Apparatus for Supplying and Regulating the Blast of Air.


Fig. 10 represents a plan of the lower floor of the building. E is a
three-horse power Lovegrove engine and boiler, resting on a stone
foundation; B, a small Roots' blower; G, an automatic regulator. From this
the air goes to a delivery-pipe, up through the floor, and to the turbine.
The engine made about 4 turns per second and the blower about 15. At this
speed the pressure of the air was about half a pound per square inch.

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

The regulator, Fig. 11, consists of a strong bellows supporting a weight
of 370 pounds, partly counterpoised by 80 pounds in order to prevent the
bellows from sagging. When the pressure of air from the blower exceeds the
weight, the bellows commences to rise, and, in so doing, closes the
valve V.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.]

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

This arrangement was found in practice to be insufficient, and the
following addition was made: A valve was placed at P, and the pipe was
tapped a little farther on, and a rubber tube led to a water-gauge, Fig
12. The column of water in the smaller tube is depressed, and, when it
reaches the horizontal part of the tube, the slightest variation of
pressure sends the column from one end to the other. This is checked by an