IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESS- ING LIQUIDS FROM PULPY AND SEMI-FLUID SUBSTANCES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESS-
ING LIQUIDS FROM PULPY AND SEMI-FLUID SUBSTANCES."-A communication
from abroad by Louis Pierre Robert de Massy, of Rue St. Sebastien,
Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 28th September 1866, and dated the 21st April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st April 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUIDS FROM PULPY AND SEMI-FLUID SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
The improvements which form the subject of the present Invention are
chiefly applicable to a press called the "Robert de Massy press," for which a
Patent was granted to me on the 4th April 1865, No. 955.
The present Invention consists, firstly, in the introduction of small quantities
of some defecating or purifying chemical agent into the solid matter before the

page_text: pressing process takes place, and also in effecting the entire defecation of a
liquid before the pressing or filtering or the washing or steeping.
The Invention consists, secondly, in a new arrangement of parts whereby
the filtering surface is largely augmented in extent, so as to render the appa-
ratus capable of doing more work than heretofore,
In the first part of the Invention the defecating and purifying agents may
be introduced either hot or cold for the purpose of opening the pores and thus
facilitating the work of separation, so that in the case of the pulp of beetroot,
or in the extraction of oil or other matters, a double result will be obtained,
viz., 1st, the liquid will be obtained more abundantly, and will be defecated
or filtered much clearer, purer, and less injuriously affected; 2nd, the separate
and distinct operation of defecation is avoided, and also the expences and
trouble consequent on it.
If sometimes it is wished to follow the ordinary method of defecating the
juice after the pressing process, the defecating agents will have such a power
to facilitate the expression of the juice from the pulp that it will be advisable
to employ them in as small quantity as possible before the pressing operation,
which will then proceed much better. In all cases where the apparatus
admits it a jet of steam can be made to pass through the pulp after the
pressing takes place, and this steam in so passing through the pulp forces out
any juice that may remain there; thus the liquid is entirely expelled and the
pulp is dried.
The steam can be injected several times during the operation, for which
purpose it is only necessary to stop the pressure during the time the steam
passes though the pulp; in this manner the steam acts doubly by washing and
displacement.
The second part of the Invention consists in the employment of corrugated
surfaces in place of the truncated cone heretofore employed; these corru-
gations consist of semicircular perforated tubes placed round the, inside of the
external casing of the apparatus at small distances apart, These tubes are
covered externally with wire gauze or other. permeable, material to allow of
the juice being forced out of the pulp into the interior of semicircular tubes,
from whence it is drawn off, leaving the pulp in the apparatus. By this means
it will be clearly understood that a much larger filtering surface is exposed to
the action of the pressing apparatus than in the apparatus now. in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her spécial licence that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from. time to time and at all times
thereafter 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUIDS FROM
PULPY AND SEMI-FLUID SUBSTANCES," being a communication from Louis Pierre
Robert de Massy, of Rue Saint Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Edward Newton; do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto: annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The improvements which form the subject of the present Invention are
chiefly applicable to a press called the "Robert de Massy press," for which a
Patent was granted to me on the Fourth April, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five, No. 955.

page_text: The present Invention consists, firstly, in the introduction of small quantities
of some defecating or purifying chemical agent into the solid matter before
the pressing process takes place, and also in effecting the entire defecation of
a liquid before the pressing or filtering or the washing or steeping.
The Invention consists, secondly, in a new arrangement of parts whereby
the filtering surface is largely augmented in extent, so as to render the appa-
ratus capable of doing more work than heretofore.
In the first part of the Invention the defecating and purifying agents may
be introduced either hot or cold for the purpose of opening the pores and thus
facilitating the work of separation, so that in the case of the pulp of beetroot
or in the extraction of oil or other matters a double result will be obtained,
viz., first, the liquid will be obtained more abundantly and will be defecated
or filtered much clearer, purer, and less injuriously affected; second, the
separate and distinct operation of defecation is avoided, and also the expenses
and trouble consequent on it.
If sometimes it is wished to follow the ordinary method of defecating the
juice after the pressing process, the defecating agents will have such a power
to facilitate the expression of the juice from the pulp that it will be advisable
to employ them in as small quantities as possible before the pressing operation,
which will then proceed much better. In all cases where the apparatus
admits of it a jet of steam can be made to pass through the pulp after the
pressing takes place, and thus steam in so passing through the pulp forces out
any juice that may remain there; thus the liquid will be entirely expelled and
the pulp be dried.
The steam can be injected several times during the operation, for which
purpose it is only necessary to stop the pressure during the time the steam
passes through the pulp; in this manner the steam acts doubly by washing
and displacement.
The second part of the Invention consists in the employment of corrugated
surfaces in place of the truncated cone heretofore employed; these corru-
gations consist of semicircular perforated tubes placed round the inside of the
external casing of the apparatus at small distances apart. These tubes are
covered externally with wire gauze or other permeable material to allow of
the juice being forced out of the pulp into the interior of the semicircular
tubes, from whence it is drawn off, leaving the pulp in the apparatus. By
this means it will be clearly understood that a much larger filtering surface is
exposed to the action of the pressing apparatus than in the apparatus now
in use.

page_text: The Figures in the accompanying Drawing represent different views of an
apparatus to be employed for the purposes of this Invention, Fig. 1 being a
longitudinal vertical section thereof taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2, which.
is a horizontal section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the
top of the apparatus, the cover being removed; Fig. 4 is a detached sectional
view drawn to an enlarged scale of a portion of the lower part of the apparatus
shewing the working of the filtering cloths at that part.
The apparatus is composed of a strong exterior cylinder A provided with
strengthening hoops a and of an inner cylinder A', a space between these two
cylinders being left in which is contained the india-rubber packing C, against
which the pressure is applied. In order to prevent injury to this packing it
is provided with a leather washer c, Fig. 4, underneath which is a disc of
copper e, which closes the opening between the iron plate E and the body A
of the outer cylinder. The filtering part is composed of wire cloth m and a
linen cloth placed inside; the object of the plates m¹ and f¹ is to make a
joint at the lower part of the packings (as seen in Fig. 4).
The cylinder A rests upon a bed or foundation, which forms a reservoir o to
receive the liquor which flows from the semi-cylindrical pipes b, which bear
against and are supported by the outer cylinder A throughout their whole
length, and project beyond it below for the purpose of carrying off the
expressed liquor into the reservoir o; they are perforated with holes suffi-
ciently close to each other to allow the liquor to flow off. The wire cloth
extends all round the circumference and over the projections formed by the
half pipes b, and this is also the case with the strong linen cloth f.
It will readily be understood that instead of the semi-cylindrical or half
pipes projections or corrugations may be employed of any kind, and that they
may be hollow or solid, or the same result may be attained by employing
apparatus cast with corrugations of greater or less depth, as shewn at Fig. 8,
and which corrugations may either be longitudinal or vertical, and fluted, in
order to obtain a more extended surface for the flow of the liquid. The pro-
jections or corrugations may be made horizontal instead of vertical, or the two
may be combined, crossing one another.
Fig. 5 shews an arrangement in which the cylinder A is provided with
cylindrical bars b, which if joined together in any suitable manner form an
enclosure which may be readily removed; the filtering fabric f may follow the
contours represented in the Figure, which produces a considerable augmen-
tation of filtering surface; in this arrangement the metallic cloth is shewn
at m.

page_text: Fig. 6 represents an arrangement in which the bars are fluted throughout
their whole length in order to ensure a more rapid flow of the liquor. In
Fig. 7 the bars are of a rectangular form, and are also grooved, as in the pre-
ceding example, upon a portion of their surface.
The pressing fluid
In Fig. 1 the half pipes are represented as extending to just beneath
the cover B, which keeps the apparatus perfectly closed by means of the
screw clamps D. The circular groove is intended for the reception of a
ring of caoutchouc which ensures a perfectly tight joint.
which acts upon the india-rubber packing C is supplied to the apparatus by
the pipe or channel Q at the lower part of the inner cylinder A', and must
pass through the perforated metal h before exerting its pressure; the cock
H serves for the escape of the air. When the necessary pressure has
been exerted the inner cylinder A¹ is
chains n.
removed bodily by means of the
The upper portion of the horizontal section, Fig. 2, shews the position
occupied by the caoutchouc C when the pressure commences, and the lower
part indicates the position it assumes after the pulp has been submitted to
pressure. The cone of cloth or caoutchouc p has for its object to collect any
liquor that might run inside the apparatus and conduct it into the circular
gutter o; and the cord p³, attached thereto, as seen in Fig. 1, serves to raise the
cloth p when the inner cylinder is removed.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention' of "Improvements
in the Mode of and Apparatus for Expressing Liquids from Pulpy and Semi-
fluid Substances, and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I desire it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
'
Firstly, introducing a small quantity of defecating or purifying agents into
the matters to be operated upon before pressing or washing, and also of
effecting the complete defecation or purification of the liquid before pressing,
filtering, or washing.
Secondly, the arrangement of apparatus above shewn and described, or any
mere modification thereof, by which the filtering surface of all kinds of filter
presses is considerably augmented by increasing the number of points at which
the liquor flows out.
I claim particularly for this purpose the employment as filtering partitions
of an assemblage of bars, rods, tubes, or projections of any kind inside the
press, and set either in front of or behind the metallic cloth or perforated

page_text: metal which forms the filtering surface in whatever way the pressure may be
applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)