IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATORS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bridle, of Bridport, in the County of Dorset,
Plumber and Coppersmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REFRIGERATORS."
Sealed the 4th October 1860, and dated the 9th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bridle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th April 1860.
I, HENRY BRIDLE, of Bridport, in the County of Dorset, Plumber and
Coppersmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REFRIGERATORS," to be as follows:-
My refrigerators consist of a copper box or case open on the top, in which
is fixed a series of thin flat copper pipes about 5½ inches deep, and inch
thick, at intervals of about of an inch. Each pipe is divided through its length
into two 2 inch pipes, through which the cold water passes in two columns,
one over the other, in opposite directions. The pipes are connected outside
the case by elliptical ends. The hot water or wort enters the box or case at
the opposite end to that at which the cold water enters, passes underneath one
pipe, rises to its level, and then falls over the next pipe, and so on alternately
over one and under the next to the end of the case, where it flows out
The
through a cock or pipe fixed in the bottom of the end of the case.
draining and cleaning of the refrigerator is provided for by an aperture in the
side of the case under each alternate pipe, opening into a semicircular pipe
running the whole length outside under the bottom ends of the elliptical ends.

page_text: to the pipes, which outlets are closed when the wort is passing by a perforated
slide working on the side of the case inside the semicircular pipe.
The cooling powers of my refrigerators are very great, as the whole of the
wort must of necessity pass in a thin column round the whole of the cold
water pipes, which present a much larger cooling surface than has hitherto 5
been obtained. From the pipes being flat, instead of circular, the whole
cooling properties of the water act on the worts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bridle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRIDLE, of Bridport, in the County of Dorset, Plumber and Coppersmith,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Bridle, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bridle, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Bridle, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRI-
GERATORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bridle,
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 shid Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bridle, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:

page_text: My refrigerators consist of a copper box or case open on the top, in which
is fixed a series of thin flat copper pipes. Each pipe is divided centrally for
the whole of its length in such manner that distinct passages are formed one
above the other the whole length of the apparatus, through which the cold
water circulates in two columns one over the other in opposite directions.-
The pipes are connected outside the case by elliptical ends. The hot water
or wort enters the box, or case at the opposite end to that at which the cold
water enters, passes underneath one pipe, rises to its level, and then falls over
the next pipe, and so on alternately over one and under the next to the end
of the case, where it flows out through a cock or pipe in the bottom of the
end of the case. The draining and cleaning of the refrigerator are provided
for by an aperture in the side of the case under each alternate pipe opening
into a semicircular pipe running the whole length outside under the bottom
ends of the elliptical ends to the pipes, which outlets are closed when the
wort is passing, by a perforated slide working on the side of the case inside
the semicircular pipe.
The cooling powers of my refrigerators are very great, as the whole of the
wort must of necessity pass in a thin column round the whole of the cold
water pipes, which present a much larger cooling surface than has hitherto
been obtained, from the pipes being flat instead of circular, the whole cooling
properties. of the water act on the wort.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of the lower
half. of a refrigerator constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is an
elevation of one end of a similar refrigerator drawn on a smaller.scale, showing,
the inlet for wort and outlet for water; Figure 3 is an elevation of the con-
trary end to that represented at Figure 2, showing, the outlet for the wort
and inlet for the water; Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the refri-
gerator; and Figure 5 is a horizontal section, one half being taken through
the line, Y, Y, and the other half through the line Z, Z, of Figure 4 ; Figure 6
is a side elevation of the refrigerator drawn on a smaller scale than that at
Figure 1.
A is the inlet, and B is the outlet for the wort; I is the inlet, and K is the
outlet for the water. The wort circulates round the pipes as indicated by the
arrows in Figure 4. a, a, are partition or division plates, for causing the
wort to circulate thoroughly round the water pipes. The water which enters
at I passes in two directions by the pipes b, b¹, that which passes by the pipe b
circulates through the pipes at the top of the refrigerator, and that which
passes by b, through the pipes at the bottom as indicated by the arrows in
Figure 5 until both again meet, and leave the case at K, thus two distinct

page_text: .
water passages, one running from left to right, and the other from right to
left, or vice versa, are preserved from end to end of the refrigerator; c, c, are
taps for drawing off water from the pipes; e is a pipe provided with aper-
tures for drawing off the superfluous wort from the refrigerator. D is
a slide valve fitted in the pipe e, and worked by a screw and handle E. When
the refrigerator is in operation the valve D is kept closed, but when the wort
is drained off, it is opened by the screw and handle E, and the wort passes off
through the apertures f. F is a "blank" cap fitted to the end of the draining
pipe, through which the pipe itself is cleaned. In some cases I dispense with
the bottom of the case and the pipe c; and then a stop plate must be fitted to
the bottom edge of every alternate pipe of the refrigerator in order to cause
the wort to circulate properly, and the refrigerator must then be fixed in a
cooler. I sometimes reverse the action of the apparatus, that is, I allow the
wort to circulate through the pipes just described for the water, and the water
round the pipes described for the wort. The supply of wort and water is
regulated by stop-cocks.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed; I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in refrigerators.
First, the employment of two streams of cold water caused to circulate in
two columns one above the other in contrary directions, in the manner and for
the purpose herein-before described.
Second, the employment of thin flat pipes, made by preference in sub-
divisions for the water to circulate through in the manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, causing wort or other liquid to be cooled, to flow round the cold
water pipes, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
And, fourth, the means and appliances herein-before described for cleaning
the refrigerater.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bridle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand eight hun-
dred and sixty.
H. BRIDLE. (L.S.)