IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND OTHER LIKE PERISHABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
'IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE
PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND OTHER LIKE PERISHABLE SUBSTANCES."
"
A com-
munication from abroad by Benjamin Woodworth Gillett and Jerome Delmar
Gillett, both of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of America, Merchants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd April 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS,
CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND OTHER LIKE PERISHABLE
SUBSTANCES." A communication from abroad by Benjamin Woodworth Gillett
and Jerome Delmar Gillett, both of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of
America, Merchants.
This Invention relates to that class of refrigerating structures which are designed
with special reference to the preservation of fresh meat and other perishable articles
or substances on board ships or vessels, but which are also applicable to railroad
wagons, to structures erected in or adjacent to slaughtering establishments, for
cooling meat, and to refrigerators in which fresh meat or other substances are to be
kept for retail trade. And the said Invention consists partly in combining with a
suitable cooling or refrigerating chamber an independent series of pipes, through
which salted water or other cooled refrigerating substance may be forced to various
parts of the chamber by a suitable pump or other forcing device, each of the series
of pipes having an independent connection with the said pump or forcing device
and with the fluid receptacle, in order that the temperature in the different parts
of the said chamber may be regulated with the expenditure of the least possible
amount of ice.
The said Invention further consists in the combination of a cooling or refri-
gerating chamber, a fluid receptacle, into which the material used for refrigerating
the preserving chamber is placed, a pump chamber, a pump or other forcing device
for circulating the cooling substance, and a series of independently arranged pipes
for receiving the substance from the pump or other forcing machinery, and con-
ducting it to different parts of the said chamber and to the fluid receptacle. It
further consists in the combination with the series of independent refrigerating
LD CI

page_text: to a common outlet and allowed to pass out of the chamber through a suitably
arranged cock or tap.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a plan partly in horizontal section of an apparatus constructed
according to this Invention, showing the structure with double outer walls, and
with suitable doors for entrance thereto, the space between these walls being filled
with a non conducting substance, and showing also the separate compartments in
which the ice-reservoir, the fluid receptacle, and the apartment in which the pump
or other fluid forcing device is located. It also shews a series of pipes, each one of
the series having an independent connection with the pump and with the fluid
receptacle, and each supplied at its induction and eduction ends with a valve or
cock for controlling the fluid through the respective pipes.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation, showing the double walls with non-conducting
material between them, the ice and fluid reservoirs, the pump-compartment, the
pump, and the series of pipes connected therewith by independent connections, and
drip-pans for collecting the condensed vapor and conducting it to some suitable
outlet.
Like letters indicate the same parts in both of these Figures.
In constructing preserving apparatus according to these improvements a rect-
angular or other suitably formed chamber A is employed, its dimensions being such
as are required by the amount of material to be placed therein or permitted by the
vessel, wagon, or other structure in which it is to be placed. This chamber has
double walls, the space between the two being filled with any well known or suit-
able non-conducting substances to prevent the passage of caloric.
Within the
The outer walls of the structure are supplied with doors A1, A2, and A³. A¹ opens
into the ice-reservoir; A2, into the pump-compartment; and A³, into the preserving
chamber. These doors are bevelled upon their edges, as shown in Figure 1, in
order that when in place they may exclude the atmosphere, and if found necessary
their bevelled portions may be covered with cloth, india-rubber, or other elastic
substance, which will ensure a tight joint. Between the ice-reservoir and the
pump-compartment there is a door A', similar to those already described, and which
when opened or removed will allow the operator to have access to the fluid tank or
receptacle for the purpose of manipulating the cocks or valves which control the
discharge of the cooling substance. Within the chamber A there is formed an ice-
reservoir B, the walls of which by preference are double, and the space between
them is filled with some non-conducting material like the outer walls.
ice-reservoir B there is formed a tank or fluid-receptacle C, with which the dis-
charge ends of a series of circulating pipes communicate. Adjoining this fluid-
receptacle there is a separate compartment D, in which the pump or other circu-
lating mechanism D¹ is located. For the purpose of forming a communication
between the said fluid receptacle and the pump a pipe D is passed through the
wall which separates them, that end thereof which is within the fluid-receptacle
being supplied with a strainer to prevent the passing of any solid substance into the
pump or other forcing mechanism, its opposite end communicating with the pump-
chamber, into which the fluid flows or is drawn from the receptacle C. The
mechanism shown for forcing the fluid through the series of pipes is a common
pump, but any other suitable apparatus or device may be used, the only require-
ment being that it shall be capable of giving such a movement to the fluid as to
cause it to be taken from the receptacle C and delivered to any one or all of the
circulating pipes carried through them and returned to the receptacle from which
it was taken, and so on continuously as long as the circulating mechanism is
in operation. In the example shown there are. two pipes or chambers D and D,

page_text: which communicate with the pump in such a manner that each is supplied with a
portion of the fluid put in motion thereby. The said pipes or chambers are united
at their opposite ends so as to form a common receptacle, to which the circulating
pipes are attached.
In this instance the series of circulating pipes heretofore referred to consists of
three, but the number may be increased if desired, the induction or receiving ends
being, as above specified, connected to the water chambers D3, D4, of the pump.
From the aforesaid point of connection these pipes E, F, and G, extend upward for
a short distance, and then are so bent as to cause them to pass out through the par-
tition which divides the pump-apartment from the preserving chamber A*. They
are furnished with cocks or valves E¹, F', and G', with which to regulate the amount
of fluid which shall be allowed to pass through each, or with which to entirely shut
off the same from any one or more while it is allowed to pass through another or
others. This arrangement of the circulating pipes forms an important feature of
this Invention as it enables the person in charge to send into any required part of
the preserving chamber a greater or lesser amount of cooling substance, and thus
to regulate the temperature therein according to its requirements.
In order that the last named result may be successfully produced the pipe E
extends from the point where it enters the preserving chamber A* in the direction
indicated in Figure 1 of the Drawing, and finally returns to the fluid receptacle C,
into which its contents are discharged through the cock or valve E², it having
traversed in its course a portion of the wall of the ice-reservoir and a portion of one
end and two sides of the preserving chamber, and finally re-traversed the portion of
the wall of the ice-reservoir to its point of discharge. The pipe F starting from the
same point passes.upward, as shown in Figure 2, and connects with a coil placed
upon the interior surface of the upper wall or cover of the chamber, and finally
back to the fluid-receptacle, into which its contents are emptied through the cock
or valve F2.
The pipo G starts from the same point, passes down to near the bottom of the
preserving chamber, and thence into pipes parallel with the pipes E, but rising as
they pass, and empties its contents into the receptacle C through the valve or
cock G².
From the above description it will be seen that the pipe E conducts the fluid
through pipes located in the upper portion of the chamber A* while this fluid is at
its lowest temperature, and that the pipe G conducts the said fluid through the
lower portion of the said chamber while it is in that condition, consequently the
temperature in both portions can be equalized by allowing the fluid to pass through
both pipes in about equal quantities; or the upper or lower portions may each be
made warmer or cooler than the other by allowing the fluid to pass through the
proper pipe and shutting it off from the others. In obedience to the well known
law of gravitation the cooler air in an enclosure where there are no currents always
settles to the bottom, while the warmer air rises to the top; hence with this appa-
ratus the attendant is enabled to not only create a circulation of the air around and
among the articles to be preserved by shutting the fluid out of the pipes E and G,
and allowing it to pass through the pipe F, but he can direct a downward current
of cooled air upon the said articles, which is of great importance, especially in the
preservation of fresh meats, as it will prevent the septic gases from remaining in
contact with any portion thereof while hanging in the chamber. It will be seen
that by using cocks or valves at both ends of the circulating pipes the cold fluid
may be retained therein for any desired length of time by the closing of said cocks
or valves, and that thus a considerable economy in the icc used will be effected.
In making provision for hanging carcases or parts of carcases of meat in the pre-
serving chamber, thwarts or beams H, H, are secured to the upper wall of the said
chamber, and are provided with hooks upon which to suspend the meat, the cir-
culating pipes passing between them, as shown in Figure 1 of the Drawing.
It is well known that in passing through pipes any substance which is cooler
than the air that surrounds such pipes the moisture in the air will be condensed

page_text: upon their surfaces to such an extent as to cause water to drip therefrom, and
hence it becomes necessary to make some provision for receiving such drip water,
and for conveying it away from the articles to be preserved, as if it should be
allowed to come in contact therewith the effect would be to injure these articles.
For this purpose drip-pans I are suspended to the upper wall of the preserving
chamber A* and underneath the pipes, one end of the said drip-pans being lower
than the other in order that any water which falls from these pipes may be speedily
conveyed to one side of the said chamber, and allowed to fall into troughs K, K¹
The latter pass around the chamber upon its vertical walls at a proper inclination,
and terminate in a cock, which passes through the outer wall at a point whore it
is desirable to discharge the water. The troughs or conduits K, K¹, are so placed
as to receive and conduct to the common outlet any water that may result from
condensation and drop from the pipes upon the sides or ends of the chamber.
As
the upper end of the fluid-receptacle is open and is upon two of its sides exposed to
the ice in the ice-reservoir it follows that the fluid as it returns to the said recep-
tacle and remains therein for some time will have its temperature reduced to a low
point, but should it be found necessary ice may at any time be placed in this
receptacle, access thereto being gained by removing the doors A2 and A', when the
attendant can take ice from the reservoir B and place it in the receptacle C in such
quantities as may be required. It may then be found necessary to add more salt
to the water, when the latter is used as the circulating medium, and this may easily
be done when the ice is placed in the receptacle C.
For driving the pump a suitable engine or other motor may be provided, or it
may be driven from the engine of a steamship or vessel or from the axle of a rail-
way vehicle, or in any other suitable manner. Should the fluid-reservoir at any
time become full of fluid and be likely to overflow, a pipe, controlled by a cock or
valve may be arranged to deliver a portion of such fluid outside of the structure,
and thus prevent any injurious effect, which would result from its overflow.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
First. In combination with a refrigerating or preserving chamber for meat and
other perishable articles or substances, a pump or other suitable fluid-forcing device,
and a series of independently-operating pipes connected therewith, whereby the
cooling fluid may be directed to different portions of the said chamber for the pur-
pose of regulating the temperature therein, substantially as above set forth.
Second. The combination of a preserving or refrigerating chamber for containing
meat and other perishable articles or substances, an ice-reservoir, a fluid-receptacle,
a pump chamber, a pump or other fluid-forcing device, and a series of independently-
operating circulating pipes, one of which series is made to extend along the ceiling
or inside of the upper wall of the preserving chamber, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Third. In combination with the circulating pipes of a refrigerating or preserving
chamber the drip-pans and troughs, whereby to collect and convey away the water
dripping from the circulating pipes, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.