AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS OR VESSELS, FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES OR CARS, OR FOR OTHER STRUCTURES OR PLACES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bristow Hunt, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS OR VESSELS, FOR
RAILWAY CARRIAGES OR CARS, OR FOR OTHER STRUCTURES OR PLACES," a com-
munication from abroad by Wilson Bray, of Lambertville, New
Jersey, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd October 1872, and dated the 13th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bristow Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1872.
I, BRISTOW HUNT, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS OR VESSELS,
FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES OR CARS, OR FOR OTHER STRUCTURES OR PLACES," (a
communication to me from abroad by Wilson Bray, of Lambertville,
New Jersey, in the United States of America), to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to an improved refrigerating apparatus for use
on board ships or vessels, or in railway carriages or cars, or in other

page_text: passages
below
structures or places, which apparatus consists mainly of an outer casing
containing any desired number of ice boxes, between the sides of each of
which & the casing are side passages communicating with the former
by openings which can be closed by doors & with other
the deck or other part to which the apparatus is applied, or on which it 5
is built. In the top of the casing above cach ice box are other openings
(also closed by doors) through which the ice boxes are replenished. All
the ice boxes communicate through grated bottoms with a drip,
(common to all of them) which consists of a sheet metal casing with
converging sides terminating at an opening through which the water as 1
it passes from the ice drops into a long trough or channel in communi-
cation with pipes through which the waste water is carried off.
The saiviust & other foreign matters which accompany the ice &
are carried off into the trough with the water as the ice melts are cleared
therefrom by means of a rope or chain to which are attached discs 1
bearing upon the bottom thereof.
Each ice box communicates through a passage (which may be closed
when necessary by a door) with a refrigerating chamber or compartment
(built beneath the deck or other part) in which the articles to be treated
are placed, & of which there are as niany as the size of the vessel & 2
other circumstances may suggest, it being desirable that each refri-
gerating chamber should have its own ico box.
Beneath the deck are formed exhaust passages communicating with
the exhaust opening of a fan, blower, or other equivalent pneumatic
apparatus, the discharge opening of which communicates through any 2
convenient arrangement of pipes or passages with an opening in the
structure containing the ice boxes.
The communication between any one or more of the refrigerating
chambers (each of which also communicates with the side passages of
the casing) & the exhaust passages can be closed by sliding valves or 3
other equivalent appliances.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bristow Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 12th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BRISTOW
HUNT, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Bristow Hunt, Her special licenso that
I, the said Bristow Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Bristow Hunt, 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 "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
FOR SHIPS OR VESSELS, FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES OR CARS, OR FOR OTHER STRUCTURES
OR PLACES," (a communication to me from abroad by Wilson Bray, of
Lambertville, New Jersey, in the United States of America), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Bristow Hunt, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 Office within six calendar mouths next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Bristow Hunt, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the construction of an improved refrigerating
apparatus adapted for use especially on board ships or vessels, or in
railway carriages or cars, or for general use in other structures or places.

page_text: On the accompanying Drawings the apparatus is illustrated as applied
to a vessel.
Figures 1 and 2 represent a transverse and a longitudinal central
vertical section respectively, and Figure 3 a partly sectional plan view
of the improved apparatus, and Figure 4 a perspective view of part
thereof.
A represents the deck beam of a vessel on which the improved
apparatus is built. The apparatus consists mainly of an outer casing B
within which are arranged any desired number of ice boxes D, between
the sides of each of which and the containing casing are formed side
passages D¹ communicating with the former by openings e which can be
closed by doors f, and with other passages D2 below the deck or other
part to which the apparatus is applied, or on which it is built. In the
top of the casing above each ice box are other openings a, closed by
doors b, through which the boxes are replenished with ice. All the
boxes D communicate through grated bottoms / with a drip E (common
to all of them), which consists of a sheet metal casing with converging
sides terminating at an opening i, through which the water as it comes
from the ice drops into a long trough or channel F in communication
with the pipes F¹ through which the waste water is carried off.
The sawdust and other foreign matters which accompany the ice and
are carried off into the trough Fas the ice melts are cleared therefrom
by means of a rope or chain G to which are attached discs m, bearing
upon the bottom thereof, see Figure 4. By simply pulling this chain
* from time to time the accumulated impurities are carried off by the discs
to the waste pipes F¹. Each box D communicates through a passage n,
(which may be closed by a door p) with a refrigerating chamber or com-
partment (built beneath the deck or other part) in which the articles to
be treated are placed, and of which there are as many as the size or
requirements of the vessel and other circumstances may suggest.
Beneath the deck are formed exhaust passages H communicating with
the exhaust opening of a fan blower or other equivalent pneumatic
apparatus, the discharge opening of which communicates through any
convenient system or arrangement of pipes or passages with an opening I
in the casing B. The communication between any one or more of the
refrigerating chambers (cach of which communicates with the passages
D'), and the exhaust passages H can be closed by sliding valves q,
Figure 1, or other equivalent appliances.

page_text: The meat or other viands, vegetables, or other articles having been
properly stored in the separate refrigerating chambers, all communi-
cations between the latter and the external air are closed, the top of the
casing B being also closed. The air from the refrigerating chambers
ascends through the passages D' as indicated by the arrows, enters the
ice boxes through the openings e, and passes downwards through the ice
or freezing mixture into the top of the refrigerating compartments at
the low temperature acquired by contact with the ice, and this air
descending drives out the warmer air below and expels it through the
pipes or passages communicating with the passages D' of the casing
containing the ice boxes, thus a constant circulation is maintained
through the refrigerating chambers, and the contents maintained at the
low temperature necessary for their better preservation.
It is desirable that there should be separate refrigerating compart-
ments, cach having its own ice box, as some articles are more perishable
than others and require a lower temperature.
When the articles in any one or more of the compartments are
rendered so cool for the time being that a further consumption of icc
would be unnecessary, the doors p of such chambers or compartments
may be closed, and the supply of ice to its ice box discontinued.
When the desired articles are stored in the compartments a more
prompt cooling of the same may be necessary at the beginning than that
which is acquired by the natural circulation of air described above. In
such a case I resort to a forcible artificial circulation by starting the
blowing fan referred to above, so as to exhaust the air from the
passages H and drive it through the opening I into the casing B above
the ice boxes, at the same time opening the sliding valves q of the
refrigerating chambers through which a forcible circulation is desired,
taking care however to close the communications between the passages D',
and the ice boxes by closing the doors f. As fast as the air is exhausted
from the chambers that cooled by contact with the ice takes its place,
and as the temperature of this air is raised it rushes through the
passages H and into the casing B above the ice boxes to be again cooled
before it again enters the refrigerating chambers. The temporary
maintainance of this forcible circulation is especially necessary when the
articles are stored in the chambers in a warm climate.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
"An Improved Refrigerating Apparatus for Ships or Vessels, for Railway

page_text: Carriages or Cars, or for other Structures or Places," together with the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that although the Inven-
tion is described as applied to a vessel, it must be understood that it is
equally applicable to railroad cars, or to buildings for storing perishable
articles, and in adapting the Invention to different vessels and other
structures it may be advisable in some instances to depart somewhat
from the arrangement of parts described above, the Inventor therefore
does not desire to restrict himself to the specific construction and
arrangement of the parts as herein described, but I claim as the Inven-
tion communicated to me by the said Wilson Bray,—
Firstly. The application to a vessel, railway car, or other structure of
refrigerating apparatus consisting of refrigerating chambers, ice boxes,
and passages arranged substantially as above described for the main-
tainance through the chambers of a constant circulation of cooled air.
Secondly. The combination of the said refrigerating apparatus with a
fan blower, or other equivalent pneumatic apparatus for maintaining a
forcible circulation of air through the chambers in the manner and for
the purpose above described.
Thirdly. The combination of the ice boxes D, drip E, and trough F.
And Fourthly. The manner of clearing the said trough by a rope or
chain G provided with discs m or their equivalents.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bristow Hunt, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
BRISTOW HUNT. (L.S.)
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