AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING AND PRESERVING ICE FOR COOLING LIQUIDS AND FOR PRESERVING THE SAME AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING AND PRESERVING ICE
FOR COOLING LIQUIDS AND FOR PRESERVING THE SAME AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
-A communication from abroad by Léon Dominique Vinot, of
Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 13th August 1869, and dated the 19th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th February 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
5 No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING AND.

page_text: PRESERVING ICE FOR COOLING LIQUIDS AND FOR PRESERVING THE SAME AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a novel, economical, and portable apparatus
which may be employed in trade, commerce, and for the domestic wants
of a household for preserving food, freezing liquids, and for preserving or
making ice. The said apparatus will act even in a very high temperature
and may be placed in any desired locality. It may be adapted to beer
engines, lemonade apparatus, to the counters of wine merchants, and
will serve as a food safe or pantry. It will be found of great use
to butchers, in hospitals, in the army and navy, and otherwise. The
great advantages of this apparatus are that it will work without
acid and without any expense for labour or otherwise except its
first cost.
To make the said apparatus and to obtain the desired results I first
construct a box or case of wood of which the first thickness is eight-
tenths of an inch more or less according to the size of the box to be
made. I then furnish the interior of this first thickness with another
of one inch and five-eighths or more of some had conducting material,
such as powdered charcoal or tan after it has served in the tannery.
This bed or thickness is covered with an envelope of thin wood; this
envelope is fixed to the case so that the non-conducting material or bed
cannot escape or be displaced, the sides of the case having altogether a
thickness of about two inches and three-quarters. The whole is covered
internally with sheet metal well soldered at the corners to prevent any
communication with the non-conducting bed, which is the same on the
doors, the covers, and the ice reservoir. All the joints of the door are
furnished with flannel, felt, or other thick and flexible substance to
prevent all contact of the external air with the interior of the refrigerator.
The same precaution is also taken with regard to the case and with the
cover or front of the ice drawer. The joints of the doors, cover, and drawer
under the mouldings forming the rebate are also covered with a light
band of the said flexible substance. The covers are made in two parts
to facilitate the raising thereof. In this refrigerator there is a receiver
or cistern whose sides and cover are constructed in the same manner as
the outer case or box. The bottom is of wood and is divided into cells
wherein is contained a mixture of ice and salt. It is pierced with holes
under each cell to permit the escape of the water caused by the melting

page_text: of the ice and salt.
The metal in the interior of this case is movable, or
at least forms another case inclosed within the first. It is divided into
five compartments lengthwise and two compartments laterally. It is in
these compartments that is placed the mixture consisting of broken ice.
and sea salt in nearly equal proportions, there being a little less of salt
than of ice. Two of these compartments may be left empty to receive,
water or other liquid desired to be frozen. I can also introduce into the:
compartments containing the ice and salt liquid enclosed in a bottle..
By this means water may be frozen in twenty minutes or half an hour..
Above these compartments or cells. there are five small metal covers each
resting upon one of the compartments; two of them, which have
enlarged rims, rest upon the water cells so that they may be easily raised.
without letting fall the mixture of ice and salt which is placed on these
covers and extends to the edge of the receiver. By means of these
freezing or refrigerating compartments I can obtain pieces of ice of
various forms according to the shape of the moulds. The covers of the
compartments containing the ice and salt as well as the bottoms are
pierced with holes to permit the flow of the water produced by the
melting of the ice and salt. The two covers with rims are not pierced
except in the parts extending over the two compartments containing the
ice and salt at the front and rear. The metal case can be withdrawn at
pleasure and conveniently cleaned when necessary. I can make in these
compartments blocks of ice sixteen inches long by six inches wide, and four:
and a half inches thick in a very little time. The mixture of broken ice
and salt can be preserved from thirty to thirty-six hours. I can therefore
make much more ice than is required to supply my refrigerator. If it
is desired to obtain a large quantity of ice in a short time it is only
necessary to place in the compartments or cells a number of small boxes
or receivers of metal, glass, or earthenware. The small quantity of
water contained in these receivers will be quickly frozen, and these
small pieces of ice serve to supply the freezer. The results which I
obtain are very important, for it is only necessary to have a small
quantity of ice to supply my apparatus, and after this first mixing I need
not procure any more as I can make as much as I require. With regard
to the salt water produced by the melting of the ice and salt I eva-
porate the water and regain the salt for further use; I have therefore no
further expense. In places where ice cannot be readily procured it may
be produced by employing a freezing mixture such as the following:-

page_text: One part of water, and one part of nitrate of ammonia, or sixteen parts
of water, five parts of sal ammoniac, and seven parts of saltpetre. These
mixtures are well known, but the acids being dangerous it is better not
to employ them unless it should be absolutely necessary to do so. Below
the receiver I place a mattrass or bed of straw to prevent the communi-
cation of the cold too quickly to the food compartment or the bottle
reservoir, which are preferably arranged in the lower part of the
apparatus. Below this non-conducting mattress or material there is
another bottom or board pierced with holes and resting upon two
brackets. This board supports the receiver which can be withdrawn
from the interior of the receiver when desired. The water produced by
the melting of the ice and salt in the receiver runs through the mattress
or bed of straw and falls upon a drum or barrel placed in the freezer.
This drum, which is of metal, forms the food compartment and the bottle
reservoir. The water falling upon the said drum has a very cooling
effect upon the food and bottle compartments. By this means I produce
a temperature four or five degrees above zero in the food compartment,
and three or four degrees above zero in the bottle reservoir. I can obtain
two or three degrees below zero in the food chamber and three or four
degrees below zero in the bottle reservoir by withdrawing the double
bottom and the non-conducting bed from below the ice receiver.
place within the drum and below the double bottom of the receiver a
large drawer which is furnished with a sheet of metal, and I may
preserve the ice therein for five or six days. It is slightly inclined to
allow the water produced by the melting of the ice to flow to the end of
the drawer where the bottom is perforated. This water falls into a pipe
behind the drawer connected with those of the bottle reservoir, and this
water is allowed to escape through holes communicating with the
exterior of the apparatus; each of these holes is furnished with a lead
tube and a stop-cock. The interior of the food compartment is furnished
with rods or bars of metal or wood placed some little distance apart and
secured to the sides of the drum. These rods for a support for the
food to be preserved. If the ice and salt are clean in the first instance
and the interior of the apparatus is well washed the salt water may
used for cooking, that is, if the metal of the apparatus is not affected by
the salt. Lead and tin are very good for this purpose. To render these
metals inoxidable 1. can cover them with some material such as gutta
percha or caoutchouc. I can also place a bed of tar or other substance
I
be

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the International Patent Office, No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING
AND PRESERVING ICE FOR COOLING LIQUIDS AND POR PRESERVING THE SAME
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES,' upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Robert Lake, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calender months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming part of this Specification
My Invention relates. to a novel, economical, and portable apparatus
which may be employed in trade, commerce, the navy, and for the
domestic wants of a household for preserving food, freezing liquids, and
for making ice cream and iced beverages, and in short for the production
of ice, its preservation and reproduction. The said apparatus will act
even in a very high temperature and may be placed in any desired
locality. It may be adapted to beer engines, lemonade apparatus, and
to the counters of wine merchants. It will also serve as a food safe.
or pantry and will be found of great use to butchers, in hospitals,
in the army and navy, and otherwise. The great advantages of this
apparatus are that it will work without acid and without any expense
for labour or otherwise except its first cost.
The following is a description of the said apparatus:-To make the
same and to obtain the best results therefrom I first construct a box
or case of wood of which the first thickness is about eight-tenths of
an inch more or less according to the size of the box to be made.
The interior of this first thickness is furnished with another one inch
and six-tenths or more of some bad conducting material, such as
powdered wood, charcoal, or tan after it has served in the tannery.
This bed or thickness is covered with an envelope of wood of slight
thickness so as not to make the apparatus too heavy; the said envelope
is fixed to the first in such manner that the non-conducting material
or bed cannot escape or be displaced, the sides of the case having
The
altogether a thickness of about two inches and three-quarters.
whole is covered internally with sheet metal well soldered at the corners
to prevent any communication with the non-conducting bed.
Upon examining Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing, which
Figure is a vertical section of the apparatus, it will be seen that all
which is of wood is marked B, and that the non-conductor is indicated
by A; the same remark applies to the doors, covers, and the head of
the drawer or ice reservoir, as seen in both Figures 1 and 2, which are
vertical, longitudinal, and transverse sections through the refrigerator.
All the joints of the door are furnished at the parts indicated in the
Drawings with some thick yielding substance, such as flannel or felt,
to prevent all contact of the external air with the interior of the

page_text: refrigerator. The same precaution is also taken with regard to the
covers and drawer. The joints of the doors, cover, and drawer under
the mouldings forming the rebate are also covered with a light band of
the said thick flexible substance, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, which are
front and side views of the apparatus. The covers are made in two
parts to facilitate the raising thereof. In this refrigerator there is
a receiver or cistern C (see Figures 1 and 2) whose side and cover are
constructed in the same manner as the outer or main case or box.
The bottom is of wood and is pierced with holes under each cell, wherein
is contained the mixture of broken ice and salt, to permit the escape
of the water caused by the melting of such ice and salt. The metal
in the interior of this case instead of being fixed as heretofore is moveable
or at least forms another case enclosed within the first. It is divided
into five compartments a, b, c, d, e, lengthwise, and two compartments
laterally, see Figures 1 and 2. It is in these compartments that is
placed the mixture, consisting of broken ice and sea salt in nearly equal
proportions, there being a little less of salt than of icc. Two of these
compartments b and d may be left empty, as shown in the Drawing,
to receive water or other liquid desired to be frozen. I can also introduce
into the compartments containing the ice and salt liquid enclosed in a
bottle. By this means water may be frozen in twenty minutes or half
an hour. Above these compartments or cells and inside the outer case
at a distance of about two inches from the cover there are five small
metal covers f, g, h, i, j, each resting upon one of the compartments;
two of them g and i have enlarged rims resting upon the water cells,
so that they may be easily raised without letting fall the mixture of ice
and salt which is placed in these covers up to the level of the cover
of the receiver. By means of these freezing or refrigerating compart-
ments I can obtain pieces of ice of various forms according to the
shape of the moulds containing the water or other liquid. The covers
of the compartments containing the ice and salt as well as the bottoms
are pierced with holes to permit the flow of the water produced by
the melting of the ice and salt. The two covers with the enlarged rims
are not pierced with holes except in the parts extending over the two
compartments containing the ice and salt at the front and rear, see
Figure 2. The metal case can be withdrawn at pleasure, so that it
may be conveniently cleaned when necessary. I can make in these
compartments blocks of ice about sixteen inches long by six inches

page_text: wide and four and a half inches thick in a very little time. The
mixture of broken ice and salt can be preserved from thirty to thirty-
six hours or longer, I can therefore make much more ice than is required
to supply my refrigerator. If it is desired to obtain a large quantity
of ice in a short time it is only necessary to place in the compart-
ments or cells a number of small boxes or receivers of metal, glass,
earthenware, or other ceramic material. The small quantity of water
contained in these receivers will be quickly frozen, and these small
pieces of ice serve to supply the refrigerator. The results which I obtain
are very important, for it is only necssary to have a small quantity
(about thirty kilogrammes) of ice to supply my apparatus, and after
this first supply I need not procure any more as I can make as much
as I require. With regard to the salt water produced by the melting
of the ice and salt, I evaporate the water and regain the salt for further
use; I need therefore incur no other expence. In places where
ice cannot be readily procured it may be produced by employing a
freezing mixture such as the following:-One part of water and one
part of nitrate of ammonia, or better still sixteen parts of water, five
parts of sal ammoniac, and seven parts of saltpetre. As above stated,
in localities where no ice is found, or where it is difficult to procure,
it is best to employ the first mixture consisting of water and nitrate
of ammonia to obtain it. If ice has been procured or has been obtained
by the process above written, and it is desired to obtain a freezing
mixture efficacious and very intensc, producing cold of from 17 to 54
degrees centigrade below zero, the following mixture may be used,
namely, ice one part and chloride of calcium two parts. This latter
substance is a refuse product of manufacture, and is consequently
inexpensive and is found nearly everywhere. These means are well
known, but the acids being dangerous it will be well not to employ them
except in the last extremity. Below the receiver C I place a mattrass or
bed X of straw to prevent the communication of the cold too quickly
to the food compartment E or the bottle reservoir F, both of which are
indicated in Figures 1 and 2. Below this non-conducting mattress or
material there is another bottom or board G pierced with holes in all
directions and resting upon two brackets or blocks. This board supports
the receiver, which can be withdrawn from the interior of the refrigerator
when desired. The water produced by the melting of the ice and salt
in the receiver runs through the mattress or bed of straw X and falls

page_text: upon a case or barrel H placed in the freezing apparatus. This case,
which is of metal, see Figure 1, forms the food compartment and the
bottle reservoir; the water falling upon the said case has a very cooling
effect upon the food and bottle compartments. By this means I produce
a temperature four or five degrees above zero in the food compartment,
and three or four degrees above zero in the bottle reservoir. I can obtain
two or three degrees below zero in the food chamber and three or four
degrees below zero in the bottle reservoir by withdrawing the double
bottom G and the non-conducting bed X from below the ice receiver.
I place within the drawer and below the double bottom of the receiver
a large drawer K, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3. This drawer is furnished
internally with a sheet of metal, and I may preserve the ice therein
for five or six days or longer. It is slightly inclined, as shewn in
Figure 2, to allow the water produced by the melting of the ice to flow
to the end of the drawer where the bottom is perforated. This water
falls into a pipe behind the drawer connected with those of the bottle
reservoir, and this water is allowed to escape through holes T communi-
cating with the exterior of the apparatus; each of these holes is furnished
with a lead pipe and a stop cock. The interior of the food compartment
is furnished with rods or bars L of metal or. wood. The rods are placed
some little distance apart and are secured to the sides of the case, forming
a support for the food to be preserved. If the ice and salt are clean in
the first instance, and the interior of the apparatus is well washed, the
salt water may be used for cooking, that is, if the metal of the apparatus
is not affected by the salt. Lead and tin are very good for this purpose.
To render these metals inoxidable I can cover them with some material
such as gutta percha or caoutchouc. I can also place a bed of tar or
other substance upon the interior of the sides of the apparatus so that
the water cannot escape.
I have herein-before stated that in the upper freezing case there is
placed a mixture of sea salt and broken ice for obtaining blocks of ice,
which are obtained of any desired form by placing vessels of water in
contact with the mixture. With the said mixture and the above-
described mode of operating the freezing of the water and its formation
into ice is effected slowly, and besides to obtain this ice there must be
some to commence with, I have herein-before said, first, that the ice may
be made in localities where it cannot be found, in working with the aid

page_text: of a mixture composed of water and nitrate of ammonia in equal parts;
second, a more efficacious freezing effect may be obtained by employing
a mixture composed of one part of ice (formed by the above process) and
two parts of chloride of calcium. To obtain, however, the full effect of
this last-named mixture in a comparatively short time, instead of leaving
the mixture to act by itself, I place in the freezing case, previously filled
with broken ice and chloride of calcium, a disc or circular plate fur-
nished with moulds in the form of cones, prisms, cylinders, pyramids,
or other desirable shape, which I fill with the water or other liquid
which is to be frozen. To the said circular plate I impart by a spring,
a weight, or other suitable means a rotary motion which accelerates the
freezing of the liquid contained in the moulds.
Figure 5 of the accompanying Drawing is a section of this arrange-
ment of a rotating refrigerator. a is the freezing cell or compartment
wherein is placed the mixture of ice and chloride of calcium; b is the
disc or plate furnished with the moulds c in which is poured the liquid
to be frozen. The said disc is mounted upon a pivot d, and it receives
its rotary motion from a spring barrel or clock spring f, or other suitable
mechanism. In this Figure only the upper part of the apparatus is
shewn, the lower part being the same as already described.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. The novel economical refrigerator, as herein described, suitable
for the preservation of food and the formation, reproduction, and
preservation of ice.
Second. The peculiar construction, arrangement, and operation of the
said refrigerator with the freezing cistern C.
Third. The case or drum H serving as a pantry and bottle reservoir.
Fourth. The mode of formation of the ice without expense or labour
by means of my refrigerator and of the above-described freezing mixture
without the employment of acids.
Fifth. Covering the metallic sides to render them inoxidable to
protect them, and so that the salt water may be employed for domestic
purposes.

page_text: Sixth. The arrangement of the rotating freezing cistern, as shewn in
Figure 5, for accelerating the action of the freezing mixture for the
purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)