IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE AND IN MACHINERY FOR THE SAME, AND FOR OTHER COOLING OR REFRIGERATING PURPOSES; ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE FORMATION OF SKATING RINKS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa, of Finborough Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE AND IN MACHINERY FOR THE SAME, AND FOR
OTHER COOLING OR REFRIGERATING PURPOSES; ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE
FORMATION OF SKATING RINKS."
ed the 22nd August 1876, and dated the 26th February 187
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th February 1876.
TORANOSKE MASAYAS NISHIGAWA, of Finborough Road, in the County_of
Middlesex, Analytical Chemist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE
AND IN MACHINERY FOR THE SAME, AND FOR OTHER COOLING OR REFRIGERATING
PURPOSES; ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE FORMATION OF SKATING RINKS."
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of ice, and is applicable
to the formation of skating rinks; it also relates to machinery or apparatus to bo
used in this manufacture, and for cooling or refrigerating liquids and other similar
purposes.
For carrying my said Invention into practice I use the following machinery or
apparatus, that is to say:-The said apparatus comprises an ordinary wrought-iron
boiler provided with a glass gauge at one end, and capable of sustaining safely a
pressure of from two to three hundred pounds per square inch.
The said machinery or apparatus also comprises, a liquefactor composed of an
upward and a downward coil or worm. The angle or pitch of the upward coil is
very much larger than that of the downward coil, and the said upward coil is
intended to condense the steam carried forward together with the gas from the said
boiler; at the bottom of the downward coil, which is preferably within the upward
coil, there is a cylinder provided with a glass gauge, and which serves as a reservoir
for the liquefied ammonia.
The said apparatus also has a cooler composed of an upward coil which enters an
absorber at the side of the same; this cooler is placed within the liquefactor.
The said absorber is composed of two drum-shaped cylinders of unequal size
united at one end. The ammonia euters at the top of the largest drum and the
water enters at the side of the same. The water delivery is regulated by a float
Price G71

page_text: and self-acting valve. From the bottom of the absorber extends a coil placed by
the side of the cooler and through which the liquid is conveyed to a force pump.
The said apparatus is also provided with a temperature equalizer composed of
an iron flanged cylinder having inside it a coil or worm which enters at one end
and extends from the other end. The cold liquid coming from the absorber travels
through the coil, while the hot water from the boiler is made to travel in a contrary
direction outside the coil in the annular space surrounding the same within the
equalizer cylinder.
The said apparatus also has congealers formed of two or more serpentine coils
placed horizontally, or pipes superposed one over the other and joined at their
alternate onds to form one continuous coil. The spaces between the pipes are filled
up with metal; or cach coil may be encased with sheet iron, the space thus formed
being filled by brine or any uncongealable liquid; means are provided to remove the
brine and to gently warm the coil to allow the ice to be removed therefrom.
A peculiar feature of my Invention is the manner of using liquid ammonia direct
from the liquefactor as the source of motive power to work the engine, thereby
dispensing with the ordinary steam boiler and engine used to drive different parts
of the machinery, and utilizing the cold thus produced by the vaporization of
liquid ammonia inside the engine by immersing the said engine in a tank of water
which is afterwards used for the purposo of cooling the liquefactor, cooler, and
absorber. The said engine has an ordinary cylinder and piston and a slide valve
formed with a cavity, which at each stroke of the said engine is filled with liquid
ammonia from the supply port. The valvo then slides over one of the cylinder ports
and delivers the ammonia through the same into the end of the cylinder; the
ammonia then expands into vapour and drives the piston to the opposite end of the
cylinder while the exhaust takes place into the absorber.
Another feature of the said Invention is the arrangement of the liquefactor,
cooler, and absorber in coils one within the other, and the supporting of the whole
by iron frames upon a shallow tank inclined and provided with a discharge pipe in
connection with a tank below in which the engine is immersed. The water is
showered upon all these coils by an apparatus consisting of rotating arms actuated
by the force of the water issuing from the same. Or the water may be thrown
upon the said coils by means of pipes connected with the said engine. Or the coils
may be submerged in water in the aforesaid tank in which the engine is placed.
The said apparatus is adapted to the construction of skating rinks of ice, or the
conversion of existing rinks of asphalt, concrete, or the like, into ice rinks in the
following manner, that is to say :-Series of serpentine coils are laid upon the floor
of the rink, and are covered with water, preferably to the depth of about one inch.
The refrigerant from the liquefactor is caused to circulate around the said coil,
thereby converting the water into a solid mass of ice.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th August 1876.
TORANOSKE MASAYAS NISHIGAWA, of Finborough Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Analytical Chemist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE
AND IN MACHINERY FOR THE SAME, AND FOR OTHER COOLING OR REFRIGERATING
PURPOSES; ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE FORMATION OF SKATING RINKS."
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of ice, and is applicable
to the formation of skating rinks; it also relates to machinery or apparatus to be
used in this manufacture, and for cooling or refrigerating liquids and for other
similar purposes.
For carrying my said Invention into practise I use the following machinery or
apparatus, that is to say-The said apparatus comprises an ordinary wrought-iron

page_text: boiler; a liquefactor composed of an upward and a downward coil or worm; a
cooler composed of an upward coil which enters an absorber at the side of the
same; a temperature equalizer composed of an iron flanged cylinder having inside.
it a coil or worm which enters at one end and extends from the other end;
a congealer or congealers formed of two or more serpentine or other coils and other
parts herein-after described.
A peculiar feature of my Invention is the use of liquid ammonia direct from the
liquefactor as the source of motive power to work the engine, thereby dispensing
with the ordinary steam boiler and engine used to drive different parts of the
machinery and utilizing the cold thus produced by the vaporization of liquid
ammonia inside the engine by immersing the said engine in a tank of water which
is afterwards used for the purpose of cooling the liquefactor, cooler, and absorber.
Another feature of the said Invention is the arrangement of the liquefactor,
cooler, and absorber in coils one within the other, and the supporting of the whole
by iron frames upon a shallow tank inclined and provided with a discharge pipe in
connection with a tank below in which the engine is immersed. The water is
showered upon all these coils by an apparatus consisting of rotating armis actuated
by the force of the water issuing from the same. Or the water may be thrown
upon the said coils by means of pipes connected with, the said engine. Or the
coils may be submerged in water in the aforesaid tank in which the engine is
placed.
The aforesaid apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which I will
now proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said apparatus.
Figure 2 is a plan shewing the arrangement of the coils of the liquefactor, cooler,
and absorber.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the said absorber drawn to an enlarged scale;
Figure 4 is a plan; Figure 5 is a side elevation; and Figure 6 is an end clevation
partly in section of the aforesaid congealers.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
A is the boiler; B is the steam condenser; C is the liquefactor; D, the receiver;
E, the ammonia engine; F, F, the congealers; G, the force pump; H, the absorber;
I, the equalizer; J, the cooler; K, a mixture cooler; L, the shallow tank; M, the
deep tank; N, the water sprinkler; 0, the water pump; a, b, c, d, e, are valves;
f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, are cocks.
The boiler A is employed for generating the ammonia gas from its aqueous
solution by the application of heat. I prefer to use a solution of a strength of
about 880 Baumé; the said boiler is constructed of wrought iron, and must be
capable of sustaining safely a pressure of two to three hundred pounds per square
inch, and is provided with pressure and water gauges. The said boiler is preferably
heated by gas, but other means may be employed if desired. From the said boiler
the ammonia gas passes through the steam condenser B, which is an upwardly
extending coil pipe, and which is cooled by the water spray herein-after described.
This coil B is intended to condense any steam which might be carried forward with
ammonia gas. After passing the said condenser the gas enters the liquefactor or
downwardly extending coil C, which is preferably placed within the coil B, as
clearly shewn in Figure 2. In this coil the gas is condensed or brought into a
liquid state by its own pressure, and it is collected in the receiver D which is
provided with an ordinary glass gauge to indicate the height of this liquid in the.
receiver. This receiver has two small pipes, one of which connects with the
starting valve of the ammonia engine E, and the other extends to the congealers F.
These congealers F are made of series of serpentine coils, as shewn in Figure 5,
incased in sheet iron, the space around the coils being filled with brine or other
uncongealable liquid. In these congealers the liquid ammonia is converted into'
ammonia gas. Consequent upon the conversion of this liquid into gas in the
congealer pipes, the desired reduction of temperature of the uncongealable liquid
takes place, and the ice is formed by the freezing of water upon the congealers F.

page_text: The ammonia gas, after passing through the congealers, is conveyed through the
pipe P into the absorber, which is a large chamber H formed of two drum-shaped
cylinders of unequal size connected at one end. In this chamber or absorber the
gas and the impoverished liquid from the bottom of the boiler are mixed, so that
the former may dissolve in the latter.
The equalizer I is an iron flanged cylinder having inside it a coil which enters at
one end and extends from the other end. The cold liquid coming from the absorber
travels through the coil, while the hot water from the boiler is made to travel in a
contrary direction outside the coil in the annuilar space surrounding the same
within the equalizer cylinder I. From the equalizer it enters the cooler, which is
an upwardly extending coil J kept cool by the water spray. Upon leaving the
cooler the weak or impoverished solution enters the absorber through the nozzle
where it meets with the gas from the congealers. The mixture is then passed
through the cooler or coil K, where it is still further cooled, and then is conveyed to
the suction side of the force pump G, and thence through the coil inside the
equalizer I into the boiler A.
The four coils B, C, J, and K, and the absorber H, are preferably placed one
within the other, as shewn in Figure 2, and they are supported by iron frames upon
the shallow tank or tray L; the latter is provided with a discharge pipe which is
in connection through the pipe L¹ with the tank M below, in which the said engine
is immersed. This engine E is worked by the expansion of liquid ammonia
obtained direct from the receiver, as above specified. Ammonia in its liquid form
has not heretofore been employed as the medium for developing motive power, but
I have discovered that it may be very advantageously so employed. The cold
produced by the expansion of the liquid ammonia in the engine is transmitted to
the water surrounding it which is afterwards showered upon the coils. The
exhaust of the engine takes place into the absorber. This engine drives the force
pump G; it also drives the smaller pump O to raise the water from the tank M to
the water sprinkler N which showers it upon all the coils, and is fixed upon the
top of the absorber. This sprinkler or showering apparatus has rotating arms
provided with nozzles and is actuated by the force of its own issuing water.
The valves a, b, c, d, and e are arranged in the following order, that is to say :-
The valve a is placed between the coils B and C, and the valve b between the
boiler and the equalizer coil, the valve c between the coil J and the equalizer casing;
the valve & between the absorber and the congealers; the valve e between the
absorber and the engine.
The cocks f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, are arranged as follows:-The cock f is placed
between the boiler and the coil B; the cock g between the coil C and the receiver D ;
the cock h between the receiver D and the congealer F; the cock i between the
receiver D and the engine E; the cock j between the boiler and the equalizer casing;
the cock between the pump and the equalizer coil; the cock 7 between the pump
and the coil K; the cock m between the cooler J and the absorber H.
In Figure 3 I have shewn a section of the absorber drawn to an enlarged
scale; o is a float in the absorber H for regulating the flow of water; p is an
equilibrium valve operated and controlled by the said float, and which regulates
the height of the liquid in the said absorber; q is a nozzle projecting through the
said valve for discharging a jet of weak or impoverished liquid into the said
absorber.
The said apparatus is adapted to the construction of skating rinks of ice or the
conversion of existing rinks of asphalt, concrete, or the like, into ice rinks in the
following manner, that is to say :-Series of serpentine coils are laid upon the floor
of the rink and are covered with water, preferably to the depth of one inch. The
refrigerant from the liquefactor is caused to circulate around the said coil, thereby
converting the water into a solid mass of icc.
Having thus fully described tho said Invention and the manner of performing the
same; I wish it understood that I claim,--
First. In the manufacture of ice or other cooling or refrigerating operation or

page_text: process, the employment of liquid ammonia in the manner specified as the medium
for developing motive power in an engine forming part of the apparatus employed.
in the said manufacture, process, or operation, as above set forth.
Second. In an apparatus for manufacturing ice or for similar purposes, the
arrangement of the coils and parts connected therewith illustrated in Figure 2 of
the Drawing, and as above set forth for the purposes specified.
Third. In and forming part of an apparatus for manufacturing ice or for similar
purposes, the sprinkler or showering apparatus, constructed and operating as above
set forth and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. The apparatus for manufacturing ice consisting of the parts shewn in
Figure 1 of the Drawing, constructed and combined, and connected with each other
and operating in the manner specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
T. M. NISHIGAWA. (L.S).