IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHAMBERS IN SHIPS, RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND STORE ROOMS FOR PRESERVING ARTICLES OF FOOD, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATIONROL
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Henry Linn, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF CHAMBERS IN SHIPS, RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND STORE
ROOMS FOR PRESERVING ARTICLES OF FOOD, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Henry Linn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th October 1880.
SAMUEL HENRY LINN, of 38, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHAMBERS IN SHIPS, RAILWAY
CARRIAGES, AND STORE ROOMS FOR PRESERVING ARTICLES OF FOOD, AND IN
THE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPE-
RATURE."
This Invention of improvements in the construction of chambers in ships,
railway carriages, and store rooms for preserving articles of food, and in the
apparatus and method of regulating and controlling the temperature relates to,-
1st. The construction of the chambers for storing the articles of food so that
they may be as little affected by outward temperature as possible, the object being
to maintain the articles either stored or during transit at the temperature found
most suitable to preserve them from change or decay.
2nd. To the means and method of circulating the air through the chambers.
3rd. To the drying, cooling, and in certain cases warming the air to be circulated
through the chambers.
4th. To the controlling and regulating the temperature of the chambers by self
acting thermometers or apparatus of a similar nature by acting upon valves to
regulate the air supply to said chamber.
5th. To the separate mounting in certain cases of the required apparatus in one
chamber or railway carriage, and from thence coupling one or more carriages of
the construction named by air pipes or couplings, in which carriages the articles to
be preserved are carried.

page_text: 1st. The construction of the chambers for storing the articles of food so that
they may be as little affected by outward temperature as possible, the object being
to maintain the articles either stored or during transit at the temperature found
most suitable to preserve them from change or decay.
The walls of the chambers, floor, sides, and roof, with slight modifications, are
constructed thus,-outwardly a thick case of wood covered with a suitable paint
or varnish impervious to moisture; inside the wood is also coated with paint,
varnish, or bitumen in solution; then a layer of felt, next comes a layer of calcined
and pulverized tale and kaolin, then a layer of a substance known in commerce
something like kemptulicon, or composed of a kneaded and rolled mixture of
pulverized cork, talc, sulphur, and india rubber, then the wood lining or support,
and on this forming the interior of the chamber a lining of zinc, lead, or suitable
metal. The chambers are provided with suitable doors of similar construction
with the walls and with air tight closings.
2nd. To the means and method of circulating the air through the chambers.
The air is caused to circulate through the chambers by means of compressed air,
the machinery for which consists of two or more vessels and a pump to be worked
by hand or power; if two vessels are used one is filled with water, then the pump
forces the water into the second vessel, and a charge of compressed air is obtained.
When this is exhausted the operation of filling the other vessel is commenced, and
so on.
3rd. To the drying, cooling, and in certain cases warming the air to be circulated
through the chambers.
The air from the compressor is now led by suitable ducts to the ice chamber
constructed in each car, or in the chamber in a separate carriage called the
operating carriage, holding the described vessels, ice chambers, etc. The now cold
air is led into vessels containing sulphuric acid or chloride of calcium or other
suitable substances, by which it is thoroughly dried, and it can now be sent into
the chambers holding the articles, or may be passed through vessels where it can
be made to absorb antiseptic liquids, such as salicylic acid or antiseptic gases, and
thence into the chambers. In certain cases a coil of pipe may be used to warm the
air instead of cooling, but as this would be needless in England such an arrange-
ment would only be useful to vessels going far north, such as to some of the
Russian ports, to carry fruit, or perhaps game, or articles affected by frost.
4th. To the controlling and regulating the temperature of the chambers by self
acting thermometers, or apparatus of a similar nature, by acting upon valves to
regulate the air supply to said chambers.
The control of the temperature is effected by self acting thermometers or
reservoirs of air affected by temperature which control the valves of admission of
the air to the chambers, as also the valves of exit if required.
5th. To the separate mounting in certain cases of the required apparatus in one
chamber or railway carriage, and from thence coupling one or more carriages of
the construction named by air pipes or couplings, in which carriages the articles to
be preserved are carried.
Although a railway carriage may contain the whole necessary apparatus, it will
be found more convenient in many cases to have one carriage, called the operating
car, constructed to hold the apparatus and the ice, and from thence to distribute
the air to the carriages containing the articles of food, which would then be coupled
by suitable air pipes, and connected with the operating car.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and
of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said Samuel Henry Linn in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th April 1881.
<<
SAMUEL HENRY LINN, of 38, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHAMBERS IN SHIPS, RAILWAY
CARRIAGES, AND STORE ROOMS FOR PRESERVING ARTICLES OF FOOD, AND IN
THE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPE-
RATURE."
In conjunction with the annexed Drawings showing my improvements applied
to a railway carriage for transporting articles of food, the same construction being
equally applicable to ships and store rooms.
In the Drawing, Figure 1, plan of wagon in section; Figure 2, side elevation of
same on line A, A, Figure 1; Figure 3, transverse section looking right of line B, B,
Figure 1; Figure 4, transverse section looking left of line B, B, Figure 1; Figure 5,
section on lines CC, CC, Figure 1; Figure 6, details of sides of wagon.
1st. The construction of the chamber for storing the articles of food so that they
may be as little affected by outward temperature as possible, the object being to
maintain the articles either stored or during transit at the temperature found most
suitable to preserve them from change or decay.
The walls of the wagon, or at least those of the compartment 1, are made double.
They may be constructed of wood or iron, wood however being preferable, as being
a worst conductor of heat. The outer wall 2 (see Figure 6) is covered on its outer
face with a suitable paint, being in a high degree impermeable to air and damp.
For this purpose I preferably use a paint known in the trade under the name of
"John's waterproof asbestos paint." The internal face of this wall 2 is covered
with a putty composed of bitumen dissolved in alcohol, the object of which is to
close the pores of the wood, and then this face is lined with a layer of felt 3, which
is kept in place partially by the putty and partially by flat headed copper nails.
The external face of the inside wall 5 is lined with a layer of cellulose, kept in
place, like the layer of felt, by means of putty and copper nails, whilst the internal
face of this wall, that is to say, that which presents itself to the interior of the com-
partment 1, is covered with zinc or lead plates. The cellulose is composed of a
mixture of pulverized cork, talc, and sulphur, with rubber, and can be had in the
trade already for use.
The space between the walls 2 and 5 is filled in with a mixture of tale and
kaolin. These substances must be well calcined and pulverized. Equal parts of
the same are well mixed together, and this product is rammed firmly into the said
space. The ceiling and bottom of the wagon are also contructed in the manner
described, as well as the doors 7. The latter are provided with any suitable
arrangement whereby an air-tight closing may be obtained.
2nd. To the means and method of circulating the air through the chambers, and
3rd. To the drying, cooling, and in certain cases warming, the air to be circulated
through the chambers.
In order to maintain in the compartment 1 a completely pure and dry air, but
charged with a preservative substance and of a uniform temperature, I make use of
the following arrangements :-
The compartment 8 of the wagon, which is separated from the compartment 1,
contains on one side a complete apparatus for compressing, cooling, and drying the
air, and for charging it with ozone or with a preservative substance, such as salicylic
acid or any antiseptic, and on the other side a hot water heating apparatus, by
means of which the compartment 1 can be beated.
The apparatus for compressing the air consists of two receptacles 11, connected
by pipes 10 with a small hand pump 9; one of these receptacles is filled with

page_text: water. It will be seen that if this water is by means of the pump forced out of
this receptacle into the other receptacle the air in this latter will be compressed.
When one of these receptacles has thus been emptied and the other filled, the
operation is reversed by changing the position of the cocks of the pumps, and the
described operation is repeated in the opposite direction. The small air valves 13
permit the entrance of fresh air into the receptacle which is being emptied. By
opening the cock 12 which unites the two pipes 10, and consequently the two
receptacles 11, the different pressures existing in the two receptacles may be
equalized if desired. Both receptacles are provided with a pressure gauge 14.
At the top of the receptacles 11 are adapted the pipes 15, provided with cocks,
and which terminate in the common pipe which leads into the lower part of
the ice chamber 17. The air traverses this ice chamber in the upward direction,
which causes it to be cooled to the desired degree, and from thence it arrives
through the tube 18 in the lower part of the first one of the receptacles 19. This
first receptacle 19 is nearly filled with ordinary sulphuric acid as found in the
market, whilst the second one is filled with pure sulphuric acid. From the upper
part of the first of these receptacles 19 a pipe leads into the lower part of the
second one, so that the air is compelled to rise in a state of fine division through
the sulphuric acid contained in these two receptacles, whereby I obtain the
purification of the air and the nearly complete absorption of the moisture it
contains. From the second receptacle 19 the air thus purified enters into the
box 21, which is filled with well calcined kaolin, and in its passage through this
substance it loses its last trace of moisture, and arrives finally completely cooled,
purified, and dry, through the pipe 22 in the first of the three receptacles 23,
which contains salicylic acid, and which receptacles are connected with each other
by pipes. As the air is compelled to rise successively in these three receptacles
from the bottom to the top, traversing thus the salicylic acid, it becomes impreg-
nated with this preservative substance, and arrives in this state through the
pipe 24 in the chamber 25, from whence it may be admitted as required, by
opening the valve 26 into the compartment 1, when it is desired to lower the
temperature therein.
The hot water heating apparatus consists in a furnace 27, of suitable construc-
tion, in the combustion chamber of which are arranged one or more coils 28, from
which branch off in the well known manner the heating pipes 30, which run along
the bottom of the compartment 1, and which are fed with water coming from the
reservoir 29.
The control of the temperature is effected by the self acting thermometers or
reservoirs of air affected by temperature which control the valves of admission of
the air to the chambers as also the valves of exit if required.
In the compartment 1 are arranged metallic or electric thermometers 31, which
serve to indicate by means of conducting wires connected with the dials 32 and
with suitable acoustic signals, when the temperature rises or sinks below the
desired degree, or the apparatus may be made automatic by the expanding volume
of mercury or air by any of the well known apparatus.
The surplus of old air produced by the admission of fresh purified and cooled air
escapes through the flues or pipes 33, which are preferably provided with light
flap valves.
In a wagon constructed according to the above directions all sorts of food may
be transported at any time of the year and in every climate to any desired distance
without the risk of deterioration, because in consequence of my system it is
rendered possible to keep the articles constantly surrounded by air adapted to the
circumstances of suitable temperature and perfectly purified and impregnated with
a preservative substance.
Although a railway carriage may contain the whole necessary apparatus, it will
be found more convenient in many cases to have one carriage, called the operating
car, constructed to hold the apparatus either for forcing the air, the ice for cooling,
or the furnace for heating, and the air purifying, drying or impregnating apparatus,

page_text: and from thence to distribute the air to the carriages containing the articles of food,
the carriages being coupled by suitable air pipes and connected with the operating
car.
Many modifications may be made in the details of this Invention without
deviating from the general and essential principles upon which it is based.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of the said Inven-
tion and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that what I claim is,.
1st. The construction of the chamber for storing the articles of food so that they
may be as little affected by outward temperature as possible, in the manner sub-
stantially as described for the purpose set forth.
2nd. To the means and method of circulating the air through the chamber,
substantially as set forth.
3rd. To the combined method described of drying, cooling, and impregnating the
air, substantially as described.
4th. To the means indicated for controlling and regulating the temperature of
the air, substantially as described.
5th. The method described of mounting all the before described apparatus in a
separate carriage or operating car for use with a car or cars or chambers conveying
or storing the articles, substantially as described.
6th. The employment of ozone, salicylic acid, or any other antiseptic, but more
especially the charging of each chamber with ozone.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Henry Linn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
SAMUEL HENRY LINN. (L.S.)