Improvements in or connected with Punkah Wheels.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Oct., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1893-Accepted, 5th Aug.,
1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Punkah Wheels.
I, THOMAS HESKETH BIGGS, of Rangoon, Burma, Comptroller, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention to be as follows :-
:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with the guide wheels
over which pass the cords that are used for actuating the punkahs or fans employed
in hot countries to keep the air in motion in dwelling rooms and so forth.
According to these improvements the punkah wheel is constructed and mounted
in the following manner-The wheel itself is composed of brass, cast iron, or any
other suitable metal or material, but preferably made as light as possible consistent
with strength. This wheel is mounted so as to revolve on a pin or spindle in a kind
of carriage consisting of a base plate and two arms projecting at right angles there-
from. The base plate is provided with holes through which ordinary screws can
be passed for the purpose of securing the carriage with its wheel to the wall or
other desired point. Near the end of one of the aforesaid arms is formed a square
hole, and near the end of the other arm and immediately opposite the square hole
in the first arm is formed a circular hole. The aforesaid pin or spindle, preferably
made of steel or iron, passed through the said holes in the arms of the carriage
and forms an axis on which the punkah wheel revolves. The pin is preferably
made with a head at one end and a square part under the head adapted to fit the
square hole in the first arm of the carriage. The rest of the pin is turned
cylindrical so as to fit easily in a cylindrical hole bored through the boss of the
punkah wheel and into the cylindrical hole in the second arm of the carriage.
The pin is secured in place by means of a nut screwed on the end which projects
through the second arm of the carriage, or by a split pin or otherwise.
Leather or other suitable washers are preferably introduced between the ends of
the boss of the wheel and the arms of the carriage in order to prevent the noise
that might otherwise be produced by the said boss rubbing or striking against the
said arms when the wheel is at work.
In order to prevent the rope coming out of the groove in the punkah wheel, a
guard is provided consisting of a piece of sheet metal bent transversely over the
rim of the punkah wheel and secured in place by the square part of the aforesaid
pin which passes through a square hole in the end of the said piece of sheet metal.
The square on the aforesaid pin prevents the same from turning in the holes in
the arms of the carriage as the wheel revolves on the pin; but when the said pin
becomes worn more or less on one side by the friction of the punkah wheel turning
upon it the piu can be withdrawn, turned one quarter round and then replaced so
as to present a fresh side of the pin to the friction of the wheel. Care should be
taken to provide holes in the boss of the wheel for the introduction of a lubricant
between the wheel and the pin on which it revolves.
The square part of the pin and the corresponding square hole in the end of the
guard enable the latter to be placed and held in the position relatively to the wheel
which is best suited for the particular position in which the said wheel and its
carriage are fixed in order that the said guard may act effectively to keep the cord
in the groove of the wheel.
Antahan 1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Punkah Wheels.
I, THOMAS HESKETH BIGGS, of Rangoon, Burma, Comptroller, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with the guide wheels
over which pass the cords that are used for actuating the punkahs or fans employed
in hot countries to keep the air in motion in dwelling rooms and so forth-and in
order that the said invention may be fully understood I will now proceed to
describe the same with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a
side elevation of a punkah wheel with my improvements applied thereto, Figure 2
a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 2-2 of Figures 1 and 3 and Figure 3
a view forming a projection of Figure 1.
Similar letters of reference relate to like parts in all the figures.
The punkah wheel A is composed of brass, cast iron or any other suitable metal
or material but preferably made as light as possible consistent with strength. This
wheel is mounted so as to revolve on a pin or spindle B in a kind of carriage
consisting of a base plate C and two arms C1 C¹ projecting at right angles therefrom.
The base plate C is provided with holes D through which ordinary screws can be
passed for the purpose of securing the carriage with its wheel to the wall or other
desired point. Near the end of one of the aforesaid arms is formed a square
hole E, and near the end of the other arm and immediately opposite the square hole
in the first arm is formed a circular hole F. The aforesaid pin or spindle B
preferably made of steel or iron is passed through the said holes in the arms of the
carriage and forms an axis on which the punkah wheel revolves. The pin is
preferably made with a head B₁ at one end and a square part B³ under the head
adapted to fit the square hole E in the first arm of the carriage. The rest of the
pin is turned cylindrical so as to fit easily in a cylindrical hole A* bored through
the boss A¹ of the punkah wheel A and into the cylindrical hole F in the second
arm of the carriage. The pin is secured in place by means of a nut B³ screwed on
the end which projects through the second arm of the carriage, or by a split pin or
otherwise.
Washers H H of leather or other suitable soft material may be and preferably
are introduced between the boss A¹ of the wheel A and the arms C¹ C' of the
carriage, in order to prevent the noise that might otherwise be produced by the-
said boss rubbing or striking against the said arms when the wheel is at work."
In order to prevent the rope coming out of the groove in the punkah wheel, a
guard I is provided consisting of a piece of sheet metal bent transversely over the
rim of the punkah wheel and secured in place by the square part B2 of the afore-
said pin which passes through a square hole in the end of the said piece of sheet
metal.
The square B on the aforesaid pin B prevents the same from turning in the
holes in the arms of the carriage as the wheel A revolves on the pin; but when
the said pin becomes worn more or less on one side by the friction of the punkah
wheel turning upon it, the pin can be withdrawn, turned one quarter round, and
then replaced so as to present a fresh side of the pin to the friction of the wheel.
Care should be taken to provide holes J in the boss A¹ of the wheel A. for the
introduction of a lubricant between the wheel and the pin on which it revolves.
The square part B of the pin and the corresponding square hole in the end of
the guard I enable the latter to be placed and held in the position relatively to the
wheel which is best suited for the particular position in which the said wheel and
its carriage are fixed, in order that the said guard may act effectively to keep the
cord in the groove of the wheel. In the figures the guard I is shown in full lines

page_text: as standing at right angles to the base plate C of the carriage; but it may be
placed in either of the positions indicated by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 3 that is
to say parallel to the said base plate C.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
First. A punkah wheel A mounted in a carriage C C¹ C¹aud adapted to rotate
on a pin or spindle B passing through holes in the arms C¹ C₁ of the said carriage,
the said pin or spindle being prevented from turning in such arms by means of a
square part on the said pin or spindle taking into a square hole in one of the said
arms substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Second. A punkah wheel A, a carriage C C¹ C', a pin or spindle B, and a
guard I, combined arranged and operating substantially as described with reference
to the drawings.
Third. In connection with a punkah wheel the use of washers of leather or other
soft material interposed between the boss of wheel and arms of the carriage, as
described and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. The improvements in or connected with punkah wheels, substantially as
described.
Dated this 5th day of July 1893.