IMPROVEMENTS IN CHURNS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Comrie, of Stirling, in the County of Stirling,
North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CHURNS."
Sealed the 17th December 1861, and dated the 22nd June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Comrie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
June 1861.
I, JAMES COMBIE, of Stirling, in the County of Stirling, North Britain,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CHURNS," to be as follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of churns, so as
to obtain a more satisfactory result than is accomplished with those of the.
ordinary kind.
Under one modification the arrangement of the churn consists of two
cast-iron end standards connected in the usual way by means of tie bars.
The upper ends of these standards form the bearings for the axle of the
churn or milk holder. The churn is made of wood, and is formed of an
elliptical figure, which is arranged with its longer axis in the horizontal plane.
This oval box is supported in the end standards by means of T-shaped iron.
straps, which are screwed to the sides of the churn, and have laterally. pro-
jecting studs, which are supported in the forked ends of the standards. An
opening is formed at the upper. part of the churn to admit of access to its
interior, and this aperture is fitted with a lid in the usual way; parallel with

page_text: the opening are fitted two handles, by means of which the churn is put in
motion. Inside the churn are fitted three vertical partitions, these are
perforated, and the central portion of each is made to slide up and down in
grooves which are formed in the fixed side pieces. When the churn is put in
motion, the operator causes it to rock to and fro by means of the handles,
with this oscillatory movement the milk falls to the lower part of the churn,
and in its descent it passes through the perforations in the partitions, and is
thereby very effectively churned. The manner in which the churn is suspended
renders the labour of churning very light, and from the peculiar arrangement
of the parts the time usually required is reduced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Comrie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COMRIE, of Stirling, in the County of Stirling, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant, unto
me, the said James Comrie, Her special license that I, the said James
Comrie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Comrie, my executors, administrators, or assigns; should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN CHURNS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Comrie, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same 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 James Comrie, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of churns so
as to obtain a more satisfactory result than is accomplished with those of the
ordinary kind.
Under one modification the arrangement of the churn consists of two cast-
iron end standards connected in the usual way by means of tie bars. The
upper ends of these standards form the bearings for the axle of the churn or
milk holder. The churn is made of wood, and is formed of an elliptical
figure, which is arranged with its longer axis in the horizontal plane. This
oval box is supported in the end standards by means of T-shaped iron straps,
which are screwed to the sides of the churn, and have laterally projecting
studs, which are supported in the forked ends of the standards. An opening
is formed at the upper part of the churn to admit of access to its interior, and
this aperture is fitted with a lid in the usual way. Parallel with the opening
are fitted two handles, by means of which' the churn is put in motion. Inside
the churn are fitted three vertical partitions, these are perforated, and the
central portion of each is made to slide up and down in grooves which are
formed in the fixed side pieces. When the churn is put in motion, the
operator causes it to rock to and fro by means of the handles; with this
oscillatory movement the milk falls to the lower part of the churn, and in its
descent it passes through the perforations in the partitions, and is thereby very
effectively churned. The manner in which the churn is suspended renders the
labour of churning very light, and from the peculiar arrangement of the parts
the time usually required is reduced.
And in order that my said Invention of "Improvements in Churns" may
be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on
the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto appended, for the
purpose of showing certain modifications under which any improvements may
be judiciously carried out in practice, that is to say :-
Figure 1 on the accompanying. Sheet of Drawings is an end elevation,.
showing two modifications of my improvements; and Figure 2 is a front view.
of the churn taken at right angles to Figure 1; Figure 3 is a longitudinal,
vertical section, showing the internal arrangement of the churn barrel;
Figure 4 is a corresponding sectional view, taken at right angles to Figure 3;:
Figure 5 is a front view of one of the end plates, shown detached from the
barrel and Figure 6 is a similar view of one of the dashers or perforated
partitions which are fitted in the interior of the cburn barrel.
;

page_text: The framing of the improved churn consists of a pair of cast-iron end standards
A, the lower parts of which are arched, as shown in Figure 1, so as to give perfect
stability to the churn. These standards are connected together by means of
transverse tie rods fastened by nuts screwed on their extremities. The lower
ends of the standards either rest on the ground, or, as in the case of large
sized churns, they are fitted with rollers B, to admit of the churn being more
readily moved from place to place. The churning vessel C is, by preference,
made of an elliptical figure, the several staves-which form the vessel are bound
by broad iron hoops at the ends, as shown in Figure 2. To the sides of the
churn C are screwed two dises or supporting end plates D, which are cast
with the laterally projecting journals E; these journals rest in the forked
extremities of the standards A. There is also a projecting part formed on the
face of each disc below the journal, in which is a transverse groove made to
receive the curved blade spring F, which is fastened therein by two screws.
The ends of the spring F pass under two studs projecting from the face of the
end plates D, and there is a thumb screw in the lower part of the plate; the
uses of these studs and screw will be presently referred to. The churn C is
made with a transverse opening, in which is fitted the lid G, having two
knobs or handles for removing and replacing it. On the upper part of the
churn, and parallel with the lid, are fitted two roller handles H, arranged for
conveniently working the churn up and down when it is not furnished with a
winch handle. Inside the churn are arranged three moveable partitions or
dashers I, which are, by preference, perforated, as shown in the elevation,
Figure 6. The two end dashers are arranged at a slight angle, and the lower
edges are bevelled off to fit in corresponding grooves formed in the lower part
of the churn. The end dashers are passed in through the opening at the top,
and are fastened in position by means of the buttons J, or other equivalent
fastenings. The central dasher I is made a little lower than the others, it is
placed in a vertical position, and is fastened by two buttons at the sides.. The
milk to be churned is put into the vessel C, the lid is closed down, and the
churn is put in motion by one or both of the handles H. The vessel is moved up
and down, so as to cause the milk to be violently agitated, and at the same time
to be broken up as it were by passing through the apertures in the dashers I.
When commencing to churn, the vessel C is filled about half full of milk, and
during the filling operation the churn is held steadily by screwing in one or
both of the thumb screws K, which enter a short distance into the sides of the
churn, and thus serve to hold it firmly while the milk is poured in. When the
churn is moved up and down by the handles H, the vessel is prevented fron
turning completely over by the springs F coming in contact with the thumb.

page_text: screws K, which then act as stops to prevent the churning vessel from passing
a given point. To prevent the ends of the springs from being bent..back
injuriously, the studs L are provided, against which the springs press with the
impetus given to the vessel by the weight of the milk-and. the hand of the
operator. The reaction of the springs against the screws K causes the churn
to rebound as it were, and so assist the operator in causing it to descend; and
in this way the churning is effected with a comparatively small expenditure of
manual power. For the larger class of churns preference is given to an
arrangement for putting them in motion by means of a crank and winch
handle movement.
:.
A modification of this kind is delineated in red lines in Figures 1 and 2 of
the accompanying Drawings. The end standards A have either cast on or
bolted thereto a pair of secondary vertical standards M, which form, bracket
pieces carrying the bearings of a transverse shaft N. Ou one extremity of
this horizontal shaft is fitted the fly wheel O, which is actuated by the winch
handle P, and on the other end is a pulley Q. Projecting from the face of
this pulley is a pin, which serves to connect it by means of the rod R with the
crank S, which is keyed on the laterally projecting part of the journal. The
throw of the revolving crank pin in the pulley Q being much less than the
one S on the spindle E of the churn C, causes the latter to vibrate to and fro,
the extreme positions of the crank being shown by the circles T in Figure 1.
When the winch handle is put in motion, the pulley Q and rod R impart by
reason of the length of the respective cranks and rod a pendulous or vibratory
motion to the churn C similar to that given to it when actuated by hand. The
larger sizes of churns arranged upon this principle may, if required, be driven
by steam power, by simply fitting an endless belt to the pulley Qon the
shaft N, and giving motion to this belt from a contiguous engine, or other
prime mover.
Another mode of arranging the churn is to have the crank and connecting
rod on the same side as the fly wheel. The vertical standard or bracket piece
which is bolted to the framing of the churn forms one support for a short
horizontal shaft; outside this one is a second one, which is a bracket piece
bent in an outward direction, and serving as a support for the outer journal of
the shaft. On this shaft is keyed the fly wheel and driving pulley, and at the
inner end between the end standard and the churn is the crank which is con-
nected by a rod to a pin projecting out from the face of the disc D. In this
way when the driving wheel is put in motion, the pendulous movement is
imparted to the churn, so as to drive the milk contained therein rapidly to and

page_text: fro. With either of these arrangements the operation of churning milk is
accomplished in a very rapid and efficient manner.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general arrangement, construction,
and combination of parts forming the pendulous churns, as herein-before
described and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification
of the said arrangements.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Comrie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
JAMES COMRIE. (L.S.)