IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TRANSPARENT ICE
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM WHITWORTH NIGHTINGALE Manager and Secretary of the Universal
Glaciarium and Ice-Manufacturing Company Limited of the Glaciarium Southport
in the County of Lancaster do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TRANSPARENT ICE, to be as follows:-
In the manufacture by artificial aid of ice it has long been understood that
agitation of the water was conducive to the production of transparent ice and
various devices have been proposed for effecting the disturbance or agitation but
many of these methods have been found not to be useful in practice and others are
two costly or are attended with inconveniences which render their operation
unsatisfactory more or less and loss of time and labor arises.
In carrying out my invention I produce the desired agitation of the water to be
frozen contained in the mould or vessel by means of small quantities of such water
being lifted or scooped off the surface thereof, raised a distance and then dropped
again into the body of water, in succession.
The effect produced by these small bodies of water lifted out of the water
containing vessel being returned thereto with the impetus arising from the height
to which they have been raised is to cause them with a quantity of air to displace
or agitate and disturb the water being frozen throughout the vessel containing
it and to conduce to the production of a block or body of ice of uniforin
transparency.
The means which I have found most convenient for effecting the raising of the
successive quantity after quantity of water to be successively let fall again into the
vessel during the formation of the transparent ice, consist of a series of deeply
recessed cups or vessels carried by arms from an axis so as to revolve or rotato
over the surface of the water dipping sufficiently therein to enable them to fill
themselves.
The freezing material employed to effect the production of the ice is applied as
usual around the vessel of water to be frozen but not rising above a line clear of
the bottom of the cups at the lowest point of dipping into the water.
The cups or vessels may be hinged or fitted and shaped so as to deliver their
contents as suddenly as possible at the highest altitude they reach.
The arms and cups or vessels may be caused to revolve with their axis of motion
by means of suitable shafting and gearing or other suitable driving mechanism
from a source of power.

page_text: I WILLIAM WHITWORTHI NIGHTINGALE Manager and Secretary of the Universal
Glaciarium and Ice Manufacturing Company Limited of the Glaciarium Southport
in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TRANSPARENT ICE, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement: 1
In the manufacture by artificial aid of ice it has long been understood that
agitation of the water was conducive to the production of transparent ice and
various devices have been proposed for effecting the disturbance or agitation but
many of these methods have been found not to be useful in practice and others are.
too costly or are attended with inconveniences which render' their operation
unsatisfactory more or less and loss of time and labour arises.
In carrying out my invention I produce the desired agitation of the water or
liquid to be frozen hereinafter referred to as water, contained in the mould or
vessel by means of small quantities of the same water, lifted or scooped off the
surface thereof being raised a certain distance and then dropped again into the
body of water by successive operations or repetitions of such falls of small bodies
of water into the main body.
IFT
01.
2R 10
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1. shews by a longitudinal sectional view
Figure 2 by a transverse sectional view and Figure 3 by a plan view apparatus
arranged to carry out my invention.
r
71
In these illustrations are shewn means which I have found most convenient for
effecting the raising or scooping up of successive quantity after quantity of the
water being frozen to be successively let 'fall again into the vessel during the
formation of the transparent ice, which here are made to take the form of a series
of deeply recessed cups' or semi-globular vessels a carried on arms a radiating
from and attached to so as to revolve with an axis b which rotates over the surface
of the water, which rises to or lies at about the line A. A, sufficiently far to enable
these cups a to scoop up, each in turn, a series of quantities of that water and then
in their traverse around the axis.b as a centre they pass the zenith and discharge
successively the loads of water again into the body of water in the tank " below,
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aud then in their further revolution they again enter the water and repeat the
operation.
c, c, c, are a succession of such tanks of water undergoing freezing by the action
of a freezing liquid indicated by the dotted lines e the arrows e indicating
direction of How which is directed over an extended or elongated course by means
of divisions as at d¹, d, placed across the main tank or reservoir d'leaving series of
openings dat alternate ends for passage of communication of the freezing liquid
through those divisions in its flow from a source of supply (at about B'but not
shewn) from the storage reservoir to about C where such liquid passes away to the
storage reservoir again.
"
g
fis a fan or screw for maintenance of the flow of freezing liquid around and
between the ranges of vessels c and through the course shewn by the arrows c¹ and
this fan is driven by a pulley " mounted on the same axis which pulley by band
derives motion from the pulley h on the axis i carried in bearings mounted at the
side of the main tank and carrying the pinion or other geared wheel ; which
engages with another pinion or gearing wheel k on the axis k¹ which carries the
i

page_text: fast and loose pulleys k³; k³ being bearings for same. kis a band from the motive
power for driving the whole.
bare a series of the transverse shafts, (shown in Figure 3 except in one instance
by dotted lines only) driven from the longitudinal side shaft i by means of
gearing 3, 6 and upon these transverse shafts b are mounted the series of arms a'
carrying the cups.a.
.
m shews one of a series of arms weighted at its end and applied one to each
transverse axis b and adapted by being thrown over from its position indicated by
full lines to the position indicated by dotted lines, to free the series of vessels c
crossed by such particular shaft 6 from the operation of the cups by stopping that
shaft b and its series of sets of cups a and freeing. such axis b so that it may with
its cups be removed for removal of the finished vessels of ice c of that series from
the freezing tank and the blocks of ice formed, from the vessels c in the usual
manner.
The effect produced in the water of the vessels c by the small bodies of water
being continuously lifted, out of the water in bulk in those vessels and returned
thereto with the impetus arising from their fall from the height to which they
have been raised by the cups a, is to cause the falling water with a quantity of air
to descend into, displace or agitate and disturb the water being frozen throughout
the vessels containing it, in a remarkable manner, and to very efficiently conduce
to the production of a block or body of ice of uniform transparency.
The freezing material employed may be of any suitable or usual description for
effecting the production of block ice applied as indicated or in a suitable manner,
around the vessels c containing the water to be frozen into blocks but the freezing
fluid should not be permitted to rise above about the line B B or clear of the
lowest point reached by the cups a in their revolution.and dip into the water.
It will be obvious to any ordinarily skilled mechanician that the arrangements
of the parts may be very considerably varied, whilst retaining the principal
features of my invention.
'
For instance the cups a may be hinged or fitted, guided, controlled and shaped
so as to deliver. their contents of abstracted water as suddenly as possible at the
highest altitude they reach in a variety of ways but that which I have indicated
will be found efficient and simple.
The successive quantities of water suddenly dropped from a height into the bulk
of water in the vessels c might be obtained from a separate source but this would
involve provision for the increment of water in those vessels and other incon-
veniences which are avoided in the arrangement described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The production of transparent block ice in moulds by means of cold artificially
produced, with the aid of the agitation produced in the water or liquid being
frozen by small bodies of water or liquid successively let fall from a height therein
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The means or apparatus for effecting the successive discharge of bodies of
water or liquid from a height into vessels of water or liquid being frozen in moulds
or vessels by artificial means arranged or constructed substantially as described.
Dated to18 20th day of July 1885,
W
BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the said William Whitworth Nightingale,