IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING, REFRIGERATING, AND MAKING ICE.
Year: 1874

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LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton
Buildings, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING, REFRIGERATING, AND MAKING ICE.".
A communication from abroad by John M. Gouch Beath, of San
Francisco, in the State of California, United States of North
America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 14th July 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
t
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING, REFRIGERATING, AND MAKING ICE,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have

page_text: made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by John M. Gouch Beath, of San Francisco, in the State of
California, United States of North America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Martin Benson, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement:-
-
Heretofore in all ice manufacturing apparatus known to me provisions
have only been made for the formation of ice in certain prescribed
quantities, which ice was necessarily removed therefrom at intervals in
order to permit a continuation of the process.
One result of my Invention consists in admitting of such a con-
struction and arrangement of the congealing portion of the apparatus as
will render practicable the formation of large quantities of ice in suitable
magaziens, where it may remain undisturbed until withdrawn from time
to time for market.
My Invention involves the formation of ice in standing columns,
encircling pipes containing the refrigerant. Also the gradual formation
of ice on vertical inclined or horizontal pipes containing the refrigerant
by spraying or flowing the water to be frozen upon and over their freezing
surfaces, and over the surface of the ice as it is formed thereon.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate my Invention as applied to an
apparatus adapted for the employment of amonia gas as a refrigerant.
Fig. 1 represents a top view of the refrigerating apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus partly shown in section.
Fig. 3 represents a modification in the structure of the refrigerating
pipes.
In each instance A denotes one of the refrigerating pipes. A desirable
mode of arrangement is in rows as shown, and each when arranged as in
Figs. 1 and 2 is connected with the next in line, either at top or bottom
by means of horizontal pipes of corresponding capacity as shown at a.
B denotes the main water supply pipe which is branched as at b so as
to overlic the several rows of refrigerating pipes. C in each instance
denotes a revolving water pan which is open at the top, and arranged to

page_text: with such frequency and in such quantities as to cause it to be evenly
distributed over the surface of the pipes or the surface of the ice formed
thereon, so as to keep said freezing surface constantly wet and to wash
therefrom such impurities as the water might contain, which would
otherwise be retained in the process of congelation.
The excess of water falling to the floor (which may be covered with
filtering matter) descends into a tank provided for the purpose, and is
drawn from thence by the pump to be again applied to the freezing
surface through the feeders. Each of the pipes or series of pipes which
is capable of being cut off from the refrigerating agent is connected by
other pipes, as at g, with a condenser such as is employed in ice
machines, in order that the latent heat of the ammonia gas therein
contained may be employed for loosening the ice from the pipes. After
this the ice may be removed from the pipes by sawing and splitting.
In practical operations on a large scale it will be desirable to have
several distinct sets of congealers, respectively connected with the source
of supply of the refrigerating agent, in order that ice may be allowed to
remain intact until demand therefore.
As water in freezing has a tendency to regect all impurities held
therein or in solution, it will be evident that the constantly flowing
.currents herein described must remove said.impurities from the freezing
surface as fast as it accumulates thereon, and it results in the production
of ice of great density, transparency, and purity. This constitutes one
of the important features of my Invention, and by my process I have
been enabled to practically to produce pure and wholly unobjectionable
ice from higly discoloured surface water gathered after a rain storm.
Moreover the constantly flowing currents of water prevent the ice from
becoming porous, which would inveritably be the result if the freezing or
outer surface thereof were not kept supplied with an excess of water.
Under the old methods of artificially freezing ice in vessels these
several results cannot be attained as the water in bulk is congealed into
ice with all existing impurities necessarily imbeded therein.
It will also be evident that my method of congealing involves much
·less expense in the construction of the necessary apparatus, as no costly
and cumbersome freezing tanks are required as is necessary for the

page_text: formation of ice under water, and all the inconveniences attendent upon
the heretofore practised methods are practically avoided.
The refrigerating pipes will obviously be preferably set on a firm
'foundation, and so arranged that the column of ice by resting partly on
its lower end will be practically self-sustained, and thereby relieve the 5
pipes from such straining as would be liable if all the weight was borne
by them, and it is for this reason that I prefer the vertical pipes,
although ice may be formed practically on pipes in other positions by
employing the same method of feeding water thereto.
The location of the refrigerating pipes with relation to each other may 1
be varied to meet special requirements, as for instance if it be desirable
to produce ice in rectangular blocks instead of cylindrical form, the
refrigerating pipes may be placed in separate rows, and the several rows
sufficiently near each other to form the ice in connected columns.
. : .
It will be evident however that the water feeders should be adapted to 1
each particular arrangement of the freezing pipes.
Should horizontal pipes for instance be employed, the feeders should
throw the water from below them so as to effect a proper distribution
and produce a regular formation of ice.
It will be readily comprehended that as the ico is formed upon the 2
hollow covers, the freezing surface is gradually increased in area, and
although the freezing operation will proceede proportionally slower as
the thickness increases, the increase of freezing are will practically
compensate therefore, thereby admitting of the formation of cylinders of
ice of any required size.
I am aware that it has been proposed to form ice on the surface of a
revolving drum, partially submerged in water contained in a tank and
partially exposed to currents of air at a freezing temperature. With
such an apparatus the process involved differs from mine in several
important particulars, to wit:-
The freezing surface on which the ice is formed is not exposed to the
action of a refrigerant applied at the rear of said surface, but it is
exposed to the action of the refrigerant in front of its freezing surface.
2
3
Under my process the ice is formed. and gradually hardened as the
operation progresses, and when ice of proper thickness has been formed, 3

page_text: that portion which was next to the freezing surface is more solid and firm
even than that which is at the exterior of the layer. With the revolving
drum refered to the ice next the drum cannot become harder as the
operation continues, but in fàct must either remain in its normal
5 condition, or become more or less softened as its distance from the
refrigerating agent increases.
The revolution of the drum in the water would appear to involve in a
measure the principle of applying water to the freezing surface in a
flowing stream, but it differs from the method involved in my process
in this:All organic matter contained in the water and such inorganic
matter as is liable to be held in suspension therein, must of necessity by
reason of the movement of the drum be collected at or near the surface
of the water in the tank at the point where the periphery of the drum
and its coating of ice leaves the water in its upward movement, and the
ice would therefore be constantly charged with impurities, and thereby
defeat one of the prime objects which I seck to obtain. I do not how-
ever claim broadly the application of the flowing stream to freezing
surfaces, but limit my claim to freezing surfaces through or in the rear
of which the refrigerating agent operates.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and manner of
constructing and working the same, what I claim as new and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,-
1rst. The improvement in the manufacture of ice, which consists in
applying the water from which the ice is to be made in flowing streams
to a freezing surface, to the rear of which the refrigerant is applied, and
through which it operates, substantially as described.
2rd. The hercin described process of manufacturing ice around cores
or pipes through which the freezing agent flows, by showering or
throwing the water upon them, so that constant currents or films of
water shall flow over the surface of the ice during the formation,
substantially as specified.
3rd. In the herein described process of manufacturing ice by
showering or throwing the water upon cores or pipes through which the
freezing fluid flows, returning the waste water to be again showered
upon the surface of the nascent ice, substantially as specified.

page_text: position so as to render.them and the ice formed theron self-supporting
substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.