IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE AND ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF COLD, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1875

page_text: :
LETTERS PATENT to John Gamgee, of Chelsea, in the County. of'
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF ICE AND ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF COLD, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREIN.
"
Sealed the 27th June 1876, and dated the 29th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gamgee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th December 1875.
I, JOHN GAMGEE, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ICE AND ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF COLD, AND IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
In the working of ordinary freezing or refrigerating machines in
which ether is employed, there are difficulties and waste of power
attendant upon the pressure constantly developed and increasing with.
work in the condenser, caused by the introduction of air into the

page_text: pump may therefore take the place of the expensive pumps hitherto
employed.
In working the machine I use the air which has usually been driven
out prior to working as the motive agent, or I may displace the air and
introduce ethers together with formiate of methyle or other gases or
vapors which can alone be condensed by pressure, so that I am enabled
to use compounds of gases and vapors in freezing machines, which has
hitherto not been attempted. For example, by employing a compound
of compressed sulphurous acid and ether I could produce cold sufficient
to freeze mercury. Again a compound of sulphuric ether and methyl-
aethylic ether or of formiate of methyle and methylic ether would have
a similar action under the combined effect of condensing in one placo
by cold water, and in another by pressure. A simple surface or cold
water condenser combined with a distinct pressure condenser is an
economical arrangement in using compounds of liquids of different
boiling points, or of gases and liquids.
My Invention further consists in causing the water which has to be
frozen to trickle or flow gradually in thin sheets or films over the
tubular metal walls of the ice boxes or chambers, and in pumping the
uncongealed water over and over again with an additional supply until
the required thickness of ice is obtained.
Further, in order to accelerate the formation of ice I combine with
the circulation of very cold liquids in the tubular ice box walls the use
of an exhaust and blowing fan to cause a rapid current of air which is
cooled and dried in a refrigerator, or simply dried in a suitable apparatus,
to pass through the ice boxes in order to favor the evaporation at low
temperatures of the water flowing in the ice boxes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gamgee in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GAMGEE, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the
5 year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the

page_text: thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Gamgee, Her special
licence, that I, the said John Gamgee, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gamgee, my exc-
cutors, 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 “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE AND ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF COLD,
AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Gamgee, my executors or administrators, 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
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.
a
NOW. KNOW YE, that I, the said John Gamgee, 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 accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :—
In the working of ordinary freezing or refrigerating machines in
which ether is employed, there are difficulties and waste of power
attendant upon the pressure constantly developed, and increasing with
work in the condenser, caused by the introduction of air into the machine
through the stuffing boxes of the air pump or other aperture. Periodical
blowing off is necessary to relieve this pressure, and this is attended
with loss of ether, and especially of the lighter and more volatile portions
of the liquid used. There is also a discharge of air or of air and ether
combined when a machine is started for the first time, or when from
any prolonged stoppage the vacuum first formed has been lost. It is
also requisite in machines of the ordinary construction to use perfect air
pumps of very large size having valved orifices which are necessarily
contracted.
In the manufacture of ice in ice boxes or chambers it has been usual

page_text: freezing point without much delay, and there is great difficulty in the
economical manufacture of thick blocks or slabs of ice owing to the ice
itself being a bad conductor of heat.
Now my improvements are mainly intended to overcome the
difficulties and drawbacks before stated, whereby I am able among
other advantages to economize the pressure before referred to by using
it directly as an accelerator of force, and I am also enabled to use
compounds of gases and vapors and mixtures of vapors, some of which
are condensed by water at ordinary temperatures, and others require
pressure.
My Invention consists in the employment of an injector or jet to
blow the ether (or other suitable volatile liquid) into the refrigerator,
and by atomizing it to accelerate its conversion from the state of liquid
to that of vapor; the said injector or jet is situated in or at right angles
with the opening of the return ether pipe where it enters the refrigerator,
or under certain conditions the injector or jet may be placed in the
exhaust pipe of the refrigerator.
My Invention further consists in the employment of a small exhaust
and force pump to releive the pressure which accumulates in the main
condenser as before mentioned. By means of this auxiliary pump air
and vapor are accumulated in a small supplementary condenser, and
they are permitted to pass under considerable pressure into the pipe
which conveys the liquid to be volatilized into the refrigerator. By the
combined use of this auxiliary pump and of the injector or jet I can
dispense with the use of large air pumps as vapor circulators. A fan or
rotary pump, a centrifugal apparatus, or an ordinary water pump may
therefore take the place of the expensive pumps hitherto employed.
In working the machine I use the air which has usually been driven
out prior to working as the motive agent, or I may displace the air and
introduce ethers together with formiate of methyle or other gases or
vapors which can be condensed by pressure alone, so that I am enabled
to use compounds of gases and vapors in freezing machines, which has
hitherto not been attempted. For example, by employing a compound
of compressed sulphurous acid and ether I could produce cold sufficient
to freeze mercury. Again a compound of sulphuric ether and methyla-
ethylic ether, or of formiate of methyle and methylic ether would have
a similar action under the combined effect of condensing in one place

page_text: by cold water, and in another by pressure. A simple surface or cold
water condenser combined with a distinct pressure condenser is an
economical arrangement in using compounds of liquids of different
boiling points, or of gases and liquids.
The improvements herein-before described will be fully understood on
reference to Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings, which is a general view
or diagram (in clevation) of the apparatus. A is the condenser; B, the
refrigerator; O, the main pump, fan, or centrifugal apparatus; D, the
small or auxiliary pump; and E, the supplementary condenser; F is the
pipe which conducts the liquid or return ether from the condenser to
the refrigerator; G, the pipe through which gas or air is drawn by the
pump D to be forced to the supplementary condenser E, from which it
passes to the refrigerator B; H is the exhaust pipe from the refrigerator
to the pump or fan O; and I, the pressure pipe-leading from the pump C
to the condenser A; K is a vacuum gauge, and L, a pressure gauge.
The gas pipe G where it. terminates at the refrigerator is in the form of
an injector or jet either within the opening or mouth of the liquid ether
pipe F, as shown in Figure 2, or at right angles thereto as in Figure 3;
in cither case the force of the gas issuing from the injector or jet has the
effect of blowing the ether into the refrigerator, and by atomizing it of
accelerating its conversion to the state of vapor. The auxiliary pump D
relieves the pressure in the main condenser A while the pressure is
accumulated in the supplementary condenser E; the air which is in tho
machine prior to working is allowed to remain, and becoming com-
pressed serves as the motive agent, or it may be displaced by ethers
together with gases or vapors as herein-before stated. M represents in
dotted lines an arrangement in which the injector or jet is placed in the
exhaust pipe H, the condenser E being then dispensed with; this
position of the injector accelerates the passage of the ether from the
pipe F into and through the refrigerator, and therefore its vaporization,
but I do not consider it so good as at the opening of the pipe F;
N represents in dotted lines a pipe for carrying out an alternative
arrangement in which the liquid ether is conducted into the condenser E
and becomes compressed therein in combination with the gases brought
by the pipe G.
My Invention further consists in causing the water which has to be
frozen to trickle or flow gradually in thin sheets or films over the

page_text: uncongealed water over and over again with an additional supply until
the required thickness of ice is obtained. This part of my Invention is
represented in vertical section in Figure 4, in which A is an ice box or
chamber, and B, B, the tubular walls through which the freezing
medium (glycerine and water for example) circulates in a zig-zag course
in the usual way; C, C, are pipes above the walls B, and formed with
perforations or slits at their lowest-part. These pipes O are in com-
munication with a water tank D which is provided with a ball-cock to
regulate its supply from any convenient source; E is a rotary pump for
pumping the uncongealed water from the box or chamber A back. to the
tank D.
Further, in order to accelerate the formation of ice, I combine with
the circulation of very cold liquids in the tubular ice box walls the use
of an exhaust and blowing fan to cause a rapid current of air which is
cooled and dried in a refrigerator, or simply dried in a suitable apparatus,
to pass through the ice boxes in order to favor the evaporation at low
temperatures of the water flowing in the ice boxes.
Figure 5 represents in elevation an ice box A. with cover B, and with
a Schiele's or other suitable fan O arranged to exhaust the air from the
box A, and force it through a refrigerator D, and then back into the
ice box A, the current or circulation being continuous.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The employment in freezing or refrigerating machines of an
injector or jet to blow ether or other volatile liquid into the refrigerator
or into the exhaust pipe of the refrigerator, substantially as and for the
purpose herein-before described and represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3
of the annexed Drawings.
Second. The employment in freezing or refrigerating machines of a
small auxiliary pump, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings.
Third. The combination with the said auxiliary pump of a supple-
mentary condenser, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings.
Fourth. The mode of working, freezing, or refrigerating machines,
substantially as herein-before described with reference to Figure 1 of the
annexed Drawings.

page_text: Fifth. The combination or arrangement of parts of freezing or re-
frigerating machines as herein-before described and represented in
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings.
Sixth. The combination or combined use in freezing or refrigerating
machines of gases or vapors condensed by pressure with gases or vapors
condensed at- the ordinary temperature of water without pressure, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Seventh. Constructing apparatus for the manufacture of ice in such
manner that the water to be frozen is caused to trickle or flow gradually
in sheets or films over the tubular metal walls of the ice boxes, while
the uncongealed water is pumped over and over again, substantially
as herein-before described and represented in Figure 4 of the annexed
Drawings.
Eighth. The use in combination with ice boxes of an exhaust and.
blowing fan, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described 1
and represented in Figure 5 of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof I the soid John Gam
Drawings.
Eighth. The use in combination with ice boxes of an exhaust and
blowing fan, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described 1
and represented in Figure 5 of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gamgee, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
J. C. MEWBURN,
Patent Agent,
169, Fleet Street,
London.
JOHN GAMGEE.
(L.S.)