IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF MARMALADE AND SIMILAR CONDIMENTS, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Wedderspoon Keiller at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th November
1864.
I, WEDDERSPOON KEILLER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PREPARATION OF MARMALADE AND SIMILAR CONDIMENTS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the preparation of oranges
and other fruits for the manufacture of marmalade and similar condiments, and
the improvement essentially consists in subsituting machinery for pulping the
fruits in lieu of performing this operation as hitherto by hand pressure, whereby
the pulp is much more effectually produced, and in a much cleaner state than
hitherto.
The machinery employed for performing the operation of pulping consists of
a pair or set of rollers situated beneath a hopper, in which the fruit to be
pulped is placed; these rollers are situated in a frame placed by preference at
one end of a trough; they are fitted with journals, which revolve in suitable

page_text: bearings placed in the frame herein-before referred to. At one end of the
axle of one of the rollers there is fixed a winch handle for the purpose of im-
parting the necessary rotatory motion to the same, similar rotatory motion
being imparted to the other roller by means of spur pinions placed one on
each end of the shafts carrying them, and gearing into one another. The
bottom of that part of the box or trough situated immediately below the rollers
is inclined and fitted with a moveable perforated bottom, upon which the
pulped fruit falls after passing through the rollers, and that end of the box
farthest from the rollers is deepened so as to form a receptacle or cistern into
which the juice drains off from the pulp through the perforations; thus the
solid and liquid portions of the pulp are quickly and easily separated, the
latter being collected in the cistern is drawn off so soon as required for use.
It is preferred to employ rollers made of wood for crushing the fruit, and these
are made capable of being adjusted so as to vary the distance between them,
as may at any time be required. A peculiar feature in the construction of
these rollers consists in the employment of a diaphragm or frame moveable in
a slot passing through the plane of their longitudinal axes; this frame or
diaphragm is made slightly wider than the diameter of the rollers, so that
when one edge of it is placed flush with the periphery of the roller in which
it is situated, the other edge projects from the further side to an extent
equivalent to the difference between the diameter of the roller and breadth of
the diaphragm or frame. The two rollers thus constructed are placed so that
the moveable frames during a revolution shall always be at right angles to one
another; the use of this last-mentioned arrangement is that when the rollers
are in motion the side of the frame next to the fruit being projecting, presses
upon a portion of the latter, and more effectually moves it downwards into the
space between the rollers, thus causing the opposite roller to crush and
squeeze it much more effectually than could be done by the weight of the
fruit itself upon plain rollers. When the projecting portion of the frames
arrive at a nearly horizontal position, the direct pressure from the opposite
roller forces them backwards, and thus the opposite side projects and
performs a suitable operation. Owing to the frames always being at right
angles to each other the action of the moveable frames takes place four times
during a single revolution of the rollers when ouly two are used. When the
pulp is taken away from the crushing machine, it is placed in a boiler or
subjected to the action of steam in a cask or other convenient vessel; then it
is passed through a wire or other sieve placed under a receptacle containing
the boiled or steamed pulp, the receptacle is fitted with a vertical central axle,
mounted at the top with a winch handle, and on that portion of it inside the

page_text: receptacle with two or more projecting arms, by which, when revolving, the
pulp is thoroughly separated from the refuse, the latter remaining in the
receptacle whilst the former drains off through the perforated sides and seive
forming its bottom in a state to be further treated.