IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGE- MENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF REFRIGERATING CHAMBERS OR BUILDINGS
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, Fel. Inst. P.A. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors 6, Lord Street Liverpool in the county of Lancaster and
323, High Holborn, in the county of Middlesex, Civil Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGE-
MENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF REFRIGERATING CHAMBERS OR BUILDINGS," & com-
munication from abroad by Joseph Francis Hanrahan, of Sherwood Street, Ottawa,
County of Carlton Dominion of Canada Butcher and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to refrigerating buildings or compartments for the storage
and preservation of the carcasses of slaughtered animals, and similar purposes, and
the invention consists in the combination of an ice chamber and a storage chamber,
with air ducts and ventilating pipes having gates or slides for closing or opening
them at will, as bereinafter more fully set forth.
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal vertical section of a building constructed on
this plan, and,
Figure 2, is a transverse horizontal section on the line XX of Figure 1.
The object of this invention is to provide a refrigerating room in which freshly
slaughtered animals can be hung and cooled, and the animal heat with the vapors
and smells arising therefrom be conveyed away into the outer chamber, and the
meat then be retained in the compartment at the required temperature to preserve
it, and keep it in the best condition, for any desired length of time.
To accomplish these results a building is constructed as represented in the
drawings, in which A indicates a room for the reception of ice stored in bulk,
and B the room in which the carcasses are to be hung or otherwise stored.
From the top of the ice room A one or more ventilating tubes I extend out
through the roof provided with a slide ƒ or similar means by which it can be closed
or opened at will.
From the top of the meat room B, tube D extends upward and terminates in the
ice room A near the ceiling as shown in Figure 1.
In the partition wall between the two rooms A and B are made a series of
openings a, these openings being arranged in rows at different heights from the
floor, and each being provided with a slide 6 by which they may be closed in whole

page_text: or in part, as may be desired. For convenience the slides of each vertical row are
all connected by a rod c, so that they may all be moved at one operation, though
it is obvious they may be arranged to be operated separately if desired.
Along two sides of the ice chamber A a partition C is erected as shown in
Figures 1 and 2 between which and the outer wall a space is left for the passage
of the air-These partitions are extended up as high as the ceiling of the meat
room B, or nearly so, as shown in Figure 1, and they extend two-thirds, more or
less, along each side wall of the chamber A the space being left open at their inner
ends to the full l-eight.
At the opposite end of the passages thus formed at the point where they enter
the room B, a narrow door h is hinged by which the passages can be closed or
opened at will, one being shown open, and the other closed in Figure 2.
At or near the point where these partition walls C unite with the wall which
separates the rooms A and B, a vertical opening d is made as shewn in Figure 2 to
permit the cool air to enter at that point also.
.
It will be of course understood that all the outer walls and the ceilings will be
made bollow and filled with anw-dust or tan bark, or be rendered non-conducting
by any of the usual methods which being well known need not be described; and
also that suitable doors will be provided for each room.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
The rooin A is first filled with ice to any desired height but preferably as high
as the ceiling of the meat room or higher, the ice being packed in as snugly as
convenient in blocks, without saw dust or any similar material.
When the animals are slaughtered they are dressed and then hung up in the
room B. The doors are then opened, and also the slide f in the ventilator I.
The animal beat of the carcasses warms the air in room B which then rises and
passes through the tube D into the upper part of chamber A, and from thence out
through the ventilator, thereby carrying off the heat and also the vapors and scents
generated or given off from the carcasses, cold air from among and around the
cakes of ice, flowing from the ice chamber A through the side passages H into the
chamber B to supply the place of that expelled from the chamber B through
the tube D.
If it be desired to hasten the operation, the holes a in the partition wall between
the rooms may also be opened in whole or in part, and if a very rapid and thorough
ventilation be required the upper door of the ice room may be slightly opened to
admit a still greater supply from the outer air; or a small opening in the outer
wall, above the ice may be provided for that purpose, it of course being provided
with means for closing it at will.
As soon as the meat has become cooled and the vapors therefrom have been
expelled, the whole is closed up tight or nearly so, and left in that condition, when
the cool air will flow from the ice room A into chamber B through the lower part
of the side passages and also through the opening a, if left open, and from thence
back through the upper part of the same side passages, actual tests showing that
thero will be a current of air flowing inwardly towards the room B near the floor,
and outward near the ceiling.
At the same time if the ventilator I be opened more or less, a portion of the air
which is most warmed and therefore the lightest, will pass from the chamber B
through the tube D into the upper part of the ice room A, what little smell and
vapour there may be escaping gradually through the ventilator I.
In this way a constant circulation of air is kept up, owing to the tendency of t
the air to equalize itself in the temperature in the two rooms, and the temperature
in the store room B will thus be kept at about 40 degrees which is found to be
better than a freezing temperature, as experience has demonstrated that freezing
fresh meat injures it. By means of the doors h and the slides b, the temperature
can be regulated to a nicety.
It has been found by experience that a body of ice thus stored and used will
in a short time become compacted by the cakes freezing fast to each other, so that
5

page_text: in effect the pile becomes a single solid mass; and therefore it melts upon its outer
surface only, thus leaving a narrow space all around between its sides and the
walls which enclose it. The air as it is cooled drops down into these spaces and
flows from thence into chamber B, and from thence back again in contact with the
mass of ice, and so on constantly.
The air as it is cooled is also rendered dry, by the condensation of whatever
moisture it contains, and hence the meat in room B is kept in a cool dry atmosphere
which prevents it from acquiring that moist and slimy condition which meat has
when stored in contact with ice, or has refrigerating coils placed in the same room
with it. The condensation of whatever vapour or moisture the air contains when
it returns from the meat room into the ice room A, also tends to extract and carry
off from the meat, the fleshy smell which all meat has when closely confined. It
will of course be understood, that a simple pipe or drain will be arranged to carry
off whatever water is produced by the gradual melting of the ice.
While this apparatus is especially designed for use in connection with slaughter
houses, it is obvious that it may be used for other purposes also, such as preserving
fruits and all similar articles, cooling dwellings, and the like.
In applying it on ship board for transporting fresh meat, the ice chamber A may
be arranged on one deck, and the preserving chamber B be located on a deck
below, or even in the hold, it only being necessary in such cases to connect the
side spaces H in the air chamber by suitable ducts with the preserving chamber
below, and arrange the tube D so as to convey the warmed air back into the
ice chamber again, the principle and mode of operation being the same as above
described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the Baid
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
-
1st. In combination with the storage room B, the ice room A provided with the
side partitions or walls C having an air space between them and the outer walls,
and opening into the storage room B, substantially as shown and described.
2nd. In combination with the storage room B and ice chamber A, the side air
passages H provided with the doors h h, arranged to operate as described.
3rd. In combination with the storage room B, the ice chamber A. said rooms
being separated by a partition provided with a series of openings a having slides b
for closing them at will, substantially as described.
4th. The ice chamber A. provided with a ventilator I and a device for closing the
same in combination with the storage room B, said rooms being connected by
the air passages H H and the tube D, all arranged substantially as shown and
described.
5th. In combination with the storage room B, the ice chamber A, having the
sirle air passages H with the openings d arranged as shown and described.
6th. The combination and arrangement in a refrigerating apparatus, of the
storage room B, ice chamber A air passages H, tube D, openings a provided with
slides b, and ventilating tube I provided with a slidef for closing the same, all
being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 2nd day of November 1884