Improvements in Refrigerators.
Year: 1894

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Refrigerators.
I, IRA HERVEY STEVENS of 10 New Street, West Bromwich, in the County
of Stafford and also of 32 Claremont Square, London N., Refrigerator Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
My invention relates to refrigerating chambers for the storage of fresh meat
and also to refrigerators for domestic use, and it has for its object to improve
the internal circulation of the air of the refrigerating chamber so as to maintain
the whole of the atmosphere therein at a sufficiently low temperature for the
longest possible time and render the cooling effect of the ice and of the water
which runs off therefrom as efficacious as possible and avoid undue consumption of
the ice.
For the purposes of my invention the receptacle containing the ice is placed as
high up within the refrigerating chamber as is practicable and in some forms of
the apparatus it is carried up a certain distance above the top of the meat
storage space so as to render the circulation of the air more vigorous without
augmenting the volume of the atmosphere to be refrigerated by increasing the
height of the storage space, it being impracticable to utilize more than a certain
height for the purposes of hanging carcases or sides of meat. The ice receptacle
is provided with downcast air passages at two opposite sides in which descending
currents of air are established by the cooling of the air by contact with the cold
metallic sides of the ice receptacle, these passages being open at top and one or
both of them communicating at bottom with apertures in those sides leading into
the ice receptacle, so that the air can only come into direct contact with the
lowermost blocks of ice in the said receptacle. In addition to these lateral
passages there is a central downcast air passage leading down through the bulk
of the ice quite to the bottom of the receptacle. This is formed of a grating
on which the ice rests and beneath the grating inclined drip trays of sheet metal
are provided on which the water trickling from the ice is received and down which
it flows in thin streams exposing as large an area of cooling surface as possible to
the air. The under surface of these trays is rendered available for promoting the
circulation of the air by means of non-conducting partitions parallel to the trays
and separating passages immediately below them from the main body of the
chamber to which the upper and lower ends of the said passages are open so as to
permit of circulating currents being set up through them which completely exhaust
the cooling effect of the ice water flowing down the trays. The ice receptacle is
closed at top by metallic surfaces between which and the top of the chamber a
passage is left for the air of the chamber to flow through in order to pass down
the central and lateral vertical air passages. The circulation of the air through
all these passages is controlled by valves or dampers so that the refrigerating
effect may be varied as required by cutting off the flow of the air to any one
or more of the passages, the valves or dampers being applied to control the ingress
of air to the upper ends and the egress of air from the lower ends of the vertical
passages and generally in all other situations where the circulation of the air may
be intercepted or directed.
The accompanying drawings, forming part of this Specification, illustrate, in
vertical sectional elevation, three examples of the improved arrangements of

page_text: refrigerator of my invention. The same letters of reference indicate similar parts
in all the figures.
Figure illustrates a refrigerating chamber in which the ice receptacle B is
situated centrally within the storage chamber, there being a storage space of
suitable dimensions at either side. This type of apparatus is suited for domestic
refrigerators and by supposing the chamber A to be a box with metal linings
packed with non-conducting material, in the usual way of making domestic
refrigerating boxes, and supported on legs, this figure may be taken to illustrate
such a refrigerator also.
Figure 2 illustrates a refrigerating chamber in which the ice-box B is situated
towards one side or corner of the chamber A.
Figure 3 illustrates a chamber in which the ice-box B is carried up to a greater
height than the body of the chamber A so as to increase the vigor of the
circulation without adding uselessly to the storage space and increasing the volume
of the air to be cooled.
A is the storage chamber whose walls are constructed of, or lined with, non-
conducting material and provided with one or more suitably fitted doors in the end
or front, by which access is had to the interior of said chamber. B is the ice-
receptacle having a grated bottom C formed of wooden bars and galvanized sheet
iron or zinc sides and top. D is a central vertical air passage extending from top
to bottom of said receptacle between walls of sheet metal, said passage opening at.
bottom through the grate bars C and being open at top to a passage E extending
over the ice box from side to side. F Fare vertical side passages formed between
the metallic walls of the box B and non-conducting partitions G of wood lined
with metal which separate said passages from the storage space.
These passages
are open at top to the top passage E and one of them is closed at bottom except
through an aperture f in the side wall of the box by which the air descending
through said passage is led into direct contact with the lower part of the bulk of
the ice in the receptacle so as to be cooled thereby when only a small quantity
remains in the receptacle, the air after coming in contact with the ice passing
between the bars of the grating C. The other passage FI may either lead through
a similar aperture finto the ice receptacle, as in Figure 1, or it may be continued
straight downwards and open at bottom through the grating C, as in Figures 2 and 3.
H are inclined drip plates of sheet metal upon which the ice water falling from the
grating C trickles down in thin films so as to expose a large cooling surface to the
air currents passing over and beneath them. I are air passages formed between
the undersides of these plates and partitions K of wood lined with sheet metal,
these passages being open at both ends so as to permit a free circulation of the
air. The ice-water is finally received in a tray L, as in Figure 1, or a gutter M,
as in Figures 2 and 3, and discharged through a trapped outlet pipe. N are valves
or dampers controlling the entry and exit of air to and from the various air passages,
so as to enable the circulation to be modified to suit requirements. These valves
or dampers are represented as being fitted to slide, but they may be pivoted or
otherwise arranged so as to enable the air passages to be closed more or less,
at will.
as
The circulation of the air when the valves are open is indicated by the arrows,
and in respect of Figure 3 it is to be remarked that the top passage E communicates
with the storage space of chamber A through an upcast passage E' and that the
effect of this arrangement as regards the circulation of the air is the same
though the storage chamber were extended to the full height of the ice receptacle
whilst the space excluded from the chamber by this arrangement being practically
unavailable for meat storing purposes there is no useless increase in the volume of
air to be cooled and consequently a better circulation of air is maintained without
correspondingly increasing the consumption of the ice.
In all the figures, the ice chamber is provided with doors in the front at which
the parts of the box at either side of the central air passage D may be filled with
ice. The storage chamber is supposed to be partly broken away, and the drawings

page_text: do not therefore shew the correct relative capacity of the storage space to the ice-
receptacle which occupies a relatively much smaller portion of the whole capacity
of the chamber than that shewn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The construction and arrangement of refrigerators or refrigerating chambers,
substantially as herein specified and illustrated in the respective figures of the
drawings.
pist uay Of January 1894,
I. H. STEVENS,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.