IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Watts of Newport in the Isle of Wight and
William Augustus Gorman of the firm of Siebe, Gorman and Co of Mason
Street Westminster Bridge Road in the County of Surrey, for an Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Watts and William
Augustus Gorman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
3rd August 1882.
THOMAS WATTS, of Newport in the Isle of Wight, and WILLIAM AUGUSTUS
GORMAN, of the firm of Siebe, Gorman and Co. of Mason Street, Westminster Bridge
Road, in the County of Surrey, IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING
ICE
"
"
In order to obtain clear ice it is usual to agitate the water continuously during
the process of congelation. Our invention has reference to means or apparatus for
producing this agitation in an efficient manner and continuing it until the mould or
vessel in which the water is contained is nearly filled with ice.
We form an agitator with pivotted, hinged or loosely attached parts or flaps so
arranged that the agitation of the water shall be greater when the agitator is
moved in one direction than the other. For instance the parts or flaps may expand
or open out as the agitator is descending and may contract or close together when
it is rising, or the arrangement may be reversed and the parts contract or close
together when the agitator is descending and expand or open out when it is
rising. There may be any convenient number of loose parts on an agitator, but
one is in many cases sufficient.
As the water in the mould freezes first near the walls and the congelation
extends gradually towards the centre, the water space in which the agitator moves
becomes steadily contracted. In order that the motion of the agitator may be
continued as long as possible we construct it in such form that it will up to a
certain point, automatically adjust itself to the space available for its motion.
this end we make the extremities of the agitator capable of moving in relation to
the other parts when they meet with an obstacle. This may be effected in various
CD 237
To

page_text: ways as by jointing them or pivotting them to the central part of the agitator, or
by making them to slide or telescope into the said portion. The downward motion
of the agitator is caused by gravity or by a spring, while it receives a positive
upward motion By this means it is raised to the top of the mould at each stroke
of the apparatus and descends until it attains the end of its stroke or meets the
ice formed on the bottom of the mould.
In one form of apparatus according to our invention there is arranged length-
wise over the moulds a beam or crosshead to which a regular up and down
reciprocating motion is imparted by a crank, oscillating lever and connecting
rod at each end. In each of the moulds there is an agitator, such as above
described, provided with a shaft, rod or handle connected to the above-mentioned
beam or cross head in such way that during its downward motion the agitator is free
to descend or to remain stationary according to the amount of ice in the mould or to
other circumstances but when the beam or cross head rises it carries all the agitators
to their highest or starting point.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Thomas Watts and William Augustus Gorman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd February 1883.
THOMAS WATTS of Newport in the Isle of Wight and WILLIAM AUGUSTUS
GORMAN of the firm of Siebe, Gorman and Co of Mason Street, Westminster Bridge
Road in the County of Surrey IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE
In order to obtain clear ice it is usual to agitate the water continuously during
the process of congelation. Our invention has reference to means or apparatus for
producing this agitation in an efficient manner and continuing it until the mould
or vessel in which the water is contained is nearly filled with ice.
We form an agitator with pivotted, hinged, or loosely attached parts or flaps so
arranged that the agitation of the water shall be greater when the agitator is
moved in one direction than the other. For instance the parts or flaps may expand
or open out as the agitator is descending and may contract or close together when
it is rising, or the arrangement may be reversed and the parts contract or close
together when the agitator is descending and expand or open out when it is rising.
There may be any convenient number of loose parts on an agitator but one is in
many cases sufficient.
4
To
As the water in the mould freezes first near the walls and the congelation
extends gradually towards the centre, the water space in which the agitator moves
becomes steadily contracted. In order that the motion of the agitator may be
continued as long as possible, we construct it in such form that it will up to a
certain point automatically adjust itself to the space available for its motion.
this end we make the extremity or extremities of the agitator capable of moving in
relation to the other parts when they meet with an obstacle. This may be effected
in various ways as by jointing them or pivotting them to the central part of the
agitator or by making them to slide or telescope into the said position. The
downward motion of the agitator is caused by gravity or by a spring while it
receives a positive upward motion. By this means it is raised to the top of the
mould at each stroke of the apparatus and descends until it attains the end of its
stroke or meets the ice formed on the bottom of the mould. Fig 1 of the drawings
shews in side elevation apparatus according to our invention. Fig 2 is an end
elevation of the same. Figs 3 and 4 are side and end elevations of one arrangement
of agitator with hinged flap; Fig 5 is a side elevation of an agitator with telescopic
or longitudinal expanding arrangement.
In the apparatus Figs 1, and 2, there is arranged lengthwise over the moulds a
beam or crosshead a to which a regular up and down reciprocating motion is
imparted by a crank b`an oscillating lever c and connecting rods d and, e at each
end, In each of the moulds (which. are not shewn in the drawings, their
arrangement being obvious) there is an agitator such as above described. In the
form of agitator illustrated in Figs and 4, f is a rod of suitable material such as
iron which is attached to the beam a by means of a chain p fastened to the
agitating cross part h which may be made of any suitable material such as zinc ;-
attached to h at the point by means of hinges or pivots is the flap plate . Now
when the agitator descends and ascends through the water the flap i opens and
shuts causing the water to be considerably agitated. Or instead of the just
described arrangement that illustrated in Fig 5 may be used. In this case the
agitator is composed of three leaves or flaps the central one being fixed to the rod f.
The outside leaves or flaps are secured to the central or fixed one by means of the
links l, m, n, and o. The links and n secure one outside flap and m and o the

page_text: other each pair of links being inclined in opposite directions as shewn. When
the agitator is at rest and pressing upon the bottom of the vessel or mould the
links occupy the position l, m, n, and o and the three flaps are represented by the
projections in full lines on the drawing.
When the rod f is raised the weight of the flaps causes them to fall into positions
which are adjusted by the length of the mould which contains them, or by the ice
formed around its ends, but which tend to assume positions such that the links 7,
m, n, and o are vertical as represented by the dotted projections l', m', n¹, and o'.
Thus when the mould gradually fills with ice and so contracts the water space, the
agitator is shortened. The vertical lines p in Fig 1 represent the centres of the
chains and of the rods f.
Having described the nature of our said invention and the manner of performing
it we would have it understood that what we claim as secured to us under the
Letters Patent first hereinabove in part recited is :-
1. In apparatus for making ice the use of agitators with pivotted, hinged or
loosely attached parts or flaps so arranged as to agitate the water more when
moving in one direction, than when moving in the contrary direction, substantially
as hereinabove described and illustrated.
2. In apparatus for making ice, the use of agitators arranged to automatically
adjust themselves to the space available for their motion as that space becomes
contracted during the process of congelation substantially as hereinabove described
and illustrated.
In Witness whereof I the said William Augustus Gorman have hereunto Set
my hand and Seal. this Second day of February in the year of Our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.