IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS Ron Awn BurnINCS FOR VENTILATING ROOMS AND BUILDING
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Potts, of Handsworth, in the County of
Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
Ron Awn BurnINCS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Potts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th September 1867.
I, WILLIAM POTTS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford; Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR VENTILATING ROOMS AND BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
1.
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging in the manner herein-
after described the cornices of rooms or buildings so as to effect the removal
of the hot and vitiated air of the room or building and the introduction of
fresh air by means of the said cornices. Where in addition to a cornice the
room or building is provided with a picture rail, the ventilation of the room
or building may be effected by the said cornice and picture rail conjointly.
Where a cornice only is employed I make the said cornice hollow, and by
preference of sheet metal, the upper part of the cornice being perforated
throughout its whole length, the perforations having by preference an orna-
mental character. At the bottom of the cornice and at the greatest convenient
distance from the last-described perforations. another series of perforations is

page_text: made extending the whole length of the cornice. A partition or diaphragm
extending the whole length of the cornice separates that part of the cornice
into which the upper perforations open from that into which the lower
perforations open. The cornice thus constitutes two independent channels,
into which the two series of perforations described open respectively. I will
call that compartment into which the top perforations open the upper
channel, and that into which the lower perforations open the bottom channel.
The upper channel is put into communication with the chimney of the room,
and the lower channel is put into communication with the external air either
directly or through any convenient corridor or passage. Either or both of the
said channels may be provided with a valve to which a cord or chain is
attached, and capable of being fixed. in various positions so as to open more
or less as required the said valves.
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The action of the apparatus is as follows: By opening the valve or valves
the hot and vitiated air which accumulates at the upper part of the room or
building passes into the upper channel, and from thence to the chimney, while
an equal quantity of fresh air enters the room or building through the lower
channel, and ventilation to the required extent is thereby effected. Where a
cornice and picture. rail are employed I prefer to make the upper channel in
the cornice, and the lower channel between the cornice and picture rail. In
large rooms or buildings where there is no chimney the channels described are
made to, communicate with the atmosphere by means of passages in the upper
part of the wall opening under the roof of the room or building in such a
manner as not to interfere with the architectural character of the room or
building.
My Invention is specially applicable to the ventilation of the rooms of
dwelling houses, but is also applicable to the ventilation of workshops, offices,
and large public buildings.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Potts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
POTTS; of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,. the
said William Potts, Her special licence that I, the said William Potts, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Potts, my executors, administrators, 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
yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR VENTILATING ROOMS AND BUILDINGS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Potts, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Potts, 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 state-
ment thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging in the manner herein-
after described the cornices of rooms or buildings so as to effect the removal
of the hot and vitiated air of the room or building and the introduction of
fresh air by means of the said cornices. The cornice may be made of any
suitable material, due provision being made to secure separate, channels, for
the hot and cold air. The upper part of the cornice is perforated throughout
its whole length, the perforations having by preference an ornamental character,
but I prefer to cover so as to close the perforations for a suitable distance opposite
or beyond each exit valve to prevent downward currents from entering the room.
At the bottom of the cornice and at its back, and at the greatest convenient
distance from the last-described perforations, another series of. perforations is
furnished by fixing perforated zinc or other gauze-like material to the cornice,
the said zinc or gauze being let into the plaster or wall, and extending the
whole length of the cornice excepting that necessary distance beyond the valve
width, which shall ensure, that the cold air does not get access till it has
received a direction along the cornice. A partition or diaphragm extending the
whole length of the cornice, separates that part of the cornice into which the
upper perforations open from that into which the lower perforations open. The
cornice thus constitutes two independent channels into which the two series of

page_text: perforations described open respectively. I will call that compartment into
which the top perforations open the upper channel, and that into which the
lower perforations open the bottom channel. The upper channel is put into
communication with the chimney of the room, or with any flue with an adequate
draught, and the lower channel is put into communication with the external air
either directly or through any convenient corridor or passage, or with a hall or
lobby to provide a change of air. Either or both of the said channels may be
provided with a valve, to which a cord or chain is attached, and capable of being
fixed in various position so as to open more or less the said valves as required.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-By opening the valve or
valves the hot and vitiated air which accumulates at the upper part of the
room or building passes into the upper channel, and from thence to the chimney
or flue, while an equal quantity of fresh air enters the room or building through
the lower channel, and ventilation to the required extent is thereby effected.
In large rooms or buildings where there is no chimney the channels described
are made, to communicate with the atmosphere by means of passages.
My Invention is especially applicable to the ventilation of the rooms
of dwelling houses, but is also applicable to the ventilation of workshops,
offices, and large public buildings.
Figure represents in vertical section an arrangement of my Invention
suitable for a bed chamber or other room having no chimney, and where the
cornice is below the line of the wall plate; Figure 2 represents in vertical
section my Invention applied to a room where the cornice is above the wall
plate. In the arrangements, Figures 1 and 2, the hot air channel opens between
the ridge tiles at the summit of the roof. In both the Figures the letters
a and b show respectively the cold and hot air passages. The cornice in the
upper and lower parts of which the said channels b and a open is marked c.
The separate Figures 3, 4, and 5 show elevations and sections of different
ways of carrying my Invention into effect. In Figure 3 the hot air channel b
at the top of the cornice c is separated from the cold air channel a by the
intermediate ornamental work d. In Figure 4 the hot air channel b and the
cold air channel a occupy nearly the whole of the cornice c, and are covered
with the plaster or other ornamental work of the cornice. In Figure 5 the
hot air channel b and the cold air channel a together make up the cornice, the
sectional figure of the said channels being ornamental and requiring no orna-
mental addition to complete the cornice. In all cases the perforations or
openings in the channels and b, by which the said channels communicate
respectively with the air of the room, consist of small ornamental or other
perforations, or of openings in which wire gauze or perforated metal or

page_text: material is inserted. By an examination of the Drawing it will be seen that
the hot air channel is always situated at the highest convenient point of the
cornice, and the cold air channel at the lowest. The cornice made according
to my Invention extends by preference all round the room, and the entrance of
fresh air and the exit of hot and vitiated air take place simultaneously all
round the room. Where however for any reason it is inconvenient to construct
the cornice all round the room, as described, the ventilation of the room may
be satisfactorily effected by making the cornice on one, or two, or three sides
of the room only. In Figures 3, 4, and 5 the arrows indicate the respective
directions of the two currents of air; the arrows directed towards the cornice
indicating the path of the hot and vitiated air, and the arrows directed away
from the cornice indicating the path of the fresh and cool air. Although I
prefer to make the two independent channels in or form the cornice, as herein-
before described and illustrated in the Drawing, yet I do not limit myself
thereto, as two independent tubular channels of the construction herein-before
described may be placed outside the cornice, or at the highest convenient part
of the room or building.
Figure 6 represents in perspective one of the valves which I employ at the
entrance of the cold air and at the exit of the hot air channels for the purpose
of regulating the amount of cold air admitted and of the hot air escaping.
The endless cord e passes over the pulleys f, g, h, to the flap or valve i to
which it is fastened, from thence over the pulley and underneath the wall
pulley to the pulley f. The wall pulley has a screw at the bottom of it, by
turning which the cord may be tightened or loosened. The valve remains in
any position in which it may be placed.
In ventilating underground railways and other underground buildings
according to my Invention, I provide along the highest line of the arch of the
subway a separate channel for collecting the vitiated air. I make the said
channel of a perforated tube of any convenient form, which said tube is con-
nected with vertical tubes opening to the external air at any convenient
situation. These vertical tubes are covered by an inclined roof, under which
there is sufficient space for the escape of the vitiated air. The said vertical tubes
are situated in vertical shafts. between which shafts and the vertical tubes the
cool and pure air may descend. The bottom of the annular space between
the two tubes, that is, the space where the cool and fresh air enters the tunnel
may be closed by wire gauze or other perforated material to prevent the
incoming or descending air causing draughts. In order to establish a suffi-
cient draught in the vertical tubes gas flames are kept burning in the said
tubes near their lower ends. In order that the incoming cool air may not cool

page_text: the hot air funnel, and thereby retard the removal of the hot and vitiated air,
I prefer to provide the said hot air funnel with a casing to protect it from the
said cool air. A flap or door may be hinged to the hot air tube under the gas
burners to gain access to them, which flap or door may be glazed to light
beneath it.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention of improvements in apparatus for ventilating rooms and buildings,
constructing and arranging in the cornices of rooms and buildings, or at the
highest convenient part of the room or building, two independent or separate
channels situated at different levels, the upper one serving to collect and remove
the hot and vitiated air from the room or building, and the lower one serving to
introduce cool and pure air into the room or building, the hot and vitiated air
entering its channel, and the cool and pure air passing from its channel
through ornamental or other perforations or wire gauze, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying. Drawing; also
the modification described for ventilating. underground railways.. and.. other
underground buildings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Potts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
7, Staple Inn.
AVIDLI
POTTO.