ROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING OR PRODUCING COLD, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Edwards Siebe, of Mason Street, Lambeth,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer and Machinist, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING OR
PRODUCING COLD, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO
OTHER PURPOSES."
.
Sealed the 12th September 1862, and dated the 21st March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Edwards Siebe
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st March 1862.
I, DANIEL EDWARDS SIEBE, of Mason Street, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer and Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING
OR PRODUCING COLD, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to effect increased economy in the working
of machines employed for making ice, and for other purposes requiring an
artificially reduced temperature; parts thereof are also applicable to other
uses.
It consists, firstly, of an improved form of air pump, the valves of which
are moved by mechanical means, and are so arranged that the periods at
which the outlet valves open varies to suit the density for the time being of
the air, gas, or vapour operated upon. For this purpose the valves are

page_text: opened by means of a cam or cams, the position of which is or are altered to
suit the varying pressures, so as to open the valves at the proper time by
means of a pressure or vacuum gauge, or of a combination of pressure and
vacuum gauge, or other equivalent or suitable means. This arrangement is
applicable also to pumps which are or may be made use of for various other
purposes.
Secondly, of a form of condenser wherein the current of condensing water
is caused to flow in a contrary direction to that of the vapour required to be
condensed, and is kept throughout its course in intimate contact with the
pipes, tubes, or chambers containing the vapour, thus producing considerably
increased condensing effect.
Thirdly, in an improved multitubular refrigerator, in which the tubes,
instead of being placed horizontally as usual, are arranged vertically, and the
cooling fluid contained in the vessel containing and surrounding the tubes is
thus relieved from the liability to those variations of pressure which, in tho
ordinary construction, are frequently the cause of injury to the refrigerator.
Fourthly, in a regulator whereby the return of the ether from the con-
denser to the refrigerator is governed, and which consists of an arrangement
of float, connected by a lever or other equivalent or suitable means with a
tap or valve, whereby on the rising of the ether to the level allowed, a com-
munication is opened with, and any excess of ether passes to the refrigerator.
When a tap is employed for this purpose its plug is made with a sharp cone
(so as to avoid any liability to becoming set fast) and is kept up to its bearing
by means of a spring. A stud or pin passing through the side of the regu-
lator enables the float to be raised from the outside when required, a glass
being provided which enables the level of the ether contained in the regulator
at all times to be seen.
Fifthly, in enabling the moulds or vessels containing the liquid to be cooled
or frozen to be moved successively towards the refrigerating power as others
of the moulds are removed. For this purpose the moulds are arranged either
singly or in sets of two or more, so that on one or a set of moulds being.
removed from the end nearest to the refrigerating power, the remaining
moulds. may be moved towards it either by a screw or other suitable means,
and fresh moulds inserted at the end farthest from the refrigerator.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in
pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Daniel Edwards Siebe in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
EDWARDS SIEBE, of Mason Street, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Engi-
neer and Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
mc, the said Daniel Edwards Siebe, Her special licence that I, the said
Daniel Edwards Siebe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Daniel Edwards Siebe, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING
OR PRODUCING COLD, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO
OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Daniel
Edwards Siebe, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Daniel Edwards Sicbe, 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:—
This Invention has for its object to effect increased economy in the working
of machines employed for making ice, and for other purposes requiring an
artificially reduced temperature; parts thereof are also applicable to other
uses.
It consists, firstly, of an improved form of air pump, the valves of which
are moved by mechanical means, and are so arranged that the period at which
the outlet valves open varies to suit the density for the time being of the air,
gas, or vapour operated upon. For this purpose the valves are opened by

page_text: means of a cam or cams, the position of which is or are altered to suit the
varying pressures, so as to open the valves at the proper time by means of a
pressure or vacuum gauge, or of a combination of pressure and vacuum gauge
or other equivalent or suitable means. This arrangement is applicable also
to pumps which are or may be made use of for various other purposes.
Secondly, of a form of condenser, wherein the current of condensing water
is caused to flow in a contrary direction to that of the vapour required to be
condensed, and is kept throughout its course in intimate contact with the
pipes, tubes, or chambers containing the vapour, thus producing considerably
increased condensing effect.
Thirdly, in an improved multitubular refrigerator, in which the tubes,
instead of being placed horizontally as usual, are arranged vertically, and the
cooling fluid contained in the vessel containing and surrounding the tubes is
thus relieved from the liability to those variations of pressure which in the
ordinary construction are frequently the cause of injury to the refrigerator.
Fourthly, in a regulator whereby the return of the ether from the condenser
to the refrigerator is governed, and which consists of an arrangement of float
connected by a lever or other equivalent or suitable means, with a tap or valve
whereby on the rising of the ether to the level allowed, a communication is
opened with and any excess of ether passes to the refrigerator. When a tap
is employed for this purpose its plug is made with a sharp cone (so as to avoid
any liability to becoming set fast), and is kept up to its bearing by means of a
spring. A stud or pin passing through the side of the regulator enables the
float to be raised from the outside when required, a glass being provided
which enables the level of the ether contained in the regulator at all times to
be seen.
Fifthly, in enabling the moulds or vessels containing the liquid to be cooled
or frozen, to be moved successively towards the refrigerating power as others
of the moulds are removed. For this purpose the moulds are arranged either
singly or in sets of two or more, so that on one or a set of moulds being removed
from the end nearest to the refrigerating power, the remaining moulds may be
moved towards it either by a screw or other suitable means, and fresh moulds
inserted at the end farthest from the refrigerator.
Ere proceeding with the description of the several improvements herein
specified, it may be well to explain that this class of refrigerating or cooling
apparatus acts on the well known principle of the evaporation of volatile
liquids in vacuo, and their subsequent condensation under pressure with the
assistance of water at an ordinary temperature.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is a general plan, partly in section, shewing my several
improvements arranged in combination with each other for the purpose of
making ice.
a represents a horizontal section of one arrangement of my improved air
pump, having a solid piston 6 driven from the shaft c by means of a crank d;
e, f, are the inlet valves, communicating with the refrigerator i, and g, h, the
outlet communicating with the condenser j. In the position shewn the inlet
valve e and the outlet valve are each partly open, and the piston about to
commence its stroke drawing vapour from the refrigerator through the valve e,
and forcing that previously contained in the pump cylinder through the valve h
into the condenser j.
The mode of actuating the outlet valves is shewn at Fig. 2, Sheet 1.
represents a pressure and vacuum gauge, having a corrugated disc k¹,
capable of being forced outward, or caused to assume a convex form by excess
of internal pressure, or the reverse when a partial vacuum is formed within.
This gauge is connected by means of a small tube with one end of the
cylinder a, the raising and depression of its disc by the varying pressure in
the cylinder acting upon a lever 7, which in turn acts against a collar m fixed
on the shaft or spindle n. This shaft is driven by bevil wheels, or by any
other convenient or suitable means, so as to revolve at the same rate as the
crank d, and is capable of sliding endwise in its bearings. It is fitted with
cams o, o', which are fixed upon it, and partake of its movements. In addition
to the gauge & there are also two other gauges p and q, one of which (p) is
connected by a pipe or tube with the condenser j, and operates upon the
shaft n by means of a lever r, acting between two collars fixed upon the
shaft n, and the other (g) which is connected with the cylinder at the contrary
end to % acts upon the shaft n through a lever in the same manner. Tho
cams o and o' are formed with a portion of their length concentric with and
parallel to the shaft n (and consequently will not move a lever pressing against
them in that part), and from this concentric and parallel part are formed with
a gradually increasing and widening rise, which at the opposite end of the
cam comprises one entire half of the revolution. The spindles of the seg-
mental valves g and h pass through suitable stuffing boxes to the outside of
the valve chambers, and are fitted with levers s and s¹, which are connected by
rods with the bell-crank levers t, t, fitted with rollers u, u', which press against
the cams o and o¹, so that when the higher parts of the cams act against them
the bell-crank levers are raised and open the valves. The action of this

page_text: arrangement is as follows:-So long as the pressure in the condenser j is in
excess of the pressure in the cylinder at that side of the piston which for the
time being is in process of compression, the disc of the gauge p remains forced
outward in a convex form, and by acting upon the lever » retains the shaft n in
such a position as to present the concentric portions only of either of the cams
to the respective bell-crank levers, but immediately upon the pressure in the
cylinder becoming equal to that in the condenser, the disc of the gauge k or q,
as the case may be, is caused to assume the convex form, and thereby through
its lever to move the shaft n endwise in its bearings, thus bringing the higher
part of one or other of the cams into a position to act upon its bell-crank lever,
and thereby to open the valve connected therewith. The inlet valves may be
opened and closed as required by any ordinary or suitable arrangement of
cams or levers.
Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a vertical section of a condenser constructed according
to my improvements. It is also shewn in plan at j, Fig. 1, Sheet 1, the same
letters being used to distinguish the several parts in each Figure. A repre-
sents a rectangular trough or cistern divided vertically into two compartments
by the division B, and containing the series of tubes C, C¹, between each bend
or lap of which is placed a board or plate D projecting from and attached to
the end of the cistern. The larger tubes C are connected with the air pump
by the pipe E, and the lower end of the series of pipes is connected at F with
tlic cylindrical air vessel G contained in the smaller division of the cistern,
and surmounted by a pressure and vacuum gauge H; to this air vessel are
connected pipes I, J, and K, the pipes I and K being connected with the
regulator, as shewn in Fig. 1, and the pipe J with a small pump employed for
the purpose of drawing off any air that may collect in the vessel G. The
vapour to be condensed enters by the pipe E, and after passing along the
large pipes C, enters the smaller pipes or tubes C', passing through their entire
length, becoming condensed in the passage and entering the vessel G at F.
The water employed for condensation enters at the upper part of the smaller
chamber of the cistern, surrounds the vessel G, and passes into the larger
chamber by an opening situated at the bottom of the division B. It is then
in its way to the upper part of the large chamber compelled by the boards D
(which are attached alternately to each end of the chamber, and pass between
cach lap of the tubes C¹) to traverse the entire length of all the tubes in a
direction contrary to that in which the vapour enters them, finally leaving the
cistern by an overflow pipe situated at its upper end.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the refrigerator, shewn also in plan at i,
Fig. 1; Sheet 1, it consists of a circular cistern L containing a cylindrical

page_text: vessel M, having a number of tubes N passing vertically through it; these
tubes are surmounted by and open to a cistern O, into which the salt water or
other liquid to be cooled is led, having its entrance by the pipe P, and after
passing downwards through the tubes N and through a series of perforations
formed in a small chamber situated at the bottom of the vessel M, passing
upward around the outside thereof, and flowing off from the top of the
cistern L, whence it passes to the trough containing the ice moulds, as shewn
at Fig. 1, Sheet 1. The ether or other volatile liquid, by the evaporation of
which the refrigeration is produced, enters the vessel M by the pipe Q, to
which is connected a vertical pipe fitted with a glass gauge for shewing the
height of the contained ether or other volatile liquid. The vapour formed in
the vessel M is drawn off therefrom by the pipe R fitted with a vacuum
gauge; and communicating with the air pump.
Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a vertical section of my improved regulator,
shewing the interior parts of the same in elevation, and a horizontal section
shewing the interior parts in plan; it is also shewn at Fig. 1, Sheet 1. It
consists of a metallic case S, into which the ether or other volatile liquid is
led from the condenser by a pipe I. A curved pipe U leads from about the
level of the opening of the pipe I to a cock or tap V, constructed with a sharp
cone for the purpose of preventing sticking, as previously described, a ball
float W is connected by a lever with the plug of the cock V, and is so adjusted
as to permit the passage of liquid only through the cock, inasmuch as the ball
will not rise to the requisite height for opening the cock, excepting by the
presence in the regulator of a certain amount of liquid to float it. A spindle X
passing through a stuffing box, and fitted with a bell crank passing under the
float lever, as shewn, enables the float to be raised and the cock when required
to be thus opened from without. A plate of glass Y situated at the end of the
case enables the level of the liquid contained in the regulator to be seen, and
the proper action of the float observed.
The trough for containing the ice moulds is shewn in plan at Fig. 1, of
Sheet 1; and a vertical section of part thereof at Fig. 3 of the same Sheet. The
mould boxes v in this case are each formed to contain four moulds enclosed in
a trough, which in working is placed at a small angle with the horizontal, so
that the end nearest to the refrigerating power is higher than the contrary.
end. The saline or other non-congealable solution enters the trough by a
longitudinal aperture or slit formed in the under side of the tube w, and
gradually makes its way to the lower end of the trough, surrounding and
abstracting heat from each of the moulds in its course. On reaching the lower
end it is drawn off and returned to the refrigerator by a pump x worked from-

page_text: 1-
the crank shaft c, and constructed as herein-after explained. The mould boxesv
are moved upward, as required, towards the refrigerating power, by means of
a screw y working into a nut formed in a hollow spindle y', to which is attached
a cross head for acting upon them. When the water contained in the moulds
of the upper or Number 1 box is congealed a metal cover v¹ is placed over it,
so as to conduct the non-congealable solution into box Number 2, a cover being
placed over the first mould of that box, to prevent any of the non-congealable
solution from splashing into it. The frame wo³, which forms a water-tight joint
by being pressed against box Number 1, being removed, the whole of the boxes
are moved upward by the screw y, as herein-before described until box
Number 1 occupies the vacant space at the upper end of the trough. It is
then lifted out, and the moulds z having been emptied of the ice, are refilled
with water, replaced in the box, and returned to the lower end of the trough.
The frame w¹ is then replaced, forming a water-tight joint as before. The
pump & employed for withdrawing the non-congealable solution from the lower
end of the trough, and returning it to the refrigerator, is shewn in detail at
Figs. 8, 9, and 10, of Sheet 2, Fig. 8 being a longitudinal section, Fig. 9, a
plan, with the valve bonnet removed, and Fig. 10, an end elevation. The
cylinder 2 is fitted with a solid piston 3, and communicates at each end with
the valve box 4 divided horizontally into two chambers, each containing four
compartments; those of the upper chamber being each furnished with a valvo
opening upwards, as shewn. The inlet 5 to the pump communicates with
those compartments of the chamber 4 situated beneath the valves 6 and 6', and
the outlet 7, with the compartments of the upper chamber containing the valves
8 and 81. The passages which connect the respective ends of the cylinder with
the valve box, communicate with the upper compartments containing the valves
6 and 61, and also with those situated beneath the valves 8 and 8' as shewn in
Fig. 8, at 9 and 10. The action is as follows:-Supposing the piston to be
travelling in the direction of the arrows, the water entering by the passage 5
beneath the valve 6, raises it and flows into the cylinder, while at the same
time the water contained in the cylinder on the contrary side of the piston is
forced through the aperture 10, Fig. 10, beneath the valve 8¹, and raising it
flows out through the passage 7, a similar action taking place on the return
stroke with valves 6' and 8.
It is obvious that modifications of the improvements herein-before described
may be variously applied for refrigerating or cooling air, for ventilation, and
for various other purposes, as also that the several details described, may be
variously modified without departing from the essential features of my Invention;
I do not therefore confine or limit myself to the precise form or arrangement

page_text: of apparatus described, or do I limit its application to any particular purpose
where refrigerating or cooling is required; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, actuating the valves of air pumps by cams or other equivalent means,
such cams being brought into action, so as to open the valves at varying
periods corresponding with the requirements of the pressure in the pump for
the time being of the air or other clastic fluid operated upon.
Secondly, the arrangement of condenser wherein the current of condensing
water is caused to flow in a direction contrary to that of the vapour required
to be condensed, and is kept throughout its course in intimate contact with the
pipes, tubes, or chambers containing the vapour, substantially as described.
Thirdly, the construction of refrigerators with vertical tubes, substantially as
described.
Fourthly, the general combination and arrangement of parts constituting a
regulator, substantially as described.
Fifthly, the arrangement described for moving the ice moulds successively
upward towards the refrigerating power.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Edwards Siebe, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
FRANCIS WISE.
DANIEL EDWARDS (L.S.) SIEBE.