On this day in 1886 Lewis H. Latimer was granted the patent for APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND DISINFECTING. U.S. Patent No. 334,078.
The object of this invention is to present a large evaporating-surface for the purpose of cooling the air about or passing over it, or to charge the same with chemical agents such as carbolic acid, bromochloralum, etc. – to destroy such odors or germs of disease as may exist therein, and it is accomplished by stretching a webbing of any suitable textile fabric between a reservoir and drip-pan or between two or more reservoirs so arranged as to keep said webbing saturated and supply the waste by evaporation.
This invention can be arranged in many different ways to accommodate the place or use for which the item is to be used; but whether used in a horizontal or vertical position for deodorizing, disinfecting, or cooling, the device only varies in the means adopted for holding it in place, the main features-to wit, the reservoirs and webbing-always remaining the same or only slightly modified in shape.
