IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PICKLING VEGETABLES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Arthur Manfield, of Thornton Street,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PICKLING VEGETABLES."
Sealed the 18th July 1866, and dated the 3rd May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Arthur Manfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1866.
I, HENRY ARTHUR MANFIELD, of Thornton Street, Brixton, in the County.
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PICKLING VEGETABLES," to be as.
follows:-
The Invention consists principally in placing the vegetables: to be preserved
or pickled in an air-tight vessel, and after exhausting the air therefrom
admitting the spiced vinegar, which will thus penetrate at once completely
into the pores or fibres of the vegetables. A great advantage is that (as the
vinegar penetrates at once to the centre) vegetables pickled by this process,

page_text: will be in better condition for eating in a few hours than they would be in
three months when pickled by the usual process.
The apparatus consists principally of a chamber of earthenware, slate, or
other suitable material having an air-tight cover, and provided with a perforated
movable cage or receptacle for containing the vegetables. In connection with
this chamber, by means of a pipe, is a reservoir for supplying the spiced vinegar
for pickling or preserving the vegetables, and an air-pump or pumps for
exhausting the air from the chamber and the vegetables before admitting the
vinegar thereto. If thought necessary or desirable a further pressure can be
given by condensing or forcing compressed air into the upper part of the chamber
after admitting the vinegar, in which case a syringe or pump for condensing
the air will be required. The chamber and reservoir are to be fitted with air
and liquid gauges, and the connecting pipes are to be provided with suitable
stop-cocks. I also propose to have a small travelling crane for removing and
replacing the cover of the air-tight chamber, and also for lifting the cage
enclosing the vegetables into and out of the said chamber. The whole
apparatus may be driven by a steam engine or other motive power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Arthur Manfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ARTHUR MANFIELD, of Thornton Street, Brixton, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, 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
Henry Arthur Manfield, Her. special licence that I, the said Henry Arthur
Manfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Arthur Manfield, 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 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PICKLING
VEGETABLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry

page_text: Arthur Manfield, my executors or administrators, by a
an instrument in writing
under me, 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 Henry Arthur Manfield, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say:-
The Invention consists principally in placing the vegetables to be preserved
or pickled in, an air-tight vessel, and after exhausting the air therefrom
admitting the spiced vinegar, which will thus penetrate at once completely
into the pores or fibres of the vegetables, and a great advantage is that (as
the vinegar penetrates at once to the centre); vegetables pickled by this
process will be in better condition for eating in a few hours than they would
be in three months when pickled by the usual process..
The apparatus consists principally of a chamber or vessel lined with earthen-
ware, slate, or other suitable material having an air-tight cover and provided
with a perforated moveable cage or receptacle for containing the vegetables.
In connection with this chamber, by means of a pipe, is a reservoir for supply-
ing the spiced vinegar for pickling or preserving the vegetables, and an air-
pump or pumps for exhausting the air from the chamber and the vegetables
before admitting the vinegar thereto. If thought necessary or desirable a
further pressure, can be given by condensing or forcing compressed air into
the upper part of the chambers, after admitting the vinegar, in which case a
pump or pumps for condensing the air will be required. The chamber and
reservoir are to be fitted with air and liquid gauges, and the connecting pipes
are to be provided with suitable stop-cocks. I also propose to have a small
travelling crane for removing and replacing the cover of the air-tight chamber,
and also for lifting the cage enclosing the vegetables into and out of the said
chamber. The exhausting and condensing apparatus may be driven by a
steam engine or other motive power.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improvements
in the Method of and Apparatus for Pickling Vegetables," I will now proceed
to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be
distinctly understood I have annexed hereunto a Drawing illustrative thereof,

page_text: and have marked the same with letters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
The accompanying Drawing represents a side elevation of the apparatus
drawn to a scale of one inch to a foot.
a, a, is a chamber or vessel of cast iron lined with slate or other suitable
material not affected by acid and provided with a cover b, b, which fits
thereon perfectly air-tight by means of a band of india-rubber or otherwise;
c, c, is a perforated cage or receptacle (made by preference of wood) for
containing the vegetables to be pickled; d, d, is a reservoir of cast iron
enamelled inside (for containing the spiced vinegar) from the bottom of
which a pipe e, e, leads to the chamber a, a, and from the top of which a
second pipe f, f, also leads to the said chamber. The latter is for equalizing
the pressure in the reservoir and the chamber when desired, and the former is
for allowing the spiced vinegar to flow from the reservoir into the chamber
a, a. 9, 9, are exhausting pumps worked by a three-throw crank shaft h, h,
actuated by a strap i, i, passing round a pulley j, j, keyed upon one end
thereof. These pumps communicate with the chamber a, a, by means of a
pipe k, k. In a line with these pumps and actuated in a similar manner are
condensing pumps (which are not seen in the Drawing, being immediately
behind the exhausting pumps). These condensing pumps are driven indepen-
dently of the exhausting pumps, so that either or both can be set in motion or
stopped when required, and are also connected with the chamber a, a, by
means of a pipe similar to the pipe k, k; l, l, is a tramway supported on
suitable framing and carrying a travelling crane m, m, which is worked by
the windlasses n, n; o is a safety valve for the chamber; p, an air cock; 9, is
liquid gauge; r, a vacuum gauge; and 3, a pressure gauge; t is a cock for
drawing off the vinegar; and u a vacuum tap for drawing off any moisture
that may drain from the vegetables during the exhausting process without
breaking the vacuum; vis an air cock for the reservoir d, d; w is a screw
cap for the latter, which is removed when it is required to charge the
reservoir with spiced vinegar; e, f, k*, are stop-cocks on their respective
pipes.
a
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The cover b, b, of the chamber
a, a, having been removed, the cage c, c, is filled with vegetables and hoisted
and carried by the travelling crane m, m, over the chamber a, a, and lowered
therein; the lid b, b, is now raised and replaced by the crane and fastened
air-tight (by bolting or otherwise); the cock k* is now opened and the
exhausting pumps 9, 9, are set to work, exhausting all the air from the pores
of the vegetables, and any moisture or liquid from the same is drawn off by

page_text: the vacuum cock u, the cock f* being open and the vacuum equal in both
vessels, the vinegar is then allowed to flow into the chamber a, a, by opening
the cock e; the cocks e*, *, and k*, are now closed and the condensing
pumps set to work compressing the air above the vinegar in the chamber a, a,
and thus forcing the vinegar into the pores of the vegetables and causing it to
penetrate at once completely to the centre thereof. This pressure may be
kept up as long as considered necessary. The air cock is then opened, the
lid unfastened and taken off, and the cage of vegetables removed.
In some instances, I propose to dispense with the condensing pumps and to
employ the ordinary atmospheric pressure only for saturating the vegetables.
In this case the pipe f, f, is not required and the top of the reservoir d, d,
must be open to the atmosphere. When the vacuum is formed in the
chamber a, a, upon the cock e* being opened the vinegar will rush into the
chamber with a force equal to the difference in the atmospheric pressure
outside and inside the said chamber.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
'Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Pickling Vegetables,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the method of pickling or saturating vegetables with vinegar by
atmospheric exhaustion or compression, or both.
And, secondly, I claim the apparatus shown in the Drawing and above
described, or any mere modification thereof, constructed and operating in
substantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Arthur Manfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Solicitor and Patent Agent,
1, Serle Street,
Lincoln's Inn.
HY. A. MANFIELD. (L.S.)