Improved Method of Drying Gelatine.
Year: 1899

page_text: THOMAS LOMAS, Chemical Manufacturer, Athenæum House, the Hoe, Plymouth,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
The object of my invention is to save labour and time in the drying of gelatine.
With this intention, by simple mechanical pressure I cause the soft moist
gelatine to be forced through a tube of suitable size and form. This tube is
pierced with holes of suitable size form and position.
The gelatine being forced through these holes falls on to perforated trays of
convenient size and shape which by simple and known mechanical means are
caused to pass below the end of the tube. These trays thus charged are removed
and placed in drying closets, where owing to the greatly extended surface of
the gelatine it is dried more quickly than by any method now employed.
This mode of treatment saves great labour of handling and much time in
drying; also ensures greater certainty of results.
T
1000
Improved Method of Drying Gelatine.
I, THOMAS LOMAS, of South Down, in the County of Devon, late of Athenæum
House, The Hoe, Plymouth, Chemical Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to an improved method of drying gelatine and the
object of it is to save time and labour in the process. With this intention in
view by simple mechanical means and pressure the gelatine in a soft jelly-like
condition is caused to be forced through a perforated nozzle leading from a
press consisting mainly of a tube or cylinder of suitable size and form and a
piston or ram as hereinafter described.
I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail and with reference to
the accompanying drawings illustrating an apparatus or press which may be
employed in carrying it into effect. In these said drawings:
-
Figure 1 is a sectional-elevation of the entire press fitted with a perforated
nozzle.
Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.

page_text: Figures 4 and 5 are front and side elevation respectively of the perforated
delivery tube out of which the gelatine issues from the press.
A and A' are two cylinders connected together by a web b and pivoted at c.
61 is an extension piece or handle by means of which these two cylinders can
be shifted or swung around in a circular path about the said pivot c.
B is a
position or ram attached to a screw-threaded rod C which is driven by a worm
and pinion gear d, e; the said worm being driven by the shaft D3 and fast and loose
pulleys, and are two additional fast and loose or differential pulleys
on same shaft for raising or withdrawing the ram after it has completed its
working stroke. The cylinders A, A¹, stand between two plates E and F which
latter are kept in their proper relative positions by distance bars f. The plate E
has large holes D, D', D2 in it, the central one D being situated immediately
beneath the piston or ram B which is oppositely over the discharge passage g in
the plate F. The three holes D D', D2 in the plate E correspond in position to
the relative positions of the cylinders A, A, so that these cylinders when the
press is in operation are always beneath and coinciding with two of the said
holes. A hopper G is provided to convey the soft gelatine to the cylinders.
His the perforated delivery tube in connection with the discharge orifice of the
plate F and is more fully and conveniently described further on.
I will now proceed to describe the process and how the machine or press is
used.
The cylinders being in position and one of them filled, the gelatine in a soft-
jelly-like state is fed into the hopper which conveys it into the cylinder which
at the moment is to the right or left of the centre as the case may be, and while
this cylinder is being thus filled the power band is shifted off the loose pulley p²
on to the driving one p¹ which, through the medium of the worm-and-pinion
gear, communicates the downward motion to the ram which during its stroke
forces the gelatine out of the cylinder beneath it, from whence it passes into the
delivery tube H. This delivery tube is spread out or enlarged at its discharge
end which is covered-in by two flat perforated plates, one h, fixed and the other i,
movable. The perforations in said plates are preferably in two straight rows
as shewn and the one plate can conveniently be moved over the other and a nice
adjustment obtained by means of a screw such as working in fixed nuts k, k¹,
which motion it will be understood opens or closes the holes more or less, as
desired.
The gelatine being forced through these holes may be allowed to fall on to
perforated trays of convenient size and shape which by simple and known
mechanical means are caused to pass below the end of the tube or cylinder.
These trays thus charged are removed and placed in drying cupboards or closets,
where, owing to the greatly extended surface of the gelatine exposed to the
drying agent, it is dried much more rapidly than is possible by any known
method.
Thus in the above apparatus while one cylinder is being filled the other is
being emptied, then the piston or ram is raised by shifting the power-band off
the loose pulley 2 on to 2" which has the effect of raising or withdrawing the
ram clear of the top edge of the cylinders, which latter are then shifted to the
opposite side by means of the handle-lever b', and the ram again started, and the
cylinder which just previously has been filling is now being rammed and
emptied and the one which has just been so emptied is filling.
In order that the soft jelly-like material arriving through the hopper shall
not pass down through the third aperture in the plate E while the cylinders are
beneath the other two apertures, a plate M is secured around the upper ends of
the cylinders and is so formed with two wings m¹, m³ that as it moves together
with the cylinders one or other of these wings slides beneath the exposed third
aperture and thus shutting it off and preventing the gelatine above from falling
down through said aperture, as desired.
This mode of treatment dispenses with much labour of handling and saves

page_text: considerable time in the drying of the material and it also ensures much greater
certainty of good results.
The position of the delivery pipe H is immaterial, it may be led in any direction
by suitably shaped union pipes. The position shewn is such as to cause the
issuing orifices to stand vertically; I being an elbow or bent pipe connecting
the said delivery tube with the bottom of the base plate F.
This delivery tube may be any size and shape and is preferably but not
necessarily spread out at the end as shewn in Figures 4 and 5.
It will be understood that the effect of the gelatine being forced through the
holes in h and i, is to shred it up more or less finely according to the relative
adjustment of the plates covering the mouth of the said delivery tube.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:―
1. The method of rapidly drying gelatine consisting in first shredding it
when in a soft state by pressing it through a perforated plate then subjecting
the shredded mass to the influence of heat.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.