US308008A - Process of and apparatus for refrigerating cars - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) H. TALLIGHET. zsheethsneet 1.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING- GAES. No. 308,008. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

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PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR REFRIGBRATI NG .GARS.

No. 308,008. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

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NlTE STATES HENRY TALLIOHET, on AUSTIN, TEXAS;

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,008, dated November 11, 1884.

Application filed May 12, 1884.

T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY TALLIOHET, of Austin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Process of and Apparatus for Refrigeration, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved system of refrigeration and apparatus for applying the same to practical use.

' The invention consists in a process and various sub-processes and apparatus whereby the passage of air-currents over a water-saturated porous jacket wholly or partly enveloping a chill-room is made rapidly to evaporate the water for cooling the chill-room, which has a surrounding air-space fitted with exhaustfan ventilators for inducing rapid air currents over the saturated jacket, and whereby also the chill-room is ventilated and pure atmospheric air supplied thereto in a dry condition, thus avoiding the presence of dead air in the chill-room, and whereby, also, the cold-water drip from the ice-chamber is utilized to cool the chill-room by its distribution over the exterior surfaces of the room, and the flow of the drip-water may be controlled at any desired predetermined temperature, the Whole process and apparatus being extremely simple and well calculated for effective and economical refrigeration, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

My invention is applicable to almost every usual form of stationary refrigerator in cold store-houses, provision-houses, breweries, 850.; but in its application to refrigerating railwaycars an opportunity is afforded for combining all the important features of my invention in a manner clearly to set forth its advantages, and I will more particularly describe the invention as applied to a railway-car.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lis a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation of a railway-car embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same in section on line m m, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is (No model.)

ice-chambers.

The letter a indicates the body of the car having any approved double or packed walls serving as non-conductors of heat andcold, and suitable side door or doors. The car in connection for opening the drip-cocks of the this instance is fitted with two chill-rooms,

b b, one at or near each end, and'of a size to afford free air-spaces c at the sides and ends of the rooms, the center air-space, (I, being wider for access to the rooms through their doors 6. These chill-rooms are jacketed on the sides and top, if desired, with porous jackets h of unglazed earthenware, felt, or any other absorbent material. The chill-rooms rest upon openwork or slat floor f, beneath which I arrange a water tank or tanks, 9, in which may be stored water, or water and ice, or ice only, with the drippings of which the porous jackets of the chill-rooms are to be kept saturated by apump, a, located in the central air-space, d, andhaving suitable pipe-connections, I), for discharging water from the tank 9 onto the top of the chill-rooms, to furnish a constant supply to the porous jackets by overflowing down the sides of the jackets, to be absorbed and evaporated one of the car-axles for being operated thereby by any approved contrivance of gearing, which it is not necessary to show. The tank 9 is to have a well consisting of a little depression, 0, into which the suction-pipe of the therefrom. The pump is to be geared with pump will extend, and the bottom of the tank is to be made to descend each way to the well, for causing the water to flow thereto when low in the tank. The well should extend below the level of the bottom of the tank and under the car, so far as space will allow, so as to drain off the drippings in case ice alone should be stored in the tank. Air is to be forced into the space between the top of the tank and the floor on whichthe chill-rooms rest by one or more air fans or blowers, i, arranged to be driven from the car axle or wheels, or by other motor, and to supply air to and force it through the air-spaces c, for evaporating the water from at j, preferably at the roof, and these fans may I alone induce sufficiently strong air-currents through air-spaces c to render the use of the blowers t unnecessary; but the blowers are a valuable auxiliary. \Vhen the car is not moving and the blowers t are inoperative, and should the outside air have little effect to revolve the exhaust-fans j, there would ensue a rise of temperature in the chill-rooms, and to guard against this Ilocate over the chill-rooms b the ice chambers is, opening at or near their tops for supply of ice, and tight at the bottom to hold the drip-water from the ice. The icechambers have direct cooling effect on the roofs of the chill-rooms and on the air surrounding them. The consumption of ice will be small with the exhaust-fans at j in operation by wind-pressure, and when the blowers 13 are in action the ice waste will be reduced to a minimum.

It will be noticed that the arrangements of apparatus above described provide for a cooling of the chill-rooms in every exigency of travel and without recourse to independent motors-as small steam engines or gearing driven from the locom otive-and the car, being self-contained, may be readily switched about as required in making up trains.

To ventilate the chill-room b, I have arranged at or near the bottom of the ice-chamber In the central portion, m, of a continuous tube or pipe, said portion on having a zigzag or sinuous construction for a circuitous route of the air therethrough. Said portion 121 serves also as a rack on which to place the ice and hold it above the drip-water collecting at the bottom of chamber k. The pipe portion m is set in inclined position and has a branch, m, passing outward and downward and opening to the outer air at on", and has anotherbranch, 1117, from the other end, which passes down into the chill-room, and ranges, preferably, along the roof to the opposite side or end of the room, down which it extends to near the chill-room floor, where it has an open mouth at on, all as shown in Fig. 1. Fresh air entering the pipe at m rises to and through its sinuous portion m in the ice-chamber, and in its passage through the pipe the air is de-.

prived of its moisture by condensation of the latter on the inner walls of the pipe, and the air then descends through branch pipe m to escape at m in a pure, cool, and dry condition, best suited for purposes of ventilation. The incline of the worm 'm permits a self-discharge of the condensed vapors taken from the air at or from the inlet m so that the vaporcondensing action of the pipe will always be unobstructed.

At a point preferably as far removed as may be from the cold-air outlet on, I pass into the chill-room b one open end, 0, of a pipe, 0, the other open end, 0 of which may open directly into the airspace surrounding the chill-room, but preferably into the case of one of the exhaus't-fans at j. The pipe 0 thus acts constantly to exhaust, circulate, and charge the air of the chill-room, the air-supply to which is maintained by the pipe m m m, as before explained, and consequently dead air in the chill -room and the well -known deleterious effects of such air on the stored goods are avoided.

To increase and quicken the cold-air circulation in the chill-room I lit a cap, 1), by spider-arms q, Fig. 4, to the head or outlet 0 of pipe 0, to induce air-currents from the cold-air spaces surrounding the chill-room to intermingle and discharge with the air-currents through pipe 0 from the chill-room. I make further provision for reducing the temperature of the chill-room b by saturating its top and side walls with the cold-water drip of the icechamber It, which I prefer to accomplish automatically and at any premeditated temperature by an electrical contrivance acting on a valved outlet from the ice-chamber, as next described.

The letter T represents any suitable electrical-battery device, the poles of which connect by wires with an electro-magnet, s, positioned to have effect on an armature, t, which is attached to a crank-arm,u, rigidly connectedwith the plug of a valve or cock, 1), communicating with the interior of the ice-chamber next its floor, and discharging into a shallow tray on the chill-room roof formed by narrow ledges, flanges, or rims w, fixed to the side edges of the car-roof, so that the water escaping from the ice-chamber shall fill the tray and flow over the rims w down the chill-room sides for materially reducing the interior temperature of the chill-rooms, the drip-water passing be low into the tank or receptacle 9, to be utilized by the pumps in a manner before described.

Anyapproved plan or devices for effecting a uniform distribution of the ice drip-water over the exterior walls of the chill-rooms may be employed. 1

For completing the electric circuit to open valve 1) of the ice-tank at any predetermined temperature of the air-spaces surrounding the chill-rooms any approved devices may be used. In the example shown I arrange a mercury bulb and tube, c connected in the circuit by a wire, b", leading to one side of a magnet, s, and in the mercury-tube I pass a contact rod or wire, (1, which connects to one pole of the battery r at the upper end, and against the lower end of which rod (2 the mercury may IIO rise to complete the circuit. The rod d being vertically adjustable, it may be set at will to close the circuit at any desired temperature, 40 being preferred in practice. When the circuit is broken by the fall of the mercury, the spring a, Fig. 6, draws back the valve-arm a and closes the valve to prevent waste of the cold water in the ice-tank.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular size or form'of tank 9 beneath the chill-rooms, and the particular form of the sinuous ventilating-pipe at m may vary from that shown with good results.

Among the advantages of myinvention may be named the automatic action of the apparatus, and without the use of chemicals as refrigerating agents, except those indirectly employed in the battery 1. There is no complicated machinery required, and which is so liable to derangement, and the simple fan-blower and exhaust-ventilators are readily accessible. The quantity of ice used is reduced to a minimum, as its effects are required only or principally when the other means fail by stoppage of ,the car, and the small quantity of ice required to be carried increases the freight-carrying capacity of the car. The chill-rooms are thoroughly ventilated, the water required is everywhere obtainable, and the cars may be built and maintained at comparatively small cost.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to-sccure by Letters Patent- 1. As an improvement in a process of refrigeration, passing atmospheric air-currents over a water-saturated jacket of porous material enveloping a chill-room positioned in a,

cold-air space, said chill-room having an adjacent or superposed ice-chamber, in whichis placed in inclined position a sinuous induction ventilating-pipe having branches opening into the outer air and into the chill-room, substantially as specified.

2. As an improvement in a process of refrigeration, passing atmospheric aircurrents over a water-saturated jacket of porous material enveloping a chill-room positioned in a cold-air space, said chill-room having an adjacent or superposed icechamber, in which is placed in inclined position a sinuous induction ventilating-pipe having branches opening into the outer air and into the chill-room, which latter also has an eduction ventilatingpipe discharging into the outer air, substantially as specified.

3. As an improvement in a process of refrigeration, passing atmospheric air-currents over water-saturated jacket of porous material enveloping a chill-room positioned in a coldair space, and which room has the cold-water drip from its adjacent ice-chamber distributed over its exterior walls automatically by mecl1- anism operated by variations of temperature, substantially as specified.

4:. The combination, in a refrigerating apparatus, of the inclosure a, chill-room b, resting upon an open floor, f, and located in a surrounding air-space, the porous jacket h, a water-reservoir, and connections for saturating the porous jacket, and an ice chamber, 7r, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a refrigerating apparatus, oft-he inclosure a, chill-room b, having open floor f, porous jacket h, and a water-supply thereto, an ice-chamber, k, and an induction ventilating-pipe, m m m communicating with the outer air and with the interior of the chill-room, said pipe having a sinuous course through theice-chamber, and an induction ventilating-pipe,0, connecting the chill-room with the outside air, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the chill-room b and its ice-chamber 7c, of the induction ventilating-pipe m m m, opening to the outer air and chill-room and passing in a sinuous course through the ice-chamber and the eduction ventilating-pipe 0, connecting the chill-room with the air-inlet of a ventilating-fan, which exhausts the air from the space surrounding the chill-rooms, substantially as shown and described.

7. The eduction ventilating-pipe 0, leading from the chill-room b and to an opening from the cold-air space to the outer air, said opening being fitted with an exhaust-fan ventilator, substantially as shown and described.

8. The eduction ventilating-pipe 0, leading from the chill-room b and to an opening, j, from the cold-air space surrounding the chillroom to the outer air, said opening being fitted with an exhaust-fan ventilator, and said pipe 0 having a cap, p, for stimulating induced outfiowing aircurrents, substantially asshown and described.

9. The combination,with the chill-room b, the exterior ice-chamber, 7c, and its ice-water dripvalve o, of means for discharging the ice-drip water overthe exterior walls of the chi1l-roorn, substantially as shown and described.

10. The combination,with the chill-room b, the ice-chamber k, and its drip-water valve 2;, of a shallow tank on the roof of the chill-room, substantially as shown and described.

11. The combination, with the chill-room b, the ice-chamber k, its drip-water valve 12, and means for discharging the drip-water over the exterior walls of the chill-room, of an electrical apparatus connected to open the drip-valve by a completion of an electrical circuit caused by a rise of temperature, and arranged to effect a closure of the valve when the circuit is broken, substantially as described.

H. TALLICHET.

Vitnesses:

A. M. JACKSON, J r., A. H. GRAHAM.

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