Heating and Ventilating Apparatus and System.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE DIECIFICATION.
Heating and Ventilating Apparatus and System.
1, JAMES AVERY SKILTON, of 115, Broadway, New York, in the United
States of America, Lawyer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to steam and hot-water radiators, and particularly to such
radiators provided with hollow, or chambered and both imperforate- and perforate-
bases, adapted to be located in the rooms or suites of rooms to be heated, or heated
and ventilated, and also to devices for creating and controlling currents of air in
the same.
The objects of my invention are, to provide a simple means for controlling,
limiting and directing the radiating action of the radiator, for increasing the
movement of the steam or hot-water circulation in the radiator, for increasing the
efficiency of the radiator by bringing a larger amount of air in contact with it in a
given time, and thereby increasing the space it will heat, for increasing the
proportion of heating done by convection, and diminishing that done by radiation
in the room, for increasing the movement of air within the room and to and from
the radiator, for unmasking masked portions of the radiator as now used, for
masking certain unmasked portions of it, for directing such circulation so as to
intercept, warm and distribute the currents of fresh air entering the room by,
through or around a window or other aperture.
I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which―
Figure 1 is a vertical-sectional view of the radiator, casing, window-seat and
window;
Figure 2 is a back-view of the radiator and radiator casing;
Figure 3 is a vertical-sectional view of a radiator with upright tubes of a
different form from those shown in Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same;
Figure 5 is a vertical-sectional view of the radiator with a perforate-base,
radiator-case, window seat and window;
Figure 6 is a horizontal-sectional view of the same; and
Figure 7 is a front view of the radiator casing, base and top.
Similar letters relate to similar parts throughout the several views.
The radiator used may be either of the steam or hot-water variety.
The invention herein described and claimed uses radiators having either the
imperforate or closed hollow or chambered base which closes the bottom of the
heating-chamber formed by an outside jacket or casing, as hereinafter described,
and provides means to promote circulation, or radiators having the perforate, open,
or divided hollow-base which contains a supply of steam and allows air to pass
through the bottom of the base, as already in use, and into the heating-chamber
formed by the casing when applied thereto as shown and described herein.
R is the radiator, the upright double tubes, TT, of which may be of any usual
form. B is the hollow base provided with one or more steam or hot-water
chambers; C is the casing, composed of sheet metal surrounding the radiator pipes
or upright tubes, resting upon or supported by the base B, so as to form a heating-
chamber. The effects sought and secured by making the hollow-base the bottom
of the heating-chamber are several and important. The action of the tubes
throughout their entire lengths is practically limited thereby or largely changed to
heating by contact and convection; and that of the base is differentiated or
divided, so that the exposed part heats the.bottom of the room by radiation chiefly

page_text: and where it is not injurious, while that portion of it which is enclosed within the
casing heats mainly by contact and convection, and doing so at a place where the
supply of heat is large and immediately accessible and effective, the passing air is
thereby moved toward the top of the chamber energetically, promptly and in
contact with the tubes throughout, which act cumulatively, increasing the
temperature of the air and the energy of its movement. The result is that any
given radiator so jacketed will heat a much larger space than when it is used naked
or unjacketed, or when so jacketed that the cold air has access to all parts of it
alike. Further, the tubes having long, slender spaces of small diameters, are more
easily affected by air having free access thereto, and the casing therefore acts as a
protection to them especially in the upper parts, while the cold air admitted at the
bottom is first and partly heated from the hollow-base, and in so far as heated from
the tubes, attacks them most severely at the bottoms adjacent to the heat supply in
the base, from which a new supply can be quickly furnished without traversing any
considerable length of tubing. In other words, this arrangement makes the
greatest demand at the point of largest supply and also preserves the efficiency of
the rest of the apparatus as well, thereby increasing the power of the whole of it.
I provide an opening O, which may have a latticed or openwork metal cover, and
located, preferably, at the back of the casing toward the window or wall, so as to be
out of sight, under ordinary circumstances, to the occupant of the room, and so as to
catch the cold air near the floor, and the air as it falls in front of the window
toward the floor on entering. T, T, are radiator pipes, divided by a vertical
diaphragm or partition into two connected chambers or passages for the purpose of
promoting the circulation of the steam or water. T show another kind of pipes,
having two channels or passages, with or without an opening between, both of these
channels connecting with the associated chamber in the base B. The pipes are so
placed that one passage therein is more exposed to the incoming air than the other.
I prefer to make the casing C of stiff, galvanized sheet iron, although it may be
made of black iron; and when made of a single thickness may be decorated, or
left plain, and will furnish a practical heater. Upon the outside of this casing I
secure, however, when desired, a sheet of thin metal C³, preferably tin, which has
been embossed, or stamped, or otherwise decorated, in ornamental figures as shown,
or otherwise. The stiff inner sheet acts as a back or stiffener to the thin
ornamental sheet. This thin sheet may be secured to the thicker sheet by rivets
or in any ordinary way, and may be from time to time changed as desired or
substituted by other sheets of metal differently ornamented, when defaced or
injured, without disturbing the practical and efficient casing of the radiator, and
at comparatively little cost. The thin metal C2 may be applied to C', where it
is used; otherwise to C. The natural air-space between unembossed sheets and
the artificial air-space developed by the embossing aid in preventing radiation
from or through the casing.
The operation of the enclosed radiator is as follows: Where the air of the
room is to be heated by establishing circuits of air therein, on turning the steam
into the radiator-base, as the base and upright parts become heated, the air will
be drawn into and through the opening O and into direct contact with the base
and in the first instance with the adjacent sides of the upright pipes or tubes.
And I prefer to so place the upright pipes that one of the two passages therein
will receive the first contact of the incoming air, leaving the other passage more
or less masked and shielded therefrom. When the air of the rooin is cool, or
to the extent that it is cooler than the pipe, the immediate effect which results
is the heating of the incoming air by the steam or hot water in the base and in
the adjacent side of the upright pipe nearest the opening, thereby causing a
tendency to condensation, to an immediate draft on the boiler, and to the
production of a downward current in the passage of one side of the upright pipes,
and an upward current in that of the other, caused by the difference in the
temperature of the heating medium in the two sides of the double pipes. On the
opposite side of these upright pipes there will be a less tendency to part with

page_text: heat, especially where the pipes are adjacent to other pipes containing steam or
hot water, being thereby masked or shielded from the contact of the incoming air.
The effect of contact of cooler air on one side of the pipe to a greater extent
than on the other, will be an increase of the circulation, because of the downpull
or downpush on one side of the double pipe; and the effect of continuous
action of this kind upon the base and upon the upright part of the radiator will be
to draw upon the source of heat more rapidly, cause the delivery of a greater
amount of heat to the incoming air, and thereby increase the efficiency of any
given surface of the radiator pipes and base. The larger steam or hot water space
of the base will act as a reservoir of power, to supply the pipes, continue the
heating of the incoming air and thereby send it rapidly upward and on its way
through the heating-chamber, unmasking the upright pipes above as it goes, and
rapidly carrying away the heat.
The radiator pipes and steam passages being shielded by an outside casing and
prevented from radiating into the room thereby, the heat in the radiator will take
effect immediately upon all the air passing through the chamber and thereby
accelerate its upward movement, thus at once supplying the increased circulation of
air required to utilize the increased circulation of steam and increase the efficiency
of the apparatus, or enable it to heat an increased area or room capacity, at the
same time that the objectionable radiated heat is diminished in amount or pro-
portion. These results will be attained by simply adding to the radiator a case or
jacket resting or supported on the base, and provided with an opening near the
bottom, the ornamental radiator-top being transferred to the top of the casing and
no additional apparatus or expense being required. The casing also compels the
air to make direct contact with the heating surface and take heat therefrom by
conduction.
When located in front of a window the apparatus described will cause an increased
flow of air into the room from without through or around the window; when the
window is raised at the bottom or lowered at the top, a very considerable amount
of incoming cool air will be taken up and neutralized or heated by the air passing
through the heating-chamber of the radiator and rising therefrom; and when the
cold air drops on entering the room through or around the window, it will have a
natural tendency toward the opening O and to pass through the heating-chamber
before it reaches the room or produces objectionable effects upon the people
occupying it.
Where there are two or more rows of pipes they may be so placed as to break
joints and all expose the same side to the incoming air.
When it is desired to cut off radiation to an extreme extent, I provide an
additional outside casing C³, made a little larger than the casing C, so as to be
slipped over it and leave an air-space between them, and supported by it, preferably
without reaching or resting upon the base B. This outside casing is shown cut
away opposite the opening O, so as to give ready entrance to the air, and may be
covered or finished at top with the ordinary ornamental radiator top or cap D,
having open work on its top for the passage of the air. When the outside casing C¹
is not used this ordinary perforated radiator top or cap may be slipped over the
top of and rest upon the casing C. The narrow chamber between the casing C
and C¹ may be open at top so as to permit the air therein to pass through and out
at the radiator top as shown by the arrow E in Fig. 1, or it may be closed as
shown at the back or opposite side of the radiator top as shown in Fig. 1. In
either case radiation into the room will be checked at and by each stage of transfer
to the two or three sheets of metal, and be thereby neutralized.
It may well be that under some conditions of heat and pressure the movement of
the circulation may be by the shortest and most direct route from the base-chamber
to the point in the tube where the heat is first parted with, rather than by the
longest. My invention concerns in this part only the difference in action between
the two passages of the tube, and the establishment of a circuit whatever direction
It may take.

page_text: : The casing resting on the radiator-base becomes an integral part of the radiator,
checks or prevents direct radiation from the tubes and upper part of the radiator,
forms a heating-chamber closed by a hot and heat-imparting bottom which radiates
heat within the chamber and at the same time permits direct radiation from a part
of the same base into the lower part of the room or compartment in which it stands
and where it will be useful in warming the feet by downward and lateral radiation
without the objectionable effects incident to radiation from the upper part of the
radiator, gives direct control over the currents of air entering the chamber and
within it so as to aid in promoting its own circulation and also that of the steam or
hot water, or, in other words, increases the efficiency of the entire apparatus while
diminishing the objectionable effects of the naked radiator to such an extent that a
person may sit almost in contact with the casing while the apparatus is in full
operation without being annoyed or inade uncomfortable by excessive radiated heat
or otherwise, permits the masking of tubes that are unmasked in the naked radiator
and in the radiator covered by a casing resting on the floor, permits the unmasking
of tubes that are masked in the naked radiator, and otherwise improves the action
of the entire apparatus. These results together with others incident thereto are
secured in large part by the resting of the casing on the base which is hollow, as
well as imperforate, and therefore contains one or more steam chambers from which
the tubes are supplied.
The object of surrounding a steam or hot-water radiator having a hollow imper-
forate-base with double upright circulating pipes or tubes by an outside case or
jacket open at top and forming a heating-chamber, is, that the air which is admitted
through one or more openings in the case may be heated by being brought in
contact primarily or principally with one side or leg of the double pipes or tubes,
so as to take a greater portion of heat from such side or leg and thereby lower the
temperature of the heating medium therein below that of the other side or leg and
thereby increase the circulation of the heating medium in the pipes or tubes.
The object of combining a radiator with circulating return tubes and a casing
forming a heating-chamber around the same, is, to thereby improve the circulation
of such tubes by accelerating the movement of the heating medium through the
controlled action of the air passing through the heating-chamber to be heated and
during the process of such heating. And these objects are accomplished in this
instance by providing the casing itself with an air inlet directly in the casing
itself.
The ordinary radiator top such as is used in the open radiator for purposes of
ornamentation or finish may be placed on the top of the casing and serve the
purpose of furnishing the outlet or outlets for the air passing through the heating-
chamber on which it rests, and in that position it performs the new function of
guiding or directing such currents of air. Such radiator-top also stiffens and keeps
the upper part of the casing in form and in position in conformity with the lower
part of the same, for which the radiator-base performs similar useful functions.
The top, base and casing thus form an integral structure consisting of three
combined and co-operating elements.
By the words "imperforate-bases," as used herein, I mean bases so constructed
as not to allow air to pass through the same into any chamber formed by resting a
casing upon the base. I consider it a fault in previous constructions in which a
casing has been used around a radiator as a heating-chamber, that the casing has
been placed too far from the radiator tubes or other radiating surfaces, and there-
fore made too large to produce the required amount of propelling power in or upon
the air passing through the heating-chamber and the required convection power for
heating purposes. This fault I avoid by making the chamber of such a size that
the area of a horizontal section of the casing will be smaller than that of the base,
so as to bring the casing close to the tubes or pipes and thereby obtain substantial
gains in both respects. This is one of the objects of resting the casing directly on
the base in the manner shown and described.
Where it is desirable or necessary to use a base that is perforate, I apply the

page_text: case and direct the air and steam or hot-water currents by the means shown in
Figures 5, 6 and 7. And in that case R is the radiator, the upright double tubes T
of which may be of the form shown, or of any usual form. B is the base provided
with an open, perforated or divided steam or hot-water chamber, or chambers in the
base. C is an outside, or external, casing, composed preferably of sheet metal,
surrounding the radiator pipes or upright tubes, resting upon the base B, so as to
form a heating-chamber, and preferably continuous or without openings, except at
the top and bottom as originally made and before being placed on the base.
The perforate, or open, base B on which the casing C rests, only partly closes.
the bottom of the casing. The opening O through the base may be of any
usual form, or any form permitted by the construction of the base and radiator
pipes. But I prefer the form shown at O, in Figs. 5 and 7, for the reason that.
it furnishes the means for readily connecting the external and internal air-flues
therewith, and is so located, between the rows of tubes, that the incoming air
will strike the inner sides of all the double tubes T, and, by abstracting the
heat from the steam or water or condensing the steam therein, aid in producing.
a circulation, in unmasking the adjacent and otherwise masked sides of the double
tubes, &c.
Where it is desired to use a base having holes through it located here and
there, or to improve a radiator of that kind already made or in use, the box or
flue D may be made without a top or an extension upward as into the opening O,
or in other words, be left open between the corners M and M¹, where the box D
will then make joint with the bottom of the base B, and permit the incoming.
air to pass upward through any number of holes in and through the base, and
into the heating-chamber. Or the connection between the base and the box D-
may be made in any usual manner.
A is a cold-air chamber opening at one end under a window-sash, and at the
other into a flue F, provided preferably with a damper F, and connected with
an enclosed box or flue D, leading to or into the opening O. The flue F may be
extended to the window opening as a direct continuous flue to receive the air from
without and conduct it through the box D into the casing C; but I prefer the
cold-air-chamber A as best calculated to furnish a cold-air supply in sufficient
quantity and at a low level from which it may be readily drawn into the casing under
all circumstances. At the front side, the flue or box D is provided with a slide or
register S, to close or open the flue to the inner air of the room.
At top the casing may carry the ordinary radiator ornamental cap E with or
without the register G, or a cap of any other form provided with a register for
opening or closing the top of the radiator casing. In some cases the original top
will go over the top of the casing; in others the casing will be outside the lower
flange of the top. Or the top edge of the casing may be drawn in to receive the
cap, with its flange outside the case.
.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When fresh air from without is
desired, the window is raised so as to open the cold air-box A and admit air to the
heating-chamber through the flue F and opening O. Since the cool air is admitted
directly into the space-between the double tubes T T the steam of the adjacent
passages thereof will first and in largest degree part with its heat to the incoming
air and thereby establish a downward current in one passage and an upward current.
in the other associated passage of each tube.
The casing C will mask the outer passages, and to some extent help to maintain
a higher heat therein than in the inside passages, thus accelerating the circulation
and promoting the rapidity of action and increasing both the volume of heat
delivered to the incoming air by the radiator and the amount of air passing to be
heated. The steam-base through which the incoming air enters being at high heat
and provided with a large supply of steam (or hot water where water is used) will
give the air a strong and immediate upward tendency that will increase the speed
of the current of air without the use of a blower, and, when desired, diaphragms
may be used to deflect the current of air, or detain the air, make it pass over a

page_text: larger heating surface by moving laterally within the heating-chamber, and thus
insure the heating of it, say in cases where the tubes T are not, or cannot be suitably
made very high.
When it is desired to heat only the air of the room, without special ventilation,
the window-sash being shut down, the air may be admitted to the heating-chamber
through the slide or register S and by the way of the opening O. The air will
then pass upward through the heating-chamber, acting, in proportion to temperatures,
as described in the case of the admission of external air. In both cases, the direct
radiation of heat beyond and outside of the casing, will be decreased or cut off,
first by the reflection of the casing inwardly, and, second, by the taking up of the
radiator heat from the tubes and base by the rapidly moving air, conduction and
convection being substituted for radiation.
If the damper or valve F is left open, when the window-sash is pushed down air
will continue to pass down into the chamber A and thence into the heating-chamber,
mingling with the air entering through the register S. At times this will be found
advantageous, since air entering around the window will be drawn through the
apparatus. But when desired, the valve F¹ being closed, air can only find entrance
through the register S, and local air circulation will then be established and
maintained as long as desired.
One object in placing a register in the top of the casing is that, by closing the
top, the attendant may be able to prevent the passage of air, check the transfer of
heat thereto, and hold the temperature of the radiator steady so as to act back on
the boiler or source of heat in preventing waste of heat.
The same results in kind if not in quantity may be accomplished by closing the
register S and the damper F-whereupon but comparatively little heat will be
carried away from the radiator, or but a limited area in the room will be affected
thereby.
By using a casing, an air-chamber, and the closing devices thus described in
combination with a radiator having a perforate-base, a radiator already set up
without other change, may be made capable of heating a much larger room-space
than could be heated by the radiator without that combination.
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
olaim is
1. The combination with a radiator consisting of a base and tubes, of a casing or
jacket surrounding the tubes, resting upon or supported by the base, and leaving a
portion of the base exposed.
2. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base, and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied therefrom, in combination with an outside casing or jacket
resting on or closed by the base and forming a heating-chamber.
3. A steam or hot-water radiator having a hollow or chambered base for steam or
hot water, and pipes or tubes connected therewith and supplied therefrom, in
combination with an outside case or jacket resting on the base and forming a heating-
chamber.
4. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied with steam or hot water therefrom, in combination with an
outside case or jacket resting on or supported by the base, forming a heating-
chamber, and provided with an inlet at or near the bottom, for the air of the room.
5. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied with steam or hot water therefrom, in combination with an
outside case or jacket resting on or supported by the base, forming a heating-
chamber, and provided with an inlet at or near the bottom and an outlet at or near
the top, for the air of the room.
6. A steam or hot-water radiator having a hollow imperforate-base and tubes,
pipes or channels supplied with steam or hot water therefrom, surrounded by an
outside casing or jacket open at top, resting upon or closed by the base at bottom,

page_text: and forming a heating-chamber into which air is admitted through an opening in the
casing or jacket to be heated.
7. The combination with a radiator consisting of a base and tubes, of a casing or
jacket surrounding the tubes, resting upon or supported by the base, provided with
an inlet opening near the bottom, an outlet opening at the top, and leaving a portion
of the base uncovered or exposed.
8. The following elements in combination : 1, a hollow radiator-base and upright
pipes or tubes; 2, a sheet-metal casing resting on the radiator-base, forming a
heating-chamber, and, 3, a radiator-top resting on or in the radiator-casing, as shown
and described.
9. The following elements in combination: A steam or hot-water radiator
provided with a hollow, imperforate-base and an independent top or cover, in com-
bination with an outside jacket or casing resting on or closed at bottom by the base
and surrounding the pipes, tubes or channels connecting therewith, open at top and
provided with an opening near the bottom for the admission of air to the heating-
chamber formed thereby.
10. A steam or hot-water radiator having an imperforate hollow-base and double
pipes, surrounded with a casing or jacket resting on and closed by the base at
bottom, forming a heating-chamber, open at top to permit escape of heated air,
provided with an opening near the bottom of the case to receive the air to be heated,
one side and one passage of the pipes being presented to the opening and the other
side and passage being masked thereby.
11. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base, and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied therefrom, in combination with an outside casing or jacket
resting on or closed by the base forming a heating-chamber, and consisting of two
heets of metal with normal air-space between them.
12. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base, and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied therefrom, in combination with an outside casing or jacket
resting on or closed by the base forming a heating-chamber, and consisting of two
sheets of metal, the outer one being stamped or embossed and secured to or upon
the inner sheet.
13. A radiator having a hollow or chambered base, and pipes or tubes connected
therewith and supplied therefrom, in combination with a casing or jacket resting
on the base and forming a heating-chamber, and also with an outside casing open at
its lower edge, and enough larger than the inner casing to leave air-chamber-space
between the two casings.
14. A steam or hot-water radiator having a perforate hollow-base for the passage
of air through the same, and pipes, tubes or channels receiving their supply of
steam or hot water from the hollow-base, surrounded with an outside casing or
jacket resting upon the base and forming a heating-chamber into which air is
admitted through the base.
15. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforated base chambered
for steam or hot water and tubes, pipes or channels supplied with steam or hot
water therefrom, provided with an outside casing or jacket around the same forming
a heating-chamber partly closed by the base, connected with a flue leading from the
open air through the base.
16. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforate hollow-base and
pipes, tubes or channels receiving their supply of steam or hot water therefrom,
provided with a jacket or casing around the radiator, forming a heating-chamber
partly closed by the base, connected with a flue leading from the air of the room
into the chamber through the base.
17. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforated base chambered
for steam or hot-water and pipes, tubes or channels connected with and supplied
therefrom, provided with a casing or jacket around the same forming a heating-
chamber partly closed by the base, connected with a valved flue leading from the
open air through the base.
18. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforated hollow-base

page_text: and pipes, tubes or channels connecting therewith, provided with an outside jacket
or casing around the radiator, forming a heating-chamber partly closed by the
base, connected with a valved flue leading from the air of the room into the
chamber through the base.
19. A radiator surrounded by a jacket or casing resting upon a hollow perforated
base which is provided with connecting pipes, tubes or channels, and forming a
heating-chamber which receives the air to be heated through the base, in
combination with an air-box connected with flues or chambers leading from the
outer air, and also from the inner air of the room, into and through the base and
into the heating-chamber.
20. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforated hollow-base
and pipes, tubes or channels connecting with and supplied therefrom, provided with
an outside jacket or casing resting upon the base and forming a heating-chamber
into which air is admitted through the base by flues or chambers connecting with
the outer and inner air respectively, cach of which is provided with independent
opening and closing devices.
21. A heating-chamber formed by an outside jacket or casing around a radiator,
in combination with a perforated, hollow radiator-base and top or cover, the jacket
or casing resting on the base, surrounding the pipes, tubes or channels connecting
therewith, receiving the air to be heated through the base and delivering it into the
room through the top or cover.
22. A steam or hot-water radiator consisting of a hollow or chambered base and
double or circulating pipes or tubes connected therewith, surrounded by a jacket or
casing resting upon or supported by the base and forming a heating-chamber into
which air is admitted through openings or perforations through the base, leading
into the spaces between the mutually masking circulating pipes or tubes.
23. The following elements in combination : 1, a hollow perforate radiator-base
and upright pipes or tubes; 2, a sheet metal casing resting on the radiator-base,
forming a heating-chamber, and, 3, a radiator-top resting on or in the radiator-
casing, as shown and described.
24. A steam or hot-water radiator having an open or perforated hollow-base
with pipes, tubes or channels connecting therewith, provided with an outside jacket
or casing around the radiator, forming a heating-chamber partly closed by the
base, connected with a valved outlet-opening leading from the chamber into the
room.
Doted this 16th day of February 1891.
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, London, E.C., Agent for Applicant..