IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Doctor of Laws, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS."-A com-
'munication from abroad by John Jones Bate, of Brooklyn, New
York, United States of America, Merchant.
Sealed the 21st August 1874, and dated the 6th July 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 6th July 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office, Southampton Buildings,
London, Doctor of Laws, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REFRIGERATING APPARATUS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been

page_text: communicated to me from abroad br John Jones Bate of Brooklyn, New
York, United States of America, Merchant.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
scal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification:-
It is well known that articles of food, whether animal or vegetable,
may be preserved in a fresh and wholesome condition during considerable
periods of time provided that they are kept at a sufficiently low
temperature, as for instance, one approaching the freezing point of
water, it has also been found that the requisite conditions for thus
preserving such substances may to a certain but hitherto imperfect
extent be secured by passing the atmospheric air contained in a chamber,
room, or carriage in contact with ice, which cools the air and measurably
dries the same by condensing its moisture. But the methods heretofore
devised for applying this principle have been extremely defective
inasmuch as they have provided no adequate means of insuring the
circulation of the cooled and dried air throughout the chamber, room, or
carriage to insure a uniform reduction of temperature throughout the
entire interior thereof and a consequent uniform temperature of the
contents of the same. My Invention is designed to obviate this
drawback to the practical utility of the principle herein-before specified
by providing efficient means for distributing and diffusing the air cooled
and dried by contact with the ice, or in lieu of ice with water at a
sufficiently low temperature throughout the whole interior of the
chamber, room, or carriage, as the case may be.
The said Invention is applicable to either railway refrigerating.
carriages so called, or to chambers, rooms, or storehouses nearly or
quite hermetically closed and intended for the storage of articles of food
requiring a low temperature for their preservation, or to smaller rooms
serving a like purpose but more nearly approaching in character what
are commonly termed refrigerators, but when the said Invention is to
be used in refrigerating carriages ice as the refrigerant should be used.
The said Invention is also applicable under. conditions requiring only
a comparatively moderate reduction of temperature, as for example in

page_text: dwelling houses and the like, to secure comfort to the occupants, or for
sanitary purposes in hospitals and other buildings.
In the practice of the said Invention I provide at one ond of the
chamber, room, or carriage or at any other suitable place therein a tank
containing ice in blocks or fragments having interstices between them,
or in lieu of the ice I use a flow of cool water or other equivalent means
of imparting a low temperature to air forced through the said tank
which for convenience of description I designate a "cooling tank." A
pipe perforated with numerous holes or provided with number of
larger openings extends from the top of the said cooling tank along the
upper portion of the chamber or other receptacle of the substances to be
preserved. At or near the bottom of the cooling tank I provide a fan
blower or other blast producing mechanism working in a casing which
allows communication between the cooling tank and a pipe laid along
the floor of the chamber or receptacle and provided with outlet openings
each of which has adjacent to or coincident with it means for directing
ncurrent of air outward from the said pipe when the apparatus is in
operation. The fan blower being put in motion in the requisite direction
the atmospheric air contained in the chamber is drawn into the upper
pipe through the holes or openings therein,) passes to the ice or other
refrigerant through and in contact therewith to the casing of the fan
blower, and thence to the lower pipe, through the outlet holes of which
it is forcibly ejected and returned to the main space or interior of the
chamber, and is thus diffused in its cooled and dried condition throughout
the same; the column of air is by these means passed repeatedly
through and in contact with the ice, cold water, or equivalent refrigerant,
and as often distributed anew throughout the internal space of the
chamber. The outlet holes or openings of the lower pipe are furnished
with slides or valves so that the speed with which the air is passed
through the cooling tank or in other words caused to circulate through
the chamber may be regulated at will. When desired the upper or
inlet pipe may be curved to enter the bottom of the cooling tank and
the lower or outlet pipe to enter the top thereof, the fan blower being
arranged to force the air blast or current upward through the cooling
tank instead of drawing it down therethrough.
Valves are fitted to the inlet and outlet pipes of the cooling tank
in such manner that when the fan blower-is not in operation com-
munication of the air in the chamber may be wholly shut off from.the

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus
made according to my Invention, and showing the use of ice as a
refrigerant; Figure 2 is a like view showing a modification of the same;
Figure 3 is a like view representing the apparatus as constructed for the
use of water as a refrigerant; and Figures 4, 5, and 6 are horizontal
sectional views showing various modifications in the construction of the
outlet pipe of the cooling tank.
As represented in Figure 1 A is the chamber, room, or carriage
holding the substance to be preserved; and B is the ice tank arranged
at one end thereof, the ice being preferably supported upon a grating a¹;
C is the inlet pipe of the ice tank connecting with the tank at the top
thereof, extending along the upper part of the chamber A and perforated
or provided with numerous holes or openings a; D is the outlet pipe of
the ice tank communicating with the bottom thereof through the
casing 6 of the fan blower E and extending along the floor of the
chamber A; this pipe D has outlet openings or orifices 61 adjacent to
which are deflecting plates c so arranged that as the air blast passes
through the pipe D in the direction of the arrow x as herein-after more
fully set forth, the said deflectors c will direct the air in continuous jets
or thin currents outward into the internal space of the chamber A,
thereby diffusing the air from the said pipe D throughout the interior
of said chamber. The fan blower being caused by clockwork or other
means to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow x¹, the air from
the interior of the chamber A is drawn into the pipe C, thence through
the ice tank, and thence passing through the casing of the fan blower to
the pipe D, makes its exit therefrom, as herein-before set forth, back to
the interior of the chamber A, whence it again. passes to the pipe C to
be again passed to the ice tank and so on in succession being alternately
cooled by its passage through the ice tank and uniformly diffused
through the interior of the chamber A by its dispersion from the outlet
of the pipe D.

page_text: which has the outlet pipe D communicating with its upper part. The
rotation of the fan blower therefore in the direction of the arrow forces
the air upward through the ice tank and thence to the outlet pipe D
which distributes it in the same manner as when the parts are arranged
as in Figure 1.
It will be seen that the direction in which the air passes through the
ice tank is of practically little account. The pipes C, D, as shewn
in Figure 1, might even exchange positions, and the air be drawn
upward through the ice tank instead of down without materially
affecting the operation of the apparatus. Each of the pipes C, D,
is furnished with a valve f whereby when the fan blower is not in
motion the said pipes may if desired be shut off from the ice tank,
thereby keeping the latter from communication with the interior of the
chamber A.
The outlet pipe D has slides m provided in such relation to the
outlet openings therein that the available size of the said openings may
be varied at will, according to the quantity of air per minute desired
to pass through, or in other words according to the rapidity of the
circulation required in any given case.
When preferred the plates c may be replaced by internal, conical, or
pyramidal annular deflectors, as shown at e, in Figure 5, or with
obliquely projecting tubular outlets, as shewn at i, in Figure 6, but
when the latter are employed the slides m are not used.
As represented in Figure 3 the cooling tank is constructed for the use
of water instead of ice as the refrigerant or refrigerating material. As
thus provided it comprises a casing or shell a* furnished internally with
shelves 6 slightly inclined in opposite directions and each with an
opening c* at its lower or depressed end, the opening c* of the several
shelves alternating at opposite sides of the box. That portion of each
shelf adjacent to the opening c* thereof is perforated with numerous
small holes; D* is a water inlet pipe leading from any suitable reservoir
of cold water to and into the upper part of the cooling tank, and
furnished with a stop-cock d for shutting off the water supply when
desired. At the inner end of this pipe is a transverse tubular perforated
; nozzle e* which distributes the water upon the uppermost shelf so that
it flows in an even sheet thereon and thence through the perforations
therein to the shelf below the water, thus passing from one shelf to another

page_text: alternately in opposite directions until it finally passes out through the
outlet f* which is bent to provide a liquid seal at a¹¹ to prevent the
entrance of external air to the cooling tank through the said outlet.
The air inlet pipe C connects to the top of the cooling tank and the air
outlet pipe D connects to the bottom of the said tank to bring the
air from the aforesaid tank in substantially the same manner as in
Figure 1, the air being cooled however by being forced into contact
with the cool water passing from shelf to shelf of the cooling tank as
herein-before set forth. By the use of the cooling tank as thus con-
structed (as in the use of ice therein as previously herein set forth) not
only is the air reduced in temperature, but as the relative quantity of
vapor absorbed by air is in proportion to its warmth the aforesaid
reduction of temperature practically dries the air and renders it more
conducive to the preservation of food or like perishable articles placed in
the chamber. Moreover as the air is brought repeatedly in contact
with fresh water which has the property of absorbing gases and odors
the gaseous emanations and odors from the articles stored or from any
other source are removed from the air and the sweetness and preservative
qualities of the same are promoted aside from its refrigeration; further-
more dust and other matter mechanically suspended in the air at the
outset of the operation of the apparatus are quickly washed therefrom.
It is designed that the apparatus should be for the most part used in
a chamber hermetically closed and such will always be preferable when
it is desired to reduce the temperature to the degree requisite for the
preservation of fruit, vegetables, meat, and similar substances, but in
the cooling of dwellings, warehouses, hospitals, and the like provision
may be made for the admission (within narrow limits) of external air
to the immediate neighborhood of the pipe E and for the outlet to
the exterior of the chamber of a portion of that discharged from the
pipe F.
When preferred the direction of the air blast or current through the
cooling tank may be reversed without changing the principle of operation
or materially modifying the results obtained.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The combination within a carriage, chamber, or house of a
-cooling tank constructed for the passage of an artificial air blast or

page_text: current, the outlet pipe formed with outlet openings and provided with
deflecting distributing devices and mechanical means for inducing the
air blast or current, as herein set forth and for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination within a carriage, chamber, or house of
a cooling tank used with ice or water, as the case may be, with
mechanical means for inducing an air blast or current through the said
tank and an outlet pipe provided with slides for varying the available
size of the outlet openings, as herein set forth and for the purpose
specified.
Third. The combination within a carriage, chamber, or house, of the
slotted inlet pipe to the cooling tank with mechanical means for
inducing the air blast or current through the said tank and the outlet
pipe, distributing the cooled or refrigerated air to the carriage, chamber,
or house, as the case may be, as herein set forth and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto
set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
0 Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.S.)