A NEW PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING POTATO MEAL OR FECULA
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Rey Rimels, of Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, for the Invention of "A NEW PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING
POTATO MEAL OR FECULA."
Sealed the 14th August 1858, and dated the 20th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Rey Rimels at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th February 1858.
J, HENRY REY RIMELS, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention.for "A NEW PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING
POTATO MEAL OR FECULA," to be as follows:
My improved process is the following:-The potatos, after being sliced
by a suitable root-cutting machine, are placed in baskets, which are filled to
about three-fourths of their capacity; the baskets are then immersed in large
vessels containing a solution of common salt, this solution being heated to about
140 degrees Fahrenheit; the baskets are allowed to remain in it.about 30
minutes, they are then carried to a chamber heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit,
where they are allowed to remain 12 hours; after which the potatos are in
a fit state to be reduced into meal by the common grinding process.
From a given quantity of potatós an increased amount of fecula is obtained
by my improved process; thus, by the consumption of 100 lbs. of potatos;
34 lbs. of fecula or potato meal are obtained, and also 4 lbs. of bran from the
peelings. This meal or fecula is admirably adapted for the manufacture of

page_text: semolina, vermicelli, &c., all sorts of Italian pastes, maccaroni, and also of
fine white tapioca of great clearness and purity.
The starch obtained by this process is also of finer quality than that ob-
tained by the ordinary process of manufacture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Rey Rimels in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
REY RIMELS, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Rey Rimels, Her special licence that I, the said
Henry Rey Rimels, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Rey Rimels, 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 "A NEW PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING POTATO MEAL OR FECULA," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Rey Rimels 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 Henry Rey Rimels, 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:-
.
My Invention consists of a novel, simple, and cheap mode of obtaining
potato meal or fecula.
My improved process is as follows:-The potatos, as usual, must be first
carefully washed, and then sliced, by a suitable root-cutting machine, into

page_text: pieces about a quarter of an inch thick; these thin pieces are received in
baskets, which are filled to about three-fourths of their capacity; these baskets
are then immersed in large vessels containing a solution of common salt,
treated to about one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit; the baskets are
allowed to remain in this solution about thirty minutes, they are then carried
into a chamber heated to about one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit,
where they are allowed to remain twelve hours, after which the potatos are
in a fit state to be reduced into meal by the common grinding process. This
meal or fecula is admirably adapted for the manufacture of semolina, vermi-
celli, maccoroni, tapioca, and other Italian pastes, as it possesses great clear-
ness and purity.
The starch obtained by this process is also of finer quality than that
procured by any other known process of manufacture. And from a given
quantity of potatoes an increased amount of fecula is obtained by my improved
process; thus, one hundred pounds of potatos will yield, when treated ac-
cording to my plan, thirty-four pounds of fecula, and four pounds of bran from
the parings.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is to
be performed, I claim the manufacture or production of potato meal or fecula
according to the mode herein-before described, by steeping the potatos in a
solution of common salt, heated to one hundred and forty degrees Fah-
renheit, or thereabouts, and then drying them in a chamber heated to the
same degree, or thereabouts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Rey Rimels have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
RACLOT.
H. KEY KIMELS. (L.S.)