IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATORS FOR COOLING WORT OR OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Severn, of Sutton, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATORS FOR
COOLING WORT OR OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 20th December 1875, and dated the 6th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Severn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th July 1875.
I, GEORGE SEVERN, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRI-
GERATORS FOR COOLING WORT OR OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in refrigerators or apparatus
employed for cooling wort or other liquids, the object being to bring the
wort or liquid to be cooled in contact with the largest amount of cooling
surface which can be effected in a given space.
For this purpose
according to one part of my improvements I arrange a vertical series of

page_text: trough-shaped pipes or passages (mounted in a frame), through which
water or other fluid is caused to flow in an opposite direction to the
wort or liquid to be cooled, which flows over the external surfaces of
the pipes or troughs.
The series of cooling troughs or passages in accordance with my
improvements are arranged and combined so as to fit one into another,
a suitable space being left between them, so that the wort or liquid as it
flows over the edge of such trough trickles or flows in a thin stream
over the under side before it passes into the successive troughs or series
of troughs below. Between each alternate trough-shaped pipe or
passage, pipes or passages for circulating water are arranged which are
submerged in the liquid contained in the troughs, or a series of such
pipes or passages may be arranged within each trough. The troughs.
and the passages arranged therein may be either angular or of curved
form.
In place of the circulating pipes or passages arranged between each
trough as previously described, metal plates may be introduced between
them so as to economize space.
Each series of pipes or passages are connected at their ends, so that
the water can circulate through the entire series as is well understood.
A discharge pipe is arranged at the bottom of cach series for dis-
charging the contents of the troughs when required.
In some cases separate discharge orifices are arranged to discharge the
contents of the apparatus, the series of orifices being closed and opened
by means of a bydraulic plug cased with an india-rubber tube, which
when expanded by pressure on the water contained in the plug, closes
each of the series of discharge orifices.
1
The troughs or chambers are so arranged one within the other as to
afford great facility for cleaning out the apparatus when required, and
they may be so formed as to overflow at opposite sides alternately, one
side of each trough being made lower than the other side. For this
purpose according to another part of my improvements in place of
employing troughs as previously described, the wort or liquid to be
cooled may be arranged to flow over and between a series of wedge-
shaped chambors or passages (through which water circulates), the
E

page_text: alternate sides being formed with a turned up lip to conduct the wort to
the space below.
In cases where it is prefered not to expose the wort or liquid to the
atmosphere the apparatus is enclosed by sheets of waterproof canvas
arranged around the sides and ends in such manner that they can be
stretched tightly by mechanical means, so as to enclose the apparatus
and exclude the air from contact with the wort or liquid during the
cooling process, the said sheets being readily removed when required.
e
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Severn in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 6th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SEVERN, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Severn, Her special license that I,
the said George Severn, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Severn, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRI-
GERATORS FOR COOLING WORT OR OTHER LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Severn, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, or 'their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: '
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Severn, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:
-
This Invention relates to improvements in refrigerators or apparatus
employed for cooling wort or other liquids, the object being to bring the
wort or liquid to be cooled in contact with the largest amount of cooling
surface which can be effected in a given space.
For this purpose
according to one part of my improvements I arrange a vertical series of
trough-shaped pipes or passages (mounted in a frame), through which
water or other liquid is caused to flow in an opposite direction to the
wort or liquid to be cooled, which flows over the external surfaces of the
pipes or troughs.
The
Figure 1 shows a transverse section of a series of one form of trougn-
shaped pipes or passages arranged in accordance with my Invention.
The wort or liquid to be cooled enters the space at a, a, flowing through
the opening b, and on in the direction indicated by the arrows.
pipes or passages d, d, for circulating water inserted or arranged between
each alternate trough, are for the purpose of bringing the liquid in
contact with all portions of the cooling surface. The dotted line c, c,
shows the level of the liquid, and the projecting rib d¹ on the inserted
pipes d, d, is applied for the purpose of directing the course of the
samc.
Figure 2 shows a section of a series of trough-shaped pipes or passages
a, a, differing only from those shown in Figure 1, in having the pipes or
passages curved for the purpose of giving greater stiffness or strength
thereto.
In place of the circulating pipes or passages being inserted between
each alternate trough as previously described, thin metal plates may be
substituted which may be put in separately, or the whole on each side
may be attached to a frame, as shown in Figure 3; a, a, are the frames;

page_text: The
b, b, the metal plates or sheets attached thereto. The troughs in this
Figure can be placed much closer than in the two preceeding arrange-
ments, thereby economising height when it is required to do so.
plates are removeable, sufficient room being left for cleaning out the
apparatus when required.
Figure 4 shows another form and arrangement of pipes or passages
differing from those shown at Figures 1 and 2, by having several pipes
or passages for circulating water arranged within each trough-shaped
pipe or passage. The wort or liquid to be cooled enters at c filling the
whole trough a¹, and continuing to flow in spreads over the upper
surface of the liquid, and is prevented from directly flowing over the
outside of the trough by the projecting ribs d, d, thus causing the liquid
to flow downward between the circulating pipes to the inner bottom of
the trough, then upwards and over the outside down to the outer bottom
of the trough a', as shown by the arrows, and falling into the trough
below, where the same process is repeated to the end of the series.
f shows a small pipe inserted through the bottom of the trough at one
end for discharging or emptying the same, when the wort or liquid has
ceased to run into it, the pipe f being closed during the cooling process
by a screw cap, plug, or cock from the outside. The dotted line at e
directly under c shows a very small orifice at one end which is always
open, and is also for the purpose of discharging the contents of the
trough.
с
Figure 5 differs only from Figure 4 in having all the pipes or passages
of curved form.
Figure 6 represents a series of trough-shaped pipes having no inter-
mediate circulating pipes or plates, and differing in their action from all
the arrangements previously described, by the wort or liquid to be cooled
flowing in one continuous stream instead of flowing over both sides of
the trough, and in two streams as previously described. To effect this
each trough has one side lower than the other, and they are so arranged
as to overflow at opposite sides alternately, which will be seen on
examining Figure 6 of the Drawing. The wort or liquid to be cooled
enters the space between the upright plates a, a, and flows on in the
direction shown by the arrows. The dotted lines show the level of the
liquid.

page_text: Figure 7 differs only from Figure 6 in having the trough-shaped pipes
tapering gradually from one side to the other, thereby making them of
equal width throughout.
The trough-shaped series of refrigerators previously described in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7, have a small pipe inserted through the bottom
of each trough at one end in a direct line with each other for emptying
the same when the wort or liquid has ceased to flow into them. These
orifices are closed during the cooling process by a plug of novel con-
struction passing through the whole series, the construction of which is
shown separately in Figure 8, a, a, being a metal tube or pipe having a
number of slits or perforations surrounded or encased by an india-rubber
tube b, b. The upper or widened part of the tube c is for the admission
of water; d is a screw plug or plunger which (when the smaller part of
the plug is passed easily through the orifices in the series of troughs), is
forced down, causing the water to expand the india-rubber tube b, and
thus close the orifices securely; and for withdrawing the plug from the
orifices the screw plunger d is raised sufficiently to allow the india-
rubber tube to contract and thus release the plug.
According to another part of my improvements in place of employing
troughs as previously described, the wort or liquid to be cooled is caused to
flow over and between a vertical series of wedge-shaped pipes or passages
through which water circulates in an opposite direction; Figure 9
represents this form of refrigerator. The wort or liquid to be cooled
enters the space between the raised parts a, a, flowing downward in the
direction indicated by the arrows. The pipes or passages are placed
within a small space of each other, so that such space may be filled
with the liquid, and so be brought in contact with both their upper and
lower surfaces. The turned up lip or raised parts marked bare for the
purpose of preventing the liquid overflowing the sides, and for directing
its course without being raised so high as to interfere with the cleaning
out of the apparatus, which would be the case if the pipes or passages
had a large space between them.
According to another part of my improvements where it is preferred
to exclude the atmosphere from the wort or liquid during the cooling
process, the sides and bottom of the refrigerator within the frame are
enclosed by sheets of waterproof canvas or other waterproof flexible

page_text: material in such manner that the whole of such enclosed part is filled in
by the liquid to be cooled, the top part of the refrigerator where the
liquid enters being enclosed by a metal cover before the sheets are fixed
in position, all of which are easily removed for cleaning the apparatus.
This part of my improvements is adaptable to only two forms of the
refrigerators herein previously described, namely, Figures 6 and 9, where
cach alternate trough or pipe projects beyond the other a, a.
Figures 10 and 11 show sheets on each side of the refrigerator having
a metal bar with perforations or eyelets secured to their bottoms,
attached to hooks or pins on the bottom pan or receiver, and b, b, are
rollers with ratchet wheels for winding up and tightening the sheets
a, a, which rollers are dropped into seats at opposite sides of the frame
for the purpose of bringing the sheets more tightly against the sides of
the refrigerator.
Where the sheets touch the ends of the refrigerator by the frames, to
such frames small doors are fixed with india-rubber on their edges, and
are shut or jammed against the sheets a, a, to keep them tight, as
shown; c is a metal cover on the top of the refrigerator resting one side
on the first trough and the other side on the second trough, the wort or
liquid to be cooled entering under it through the side of the frame;
d, d, are plates which are arranged at each end of the refrigerator for
directing the current of water through the series of pipes. The shorter
plates d' are for the purpose of directing the flow equally through the
series of pipes.
The arrangement of pipes or passages shown in Figures 4 and 5 may
also be connected in a similar manner for directing the current through
them.
Figures 12 and 13 represent an end view and part elevation showing
the manner of connecting the ends of the scries of trough-shaped pipes
or passages, shown in Figures 4 and 5, through which the water or.
other fluid circulates in a contrary direction to the wort or liquid to be
cooled.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing or carrying the same into practice what I claim is, the
improved arrangement and construction of refrigerators or apparatus for
cooling wort or other liquids, arranged to act substantially in the

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said George Severn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.