IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING MINES AND SUCH LIKE PLACES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Heppell, of Uttoxeter in the County of
Stafford, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING
MINES AND SUCH LIKE PLACES."
Sealed the 3rd November 1857, and dated the 9th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Heppell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1857.
I, GEORGE HEPPELL, of Uttoxeter, in the County of Stafford, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VENTILATING MINES AND SUCH LIKE PLACES," to be as follows:-
My principal objects are, first, when the ventilation is effected by means of
drafts, caused by fires or furnaces in the shafts, to prevent the gases and foul
air discharged from the workings from passing through or coming in contact
with the said fires.
Second, to effect the ventilation of mines or such like places without
making use of fires in the shafts or workings for that purpose; or if such be
made use, the arrangement shall be in such a manner that the gases and
foul air from the workings shall not come into immediate contact with such
said fires.
I propose to effect these after the following manner:-I build over the
mouth of the upcast shaft, which is connected with the workings for venti-
lating them, a chimney having two shafts, one concentric with the other, and
seperated from each other at the bottom of the inner or centre shaft, which
has no communication with the upcast shaft (but which may have arrange.

page_text: ments so as to be put in communication with the same when required). I
erect within it a cupola containing a furnace of large dimensions, having its
draft up the central shaft; the outer concentric shaft being in connexion with
the upcast shaft and workings, is heated by contact with the furnace and hot
walls of the inner shaft, and acts as the flue for carrying off the foul air from
the workings, which by this arrangement passes away without coming in
contact with the interior of the furnace; the outer shaft need not have its
walls carried so high as the inner.
A similar arrangement and construction may be adopted at the bottom of
the shaft instead of the top. In this case the walls of the inner shaft need only
be carried a sufficient height up the upcast shaft, so as to prevent the foul air
and gases proceeding from the workings from coming near the flame from the
furnace, while the fire itself must be supplied with air from the downcast
shaft, or in such a way as to prevent communication between the workings
and the furnace. In some cases it may be found advisable to apply the fire
through the outer shaft, the inner shaft then being in communication with the
upcast shaft, while the outer one is entirely seperated.
To effect ventilation without making use of fires in the shafts I propose the
following: Adjoining to the upcast shaft I sink two cylindrical shafts or
openings, which, after proceeding vertically downwards for some distance,
converge and open each into the upcast shaft on different sides. I line or
case these shafts in their vertical surface with wood or iron, or other suitable
substance, so as to enable pistons to move air-tight in them, which said pistons
I work by means of steam or otherwise, giving to them an alternate upward
and downward motion. Besides the communication made with the cylinders
and the upcast shaft, at the part where the converging portions meet the
latter, I also form another branch or passage, runing from near the bottom of
the vertical parts of each of the cylinders in a horizontal direction until they
meet the sides of the upcast shaft and each cylinder. Into these various
openings where the cylinder and branches intersect the upcast shaft and
each other, all of which communicate with the workings, I insert valves of
such a nature as to be worked or opened and shut by the action of the air.
passing to and from the cylinders and the upcast shaft. The effect of this
arrangement, when the pistons are worked in the cylinders, will be almost
similar to that of a double-barrel pump; thus, when one piston moves up,
creating a partial vacuum in its cylinder, the air from the mine or workings
will rush through the valve (which opens upwards) from the upcast shaft;
when it again descends this valve will be closed by the downward pressure of
the air, which will be forced along the horizontal passage into the upcast

page_text: shaft, and from thence through the chimney; the two pistons working
alternately, the one will be forcing foul air out of the workings through the
upper part of the upcast shaft, while the other is withdrawing it from the
under part of the said shaft. Should it be required to force pure air into the
workings, it will be apparent this can be effected by the application of the
same arrangement to the downcast shaft, the valves being in this case reversed.
It is not necessary, nor is it intended, that the first-described method of
ventilation, by means of the furnace and its peculiar arrangement, is required
to be in action conjointly with the last-described method by pistons and
cylinders, nevertheless both arrangements may be adopted, so that the former
may act if the machinery of the latter should get out of order, or by itself
where the latter is not adopted, and each may operate independant of the
other, or conjointly when requisite or necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Heppell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HEPPELL, of Uttoxeter, in the County of Stafford, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Heppell, Her special licence that I, the said George Heppell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Heppell, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING
MINES AND SUCH LIKE PLACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Heppell, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Heppell, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
The usual method by which mines and other such like places are ventilated
is by means of an open furnace, placed either at the top or bottom or at both
top and bottom of the shaft or opening, which is used for conducting the
vitiated air away from such like place. The said air in passing through the
open furnace becomes rarified, and from its decreased density passing up the
shaft, causing thereby a draught, and producing a circulation of air in the mine,
which is supplied from some other shaft or opening. The inefective manner
in which ventilation is produced by this method, as well as the great danger
connected with it, owing to the facilities which it affords for producing
explosions when the vitiated air is highly charged with explosive gas, causing
great loss of life and property, seems to call for some remedy.
To effect this, I propose, first, to produce ventilation in mines and such like
places without making use of open fires in the shafts or workings, but by
other mechanical means to be herein-after described; second, where ventilation
is effected by means of draughts caused by fires or furnaces in the shafts or
workings, I propose to arrange and construct these fires in such a manner
that the vitiated air or inflammable gas passing from the workings shall
in no case come into contact with the burning fuel or flame of such said
furnaces.
I produce these results as follows:-First, for effecting the ventilation
without making use of open furnaces in the shafts or workings I adopt the
following arrangement :-Adjoining to the upcast shaft or opening used for
conveying away the vitiated air I sink two cylindrical shafts or openings,
which after proceeding vertically downwards for some distance, each by con-
verging or bending inwards opens into the upcast shaft on different sides.
I line or case these shafts in their vertical surface with wood or iron, or other
suitable substance, so as to enable pistons to move air-tight in them. These
pistons I work with a rope or chain or rod, and by means of steam or other
power giving them an alternate upward and downward motion. Into these
openings, where the cylinders or branches intersect the upcast shaft and each
other, all of which by means of the upcast shaft communicate with the
workings, I insert valves of such a nature as to be worked, that is, opened
and closed by the action of the air passing to and from the cylinder and the
upcast shaft. The effect of this arrangement, when the pistons are worked
in the cylinders, will be almost similar to that of a double-barrel pump; thus,

page_text: when one piston moves up, creating a partial vacuum in its cylinder, the air
from the mine or workings will rush through the valve (which opens upwards)
from the upcast shaft; when it again descends this valve will be closed by
the downward pressure of the air, which will be forced along the horizontal
passage into the upcast shaft, and from thence through the chimney; the
two pistons working alternately, the one will be forcing foul air out of the
workings through the upper part of the upcast shaft, while the other is with-
drawing it from the workings and the under part of the said shaft. Should
it be required to force pure air into the workings, it will be apparent this
can be effected by the application of the same arrangement to the downcast
shaft, the valves being in this case reversed.
Second, when it is necessary to effect ventilation by means of draughts
caused by fires or furnaces in the shafts or workings, in order to prevent the
return vitiated air from coming into contact with these fires I arrange and
construct them as follows:-I build over the mouth of the upcast shaft
(which said upcast shaft is connected with the workings) a chimney having
two shafts, one concentric with the other, and seperated from each other.
At the bottom of the inner or centre shaft, which has no communication with
the upcast shaft (but which may be so arranged as to be put in communication
when required), I erect within it a cupola containing a furnace of large,
dimensions, having its draft up the central shaft. The outer concentric shaft,
which rises up higher than the inner, and is in connexion with the upcast
shaft and workings, is heated by contact with the hot walls of the inner shaft,
and acts as a flue for carrying off the foul air from the workings, which by
this arrangement passes away without coming in contact with the interior of
the furnace. The walls of the inner chimney containing the furnace should
be constructed of the best conducting materials, so that the heat may be
easily transmitted to the outer chimney; also to prevent the flame from rising
out at the top of the inner chimney, bridges of brick may be thrown at
intervals in the interior, so as to break the force of the flame. A similar
arrangement and construction, having the concentric chimnies and the furnace,
may be applied at the bottom of the upcast shaft instead of the top, and
also in some cases the same arrangement may be applied at both bottom and
top. In those cases the walls of the inner chimney at the bottom of the
upcast shaft need only be carried such a height up the shaft as will be sufficient
to prevent the foul air and gases from coming in contact with the flame
from the furnace. In some cases a modification of this latter application may
be adopted, and the furnace may be placed in the space between the walls
of the outer and inner chimney, the inner chimney being then in communica-

page_text: tion with the upcast shaft, and the outer one cut off from it. The draught
from the workings will now be caused by the heat imparted to the air in
the upper part of the upcast shaft from the furnace in the said space between
the walls. Furthermore, I propose in some cases to combine both of theso
methods, that is to say, to apply the pumping apparatus as above described,
and in combination with it the system of concentric chimnies having an
isolated furnace in one or other of them. Both systems may be used at the
same time, or they may be used independantly of each other.
In order to illustrate the above description, and more clearly to explain
my Invention, the accompanying Drawings are appended, and the following
description of them given. It is not intended, however, that these shall
exhibit the accurate form, dimensions, or figure, all of which would vary and
be modified to suit the peculiar place and locality requiring to be ventilated,
but only to render the before-described description clear and intelligible.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 are a sectional elevation and plan to illustrate my system
of ventilation by means of pistons working in cylinders, by which the foul air
is pumped from the workings through the upcast shaft into the atmosphere.
a, a, is the upcast shaft; b, b, the pumping cylinders; c, c, the pistons, which
are elevated and depressed by means of a. rope passing over a wheel d, d,
driven by steam or other power; x, x³, and y, y', are the valves, the action of
which being similar to those of a double-barrel pump will be understood from
the Drawing. The arrows shew the direction of the draught of vitiated air
from the workings.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 illustrate my second system of ventilation by
means of concentric chimnies and isolated furnaces, the letters in these indi-
cating the similar parts of the Figures, as before described.
Figures 3 and 4 shew, in the former, the furnace in the inner chimney
(which is isolated from the upcast shaft); in the latter, the furnace in the
inner chimney at both top and bottom of the shaft. f is the furnace; g, the
shaft of the furnace; o, the brick arches in the shaft to prevent the flame
rising out at the top.
Figures 5 and 6 shew a slightly different arrangement of the last-described
methods.
Figures 7 and 8 are a plan and section, shewing the combination of isolated
furnaces at both top and bottom.
Figures 9 and 10 shew the application of both systems combined, Figure 9
being a sectional elevation, and Figure 10 is a sectional plan, the similar

page_text: letters in these Figures indicating the corresponding parts of those in the
Figures before described.
Having now particularly ascertained and described the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it under-
stood that what I claim, and wish secured by the before in part recited
Letters Patent, are,-
First, the application of pumping apparatus and the arrangement as above
set forth, and substantially as described, for ventilating mines and other such
like places.
Second, the arrangement and construction of chimnies and furnaces, as
above set forth and described, for ventilating mines and such like places, so
that the return or vitiated air shall not come in contact with the ignited fuel
or flame of the said furnace.
Third, the application of these two systems combined, that is, the first above-
described claim combined with the second described claim, and substantially
as set forth and described in the said Specification and Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Heppell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
GEORGE HEPPELL. (L.S.)
Witness to the signature of the said
George Heppell,
THOMAS FRADGLEY,
Architect & Surveyor,
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.