USRE4242E - Improvement in refrigerators - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT .0,EEICE.,

IMPROVEMENT IN RE-FRIGERATORS.

Specification forming part-of-Leitcrsljatent No. 421,098,1lated August 1, 1865; ReissueI No.4,2-12, dated January 31, 1871.

To all whom tmc/,y concern.-

Beit known that I, J osEPH HYDE FISHER, of Chicago, in the count-y of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvementl in Refrigerators or Houses for Preserving Animal and Vegetable Sub- 't stances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and .exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an end `elevation ofv'a coolinghouse constructed in accordance with my improvement, shown partly 'in section. Fig 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof through the line a* x of Fig. 1.

Like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

My invention relates to receptacles for preserving animal and vegetable substances by exposing themtherein to a cool, dry atmosphere, and is equally applicable for use on a l .-1arge scale in packinghouses, breweries, ho-

tels, steamboats, railroad-cars, &c., as on a small scale in refrigerators for family use.

In my improved cooling-house or receptacle, the cool-dry atmosphere is produced by means of ice; and my invention consists not only in so constructing the ice-chamber and preserving-chamber as that the air warmed entering from out-side will rise into and the by contact with the meat, vegetables, &c., on cooled air descend from the ice-chamber by separate Vtlues or passa-ges, so as not to come in contact with each other in such passage', but also that the cooled air from the ice-chamber shall ,enter the preserving-chamber so near to the top as to leave sufficient space below the highest point of entrance of the cool air for the storing ofthe. meat, vegetables, &c., to be preserved, While the-comparative shallow space above that point, being shielded from the entering stream of cool air, receives the stratum of warmer air, gases, &c., which pass up out of the reach of the cool air to the upper part ot' the ice-chamber, to be there cooled, and thence returned to the preservingchamber, while any lighter gases evolved'l may escape through a suitable ventilator above the icechamber.

The peculiar eliect produced by my improvedescent of the cool air.

ment is that the warm, moist air, and the vapors from the contents of the preservingchamber, rise to the top of the preservingchamber and form a warmer stratum above the level of the point at which the cool air' enters and above the meat, vegetables, or other a-rticlestobe preserved; whereas it' the cool air were allowed to enter at ror near the bottom of thepreserving-receptacle, themoisture would be condensed within the preservingchamber before it could rise to the top and escape into the ice-chamber, and thus the atmosphere of the preservingchamber, although cooled, would not be rendered dry. By my improvement, a strong drying e'ect is produced, as well as a greater reduction of temperature, than by means of other known constructions of refrigeratory apparatus.

I will proceed to describe the construction of a preserving-house embodying'my improvement. 1

The exterior walls A and roof R ofthe house are constructed double and filled in between with any good non-conductor of heat, such as tanbark,`ricechaff, charcoal, &c. The houseis divided into two compartments or chambers, B C, by a iiooring, D, which is slightly in- .clined from a horizontal position, preferably toward the front of the house, where the doors are situate. the escape of vthe waste water from the melting ice. .The flooring is supported von. .joists 'supported by the Walls ot' the house, but it does not extend quite to the inner walls ofthe' house at one end and at Aone or both sides,

thereby lea"ing a passage (at x, Fig. 2) at one orboth -ends for the ascent of the warm air, and at one or both sides (at 1., Fig. 1) for the The iioor D may be double, as shown in the drawings, Figs. 1, and has al'ling or lining of pitch, gutta-percha, or other water-proof and non-conducting substance, to prevent the percolation of the water from the ice-chamber into the preservingchamber C below. A spout, c, at the lowest point in the lloor carries off the waste water from the ice. 0n the lioor D of the ice-chamber, at the edge on each side, is a strip, ax, high enough. to prevent anyoveriiow of waste water into the side ilues, a. Above these strips 0I.X rises an open frame-work of This inclination is to facilitate slats, b b b, on each side, which serves as a guard 4 or fender to keep the blocks. of ice in place and prevent their coming in contact with the side walls A and obstructing the epldfair. passages a, which afford comm unication between the two chambers B and C.' At the rear end of the iioor D is a vertical partition, f, ("mde d iuble, like the sides A of the house, as shown in Fig. 2, and similarly lilled,) which partition extends from one side of the room to the other, 'at a-suitable distance from the end wall A'to leave a line or passage, F, for the ascent of the warm air, and extends upward to within farthest from the vertical flue F is a small opening or ventilator, G,'to allow of the escape of anylight gas or etiluvium from the contents of the preserving-chamber.

0n each side ot' the lower chamber, G, at the edge ot' theoor D, below the coldair passage 'a, and below the tlooring'joists, is an apron, H, which hangs down a distance of'from six' to eighteen inches,`dcpeudi ngon the size and I capacity of thepreservin'gchamber, and extending-the wholeyl'ength thereof. The object of such apron isfto prevent the cold air from cnterin g the' lower or preserving chamber, C, atrtop, immediately under the floor D, and to forma shield to prevent the stratum of warm airfwhi'ch exists above thelower edge of the aprons from passingV .into the lines aon each side of the oor-andice-ehaniber. There is no such apron at thev end of the ioor D where the tlue F opens into thelower chamber, G, and as that'point `(the mouth of ue F) is more elevated than. thefunder side of the` apron H, Y the warm air ndsits exit upward through the ue F, and does not pass below or under the apron H into the descending, cold-air passage a.

The. preserving-chamber 'C vhas post d and cross-bars `d fu rnished with hooks to hang meat, &c., upon, these bars and hooks being al1-'placed below the' under side of the aprons Il, and thereforeblow the stratumqof heated allrv There is no opening to the external air exceptin'g *the -small one at the ventilators.y G and the door E, for filling the ice-compart ment, and lthe lower door," T E, for itntroducln g and-taking ontfthe meat, Snc. These doors are kept closed. as `much as possible. The

' ven til'ators G are useful to allow thecompartments to Jbe ventilated by opening the doors when not in use, and for the escapeot gasand eiluvium, but may be dispensed with', if

desired, as when the apparatus is in use and 'of the preserving-chamber.

thedoors closed there is'no other opening for the admission of external air.'v y

The operation of nfyimproved cooling and preserving apparatusnis as follows: The ice-v compartment `being fllledwith ice, and thev lower chamber' having the meat Aor` other articles hung up'. therein, the doors are tightly closed. The warm and moist' ar from the meat, Src., quickly'rises to the upper part of the chamber C under the floor D, and above the lower edge' ,of the aprons H, and thence passes up the flue F at the end of the icecharnbcr, and over and through theice in the ice-chamber B. It' then deposits its moisture and becomes very 'dry' and cold, and consequently descends, not by the same passage, F,

.through'which it rose, but at the passages a,

on the sides of 'the ice-chamben/and enters the lower or preserving chamber, C, under the lower edge of the aprons H,; but nearthe top In the drawings the descendingcold air is represented by the arrows in Fig.l 1,'and the ascending warmer f airby the arrows in Fig. 2. When the airbecim'es thronghly cooled in the lower chamber, U, this ascent and descent of air is very slow and gradual, being caused and'kept up only by the gradual elevation oftemperature ofthe air in the lower chamber, G,- which is steadily reduced by the ice in the upper chamber.

It is manifest that various meditications of construction could be employed embodying the principles of my improvement.

What I4 claim `as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.-

1. The warnifair ilue or passage F, leadin from the top ofthe preserving-ch amberC to the upper part 0f the .ice chamber B, inV com bination with the separate cold-air tine or passage a, leading from the icefchamber to a point in the'preserving-cbambera little below the exitlevel of the ilue F, whereby a space'is left for the warm ait' above the induenceof the entering cold air, for the purposes hereinbefore described 2. The construction of a cooling and drying apparatus for preserving meat, vegetables, tvc.,v whereby the cooler air, after passing over Aor throughV the ice' in the upper ice-chamber,

j `'JoseraHYDE risnnaj Witnesses: n l 'V JOHN GLENN, Y R.C.WRENs1 IALL

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