AN IMPROVED VENTILATOR AND AIR FILTER
Year: 1884

page_text: JOHN WALSH 17 De Laune Street Kennington in the County of Surrey Parish
of St Mary Newington do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED VENTILATOR AND AIR FILTER to be as follows:-
A fabric of Cotton Linnen Silk Wool or cane, grass, straw Hair cloth Metal or
Wire to be fixed to the frame of window top and bottom to be worked either by
spring roller Hand roller or in a folding manner and to fasten to window sash top
and bottom to open and close with the window to be dispensed with when weather
permits.

page_text: I, JOHN WALSH, of 17 De Laune Street, Kennington, in the County of Surrey,
parish of St. Mary, Newington, Foreman Tailor do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED VENTILATOR AND AIR FILTER," and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:―
This Invention relates to an improved window ventilator which consists of a
fabric made of woollen, linen, silk, horse hair, cane, grass or other animal or
vegetable fibre capable of being woven or formed into a fabric or it may be made
of wire or thin perforated metal. Of whatever material the fabric may be composed,
it must be of such a flexible nature as to admit of its being wound upon a roller, or
otherwise folded into a small compass.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I herein give
reference to the accompanying sheet of Drawings marked with Figures and letters
of reference and illustrating the manner in which it is to be carried into practice.
Figure 1 represents a section of window sashes, and framework for carrying same,
Figure 2 is a front view of and Figure 3 a horizontal section of the top sash. In
the first and second Figures I have shewn the manner of applying the ventilator
to both the top and bottom sashes.
The fabric A which is the full width of the sash is wound upon a roller B working
when fitted to the top sash within the groove formed for the purpose of guiding
the bottom sash. To one end of the fabric is attached a rod a of metal or wood
but preferably the former which is bent at each end so as to closely overlap the
middle beading c.
In each end of this rod, slots are formed for the admission of wing or flatheaded
screws & which pass through the slots when placed parallel thereto, but secure the
rod to the sash frame when turned partially round or at an angle to the slot, as
shewn in the drawing. The method of fitting the rod to the sash will be readily
understood on reference to Figure 3 and it will also be seen that when the sash is
lowered, the opening at the top will be protected by the ventilator or fabric unwound
from the roller B which as it fills up the whole width of the sash and overlaps the
beading also will effectually prevent the passage of dust, soot or other impurities
that may be floating in the atmosphere whilst at the same time allowing fresh air
to pass sufficiently to secure thorough ventilation without unpleasant draught or
current.
For the bottom sash the ventilator roller C is mounted in bearings fixed to the
projecting ledge D and in order to avoid bending the rod a I prefer to attach to the
bottom of the sash frame a wooden rod f to which the rod c is attached by screws
as previously described, being made wide enough to overlap the front beading E so
as thoroughly to sift or filter the air.
In Figures 1. 2 and 3, the rollers therein shewn are supposed to be spring rollers,
that is to say, they are of the kind which wind themselves up without the use of
cords. In cases where from the construction of the window frame, or other reasons,
it is not convenient to fix the top sash ventilator as shewn in Figures 1 and 2, it
may be fitted after the manner of the bottom one by attaching a rod or bar to the
top of the sash frame and making the said bar of sufficient width to come flush
with the front beading E.
In Figure 4 I have shewn another manner of fixing the ventilator which in this
case is placed in a recess at the top of the framework and is connected with the top

page_text: sash through a slot g in the manner hereinbefore described. An endless cord passed
round the end of the roller and over the friction pullies h which are 'let in' to the
framework serves to wind up the ventilator when the sash is being closed.
My Invention is also applicable to the windows of railway carriages and other
conveyances provided with sliding windows as well as to the ventilation of theatres
and other public buildings, by placing one or more ventilators in the doors of such
buildings.
Figure 5 illustrates a convenient method of carrying out this arrangement, the
letter a therein representing a door in the panel of which is formed an aperture
capable of being closed by a sliding door b or by means of the ventilator c which is
wound onto a roller and secured to the side of the door as previously described.
Where it is necessary to keep the outer doors completely open, a pair of inner
folding door frames may be employed and these covered with the ventilating fabric
thus affording a large area for the passage of air.
For the windows and doorways of hospitals my invention will be found par-
ticularly applicable, inasmuch as by soaking the fabric of which it is composed with
water containing a disinfectant the air passing in or out of the building will be
brought into contact with the disinfectant and thoroughly filtered or purified.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
A ventilator composed of a fabric of any of the herein mentioned materials or of
perforated metal, applied in any of the methods herein shewn and described or in
any merely modified form thereof.