Propelling, and Circulating Air or Gases.
Year: 1888

page_text: Propelling, and Circulating Air or Gases.
I, JAMES HOWORTH of Victoria Works, Farnworth in the County of Lancaster,
Ventilating Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to ventilators for exhausting propelling or circulating air or
gases and consists in improvements of the construction of the fans or propellers of
such ventilators and of the form of their blades and in arrangements for utilising said
ventilators for moistening, warming or cooling the air propelled by them, which are
also applicable for other purposes, and in arrangements for mounting, lubricating and
cooling the spindles of said ventilators in the funnels of steamships or the chimneys
of boilers and furnaces.
In order that my invention may be more readily understood and ascertained, I
have hereunto appended a sheet of drawings marked with letters of reference, on
which figures 1, 2 and 3 show three modified forms of the propeller blades. before
they are bent and fig. 4 the curvature of the blades after they are bent.
Fig. 5 an end view and fig. 6 a cross section of a ventilator with arrangements for
utilising the same for moistening, warming or cooling the air.
Figs. 7 a longitudinal section, fig. 8 a cross-section and fig. 9 a sectional plan of a
ventilator as placed in a funnel with the arrangements for lubricating and cooling the
spindle.
The blades of fans or propellers for ventilators are ordinarily cut out of separate
sheets of metal or cast separately and attached to arms on a boss. My improvements
in the construction of the fans and form of the blades consist in forming the blades
in the following manner: The blades of the propeller are partially cut out of one
sheet of metal in the manner indicated in the upper parts of figures 1, 2 and 3, so
that they remain jointed together at the centre. The sheet of metal is slit radially in
a straight line as shewn on figs. 1 and 2, or by preference in a curve as shewn on
figure 3, into as many parts as there are blades to within a certain distance of the
centre a which remains uncut. The outer edges of the blades are cut either straight
as shewn on fig. 2 or curved to arcs of. circles having their centres on or near-the

page_text: centre of the sheet of metal, as shewn on figs. 1 and 3.
One or both corners of the
outer ends may be rounded. The leading edges c of the blades are left in one plane
while the following or back part d of each blade is bent and curved so that the end of
the blade is almost at a right angle to the plane of the leading edges, as shewn on fig. 4,
the blades assuming then the form shewn in the lower parts of figures 1, 2 and 3.
The centre can be fastened by bolts set screws or rivets to à collar on a spindle or to a
boss, and the boss may be formed with arms which are bolted or rivetted to the plane
part of each blade and serve to stiffen the blades. Some of the divisions of the sheet
may be cut away altogether alternately or on opposite sides of the centre and the
propeller formed with two or three blades only, as shewn on figs. 5 and 6, or it may
have more blades.
Instead of forming the blades out of sheet metal and bending them, I cast them in
some cases in their finished form in a single casting together with the boss.
e
At
My further improvement consists in arrangements for utilising ventilators for the
purpose of moistening, warming or cooling air. These are shewn on figs. 5 and 6.
The boss e of the fan is formed with arms ee² e to which the blades are fixed or cast.
These arms are perforated radially as shewn and the bosse has a circular groove turned
on the inside connecting the ends of the perforations of the arms. The spindle g is
drilled up the centre as far as the circular groove and has one or more crossholes
drilled in it, so that the bore of the spindle communicates with the groove fand
through it with the arms. The spindle is fixed in the boss carried by three
arms fixed to the casing i, which is stiffened by rings provided with feet k and 1.
its inner end the spindle g is connected by a coupling to a pipe through which cold or
warm water or steam can be supplied. The boss è is fitted with stuffing boxes m and n
at the ends and has a driving pulley e' attached to it. The hollow arms e² e³ ³ are
fitted on the front with fine nozzles o o arranged at equal distances from the centre
on the different arms, and the ends of the arms are plugged. Water or steam being
conveyed to the bore of the spindle g flows along the same into the groove fand
thence passes into the arms e e e³, whence it issues through the nozzles oo and
forms a fine spray in front of the propeller blades, through which the air must
pass in going through the apparatus. By this means the vitiated air exhausted
from one place and forced into another room can be purified and air taken from
the outer atmosphere be moistened, cooled or warmed in its passage through the
apparatus into a room. The draught in a down cast ventilating shaft or tube
can be increased by the aid of the water passed through the ventilator and the action
of the latter thereby rendered more powerful than it otherwise would be.
Ventilators or propellers fitted with the arrangements last described can also be
used for damping cotton, wool and similar materials.
The propellers as described with or without the arrangements for moistening,
cooling or warming the air may be used with casings, or without casings in front
of wall openings, or inside rooms as punkas for circulating air.
My improvements further consist in arrangements for applying-ventilators of the
form herein before described or of any other form inside funnels of steam ships or
chimneys of boilers and furnaces for the purpose of exhausting the products of
combustion and increasing the draught. These arrangements are shewn on figs. 7, 8
and 9. Inside the funnel or chimney p I place a bearer p¹ formed in the shape of
a box closed on all sides and having only an opening pt at the end for the band
driving the pulley to pass through. The box p' is attached by flanges p³ to the
funnel p. Upon the bottom of the box p¹ I place a lubricating chamber or cup
attached to it by bolts or screws, which contains a footstep for the propeller
spindle and is closed by a cover q2 forming a bearing for the spindle. Above
the pulley 1 fix another lubricating cup s upon the spindler and cover it with
a lid having another bearing for the spindle attached to or formed upon it.
The lower part of the box pis kept filled with water by means of an inlit pipe t
and an overflow pipe t. The water circulating through the box p¹ keeps the
lubricant in the cup q and the lower bearing of the spindle cool, while the driving
band actuating the spindle by the pulley is protected from the heat and gases by

page_text: the box p', and by these means the application of propellers or exhausters inside
funnels or chimneys is rendered possible. The lubricating cup s will as a rule be
sufficiently protected against heat by the arrangement shewn, but may be further
cooled by surrounding the lid s¹ by a water box closed at the top and supplied with a
water circulation in a similar manner as the box p¹. Oil is fed into the cups by
means of a pipe s² from the outside of the funnel or chimney, and a similar pipe may
be used for supplying the cup q When the propeller is fixed in a brick chimney, the
box shaped bearer pl is provided with suitable extensions for building it into the brick
work, instead with flanges p² p³, or may be placed upon corbels or brackets built into
the chimney. The propeller or fan u is fixed upon the top part of the spindle », so
that it can readily be removed in case of breakage.
By applying the propellers or exhausters in the way herein last described, the
projecting portion of funnels above deck may be dispensed with and the smoke
diverted through tubes fitted with dampers for regulating the direction of the smoke
to the bow or stern or to either side of the vessel according to the direction of the
wind, so that the vessel will always be free of smoke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
Firstly, forming the whole of the blades of fans or propellers of ventilators out of
a single sheet of metal, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
drawings.
Secondly, casting the whole of the blades of fans or propellers of ventilators in one
piece with the boss.
Thirdly, the shape of the blades of fans or propellers of ventilators substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Fourthly, combining with ventilator fans or propellers spray producing apparatus
substantially as hereinbefore described.
Fifthly, forming ventilator fans or propellers with hollow arms fitted with nozzles
and communicating through the boss with a hollow spindle connected to a water
or steam supply pipe, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purposes set
forth.
Sixthly, the arrangement of box shaped bearers with water circulation for
supporting the spindles of ventilators or exhausters in funnels or chimneys, sub-
stantially as described;
Seventhly, the construction of box shaped bearers with water circulation for
supporting the spindles of ventilators or exhausters in funnels and chimneys and the
arrangements for lubricating the bearings of the spindles, substantially as herein
before described with reference to figures 7, 8 and 9.
Dated the 10th day of January 1888.