IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATOR CARS, APPLICABLE TO REFRIGERATORS IN GENERAL, AND ALSO TO CERTAIN OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Patent Agents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN
REFRIGERATOR CARS,
APPLICABLE TO REFRIGERATORS IN GENERAL, AND ALSO TO CERTAIN OTHER
STRUCTURES." A communication from abroad by John Manney Ayer, of the
City of Chicago, State of Illinois, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th April 1877.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Patent Agents,
of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REFRIGERATOR CARS, APPLICABLE TO REFRIGERATORS IN GENERAL, AND ALSO TO
CERTAIN OTHER STRUCTURES." A communication from abroad by John Manney
Ayer, of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, United States of America.
This Invention has for its object chiefly improvements in what are termed
"refrigerator railway cars," whereby they shall be rendered non-conductors of heat,
air-tight, and impervious to moisture; but the principal means by which I attain
these ends are equally applicable to other refrigerators, to roofs in general, and to
all other structures in which similar result are to be sought.
The leading feature of my Invention consists in employing india-rubber as the
chief non-conducting agent. I use the india-rubber as a lining, and it may be in
the form either of pure rubber sheathing or some one of the materials known in
the trade as "rubber packing."
I shall proceed to describe the construction of my refrigerator railway car, and
this will serve to suggest the mode of application in all other cases. I completely
surround the interior of the car with india-rubber in any suitable form, as aforesaid.
By this I do not mean that the india-rubber must necessarily form the innermost
surface of the car, for I generally (though not always, as will be seen) place a casing
of boards on the inside of the car over the india-rubber. The india-rubber con-
stitutes a lining, so to speak, for the walls, roof, and floor.

page_text: Instead of employing the india-rubber or rubber packing alone I often employ
it in conjunction with paper, pasteboard, paperboard, strawboard, or some like
paper product. For this purpose I sometimes join the two together, surface to
surface, by means of cement, or else with rivets, or the like; and this lining may
consist of a single layer of india-rubber, or rubber packing with a layer of the paper
product on either or both sides of it, or of several alternate layers of the india-
rubber and paper product, the number of layers depending upon the degree of non-
conducting power demanded by the occasion. Instead, however, of fastening the
layers together beforehand, I generally simply lay them one upon another and nail
or screw them in position to the carlines, sills, or studding, as the case may be.
I often coat the exterior surface or surfaces of the paper product with asbestos
or other mineral paint, thus rendering it water repellant as well as the india-rubber,
and to a considerable degree fireproof. This combination of a paper product and
india-rubber often possesses advantages over india-rubber alone, for, while the
india-rubber is the better non-conductor of the two and vastly the less pervious to
moisture, pasteboard, paperboard, strawboard, and the like, on the other hand
possess certain properties, often highly desirable, which are absent in rubber; chief
among these being superior rigidity and hardness by virtue whereof they are the
better adapted (especially when painted as above described) to form an innermost
surface to the car when for any reason it is deemed desirable to omit the inner
lining of boards. Furthermore, of the two, the paper or straw material is much the
cheaper, for which reason it is more economical to employ it in combination with
the india-rubber than to increase the thickness of the latter.
I generally construct the walls of my refrigerator car, each with an air space
intervening between the ordinary outside board casing and the non-conducting
and impervious envelope of india-rubber (or rubber in combination) above described,
the said lining being placed against the inner side of the studding. The air within
these air chambers forms an additional non-conductor, and I generally have the
air chambers communicate with the exterior air by means of ports or openings in
the outer casing, near the top and bottom of the same, in order to create a free
circulation of air through the said chambers; thus the air within the chambers can
never become heated by conduction through the outer casing to a temperature
higher than that of the exterior air; vertical openings, made if necessary through
the sills into the bottom of the air spaces, permit water, dust, etc., to find egress.
The construction of the roof may be substantially the same as that of the walls,
but since the sun's rays naturally act with greater violence upon this than upon
any other part of the car, I usually construct it with two separate air spaces, one
above the other, and two separate layers of the non-conducting agent (india-rubber
alone, or in combination, as aforesaid) one or both the said air spaces communicating
with the exterior air by means of ports at the edges, similar to those in the walls,
and sometimes also with the air spaces in the walls by means of other openings.
Made as desired, or with a single air space, or without an air space, such a roof
is highly valuable for other structures when non-conducting or water repellent
properties, or both, in a high degree are necessary. I use it, for example, for railway
carriages generally, covered vehicles, vessel decks, cabin roofs, and the like.
The construction of the floor likewise may be substantially similar to that of the
walls; but as this part of the car is least subjected to the influence of the sun's heat
there is less occasion here than in the walls and roof for an air space, for which
reason I frequently construct the said floor simply with a double course of boards,
having the rubber or rubber combination interposed, and dispense with an air
space.
I do not limit myself to the placing of the india-rubber envelope in just the
positions above described, it being my purpose to place it in such positions in
the walls, roof, and floor as to form a lining or a coating thereto and render the car
impervious to heat, air, and moisture; thus, for example, in the walls it may be
placed against either side of the studding or against both sides; the relative
positions of the air spaces and lining, moreover, may in some cases be reversed, if

page_text: desired, that is, the air space may lie between the inner wall and the lining, instead
of between the outer wall and the lining, or there may be an air space on each side
of the lining. On each side of my refrigerator car, and midway of its length, I
have a door opening outward, or more generally, two doors opening outward in
opposite directions, and meeting when closed. I construct these doors with bevelled
edges throughout, pressing when closed against elastic cushions of india-rubber.
This construction not only makes the joints thoroughly air-tight and water-tight,
but also by reason of the noiseless and elastic character of the india-rubber prevents
all rattling and jarring of the doors. I make the doors either solid or with an air
space, and with one or more layers of the lining of india-rubber or rubber packing
(alone or in conjunction with the paper product, as described), thus completing the
rubber incasement of the car.
The interior arrangements of my refrigerator car are as follows:-I have an ice
compartment at each or either end of the car, near the top, which may be reached
from the inside of the car, or else, by means of doors in the walls, from the outside.
The floor or bed which I use for this compartment is composed of wood, and is of
peculiar and novel construction, whereby the ice rests upon beveled strips of timber,
not in contact with one another, and troughs between, also not in contact, catch all
the drip as the ice melts, while the circulation, herein-after referred to, of air
through the compartment is not interfered with. These troughs all incline both
ways from the centre toward a common trough at each side, whence pipes conduct
the water from the refrigerator. There may be placed at the lower extremity of
each pipe a trap, which will admit of the water's passing out and prevent the
admission of air. I make openings from the interior of the car into the ice chamber
in any desired number; air thus passes from the body of the car into the ice
chamber, where it comes in contact with the ice, and thence passes downward in
a chilled state through the bevelled strips and the troughs into the body of the car
again; thus the air within the car is constantly kept cold. I sometimes partition
off that part of the interior of the car immediately underneath the ice chamber,
thereby forming a small separate compartment in which to place such articles as
it is desired to keep particularly cool. In this case I make openings near the base
of the partition and leading into the main cooling apartment, whereby the circula-
tion of air goes on as before.
For the two-fold purpose of strengthening the structure and affording convenient
means for suspending beef and the like for transportation, I sometimes have
horizontal cross beams at intervals of every few feet in the upper part of the car.
That part of my Invention which relates generally to the construction of the
walls, roof, and floor of my refrigerator car, and particularly to the employment of
an india-rubber lining therein (alone or in combination with a paper product), is
equally applicable to various other structures for an analogous purpose, such, for
instance, as refrigerating buildings and apartments of all kinds as well as ice houses,
ice boxes, etc.
It will be found especially valuable in ships wherein perishable materials are
transported across the ocean.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Herbert John Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
October 1877.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Patent Agents,
of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REFRIGERATOR CARS, APPLICABLE TO REFRIGERATORS IN GENERAL, AND ALSO TO
CERTAIN OTHER STRUCTURES." A communication from abroad by John Manney
Ayer, of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, United States of America.

page_text: "
This Invention has for its object chiefly improvements in what are termed
refrigerator railway cars," whereby they shall be rendered non-conductors of
heat, air-tight, and impervious to moisture; but the principal means by which I
attain these ends are equally applicable to other refrigerators, to roofs in general,
and to all other structures in which similar results are to be sought.
The leading feature of my Invention consists in employing india-rubber as the
chief non-conducting agent. I use the india-rubber as a lining, and it may be in
the form either of pure rubber sheathing, or some one of the materials known in
the trade as "rubber packing."
I shall proceed to describe the construction of my refrigerator railway car, and
this will serve to suggest the mode of application in all other cases. I completely
surround the interior of the car with india-rubber, in any suitable form as aforesaid.
By this I do not mean that the india-rubber must necessarily form the innermost
surface of the car, for I generally (though not always, as will be seen) place a
casing of boards on the inside of the car, over the india-rubber. The india-rubber
constitutes a lining, so to speak, for the walls, roof, and floor.
Instead of employing india-rubber or rubber packing alone, I often employ it in
conjunction with paper, pasteboard, paperboard, strawboard, or some like paper
product. For this purpose I sometimes join the two together, surface to surface, by
means of cement, or else with rivets or the like; and this lining may consist of a
single layer of india-rubber, or rubber packing, with a layer of the paper product on
either or both sides of it, or of several alternate layers of the india-rubber and
paper product; the number of layers depending upon the degree of non-conducting
power demanded by the occasion. Instead, however, of fastening the layers
together beforehand, I generally simply lay them one upon another, and nail or
screw them in position to the carlines, sills, or studding, as the case may be.
I often coat the exterior surface or surfaces of the paper product with asbestos or
other mineral paint, thus rendering it water repellant as well as the india-rubber,
and to a considerable degree fireproof. This combination of a paper product with
india-rubber often possesses advantages over india-rubber alone; for while the
india-rubber is the better non-conductor of the two, and vastly the less pervious to
moisture, pasteboard, paperboard, strawboard, and the like on the other hand
possess certain properties, often highly desirable, which are absent in rubber; chief
among these being superior rigidity and hardness, by virtue whereof they are the
better adapted (especially when painted as above described) to form an innermost
surface to the car, when for any reason it is deemed desirable to omit the inner
lining of boards. Furthermore, of the two, the paper or straw material is much the
cheaper, for which reason it is more economical to employ it in combination with
the india-rubber than to increase the thickness of the latter.
I generally construct the walls of any refrigerator car, each with an air space
intervening between the ordinary outside board casing and the non-conducting and
impervious envelope of india-rubber (or rubber in combination) above described,
the said lining being placed against the inner side of the studding. The air within
the air chambers forms an additional non-conductor, and I generally have the air
chambers communicate with the exterior air by means of ports or openings near
the top and upwards, from beneath into the bottom of the same, in order to create
a free circulation of air through the said chambers. Thus the air within the
chambers can never become heated by conduction through the outer casing to a
temperature higher than that of the exterior air. The vertical openings (made if
necessary through the sills) into the bottoms of the air spaces also permit water,
dust, &c., to find egress.
The construction of the roof may be substantially the same as that of the walls;
but since the sun's rays naturally act with greater violence upon this than upon any
other part of the car, I usually construct it with two separate air spaces, one above
the other, and two separate layers of the non-conducting agent (india-rubber alone
or in combination as aforesaid), one or both the said air spaces communicating with
the exterior air by means of ports at the side edges, similar in purpose to those in

page_text: the walls, and sometimes also with the air spaces in the walls, by means of other
openings.
Made as described, or with a single air space, or without an air space, such a roof
is highly valuable for other structures when non-conducting or water-repellent
properties, or both in a high degree, are necessary; I use it, for example, for railway
carriages generally, covered vehicles, vessel decks, cabin roofs, and the like.
The construction of the floor, likewise, may be substantially similar to that of
the walls; but as this part of the car is least subjected to the influence of the sun's
heat, there is less occasion here than in the walls and roof for an air space, for
which reason I frequently construct the said floor simply with a double course of
boards, having the rubber or rubber combination interposed, and dispense with an
air space.
I do not limit myself to the placing of the india-rubber envelope in just the
position above described, it being my purpose to place it in such position in the
walls, roof, and floor as to form a lining or a coating thereto, and render the car
impervious to heat, air, and moisture; thus, for example, in the walls it may be
placed against either side of the studding, or against both sides; the relative
positions of the air spaces and lining may in some cases be reversed, if desired;
that is, the air space may lie between the inner wall and the lining, instead of
between the outer wall and the lining; or there may be an air space on each side of
the lining. On each side of my refrigerator car, and midway of its length, I have a
door opening outward, or, more generally, two doors opening outward in opposite
directions, and meeting when closed. I construct these doors with beveled edges
throughout, pressing, when closed, against elastic cushions of india-rubber. This
construction not only makes the joints thoroughly air-tight and water-tight, but
also, by reason of the noiseless and elastic character of the india-rubber, prevents
all rattling and jarring of the doors. I make the doors either solid, or with an air
space, and with one or more layers of the lining of india-rubber or rubber packing
(alone, or in combination with a paper product, as described), thus completing the
rubber incasement of the car.
The interior arrangements of my refrigerator car are as follows:-I have an ice
compartment at each or either end of the car near the top, which may be reached
from the inside of the car, or else, by means of doors in the walls, from the outside.
The floor or bed which I use for this compartment is composed of wood, and is of
peculiar and novel construction, whereby the ice rests upon beveled strips of
timber, not in contact with one another, and troughs beneath, also not in contact,
catch all the drip as the ice melts; while the circulation, herein-after referred to, of
air through the compartment is not interfered with. These troughs all incline both
ways from the centre toward a common trough at each side, whence pipes conduct
the water from the refrigerator. There may be placed at the lower extremity of
each pipe a trap which will admit of the water's passing out, but prevent the
admission of air. I make openings from the interior of the car into the ice
chamber in any desired number; air thus passes from the body of the car into the
ice chamber, where it comes in contact with the ice, and thence passes downward
in a chilled state through the beveled strips and the troughs, into the body of the
car again. Thus the air within the car is constantly kept cold. I sometimes
partition off that portion of the interior of the car immediately underneath the
ice chamber, thereby forming a small separate compartment in which to place such
articles as it is desirable to keep particularly cool. In this case I make openings
near the base of the partition, and leading into the main cooling apartment,
whereby the circulation of air goes on as before.
For the twofold purpose of strengthening the structure and affording convenient
means for suspending beef and the like for transportation, I sometimes have
horizontal cross beams at intervals of every few feet in the upper part of the car.
That part of my Invention which relates generally to the construction of the
walls, roof, and floor of my refrigerator car, and particularly to the employment of
an india-rubber lining therein (alone or in combination with a paper product) is

page_text: equally applicable to various other structures for an analogous purpose, such, for
instance, as refrigerating buildings and apartments of all kinds, as well as ice-
houses, ice boxes, etc.
It will be found especially valuable in ships wherein perishable materials are
transported across the ocean.
Having described the nature of the several features of my Invention, I will
describe the best means known to me for carrying them into effect, referring to the
annexed Drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my refrigerator car with portions of the roof and
side broken away, showing the non-conducting lining.
Figure 2, a cross section of the car and view of the interior.
Figure 3, a section of the ice box on the line x, x, Figure 2.
Figure 4, a cross section of the ice grate.
Figure 5, a section of the door, jamb, and rubber cushion.
Figure 6, a section of the door, sill, rubber cushion, and iron apron; and Figure 7,
a detached view of the rubber and paper product in combination.
A is the outer shell or board casing of the car forming the exterior walls and
roof. In the case of the walls this casing is secured to the sills and plates in the
usual manner. B is the layer of india-rubber, or rubber packing, or either of
these in combination with a paper product, forming the non-conducting and
impervious envelope. In the walls this envelope is generally placed, as shown in
the Drawings, upon the inside of the studding C, but it may instead, if preferred,
be placed upon the outside, or against both sides.
When formed of india-rubber or rubber packing and a paper product combined,
the layers may be previously joined together by means of cement, as shown in
Figure 7, i being the india-rubber, and p the paper product (i.e., paper, pasteboard,
paperboard, or strawboard), or they may be held together by rivets instead of
cement, as many alternate layers being employed in either case as shall be deemed
necessary; but, if preferred, the layers need not be previously joined together, but
may simply be secured in position, one over another, to the proper timbers by nails,
screws, or other suitable means. I generally find a single layer of each to be
sufficient.
In the roof the non-conducting lining or envelope B is placed both above and
below the carlines or rafters D, as shown, since greater heat-resisting power is
demanded here than elsewhere; in the floor a single layer is sufficient. E is the air
space intervening in the walls between the lining B and the outer casing A, which
air space serves as an additional non-heat conducting medium. This air space
should be continuous, in order to permit a free circulation of air through it. It is
usually necessarily continuous, from the fact that the studding is commonly
narrower than the sills and plates to which the outer casing is fastened; but if not
it may be made so by means of transverse cavities u, u; cut in the studding o, o, are
openings or ports near the top of the outer board casing connecting the air space E
with the exterior air, and o¹, o¹, vertical openings into the bottom of the said
air space. By means of these openings a continual circulation of air is main-
tained through the air space, the advantages of which have already herein been set
forth.
The vertical openings o¹, o¹, through the sill, serve also to carry off all water, dust,
cinders, &c., which may accumulate at the bottom of the air space. I prefer to
construct the end walls without openings to the air spaces, where they might have
a tendency to admit sparks from the locomotive and cause danger by fire. In the
roof, as already stated, the lining B is placed against the carlines or rafters D, both
upon the top and underneath. Thus a series of dead air spaces F, F, intervenes,
limited by the carlines; G, G, are strips of timber laid longitudinally (though they
may if preferred be laid laterally) upon the upper layer of the lining of rubber, or
rubber and paper, and fastened in place. To these are fastened the outer board
casing A of the roof. Thus an upper air space E¹ is formed, made continuous by
transverse cavities u¹, u¹, in the under sides of the strips G, G; v, v, are openings
from this upper air space to the exterior air at the side edges of the roof, by means

page_text: of which a circulation of air is created in the said air space, and any water which
may collect therein is permitted to run off at the sides. H is a casing of boards,
constituting the innermost surface of the car. It may, if desired, be omitted from
the walls and ceiling, particularly when a stiff paper product is employed in con-
junction with the india-rubber or rubber packing to form the lining B, or if preferred
it may extend part way up the walls in the form of a wainscot. When, as in the
latter case, a paper product forms the innermost surface of any part of the car, it will
be found advantageous to cover it with asbestos, or some other mineral paint, thus
rendering it impervious to moisture, and to a considerable degree fireproof. P is an
ice chest, placed at either or each end of the car, in the upper part of the same, and
charged with ice through doors w, w, opening either into the interior of the car, as
shown, or to the outside through the walls.
The bottom or bed of this ice chest is composed wholly of wood, and is con-
structed as follows:-k, k, are grate bars, which may be of any required number
and strength, and which are rounded or beveled along their tops, and hollowed or
channeled longitudinally on their under sides. 1, 1, are troughs, the number of
which is always one in excess of that of the grate bars, and which are so arranged
that the middle line of each (except the two outside ones) falls beneath the space
between two grate bars; m, m, are supports, placed at suitable intervals, for
sustaining the grate bars in position above the troughs. These supports are formed
each with a broader upper part, rounded at the top so as to coincide with the hollow
in the grate bar, and suitably cut away underneath to conform to the beveled edges
of the troughs on which it rests. The lower and narrower part passes downward
between the troughs, thus separating the same from each other exactly to the
required degree, the thickness of the said separating part being gauged accordingly.
Tie bars n reach from side to side through mortices cut through the trough
timbers and the separating parts above referred to, thus binding all firmly together,
and the whole is still further strengthened by the wooden pins 8, 8, which are driven
upward into the trough timbers through the tie bars n. The grate bars k are in
like manner firmly held together by means of the tie bars n¹ which pass through
mortices in the said grate bars, preferably immediately above those in the troughs,
and are secured by the wooden pins s¹.
By having the grate bars hollowed out on their under sides, and those parts of the
supports m, m, which rest upon the edges of the troughs cut away so as exactly to
conform to the bevel, all leakage into the body of the car is effectually prevented,
for when the water which runs down either side of a grate bar reaches the lower
edge it has attained its lowest point on the bar, and must of necessity fall into the
trough, whereas if the bottoms were flat instead of hollowed the wet would spread
inward from each edge, and meeting along the centre, would drip through the
spaces between the troughs. The same is true of any wet which might collect on
the sides of the supports m, though the object of cutting them upward, as shown, is
also to give a more distributed bearing. The whole is so constructed as to incline
each way from the centre to a common transverse trough q or other suitable
receptacle at each end from which the water may be carried off by suitable educts r
provided with traps f at their lower extremities for preventing the admission
of air.
If preferred, the whole grate may be constructed with an incline towards a
common receptacle at the centre; or when small, as for example, for ice boxes, the
whole may be made flat and caused to shed the drip by being placed in an inclined
position toward a common receptacle at one end; or if for any reason it shall be
deemed desirable that the grate bars remain horizontal, the troughs only may be
caused to incline in any one of the manners referred to above by simply graduating
the heights of the supports m, m; or, finally, the same effects may be produced
with the timbers, all horizontal, by having the gutters gradually deepen from one
end to the other, or each way from the centre, or from each end toward the centre ;
t, t, are openings leading from the body of the car into the ice compartment, through
which the air passes, descending through the ice upon becoming chilled, and

page_text: through the grated floor of the ice chest to the floor of the car, passing along the
same and finally upward, being impelled by the air behind it. Thus, a continuous
circulation is created and maintained throughout the interior of the car from purely
natural causes.
The doors I, I, and the door frames are constructed as follows:-K, is the solid
timber of the door frame suitably cut away so as to afford an abutment g for the door
to rest against, and also for the reception of the elastic cushion b, which must lie
with its edges flush with the woodwork and have an empty angle c behind it in
which to stretch backward. These cushions I make of sheet rubber cut into strips
of the requisite length and breadth, and they may be fastened to the woodwork at
their edges by screws or by other convenient means. I prefer to make the edges of
the doors beveled, as also the frame into which they fit. The corners e, e, of the
doors which press into the cushions are rounded off, both to prevent their cutting
the elastic material and to afford greater surface for contact.
In consequence of the above described construction, it will be seen that as the
doors are pressed inward the rounded inner edges or corners are pressed into the
elastic cushions, which yield before them, stretching into the angular recess behind,
and thus closely conform to the said door corners forming a joint absolutely
impenetrable to air, moisture, or heat.
It is obvious further that when applied to railway cars, elastic cushions, such as
described, must serve effectually to prevent the usual rattling and jarring of the
doors, which always tend, sooner or later, to strain them and loosen the hinges.
a is an apron of metal or wood, arranged by being hinged to the floor to drop
outward as the doors open, and cover the sill for the purpose of protecting this and
the rubber cushion from injury during the loading and unloading of the car.
In order that the resistance of the elastic cushion may be readily overcome, and
the doors brought to bear closely against the stop g, I fasten them by means
of a wedge-shaped bolt driven into a staple d, the first door having been
similarly fastened previously from the inside to the frame. Thus, the further
the bolts are driven the closer the doors must press. There may it is obvious be
several such staples and bolts, if desirable, both upon the inside of one and the
outside of the other door.
It will be seen from the foregoing description that my refrigerator cars must, as a
necessary consequence of their mode of construction and the materials employed
therein, possess many advantages, among which may be cited the following:-
First. The lining employed throughout being composed in part, if not wholly, of
one of the best non-conductors known, and the perfect system of air chambers
serving to enhance the non-conducting properties of the walls, &c., and, moreover,
being almost perfectly air-tight (the india-rubber lining serving to seal them almost
hermetically), my cars are almost absolutely impervious to heat, in consequence
whereof perishable materials may be transported long distances in a state of perfect
preservation, thereby obviating loss to shippers and others from decay and injury.
For the same reason the consumption of ice is materially less than in ordinary
refrigerator cars, and much of the expense and delay of replenishing them with this
substance along the route is therefore saved.
Secondly. They are perfectly dry, it being quite impossible for any dampness to
pass through the india-rubber lining, while the construction of the doors is such
that no warm air from without can ever, when they are closed, enter through the
crevices and create a damp, cold, temperature, such as is always injurious to the
contents of the car.
Thirdly. They are (so far as I know) the lightest and by far the most elastic of
all refrigerator cars made, the materials employed in their construction being the
least heavy that could possibly be chosen consistently with strength, and there
being none of the usual sudden filling within the walls, but the non-conducting
agent used being on the contrary light and elastic, not increasing the weight of the
car to any material extent; there is no additional strain in consequence of it, and
very little extra dead weight to be hauled.

page_text: Fourthly. In my cars and other refrigerators there is none of the stenching or
disagreeable and injurious odor inseparable from the non-conducting agents
ordinarily employed after they have been in use for a time, the result of their
becoming damp and moldy and giving off offensive gases which always find ingress
to the cooling chamber sooner or later through the walls. In the walls of my
refrigerators, it will have been seen, there is nothing whatever to give off an
unpleasant smell, while the air therein is kept perfectly pure by the system of
ventilation.
Fifthly. Any ordinary box car may, if desired, be transformed into one of my
refrigerator cars with very little labor and expense.
Sixthly. Even when newly built throughout, they are the cheapest refrigerator
cars manufactured, so far as I can find.
In fully describing the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I have found it necessary to refer explicitly to many features which
I know to be old, and to which I make no claim. I do not, however, deem it
essential to enumerate these in detail, since all which I know, or believe to be new,
is set forth in the several claims hereunto subjoined.
I would have it understood that I claim,-
1. A refrigerator, for railway or other purposes, in which india-rubber or
"rubber packing” is employed as a lining to the walls, roof, and floor, substantially
as herein-before described.
2. The combination of india-rubber or "rubber packing" with a paper product,
substantially as herein-before described as a lining for refrigerators.
3. In the walls of a refrigerator in combination with the lining of india-rubber
or "rubber packing," or with either of these in conjunction with a paper product,
substantially as herein-before described, the air space E provided with the
openings o, o, and o¹, o¹, for the purpose set forth.
4. In the roof of a refrigerator, the combination of the layers B, B, of india-
rubber or "rubber packing," or either of them in conjunction with a paper product,
one layer being above and the other below the carlines or rafters, the intervening
air spaces F, F, and the continuous air space E', the latter provided with openings v, v,
at its edges, substantially as described for the purpose set forth.
5. The ice grate (comprising the grate bars, trough, and supports), constructed
substantially as described, whereby the circulation of air is not impeded, and the
drip is prevented from entering the cooling apartment.
6. The elastic cushions b, arranged as described in the door frame, so as to have
an angular recess c behind them in combination with the corners e of the doors, for
the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
H. J. HADDAN. (L.S.)