Improvements in or connected with Hospitals and in Means for Ventilating the same, and for Sterilizing the Air Escaping therefrom.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Feb., 1895-Accepted. 23rd Mar., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Hospitals and in Means for
Ventilating the same, and for Sterilizing the Air Escaping
therefrom.
1, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the Firm of James Slater & Co., of 251, High
Holborn, in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
:―
My invention relates to hospitals and especially those for the treatment of
infectious diseases and the chief object of my invention is to provide means whereby
a thorough ventilation shall be maintained and whereby the air escaping therefrom
shall be sterilized before passing into the atmosphere, thereby preventing a hospital
being a centre for the dissemination of diseases as is now sometimes the case.
A hospital to which my invention is applied must be so constructed that there
shall be no openings through which air from the ward can directly pass out and for
this purpose
prefer to make the windows so that they cannot be opened and the
walls, floors, ceilings and fittings of the wards' should be of such material and
construction that the air in such wards may from time to time (for the purpose
of purification) be raised to a very high temperature, say, for instance, 700 or
800 degrees without any possibility of taking fire or being damaged by the heat.
In connection with each ward is a flue into which the vitiated air from the ward
can pass through one or more openings, the said fue entending to a furnace or
stove having a temperature of, say 1500 to 2000 degrees, the air being drawn or
forced from the ward through this furnace or stove either by a chimney draught, a
blower, injector jets or other suitable means whereby it is sterilized. This suction
flue must be so arranged and constructed that it also may be raised to a very high
temperature without the risk of being injured or causing injury owing to the high
temperature within it.
use of
In order to produce the necessary heat for sterilizing the air I prefer to make
gaseous fuel, using any suitable gas producer, and this gas producer I arrange
in conjunction with a series of regenerator stoves preferably of the vertical type
such, for instance as the "Cowper" regenerator stove, which stoves cause the air
passing through them to be broken up into small currents and so ensure that every
particle of air shall be heated to the desired extent.
In practice I find it advantageous to use four of such stoves each of which can
be placed in conmunication with the others with the gas-producer, the suction flue
and the chimney flue as desired. Only three, however, of such stoves would be
beated at one time, the other being idle.
The method of using these regenerator stoves would be somewhat 'as follows:-
One of them being heated to the desired temperature the air from the ward would
be drawn down therethrough and so sterilized, the heated sterilized air passing into
another stove and giving up its heat therein before passing to the chimney at a
temperature only sufficiently high to produce the necessary chimney draught whilst
at the same time the third stove is being heated by the gas-producer. When the
stove, through which the air is being drawn, is cooled to a certain extent the
valves, which are provided for the purpose, are moved to cause the air to flow
through one of the other stoves, it being understood that one stove is always being
heated directly by the gas-producer, another cooled by the air to be sterilized

page_text: passing through it and another heated by the escaping hot sterilized air, the fourth
stove serving to take the place of either of the others in case of necessity.
In order that any germs which may be deposited in the suction flue between
the ward and the sterilizing stoves may be destroyed from time to time, I
pass through the suction flue from the stoves to the opening or openings in the
ward a tube or flue through which hot air may be caused to pass direct from
the stoves to the top of the flue from which point it returns through the suction
flue at a sufficient temperature to destroy any germs therein. This tube als ›
serves for delivering hot air directly into the ward in order to heat the same
to a temperature sufficiently high to destroy all germs, the fire-proof construction
of the building herein before referred to permitting this to be done.
}
It is obvious that the dimensions of the flues and of the apparatus must be
proportioned to the quantity of air to be sterilized and that suitable inlet openings
must be formed in the ward walls to permit of fresh air being introduced without
draught at the same rate that the vitiated air is withdrawn. The desired tem-
perature of the incoming air can be maintained by suitable heating or cooling
apparatus through which the incoming air has to pass.
In order that no vitiated air from the ward shall escape into the staircases or
passages of the hospital 1 arrange suitable openings through which the air fron
such staircases or passages shall be drawn into the ward or into the suction flue.
An arrangement of apparatus such as hereinbefore described may, if of suitable
capacity, be arranged to sterilize the air from several wards and, if the heat
produced is greater than that required for the sterilization of the air, the surplus
heat may be employed for heating or cooking purposes or for the production of
steam.
Dated this 19th day of Anril 1901
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Hospitals and in Means for
Ventilating the same, and for Sterilizing the Air Escaping
therefrom.
I, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the Firm of James Slater & Co., of 251, High
Holborn, in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to hospitals and especially those for the treatment of
infectious diseases aud the chief object of my invention is to provide means 'whereby
a thorough ventilation of the wards shall be maintained and whereby the air
escaping therefrom shall be sterilized before passing into the atmosphere, thereby
preventing a hospital being a centre for the dissemination of diseases as is now
sometimes the case.
A hospital to which my invention is applied must be so constructed that there
shall be no openings through which air froin the ward can directly pass out and for
this purpose I prefer to make the windows so that they cannot be opened and the
walls, floors, ceilings and fittings of the wards should be of such material and
construction that the air in such wards may from time to time (for the purpose
of purification) be raised to a very high temperature, say, for instance, 700 or
800 degrees Fahrenheit without any possibility of taking fire or being damaged by
the heat.
In connection with each ward is a flue into which the vitiated air from the ward
can pass through one or more openings, the said flue extending to a furnace or stove

page_text: having a temperature of say 1500 to 2000 degrees, the air being drawn or forced
from the ward through this furnace or store either by a chimney draught, a blower,
injector jets or other suitable means whereby it is sterilized. This eduction flue
must be so arranged and constructed that it also may be raised to a very high
temperature without the risk of being injured or causing injury owing to the high
temperature within it.
In order to produce the necessary heat for sterilizing the air I prefer to make use
of gaseous fuel, using any suitable gas producer, and this gas producer I arrange in
conjunction with a series of regenerator stoves preferably of the vertical type
such, for instance, as the "Cowper" regenerator stove, which stoves cause the air
passing through them to be broken up into small currents and so ensure that every
particle of air shall be heated to the desired extent.
In practice I find it advantageous to use four of such stoves each of which can
be placed in communication with the others, with the gas producer, with the eduction
flue and the chimney flue as desired. Only three, however, of such stoves would
be used at one time, the other being idle.
In order that any germs which may be deposited in the eduction flue between the
ward and the sterilizing stoves may be destroyed from time to time, I pass through
or alongside the eduction flue from the stoves to the opening or openings in the
ward a tube or flue through which hot air may be caused to pass direct from the
stoves to the top of the flue from which point it returns through the eduction flue
at a sufficient temperature to destroy any germs therein. This tube also serves for
delivering hot air directly into the ward when it is required to purify it in order to
heat the same to a temperature sufficiently high to destroy all germs, the fire-proof
construction of the building herein before referred to permitting this to be done.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation illustrating an arrangement of regenerator stoves
and Hues suitable for carrying my invention into practice; and,
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same.
a indicates the ward or chamber from which the escaping air is to be sterilized
and the windows b, b of which are preferably formed so that they cannot be opened
to establish direct communication between the interior of the ward and the external
atmosphere, and the walls, floors, ceilings and fittings of which are of such material
and construction that they cannot be damaged by the heat to which the interior of
the ward is to be subjected as herein before mentioned.
,,, indicate a range of four regenerator stoves each of which communicates
by a passage c with a flue c' from which extend branch flues c³, with openings c³
in the walls of the ward and also by means of a passage d with a flue d' common to
all the stoves of the range.
e is a gas supply flue, and e', el are branches of the same
which communicate with the several regenerator stoves. ff are passages which
establish communication between the regenerator stoves and a flue f common to all
the stoves and extending to a chimney shaft or arranged in connection with other
devices or apparatus for inducing the draught. g is a branch flue from the main
flue c', the said branch flue being connected with the several regenerator stoves by
pipes g', g' which serve to convey some of the vitiated air to the heating burners
of the regenerator stoves for supporting the combustion of the gas. h is a hot air
pipe or flue which preferably extends through or alongside the main flue c¹ and is
provided with branches, which extend to openings h³, h formed in the eduction
Hues near the points at which they communicate with the ward, the said hot air
pipe or flue also communicating by branches h³ with the several regenerator
stoves.
The several passages c, d, e, f, g', h³ of each regenerator stove are provided with
valves i,,,,, respectively and the branch flues and are provided with
valves j, respectively. Doors or valves k are also arranged in conjunction
with the several openings c between the flues c³ and the ward.

page_text: 1
The operation of the apparatus herein before described is as follows:-
Assume the regenerator stove 6' to have been heated to the required extent by
means of gas
admitted by opening the valve (the air for supporting the combustion
of which is admitted through the valve ) the valve in the passage f being opened
in order to allow the escaping products of combustion to enter the chimney and to
create a draught therein: if now the valves, and of the stove 6' are closed
and the valves i, i¹ of the stove 6' and the valves i, of the stove 62 are opened, air
will be drawn from the ward through the openings into the branch eduction
flues, thence into the main flue c¹, thence into the heated regenerator stove b¹,
whereby the air will be sterilized, and thence through the pipes d, d into the stove b¹
in which the sterilized air will give up the greater part of the heat which it contains
before escaping into the chimney through the passage f.
During the time that the stove is cooling by the passage of the air from the
ward through it and the stove is heating by the passage of the heated sterilized
air through it, the stove b³ is being heated by gas. By the time that the stove b' is
cooled to such an extent that it will no longer sterilize the air passing through it the
stove has been sufficiently heated; the valve i of the stove 6 is then closed and the
valves i, of the stove 6 and the valve of the stove are opened, so that the air
is drawn from the ward through the stove in which the air is sterilized and the
stove 6 in which the sterilized air parts with the major portion of its heat; in the
meantime gas has been applied to the stove to supplement the heat due to that
which was imparted to it by the passage of the heated air, so that by the time the
stove has cooled the stove 6 is ready to have the air drawn through from the
ward. Whilst the air is being drawn through the stove 6 the hot air escaping
therefrom passes through the stove, the heat of the stove being supplemented
by gas heat.
When the stove is sufficiently heated the air from the ward is again
drawn through it and so the operation of the apparatus is continually maintained,
one stove being heated directly by gas, another being cooled by the passage of the
air from the ward through it and the third being partially heated by the sterilized
air escaping from the cooling stove.
By providing four stoves as shewn in the drawings I am enabled to keep one
stove always out of action for repairs or for any other reason as may be desired.
:
If it is desired at any time to burn out the eduction flues c, c¹ the doors or
valves k over the openings are closed and the valves jl of the hot air flues h, hare
opened, as also is the valve 1 of the branch * connected with the stove from which
the heat is to be obtained, say, for instance, the stove b; if now the air is exhausted
through the eduction flue c', say through the stove & as hereinbefore described (no
air being able to pass from the ward through the openings ) air will be drawn
from the stove bin a highly heated condition and delivered-into the flues c² through
the openings h. If instead of burning out the flues it is desired to burn out the
interior of the ward, then the valves j, j in the branch flue in connection with one
side of the ward are closed and the valves j' in the hot air flue of the same side are
opened, whereby air will be exhausted from the ward through the openings at one
side thereof whilst hot air will enter the ward through the openings at the
other side..
It is obvious that the dimensions of the flues and of the apparatus must be
proportioned to the quantity of air to be sterilized and that suitable inlet openings
must be formed in the ward walls to permit of fresh air being introduced without
draught at the same rate that the vitiated air is withdrawn. The desired
temperature of the incoming air can be maintained by suitable heating or cooling
apparatus through which the incoming air has to pass.
An arrangement of apparatus such as hereinbefore described may, if of suitable
capacity, be arranged to sterilize the air from several wards, and, if the heat
produced is greater than that required for the sterilization of the air, the surplus
heat may be employed for heating or cooking. purposes or for the production
of steam.

page_text: 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 :-
1. The improvements in the construction of hospitals consisting in the provision
of means whereby the vitiated air removed from the wards for the purpose of
ventilating the same is caused to pass through a heated chamber or furnace before
escaping to the atmosphere whereby such air is sterilized, substantially as
described.
.
2. In a hospital the arrangement of an eduction flue or flues leading from openings
in the walls of the ward to a series of regenerator or other furnaces through either
of which the vitiated air drawn from the ward may be passed, a heating flue or
passage being arranged in conjunction with the eduction flue or flues for conveying.
hot air from one of the regenerator stoves into the eduction flues or into the ward,
substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
3. The combination with a hospital having eduction flues through which the air
is exhausted from the wards, of a series of regenerator stoves arranged and
operating substantially as described.
Dated this 19th dar of Hohr 1805
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.