IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATORS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATORS."
A communication from abroad by Jacob H. Forshay, of the City of New
York. United States of America
'
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th March 1881.
"
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of.
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS
IN 'REFRIGERATORS." A communication from abroad by Jacob H. Forshay, of the
City of New York, United States of America.
My Invention has special relation to that class of refrigerators or ice boxes
which are employed for storage and transportation of meats and fruits or vegetables
in considerable quantities, and generally made of large size; but for all purposes of
the Invention the principles thereof and the constructions hereinafter indicated
may be employed to good advantage in the small sized refrigerators, such as are
used for domestic purposes.
The object of my Invention is to produce an ice box or refrigerator wherein the
air in the provision chamber may be kept dry and pure, and wherein not only
a very low but a continuous and uniform temperature may be maintained for a
long time under an economical consumption of ice.
To this end my Invention involves certain novel and useful principles of
operation, assemblagies, combinations, or arrangements of parts and details of
construction, all of which will be hereinafter first fully described, and then pointed
out in the claims.
In the Drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of the exterior of a refrigerator
or ice box constructed in accordance with may Invention; Figure 2 is a longi-
tudinal section, Figure 3 a cross section, and Figure 4 a horizontal section and
partial plan, all indicating the construction and arrangement selected as best
adapted to illustrate my improvements. In all these Figures like letters of

page_text: reference wherever they occur indicate corresponding parts. The outer vertical
walls A, A, of the refrigerator. are made in any desired form or size, and after the
manner usually adopted in such constructions for forming non-conducting walls.
The inner faces of these walls are lined with any suitable metal or other substance
(preferably galvanized iron) to render them water tight.
The bottom of the chamber formed by these walls is likewise lined, and so also
the top. if desired, the whole forming an air tight and water tight casing. Within
the chamber thus formed is located the provision box B for containing the
materials to be kept cool. This is preferably made of boiler iron sufficiently
strong and durable, and rendered water tight. It may well be galvanized if
desired. It is left entirely open at the top, and when very heavy may rest upon
suitable saddles, as at C, C, placed upon the bottom of the exterior casing or
chamber; or it may be otherwise supported above said bottom, in all cases leaving
a space for water or water and ice below it. This space has a free communication
with the space between the sides and ends of boxes A and B, so that the provision
chamber is entirely surrounded by an ice chamber.
The upper edges of box B are considerably lower than the top of the outer casing
or jacket, and over the box is the roof or partition D extending all around the
interior, and forming a tight joint with the inner linings of walls A.
Between the roof D and the top of the exterior casing is the upper ice chamber E
made sufficiently large to contain the required supply of ice. A suitable number
of drip openings, as at a, a, are provided in the roof D to allow the drips from the
ice in chamber E to pass down to the lower ice chamber E', or the space between
the bottoms and walls of the provision chamber and the exterior casing. Two or
more chimneys or ventilating pipes F, F, extend from openings in the roof D, over
the open upper part of the provision chamber, up nearly to the level of the under-
side of the top of the casing. When charging the upper ice chamber E the caps
off, f, are placed over the chimneys or ventilating tubes to prevent admission of
ice, to exclude the exterior atmosphere, and to confine the cold air already in the
section below the roof, thus economizing the low degree of temperature which may
have been produced. For convenience in charging this upper ice chamber any
suitable number of doors or lids G, G, may be provided in the top; and for charging
the lower ice chamber, doors or lids H, H, (any number) are provided in the walls
A, A, the tops of these doors being of course below the roof D. When an
extremely low degree of temperature ice, or ice with a proper amount of salt, is
packed in chamber E¹ as high as may be desired, and the doors communicating
with said chamber securely closed. Ice, or ice with a proper proportion of salt,
is also packed in the upper ice chamber E on the roof D, and the lids G securely
closed like those in the walls A against the admission of air, the caps ƒ being first
removed from over the ends of the ventilating pipes or chimneys.
The drip from the upper ice chamber enters the lower ice chamber which
envelops the sides, ends and, bottom of the provision box, and is there retained (not
being allowed to flow away) and the low degree of temperature in this drip is
maintained for a considerable time, there being no communication between it and
the surrounding atmosphere in which the refrigerator stands. The air within the
provision box having free access to or communication with the water in the
surrounding ice chamber through the opening between the roof D and the upper
edges of the box B, the moisture in the air will be taken up or absorbed by the
cold water, and the impure gases which may arise from the materials in the provision
chamber will be likewise absorbed, so that the air is maintained in a dry, pure, and
cold state, best adapted for the preservation of meats and fruits, or vegetables or
other perishable articles. By retaining the drip from the ice within the refrigerator,
and out of contact with the exterior air, I am enabled to utilize the low degree of
temperature therein for keeping the provision chamber cold even after the ice has
been entirely melted. Thus I am enabled not only to prevent the too rapid
melting of the ice, but to insure a long continued low temperature without the
necessity of recharging, as well as to insure a uniform temperature, and one

page_text: practically under the control of the operator, who with a little practise can gauge
his charging to correspond with the degree of cold desired. For instance, ice and
salt may be packed in both ice chambers, or ice in one and ice and salt in the
other; or ice in both, or ice and salt in one, and no packing in the other. So also
the-quantities of packing may be varied; and by varying the quantities and
qualities as experience will dictate any desired degree of temperature may be
obtained and retained at pleasure.
When the door I is opened for placing of meats, &c., in B, of course a certain
quantity of air from the exterior is admitted. This warmer air naturally rises,
and immediately finds its way through one of the ventilating pipes or chimneys F
into the upper ice chamber above the ice therein. Passing over the ice the moisture
in the air is condensed, the impure gases are absorbed, and upon reaching the
opposite pipe or pipes, being then rendered colder and heavier, the air descends and
reenters the provision chamber. So long as any heat or gases arise from the
materials in the provision chamber this circulation is maintained, and the con-
tents of the chamber thus kept pure, cold, and sweet.
Meats frozen in this chamber are found to retain their natural juices after being
returned to the temperature of the air the same as if they had not been so
preserved, and this I attribute to the pure and dry atmosphere which I am enabled
to maintain in the box in consequence of the peculiar ventilation into the upper ice
chamber and over the ice therein, the exclusion of the surrounding atmosphere, the
enveloping of the provision box (at bottom, top, sides, and ends) by ice or ice and
water chambers, the retention of the drips, and the provision for free communication
of the air in the box with the water in the lower ice chamber.
Fruits and vegetables do not require so low a degree of temperature as meats,
and for these the packing should be regulated according to their kinds and
qualities.
For railroad transportation constructed and operating as above explained has
only to be built in or on a car, which may be wholly or only partially occupied by
the improved device.
And for water transportation the improved device may be constructed in a ship,
as will be readily understood. For long trips or passages the improvements will be
found especially advantageous, for under ordinary circumstances the ice chambers
will not need repacking, particularly the large sized vessels, &c., where the upper
ice chamber can readily be made to contain a supply of ice sufficient to last the
entire trip. This results in economy of labor as well as of material matters of
special importance in the shipment of large quantities of meats, &c.
I preferably make the roof D slightly arched, as shown, the better to support the
Buperposed weight of ice and to secure certain and constant carrying down of the
drip to the outlets over the spaces at the sides and ends of the provision box. Of
course in very large refrigerators the roof may be suitably trussed, and the sheeting
may then be made as light as is consistent with its requisite durability. The walls
of the provision chamber B and the bottom thereof may be made double if desired,
or of more than one thickness of material; but if one thickness, it may be suitably
braced or provided with any number of ribs. I prefer however to make it of one
thickness and to run the cross pieces of wood or iron, as at K, along on the tops of
the opposite walls.
These cross pieces slide along freely and carry meat hooks k, upon which
materials may be suspended. Being provided with notches near their ends the
pieces K serve also to brace the side walls of the box B and prevent them from
being sprung out of place.
The material being suspended from the hooks, the pieces K with their loads can
be moved together as closely as may be desired, and the box thus conveniently
packed to its fullest extent. On the bottom of box BI provide an ordinary
grated flooring as L, the purposes of which are well understood. To prevent
water from rising too high in the lower ice chamber, any convenient form of over-
flow pipe may be applied, but it should be such as to exclude the air.

page_text: For clearing out the lower ice chamber or drawing the water therefrom a stop-
cock may be located near the bottom line of the chamber and communicating with
the exterior. Upon this a hose pipe may be applied to convey the water to any
required point. On board ship the hose-pipe may be used as a connection with a
pump for drawing up the water.
When constructed and arranged to operate substantially in accordance with
the foregoing explanation, the improved refrigerator or ice box is found to
admirably answer the several purposes and objects of the Invention," as previously
stated.
1st. In an ice box or refrigerator of the character herein specified the provision
chamber open at the top and surrounded on the sides and bottom by an ice
chamber which receives the drip from the ice chest above, the arrangement being
substantially as described so as to exclude the external atmosphere, for the purposes
and objects named.
•
2nd. In an ice box or refrigerator of the character herein specified, the provision
chamber communicating with the drip and ice chamber, and with the ice chamber
above through two or more ventilating pipes or chimneys, for the purpose of cooling
and purifying the contents of said provision chamber, and for maintaining a
circulation, substantially as shown and described..
3rd. In combination with the open top provision chamber the surmounting roof
or partition provided with two or more ventilating pipes or chimneys leading into
the air tight ice chest, and with drip orifices communicating with the air tight
drip and ice chamber which surrounds the provision chamber, substantially as set
forth.
4th. The combination as before set forth of the water tight provision chamber,
the surrounding air tight drips and ice chamber having an air communication with
the interior of said provision chamber, the surmounting roof or partition, the
ventilating pipes or chimneys, and the drip orifices, all located within the interior
casing, and (when closed) having no communication with the exterior atmosphere,
substantially as shown and described.
5th. In combination with the open top provision chamber surmounted by an ice
chest and surrounded by the drip and ice chamber, the sliding cross pieces for
sustaining the materials and for bracing the side walls, substantially as shown and
described.
6th. The open top provision chamber having water tight walls and bottom, the
same being located in an ice chamber which receives and holds the drip from an ice
chamber above and being supported above the bottom of the exterior casing so as
to allow room for drip and ice underneath the provision chamber, substantially as
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set my