An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Automatically Regulating Temperatures in Ships, Buildings, Rooms, and other Interiors or Places.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Apr., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 17th June, 1891-Accepted, 8th Aug.. 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Automatically Regulating
Temperatures in Ships, Buildings, Rooms, and other Interiors or
Places.
I, ALEXANDER SHIELS, of 190 Bath Street, Glasgow, M.B., C.M., B.Sc., do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for automatically
regulating the temperature in interiors or places and is especially applicable for
regulating the temperature of ships' refrigerating chambers.
The invention consists in applying to one or a number of parts of the interior,
tubes, pipes or equivalent in which is contained by preference spirits or other liquid
or a fluid or fluids or a gas or gases. I prefer to use a spirit as it is very sensitive
contracting or expanding under the slightest change of temperature.
The pipe or pipes, as the case may be, are or may be conducted. to a syphon or
equivalent arrangement preferably in the form of a bent tube although it may be
of any other suitable form or shape. The syphon contains or may contain mercury
or other fluid or water or other liquid or a gas or gases or a combination of any or
all of these. I prefer to use mercury, however. Fitted.in or in connection with
the syphon is a piston, or float, or equivalent which is suitably connected by levers,
rods, gearing or otherwise to a valve or other suitable device or to mechanism for
either regulating the inlet to the chamber or interior of the heat or cold producing
agency, or for regulating in cases, such as ships' refrigerators, the steam or other
fluid supply for driving the refrigerating engine or mechanism. The piston may be
made to operate in any suitable manner a device for supplying or controlling the
supply of electricity to a dynamo or other suitable power generating device or
mechanism, which power generator may be the agency for producing or regulating
the temperature in the interior.
The pipes or syphon apparatus may have fitted to or in conjunction with them
or it suitable supply and controlling valves or chambers for the liquid, fluid or
gas in said pipes or the syphon.
With my improved method when the temperature in any part of the interior
changes, the expansion or contraction of the fluid, liquid or gas in the pipe or pipes
affects the mercury or equivalent in the syphon and so raises or lowers or otherwise
actuates the piston or float and by its means controls the agency for heating or
cooling the interior.
'
The interior may be maintained at any desired temperature by regulating the
supply of sensitive gas, fluid or liquid to the pipes and by making the apparatus to
conform therewith.
More than one syphon arrangement may be used and if desired the tubes leading
to the syphon or syphons may be dispensed with the sensitive agency being continued
in a separate vessel or in a part of the syphon apparatus.
The apparatus may be modified in its details of construction to suit its application
to different structures.
I prefer to make the float or piston in two parts with the mercury between so as
to serve as a packing.
The sensitive agency may be made to act directly on a piston or float or its
equivalent.
With this invention the temperature of interiors. is regulated automatically,
and, in the case of refrigerating chambers for meat, the at present great loss

page_text: from inefficient regulation, is thus avoided as the chamber is kept at a constant
temperature.
Dated this 7th day of Anvil 1001
:
1: +
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Automatically Regulating
- Temperatures in Ships, Buildings, Rooms, and other Interiors or
Places.
I, ALEXANDER SHIELS, of 190 Bath Street, Glasgow, M.B., C.M., B.Sc., do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—.
This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for automatically
regulating the temperature in interiors or places and is especially applicable for
regulating the temperature of ships', and railway cars', refrigerating chambers.
The invention consists in applying to one or a number of parts of the refrigerating
chamber or other interior, tubes, pipes, or equivalent in which is contained by
preference spirits or other liquid or a gaseous or other fluid.
spirit as it is very sensitive contracting or expanding under the slightest change of
I prefer to use a
temperature.
I
The pipe or pipes, as the case may be, are or may be conducted to a syphon or
equivalent arrangement preferably in the form of a bent tube although it may be of
any other suitable form or shape. The syphon contains or may contain mercury,
water or other liquid, or a gas or gases or a combination of any or all of these.
prefer to use mercury however. Fitted in or in connection with the syphon is a
piston or float, or equivalent, which is suitably connected by levers, rods, gearing
or otherwise to a valve or other suitable device or to mechanism for either regulating
the inlet to the chamber or interior of the heat or cold producing agency, or for
regulating in cases, such as ships and like refrigerators, the steam or other fluid
supply for driving the refrigerating engine or mechanism. The piston may be
made to operate in any suitable manner a device for supplying or controlling the
supply of electricity to a dynamo or other suitable power generating device or
mechanism, which power generator may be the agency for producing or regulating
the temperature in the interior.
The pipes, or syphon apparatus may have fitted to or in conjunction with them
or it suitable supply and controlling valves or chambers for the liquid, fluid or gas
in said pipes or in the syphon.
A second.syphon arrangement is or may be used as a governor to the main syphon
apparatus.
With my improved method when the temperature in any part of the interior
changes, the expansion or contraction of the fluid in the pipe or pipes affects the
mercury or equivalent in the syphon and so raises or lowers or otherwise actuates
the piston or float and by its means controls the agency for heating or cooling the
interior.
The interior may be maintained at any desired temperature by regulating the
supply of sensitive fluid, to the pipes and by making the apparatus to conform
therewith.
More than one syphon arrangement may be used, and, if desired, the tubes
leading to the syphon or syphons may be dispensed with, the sensitive agency
being contained in a separate vessel or in a part of the syphon apparatus.
The apparatus may be modified in its details of construction to suit its application
to different structures.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I have
,

page_text: hereunto appended two explanatory sheets of drawings showing by way of example
a convenient way of carrying my invention into effect or practice.
On the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a front view, partly in section, of the apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of part of the apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the interior of a refrigerating chamber.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view and Fig. 5 is a part-sectional view of a chamber
showing connections for controlling the steam or other pressure fluid to the
engines.
As shown on the drawings the apparatus consists of a syphon tube a fitted by
straps C to the back al of a box or casing which latter is or may be secured in
any convenient and suitable part of the refrigerating chamber or other interior.
The syphon a which is partially filled with mercury or other suitable liquid or semi-
liquid c has working in it a piston d made by two discs d' d having suitable packing
rings around them so that they may work tight in said syphon. The space between
the discs d¹² is, preferably, partially filled with mercury which also serves as a
packing. The piston rod e extends vertically upwards and has fitted to or made
in one with it a triangle el having downwardly projecting guides ees. Supported
by the bracket f on the shelff carrying the syphon a are links y carrying rollers g'g².
The rollers are also suspended from links pinned to vertically moving bars h, ',
(Fig. 2). The arrangement of links g, g³ forms a double toggle-joint. There is a
double-toggle-joint and rod h at each side of the piston rod e as shown at Fig. 2.
In Fig. 1 the front rod is removed so as to show the toggle more clearly. The
upper ends of the rods h, h, have spiral springs i around them. The springs are
kept in position by collars on the rods and a bracket j attached to the back of
the box or other part. The rollers ', y have freedom to run on the inclined
sides of the triangle el.
The long leg of the syphon a has coupled to it a pipe or tube k leading to a
three way valve of any ordinary construction. As the valve is turned in tlie
manner hereinafter explained, it communicates, by its ways, with, respectively, the
tube m leading from the sensitive fluid or gas cistern n (I preferably use alcohol as
the sensitive agency) and the pipe & leading to the syphon a, or with the tube m
and the pipe leading to the interior of the refrigerating or other chamber in which
the temperature is to be regulated.
The ways of the valve are so arranged, as shown, that when two of the ways 1. 2.
are opening a passage between the pipes, & ¹, which is the normal position, the
way 3 from the tube m is closed. The cistern n, which may be of any convenient
shape, is but partially filled with sensitive fluid so as to allow room for expansion.
nis a filler with cock. o is a tube communicating with the pipe k' and the cistern n
it has a stop cock o' on it for cutting off or regulating the supply of sensitive fluid
to the pipe kl. In some cases when the action is not required to be very sensitive
and certain and where the changes of temperature are not excessive the pipe k may
be made in one piece with the pipe & and the three way valve be dispensed with
the fluid in the pipe will in this case run directly into the syphon a. The pipe k¹
communicates with the tubes p (Fig. 3) of which there may be any number, running
preferably, zig-zag wise round the inside of the refrigerating chamber or other
interior. The pipe communicates with a cast metal box 7 into which the pipes p
are screwed. The pipes are or may be arranged at a diagonal to the walls, being
grouped and held together by a wood or other casing. The junction between the
diagonal pipes of the one wall with those of the next is preferably made as shown,
viz. of two cast boxes or headers and short bent junction pipes p'. The pipes p
contain sensitive fluid and are closed at their terminal ends. In this view (Fig. 3)
the box is shown in section with the regulating apparatus therein. The top ends.
of the rods h, h', are shown connected together by a bridges (shown also at Figs. 1
and 2) to which is pinned one end of a lever s working vertically on a fulcrum s.
The lever passes through an opening in the chamber A. The opposite end of
the lever s' is pinned to a connecting rod t which is pinned to and works the arm t¹

page_text: of the valve u. The valve controls and regulates the supply of cooling or other
liquid or air or gas to the chamber A. When fluid is the cooling or heating medium
the valve is, preferably, a three way one, the way u leading the fluid back to the
pumping engine when the valve is turned so as to cut off the supply to the pipes u²,
which may run along the ceiling as in the "Chicago" process for refrigerating or
they may run round about the chamber. The pipes 2 are alone used for the heating
or. cooling fluid.
It
In cases such as ships' refrigerating chambers for which this invention is princi-
pally designed where the temperature, at times, may rise, comparatively speaking,
very high during the periods when the chamber is not used and when the vessel
may be crossing the equator it is necessary to have a controlling arrangement for
allowing the sensitive fluid the full limit of expansion without danger of bursting
the syphon or the tubes. A form of controlling device is shown at Fig. 1 it consists
of a second syphon B fitted to the casing by a small shelf F and straps C. The
small angle-iron D serves to support both the syphons a, B. The syphon B has a
piston and piston rode but there is no triangle e fitted to said piston rod.
merely has a cross bar E fitted on it. G is a guide bracket for the piston rod. On
the cross bar E are two small insulated circuit-closers H, H', which, when the piston
rises, successively, come into contact with the terminals I, l' and J, J¹. The terminals
are connected by wires to a battery of "Leclanche cells or other electricity
generating apparatus. The shape of the circuit-closers H, H' and terminals I, I, J, J',
are shown at Fig. 4, where it will be seen that the circuit-closers are each angled
at the back whilst the terminal pieces are correspondingly angled at the front.
The terminals which have a little movement in and out of the recess K, cut in the
box or casing b, are each kept normally forced out by a spring K. K², is the connection
for the wire, say M', from the magnet P. To prevent the terminal pieces being
forced out too far by the springs they are or may be each made with a groove Lin
which fits a stop pin L2 so that their movement is limited. L³ is a non-conducting
casing enclosing said spring terminals.
The wires M M, N, N' (Fig. 1) from said terminals are connected to electro-
magnets O, P, secured to an insulated plate Z. Q is an armature on a tee lever R
pivotted at Q. One end of the "T" lever is linked by the rod R' to the arm R
of the valve. The valve has also a second arm R³ working in the slotted end of
a sliding bolt T. The bolt T has grooves T' T2 in it which are alternately caught,
as hereinafter explained, by the slides U, U. The slide U is connected to the
piston rode whilst the slide or rod U₁ is connected by a short arm w to the bar E.
V is a weight for counterbalancing the weight of the rods R, R. W is a tube
with cock W¹ on it for supplying fluid to the pipe a which runs round the chamber
alongside or above the pipes p.
Fig. 5 shows the rods has driving a crank on a shaft 2 passing through the
wall of the chamber. The shaft is carried in bearings and has a second crank 3 on
it which operates the rod t connected to the fluid or steam valve y' as the case
may be.
With this apparatus when fitted to refrigerating chambers, the action is as
follows:-
-
In cases where there is a great range of temperature; such as is caused by
the refrigerating chamber not always being used and consequently the refrigerating
engine not always working, it is always advisable to have an auxiliary governing
syphon as shown at Fig. 1. As the auxiliary syphon has but a single tube connected
to it and as the variations of temperature to which the apparatus will be subjected
are known with a fair amount of certainty beforehand, the syphon and piston rod
with the relative parts may be so proportioned that the maximum rise of temperature
with the consequent expansion of the sensitive agent will not drive the piston out of
the short leg of the syphon. When the temperature rises, as the syphon a is con-
nected to a number of tubes p, and as therefore there is a big body of sensitive fluid
with a consequent large degree of expansion as compared with the syphon B and its
tube, the said syphou a will feel the expansive influence first, the.mercury e, will be

page_text: compressed and consequently the piston d with rod e will be forced upwards. The
forcing up of the piston rod d forces up the triangle el on it and therefore pushes
out the rollers g' expanding the toggles and pulling down the rods against
"the action of the springs i. The springs are not very powerful merely being sufficient
to draw in the toggles and rollers when the piston and triangle falls. The pulling
down of the rods h, h', actuates the lever s¹ (Fig. 3) or shaft 2 (Fig. 5) and turns
on a further supply of freezing fluid or air or gas as the case may be to the tubes
in the refrigerating chamber. Should the temperature still continue to rise the
triangle will rise until the rollers mount the inclined sides and run on the guides e², e³
the supply cock u will then be full open so that the maximum supply of freezing
fluid will be circulated through the chambers. Should the temperature still rise
it is evident that unless some other arrangement is made the pipes will burst or
the apparatus will break. To overcome this the auxiliary syphon is used. As the
temperature gradually rose and as the piston in the syphon a rose with it so did the
piston d in the syphon B rise to a relative degree proportioned to the amount of
expansive fluid in the pipe. As the piston rose the bar E rose and the circuit-
closer H thereon first came into contact with the terminals I, I bridging them, and
causing the electric current to excite the magnet O and lock the armature Q in the
position shown. The slide-rod U was also, at this time, in the groove T' of the
bolt T so that the valve was securely locked in the position shown which is
the normal position. As the bar E rises the circuit-closer H' overrides the
terminals I, and the circuit-closer H comes nearly into contact with the termi-
nals J, J (this position represents the maximum temperature for the syphon a,
any rise above which will damage or break it). The slide U is just now passing
out of the bolt T. When the circuit-closer H' closes in contact with terminals J, J,
the slide U has cleared cut of the bolt, the electric-current passes along the
wires M M and excites the electro-magnet P, thus attracting over the armature Q
(which is insulated from the "T" rod R) as the magnet O is dead, and turning the
valve so that it opens communication between the pipe and the reservoir », the
excess of pressure in the pipes, and pipe ' can now pass into the reservoir and
compress the air therein instead of passing to the syphon a. Just after the valve l
is turned should the temperature continue to rise the slide rod U passes into the
groove T in the bolt T which has now been shot back and locks it and the valve l.
The temperature can now rise to the maximum without injury to the apparatus.
The long slide-rod U¹ will still keep the bolt T always locked. When the
temperature falls the action is reversed.
The terminals II, and J, J' are arranged relatively with the circuit-closers H. H',
so as to allow a margin of about 6 to 8 degrees of rise of temperature before the
valve is operated.
By increasing or decreasing the fluid supply to the pipes p the expansion and
contraction can be increased or diminished, as the case may be, and the proportions
of the several parts of the apparatus be arranged to accord with the fluid supply so as
to maintain a certain range of temperature.
The sensitive agency may be made to act directly on a piston or float or its
equivalent.
With this invention the temperature of interiors is regulated automatically, and
in the case of refrigerating chambers for meat, the, at present, great loss from
inefficient regulation, is thus avoided as the chamber is kept at a constant
temperature.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of regulating the temperature of an interior by means of a
syphonal or equivalent apparatus which is automatically governed or controlled by
one or more auxiliary syphonal or equivalent apparatuses, substantially as herein-
before set forth.

page_text: عية
'
An apparatus for regulating the temperature of an interior, consisting of a
main syphon or its equivalent communicating with one or more pipes or tubes or
equivalent, containing a sensitive fluid, which pass into or around the interior said
syphon, containing a liquid or semi-liquid and having in it a float or piston which
actuates a valve or valves for controlling the heating or cooling agency or the
engines or mechanism for producing such agency and of an auxiliary syphon or its
equivalent for governing the action of the main syphon substantially as hereinbefore
set forth.
The combination with the syphon a containing mercury or other liquid of the
piston d working therein, rode attached to said piston, triangle e fitted to said rod
and the toggles, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
4. The combination with the main syphon a of the auxiliary syphon, B, substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. The supply valve', with its appurtenances substantially as hereinbefore set
forth with reference to the annexed drawings.
6. The general arrangement and combination of parts of the apparatus substan-
tially as herein before described with reference to the drawings annexed.
Dated this 16th day of June 1891.
"H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.
"H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.