IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Pickford Wilkins, of Ipswich, in the County
of Suffolk, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGE-
Sealed the 10th December 1858, and dated the 15th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Pickford Wilkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th June 1858.
I, WILLIAM PICKFORD WILKINS, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENTS AND CONSTRUCTION OF REFRIGERATING APPARATUS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the arrangement and construction of
refrigerating apparatus refers principally to refrigerators used for cooling wort,
and relates first, to the method of securing the small tubes within the outer
casing or shell which contains the cooling liquor or water. These tubes are
fixed and held in the tube plates, but instead of fixing them rigidly thereto, I
simply slide them through the holes formed to receive them. They aro
arranged in a circle, being contained within cylindrical outer casings. I cut
from a sheet of india-rubber of sufficient thickness discs of the diameter of
the outer casing, and cut holes corresponding with the positions of the several
tubes, and place them on the ends of those tubes, which all project sufficiently
through the tube plates. I then place washers or plates similarly formed,
with holes to receive the ends of the tubes against such discs or washers of
india-rubber, and by means of one or more screw studs and nuts, force the
india-rubber against the tube plates, and thereby compress it around the tubes.
By this means the joints are rendered tight, at the same time admitting

page_text: expansion or contraction to take place without affecting the tightness of the
joints. The tubes thus fitted and fixed are at any time easily removed for
repairs or other purpose.
Another part of my Invention relates to the arrangement of the channels or
passages of the water in connection with suitable cocks, valves, or other parts,
whereby the water can be diverted from its ordinary course, & caused to pass
through the wort tubes in the opposite direction to that of the course of the
wort, whereby those tubes are readily cleared from sediment, hop leaves, or
other obstruction, & otherwise cleaned out, the passage of the wort is, of course,
at the same time suspending through that part opened to the water.
A third part of my Invention refers to the introduction of a perforated
metal disc in the outer chamber to sustain the tubes at the middle of their
length (if long); this is similar to the washer used for compressing the india-
rubber before described, but with the addition of apertures for the passage of
the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Pickford Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PICKFORD WILKINS, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Pickford Wilkins, Her special licence that I, the said William Pickford
Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Pickford Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENTS AND CONSTRUCTION OF REFRIGERATING APPARATUS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Pickford
Wilkins, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Pickford Wilkins, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in the arrangement and construction of
refrigerating apparatus, refers principally to refrigerators used for cooling
wort, and relates, first, to the method of securing the small tubes within the
outer casing or shell which contains the cooling liquor or water. These tubes
are fixed and held in the tube plates, but instead of fixing them rigidly
thereto I simply slide them through the holes formed to receive them; these
tubes I arrange by preference in a circle within a cylindrical outer casing; I-
cut from a sheet of india-rubber of sufficient thickness discs of the diameter of
the outer casing, and cut holes corresponding with the positions of the several
tubes, and place them on the ends of those tubes, which all project through
the tube plates sufficiently for the purpose; I then place washers or plates,
similarly formed with holes to receive the ends of the tubes, against such discs
or washers of india-rubber, and by means of one or more screw studs and nuts
force the india-rubber against the tube plate, and thereby compress it around
the tubes. By this means the joints are rendered tight, at the same time
admitting expansion and contraction to take place without affecting the tight-
ness of the joints, and also prevents damage to the refrigerator from expansion
or contraction. The tubes thus fitted and fixed are at any time easily removed
for repairs or other purposes.
Another part of my Invention relates to the arrangement of the channels or
passages of the water in connection with suitable cocks, valves, or other parts,
whereby the water can be diverted from its ordinary course, and caused to
pass through the wort tubes in the opposite direction to that of the course of
the wort, whereby those tubes are readily cleaned from sediment, hop leaves,
or other obstruction, and otherwise cleaned out; the passage of the wort is, of
course, at the same time suspended through that part opened to the water.
A third part of my Invention refers to the introduction of a perforated
metal disc in the outer chamber to sustain the tubes at the middle of their
length (if long), this is similar to the washer used for compressing the india-
rubber described, but with the addition of apertures for the passage of the
water.

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a transverse vertical section of a wort-cooling apparatus,
or it may be a refrigerator for other purposes, and Fig. 2 a sectional plan of
the same.
It consists of a series of main chambers or channels A, A, secured
at each end to suitable boxes or chambers B, B, for controlling and regulating
the passage of the fluid, as well understood. Fig. 3 represents an external
view of one of the chambers A, and one box or chamber B, and Fig. 4
represents a longitudinal section of the same, exhibiting also the application of
the third part of my Invention. The main tubes A are suitably secured at
either end to the boxes B in which the tube plates b, b, are formed, which
tube plates receive the small tubes a, a, the holes being of such size that the
tubes are slid in or removed easily, and are of such length as to project at
each end beyond the tube plates b, b, some little distance; c, c, one of which is
separately represented at Fig. 5, are india-rubber discs cut from a sheet of
that material, and having holes perforated so as to coincide exactly with the
tubes a, a, on the end of which these discs are placed; ff, washers or plates
of metal of a similar form, represented separately, at Fig. 6 are placed against
the discs of india-rubber, and by pressure force the disc against the tube
plates b, b, and compress the india-rubber round the ends of the several
tubes a, a, and thereby render their junction with 6 fluid-tight. This pressure
is exerted by means of a stud bolt d and nut e fixed on tube plates 6 in the
centre of each disc c, which takes effect on the whole surface of the disc, and
renders the whole number of tubes comprised by such disc fluid-tight
simultaneously. D is a plate enclosing the ends of box B, which may be
removed when it is desired to get at the small tubes a for repairs or other
purposes. The arrangement of the water and wort passages, and the direction
of the fluid is the same as usual, the cooling liquor proceeding in an opposite
direction to that of the wort, which is controlled by the different divisions in
the boxes B, and as well understood, E, E, being the water passage, and F, F,
the wort passage, the direction of which is shown by the arrows, and which it
is unnecessary further to describe.
I
carry out the second part of my Invention, which relates to converting the
wort passage into the water passage, by means of a three-way cock G,
represented at Figs. 1 and 2; it will be observed that the water and wort ways
are quite separate, as at Fig. 2, and that there is a clear way through for
each, by simply turning the plug g of the cock round so as to unite the
passages E¹, F'; the ordinary water way E will be cut off from the supply,
and the supply of water at E' directed through the wort passage F, the supply

page_text: of wort is, of course, suspended at the time. By allowing the water to rush
through the small tubes a, a, and other wort passages, they will be cleared of
sediment and hop leaves, or any other obstruction that may have deposited
therein. Having so cleaned the refrigerator, the cock G may be again
disposed for the purpose of refrigeration, as before.
The third part of my Invention relates to the introduction of stays or sup-
ports for the small tubes a, a, in the refrigerator represented, which, as before
mentioned, is exhibited in Fig. 4; it consists simply of a perforated tube plate
to receive and sustain each of the tubes a, a, at the middle or other suitable
part of their length. The disposition of these stays depend somewhat on the
length of the tubes, if of moderate length, one in the middle may be
sufficient, but if very long, two or more may be used, and disposed in suitable
positions to afford the support required. In order to introduce these stays, I
form an enlargement in channels or chambers A, by interposing an enlarged
part H between two parts of A, this is fitted and fixed by suitable flanges, as
seen, and has a tube plate, as seen in the transverse section, Fig. 7, through
which the tubes a, a, pass; it also has numerous other holes h¹ around the
circumference, which afford free way for the cooling liquid or water. If the
channels A are of sufficient size, and the tubes a, a, disposed sufficiently far
apart, water ways may be made through stay discs h, inserted therein without
the enlarging part H.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the application of discs of india-rubber as described, for securing
and rendering fluid-tight the small tubes of refrigerators, as herein-before
described.
Secondly, I claim diverting the water into the wort passages, as and for the
purposes herein-before described.
And, lastly, I claim introducing disc or tube plate stays to support the small
tubes, as herein-before described.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Pickford Wilkins, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W DWU KINS
W P WILKINS