Improvements in Ice Skating Rinks.
Year: 1892

page_text: The decision of the Comptroller-General, of the 12th day of August 1893, allowed,
under Section 18 of the Patents, &c. Act, 1883, an Amendment of this
Specification.
Date of Application, 1st July, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 29th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 3rd Dec., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ice Skating Rinks.
I, EDOUARD DE STOPPANI, of 111 Rue du Ranelagh, Paris, France, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
My invention relates to the construction of ice rinks and the method of
congealing and arrangements of apparatus for that purpose, the chief objects
which I have in view being to avoid the unequal strains and consequent fracture of
the congealing pipes and tank due to changes of temperature, and to secure
uniformity of congelation and evenness and hardness of the ice surface.
I divide the tubes which carry the congealing liquid into sets, each set consisting
of a number of parallel tubes connected to each other by semi-circular bends,
clear from the walls of the tank so that the tubes are free to expand and
contract.
I from time to time reverse the circulation of the congealing liquid through
these sets of tubes so as to give uniformity of cooling over the whole extent of
the tank. I also give a slow movement to the water that is to be congealed,
drawing it by a pump from the one end or side of the tank and delivering it by
pipes to a perforated tube at the other end or side.
In constructing the tank I place on the ground a layer of beton and on and
around this form a strong floor and a border framing a little higher than the
intended surface of the ice, the floor and framing consisting of or being lined with
materials which are bad conductors of heat, such as wood, cork, bricks or the
like. I cover the floor and framing with sheets of lead soldered together at their
edges by the blow pipe. Instead of lead, sheets of impervious texture may be
employed.
According to a modified construction 1 make the tank with a double floor of
metal plates, the congealing liquid circulating in the space between the two floors,
which are connected at intervals by pieces secured by rivets passing through them
and through angle iron supporting ribs arranged under the lower floor.
Dated this 1st day of July 1892.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
Improvements in Ice Skating Rinks.
I, EDOUARD DE STOPPANI, of 111 Rue du Ranelagh, Paris, France, Engineer,
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 :-
For freezing large sheets of water the usual method consists in arranging

page_text: horizontally in the water a system of flattened tubes in which circulates the cold
fluid intended to effect congelation. This system at first sight simply presents
the following chief difficulties:-
(1.) Unequal expansion and movement of the tubes which do not retain constant
length or level during the congelation.
(2.) Want of tightness, in the tank which under the severe strains due to
successive congelations ends by cracking so as no longer to hold water.
(3.) Unequal freezing and unevenness of surface of the ice on account of the
impossibility of having within the tubes the same temperature from end to end,
and on account of the free spaces between the tubes.
The system of freezing which I have invented and which I have illustrated on
the accompanying Sheets I and II of the drawings, entirely overcomes those
difficulties by its special arrangements, allowing also the use of ordinary round
tubes.
(1.) In order to allow free expansion and contraction of the tubes, whatever be
the temperature of the fluid circulating in the tubes submerged in the water,
instead of employing straight tubes fixed at their one end to a supply and at the
other end to a discharge chamber, I divide as shewn in the section Fig. I and plan
Fig. 1 of Sheet I the whole number of the tubes submerged in the water to be
frozen; into a number of distinct and independent groups each consisting of a
number of straight tubes bent at their ends in serpentine form.
The cooling Huid, whether gas or incongealable liquid which circulates within
the tubes distributed at the one end a', a², a³, a', of each group to return by the
opposite end 1, 2, 63, 64, both ends being connected to the chambers A and B of
supply and discharge respectively.
It will be seen that with this arrangement--to which however I make no claim-
cach group is absolutely free to expand or contract during congelation, however
low may be the temperature of the circulating freezing fluid, the movement having
freedom in a direction perpendicular to the supply and discharge chambers.
2. To ensure the tightness of the tank containing the water to be frozen I have
devised the following construction. Instead of employing hydraulic cement,
asphalt, bitumen or any other coating or lining usually employed for water tanks,
substances which resist a first congealation, but which never withstand the great
strains occasioned by successive congealations, I have devised the following
arrangement shewn in Figs. I and II Sheet I. Upon a layer of beton Z lying on
the soil, I construct a strong stage with side ledges a little higher than the level of
the water to be frozen, the whole made of any non-conducting materials, such as
wood, cork, bricks, or composite bricks &c. then cover this non-conducting
stage or floor as well as its ledges with sheets of lead L soldered together at their
edges by the blow pipe so as to form a watertight leaden tank. Farther, take
care as shewn in Fig. 1 Sheet I to give the tubes submerged in the water a length
sensibly less than the width of the tank, so as to ensure the freezing of the whole
sheet of water without freezing the margins. The ends a', a², a, a, b, b³, b³, b³ v₤
the entering and leaving pipes of the groups of tubes, instead of passing through
the lead lining, which might cause leaks, pass over the lowered ledges of the tank.
It will be seen that, as, on the one hand, the lead yields to all expansions, and as
on the other hand the freezing has no effect on the side, walls of the tank, I can
congeal indefinitely without fear of rupture of the tank.
In case of freezing very large sheets of water, in order to avoid the covering of
lead which would be too expensive, I substitute for it impervious textures such as
hose used for covering wagons; I sew the sheets to one another and stretch them
over the whole surface of the tank stage and its ledges, covering the seams with
impervious composition.
3. In order to obtain ice quite flat and transparent that is to say free from air
bubbles suspended in the water, have devised the following arrangements.
arrange side by side and symmetrically in pairs the pipes leading in the freezing
fluid to the groups of tubes, and also the pipes leading it out, these pipes, as above

page_text: described, terminating, the one set a¹, a², a³, at in the chamber A., and the other
set in the chamber B. At each end of the chambers A and B I arrange
stop-cocks C C and D' D' connected in pairs by the breeches pipes E E. The
pipe t leads the freezing fluid from any refrigerating machine, and the pipe t² leads
it back after it has circulated through the submerged tubes. By this arrangement
to which I make no claim I can reverse the currents, a condition essential for
obtaining uniformity of the frozen sheet.
By closing the cocks D' and C I can cause the fluid to flow to the tubes by the
pipes a, a, a, a returning by 1, 2, 3, 4, or by closing the cocks C* D* I can
make it flow by the pipes 3 and return by a¹ aaa. This arrangement
for reversal allows me therefore to obtain uniformity of temperature for freezing in
the tubes traversed by the refrigerating agen', and consequently to determine
uniformity of congealation. Reversibility could also be attained by employing for
causing circulation of incongealable liquid within the tubes, a pump capable
of reversal, so as to reverse the currents by simply reversing the rotation of the
pump.
In order to have the ice sheet quite flat, it is not only necessary to regulate the
temperature of the fluid circulating within the tubes, but also to regulate the
uniformity of temperature of the water in which the tubes are submerged. For
this purpose I have devised the freezing of running water, that is to say, instead of
submerging the tubes in a sheet of still water, I give to the water which surrounds
them by means of a pump P (Figs. 1 and 11 Sheet I) a regular circulation like
the flow of a river. The pump P draws the water from a drain at one side of
the tank to deliver it by pipes pl p² to the other side where it flows into the tank
by the perforated pipe m. From the pipe m the water flows over the tubes and
returns to the drain n whence it is again drawn and sent back to circulate again
until the congelation is completed.
This mode of operating ensures not only complete uniformity in the freezing of
the sheet, but also produces a very dense ice not easily scratched by skates, quite
free from air bubbles and absolutely transparent.
Thus as I have described, the mode of operating which I have devised ensures
a sheet of frozen water quite even, and transparent, by employing for freezing
ordinary cylindrical tubes submerged in the water to be frozen and conveying the
refrigerating medium.
By taking advantage of the principles of reversibility of the currents, and of
freezing running water, I have also devised a method of freezing dispensing with
the tubes and producing a sheet of ice absolutely even and transparent.
Instead of employing tubes, 1 use a large metallic reservoir, Sheet II Figs. I
and II, with double bottom, the two bottoms A and B being very near each other
so as to reduce as much as possible the volume of the circulating refrigerating
agent. On the upper bottom A. I circulate the water to be frozen, between the
two I circulate the refrigerating agent.
In order to give the two bottoms A and B the rigidity necessary to withstand
the pressure of the circulating liquid or gas, 1 rivet them together with pieces
interposed of the thickness desired between the two bottoms.
By taking care to provide the lower bottom with angle irons or Tirons for
stiffening secure sufficient strength to withstand the comparatively slight pressure
of the fregorific agent.
Fig. III on Sheet II shews one of the arrangements that may be adopted for
the double bottomed metallic tank.
The two bottoms A and B are rivetted to the frame C the thickness of which
determines the distance between the bottoms for the circulation of the refrigerating
medium.
The side wall of the tank is somewhat inclined in order to facilitate formation of
the ice and is rivetted to the angle iron E which is itself rivetted with the double
bottoms A and B to the frame Č.
Within the double bottom at intervals, struts a Figs. 1 II and III of Sheet II,

page_text: rivetted with the two bottoms consolidate them and maintain their distance apart
necessary for circulation of the liquid. Below the lower bottom B, angle irons t
reinforce the whole system. The struts a are arranged in quincunx order as shewn
in Fig. I so as to make the congealing liquid circulate in zigzag currents.
In this, as in the other method, I apply reversal of the currents and the con-
gelation of running water by means of a pump as I have already described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is
:-
1. Dividing the refrigerating tubes-bent-ut their ends-into several groups-com-
municating with chambers-and-cocks-for-reversal the tubes being of such length as
to-leave-free-space-round the margin of the tank substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
21. Making the tank of non-conducting materials the bottom covered by sheets
of lead soldered together or by impervious fabric, substantially as described.
3. The method of ensuring uniform-cooling by reversal of the currents of the
congealing medium.
4.2. The method of ensuring uniformity throughout the frozen sheet, and
obtaining dense transparent ice by circulating the water undergoing congelation.
3. The modified construction of tank with double bottom, substantially as
described with reference to Figs. I II and III Sheet II.
Dated this 29th dar of October 1892.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.