AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PACKING MEAT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAME BY REFRIGERATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PACKING MEAT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF
THE SAME BY REFRIGERATION." A communication from abroad by James
Amaziah Whitney, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America Counsellor at Law.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissionors of Patents on the 21st October 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltino, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PACKING
MEAT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAME BY REFRIGERATION." [A communi-
cation from abroad by James Amaziah Whitney, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, Counsellor at Law.]
In the preservation of meat by refrigeration according to the usual methods, the
meat is hung or placed in a closed chamber, and there subjected to the action of
chilled air; by this means however from five to six times as much space is required
as would be necessary if the quarters, carcasses, or pieces of meat could be packed
in close relation with each other.
The object of this Invention is to provide means by which the preservative
effects of refrigeration may be exerted upon the meat when the same is closely
packed, by which means the cost of transporting meat under refrigeration is
reduced to one-sixth or one-fifth of its cost by the usual methods, and whereby
also certain other considerable advantages are secured.
In carrying my said Invention into effect I provide a closed chamber, the
ceiling, floor, and sides, including the door or place of access, of which are so
constructed as to be to the greatest practicable extent impervious to the trans-
mission of heat. In other words the said ceiling, floor, and sides of the said
chamber should as nearly as possible be made non-conductors of heat. Any
suitable construction of said ceiling, floor, and walls, the door or place of access
included, may be adopted, the same general principles governing the said con-
struction as are observed in the well known construction of the corresponding
parts of ordinary refrigerating boxes or chill rooms so termed.

page_text: Preparatory to the practice of my Invention aforesaid the chamber should be
reduced by any suitable or usual means to as low a temperature as possible, in
order that the sensible heat may be removed from the ceiling, floor, and walls of
the said chamber.
In the practice of my said Invention I take sand or other granular or pul-
verulent material, of such a character that it will communicate no contamination
of any kind to the meat. Although the presence of a moderate degree of moisture
in this material will be productive of no considerable harm, it is designed that it
be of a substantially dry character, that is to say, incapable of yielding a quantity
of water sufficient to injuriously affect the surface of the moat around which it is
packed, as hereinafter explained. This material I refrigerate to a temperature
which in practice may reach a little below 32° Fahrenheit, inasmuch as a small
portion of the cold, so to speak, will be lost during the manipulation of the
material in packing the meat. This temperature however should not be low
enough to subject the meat when packed therein, as hereinafter explained, to a
freezing action, the object being to maintain the meat at the lowest temperature
possible without freezing the juices thereof. This refrigeration of the granular or
pulverulent material may be produced or procured by any appropriate means, as,
for example, by refrigerating it in an ice-house of any suitable construction, or by
employing an apparatus analogous to ice-making machines, and so constructed as
to operate upon the granular or pulverulent material instead of water, many of
the said ice-making machines being of such construction that it is only necessary
to place the aforesaid material in the water-receptacles, and subject the same to the
cooling agency in the same manner that the water is acted upon thereby. The
said material should be kept at its low temperature when admitted into or placed
within the chamber, hereinbefore referred to.
The meat to be subjected to refrigeration either in the form of quarters, as in the
case of beef, or in that of carcasses, as in the case of sheep, or if preferred in pieces
of any suitable size and shape, is enveloped in a covering of common cotton-cloth
or other suitable fibrous material sewed snugly thereon; the object of the said
covering of woven fabric or fibrous material is to protect the meat from immediate
contact with the granular or pulverulent material, and at the same time to permit
the escape from the meat of vapors, gases, or the like, which, if retained within a
close or impervious covering, would tend to deteriorate the quality of the meat.
Before being placed in the chamber aforesaid the meat should be placed in an
ordinary refrigerator or chill room of any suitable construction, and cooled or
chilled to as low a temperature as possible above the freezing point; the meat
being thus chilled and covered with fabric or fibrous material is taken to the
chamber aforesaid, and is there packed in the refrigerated sand or other suitable
refrigerated granular or pulverulent material. The quarters, carcasses, or pieces
of meat should not be packed in contact with each other, but there should be a
sufficient thickness of the refrigerated material between the quarters, carcasses, or
pieces of meat, as the case may be, to provide a body of the cold material packed
snugly against each and all of the said quarters, carcasses, or pieces. Care should
also be taken to interpose a proper thickness of the cooled or chilled material
between the meat and the adjacent sides, floor, or ceiling, as the case may be, of
the chamber. The operation may be most conveniently performed by first
spreading a layer of the cooled or chilled material upon the floor of the chamber,
then placing the quarters, carcasses, or pieces of the meat, as the case may be, upon
said layer, then closely packing underneath, around, and over the quantity of meat
thus deposited, an additional quantity of the chilled or cooled material to a depth
of from two to three inches over and above the said meat, then in like manier
depositing another tier of the meat, which in like manner should be packed around
and over with the cold or refrigerated material, and so on, until the chamber is
full to the top.
It will be observed that the meat having been previously refrigerated is snugly
packed in and surrounded by the refrigerated material, and this within a chamber,

page_text: the ceiling, floor, and sides of which have so far as practicable been rendered
incapable of transmitting heat inward to the contents of said chamber. From
this it follows that a quantity of cold, so to speak, is stored up within and around
the meat to ensure the preservation thereof during a very considerable period of
time, a time sufficient in fact to permit the transportation of the meat for long
distances by land or sea, it being possible to provide the chamber, hereinbefore
referred to, either upon railway vehicles on land or upon sea-going or other
vessels.
It is to be observed further that any suitable material may be used in lieu of
the sand, and even grain (Indian corn, wheat, barley, oats, and the like) may be
refrigerated to the requisite extent, as hereinbefore described, and used as the
material in which to pack the meat, as hereinbefore explained, by which means
even the interstices or spaces between the quarters, carcasses, or pieces of the meat,
as the case may be, and which are necessarily occupied or filled by the refrigerated
material may be used for the transportation of grain for export.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PACKING
MEAT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAME BY REFRIGERATION." A communi-
cation from abroad by James Amaziah Whitney, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, Counsellor-at-Law.
In the preservation of meat by refrigeration according to the usual methods the
meat is hung or placed in a closed chamber and there subjected to the action of
chilled air. By these means, however, from five to six times as much space is
required as would be necessary if the quarters, carcasses, or pieces of meat were
packed in close relation with each other.
The object of this Invention is to provide means by which the preservative
effects of refrigeration may be exerted upon the meat when the same is closely
packed, by which means the cost of transporting meat under refrigeration
is reduced to one sixth or one fifth of its cost by the usual methods, and certain
other considerable advantages are also secured.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a closed chamber, the
ceiling, floor, and sides, including the door or place of access, of which are so
constructed as to be, to the greatest practicable extent, impervious to the transmis-
sion of heat. In other words, the said ceiling, floor, and sides of the said chamber
should as nearly as possible be made non-conductors of heat. Any suitable
construction of said ceiling, floor, and walls (the door or place of access included)
may be adopted, the same general principles governing the said construction as
are observed in the well known construction of the corresponding parts of ordinary
refrigerating boxes or chill-rooms.
Preparatory to practising the aforesaid Invention the chamber should itself be
refrigerated, its temperature being reduced by any suitable or usual means to as
low a degree as practicable, in order that the sensible heat may be removed from
the ceiling, floor, and walls of the said chamber.
I then take sand or any other granular or pulverulent material (such, for example,
as grain or meal, hereinafter more specifically referred to) of such a character that
it will communicate no contamination of any kind to the meat, and at the saine
time be capable of retaining a considerable degree of cold, as hereinafter explained.
Although the presence of a moderate degree of moisture in this material will be
productive of no considerable harm, it is preferable that the said material should
be of a substantially dry character, that is to say, incapable of yielding a quantity
of water sufficient to injuriously affect the surface of the meat around which it is
packed, as hereinafter explained. This material I refrigerate to a temperature
which in practice may reach a little below thirty two degrees (32°) Fahrenheit,
inasmuch as a small portion of the cold, so to speak, will be lost during the
manipulation of the material in packing the meat. The temperature, however,
should not be low enough to subject the meat when packed therein to a freezing
nction, the object being to maintain the meat at the lowest temperaturo possible
without freezing the juices thereof. This refrigeration of the granular or pulverulent
material may be produced or procured by any appropriate means, as, for example,
by refrigerating it in an ice-house of any suitable construction, or by employing an
apparatus analogous to ice-making machines, and so constructed as to operate upon
the granular or pulverulent material instead of acting upon water. Many of the
said ice-making machines being of such construction that it is only necessary to

page_text: place the aforesaid material in the water-receptacles, and to subject it to the
cooling agency in the same manner as the water is subjected thereto in the produc-
tion of ice. Inasmuch as apparatus for cooling water to produce ice are well
known, it is not necessary to describe in detail those which would be applicable
to the purpose of cooling the granular or pulverulent material, as herein before
explained. The said material should be kept at its low temperature when admitted
into or placed within the chamber herein before referred to.
The meat to be subjected to refrigeration, which may be in the form either of
quarters (as in the case of beef) or in that of carcasses (as in the case of sheep), or
if preferred in pieces of any suitable size and shape, is enveloped in a covering
of common cotton cloth or other suitable fibrous material sewed or wrapped thereon.
The object of the said covering of woven fabric or fibrous material is to protect the
meat from immediate contact with the granular or pulverulent material, and at
the same time to permit the escape from the meat of vapors, gases, or the like,
which if retained within a close or impervious covering would tend to deteriorate
the quality of the meat.
Before being placed in the aforesaid chamber the meat should be placed in an
ordinary refrigerator or chill-room of any suitable construction, and bo cooled or
chilled to as low a temperature as possible above the freezing point. The meat
being thus chilled and covered with fabric or fibrous material as aforesaid, is taken
to the said chamber and is there packed in the refrigerated sand or other suitable
rofrigerated granular or pulverulent material. The quarters, carcasses, or pieces, as
the case may be, of meat should not be packed in contact with each other, but
there should be a sufficient thickness of the refrigerated material between the
quarters, carcasses, or pieces of meat, as the case may be, to provide a body of the
cold material packed snugly against each and all of the said quarters, carcasses, or
pieces. Care should also be taken to interpose a proper thickness of the cooled
or chilled material between the neat and the adjacent sides, floor, or ceiling, as
the case may be, of the chamber. The operation may be most conveniently
performed by first spreading a layer of the cooled or chilled material upon the
floor of the chamber, then placing the quarters, carcasses, or pieces, as the case may
be, of the meat upon said layer, then closely packing around and over the quantity
of meat thus deposited an additional quantity of the cooled or chilled material to a
depth of from two to three inches (more or less) over and above the said meat.
Then in like manner depositing another tier of the meat, which in like manner
should be packed around and over with the cold or refrigerated material, and so on
until the chamber is full to the top.
It will be observed that the meat, having been previously refrigerated, is snugly
packed in and surrounded by the refrigerated material within a chamber, the
ceiling, floor, and the sides of which have, as far as practicable, been rendered
incapable of transmitting heat inward to the contents of said chamber. From this
it follows that a quantity of cold is, so to speak, stored up within and around the
meat to insure the preservation thereof during a very considerable period of time,
a time sufficient, in fact, to permit the transportation of the meat for long distances
by land or sea, it being possible to provide the chamber, herein before referred to,
either upon railway vehicles on land, or upon sea-going or other vessels. As the
carcasses, quarters, or pieces of the meat packed in the chilled material, as herein-
before explained, are brought very much closer to each other than it is possible to
hang them in an ordinary refrigerator or chill-room, it follows that very great
economy of space during transportation, as just mentioned, is secured. Further-
more, as in lading vessels with cargo, the lighter freight has ordinarily to be placed
on the upper decks, and the heavier freight below, it follows that by my said
Invention meat preserved by refrigeration during transportation may be placed as
heavy cargo on the lower decks of sea going vessels instead of being necessarily
placed on the upper decks, as is the case with meat transported in ordinary chill-
rooms or refrigerators.
Any suitable material may be used in lieu of the sand, and in practice it will be

page_text: found preferable to use grain, such as shelled Indian corn or maize, wheat, barley,
oats, or the like, or even coarse meal, the same to be refrigerated to the requisite
extent, and applied in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to the use
of sand. By such means even the interstices or spaces between the carcasses,
quarters, or pieces of meat, which are necessarily occupied or filled by the
refrigerated material, may be utilized for the transportation of grain or meal for
export.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I am aware that it has been proposed to preserve meat, fish, and the like
by packing the same in icc, but such a method of preservation is quite different in
principle and results from my Invention, inasmuch as meat, if placed in immediate
contact with ice, is found by experience to lose its flavor, and, moreover, its more
valuable juices are to a greater or less degree dissolved or washed out by the water
resulting from the melting of the ice; while, on the other hand, if the meat be
placed in a close or impervious envelope, as, for example, in an india-rubber bag,
the gases, vapors, or emanations which should be allowed to escape from the meat
are confined in contact therewith, and tend to its rapid deterioration. I am also
aware that it has been proposed to preserve meat by freezing the same and packing
it in non-refrigerated sawdust, coal-ashes, and the like; but this method of
preservation is also quite different in principle and results from my Invention, as
the freezing of meat destroys its flavor and impairs its quality and market value,
and a non refrigerated packing, instead of affording, so to speak, a supply of cold
available for the retention of a low temperature in the meat, tends rather to abstract
cold from the meat, and thereby to raise its temperature to an undue degree, and
thus impair its quality. I therefore do not claim such methods of preservation,
but I claim,-
First. The herein described method of preserving meat during transportation or
storage, by packing or imbedding the same with a refrigerated and dry material,
substantially as herein set forth.
Second. A quarter, carcass, or piece of meat enveloped in a fibrous material or
fabric in combination with a surrounding refrigerated packing, substantially as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
Third. The combination of a refrigerated chamber, refrigerated granular or
pulverulent packing material, and quarters, carcasses, or pieces of meat, enveloped
in fibrous material or fabric, the meat thus enveloped being packed in the
refrigerated material, and the refrigerated material being contained within the
refrigerated chamber, all substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Fourth. The method herein described of providing for the preservation of meat
during transportation or storage by packing the meat aftor refrigeration in a
refrigerated granular or pulverulent material within a refrigerated chamber, all
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
XXT M
DADT TAFE Gol