A NEW AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND PURIFYING AIR IN ROOMS OR COMPARTMENTS AND VENTILATING THE SAME
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "A NEW AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND PURIFYING AIR IN
ROOMS OR COMPARTMENTS AND VENTILATING THE SAME."-A communication
from abroad by Azel Storrs Lyman, of the City of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 15th May 1866, and dated the 20th December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th December 1865.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND PURIFYING
AIR IN ROOMS OR COMPARTMENTS AND VENTILATING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is the production of a current of air and
the purifying and cooling of the same in a room or compartment without
any mechanical agency. The apparatus consists of a box in which the
air is first dried by passing through or over lime or other drying and
disinfecting materials, and so caused to circulate upward through an
ascending conduit preparatory to being cooled by cooling materials, and
then to pass down a descending conduit, from which it is delivered in a
nure state.

page_text: Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a vertical section of the Inven-
tion taken in the line x, x, Fig. 3; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same
taken in the line y, y, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an exterior elevation of the same with
its doors open; Fig. 4, a horizontal section of the same taken in the
line z, z, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a vertical section of the same applied to the bed
of an invalid. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A represents an upright box having within it a horizontal partition a,
below which is the chamber B for the reception of the drying and disin-
fecting material, which is placed in perforated trays or boxes b, b, b, b, c,
arranged one above another at suitable distances apart within the said
chamber. Above the partition a there are formed the descending
conduit C and the ascending conduit D, the latter leading from the
chamber B to the uppermost part of the box A, and the former commu-
nicating at d with the upper part of the box, and ate with the atmosphere.
In the upper part of the box there is a grating f to receive ice, and below
the said grating there is an inclined shaft g to catch and guide the drip
from the ice upon a pan h, which is provided with a discharge tube i
through which the waste water falls into a pail or other suitable receptacle
on the partition a. The upper part of the box A is provided at one side
with a door E by which access is had to the ice and waste water chambers.
In the ascending conduit D there is a valve F to regulate the flow of air,
and a valve G for a similar purpose is placed in the descending conduit C,
and the chamber B is provided with a door H by which access is had to all
the trays or boxes b, c, and in this door is the inlet aperture i which leads
to the bottom of chamber B. The whole of the box A may be constructed
of wood, but the top of the box is made of thin sheet metal to form a
cooling surface. It is proposed generally to fill the trays or boxes & in the
chamber B with lime, and the uppermost tray or box c in the same
chamber with charcoal, the lime drying and to some extent disinfecting the
air, and the charcoal operating as a disinfectant. To set the apparatus in
operation the aperture j is opened to admit fresh air to. the bottom of
chamber B, which passes over the surface of the lime in the tray or boxes
b in a zig-zag manner, as indicated by the red arrows; the air being thus
dried and having its specific gravity reduced rises readily and passes
through the charcoal in the upper tray or box c, and thence up through
the conduit D to the top of box A. This current or circulation is aided
by the increase of temperature which is given the air in drying. The
warm dry air on reaching the top of the chamber flows under the plate k,
and is cooled to some extent by contact with said plate, and thence

page_text: descends through the opening 1, see Fig. 1, to the ice chamber, and after
circulating over the ice and over the water in pan h, passes through the
opening & down the conduit C, and is delivered at e in a constant stream
cooled and purified. The cooling to a temperature considerably lower
than that of the air of the room may be effected without ice or any
other cooling agent than water, as every grain of water absorbed by the dry
air or evaporated converts enough of caloric from a sensible to a latent
state to cool one cubic foot of air 8 degrees Fahrenheit. This caloric is
first taken from both the air and water, but after the water has been cooled
sufficiently it is taken from the air only. The cooling surface k may be
corrugated for the purpose of exposing a greater area to the external air.
Sometimes, more especially in cooling and purifying the air in very large
rooms, the surface / may be cooled with water, and for such purpose tubes
or flat plates may be applied, on one surface of which the water very slowly
rises from the bottom towards the top, while the air which has been first
dried and consequently warmed flows rapidly along the other surface in a
contrary direction. By this means the purified air may be cooled to near
the temperature of the water used for cooling before passing it over the ice
or into direct contact with water. Sometimes, as when using the apparatus
as a rofrigerator, the cold damp air may be discharged from the refrigerator
upward on one side of thin partitions, on the other side of which the air
that has been dried and warmed is received in a contrary current, thereby
cooling the warm dried air to near the temperature of the air in the
refrigerator before permitting it to come in contact with the ice or other
moist surface.
In Fig. 5 the Invention is shown applied to the bed of an invalid in
order to supply to the latter pure cool air. The contents of the box A in
this example may be arranged substantially in the same way as previously
described and illustrated in the preceding Figures, the box being made of
such dimensions as to correspond with those of the bedstead. The box,
for instance, may be of the same width as the bedstead and serve as a head
part for the same, and the discharge opening e be a trifle above the head of
the invalid when lying on the bed. The bedstead I should be constructed
with sides m extending a short distance above the patient or invalid when
the latter is in a lying position, and one or both of these sides mis cut
away at the centre and the open space covered by curtains J, the upper
ends of said curtains being secured on buttons or knobs n, so that they may
be lowered to admit of the person getting in and out of bed. The space
at the top is entirely open. When the person is lying in bed and the

page_text: curtains properly adjusted, the lower ends being tucked under the
mattress or bedding, a portion of the bedstead above the bed is virtually a
cool chamber, the cool air from e passing down in consequence of its
superior gravity over the head of the patient or invalid. The discharge of
the cool pure air may, if necessary or desired, be broken or scattered by a
perforated plate or wire gauze screen placed over e.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Clark, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"A NEW AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND PURIFYING AIR IN ROOMS OR
COMPARTMENTS AND VENTILATING THE SAME," a communication to me from abroad
by Azel abroad Storrs Lyman, of the City of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Olark,
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 and next immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the two Sheets of Drawings hereunto
aunexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): -
The object of this Invention is the production of a current of air and
the purifying and cooling of the same in a room or compartment without
any mechanical agency. The apparatus consists of a box in which the
air is first dried by passing through or over lime or other drying and
disinfecting materials, and so caused to circulate upward through an
ascending conduit preparatory to beng cooled by cooling materials, and
then to pass down a descending conduit, from which it is delivered in a
pure state.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the Invention taken in the line
x, x, Figure 3; Figure 2, a vertical section of the same taken in the line
3, y, Figure 1; Figure 3, an exterior elevation of the same with its doors
open; Figure 4, a horizontal section of the same taken in the line 2, %,
Figure 1; Figure 5, a vertical section of the same applied to the bed of an
invalid. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A represents an upright box having within it a horizontal partition a,
below which is the chamber B for the reception of the drying and disinfecting
material which is placed in perforated trays or boxes b, b, b, b, c, arrauged
one above another at suitable distances apart within the said chamber.
Above the partition a there are formed the descending conduit C and the
ascending conduit D, the latter leading from the chamber B to the upper-
most part of the box A, and the former communicating at & with the upper
part of the box, and at e with the atmosphere. In the upper part of the
box there is a grating f to receive ice, and below said grating there is an
inclined shelf g to catch and guide the drip from the ice upon a pan h,
which is provided with a discharge tube i, through which the waste water
falls into a pail or other suitable reception on the partition a.
The upper
part of the box A is provided at one side with a door E by which access
is had to the ice and waste water chambers. In the ascending conduit D
there is a valve F to regulate the flow of air, and a valve G for a similar
purpose is placed in the descending conduit C, and the chamber B is pro-
vided with a door H by which access is had to all the trays or boxes b, c,
aud in this door is the inlet aperture which leads to the bottom of
chamber B. The whole of the box A may be constructed of wood, but
the top k of the box is made of thin sheet metal to form a cooling surface.
It is proposed generally to fill the trays or boxes b in the chamber B with
lime, and the uppermost tray or box c in the same chamber with charcoal,
the lime drying and to some extent disinfecting the air, and the charcoal

page_text: operating as a disinfectant. To set the apparatus in operation the aperture j
is opened to admit fresh air to the bottom of chamber B, which passes
over the surface of the lime in the trays or boxes 6 in a zig-zag manner, as
indicated by the red arrows; the air being thus dried and having its specific
gravity reduced rises readily and passes through the charcoal in the upper
tray or box c, and thence up through the conduit D to the top of box
A. This current or circulation is aided by the increase of temperature
which is given the air in drying. The warm dry air on reaching the top
of the chamber flows under the plate k, and is cooled to some extent by
contact with said plate, and thence descends through the opening 7, sce
Figure 1, to the ice chamber, and after circulating over the ice and over the
water in pan 1, passes through the oponing d down the conduit C, and is
delivered at c in a constant stream cooled and purified. The cooling to a
temperature considerably lower than that of the air of the room may be
effected without ice or any other cooling agent than water, as every grain
of water absorbed by the dry air or evaporated converts enough of caloric
from a sensible to a latent state to cool one cubic foot of air eight degrees
Fahrenheit. This caloric is first taken from both the air and water, but
after the water has been cooled sufficiently it is taken from the air only.
The cooling surface may be corrugated for the purpose of exposing a
greater area to the external air. Sometimes, more especially in cooling and
purifying the air in very large rooms, the surface k may be cooled with
water, and for such purpose tubes or flat plates are applied, on one surface
of which the water very slowly rises from tho bottom towards the top,
while the air which has been first dried and consequently warmed flows
rapidly along the other surface in a contrary direction. By this means the
purified air may be cooled to near the temperature of the water used for
cooling before passing it over the ice or into direct contact with water.
Sometimes, as when using the apparatus as a refrigerator, the cold damp
may be discharged from the refrigerator upward on one side of thin
partitions, on the other side of which the air that has been dried and
warmed is received in a contrary current, thereby cooling the warm dried
air to near the temperature of the air in the refrigerator before permitting
it to come in contact with the ice or other moist surface.
air
In Figure 5 the Invention is shown applied to the bed of an invalid in
order to supply to the latter pure cool air. The contents of the box A in
this example may be arranged substantially in the same way as previously
described and illustrated in the preceding Figures, the box being made of
such dimensions as to correspond with those of the bedstead. The box,

page_text: for instance, may be of the same width as the bedstead and serve as a head
part for the same, and with the discharge opening e a trifle above the head
of the invalid when lying on the bed. The bedstead I should be con-
structed with sides m extending a short distance above the patient or
invalid when the latter is in a lying position, and one or both of these sides
m is cut away at the centre and the open space covered by curtains J, the
upper ends of said curtains being secured on buttons or knobs n, so that
they may be lowered to admit of the person getting in and out of bed.
The space at the top is entirely open. When the person is lying in bed
and the curtains J properly adjusted, the lower ends being tucked under
the mattress or bedding, the portion of the bedstead above the bed.is
virtually a cool air chamber, the cool air from e passing down in conse-
quence of its superior gravity over the head of the patient or invalid.
The discharge of the cool pure air may, if necessary or desired, be broken
or scattered by a perforated plate or wire gauze screen placed over e.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the combination of the ascending conduit D and cooling surface
n, or its equivalent, with a chamber B containing drying or disinfecting
material, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.
Secondly, the combination of the chamber containing drying or disin-
fecting material with the chamber or reservoir containing ice or water, and
arranged in relation with an ascending conduit to operate substantially in
the manner as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)