IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VENTILATION OF SEWERS, TUNNELS, MINES, AND OTHER CONFINED PLACES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Marsden, of Kingsland Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Ventilating Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE VENTILATION OF SEWERS, TUNNELS, MINES, AND OTHER CONFINED
PLACES."
Scaled the 27th June 1856, and dated the 3rd January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Marsden. at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd January 1856.
I, CHARLES MARSDEN, of Kingsland Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Ventilating Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VENTILATION OF SEWERS, TUNNELS, MINES, AND OTHER
CONPINED PLACES," to be as follows:—
My Invention consists in ventilating sewers, mines, and other confined
places, by withdrawing vitiated air and gases through shafts fitted with pipes
of the particular arrangement and construction herein-after described, by
means of a partial vacuum created by a fan, or blower, or otherwise, or by the
rarefaction of the air at the head of the shaft, by fire or otherwise.
I proceed to describe my Invention applied to the ventilation of sewers:
In convenient districts, as far removed as may be from habitations, I construct
a large main shaft, and I carry branches from this shaft into the sewers, and
into a suitable collar I insert various lengths of tubing, composed entirely of
gutta percha or other suitable material, strengthened here and there with metal
rings, or composed of zinc, lined inside and outside with gutta percha or other

page_text: suitable protecting material, and I lead one of these tubings, or more if neces-
sary, into the main sewer, or into each cross sewer or drain running into the
main sewer, and stop off or trap all the gratings in the cross sewers or drains,
except those two furthest removed from the main sewer, and I also stop off' or
trap all or nearly all the gratings in the main sewer. Experience will shew
what extent of sewers each main shaft will ventilate with the aid of the branch
pipes just described; but if the shafts leading to the sewers be made sufficiently
tight, each main shaft should be capable of ventilating at least five miles of
sewers.
In mines, the branch pipes may be conveyed down the same shaft which con-
veys the downward current, and lengths of piping can be added, as required,
to enter any freshly opened part of the mine.
I propose to ventilate theatres, by carrying lengths of piping from under
each tier of boxes, and creating a partial vacuum by a fan or other suitable
means at the head of some shaft, into which all the pipes are made to lead.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Marsden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MARSDEN, of Kingsland Road, in the County of Middlesex, Ventilating
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Iler reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Marsden, Her special licence, that I, the said Charles Marsden,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Marsden, 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 THE VENTILATION
OF SEWERS, TUNNELS, MINES, AND OTHER CONFINED PLACES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Marsden, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 Charles Marsden, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings bereunto annexed,.
that is to say-
My Invention consists in ventilating sewers, mines, and other confined places,.
by drawing the vitiated air and gases therefrom through a pipe or pipes,
(arranged as herein-after described,) into a shaft with which the pipes commu-
nicate, and thence into the atmosphere, by producing a partial vacuum by
means of a fan, or a blower, or otherwise.
I carry my Invention into effect by leading tubes, which may be of different
lengths, and of diameters increasing with their lengths, into a sewer or other
place to be ventilated, which tubes open into various parts thereof; and at their
other ends lead either directly or through other tubes into a main shaft, having
an exit to the air, and provided with a fan or other contrivance for producing
a partial vacuum, by which means I withdraw vitiated air and gases from 'all
parts of the place to be ventilated, through the tubes into the shaft, and
thence into the outer air. The tubes increase in diameter with their lengths.
or, what is the same thing, with the distance from the main shaft of 'the
part at which they open into the place to be ventilated, in order that the
sucking or exhausting action of the fan, &c. may have the saine power in-all
the tubes, and friction be equalized throughout.
1 now proceed, by way of example, to describe the manner in which my
Invention may be carried into effect for the ventilating of sewers, mines, houses,
and buildings, lighthouses, ships, and tunnels.
My improvements may be applied to the ventilation of the sewers of a town
as follows: In a convenient locality at a'distance fröm 'habitations. I érect'a
shaft, in which I place a fan or blowing machine. From this shaft, or from an
air-tight chamber connected with it, I carry a pipe to the head or other 'part
of each of the main sewers 'to be ventilated, and 'into'a collar fitted to the end
of each of these arterial pipes I insert various lengths of tubing (of 'different
diameters), which I call "veins," and I lead one or more of these tubings into
the main sewer, and into every cross or branch sewer or drain running into the
main sewer. I stop off or trap all the gratings in the cross sewers, (sometinies
excepting the two furthest away from the main sewer,) and I also stop'off' or
trap all or nearly all the gratings in the main-sewer. The fan-being set'in

page_text: motion by steam or otherwise, the impure air and gases will be drawn from
the drain and sewers through the tubings or "veins" and aŕterial pipes into
the main shaft, and expelled into the atmosphere directly; or the gases may
be male to pass through fires and be rarefied before being expelled into the
atmosphere. The tubing is carried along the roofs of the drains, without s
the roadway above having to be opened, or fixed into the crown of the
drains at the parts where the floods reach up to the roof.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a perspective view, partly in section,
shewing this arrangement. A is a shaft, provided with a fan a; in the upper
part of this shaft fires are kept up for rarefying the noxious gases; B is an 1
air-tight chamber, fitted with traps, and communicating with the shaft A;
C, C, C, are arterial pipes, leading from the chamber B to the heads of the
main sewers D, D, D, where they terminate in collars E, E, E, from which a
number of lengths of tubing F, F, F, lead into the cross sewers G, G, G.
To ventilate mines, I lead lengths of tubing (of different diameters) from 1
the upward shaft (made air-tight at bottom), or from arterial pipes connected
therewith, or along the shaft which conveys the downward current; and I
carry this tubing along the roof of the mine into every part of it, lengths of
-tubing being added, as required, to enter any freshly opened part of the mino
as the operations proceed. The gases, as fast as generated, are drawn off a
through the tubing, and expelled by means of a fan at the top of the shaft, or
otherwise.
For the ventilation of dwellings and other buildings, I place a shaft at the
back or other suitable part of a house, and at the top of the shaft I fit a fan,
driven by gearing or clockwork worked by a weight travelling in a long case
or chamber reaching from the top to the bottom of the house. From tho
shaft I carry a number of pipes through the wall, and between the joists into
...the rooms or other part of the house. Figure 2 is an elevation.of.a. house to..
which this plan is applied; Figure 3, a sectional view of the main shaft,
shewing the fan gearing and weight; A is the shaft; B, fan driven by clock-
work C, worked by a weight a in the case D, and wound up from below
through a door at the bottom of the case; E, E, E, are branch pipes leading
from the shaft A to various parts of the house, through which pipes the impure
gases are withdrawn, and expelled into the outer air through an opening 6 in
the shaft A. Branch pipes may be made to lead from the main shaft into the
flues, where they would maintain an upward current by the action of the fan,
and cure smoky chimnies. Figure 4 shews the arrangement applied to a
military hut; A, fan; B, main shaft, both of which may be common to a
number of huts; C, C, C, branch pipes.

page_text: To ventilate theatres, I adopt the plan represented in section in Figure 5.
A fan A is fixed to the roof of the theatre; B is a shaft communicating with
the fan. From this shaft arterial pipes D, D, of different lengths and
diameters, lead to beneath the tiers of boxes or galleries, and from these pipes
branch pipes or tubing E, E, E, of different lengths and diameters, are carried
along the ceilings, or under each tier of boxes, one or more of these branch
pipes opening into each box, or into different divisions of the galleries, &c.;
cach pipe carries off its separate supply of vitiated air, which is expelled by
means of the fan, through the arterial pipes into the shaft, and thence into the
outer air through an opening in the roof. The arterial pipes are furnished
with taps F, F, to regulate the ventilation, and their diameters vary according
to the number of branches opening into them. Figure 6 is a section of a
ship, shewing my plan applied thereto. A fan is fixed at the top of a shaft B,
and driven by clockwork acted on by a weight a, travelling in guides b, b, in
the sides of a case C, which passes through the decks d, d; branch pipes c, e, e,
of different lengths and diameters, lead from the shaft, and are fixed under the
ceilings of each deck, thereby drawing off the effluvium and noxious air from
the hold and other parts of a vessel. The gearing may be made to work a fan
at the opposite side of the extracting fan, and thereby introduce currents of
fresh air into the ship through pipes communicating with the different decks.
Figure 7 (elevation) and Figure 8 (section) shew an arrangement which
may be employed for ventilating private dwellings, club houses, &c. A is
a ventilating shaft or tube, fixed outside the house on suitable supports,
and communicating either directly or through a pipe or pipes with one of the
rooms of a house. The outer end of this shaft is fitted with a hollow screw
joint or nozzle B, closed at bottom. This nozzle is threaded on the outside,
and screws into an air chamber C, which has a female screw formed in it to
receive the joint B. There is an orifice a at the bottom of the chamber C to
admit air, and there are two or more orifices b, b, on the joint B, (or there
may be only one such orifice). A chain or cord D is wound round the air
chamber, and connected at one end d to a spring e, fixed to the building; the
other end of the chain passes over a pulley f, and enters the apartment,
where it is connected to a bell-pull cord, by pulling which the air chamber is
raised or lowered; when raised, the hole a is brought up against the bottom of
the screw joint B, and closed wholly or partially; when lowered, air is admitted
to the interior of the screw joint B, and thence through the shaft A, into the
room. By this arrangement a person sitting in an apartment may, by merely
pulling the cord, regulate the position of the chamber on the joint, and conse-
quently, the admission of air to the room.

page_text: Figure 10, is a view of. a lighthouse: lantern with my improved arrange-
ments applied. A is the body of; the lantern; a,: fan in the shaft b; c, c, c,
pipes leading from the shaft to the flues. d,d, of the lantern. In lanterns.
as ordinarily constructed, air is admitted to feed the flame through orifices
underneath, the effect of which is to fill the lantern with damp and
condensed vapors, and thereby obscure the light. Now in my arrange-
ment dispense with the air holes underneath the lantern, and instead
thereof I. employ.bent tubes e, e, e, which I carry up from. beneath. through
the lautern, to the outside thereof, where they open at top to the. atmo-
sphere, as shewn at e'. These pipes communicate .near the bottom with
the inside of the:flame, as shown at f. By: the action..of the fan a, the air is
drawn through these tubes, mixes with the flame, and. keeps up combustion,.
while the heated gases and products of. combustion are drawn into the flues
d; d, and, expelled therefrom by the branch pipes c, c, into the main shaft:6,
and thence into the outer air by the fan. The vapours condensed in the tubes
fall through the bottom, and collect in a receiver g, from which they may be
drawn. off from time to time. The 'fan is. worked by clockwork and weights
h, h, travelling in a box h!, at the side of the lantern.
My Invention. may also be applied to tunnels, as for example, to the sub-
marine tunnel which it is proposed to construct between England and France,
to ventilate which, only two shafts: (one at each end of the tunnel) would be
required, one on the English.shore and the other on the French shore, each
shaft extending in a downward direction to the mouth of the tunnel, and
fitted at its lower end with a number of branch pipes of different lengths and
diameters.carried along the roof of the tunnel, and opening into it at various
parts, each carrying off its supply of vitiated air which would be expelled by
the fan. My system of ventilation may be applied with 'suitable modifications
to churches, courts., assembly rooms, &c.
.
- Although in the foregoing instances I have spoken of a fan as the expelling
agent, any other means of or contrivance for expelling the air, and producing a
partial vacuum, may be adopted, or means for rarefying. the air may be used.in
combination therewith.
Ventilation obtained by my Invention is without. draft, and has the advantage
of not depending on the state of the temperature or density of the atmosphere.
The ventilating tubing which I employ may be made of metal or of gutta
percha, strengthened or not with metal eollars, or of zinc line inside.and
outside with gutta percha, or of other suitable material, or. combination of
materials. A cowl or shield may be erected at the top or other part of 'the
main shaft to shelter the fan from the.air in bigh winds.

page_text: And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the ventilating of
sewers, tunnels, mines, and other confined places, by drawing vitiated air and
gases therefrom through pipes, arranged and made to act in the manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Marsden, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of July, One thousand eight hun-
dred and fifty-six.