IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING TRANSPARENT ICE
Year: 1885

page_text: I, GEORGE HERBERT LLOYD, of Edgbaston in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING TRANSPARENT ICE" to be as follows:-
It is well known to manufacturers of artificial ice that if the water, contained in
the cells or moulds in. which the blocks or slabs of ice are made, be kept in motion
so as to wash over the surface of the ice while the freezing process is going on, the
ice will be more or less transparent. Various means and appliances have been
proposed and used from time to time for the purpose of imparting the necessary
motion or agitation to the water, but all such means and appliances have proved,
60 far as I am aware, more or less defective and liable to derangement in practice.
For example when pistons, paddles or other mechanical moving parts are employed
to give motion to the water, such pistons, paddles or other moving parts are liable
to become fixed by the growth of ice up to and around them, and they are thereby
not only rendered inoperative but are broken, besides which the continual move-
ment of a number of such parts against the resistance of the water absorbs a
considerable amount of mechanical power. The special object of the present
invention is to provide means and apparatus for moving or agitating the water,
while it is being frozen, which shall not be subject to the derangements and objec-
tions above referred to. In order to effect this object I- dispense with pistons,
paddles or other mechanical parts moving in the water to be frozen, and instead
thereof I employ fluid pressure such for example, as that produced by the cou-
pression or exhaustion of air or other fluid, applied intermittently to the surface of
water which is in communication with that to be frozen, such pressure being trans.
nitted by suitable means to the rest of the water so as to impart thereto the
requisite motion or agitation over the surface of the ice in course of formation.
The mechanical arrangements I propose to employ for the purpose of practically
applying fluid pressure as above mentioned are of the following character. I place
a tube or box made of insulating material (that is to say material which is a bad
conductor of heat) in each of the cells or moulds where ice is to be made; the
lower end of this tube or box is either open, or perforated with 'holes, and is
immersed in the water the upper end is closed airtight, except as to a pipe cou-
nection leading to an air pump, blower or fan placed in any convenient position
and operated by any suitable motive power. Interposed between the air pump,
blower or fan and the tube or box in the ice cell or mould may be placed a valve
with means of opening and closing the same intermittently. This valve is con-
nected by pipes with the pump on the one hand and with the tube or box in the

page_text: cell or mould on the other, it has also a communication with the outer air or with
a reservoir containing air or other fluid at a lower pressure than that produced by
the pump, blower or fan.
It will now be understood that when the air pump, blower or fan is in direct
communication with the tube or box in the cell or mould, the pressure or exhaustion
of air generated by the said pump, blower or fan will act on the surface of the
water in the said tube or box, depressing, or raising the same and forcing a portion
of such water out at the bottom or lower part of the said tube or box into the part
or parts of the cell or mould where the freezing is taking place, or drawing a
portion of the water out of the cell or mould into the tube or box thereby causing
a corresponding elevation or depression of the level of the water in such cell or
mould. If now the aforesaid valve is moved so as to close the communication
between the pump, blower or fan and the tube or box in the cell or mould, and
to open communication between the tube or box and the outer air, or between it
and a reservoir containing air or other fluid at a lower pressure than that produced
by the pump, blower or fan, the level of the water in the tube or box in the cell or
mould will rise or fall as the case may be and there will be a corresponding fall or
rise in the level of the water in the part of the cell or mould where the freezing is
taking place. By this means a difference of level between the surface of the.
water in the tube or box and in the cell or mould, is effected intermittently, and a
rise and fall of the water will occur in the part of the cell or mould where the
freezing is taking place, which will have the effect of producing transparent ice,
and it will be understood that as there is no mechanical moving part in the tube
or box, but only air or other fluid entering and leaving it intermittently there can
be no setting fast, and consequent breakage, and that the resistance of bodies
moving in and passing through the water is wholly avoided. The aforesaid tube
or box may be of any suitable shape and constructed of wood or other suitable bad
conductor of heat which will so insulate the water contained in the tube or box
from the freezing portions of the cell or mould that the water contained in the tube
or box shall not freeze during the whole time the block of ice is being formed in
the cell or mould.
I have described my arrangements as applied to a single ice making cell or
mould, but it will be obvious that the arrangements can be applied to any number
of cells or moulds, and that one pump, blower or fan can be used to supply the air
for the same, likewise that the intermittent application to and withdrawal of the
pressure from the tubes or boxes may be effected by a single automatically acting
valve for a number, or by a single such valve for each cell or mould.
In some cases the valve may be dispensed with and the rise and fall of the
water in the tube or box and mould produced by the reciprocating action of the
piston in the pump barrel which latter may in that case have neither suction nor
delivery valves, the motion of the piston merely keeping the air or other fluid in
oscillation to and fro between the pump barrel and the moulds.
In order to preserve a free passage for water passing from one part of a cell or
mould to another part, as for example between the tube or box abovementioned
and the part of the cell or mould where the freezing takes place, and to equalize
the agitation, I sometimes apply insulating or badly conducting material at the
bottom or other part of the cell or mould to prevent the formation of ice at that
part, which ice would be liable to prevent the flow of water and to render such
How irregular.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means and Apparatus for Producing Transparent Ice:
I, GEORGE HERBERT LLOYD, of Edgbaston in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING TRANSPARENT ICE" and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon:-
It is well known to manufacturers of artificial ice that if the water contained in
the cells or moulds in which the blocks or slabs of ice are made, be kept in motion so
as to wash over the surface of the ice, while the freezing process is going on, the ice
will be more or less transparent. Various means and appliances have been proposed
and used from time to time for the purpose of imparting the necessary motion or
agitation to the water, but all such means and appliances have proved, so far as I
am aware, more or less defective and liable to derangement in practice. For
example, when pistons, paddles or other mechanical moving parts are employed to
give the motion to the water, such pistons, paddles or other moving parts are liable
to become fixed by the growth of ice up to and around them, and they are thereby
not only rendered inoperative but are broken, besides which, the continual move-
ment of a-number of such parts against the resistance of the water, absorbs a
considerable amount of mechanical power. The special object of my present
invention is to provide means and apparatus for moving or agitating the water,
while it is being frozen, which shall not be subject to the derangements and
objections above referred to. In order to effect this object, I dispense with pistons,
paddles or other mechanical parts moving in the water to be frozen, and instead
thereof, I employ fluid pressure such, for example, as that produced by the com-
pression or exhaustion of air, or other fluid, applied intermittently to the water
which is to be frozen, or to water which is in communication with that to be frozen, ..
such pressure being transmitted by suitable means to the water so as to impart
thereto the requisite motion or agitation over the surface of the ice in course of
formation.
The mechanical arrangements I propose to employ for the purpose of practically
applying fluid pressure, as above mentioned are of the character illustrated in the
accompanying two sheets of Drawings in which Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate
various methods of applying the fluid pressure generally, and Figures 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 illustrate various methods of applying the fluid pressure to
the water in the moulds themselves.
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a plan and elevation of apparatus in which air
from a fan or blower is used to communicate the fluid pressure to the water in the
moulds. A is the congealing tank containing the moulds B in which the water is.
to be frozen. C is the delivery pipe of any suitable air pump, blower, or fan, and D
is the suction pipe of the same, E is a pipe running along the side of the congealing

page_text: "
tank A and having branches F made of or protected by non-conducting material to
prevent the formation thereon of ice, and extending across the top of the tank A;
from these branches F, indiarubber branch pipes G lead to the moulds B; H is a
valve or cock, so constructed and arranged that, by operating it intermittently by
any suitable mechanical means, two parts of the pipe E, to the right and left of the
said valve, are alternately put into communication with the delivery and suction
pipes C and D of the air pump, blower, or fan, whereby the water in the moulds
is alternately subjected to the pressure and exhaust action of the air pump, blower,
or fan, in a manner that will be hereinafter more fully described. As the quantity
of water in the moulds varies inversely as the quantity of ice actually formed in
them at any given time, the supply may be regulated by means of a valve or cock
placed between the pipe E and the branch F, or in any other suitable position.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation and transverse section of
apparatus in which air and water together. are used for applying the fluid pressure
to the water in the moulds. In these figures, parts which are similar to those
shown in figures 1 and 2, are indicated by similar letters of reference. In this
arrangement, the air is brought from an air pump, blower, or fan, as in the previous
case, but is delivered through the pipe E into a series of boxes I outside the
congealing tank A. These boxes are filled more or less with water, and in each of
them is placed a dip pipe F' which communicates with its corresponding pipe F
going across the congealing tank A. The valve I being set in a given position,
the air from the air pump, blower, or fan, passing through the valve H presses upon
and forces part of the water in one half of the outside boxes I through the dip
pipes F¹, and the pipes F and G, into one half of the moulds B, and the air
returning from the other half of the outside boxes I, through the valve H, to the
fan, draws a corresponding quantity of water out of the other half of the moulds B
into the said other half of the outside boxes 1. The intermittent change of position
of the valve I then reverses the action upon each half of the moulds, allowing the
pump, blower, or fan to draw air from the boxes into which it before forced air,
and so on alternately. The water is therefore alternately drawn partially out of
the moulds into the boxes I, and forced back again out of the boxes I into the
moulds, whereby the necessary rise and fall of the freezing water in the moulds is
effected.
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate an arrangement in which the rise and fall of the water
in the moulds is produced directly by the reciprocating motion of a piston in a
cylinder J acting upon water in connection with that to be frozen: In this case no
valves other than those that may be necessary for regulating the varying quantity
of water required for each mould or series of moulds, are required; the mere motion
of the piston keeping the fluid in oscillation to and fro between the pump barrel
and the moulds, and the fluid producing the fluid pressure may be the water only.
If preferred, boxes I containing dip pipes F1 as described in reference to Figures 3
and 4, may be employed, though in this case the boxes I are entirely filled with
liquid instead of only partially so, as in that case. The advantage gained by using
the intermediate boxes I, is that the water, which is to be actually frozen in the
moulds, never actually enters the pump barrel.
In the arrangement last above described, instead of the piston acting directly
upon the water, a cushion of air may be interposed between the piston and the
water in the moulds, or in the boxes I, as the case may be, and the reciprocating
motion of the water, or of the air and water, may be produced by means other than
a reciprocating piston in a cylinder, such as by means of a bell or gas holder moved
up and down in water.
Figures 7 to 15 illustrate various arrangements for applying the fluid pressure
to the moulds themselves, or for alternately drawing out the fluid from, or forcing
it into, parts, or the whole of the mould, for the purpose of alternately raising
and depressing the level of the water therein and thereby causing the necessary

page_text: The arrangements shown in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15 are suitable where
the fluid pressure is applied by means of air. Those shown in Figures 13 and 14
are suitable where the fluid pressure is applied by means of water only; or at all
events by water from the outside boxes I herein before referred to.
Figures 7, 9, and 11 are longitudinal sections of ice moulds fitted with appliances
suitable for utilising the pressure of air for moving the water, and Figures 8, 10,
and 12 are corresponding cross sections of the same moulds.
I place a tube or box K (see Figures 7 and 8) made of insulating material (that
is to say, material which is a bad conductor of heat, such as wood, or indiarubber,
for example) in each of the moulds B where ice is to be made; the lower end of
this tube or box K is either open, as shown at L L, or perforated with holes, and is
immersed in the water, the lower end extending down to near the bottom of the
mould, and the upper end closed airtight except as to a pipe connection G leading
to an air, or other pump, blower, or fan of any suitable construction, placed in any
convenient position, and operated by any suitable motive power. Interposed
between the air or other pump, blower, or fan and the tube or box K in the ice
mould B, may be placed a valve similar to that shown at H in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4
with means of operating the same intermittently. This valve is connected by pipes
with the pump, blower, or fan on the one hand, and on the other with the tube or
box K in the mould B, or with any number of such tubes or boxes and corresponding
moulds, as already described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4.
It will now be understood that when the delivery or suction pipe, of the air
pump, blower, or fan, is in direct communication through the valve H with the
tube or box K in the mould B, the pressure or exhaustion of air, as the case may
be, generated by the said pump, blower, or fan, will act on the surface of the water
in the said tube or box K, depressing the said surface and forcing a portion of
such water out of the bottoin or lower part of the said tube or box K through the
openings LL into the part or parts B₁ of the mould B where the freezing is taking
place; raising the said surface and drawing a portion of the water out of the
parts B of the mould into the tube or box K, thereby causing a corresponding
elevation or depression of the level of the water in such parts B' of the mould.
In Figure 7 it is assumed that the valve H shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 is in
such a position as to place the tube or box K (Figure 7) in communication with
the delivery pipe of the air pump, blower, or fan, and the level of the water in the
tube or box K is shown depressed by the air pressure, and the level of the water
in the parts B¹ of the mould raised proportionally. When the valve H is moved
so as to close the communication between the delivery pipe of the pump, blower,
or fan and the tube or box K, and to open communication between the suction
pipe of the said pump, blower, or fan and the tube or box K, the level of the water
in the tube or box K in the mould, will rise and there will be a corresponding fal
in the level of the water in the parts B₁ of the mould where the freezing is taking
place. An intermittent rise and fall of the water in the parts B₁ of the mould is
thus produced which will have the effect of producing transparent ice; and it will
be understood that, as there is no mechanical moving, part in the tube or box K,
but only air or other fluid entering and leaving it intermittently, there can be no
setting fast, and consequent breakage, and that the resistance of bodies moving in,
and passing through, the water, is wholly avoided. The aforesaid tube or box K
may be of any suitable shape, and constructed of wood or other suitable bad
conductor of heat, which will so insulate the water contained in the said tube or
box K, from the freezing portions of the mould that the water contained in the
tube or box K shall not freeze during the whole time the block of ice is being
formed in the mould.
In Figure 7 the tube or box K is shown in the middle of the length of the
mould B, a separate block of ice being produced in each of the two freezing
3101

page_text: In Figure 11 the tube or box K is shown at one end of the mould B, a single
block of ice only being made in the one freezing part B¹.
Figure 9 shows a modified arrangement in which the fluid pressure is made to
act directly upon the surface of the water intended to form, one of the blocks of
ice. The mould B is divided transversely into two compartments by a partition A
of wood, or other suitable insulating material. One of these compartments is
covered by an airtight top A, the sides and ends of which extend downwards so
as to dip into the water and thereby prevent the escape of air.. When the pump,
blower, or fan forces air into the airtight top A2, the level of the water, in the
compartment it covers, is depressed say to the point M, and the level of the water
in the other compartment is correspondingly raised to say the point N, and when
the pressure of air is reduced in the airtight top A³, or the pump, blower, or fan
draws air from the said airtight top A' the level of the water in that compartment
risés, and that in the other compartment falls correspondingly, an oscillation of
the water from one compartment to the other through the opening L being thus
kept up.
In order to keep open a water way so that the fluid pressure is not prevented
from effecting the desired movement of the water as the mould gets frozen up,
suitable parts of the moulds are insulated by cheeks of insulating material
which project from the insulated tubes or boxes K so as to keep open a water
channel adjacent to such tubes or boxes, though the rest of the mould is frozen up
solid.
In Figures 13, 14 and 15 the insulated portion may be simply an insulated
pipe K which, as in Figures 13 and 15 may be lifted up as the formation of ice
proceeds in the mould, or if left stationary, may be perforated with holes.
Figure 14 shows an insulated box K in which is placed a tube K¹ which may be
of insulating material, and is connected to the pump, blower, or fan; and in this
arrangement the fluid pressure may be either air or water.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 15, every alternate mould is a closed one,
and the insulated pipe K connects the two moulds together. When air or water
is forced into the closed mould, the necessary depression and elevation of the
water level is produced in both the closed and open moulds.
It will be obvious that the above described arrangements can be applied to any
number of moulds, and that one pump, blower, or fan can be used to supply the
fluid pressure for all; likewise that the intermittent application of the pressure to,
and withdrawal of the same from, the tubes or boxes, may be effected by a single
automatically acting valve for a number, or by a separate such valve, for each
cell or mould.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would have it
understood that I am fully aware that various methods have been proposed and
used for agitating the water in the moulds by means of instruments moving in
such water, or in water connected therewith; that patents have been obtained for
agitating water by forcing air through it, and for insulating those parts of the
moulds in which pistons or agitators work, and I make no claim to any such
arrangements, but I declare that what I claim is
First. In moulds containing water to be frozen, producing agitation or
movement of such water by alternately elevating and depressing the level thereof
by the intermittent application of fluid pressure derived from a source external to
the moulds.
Second. In moulds containing water to be frozen, producing agitation, or
movement of such water by alternately elevating and depressing the level thereof
by means of fluid pressure derived from a source common to more than one
mould.

page_text: Third. In moulds containing water to be frozen, insulating any portion of such
moulds or of their contents in which mechanical agitators are not working, for the
purpose of keeping open a water way from an outside source, or from one part of
a mould to another part thereof, so as to admit of agitation or movement of the
water being carried on by means of fluid pressure even if the rest of the water in
the mould is frozen solid.
Fourth. The arrangements and combinations of apparatus for producing
transparent ice by agitating the water which is intended to be frozen, by fluid
pressure, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the various
Figures of the Drawings hereto annexed.