IMPROVEMENTS IN ICE SAFES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Clarke Ash, of 129, Lupus, Street, Pimlico,
in the County, of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ICE SAFES."
Sealed the 23rd February 1866, and dated the 31st August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Clarke Ash at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st August 1865.
I, HENRY CLARKE ASH, of 129, Lupus Street, Pimlico, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ICE SAFES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ice safes. For this
purpose I construct a box or chest lined with suitable non-conducting material
in the usual way. Within this box or chest there is, as is also usual, an ice
tank or well to receive block or rough ice, and there are shelves on either.
side of it to receive the articles required to be cooled. Heretofore this ice
tank or well has been simply a cistern with an outlet pipe at the bottom for the
escape of the water, which runs from the ice, and which in this description of
ice safe has been allowed to go to waste..
According to my Invention I place in the ice tank or well a false bottom,
so that there is a space of several inches below it; the ice (which should be

page_text: block ice) rests on this false bottom, and when first put in will project above
the top of the tank or well; the portion of the ice so projecting is covered
over with a metal cover, the sides and ends of which dip down into the well
or tank, and the top is flat. This cover protects the ice from being tainted
with the smell of anything which may be put into the safe, and its top serves
as an additional shelf to receive articles to be cooled. As the ice thaws the
cover gradually descends into the well or tank. Underneath the false bottom
is a filter consisting of an earthenware or other vessel of suitable form to lay
in the space left for it under the false bottom, and it is there surrounded by the
water which runs from the ice. The bottom of the filter vessel is supported
at a short distance above the bottom of the well or tank, and is formed of a
slab of silicated carbon, or a slab of any filtering material may be employed.
The water filters through this slab into the interior of the filter vessel, and is
drawn off from time to time as it is required for use by a tap at the exterior
of the safe. The filter vessel may be formed entirely of filtering material, if
preferred. In other forms of ice safes filter vessels may be so placed as to be
surrounded by the water in the ice well, which then filters into the interior of
the filter vessel rendering it fit for drinking purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Clarke Ash in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CLARKE ASH, of 129, Lupus Street, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Clarke Ash, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Clarke
Ash, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Clarke Ash, my executors, administrators, 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
ICE SAPES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry

page_text: Clarke Ash, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain 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
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Clarke Ash, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ice safes. For this
purpose I construct a box or chest lined with suitable non-conducting material
in the usual way. Within this box or chest there is, as is also usual, an
ice tank or well to receive block or rough ice, and there are shelves on either
side of it to receive the articles required to be cooled.. Heretofore this ico
tank or well has been simply a cistern with an outlet pipe at. the bottom for
the escape of the water which runs from the ice, and which in this description
of ice safe has been allowed to go to waste.
According to my Invention, I place in the ice tank or well a false or
moveable bottom, so that there is a space below it; the ice (which should be
block ice) rests on this false bottom, and when first put in will project above
the top of the tank or well. The portion of the ice so projecting is covered over
with a metal cover, the sides and ends of which dip down into the well or
tank, and the top is flat. This cover protects the ice from being tainted with
the smell of anything which may be put into the safe, and its top serves as an
additional shelf to receive articles to be cooled. As the ice thaws the cover
gradually descends into the well or tank. Underneath the false or moveable
bottom is a filter, consisting of an earthenware or other-vessel of suitable;
form to lay in the space left for it under the false bottom. The water
filters into the interior of the filter vessel, and is drawn off from .time.to
time as it is required for use by a tap at the exterior of the safe.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood. and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto

page_text: between the outside and the lining, powdered charcoal or other suitable non-
conducting material is rammed to prevent the conduction of heat to the interior.
The box is also made with two lids, an outer lid b, and an inner one c. Within
the box is lined, by preference, of sheet zinc, and it is divided into three com-
partments, of which the centre is the ice tank or well d, and on each side of
it is a space e to receive the articles required to be cooled; these spaces e, e,
are fitted with shelves. Beneath the bottom of the ice tank or well I prefer
not to make the safe bottom double, as it is not necessary, and space is
economized.
f is an earthenware filter shown separately at Figures 8; it fits into the
lower part of the ice tank, and is bedded in its place with cement; at its
centre is a circular receptacle f^, perforated at the bottom; this is filled with
filtering materials, such as gravel, sand, and charcoal in layers in the same
way that an ordinary water filter is charged; f is a cover to this receptacle ;
in the centre of it is a recess perforated at the bottom as is shown, into
which a sponge is put, and the cover få is cemented on. Over the filter is a
false or moveable bottom d. This as shown in the Drawing may fit very
loosely, and rest on the top of the filter; but this arrangement is applicable
only where block ice is used, otherwise the false bottom should fit tighter, and
it may be made to rest on ledges projecting from the sides of the ice tank; block
ice is however the most suitable. At g is represented a block of ice resting
on the false bottom or support d', it is covered over with a cover h, resting on
the top of the ice, and as it thaws descending with it. This cover is made
conveniently of sheet zinc; it serves to prevent the ice from being tainted
with the smell of anything which may be put into the safe, as this might
render the water melting from it undrinkable. The water from the ice
immediately filters through into the interior of the filter f, from whence it
can be drawn as required by the cock i, from which a pipe passes as is shown,
to the hole in the centre of the bottom of the filter; the pipe just enters the
hole, and the cement bedding makes the joint tight. The water drawn
from the filter will be ice-cold and very pure. The cover h is shown
separately at Figure 4; its top serves as a shelf on which articles to be cooled
may be placed.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-
The arranging ice safes having spaces to receive the articles to be cooled
on each side, and an ice tank or well in the middle with a filter in the bottom
of such ice tank or well to filter the water running from the ice, and render
it fit for the table, as described.

page_text: 5
Also I claim the combining a cover with the ice tank or well, such cover
being arranged to serve as an additional shelf resting on the ice, and descend-
ing as it thaws, by which means the ice is preserved from contamination, and
space is economized.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Clarke Ash, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
H. CLARKE ASH. (L.S.)