IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING SEWERS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Fellows Harrington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th January 1883.
GEORGE FELLOWS HARRINGTON of Ryde in the Isle of Wight Gentleman
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING SEWERS
"
My improvements consist of the following combination, that is, Cowls the open
ends of which are made to form an angle of about 90 degrees to each other, and
such Cowls are also made with vanes to be acted upon by the force of the wind to
cause them to revolve on spindles secured in the upper ends of the down and up
pipes which communicate with Sewers, so that while one of the open ends of the
Cowls is arranged to correspond with the open ends of the pipes on which they
revolve, so as to convey fresh air into the down pipes, or to receive sewer air from
the up pipes, the other of the open ends in soine of the Cowls are arranged to face
the wind so as to receive currents of fresh air to be conveyed by the down pipes
into the sewers, and in other of the Cowls the open ends are arranged to be turned
away from the wind so as to allow the escape of sewer air from the sewers through
the up pipes and Cowls into the atmosphere, and the force of the wind, in whatever
direction it inay blow, should cause the open ends of the inlet and outlet Cowls to
be in opposite directions to each other, and any number of pipes with inlet and
outlet self-acting Cowl-heads placed-say-alternately upon them that may be
found necessary for thorough ventilation, may be made to communicate with all
the Sewers of a Town including the dead ends of such Sewers and convey fresh air
nto them and sewer air out of them to altitudes where it would be perfectly
noffensive to the public sense of smell, the force contained in the wind being the
notor which will drive air into, along, and out of the sewers so as to ventilate
hem. Although I prefer using outlet Cowl-heads in situations where the tops of
he up-current pipes are exposed to adverse winds, in other situations the force in
he upcurrents of sewer air will be sufficient without using outlet Cowl-heads.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Fellows Harrington in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd July 1883.
GEORGE FELLOWS HARRINGTON of Northwood House Ryde in the Isle of
IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING SEWERS
Wight Gentleman
"
General arrangement illustrated by Figure 1
"
5
To ventilate sewers, it is usual to make open gratings to communicate with
them, so as to allow some of the Sewer Gas they contain to escape into the
atmosphere at or about the ordinary Street level, where it is oftentimes offensive
The principal object of my Invention is to
and sometimes dangerous to health.
prevent these evils, and render open gratings over Sewers unnecessary, by
arranging inlet and outlet upcast pipes or shafts to communicate with Sewers, and
Cowls with Vanes to revolve by the force of wind on spindles fitted in and secured
to the upper ends of inlet shafts, so that the mouths of such Cowls shall receive.
the wind and combine the actions and reactions of its energy to force such wind as 1
currents of fresh air through the Cowls down the inlet shafts into Sewers, along
Sewers, and out of Sewers up the outlet shafts carrying the Sewer Gas they mix
with in sewers to altitudes where it is inoffensive to the public at large. The
arrows in Figure 1 shew the directions of the currents into Cowls and down the
inlet shafts into Sewers in which they divide and move in opposite directions
towards the openings to outlet shafts where they meet when the reactions of their
energies force them up outlet shafts, except at the dead ends of Sewers A where
the down currents pass from inlet shafts into Sewers as single currents and also
where the force of the reactions of Sewer currents against the dead ends of
Sewers, B, drive them up the outlet shafts into the open atmosphere without
contact with adverse Sewer currents
Cowls and Inlet Shafts-illustrated by Figure 2
I form Cowls so that their mouths C and throats D D shall be at right angles
to each other or nearly so, and for the purpose of combining the equal and opposite
actions and reactions of the energy of the wind which blows into them, I make
them so that the areas of their mouths shall be much larger-about double-the
areas of their throats, and shape them to condense the wind they receive while it
is passing through them into the inlet shafts M, I also attach Vanes E to cause
them to revolve by the force of wind so that their mouths shall be in positions to
receive it And I secure Tubes F to the Vanes and also to the upper parts of the
Cowls through which they pass downwards to the lowest parts of the centres of
their throats and secure them therein by stays L L, I also make the Cowls with
flanges and rims for the purpose of trapping them and I form rims with bottoms
secured near the upper parts of the inlet shafts to form receptacles II for Oil o
Water for the Cowl-rims to revolve in, (I prefer Oil because of its non-liability to
freeze) to trap the Cowls so as to prevent the air escaping upwards after it is forced
into the inlet shafts M. The arrows show the direction of the currents of air
And I make spindles G and secure them by cross stays to the insides of the inle
shafts M which spindles pass up the Cowl tubes F until their ends come in contac
with the movable steel discs in the tubes against which the cowls revolve, wit
steel springs H in the tubes above the steel discs to facilitate the Cowls risin
when the air, inside the inlet shafts, contains the required force to untrap ther
during strong winds to allow air to escape upwards so as to limit the force of th
down currents when entering sewers from inlet shafts M and thereby obviate th
risk of house-drain-traps being forced by the currents in sewers during storm
I also make pneumatic Oil feeders, K, to inlet shafts, M, to maintain the level
the Oil in the traps as it evaporates. The areas of the mouths of Cowls, and

page_text: inlet shafts, should be the same, and to obtain the most forcible results from winds,
the area of the inlet shafts, when placed at the dead ends of Sewers, should be at
least double the areas of such sewers and four times the areas of Sewers when the
down currents have to divide in opposite directions when entering Sewers. But
under ordinary circumstances it is believed that the inlet shafts and the dead ends
of Sewers may be of the same areas, and that the areas of the inlet shafts may be
double the areas of Sewers in cases where the down currents have to divide in
opposite directions on entering them. The inlet and outlet shafts to be arranged
alternately about Five hundred feet from each other
Figures 3, 4 and 5 represent Wicker or Basket Work to hold Cement made in
about 12 inch lengths and built one above another to form shafts, and either
round, Fig. 3, for constructing shafts without lateral support, or of other shapes,
Figures 4 and 5 for shafts secured against houses or other buildings by means of
suitable Nails driven into the joints of Brickwork &c and the Wicker work covered
inside and outside with cement, or with cement with brick-tiles on their outside
surfaces to correspond with the style of the buildings against which they are
placed; which shafts, so constructed, would not disfigure buildings, on the contrary
they would often improve their appearance.
And as inlet shafts would be made to
appear like chimneys with Cowls and outlet shafts be constructed to appear like
Chimneys without Cowls, they may, in most cases, be made of any required area
without attracting public attention to them. In some cases inlet and outlet shafts
may be constructed to rise perpendicularly over Sewers, but in most cases they will
be erected against buildings and made to bend from them to Sewers, as per Fig. 7
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner in which it
is performed I would have it understood that what I consider to be novel and
original and therefore claim as secured to me in Letters Patent herein first in part
recited is
First Shaping and arranging Cowls to combine the acting and re-acting energy
of wind to condense it as it blows into them before it enters inlet shafts-To make
the areas of inlet shafts larger than the areas of the throats of the Cowls which
convey air into them so as to lessen friction during the passage of such air to
sewers. To trap Cowls with inlet shafts to prevent the upward escape of air from
inlet shafts. And to make self acting spring arrangements to assist the force of air
inside inlet shafts to raise and untrap Cowls during strong winds and thereby
limit the force of the air which enters sewers
Second To build shafts with Wicker or Basket Work structures to retain coats
of cement inside and outside; or of brick-tiles outside during the erection of such
shafts and
Third. The combination of the before stated arrangements, or some of them, to
ventilate sewers, substantially as described and illustrated in this my Specification
together with the right to modify details
In witness whereof I the said George Fellows Harrington bave hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty first day of July One thousand eight hundred and
eighty three
Signed sealed and delivered by the above
named George Fellows Harrington
in the presence of
JOHN WILSON FARDELL
Solicitor
Ryde. I. W.
G F HARRINGTON (L.S.)