IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING AND FREEZING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES
Year: 1882

page_text: In the latter of Letters Patent granted to John Chambers, of To Mat,
.
Napier, New Zealand, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REFRIGERATING AND FREEZING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
SUCH PURPOSES," and bearing date the twenty seventh day of April
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two, No. 1984.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION of parts of the
Specification of the said Letters Patent proposed to be entered by the said
Jolin Chambers.
WHEREAS, since the date of the said Letters Patent, and of the filing of the
said final Specification of the Fame, I, the said John Chambers, have ascertained
that some parts of my Invention as described and claimed in the Specification of
the said Patent were not new at the date thereof, and I am desirous of limiting
iny claims and also of correcting some slight inaccuracies in the said Specification,
and of amending the said Specification by disclaimer and memorandum of
alteration.
.
:
I, the said John Chambers, therefore, for the reasons aforesaid, do hereby alter
and amend the Specification as follows, that is to say :-
In the printed Specification published by the Commissioners of Patents, at
page 3, line 7, between the words "and" and "inexpensive" I insert the word
"comparatively."
"
At page 4, line 33, I strike out the words "forms ono of the principal features
of my invention."
At the same page, line 34, I strike out the word "and."
At page 5, line 33, and, between the words "to" and "nor" I insert the words
nor do I claim the U bent tubes, the midfeather between the legs of the saine,
nor the series of depositing chambers, as I am aware that such parts have already
been proposed to be used for a similar purpose."
At the same page, line 38, I strike out the words "more or less" and insert the
word "slightly” in place thereof.

page_text: compressor; n, n are openings from the air passages into the depositing chambers
or compartments b, b-o, o are inlet and outlet pipes for the cold brine or other
cooling or freezing medium; which pipes are provided with three way cocks p, p
qq are slides or valves in the brine pipes, and 7, are slides or valves in the air
passages.
The action of the apparatus is as follows: the brine pipes o, o are put in connection
with a cold producing arrangement such as an ordinary sulphurous oxide or
ammonia freezing or cooling machine for example, and the cylinders d, d are filled
above the tube platos ff with the said brine or non-congealable liquid which is
kept in constant circulation through the said cylinders d, d and through the
refrigerator of the said cold producing machine or arrangement; whilst at the same
time the air to be cooled or frozen circulates through the interior of the bent pipes
When it is desired that the air shall be cooled down below the freezing point
the admission of brine to the first refrigerator is regulated so that the air becomes
cooled down in the first refrigerating vessel, nearly but not quite to the freezing
point whereby the greater part of the moisture contained in such air is condensed
and falls down into the depositing chamber b, b at the bottom of the vessel in the.
form of water whence it passes off through holes at the lowest point into the drain
pipe i, provided for that purpose and from which it can be withdrawn by
suitable drain cocks or traps.
C, C.
The air being thus deprived of the greater part of its moisture (say about nine
tenths) and being hence almost dry, passes on through the other refrigerating vessel
where it is cooled down to the required degree and nearly all the remaining
moisture frozen out of it and deposited in the pipes or tubes of the refrigerator
before being conveyed through the perforated wooden tubes or trunks or otherwise
into the cooling or freezing chamber or room.
This method of cooling the air down nearly but not quite to the freezing point
so as to condense and extract the greater part of the moisture in the form of water
before freezing the remainder enables me to overcome the difficulty heretofore found
in apparatus of this description namely the rapid choking up of the pipes or tubes
with snow or ice formed from the moisture deposited on the sides thereof.
Should the very small amount of moisture still remaining in the air, in course of
time freeze in the interior of the pipes e, e of the refrigerating vessel so as to
partially choke up such pipes, the fact will be indicated either by an increase of
temperature of the air between the blower and the refrigerator or by an increase of
pressure in the pipe leading from the fan, and when this occurs I reverse the
direction of the current of air through the refrigerating vessels by altering the
position of the slides or valves 1, r and admit external air to the fan or blower for
a few minutes, which air passing in the reverse direction and being at an increased
temperature will at once clear the ice or frost from the pipes. In case this method
should at any time prove insufficient to prevent the freezing up of any of the
pipes, or to remove the snow or ice therefrom, I provide means for withdrawing
the cold brine or other cooling or freezing medium from the space round the bent
pipes e, e in the refrigerating vessel and for introducing steam, warm water, or
warm air into the pipes; but this would only be required when the apparatus has
been worked too long with the air travelling in one direction or when the air
charged with moisture has been cooled too quickly.
I may here remark that in cases where the air is required to be cooled to a
temperature not below freezing point a single apparatus of this construction may
be conveniently applied and that by a slight modification of the apparatus may be
so arranged that the brine or cooling medium shall circulate through the pipes
whilst the air to be cooled is passed through the space around them but I prefer
the plan above described.
I would also observe that although my improved apparatus is shown and
described above as a Secondary apparatus for conveying or imparting to the air
the cold from brine or other medium previously cooled nearly to freezing point by

page_text: Pipe opening to the upper p
pipes or tubes c as before or in some cases, the volatile liquid may be placed inside
the pipes or tubes and the air circulated outside the same. Instead of causing the
brine or other cooling medium to pass over the partitions g in the cylinders & thesc
partitions may be dispensed with and the brine or other mediuin simply allowed to
enter the cylinders d at the bottom and to issue therefrom at or near the top or
vice vered but I prefer to employ the partition g. The pipes or tubes e may be
arranged in other ways for example instead of being of U, shape with both branches
of the U fixed into the same tube plate they may be straight and secured at both.
ends in separate tube plates but I prefer the arrangement shown as by that means
the inconvenience of unequal expansion of the pipes or tubes and their casing is
avoided as is well understood. Instead of the air being forced through the
refrigerating apparatus by a blowing fan or other air forcing or compressing
apparatus it may be drawn through by an exhaust fan or other suitable exhausting
apparatus
The brine or other-cooling-medium-should be made_to_pas-through-the-
cylinders & in a direction opposite to that of the air through the pipes or tubes e-
In some cases it will be found preferable to make the vessels d of an oblong or
other form instead of cylindrical especially where space is an object as on board
ship for instance.
In conclusion I desire it-to-be-understood-that-I do not claim generally cooling
-air-by-causing it to pass in contact with surfaces cooled by a refrigerating medium,
as I am aware that such process has been tried in various-ways-before; nor do
I-claim-any-particular_means_or_method of introducing the air, to or withdrawing
it from the cooling or freezing chamber or room as that may be effected-by-means.
of other than the trunks herein before referred to, nor do I claim the U bent tubes,
the midfeather between the logs of the same, nor the series of depositing chambers,
as I am aware that such parts have already been proposed to be used for a similar
purpose, nor do I wish to limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated by the drawings as they may be modified to suit various circumstances
without departing from the nature of my invention but what I claim as my
Invention is
First. The novel system or method of removing from the air the moisture contained
therein by first cooling the air down to a temperature slightly above the
freezing point of water so as to condense and extract the greater part of the
said moisture froin the air in the form of water, and then afterwards further
reducing the temperature of the said air below the freezing point aud
effecting the deposit of the remaining comparatively small quantity of
moisture in the form of snow or ice in the refrigerating apparatus
substantially as herein before described
Secondly In the construction of air refrigerating and freezing apparatus the
combination of a group or groups of refrigerating pipes or tubes with
depositing chambers for. the reception of the moisture condensed in or on
such pipes or tubes, such depositing chambers being adapted with slides,
valves or their equivalents whereby the current of air may be directed
through one or more of the groups of refrigerating pipes or tubes, and in
either direction at pleasure substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the drawings hereto annexed.
In witness whereof I the said John Chambers have hereunto set my hand
and seal this seventeenth day of March in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
TNA AHAVREDS
01

page_text: To the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions.
Notice of the application for leave to file this Disclaimer &c having been
advertized in accordance with my directions:-
I hereby grant my Fiat giving leave to the above named John Chambers
to file in the Office of the Commissioners of of Patents with the Specification to
which the same relates the above written Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration.

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Chambers, of Te Mata, Napier, New Zealand, at
present residing at Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for an invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING AND FREEZING, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Chambers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th April 1882.
JOHN CHAMBERS of Te Mata, Napier, New Zealand, at present residing at
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING AND
FREEZING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES."
The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved and inexpensive
means for preserving meat during its transport on board ship from one country to
another, but the same process and apparatus are equally applicable to the trans-
mission of cold for other refrigerating or freezing purposes.
I propose to produce the cold in the first place by means of any of the well-
known gases ordinarily employed for this purpose such as sulphurous oxide,
ammonia and others, and for transmitting this cold to the cooling or freezing
chamber, I employ a current of air which I cause by a fan blower or air compressor
to pass through the refrigerator or refrigerators where it becomes cooled or frozen
and then passes on direct into the cooling or freezing chamber.
The air passes through the fan, blower or compressor into a wooden tube or
trunk extending (by preference) along the bottom of the cooling or freezing
chamber and provided with perforations at the sides, whereby the cooled or frozen
air passes into the chamber.
At or near the top of the latter is a similar-perforated trunk leading to the
centre of the fan or blower or to the compressor by which it is withdrawn or
exhausted and thus the cold or frozen air is kept in constant circulation through
the cooling or freezing chamber. I prefer to use the cold air over and over again
in this way as the air will by my method soon become perfectly dry, but I reserve

page_text: to myself the right to use fresh atmospheric air when found desirable. In order to
prevent the obstruction of the apparatus by the accumulation of ice in the pipes of
the refrigerator by the congelation of the moisture contained in the air, I propose
to have two or more refrigerators in conjunction, arranging them and providing
them with passages and slides in such a manner that the current of air which is to
be cooled, may be reversed at will, and so that the current of air to be cooled may
be diverted from either one or more of the series without interrupting the flow of
the said air through the other vessels of the same series.
By the use of this combination when the air to be cooled or refrigerated is first
admitted it is cooled down to the dew point in the first refrigerating vessel and
the greater part of the moisture therein contained is condensed and falls to the
bottom of the vessel whence it passes off through passages provided for that
purpose. Being then deprived of the greater part of its moisture (say about nine
tenths) and being thus almost dry it passes on through the other refrigerating
vessels where it is cooled down to the required degree before passing through the
wooden tubes or trunks into the cooling or freezing chamber.
This method of cooling the air down to dew point at first so as to condense and
extract the greater part of the moisture before freezing, forms one of the principal
_features of my invention.
-
-Should the minimum amount of moisture, still-contained-in-the-air, in course of
time freeze in the interior of the pipes of the refrigerating vessels-so-that their
external diameter becomes reduced, this will be indicated either by an increase of
temperature of the air between the blower and the refrigerator or by an increase of
pressure in the fan tube, and when this occurs I reverse the direction of the
-current-through-the refrigerating vessels by altering the position of the slides, and
admitting external air to the fan or blower for a few minutes, which-air-passing-in
the reverse direction and being at an increased temperature will at once clear the
ice or frost from the pipes.
In case this method should at any time-prove-insufficient to prevent the freezing
up of any of the pipes or to remove the frost or ice therefrom I also provide means
for withdrawing the cooling medium from the space round the pipes in the refri-
gerating vessel and introducing steam or warm water into the pipes. This would
only be required when the external atmosphere was below freezing point.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Chambers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th October 1882.
JOHN CHAMBERS of To Mata Napier, New Zealand at present residing at
Manchester in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING AND
FREEZING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES.”
"
The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved and inexpensivo
means for preserving meat during its transport on board ship from one country to
another, but the same process and apparatus are equally applicable to the
transmission of cold for other refrigerating or freezing purposes.
I. propose to produce the cold in the first place by means of the vaporization of
any of the well known condensible gases ordinarily employed for this purpose,
such as sulphurous oxide, ammonia, and others or by any other suitable cooling or
freezing medium and for transmitting this cold to the cooling or freezing chamber
or room I employ a current of air, which I causo by means of a fan, blower or air
compressor, to pass through the refrigerator, or refrigerators where it becomes
cooled or frozen by the action of the cooling or freezing medium employed, and
then passes on direct to the cooling or freezing chamber or room.
The air passes
through the fan, blower or compressor and after being refrigerated or frozen is
admitted into a tube or trunk (preferably of wood) extending (by preference) along
the bottom of the cooling or freezing chamber or room and provided with per-
forations at the sides, whereby the cooled or frozen air passes into the chamber or
room. At, or near, the top of the latter is a similar perforated trunk leading to
the centre of the fan or blower, or to the air compressor, by which the air is
withdrawn or exhausted and thus the cold or frozen air is kept in constant
circulation through the cooling or freezing chamber or room. I prefer to use the
cold air over and over again in this way as the air will by this method soon
become perfectly dry, but I reserve to myself the right to use fresh atmospheric air
when found desirable.
In order to prevent the obstruction of the refrigerating apparatus by the
accumulation of ice in or upon the pipes of the refrigerator by the congelation of
the moisture contained in the air, I propose to have two or more refrigerators in
conjunction, arranging and providing them with passages and slides in such a
manner that the direction of the current of air which is to be cooled may be
reversed at will, and so that the said current may be diverted from either one or
more of the series without interrupting the flow of the said air through the other
vessels of the same series.
My invention is illustrated by the various figures on the Sheet of drawings
annexed hereto and forming part of this Specification; Fig. 1 being a longitudinal
view (partly in elevation and partly in section) of a series of four refrigerating
vessels constructed and arranged according to my Invention. Fig. 2 is a transverso
vertical section of one of the refrigerating vessels. Fig: 3 is a horizontal section
on the line A-B in Fig. 1. and Fig: 4. is a plan view taken at the line C-D in the
same figure. a, a is the rectangular base subdivided into compartments or
depositing chambers b, b by partitions c, c, d, d are casings or cylinders with
domed tops and containing groups of bent pipes or tubes 6, e, the lower ends of
which are fitted into holes in tube plates f. -g, g is a midfeather or partition
between the legs of the pipes e, e, and h, h is a continuation of the same below the
tube plates ff and resting on the partitions c, c in the base; i, i is a drain pipe
underlying the base a, a and provided with semi-partitions k, k which are a

page_text: further continuation of the partitions c, c beneath the base, l, are inlet pipes for
the air to be cooled and m, m are outlet pipes for the cooled or frozen air, which
are in communication with the perforated trunks at or near the bottom of the
cooling or freezing chamber or room. The air inlet pipe 1, is connected to the
blower or air compressor; n, n are openings from the air passages into the
depositing chambers or compartments b, bo, o are inlet and outlet pipes for the
cold brine or other cooling or freezing medium; which pipes are provided with
three way cocks P.-9. 9 are slides or valves in the brine pipes, and r, rare
slides or valves in the air passages.
The action of the apparatus is as follows; the brine pipes o, o are put in con-
nection with a cold producing arrangement such as an ordinary sulphurous oxide
or ammonia freezing or cooling machine for example, and the cylinders d, d. are
filled above the tube plates with the said brine or non-congealable liquid,
which is kept in constant circulation through the said cylinders d, d and through
the refrigerator of the said cold producing machine or arrangement; whilst at the
same time the air to be cooled or frozen circulates through the interior of the bent
pipes e, e. When it is desired that the air shall be cooled down below the freezing
point the admission of brine to the first refrigerator is regulated so that the air
becomes cooled down in the first refrigerating vessel, nearly but not quite to the
freezing point whereby-the-greater part of the moisture contained in such air is
condensed and falls down into the depositing chamber b,-b-at-the bottom of the
vessel in the form of water whence it passes off through holes at the lowest point
into the drain pipe i, i provided for that purpose and from which it can be
withdrawn by suitable drain cocks or traps. The air being thus deprived of the
greater part of its moisture (say about nine tenths) and being hence almost dry
passes on through the other refrigerating vessel where it is cooled down to the
required degree and nearly all the remaining moisture frozen out of it and
deposited in the pipes or tubes of the refrigerator before being conveyed through
the perforated-wooden-tubes_or_trunks or otherwise into the cooling or freezing
chamber or room.
This method of cooling the air down nearly but not quite to the freezing point
so as to condense and extract the greater part of the moisture in the form of wate
before freezing, the remainder forms one of the principal features of my invention
and enables me to overcome the difficulty heretofore found in apparatus of this
description namely the rapid choking up of the pipes or tubes with snow or ice
formed from the moisture deposited on the sides thereof.
Should the very small amount of moisture still remaining in the air, in course o
time freeze in the interior of the pipes e, e of the refrigerating vessel so ns to
partially choke up such pipes, the fact will be indicated either by an increase o
temperature of the air between the blower and the refrigerator or by an increase
of pressure in the pipe leading from the fan, and when this occurs I roverse the
direction of the current of air through the refrigerating vessels by altering the
position of the slides or valves r, r and admit external air to the fan or blower fo
a few minutes, which air passing in the reverse direction and being at an increased
temperature will at once clear the ice or frost from the pipes. In case this metho
should at any time prove insufficient to prevent the freezing up of any of th
pipes, or to remove the snow or ice therefrom, I provide means for withdrawing
the cold brine or other cooling or freezing medium from the space round the ben
pipes c, e in the refrigerating vessel and for introducing steam, warm water, o
warm air into the pipes; but this would only be required when the apparatus ha
been worked too long with the air travelling in one direction or when the ai
charged with moisture has been cooled too quickly. I may here remark that i
cases where the air is required to be cooled to a temperature not below freezing
point a single apparatus of this construction may be conveniently applied, and tha
by a slight modification of the apparatus may be so arranged that the brine o
cooling medium shall circulate through the pipes whilst the air to be cooled i
passed through the space around them but I prefer the plan above described.

page_text: I would also observe that although my improved apparatus is shown and
described above as a Secondary apparatus for conveying or imparting to the-air
the cold from brine or other medium previously cooled nearly to freezing point by
a primary cold producing machine or arrangement, the same apparatus may also be
employed as a primary cold producing arrangement itself by filling the space round
the pipes e, e more or less with a highly volatile liquid such as sulphurous oxide
or liquid ammonia and vaporizing the same by exhaustion through a pipe or pipes
opening into the upper part of the cylinder d, the air passing through the pipes or
tubes as before, or in some cases the volatile liquid may be placed inside the
pipes or tubes and the air circulated outside the same. Instead of causing the
brine or other cooling medium to pass over the partitions in the cylinders & these
partitions may be dispensed with and the brine or other medium simply allowed
to enter the cylinders d at the bottom and to issue therefrom at or near the top or
vice versa but I prefer to employ the partition . The pipes or tubes e may be
arranged in other ways for example instead of being of U shape with both
branches of the U fixed into the same tube plate they may be straight and
secured at both ends in separate tube plates but I prefer the arrangement shown
as that by that means the inconvenience of unequal expansion of the pipes or tubes
and their casing is avoided as is well understood. Instead of the air being forced
through the refrigerating apparatus by a blowing fan or other air forcing or
compressing apparatus it may be drawn through by an exhaust fan or other
suitable exhausting apparatus.
The brine or other cooling medium should be made to pass through the
cylinders d in a direction opposite to that of the air through the pipes or tubes 6.
In some cases it will be found preferable to make the vessels d of an oblong or
other form instead of cylindrical especially where space is an object as on board
ship for instance.
In conclusion I desire it to be understood that I do not claim generally cooling
air by causing it to pass in contact with surfaces cooled by a refrigerating medium
as I am aware that such process has been tried in various ways before; nor do I
claim any particular means or method of introducing the air to or withdrawing it
from the cooling or freezing chamber or room as that may be effected by means of
other than the trunks herein before referred to nor do I wish to limit myself to the
precise details herein described and illustrated by the drawings as they may be
modified to suit various circumstances without departing from the nature of my
invention, but what I claim as my Invention is-
First. The novel system or method of removing from the air the moisture
contained therein by first cooling the air down to a temperature more or less above
the freezing point of water, so as to condense and extract the greater part of the
said moisture from the air in the form of water, and afterwards when required,
further reducing the temperature of the said air below the freezing point and
effecting the deposit of the remaining comparatively small quantity of moisture
in the form of snow or ice in the refrigerating apparatus substantially as herein-
before described.
Secondly. In the construction of air refrigerating and freezing apparatus the
combination of a group or groups of refrigerating pipes or tubes with depositing
chambers for the reception of the moisture condensed in or on such pipes or tubes,
such depositing chambers being adapted with slides valves or their equivalents
whereby the current of air may be directed through one or more of the groups
of refrigerating pipes or tubes, and in either direction at pleasure substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings hereto annexed.
Thirdly. The employment in air refrigerating apparatus of one or more groups
of U shaped refrigerating pipes or tubes enclosed in suitable casings, the two ends
of each of the said pipes or tubes forming one group being secured in one tube
plate in such a manner as to open into the moisture depositing chamber at opposite
sides of the division plate in such chamber substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated in the drawings annexed.

page_text: Fourthly. The combination with air refrigerating and freezing apparatus of the
kind berein-before described and illustrated in the drawings of a blowing or
exhausting fan or other air compressing or exhausting apparatus as hereinbefore
described and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof I the said John Chambers have hereunto set my hand i
and seal this Twenty-fifth day of October in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and Eighty two.
Witnessed by
CHARLES A. DAVIES.
Patent Office.
4 St. Ann's Square
Manchester.
JOHN CHAMBERS. (L.S.)