Materials and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by Messrs Wirth & Co., of Frankfort on the Main, in
the Empire of Germany, acting as Agents of A. F. Dronsberg van der Linden,
of Dordrecht, in the Kingdom of Holland.]
Materials and to Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 apparatus for drying coffee and other materials.
The drying of coffee-beans after they have been freed from the pulp under the
action of water is effected by placing the said beans in inclined stone vessels having
capacities of several hundred square meters, and exposing them to the action of the
sun without any artificial heat. At night, during which in tropical countries the
atmosphere is often very moist, and when there is frequently rain, the coffee-beans
are placed in heaps, and covered with cloth or leaves, on which they are again exposed
to the sun.
This manner of drying not only requires the expenditure of much time and labour,
but causes a great waste of material. It has moreover the disadvantage that, being
entirely dependent on the weather, one is very often prevented from taking advantage
of favourable opportunities, and of the proper time for shipping.
As the coffee crop is as a rule the heaviest in wet years, the drying forms one of
the greatest difficulties and frequently does not take place to a sufficient extent, so
that as a consequence the coffee beans become mouldy and thereby diminish in value.
In order to obviate this inconvenience and to render unnecessary the costly vessels
before referred to, I have constructed apparatus which is capable of working unin-
terruptedly that is to say the drying of the coffee can be proceeded with both during
the day and night and during rain and sunshine.

page_text: ་
Ims apparatus consists essentiamy of two parts, GORIL IS to say, of a truck and of a
room which can be closed by means of doors and windows and into which the truck
can be moved.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is an end view of a room or building adapted to receive the said truck,
and
Figure 2 is a side view of the same.
Figure 3 is a transverse section shewing the interior of the building and the truck
therein.
Figure 4 is a sectional plan shewing the arrangement of the heating apparatus.
A is the truck which is adapted to run upon rails. This truck is constructed
entirely of iron and is built in the form of a box or similar to the open goods trucks
used on railways.
The bottom of the box designed for the reception of the coffee consists of
perforated sheet iron or wire fabric. The said bottom is generally fixed, but in case
wire fabric is used it is made movable.. In this case the wire fabric passes, like an
endless band, over two rotary rolls arranged at the two ends of the truck.
When the rolls turn the fabric moves and the rotation can be regulated by any
suitable mechanical device so that the wet coffee thrown upon the bottom at one end
of the truck when it arrives at the other end is completely dried and suitable for being
sent away.
B is the room or building which serves for the reception of the truck described.
The wall or roof of the said building slope like the roof of a house, and the gable
ends Care provided with doors for moving the truck in and out, and with windows.
Upon the ridge of the building are arranged ventilators V.
of
At the rear end of the building in a pit in the ground are placed two furnaces
iron or fire-brick, which are surrounded by an iron casing at a distance of from about
10 to 20 centimeters from them. From each furnace pipes a, a for the escape of the
smoke, pass through the interior of the building to the chimney D and assist in the
heating of the whole room.
The roof is constructed of iron and can have either single or double walls.
Although the latter construction is not absolutely necessary, it is preferable, inasmuch
as the walls when arranged at a distance of from 20 to 25 centimetres apart can be
used for causing the circulation of air, which has a very favourable effect upon the
drying of the coffee.
The air in the building is heated by being passed between the furnace and the
casing surrounding the same before it enters the room. But the heating of the air
can also be effected in any other known manner.
The warm air passes through the coffee lying on the perforated bottom, the coffee
being stirred by a workman and shifted from end to end of the truck.
If the bottom, as already observed is made movable, this movement of the coffee is
performed by mechanical means.
By the passage of the dry, warm air the particles of moisture upon the coffee are
converted into vapour, which rises and passes through the openings e, formed in the
top of the roof, into the intermediate space enclosed by the double walls. The vapour
then passes between the two walls and again enters hetween the casing and furnaces
where it is again heated and then follows the course before described.
As the vapour passes between the double walls the air is cooled and the water
deposits on the outer wall, thence running down the latter, and being conveyed to the
outside by channels k.
In case it is desired to employ fresh air, doors are arranged below the furnaces
through which, as soon as they are opened, fresh air enters between the casing and
furnaces, which air, after being heated, passes into the room and after being saturated
with water vapour is drawn off by the ventilators in the roof. The ventilators can be
'set in motion and stopped from below.
The wet coffee is delivered upon the truck A, at one end of the building B by

page_text: ordinary tip wagons g, whilst the dried coffee is removed by other wagons h placed at
the opposite end of the building.
The truck house B can be constructed of wood, masonry or iron.
During the shining of the sun the truck with the material to be dried can be drawn
out of the building by horses or by a windlass and the drying caused by the sun;
whereas during the night or when it rains the truck is moved into the enclosed room
and the drying process can here if required be continued by artificial heat.
After the drying of a coffee crop is completed the building can be used during the
remainder of the year as a store room or for any other purposes.
To this end it is merely necessary to remove from the building the truck A and the
heating tubes a upon the floor of the room.
By this apparatus coffee and other substances are not only rendered fit for
the market in a shorter time than heretofore, but as the drying process is not
interrupted the substances dried are of a better quality than heretofore.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
The method hereinbefore described, of drying coffee and other tropical products
after they have been freed from their pulp, by placing the said products on a truck A
provided with a perforated bottom or a bottom made of wire fabric, the said truck
being constructed in such a manner that it can be drawn into or out of a room B
provided with suitable heating apparatus, the whole being constructed in such a
imanner that in fine weather the natural warmth of the sun is employed for drying,
while in bad and wet weather and at night, the truck is drawn into the house, the
drying being continued by artificial means, substantially in the manner described
with reference to the accompanying drawing.