Improvements in or relating to Circulating or Agitating Apparatus for Ice Making Tanks and for other Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 20th Mar., 1889
'Complete Specification Accepted, 8th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Circulating or Agitating Apparatus
for Ice Making Tanks and for other Purposes.
I, MAUNSEL CASSWELL BANNISTER of 7, Bradford Terrace, Seacombe, in the
County of Chester Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Heretofore the necessary agitation of water for making clear block ice, has been by
means of various pumps, fans, blades, and such like articles, all of which have been
worked in the body of water that is being formed into ice, and surrounded more
or less, by a chamber or chambers of non-conducting material, thereby causing a
large amount of wastage in tank power, and loss of ice on the chambers and insulators,
when the block or blocks of ice are removed.
And further, the moving parts (causing the agitation) invariably freeze up, causing
them to break, and creating large expenses for repairs and maintenance.
My process is for the prevention of the above difficulties, and defects, and the
agents employed are wholly or in part only, in contact with the water being frozen,
the contact being on the top surface of the water, where the temperature is always
greatest. The apparatus is applicable in nearly all cases where a liquid is required to
be kept agitated in whole or in part without the receptacle containing it itself being
moved.
By means of suitable mechanical arrangements, I cause a blade or plunger to
reciprocate, oscillate or move, backwards or forwards, or up and down, above the
water to be frozen. This blade or plunger directly or indirectly by its reciprocation,
alternately draws in water or allows it to enter a chamber, and expels it again down-
wards into the water to be frozen. The result is, a sort of motion resembling boiling
is created in the water. The ice forms first at the bottom, and the impurities are
floated up to the top, and can be run off and fresh water allowed to take their place.
One mode of carrying out my invention is as follows:-Two long boxes or series of
boxes with their open sides facing each other are arranged at the top of the can; a
double reciprocating plunger in the shape of a long board with a narrower plank or
1 Daine S1

page_text: baulk on each side of it, forming the plunger proper. is reciprocated to and 'fro; the
plungers alternately vacating the boxes, draw water into them from holes in their
bottoms, and returning to the bottom expel the water out again at the same holes.
Instead of a reciprocating board and planks acting as plungers, a diaphragm piston
can be worked to and fro. Or in place of this, I fix on the vessel holding the water, a
plate or plates, or boxes of wood, or other suitable material against which, I cause
self-inflating ball or balls, diaphragms or other suitable self-inflators to be alternately
compressed and expanded, by means of the before-mentioned blades or plungers or
like appliances.
The balls, or boxes, or other pulsating apparatus, can be of leather, canvas, rubber,
even of wood or metal with corrugations or joints, but metal is objectionable as
tending to allow ice to form thereon.
or
The balls, or diaphragms or like appliances, have suitable neck or necks, and may
have in these necks fixed delivery and discharge valves. These hollow necks protrude
into the water, being frozen in a vessel, the consequenee being that every time the ball
etcetera is compressed and then expanded, a portion of the water, being frozen, is
drawn into it, and on being again compressed, is forced back again into the vessel
being frozen, causing a rapid current and boiling action throughout the whole body of
water, and consequent friction of the surfaces of the ice being frozen, on every part
of the vessel, producing thereby, a superior quality of ice to that now in general use,
and by the boiling action, throwing up the solid matter in the water being frozen, to
the upper surface, (instead of to the bottom as is the case with all other systems
known to me), which solids can be conveniently removed during freezing and re-
placed with fresh water, in this manner producing a perfect block of ice throughout
the entire can, superior to the water it is made from, as to purity and colour.
With this system of agitation, ice may be made perfectly transparent from thick
and discoloured water.
The system is applicable in nearly all cases where a liquid has to be agitated by
means of air.
Dated this 19th day of June 1000

page_text: UDIT DRIV DI
Improvements in or relating to Circulating or Agitating Apparatus
for Ice Making Tanks and for other Purposes.
I, MAUNSEL CASSWELL BANNISTER of 7 Bradford Terrace, Seacombe in the County
of Chester, 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 :-
This invention relates to circulating or agitating apparatus for use more especially
in ice making tanks, though it is also capable of other applications.
The object of the invention, as applied to ice making tanks, is the better and cheaper
production of clear transparent lock ice, which shall be entirely free from air,
carbonic acid, and all deleterious suspended matter that may be contained in the water
used for its manufacture, excepting, of course, certain chemical compositions, which it
is impossible to eliminate by mechanical means.
In ice making apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, the agitation
of the water is effected by one of the following methods :—
1st. By the repeated injection downward and ejection upward of the water from a
point or points a little below the surface.
2nd. By an injecting and ejecting apparatus travelling in the water and having its
orifice pointing downward, whereby the agitation is caused to take place at continually
varying points.
As my improved apparatus is only in contact with the top surface or stratum of the
water to be frozen, the constant circulation or agitation inay be continued until the
blocks unite in the centre, and are formed into a homogeneous mass of crystal ice.
One or two ways of carrying out my invention are illustrated by the accompanying
drawings, in which :-
=
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a form of the apparatus with a single
circulator.
Figure 2 is a plan of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an elevation of a double circulator with self-inflating. flexible injectors.
Figure 4 shows one method of applying another form of the invention to a series
of tanks.
A A A are the cans or tanks in which the water is to be frozen. Each can or tank
is provided with one or more short injection or suction nozzles or pipes B, each of
which dips into the water in the can for a short distance, say one inch, and is so placed
that it will inject a small portion of the water in a more or less downward direction,
so that it eventually strikes the bottom of the can and rebounds upwards.
In Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a can fitted with a single circulator. The
The rod E of
plunger D is stationary, and the cylinder or barrel ( is reciprocated.
the plunger may be conveniently held in position by being provided with an eye e,
which is simply slipped over the handle a of the can, thus rendering its removal
In the drawing
very easy. The cylinder may be reciprocated by any suitable means.

page_text: By the
it is shown attached by its centre in a removable manner to a rigid bar or beam F
which runs past the side of the tank and is reciprocated by convenient mechanism.
In this way a whole series of cylinders may be reciprocated from one point.
movement of the nozzle B the agitation is distributed over a considerable length of
the can, and the nozzle is prevented from freezing into the ice.
In Figure 4 the nozzle B of a series of cans are shown connected indirectly to a
pump CD, by means of a long pipe or tube B¹ which passes over the cans above the
water level, the result being the same as in the previous cases. In this Figure also,
some of the nozzles B are shown inclined or bent towards the sides of the can, so that
the jets of water strike the said sides before striking the bottom of the can and
rebounding upwards.
By the arrangement shown in this Figure the circulating tubes can be immediately
removed and replaced, and one pump can supply many rows of tanks, if necessary,
whereas, were the pump placed immediately over the tanks, and say, in the tube B,
the apparatus would be practicably immovable, or at best very ponderous-a
result contrary to the principle of my invention, which is designed with a view to
make everything as light, effective and removable as possible.
In order to lessen the absorption of heat, I prefer to construct the pump barrels and
plungers of some non-conducting material, such as wood, and with the same object
and for the sake of economy, I prefer to employ, for the barrel of my injector, a
section of a female bamboo, having one end closed and fitted with a pipe of smaller
size, and of similar material to form the nozzle.
The plunger or piston, 1 prefer to construct of one or more wooden discs d², smaller
than the cylinder, and between these I place soft sponge 3, which, being elastic, adapts
itself to the form and shape of the natural cylinder. Instead of the sponge, I may
use leather, indiarubber and any other suitable elastic substance. The application of
bamboos for pump barrels and the like is not herein claimed, but it is protected by
my provisional application No. 435788.
Where only a suction required, the plunger may be so constructed that it allows
the water to pass it during the return stroke, and this water is, during the working
stroke, run off freely into the can again from the open end of the cylinder. Or
the nozzles B may be fitted with suitable valves with the object of obtaining a suction
only or an injection only.
In Figure 3, G is a frame or box, preferably of wood or similar non-conducting
material, which is placed on the top of the can. The bottom of the box is open, and
it is prevented from moving end wise on the can by a rib g thereon or other equivalent
device. Between the ends g¹ of the frame, or between any other suitable abutments
on the can instead of the frame, there is placed one or more self-inflating balls H of
indiarubber or similar flexible material. These are each provided with a nozzle B
which dips into the water in the can, as in the case of the pumps above described.
The balls are attached in a removable manner to the sides or to a reciprocating or
oscillating blade or bar, such as or to other suitable moving part. The recipro-
catory movement of the blade causes the balls to be pressed alternately between the
blade and the ends g' of the frame, and thus an alternate compression and expansion
of the balls is effected, which produces an alternate suction and discharge through
the nozzles of the water in the can. Any form of self-inflating vessel could be used
instead of the balls.
In an ice making machine fitted with my improved circulating apparatus, the ice
forms first at the bottom of the cans. The impurities are brought up to the surface
of the water, whence they may be removed and fresh water added. With this system
of circulation, a perfect block of pure, transparent ice, filling the whole can, may be
made from water greatly inferior to it in colour and purity.
Although the invention has been described mainly in reference to the making of ice,
it is also applicable generally for refrigerating and other purposes. In fact it is
applicable in nearly all cases where a liquid is required to be kept agitated from its
surface, either wholly or in part, without the receptacle containing it being itself
moved.

page_text: 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. In a circulating or agitating apparatus for the purposes described, the alternate
suction of a small portion of the Huid to be agitated and the injection of the same
downwardly through its body, by means of one or more self-inflating vessels each
provided with a nozzle dipping into the fluid, and each alternately compressed and
expanded by suitable mechanical means, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. In an ice making apparatus, one or more self-inflating balls such as H oscillated
or reciprocated above the water to be frozen, and each provided with a nozzle B
dipping into the same, in combination with a suitable abutment or abutments
against which said balls may be intermittently compressed, whereby such an agitation
of the water is effected as is essential to the proper purification and clarification of the
ice, substantially as described.
3. The improvement in relation to circulating or agitating apparatus for ice making
tanks and for other purposes as described, which consists in causing the nozzle of an
ejecting, injecting, or circulating device to traverse from point to point of the tank,
whereby the agitation or circulation, is carried on at continually varying points, and
the nozzle is prevented from freezing in.
4. The various forms of improved detachable circulating or agitating apparatus for
ice making cans, constructed as a whole substantially as described and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.