IMPROVEMENTS IN ICE HOUSES, STORE ROOMS, AND REFRIGERATORS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbec, of the General Patent
Office, 4, South Strect, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ICE HOUSES,
STORE ROOMS, AND REFRIGERATORS."-A communication from abroad
by Edwin Dwight Brainard, of Albany, County of Albany, United
States of America.
Sealed the 2nd November 1869, and dated the 24th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armand Gilbee
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th May 1869.
I, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, of the General Patent Office, 4,
South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ICE HOUSES, STORE ROOMS, AND REFRIGERATORS," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrange-
ments of ice houses, store rooms, and refrigerators, the objects of which are
to produce and maintain a low and uniform temperature and a dry and pure

page_text: atmosphere therein; for the better preservation of animal and vegetable
substances; for controlling and regulating the temperature of ferment-
ing chambers, and store rooms and cellars in breweries; and for
economical and other advantages of a domestic and commercial nature
in the use and management of ice houses and refrigerators generally.
Moisture in the atmosphere is the active element of decay and decom-
position of animal and vegetable substances, in any temperature above the
freezing point, and the ordinary methed of correcting and counteracting
its destructive action in ice houses and refrigerators is that of free
ventilation, or the circulation of external air to carry off the excess of
moisture, but this means is both ineffectual and wasteful, as it intro-
duces warm air and melts the ice rapidly. Dryness and coolness of
the air are both essential conditions for the preservation of animal and
vegetable substances, and my improvements in ice houses and re-
frigerators accomplish these objects by entirely excluding the air and
the heat of the external atmosphere by means of metallic air-tight walls
or vaulting, and by condensing, collecting, and carrying off from the
chambers the aqueous vapor of the atmosphere within them by means
of corrugated metallic surfacos and conductors.
My Invention refers, first, to the construction of the ceiling of the
ice house, placed over a chamber for the storage and preservation of
animal or vegetable substances, or the brewing of beer; and it consists
in forming the ceiling of the ice chamber of corrugated sheet iron or
other metal provided with wooden troughs or gutters suspended beneath
the corrugated surfaces.
Secondly, my Invention consists in constructing the floor of the ice
chamber of corrugated sheet iron covered and protected by wooden
slabs or grating on which the ice is supported instead of a flat floor
as usual with the ice resting on the surface thereof,
Thirdly, my Invention consists in a system of flues or passages in
the floor of the ice house provided with valves or dampers between tho
ice chamber and the storage chamber below it, for regulating the
temperature of the lower chamber by opening and closing the dampers
as may be necessary.
In my improved domestic and commercial ice house the ice is placed
in the upper chamber, which constitutes the ice house proper and
receives the caloric which is imparted to the atmosphere by articles
placed in the storage chamber below and conveys it from the chamber

page_text: by means of the meltings deposited upon the corrugated metallic floor
of the icc chamber. The moisture escaping from the substances placed
in the storage chamber is taken up by the atmosphere, and conveyed to
the corrugated metallic ceiling, upon which the moisture is deposited
by condensation, to be carried off by the troughs or gutters underneatlı,
which catch the drip. The chamber below the ice house may be
advantageously employed for brewing lager or other kinds of beer at
all seasons of the year, the temperature thereof being kept very low
and under control by means of the regulating valves or dampers in the
passages through the floor of the ice house.
My Invention refers also to the construction of the walls or vaultings
of ice houses and refrigerators for domestic and commercial purposes;
and consists in forming the refrigerators of separate and independent
air-tight metallic chambers or vaults, so arranged that the several
chambers or vaults shall be easily portable, and when put together and
fastened by means of clamps or keys shall constitute an ice house and
refrigerator that may be readily taken apart and transported when
desired. Common air free from circulating currents is one of the most
perfect non-conductors of caloric, and therefore metallic air-tight
chambers are the best walls or vaults of refrigerating chambers. For
family use I construct refrigerators with metallic air-tight vaulting or
walls, by forming them of metal sheets both on the inside and the
outside of a wooden or other suitable frame, at a great saving of cost
in construction and a great increase of durability over the ordinary
wooden refrigerator.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Armand Gilbee in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 23rd November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARMAND GILBEE, of the General Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, 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 suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Armand Gilbec,
Ier special licence that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Armand Gilbee, 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 Islo
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ICE HOUSES, STORE RCOMs,
AND REFRIGERATORS," a communication from abroad by Edwin Dwight
Brainard, of Albany, County of Albany, United States of Ame-
rica, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Armand Gilbee, 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 Oflico within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Armand Gilbec, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The Invention communicated to me relates to improvements in the
construction and arrangement of ice houses, store rooms, and refriger-
ators, the objects of which are to produce and maintain a low and
uniform temperature and a dry and pure atmosphere therein, for
the better preservation of animal and vegetable substances, for controlling
and regulating the temperature of fermenting chambers and store rooms
and cellars in breweries, and for economical and other advantages of a
domestic and commercial nature in the use and management of
icc houses and refrigerators generally.
My Invention refers, first, to an improved method of constructing an
icc house or chamber wherein is produced and maintained a low and
uniform degree of temperature with little consumption or loss of ice by
melting. Moisture in the atmosphere is the active element of decay and

page_text: decomposition of animal and vegetable substances in any temperature
above the freezing point, and the principle upon which ice houses are
usually constructed is that of ventilation. Openings are made in the
roof or upper part of the ice house for the admission of the external
atmosphere to give it free circulation in the ice chamber, which plan has
been resorted to in order to prevent an accumulation of moisture and
heat produced by the melting of the icc, the latent heat being liberated
thereby, which would be even more injurious than the external atmosphere
by causing "back drip" from the ceiling and wasting currents of water
through the ice; ventilation, indeed, is the only method known and used
prior to this Invention for removing the moisture and sensible caloric
even partially from the atmosphere of an ice house to prevent excessive
melting and loss of the icc. Dryness and coolness of the air are both
essential conditions for the preservation of animal and vegetable sub-
stances, and the improved ice house is constructed upon a different and
opposite principle from that of ventilation. I construct an ice house with
a close icc chamber from which the external atmosphere is excluded;
and I employ mechanical devices for abstracting and removing the
sensible caloric and moisture from the ice chamber entirely.
The essential condition of a good ice house is uniformity of temperature
at or near the freezing point, produced with the least possible consump-
tion of ice. This condition cannot be secured by ventilation, which is
only an expedient and an ineffectual compromise with nature. Every
degree of heat introduced into the ice house consumes its quota of icc,
whether it enters by conduction, radiation, or by ventilation. The true
principle of construction, therefore, is that of absolute exclusion of the
external atmosphere from the ice chamber, while provision must also be
made for removing the heat and moisture from the interior to the
exterior. In order to carry out this principle in the construction of
ice houses, I enclose them with internal and external air-tight walls to
exclude the external atmosphere completely, and between the air-tight
walls or casings wide spaces or vaultings are filled with dry wood
shavings or other light cellular packing to prevent external heat from
entering by conduction. Thick layers of similar packing are placed above
the ceiling and also at the foundation of the building to prevent the
access of heat and moisture from the ground. The external atmosphere
being thus completely excluded the moisture and caloric of the enclosed
atmosphere are abstracted and removed from the ice chamber by means
of mechanical devices. They are taken out of the ice chamber entirely

page_text: and carried outside of the building mechanically. By the actual
abstraction and removal of heat and moisture from the interior of an
ice chamber while none can enter from the exterior a very low degree of
temperature is obtained, so that it will stand uniformly at about thirty-
four degrees Fahrenheit; a state of rest ensues in the chamber and an
artificial winter is created instead of an ineffectual struggle against the
laws of nature produced by ventilation.
The devices I employ for abstracting and removing the sensible heat
and moisture of the internal atmosphere of a close ice chamber
mechanically consist of a corrugated sheet metal ceiling and wooden
gutters suspended under it constructed with discharge pipes. In the
still atmosphere of the close chamber the caloric and moisture rise
directly to the ceiling; the moisture is collected and condensed on the
metal surface while the wooden gutters which are feebler conductors of
heat than the metal ceiling do not collect the moisture on their surfaces
and remain dry externally. The condensed moisture drips from the
corrugations of the metal ceiling and is deposited in the wooden gutters
to be immediately conducted outside of the building by the discharge
pipe. The caloric and moisture are both thus removed entirely from
the ice house, and the temperature within is reduced nearly to freezing
point, at which it is maintained uniformly. The ice melts slowly under
these circumstances, and it may be kept in store without incurring the
waste and loss which are produced by ventilation; while also the low
temperature may be ecomonically applied to refrigerating purposes in
rooms connected with the ice chamber as herein-after described.
This Invention relates, secondly, to an improved method of constructing
refrigerating chambers connected with ico houses which may be used
as store rooms for preserving perishable animal and vegetable substances
from rapid decomposition, as fermenting chambers by brewers for
making beer, and also for storing stock beer, and keeping it sound and
sweet. The refrigerating chamber is placed in the same building under
the ice chamber, and is also provided with a corrugated metal ceiling or
metal troughs which receive and hold the ice water from the melted
ice, wooden gutters, and discharge pipes for collecting, condensing, and
removing the moisture and caloric from the enclosed atmosplicrc,
together with all vapours and impure exhalations arising from the
decomposition of animal and vegetable substances. The ordinary
temperature of a refrigerating chamber thus placed under an ice

page_text: chamber, and provided with a metallic ceiling would be about forty
degrees Fahrenheit, and in order to produce a lower temperature therein
and control and regulate it as desired I provide air passages with.
dampers or valves opening into the ice chamber. When the dampers
are open the colder and heavier air of the ice chamber sinks into the
refrigerating chamber while the warmer and lighter air of the
refrigerating chamber rises into the air chamber.. By this natural law
of equilibrium the temperature in the two chambers tends to equilization
and that of the refrigerating chamber may be regulated perfectly with
the least possible consumption of ice no more being consumed than is
necessary to produce the desired result. The temperature may thus be
regulated in the fermenting chamber of a brewery, and kept at the
point required for conducting the process of fermentation economically
and successfully. Brewing can be carried on at all seasons of the year
alike. Even lager beer may be made as well in summer as winter. In
the manufacture of stock beer there will be a great saving of malt and
hops, less being required for beer stored in vaults or cellars provided in
the same manner with the means of producing and maintaining therein
a low degree of temperature.
To make the Invention communicated to me better understood I
will now proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a vertical cross section of a
portion of one of the improved ice houses and refrigerating or storage
chambers connected therewith, and Figuro 2 a section of the same
through the line x, x, Figure 1.
A is the ice house or ice chamber, and B the refrigerating chamber.
The building may be constructed of any desired size in a rectangular
form. The outside walls may be built of brick or stone made air-tight
by a coating of bitumen or cement; the interior casing of the chambers
is lined with sheet iron attached to a wooden frame which leaves spaces
or vaultings two or three feet wide between the metal lining and the
exterior wall or casing. The exterior wall instead of mason work may
also be of sheet iron made air-tight.
In the Drawing a is the outside wall or casing, and a² is the inside
lining of sheet iron. The spaces or vaultings between the walls a and a²
are filled with dry shavings or other suitable materials, and thick layers
of the same packing are also placed above the ceiling of the ice chamber
and below the floor of the refrigerating chamber as shown in the Drawing.

page_text: A coating of bitumen or cement is also laid upon the foundation of the
building under the packing.
The ice chamber A has its ceiling made of galvanized slicet iron with
angular corrugations b, b, and the ceiling of the refrigerating or storage
chamber is also made of the same material with angular corrug
ations b', ', which receive and hold the ice water from the melted ice in
the chamber above. Wooden gutters c, c, are suspended under the
corrugations b, b, which from the ceiling of the ice chamber and
gutters c', c', arc suspended also under the corrugations b', ', which form
the ceiling of the refrigerating chamber. These wooden gutters are
suspended lengthwise directly under the lower angle of the metal cor-
rugations to catch the drip of the condensed moisture collected on their
surfaces. The gutters are lined with zinc or galvanized sheet iron. The
gutters c, c, and c', c', discharge into main cross gutters d and respec-
tively. A waste pipe e leads froin the main gutter d, and a pipe e' leads
from the main gutter d to carry off and discharge the water outside of the
building; traps in the discharge pipes prevent the admission of air into
the building. The main gutter d' receives the overflow of the ice water
from the metal corrugations or troughs b', b', which is discharged from
the troughs into the main gutter d' through suitable openings at their
ends as shown in the Drawing Figure 1, or the ice water may be utilized
further if desired by discharging the overflow into a distinct trough and
conducting it by a pipe especially provided for the purpose down into
another set of metal troughs which may be placed in the cellar of the
building to collect and condense the moisture therein. The floor h of the
icc chamber rests upon the beams to which the metal corrugations or
troughs b', b', are attached and open spaces are formed below it by the
corrugations. The floor is made with slots through which the meltings
of the ice fall directly into these troughs. The icc rests upon the floor h
and bears no weight upon the metal troughs b', 6'. The open spaces
between the floor and the troughs perform an important function in
preventing the rapid melting of the ice which would take place if the
metal ceiling were flat and the ice rested directly in contact with it.
As previously described the moisture of the atmosphere within the ice
chamber A, will be collected and condensed on the surfaces of the metal
corrugations b, b, and will drip or trickle into the wooden gutters c, c, to
be conducted by the main gutter & into the pipe e, by which the water is
discharged outside of the building; by which means both the sensible
caloric and the moisture will be abstracted and removed from the interior

page_text: of the close ice chamber, thereby drying the enclosed air and reducing
the temperature nearly to freezing point. The moisture of the
atmosphere within the refrigerating chamber or store room B will also-
be collected and condensed on the surfaces of the troughs &', ', which
contain the ice water and will drip into the wooden gutters c³, c', to be
conducted by the main gutter d' into the pipe e¹ and discharged outside
of the building. The moisture and caloric will thus also be abstracted
and removed from the refrigerating chamber, and the air thercin will be
rendered dry and reduced to a low temperature, conditions which arc
requisite for preventing the rapid decomposition of animal and vegetable
substances. The impure exhalations arising from animal and vegetable
substances will be carried off with the condensed moisture, and the
atmosphere will be kept pure and sweet. On two sides of the ice
chamber as shown in the Drawing, the ice is held and confined by lattice
work partitions marked C leaving an open space of about three feet in
width between them and the interior walls a. At the level of the floor
of the ice chamber are hung flap valves or dampers k, k, made of boards
five or six feet long cach, or in any suitable manner, the dampers may
extend the whole length of two sides of the ice chamber or be placed on
all sides if desired. They are provided with handles 1, 2, which project
below within reach of the workman to be, raised or lowered by him as
desired in order to regulate the temperature of the refrigerating chamber.
When the temperature rises too high, the dampers k, k, are opened nioro
or less as required, to give direct communication between the ice
chamber and the refrigerating chamber for the purpose of regulating the
temperature therein as previously described.
Air passages provided with dampers may also be made connecting
cellars under the fermenting chamber of a brewery with the ice chamber
for the purpose of producing a low temperature to keep stock beer or for
other refrigerating purposes.
The mode of attaching the sheet-iron ceilings to the beams and
suspending the wooden gutters to them is exhibited in detached views,
Figures 3, 4. An iron suspension pin is driven up into the beam
at the angle of the corrugations of the ceiling, at the lower end of which
pin is a crescent shaped.head which sits down in the gutter and holds it
up by means of a small wire u, which is fastened to the projecting ends
of the cross head of the pin and passes around under the gutter. The
crescent shaped head of the suspension pin e, is so shaped that it does

page_text: not touch the ceiling to obstruct the drip, and also has a space between
it and the bottom of the gutter that allows the water of condensation
to run under it. The ice house and refrigerating chamber are provided
with double or treble doors and windows made air-tight.
And, thirdly, this Invention relates to an improved method of con-
structing refrigerators and ice chests for refrigerating purposes in
private houses, hotels, markets, and other places.
For family use I build a portable refrigerator with casings or walls
made of rough boards which are cut by the saw into sets that match
exactly; the frame or body thus constructed is sheathed both on the
inside and the outside with galvanized sheet iron or zine made air tight
at the scams by folding and soldering the edges of the metal plates.
Figure 5 represents a horizontal section of one of the improved
family refrigerators; Figure 6, a cross section through the line y, y, Figure
5; and Figure 7, a perspective view of a detached end piece. The outer
sides or walls n, n, of two sides are made larger than the inside walls
n', ', projecting beyond them far enough to admit end pieces constructed
of boards forming the walls o, o, on the outside and walls o', o', on the
inside. The walls or casings are nailed together to form separate boxes
or compartments and air spaces between them several inches in width
marked 1, 1, and 2, 2, in the sides and ends. The bottom of the
refrigerator is formed of an outer wall or board p, which is nailed upon
the longer outer side walls n, n, and an inner wall p' which joins the
inner walls n', ', forming a separate compartment or air space marked
3. The end pieces are made separately, as shown in Figure 7, and are
then fitted in place between the projecting ends of the outer side walls
n, n, and up against the ends of the inner side walls n', ', and the
inner bottom wall 2, to which they are secured by nails. The frame of
the ice chest or refrigerator having been thus constructed wholly of
rough matched boards sawed out perfectly true to fit exactly and be put
together very cheaply, it is then sheathed externally and internally with
a continuous wrapper 8, 8, made of sheet iron or zinc, the metal outside
, being impervious to the atmosphere and excluding dampness, which
penetrates wood, and causes the rapid decay of refrigerators constructed
in the ordinary manner.
с
The compartanents or air spaces 1, 2, 3, are dead air chambers in
fact, which are the most perfect non-conductors of caloric. The lid is
also lined with sheet metal in the usual way with an air chamber in it.

page_text: Figure 8 represents the front view of an ice chest or refrigerator
of a larger size, adapted to the use of hotels, markets, and other places
where more space is required, but a permanent fixture is not wanted;
Figure 9 represents a horizontal section of the same through the line
,, Figure 8. The improvement consists in constructing these large
refrigerators in sections composed of independent air-tight or scaled
metallic compartments or chambers, and so arranged that the several
chambers may be mado to form the main chamber of the refrigerator
by being fastened together with proper keys or clamps as herein-after
described, each joint being rendered air-tight by means of india-rubber
or other suitable packing.
Of the several metal sections enclosing empty compartments or
dead air chambers and forming the refrigerator the four side sections
are marked D, D, D, D, in the Drawing, and the top and bottom
sections are marked E and F respectively. The door for entrance
into the refrigerating chamber, and the man-hole q for introducing
ice into the ice chamber, are shown in Figure 8, these several sections
are formed of metal plates closely scaled to exclude the external atmo-
sphere and prevent currents of air through the spaces within them
and they are fastened together by means of pins so set in the separate
parts in respect to each other that the iron clamps t embrace two of
these pins placed on adjoining sections at the widest part of the clamp,
which is wedge shaped, and by being driven fastens the sections
together. They may be readily put together or taken apart for
removal.
An ice house standing in the open air requires non-conducting
packing between the side walls as previously described to exclude the
atmosphere and prevent currents and circulation of heated air within
the walls, caused by the difference of temperature of the exterior and
interior, but for refrigerators which stand in a building protected by
its walls from the direct influence of the external atmosphere packing is
not necessary, and dead air spaces between the walls of the refrigerator
from four to six inches wide are sufficient. The ice is suspended
in the improved refrigerator in a galvanized iron rack or basket in
such manner that it is exposed on all sides to the atmosphere of the
provision chamber, while the ice water is held in a metal vessel to serve
for refrigerating and then be discharged by overflow into a pipe

page_text: .
articles of food is condensed by and upon the ice itself, whereby the
provision chamber is thoroughly refrigerated and dried. All impuritics,
odors, and flavors are removed effectually by the direct action of the
ice and the temperature is thus maintained very low in the provision
chamber whereby articles of food, such as meats, vegetables, butter,
and fruits are preserved perfectly in these improved refrigerators and
do not impart their flavors to each other.
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to
me and the manner of performing the same, what I claim and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,-
Firstly. The improved method of constructing ice houses with a
close chamber from which the sensible heat and moisture are abstracted
and removed mechanically, and in which a low and uniform degree of
temperature is produced and maintained in the manner and for the
purposes herein described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The improved method of constructing refrigerating chambers
in combination with ice chambers from which the sensible heat and
moisture are abstracted and removed mechanically the temperature
of the refrigerating chambers being regulated as desired in the manner
and for the purposes herein described and represented in the accompany-
ing Drawing.
Thirdly. The improved method of constructing refrigerators with
metallic plates in sections closcly scaled and secured together by clamps
or keys, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Fourthly. The improved method of constructing refrigerators with
matched boards in sections sheathed externally and internally with an
air-tight sheet metal wrapper, substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbec, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.