AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE AND PROMOTING VENTILATION."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Miller, of North Leith, in the County of
Midlothian, Scotland, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE AND PROMOTING VENTILATION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Miller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
March 1855.
I, WILLIAM MILLER, of North Leith, in the County of Mid-lothian, Scot-
land, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE AND PROMOTING VENTILATION"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the adaptation and application to the upper part
of chimneys of an apparatus, in which a set of fans, spiral blades, or other
suitable form of mechanical agent or agents to be acted upon by the external_
air, are combined with a screw or set of spiral blades, fans, or other suitable
mechanism of a similar character within the chimney. This combination is
so arranged that the rotary motion received by the fans, blades, or other
mechanical agent outside the chimney from the external air may be commu-
nicated to the mechanism within the chimney, so as to act in the manner
required upon the heated air and vapours contained therein. The connection

page_text: between the two parts of the apparatus thus combined is formed by means of
a rod or shaft mounted in bearings, in such a manner as to present but little
obstruction to the passage of the smoke and heated air from the chimney.
The form of both parts of the above combination may be varied, and also the
mode of connecting them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Miller in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MILLER, of North Leith, in the County of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Miller, Her special license that I, the said William Miller,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Miller, my executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE AND PROMOTING VENTILATION," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Miller, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Miller, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a system or mode of insuring a suitable current

page_text: up the chimneys or smoke flues of fire-places of the domestic or other kinds,
whereby the smoke from the fire is prevented from issuing into the apartment
in which the fire-place is situated, the ventilation of the apartment being at
the same time promoted by the apparatus employed.. This apparatus consists
of a screw or set of spiral or helical blades, which is made to revolve in the
upper part of the chimney or fluo by means of an external vane wheel, which
is acted upon by any currents of air outside in the manner of a horizontal
windmill.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe one mode of putting the same into practice, and in
the course of my description I shall refer to the explanatory Figures on the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto attached. Figure 1, on the Sheet of Drawings,
is a vertical section of a chimney can, or upper termination piece, as fitted with
one form of my improved apparatus; Figure 2 being a corresponding plan.
The can A is cylindrical, having fitted up inside it a screw B, the spindle C of
which is placed vertically, or so as to coincide with the axis of the can A. The
lower end of the spindle C works in a footstep bearing formed upon an open
bridge piece D, fixed to the lower part of the can, and the upper end of the
spindle passes through and works in a collar bearing in a similar open bridge
piece E, fixed in the top of the can. The spindle C projects above the top of
the can A, and has fixed to it by means of two three-armed brackets Fa
cylindrical open-topped cap G, which overlaps the sides of the can, being
slightly larger than it, so as to be capable of revolving freely about it. The
cap G is formed externally with curved vanes or buckets II, the shape of
which is such that a current of air has more power upon one side of the vane
or bucket than on the other, so that the vanes being set regularly round the
cap G, the wind from whatever quarter it may blow will always have more
power on that side of the cap, which presents to it the hollow sides of the
vanes or buckets, and the cap will be kept constantly revolving in the direction
of the arrow in Figure 2, as long as there is a current of air of sufficient
strength. The cap or vane wheel G being fixed on the spindle C of the
screw B, will cause this last to revolve with it and create an upward current in
the chimney; and it is observable that when the external wind becomes
stronger and more likely to interfere with the chimney draft, it will cause the
screw to revolve so much the faster, so as to give a greater upward impetus to
the smoke current in the chimney. The smoke passes up through the screw B,
and issues at the central opening in the top of the cap G, as indicated by the
arrows in Figure 1. The can A is to be fixed in the top or extremity of the
chimney or flue, to which it is to be applied by means of the flange I, or in

page_text: any convenient way. It will be obvious to the practical man that various
contrivances may be used for obtaining a rotatory motion from the action of
external air currents; and this motion may be communicated to the screw in
various ways, whilst the screw itself may be placed in various positions to suit
the direction of the chimney or flue to which it is applied.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general arrangement and con-
struction of machinery, apparatus, or means for insuring a suitable current in
chimneys or flues, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Miller, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
WILL MILLER. (L.S.)