Im- PROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING BUILDINGS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Livesey, of Victoria Chambers, in the
City of Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING BUILDINGS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH.
"
Scaled the 21st September 1875, and dated the 3rd August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Livesey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd August 1875.
I, JAMES LIVESEY, of Victoria Chambers, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING BUILDINGS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the introduction of fresh air into
houses, apartments, or public buildings.
In the case of ordinary buildings or rooms the air is conveyed either
from the outside of the house or from corriders or passages, whence

page_text: fresh air can be obtained by means of pipes or tubes of any convenient
section fixed in any part of the room or rooms; or the pipes can be
dispensed with by fixing a board across the angles of the room, the
angle enclosed forming a triangular passage for the admission of the
air.
In order to purify or cool the air before it enters the rooms the air is
passed through a box or chamber partially filled with water. In this
chamber deflecting plates are introduced fixed at any suitable angle,
against which plates the air impinges, and is thrown on the surface of
the water in its passage to the vertical tubes. These deflecting plates
may be covered with any material that will absorb moisture; the
capillary attraction will keep the surfaces in a moist state, and thus act
as a refrigerator and assist in catching any floating material. Icc may
be placed in the box or chamber in order to cool the air.
In order to make the pipes ornamental I enclose or cover them over
with a suitable casing, corresponding by preference in design and color
with the furniture of the room; or I make them in the form of lamp
or gas standards, chandelabra, or other ornamental figures and brackets.
Or I introduce a tube behind a picture, or place it behind curtains so as
to be out of sight altogether.
With the view of disturbing the walls as little as possible, and to
prevent dust in the rooms, or the disarrangement of the furniture, I
employ special tools for boring the holes through the walls, consisting
chiefly of a round thin steel tube with a serrated or irregular edge, by
rotating which or by hammering this tool is caused to cut a clear
circular slot through the thickness of the wall, leaving the core or
portion of brickwork, stone, or other material enclosed within the tube
to be removed in a similar manner to the core made by the diamond
rock boring machine, which machine may in some cases be employed
for the purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Livesey in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 2nd February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LIVESEY, of Victoria Chambers, in the City of Westminster, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Livesey, Her special license, that I,
the said James Livesey, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Livesey, my executors, admini-
strators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and 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 VENTILATING
BUILDINGS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Livesey, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 James Livesey, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention has for its object the introduction of fresh air in a

page_text: In the case of ordinary buildings or rooms I convey the air either
from the outside of the house or from corridors or passages, whence
fresh air can be obtained by means of pipes or tubes of any convenient
section fixed in any part of the room or rooms; or the pipes can be
dispensed with by fixing a board across the angles of the room, the
angle enclosed forming a triangular passage for the admission of the
air.
In order to purify or cool the air before it enters the rooms I cause
the air to pass through a box or chamber partially filled with water and
provided with deflecting plates arranged at any suitable angle, against
which plates the air impinges, whereby it is thrown on the surface of
the water in its passages to the vertical tubes. The deflecting plates
may be covered with any material which will absorb moisture, the
capillary attraction serving to maintain the surfaces in a moist state.
They will thus act as a refrigerator and assist in catching any floating
material. Ice may be placed in the box or chamber for the purpose of
cooling the air.
In order to make the pipes ornamental I enclose or cover them in or
with a suitable casing, corresponding by preference in design and colour
with the furniture of the room; or I make them in the form of lamp
or gas standards, candelabra, or other ornamental figures and brackets.
Or I introduce a tube behind a picture, or place it behind curtains so as
to be entirely concealed from sight.
With the view of obviating any unnecessary disturbance of the walls
and to prevent dust in the rooms or the disarrangement of the furniture
I in some cases make the box of a cylindrical section, and employ for
boring the holes through the walls for its reception special tools, con-
sisting chiefly of a round thin steel tube with a serrated or irregular
edge, by the act of rotating or hammering which tube its edge is caused
to cut a clean circular slot through the thickness of the wall, the core
or portion of brickwork, stone, or other material being left enclosed
within the tube, to be removed in a similar manner to the core made by
the diamond rock boring machine. The latter machine may in some
cases be employed for the purpose of cutting the holes in the walls in
carrying out my Invention.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that

page_text: purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a sectional view
of a portion of a room shewing the application of my Invention
according to one mode of carrying out the same.
Figure 2 represents a longitudinal section of the before-mentioned box
detached, drawn to an enlarged scale, and Figure 3 is a plan of the
same.
Figure 4 represents a side clevation of an arrangement of cutting
apparatus, which may be employed for perforating the wall for the
reception of the box when the latter is constructed of a cylindrical
shape.
Figures 5 and 6 are views of opposite ends of the apparatus corrc-
sponding to Figure 4.
A (Figure 1) is the wall of an apartment, having fitted therein the
box B (shewn in detail in Figures 2 and 3), through which the air
passes before it enters the room. The box is open at its outer end
where it is covered with a hinged openwork lid or grating a, through
which the air is introduced (in the present example) direct from the
external atmosphere, and at its inner end it is provided with a pro-
jecting portion b extending into the apartment, and which is surmounted
by a pipe C for the passage of the air into the interior of the room. In
the box B there is fitted a drawer or sliding tray c containing water,
with which the air is brought into contact during its traverse through
the box, the dust or other floating impurities being caught by the water
before passing into the vertical pipe C.
In order to promote and insure the contact of the air with the water
contained in the tray c I provide in the interior of the box deflecting
plates d, e, against which the air impinges, whereby it is directed on to
the surface of the water in its passage through the box. Over the
deflecting plates d, e, there may be placed a lining or covering of any
suitable absorbent fabric, portions or filaments of which dip into the
water of the tray, as shown d³, c¹, so as to maintain the deflecting
surfaces in a moist condition by capillary attraction, whereby such
surfaces will be caused to act as a refrigerator, and at the same time

page_text: assist in catching or intercepting any dust or floating particles or
materials which may be carried along with the current of air. The air
admitted through the grating a will thus be conducted into the vertical
pipe C in a cool and approximately pure condition, and passing out
at the upper end of the pipe it will ascend towards the ceiling, and
thence be diffused through the apartment, thereby affording a plentiful
supply of fresh air.
The deflecting plates may be dispensed with and the air be directed or
thrown on to the surface of the water by being conducted into the box
through an external vertical tube, or by other convenient means.
The water in the tray may be renewed at intervals when required by
raising the hinged cover or grating a and withdrawing the tray from the
exterior and then emptying and refilling it, but the loss due to evapo-
ration or other causes may be supplied from the interior without the
necessity for removing the tray by pouring water down the tube C, or
by dismounting the tube C (which may be made detachable if desired)
and introducing water direct into the tray.
In the arrangement illustrated in the Drawings the box is assumed as
placed in the corner of a room on a level with the floor, and the air as
introduced into it direct from the exterior, but it is obvious that the box
may be arranged in any suitable position, and that the air may be con-
ducted thereinto through any convenient pipes or conduits, as before
mentioned.
The form of the box, as also that of the pipe C, and the arrangement
of the box may likewise be varied as required. In the example shewn
in the Drawing the box is made of a rectangular shape in cross section,
in which casc space is provided for it in the wall by removing the
requisite number of bricks, but the box may be constructed of a cylin-
drical section or of any other form adapted to the purpose.
When a cylindrical box is employed the aperture required for its
reception in the wall may be conveniently formed by the aid of the
tubular cutting apparatus shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6 of my Drawings.
This apparatus consists essentially of a round thin steel tube D closed at
its rear end and formed at its opposite or open end g with a serrated
or irregular cutting edge. This tube may be mounted in a frame of any
suitable construction so as to be capable of being rotated and at the

page_text: same time advanced longitudinally, or of being driven into the wall by
hammering.
In the arrangement illustrated in my Drawing the tube D is supported
at its front end by a standard h, and at its rear end it is provided with a
stem or shaft i, which has its bearings in the standards j, j, so that the
tube is free to be moved longitudinally through its supports as it enters
the wall. Rotatory motion is imparted to the cutter tube D by means
of the bevel wheels k, k, the former of which is mounted on the shaft i,
whilst the latter is carried upon a vertical shaft 7. The wheel & is pro-
vided with a key corresponding to a longitudinal groove or keyway
formed in the shaft i so as to admit of the latter passing through the
wheel whilst receiving rotatory motion. The wheel is fast upon its
shaft, which is mounted in bearings in the cross heads m, m, of the
standards j, j, and is provided with a lever handle n for the convenience
of turning the shaft.
In boring the holes in the wall for the reception of the box the
apparatus is first placed in the required position, and the lever handle n
is then turned by hand, whereby motion is imparted through the inter-
vention of the bevil wheels ¹, , to the tube D, and the cutting edge g
being maintained in contact with the work and the tube advanced by
suitable means; as the operation proceeds a clean circular slot is cut
through the thickness of the wall, leaving the core or portion of the
material which is cut away within the tube, whence it is removed after
the withdrawal of the latter from the hole.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Inven-
tion secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,-
First. The application and use to and in the ventilation of buildings
of a box or chamber containing purifying or cooling media or agents,
through or in contact with which the fresh air introduced is caused to
pass, in combination or not with deflecting and refrigerating plates or
surfaces for arresting impurities and directing the air partially cooled
through or on to such media or agents, substantially as hercin-before
described.

page_text: Secondly. The mode or method of forming the apertures in the walls
of buildings for the reception of the before-mentioned box or chamber
by the aid of tubular cutting tools, operating substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
Secondly. The mode or method of forming the apertures in the walls
of buildings for the reception of the before-mentioned box or chamber
by the aid of tubular cutting tools, operating substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Livesey, have to this my 5
Specification set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
by the aid of tubular cutting tools, operating substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Livesey, have to this my 5
Specification set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
JAMES LIVESEY. (L.S.)