted to the apparatus in various ways. A convenient mode
of so doing consists in adapting to the supply pipe a trumpet mouth, which
when exposed to the air as the carriage is travelling onwards, will collect the
air and conduct it to the water vessel, into which the mouth of the tube is
made to dip. The particles of dust floating in the atmosphere will be arrested
by the water, and the air will be forced along the exit tube to the ventilator
attached to the carriage, as already explained. Instead of employing water in
the vessel to arrest the particles of dust, I sometimes fill the vessel with
sponge, wool, or other loose fibrous material, or I cause the air to pass
through a series of straining media, such as woollen, cotton, or other cloths,
which may if desired be kept damp by causing the lower parts of such sub-
stances to dip into water or other fluid.
Another mode of passing the air forward through the apparatus consists in
adapting a fan or exhauster to the supply pipe, so that the air may be drawn
through the water or other filtering medium, and forced forward through the
ventilator into the carriage. This fan may be driven by, a band passed round
pulley on one of the running axles, or in any other convenient manner, such
as by a vane wheel fixed on the roof of the carriage.
The simplest form of apparatus for supplying the air is that first described,
inasmuch as the air will by the rapid onward motion of the carriage be forced
into the open trumpet mouth of the pipe, and down into the water vessel or
other purifier, and from thence to the ventilator of the carriage.
. It will be understood that for convenience the water, vessel or purifier must
be provided with the necessary apertures, with cocks, or valves for running off
the dirty, water, for supplying the vessel with clean water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL. COME, I, WILLIAM}
CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron, Manufacturer, send, 35
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Clay, Her special licence that I, the said William Clay, my exe
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clay, my executors, administrators, and assigns; should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING
RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clay, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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, the said William Clay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the saine is' to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures, marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention has for its object to introduce into the several compartments.
of a railway carriage air under pressure, so that when it issues from the
supply tube or aperture into the interior of the carriage it will prevent the
entrance of the external air, by causing a current outwards through the
ordinary apertures, such as the windows or other openings. By thus ex-
cluding the external air, except through the supply pipe or aperture provided
for the purpose and connected with my apparatus, I am enabled to exclude
dust, which in summer time causes great annoyance to the passengers, and at
the same time to thoroughly ventilate the carriage.
The object of the Invention may be effected in various ways, as shewn in
the accompanying Drawings.
In Sheet I., Fig. 1' is a partial elevation of a railway carriage shewing one.
arrangement adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a partial transverse section.. In this
arrangement, which may be adapted to the roof or sides of the carriage, the
object is effected by causing the air to be conducted into a close vessel a, con-

page_text: taining water, into which the inner ends of conducting pipes dip, so that the
air will be washed, and any dust and solid matters that may enter with the
air will be deposited in the water, and the purified air will pass off either
through another pipe to a ventilator placed in the roof, side, or any other
convenient part of the carriage, and provided with sliding regulators or other
well-known valve arrangement for regulating the admission of the air; or
the ventilator may be adapted to the side of the vessel a itself, as shewn at b
in the Drawing. A sliding shutter for the purpose of regulating the draft or
passage of air may if desired be adapted to the ventilator. A convenient
mode of conducting or leading the air into the apparatus consists in adapting
to the supply pipe or to the vessel a a trumpet mouth c, which when exposed
to the air as the carriage is travelling onwards will collect the air and conduct
it to the water vessel à, into which the mouth of the tube c¹ is made to dip,'
as before mentioned. The particles of dust floating in the atmosphere will be.
arrested by the water, and the air when thus washed and purified will be
forced along the exit passage to the ventilator attached to the carriage, as
already explained.
Instead of employing water in the vessel a to wash the air and arrest the
particles of dust, I sometimes fill the vessel with sponge, wool, or other loose
fibrous materials which may be saturated with water; or I cause the air to
pass through a series of straining media, such as woollen, cotton, or other
cloths, which may if desired be kept damp by causing the lower parts of such
substances to dip into water or other fluid.
It will be understood that as the carriages advance along the railway at a
rapid pace, the air will enter the trumpet mouths, and after being cleansed of
the dust by passing through the water or wet sponges, will pass into the
carriages through the ventilator.
Another mode of passing the air forward through the apparatus consists in
adapting a fan or exhauster to the supply pipe or the washing vessel, so that
the air may be drawn through the water or other filtering medium, and forced
forward through the ventilator into the carriage. This arrangement is shewn
in Sheet II., in which Figs. 3 and 3* represent longitudinal and transverse
sections of this arrangement of apparatus adapted to the roof of a railway
carriage. The fan f rotates in a box or case connected with the washing
vessel a, and may be driven by a band passed round a pulley f¹ on its axle,
and round another pulley on one of the running axles of the carriage, as
shewn in the Drawing; or the washing box a and fan f may be placed
beneath the carriage, and the fan mounted on the axle of the running wheels.
By thus causing the fanf to rotate, air will be drawn in through the box a,

page_text: which may
be provided with water, as already explained; or it may be filled
with wet sponges, cloths, flannels, or other filtering mediums, as shewn in the
Drawing, Figs. 3 and 3%; and when the air enters the fan case it will be
propelled forward. through any suitable ventilator into the interior of the
carriage, and will be.washed perfectly free from dust. Instead of driving the
fan f by a band actuated by a pulley on the axle of the running wheels, a vane
wheel h may be fixed on the axle of the fan f, which is placed in a box on the
roof of the carriage, as in the former instance. This arrangement is shewn in
Figs. 4 and 4*, Sheet II. As the carriage advances at a rapid pace through
the air a strong current is made to pass through the trumpet mouths of the
apparatus, and by acting on the vanes of the wheel
will drive it and
water or filtering
the fan f, and will thus draw in the air through the
medium in the box a. I would remark that instead of the fan f being
made to draw in the air, it may be arranged to force in the air through
the filtering media in the box or vessel a. It will also be obvious that other
forms of vane wheels which can be driven by currents of air may be used in
place of the wheel h.
The simplest form of apparatus, and that which I prefer for supplying the
air, is that first described, inasmuch as the air will by the rapid onward motion
of the carriage be forced into the open trumpet mouth of the pipe, and will
pass down into the water vessel or other purifier, and from thence through
the ventilator into to the interior of the carriage.
It will be understood that for convenience the washing vessel or purifier a
must be provided with the necessary apertures, with cocks or valves for
running off the dirty water and for, supplying the vessel with clean water,
and also to prevent the vessel from being filled too full with water. To this
end an opening g is made at the side of the vessel a, and is provided with a
binged lid or cover, so that by lifting the latter water may be poured into the
vessel a to the proper level. An exit aperture a closed by a screw cap is
provided for the purpose of emptying the foul water from the vessel when
required,
If sponges or other porous or fibrous filtering media are used they must be
occasionally washed, in order to remove therefrom the accumulated dust
that would otherwise interfere with or altogether stop the action of the
apparatus.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Ventilating
Railway Carriages, and in the Apparatus to be employed therefor," and
having explained the manner of. carrying the same into effect, I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, the mode or modes of and appa-

page_text: ratus herein shewn and described for supplying air to railway carriages and
preventing the entrance of dust.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM CLAY. (L.S.)