IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATORS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Boyle, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Artist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN VENTILATORS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Boyle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th July 1870.
.
I, ROBERT BOYLE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Artist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements whereby ventilators are made
to act efficiently for the removal of heated or foul air from the interior of
houses, ships, and chambers or enclosures of various kinds.
A ventilator as made with the improvements consists of a vertical
shaft or air duct for the exit upwards of the heated or foul air, such shaft
being surmounted by a horizontal cylindrical tube fitted with a vane,
and mounted so as to turn with the wind or external air current and

page_text: always assume a position parallel therewith.
The end of the hori
zontal tube which presents itself to the wind is fitted with a conical
inlet, the smaller end of which is over the top of the vertical shaft, or
nearly so, and has attached to it a short reversed conical or expanding
flange. A central spreader is fixed just beyond the small end of the
conical inlet and causes the air to diverge towards the sides, this spreader
being by preference of a conical form with its point directed towards
the wind, and being surrounded by a conical shell having its larger end
at the outlet end of the horizontal tube. The vertical shaft commu-
nicates with the space surrounding the conical air inlet, and is drawn by
the action of the air current into that current and carried out therewith
at the other end of the horizontal tube. A very slight external current
produces the desired upward flow in the vertical shaft.
It is not necessary in all cases to make the horizontal tube capable
of turning with the wind, as with the described conformation of the
internal parts the apparatus will act with the wind blowing in at either
end, whilst the wind can produce no down draught at whichever end
it may be blowing in. At the top of the vertical shaft, just under the
opening communicating with the horizontal tube, there is fixed a funnel
to catch any water that may find its way in, and a small pipe, with a
valve opening outwards leads the water away from the bottom of the
funnel. The vertical shaft may be constructed or fitted either inside
or outside of a house or other structure, and it may have communi-
cations with two or more flats, chambers, decks, or cabins, such
communications being provided with valves whereby to regulate the
ventilating action in each space.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Boyle in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th January 1871.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME; I, ROBERT 3
BOYLE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Artist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth 3

page_text: year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Boyle, Her special licence that I,
the said Robert Boyle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Robert Boyle, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 VENTI-
LATORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Boyle, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Boyle, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :--
.
My said Invention relates to improvements whereby ventilators are
made to act more efficiently than heretofore for the removal of heated
or foul air from the interiors of houses, ships, and chambers or enclosures
of various kinds.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to and representing
various modifications of ventilators embodying my improvements.
my
In the modification No. 1, shown in vertical section in Figure 1,
improved ventilator comprises a vertical shaft or duct 1 for the exit
upwards of the heated or foul air, such shaft being surmounted by a
horizontal cylindrical tube 2, one end of which is fitted with a conical
inlet 3 for an external air current to enter at. The smaller and inner end
of this conical inlet 3 is over the top of the vertical shaft 1, and has
attached to it a short reversed conical or expanding flange 4. A
spreader 5, which constitutes the principal feature of my improvements,
is fixed centrally just beyond the small end of the conical inlet 3, and

page_text: causes the air to diverge towards the sides, this spreader being by pre-
ference of a conical form with its point directed towards the inlet 3, and
being surrounded by a conical shell 6, having its larger end at the outlet
end of the horizontal tube 2. The vertical shaft 1 communicates by an
opening 7 with the space 8 surrounding the conical inlet 3, and is drawn
by the action of the air current into that current and carried out there-
with at the other or outlet end 6 of the horizontal tube 2. Full arrows
show the motive current entering from the exterior, whilst dotted arrows
show the induced current of heated or foul air passing up and out from
the enclosed space below. A very slight external current produces the
desired upward flow in the vertical shaft 1. A reversed conical point 9
is fixed to the outer end of the spreader 5 in this modification (No. 1),
and the apparatus will act, although perhaps not quite so well, even if
the external current is in the opposite direction to that indicated by the
arrows, whilst wind can produce no down draught at whichever end of
the horizontal tube 2 it may be blowing in. At the top of the vertical
shaft, just under the opening 7, there is fixed a funnel 10 to catch any
water that may find its way in, and a small pipe 11 with a valve opening
outwards leads the water away from the bottom of the funnel. This
modification of my improved ventilator (No. 1) is well suited for railway
carriages or the cabins or lower decks of ships.
The other modifications of my improved ventilator delineated on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, all comprise the essential features of
modification No. 1, alredy described, and to avoid repeating similar
descriptions the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or
like parts wherever they are repeated.
In the modification No. 2 shown in vertical section in Figure 2, the
horizontal part 2 is mounted upon a spindle 12, and is fitted with a
vane 13 so as to be always turned with the inlet cone 3 facing the wind,
and the cones 6 and 9 can consequently be dispensed with. An addi-
tional inlet cone 3 a and spreader 5 a are fitted to the lower part of the
main vertical shaft to provide a means whereby the ventilator may be
made to act even when there is no external air current. This is done
by causing an upward current to be directed by a pipe 14 into the inlet
or induction cone 3 a, such current being produced by heat or by
* blowing apparatus. Branch pipes 15 are shown as connected to the
bottom of the vertical shaft 1 so as to lead heated or foul air thercinto
from two or more chambers or spaces, and each branch pipe may be

page_text: fitted with a valve or damper for regulating the proportion of ventilating
action in each space."
In the modification No. 3, shown in vertical section in Figure 3, the
horizontal piece 2 has a rectangular cross section instead of being
cylindrical, and the induction space or inlet 3 and the spreader 5
correspond to halves of those shown in Figures 1 and 2.
In the modification No. 4 shown in vertical section in Figure 4, the
induction, or inlet cone 3 is formed with a bend 17, which directs
upwards the current entering by it. The spreader 5 is placed vertically
to correspond within a vertical tube 2 a formed with an outlet bend 18,
and the whole is arranged like a revolving chimney cowl.
-
The modification No. 5 shown in vertical section in Figures 5 and 6,
illustrates a mode of carrying out my Invention in which separate
structures are used, one for leading out heated or foul air, and the other
for leading in a current from the external atmosphere to act on and
produce the out-going current. Thus for the simple induction cone 3
requiring to be turned to face the wind, there is substituted an immovable
vertical shaft 3 b, formed with a number of funnel-shaped inlets separated
by four, six, or other convenient number of vertical radial division plates,
so that in whatever direction the wind may be one or more of the inlets
will face it and lead a current in and down the shaft 3 b, and along one
or more pipes 14 to the uptake shaft 1, The lower part of this shaft 1
is fitted as in Figure 2, whilst a cap 19 to prevent down draught is fixed
over its top, there being outlets all round below the cap and separated
by vertical radial plates 20. A cone 21 forms the bottoms of the out-
lets and causes any wind or external current to be deflected upwards' so
as to cross over under the cap 19. With this construction of top any
external current very much assists the upward draught in the shaft 1,
and it has the advantage of being without moving parts. In the inlet
shaft 3 b a dish or funnel 10 is fitted to catch rain, and has in connection
with it tubes 11 for the rain water to run out by. A sponge of a conical
shape may be put in the dish so as to offer less resistance to the down-
ward current of air. The inlet shaft 3 b, Figure 6, is shown as having
its lower part fitted with a valve 22 for directing the current, either as
5 herein-before described along the pipe 14 or into a separate shaft 23,
which may communicate by branch pipes 24 with separate spaces or
apartments, in order when required to lead fresh air into them. The
shaft 23 is continued downwards and finally outwards as at 25, and a

page_text: light valve 26 is fitted at its outer end so that when a gust of extra
force blows down the shaft 23 it will pass out by the valve 26 instead of
proceeding along the smaller branches 24.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the mauner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated;
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the combining of the parts of ventilating apparatus substan-
tially according to any of the improved modes herein described and
delineated, and more particularly the application of the spreader (5 or
5 a).
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Boyle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
ROBERT BOYLE. (L.S.)