US1012108A - Apparatus for making clear can-ice. - Google Patents

Description

J. E. SIMON.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CLEAR GANIIUE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1911.

1,012,108. Patented De0.19,1911.

. UN T D. j s rarns ironu E. 's m-olvj or IibUISVILL'Ex,KENTUEKY,

Application and June 27; 1911, Ser ia1lto; 35, 58 4.

' To all whom it may concern;

zen of the United States, residing at Louis- Villtain the county of Jefferson and State of .5 Kentucky, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Making Clear Can-Ice, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the-manufacture of ice in cans and is an improvement on theapparatus-for which I obtained Letters Pat-' entof the United States,-No. (314,773, dated November 22nd, 1898. As will. be seen by reference to said patent, air-'was injected into the water in' the can which was being frozen, through the instrumentality of a' flexible tube, terminating in a straight, rigid weighttube It has been -found that the flexible tube of said patent permits the a weight-tube to move about and swing in the water, on.account of the air issuingtherefrom with a certain'amount of force. \Vhile' thus moving or swinging, after the walls of "the ice haveattained considerable thickness and the remaining pocket, in the middle, which still contains water, has been. reduced in ,size, the weight-tube sometimes comes into contact with the ice which forms the walls of the pocket and sticks and becomes firmly embedded in the ice, so that it cannot be removed without severing the block'of ice. Consequently tubes have: isomet'imes necessarily been left in the ice andl'lost to the 'nianufacturer and have been detrimental to the appearance of theresulting ice block.

i One of the objects of the present improvement is to obviate the dilliculties just mentioned.

Other objects are, to thoroughly agitate the water while in process of freezing; to

agitate the water, by meansxof air injected therein, near the bottom of the can; to inject the air at the center of the lower part of thecan by means of a tube; to remove the air tube easily from the ice, and thus permit it to be frozen in; and to produce a SOlld,

clear block of. ice from plain water which has not been distilled or boiled, and save fueL- j I The manufacture of can-ice, from water derived from the ordinary sources of supply, t such as springs, wells, rivers, and reservoirs has generally resulted in an unsatisfactory product, because there 'are usually mineral, organic and gaseous impurities m such water. These become firmly locked in the Specif.cat io'n of Letters Patent." Patnted D 30, 19, 1911 V I l ieni-braceof 'the 'water crystals at; Be it known that-I, JOHN E. SIMON, a cit1-' p'roces's of freezing, andwhn liberated at thetiinefthe iceis used maybe objectionable or injurio'us'to health. The airand" other gaseous matter in'the water being frozen is crystallized out in the form of minut globules-which are locked in the embrace of the crystals, and by reflection and retiree tionof the light-which mayo-pass through the ice block, impart objectionable whiteness to theice.-' Artificial ice is thereforeen eral ly made from distilled water, but.,th1s isexpensive' and'not always free from volatile" v 1m purities which may have passed over 'in' 'the' process of distillation. .Furthermor, 70. idistilled \vter, "when cold, readilyabsorbs' circunmmb ent gases, suc'lras ammonia, so tl'iatgthemiddle of the block may contiiii'un desirable Qualities from this cause' It" has been found that these objectionable features .are altogethereliminated byjconstantly agitating the water during theprocess of ffiGGZ'.

ing and carrying the gaseous ingredients. away by means of a vehicle such asr'air, kept constantly liowing'through the water. It was also found that if the water was coi1- stantly agitated,- m ineral'ai 1d organic impurities were crowded out by crystallizz'tt-ion, and constantly forced toward the middle of the can while the'gase'o'us impurities were car- 'ried oil? by the air which was-keptcon-J stant'ly flowing through the water. A furtherobje'ctis to accomplish these desirable-results. 2 j l The objects mentioned have-been attained by means of the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which-'- Figure l-is a vertical sectional -view;.'Fig. 2, a vertical sectionalriew, showing the air tube embedded in' the ice and released; Fig. -3, a top plan view; Fig. .4 a vertical sectional view of the' air tube arranged for heating by electricitv: Fig. 5, a vertical-sectionalv fview of the air taibe, anda steam tube applied thercto: and, Fig. is a cross-section lar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. rigid metaltube, 1, is suspended in the ,middle of an ice can, 2, by means of a bar,

t le-which rests upon the topof opposite sides ofthe ice can.' The bar 3 is preferably a wooden board of approximately of an inch in thickness and 2 inches wide. A hole,

PATEMY QFFIGE M.04:.M-w-n'1..

the size of the outside diameter of tube 1,

is bored through. the middlelof'bar 3, perpendicular toits widest plane, The tube 1" 1sv inserted in this hole with a snug fit, so'

that the tube is rigid in the bar. 'A collar,

d, secured on the upper end of tube 1,; which forms a stop for the tube, to prevent its passing through bar 3; It will be understood that by this means tube 1 is kept in constant vertical alinemnt in the middle ofv the can. An air-line is provided by a pipe,

' 5', embedded in a tank partition, 6, which is provided with nipples, 6%, 'over which are placed flexible tubes,j. 7,' adapted to conduct air from pipe 5 to the upper .end of tube 1. 'The flexible tube 7 -and the f'uppe'r end of tube 1- are so arranged that they come below and do nptfinterfere with the'tank-covers,

-8, which ,-are customarily placed over the cans and which 'form'the floor of the tank,

By these instrumentalities 'air from pipe 5 is.

injected into. the water, 9, in can 2, nearthe b'ottom ,-of the can, so thatit passes-upward \through the water in theformofbubbles, as-

shown in Fig. 1. As the ice'forms on the walls offcan 2 the wallsof theiice block,be-. come thicker, and a pocket,

It will be'unde1 'stood that the rigidtube 1 cann tF ibrate so as to come into contact with thewalls of the pocket 10, and therefore the air .willflow fromthe tube. until the ice is frozen up-to the-end of the tube.

' When the pocket 10 contains only about two quarts of water, it is found that this water;

is heavily loaded withlimp'urities and ,usuj; ally quite turbid. If the'freezing operation were continued these ,impurities' would no longer be crystallized out and there would be formed an objectionable core in the block-of ice. Th it ater in pocket 10 is, therefore,- pumped out by means ofv a flattened tube, (not shown in the drawings), and the pocket may be filled with distilled water, which. '45

containsno air, and the freezing conipleted.

, When the ice has .formedabout the. lowerend of tube 1 it becomes'firmly. embedded inthe ice. The air tubel isthfereforeso constructed that it may be heated while embedded in the ice, so that the ice immediately in .contact with the tube is melted, forming a thin-film of water,.a s shown at 11, (Fig. 2), The tubel may then be.-eas1ly' with,- drawn from the ice. The o enmg-l ft by the tube is then filled with-water, whlclf 'is quickly fr'ozen resulting-ina solidblock I of clear, pure ce.

To provide for the heating iif tube 1,-while still in the can embedded m' -ithe ice;the-'tube is constructed as more particularly illus{ trated in Figs. 4 and 5.

The modification oftube 1 shownin'Fig.

4.- is adapted for heatingby meafnsof elec-.

tricity, and to this end theair tubecom-I prises an inner air tube proper, '12,-fand an r 10, (Fig. 1) is" formed in the middle of the block.

outer tube, 13. The. tube 12 is soldered or otherwise secured to the tube 13 at its lower end, and somewhat contracted at 14, so as to form anozzle, by which the air is forcibly projected downward" into the water and ag'itates it. The lower'end of tube 13 is entering the space between the tubes;

Insulation, 15, is inserted between tubes 12 and 13.- A conductor, 16, is connected with tube 12 and a conductor, 17, with tube 'a' suitable source. of electric .current. The tube 13 is; formed of such thinness and material that it has sufiicient resistance to the current to become suitabl heated, while the tube .12 is made; of such odyand material .that it conducts the current-freely. It will thus be seen that when it is desiredlto remove the tube. 1 from the ioe,-an electric circuit is completed through the tube, and the 'tom' of" tube 1 and steam, from a suitable source, not shown .in the drawings, is in jected into, the outer tube -13 (Figs. 2 and 5). ilnthe latter case it-is preferred to make good conductor-of. heat. 1

The Wall of tube 1 is provided with one or more orifices, 19', to allow air to issue from tube 12 into the .water 9. These orifices pro- "vide for the agitation of the water after the nozzle at the lower end of the tubehas been ;from. ;By this means the pocket 10, after andia. clear, pure block of ice maybe attained without any distilled water.

:of tin plate or sheet steel, of such thinness as to be heated by =a'n electric current.- --In the brine tanki I have preferred to filter and dry the air which-is used through tube 12, because such fair, being deprive'd} ofimpuri'ties is not liable and block up the nozzle 14,- as moistair is. Before removing tube'=1'from'-the ice, tube 1' from the-ice, tube 18- is inserted in tube 1, so that its lowenend nearly reaches the botthe outer tube 13 of tube 1 of brass or otherclosed, so that water is prevented from a 13, at the upper end of the tubes and with outer tube 13 becomes sufiiciently heated to frozen in and the air ceases to-flow-there'--- pumping out, may be filled with plain water I also contemplate using a single tube 'eX- tending to and. making electrical contact with the-bottom of can 2. This tube is made;

this case only-on pole need be'applied to the tube, the current passingfinto the can and,

to leave water' dfcondensationin the tube Itwill be appreciated that by the method carried out with this apparatus, the water of which the ice is made need not be distilled and therefore a great saving is effected, and yet as pure and as clear ice is formed as that made from distilled water; in fact, distilled Water frequently absorbs and carries in solution gaseous impurities which would be entirely removed by the apparatus described, and whichare found in the ice made from. such water in ordinary practice.

Having thus described my invention, so

that any one skilled in the art pertaining thereto, may construct and use it, I claim- 1. In apparatus for making clear ice in cans, a tube for conveying air downward through the water in a can suspended in the the tube,

215111 apparatus for making clear can ice, a tube suspended in an ice can provided with a compartment for conveying a fluid for agitating the water to be frozen and a compartment for means for heating the tube.

i JOHN E. SIMON. Witnesses: THOS. A SI-IELLEY,

ABRAHAM KNoBEL.

can and providedwith means for heating

Images