IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING OIL PROM SEEDS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes &
Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING OIL PROM SEEDS, AND IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by
Johann Gottfried Hofmann, of Breslau, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 11th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his l'etition,
on the 11th June 1861.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes & Son, Patent Agents,
123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING OIL FROM SEEDS. AND IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me froin abroad by
Johann Gottfried Hofmaun, of Breslau, in the Kingdom of Prussia, to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists of the use of a liquor made from sulphur and char-
coal, for the purpose of extracting the oil from various kinds of seeds. The
said liquor is made in a clay retort, kept at a red heat in a suitable oven or
furnace.. Near the bottom of the said retort is a perforated plate of the same
material, resting on legs or supports, and near the top part is a cast-iron plate,

page_text: The space between the two plates is filled with burning charcoal inserted
through an aperture in the top plate. A clay pipe is inserted into the space
below the perforated plate,through which pipe the sulphur is passed and falls
on the bottom of the retort, where it evaporates, rises into the charcoal, and
becomes combined with the carbon, which vapour passes through an iron
pipe into a vessel or condenser placed in a trough filled with water, a
constant stream of cold water being passed on the said condenser.
The seeds containing oil are broken or crushed by rollers or other suitable
means, and placed in a hopper with a vertical pipe, in which a shaft is slowly
revolving. The seed passes from the hopper through the pipe into a trough,
which hopper and pipe is kept full of seed, so as to exclude the air. The
extraction of the oil takes place in the trough, which is made of sheet iron
with a cover to rise and fall en guide bars, so as to allow for the expansion
and contraction of the vapour. The said trough is divided into any convenient
number of compartments by vertical plates. The liquor is lifted by a force
pump into the upper compartment, and when that is full it flows over the
partition and fills the second-chamber.or compartment, then the third, and
so on, till all are filled. The seed is then, by a feed apparatus, thrown into the
last chamber or compartment, where the liquor penetrates and dissolves all
the oil contained in it. A shaft with perforated scoops revolves in each of
the compartments, the scoops lift the wet seeds out of the liquor, and pass
them to the next compartment, where they fall into the liquor, the same
operation being repeated until they have passed through all the chambers,
and are then thrown out on to a sieve, through which the solution passes.
As the liquor enters at the top and runs down from one chamber to another,
the seed being carried from the lower chamber to the higher one, it is evident
that the solution will contain much oil at the bottom, but scarcely any at
the top, and as the seed in the last chamber is wetted with this almost clear
liquor, the seed which is thrown out at the end will only contain clear
liquor without oil.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, l'atent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 EXTRACTING OIL FROM SEEDS, AND IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
Johann Gottfried Hofmann, of Breslau,in the Kingdom of Prussia, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 saine 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompany-
ing three Sheets of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
This Invention consists in the use of a liquor made from sulphur and char-
coal for the purpose of extracting the oil from various kinds of seeds. One
arrangement of apparatus for making the said liquor is shewn in the vertical
section Fig. 21, and plans Figs. 22 and 23, Sheet 1.
A represents a fireproof clay retort, kept at a red heat in a suitable oven or
furnace. Near the bottom of the said retort is a perforated plate a, of the
same material, resting on legs or supports, and at the top there is a cast-iron
plate b. The space between the two plates is filled with burning charcoal
inserted through an aperture in the top plate b. A fireproof clay pipe c is
passed through the retort and inserted into the space below the perforated
plate. The sulphur is coarsely broken and filled into rolls of paper or other
suitable material of the required size. The upper aperture of the pipe c is

page_text: closed with a lump of soft clay, which the operative takes off with one hand,
and with the other throws into the pipe as quickly as possible one of the rolls
of sulphur, which falls on the bottom of the retort, where it evaporates, rises
into the charcoal, and becomes combined with the carbon, which vapour passes
through an iron piped into the condenser f, consisting of an iron plate having
a narrow rim above and a deeper one below. This condenser is placed in a
trough so filled with water as to leave a space of about one quarter of an inch
between the surface of the water and the plate. A small pipeg with a regu-
lating cock admits a constant stream of cold water upon one end of the con-
denser. This water flows over it to the opposite end,and escapes through holes
in the rim into the trough. The vapour as it enters the space between the
plate of the condenser and the surface of the cold water is condensed, and as
this liquor is two and a quarter times heavier than water, it instantly sinks to
the bottom, and the water is an absolute tight cover over it.
At the commencement of the operation the sulphur is supplied to the retort
every quarter of an hour, and as it progresses, at about every seven or eight
minutes. At the end of the condenser there is a small pipe k for leading non-
condensed gases into a glass bottle l, partly filled with water, in which. the
vapour condenses, and gases pass through a pipe m into the open air. The
pipe d becomes filled in time with raw sulphur, if too much sulphur has been
thrown into the retort.
A vertical and longitudinal section of this improved apparatus or machinery
for extracting the oil from seeds is shewn in Figs. 1, 7, 8, 9, 13, and 14,
Sheet 1, and Figs. 9 and 15, Sheet 2. These Figures are joined together in
the original Drawing, but they have been separated at Fig. 9, on account of
the size, but when referring to them they must be supposed to be connected.
Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are transverse sections of Fig. 1; Fig. 2 being at the line
A, B, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 at the line C, D; and Fig. 4 at the line E, F.
fingers on the
The seed or other materials containing oil are broken by rollers or other
means already known, and brought into the hopper a, Fig. 4, which rests
upon an upright pipe, in which a shaft is slowly turning. Such oily seed
would stick fast in the pipe, but that is prevented by small
shaft, which keep it always moving, so that it must fall down. On the lower
end of the shaft is fixed a cross piece b, to the ends of which two springs are
fixed, as shewn in Fig. 5. These springs are compressed in the pipe, and in
consequence they spring forward as soon as they pass the aperture c, Figs. 4
and 5, and throw the seed into the large trough. This pipe and hopper must
be kept full of seed, so that the air cannot circulate in it; if this is not
observed, the vapour of the liquor would mix with the air and thus escape,

page_text: and this is not only loss of liquor, but it is also dangerous for the workmen
to breathe; it causes bad headache, and inflames if a light or some hot
object is brought in contact with it; melting in will inflame it. As the
vapour of this liquor is of more specific gravity than the atmospheric air,
it only rises in the same when it can mix with it; the pipe when full of sced
will not allow the air to circulate, therefore no vapour can escape.
The extraction of the oil takes place in the large trough of that portion of
the apparatus shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. This trough is made of iron
plate, and its cover is loosely put on. In order to make it perfectly tight,
there is a rim on it, which enters a channel filled with water; this is not
only on purpose to cause no trouble in opening it, but also to prevent any
resistance, in case the vapour should be set on fire. This trough is full of a
mixture of atmospheric air with vapour, and when this ignites it does so all at
once, and therefore expands very much, and would burst the trough, but now
it only lifts the cover off, and as the vapour is instantly burned, the expansion
is exhausted, and the cover falls into its place again, and keeps the air off
from tho liquor in the bottom of the trough, which would burn away if this
were not the case. The cover must have guide bars, so as always to descend
in its right place. Such an accident can never take place in managing the
apparatus properly, and it resembles an ordinary distillery in this respect
On the bottom of this trough there are ten upright plates, which divide the
whole into eleven different chambers. The liquor is lifted by a force pump
through the pipe d, Figs. 1 and 14, into the chamber on the upper end of the
trough, and when this is full it flows over the partition and fills the second
chamber, likewise the third, and so with all the rest. When this is done,
then the seed is put in, and the feed apparatus, Fig. 4, is put into operation,
and throws the seed into the tenth chamber, where it falls into the liquor,
which penetrates it instantly, and dissolves all the oil contained in it. In
each of these eleven chambers are four scoops made of perforated iron plate,
as shewn in Fig. 3, and fixed to the main shaft running through. These
scoops are only shewn in a few of the chambers in Fig. 1. The shaft makes
1 revolutions a minute, and by the aid of the scoops lifts the wet sced out
of the liquor. The liquor flows off through the holes in the scoops, so that
the seed is tolerably dry when it comes to the top, where it falls off, and the
oblique part of the scoop
directs it into the next chamber; here the seed falls
again into the liquor, and is taken out and dried in the same manner, and so
on to the last scoop, which throws the seed into a hexagonal sieve, in the
inside of which are other plates to drive the seed forward till it comes to the
end and falls out. The liquor runs through the sieve,and falls into the trough,

page_text: and if some of the seed should go with it, it will be brought back to the scoop
by plates on the outside of the sieve, and be taken up again. In the lowest
chamber, besides the scoop, there is a cylinder consisting of an iron frame,
and covered with the finest sieve made of brass wire or horsehair. The
solution penetrates through the sieve, and all larger particles of the seed
remain outside, and the scoops catch them, and bring them back again into
the next chamber. The solution in the inside of the cylinder runs into four
cans f, made of tin plate, Fig. 4, and in turning round they lift the solution,
which flows through the last partition,out of which it runs through the pipe g
into the vessel, Fig. 9. As the liquor comes in at the top, and runs down
from one chamber to the other, and as the seed is carried from the lower
chamber up to the higher ones, it is obvious that the solution must contain
much oil at the bottom and scarcely any at the top, and as the seed in the
last chamber is wetted with this nearly clean liquor, it is evident that the seed
which is thrown out at the end contains liquor only, and no oil. The more
liquor the pump brings in proportion to the seed the clearer is the liquor at
the end, but at the same time the weaker will be the solution. The movoment
of the pump is to be regulated by altering the length of its stroke. The
solution enters at the bottom into the vessel, Fig. 9, in which is a partition
made of sheets of felt. The solution goes through and is filtered, so that no
particle of seed can enter into the pipe h, and come into the evaporating
cylinder. Fig. 15. The vessel, Fig. 9, has a large opening in the bottom for
the purpose e of cleaning it. This evaporating cylinder, Fig. 15, has a second
cylinder around it, but both of them are fixed to one end plate, shewn in
Fig. 16. The cock on the pipe h is to let the solution into the cylinder. The
steam that has driven the steam engine is passed into the space between the
two cylinders by the pipe i, by which the interior cylinder is heated to make
the solution boil inside. The condensed water runs off by the pipe k. The
pipe is in direct connection with the steam boiler, and leads steam directly
into the solution. The liquor begins to boil at 42 degrees Reaumur, and
evaporates while the oil remains in the cylinder and the condensed water
underneath it. The vapour passes through the pipe and valve m into the
condenser, Figs. 13 and 11. At the front of the cylinders, Figs. 15 and 16
in the centre there is a man-hole, and below a cock n to let out the condensed
water and the oil. The condenser consists of a large iron plate which bas
on the top a rim around itself, 1 inches high, and another below from
6 to 7 inches deep. This condenser is in a large iron box, trough, or cask,
filled with water, so high that the surface of the water is about of an inch
below the plate of the condenser; and this space of of an inch is the space

page_text: where the vapour enters; it is condensed very quickly, as it comes in contact
with the cold plate of the condenser and the surface of the cold water.
The vapour when turned into liquor sinks into the water.
If any vapour
should not be completely condensed in the condenser, Fig. 14, it will risc
into the pipe n, and into the upper condenser, Fig. 13. In the beginning
of the operation the whole apparatus is filled with atmospheric air; this
cannot condense and is driven out at last through the pipe o into the glass
bottle, the bottom of which is covered with cold water so that every
particle of vapour must here be condensed at last, which might otherwise be
mixed with air and able to escape. The air does not condense in the water
in the bottle p, but comes out and runs through the other pipe out of the
bottle into the open air. The cold water which condenses the vapour enters
by the pipe q, and its quantity is regulated by a cock; it runs upon the upper
condenser, hig. 13, near the place where the vapour and air is guided away
by the pipe, and flows slowly to the other end, and through holes in the rim
down into the trough, in which it flows back again and through the pipe
upon the lower condenser. The water has here the same current, and is
at last carried away by the pipe s. The trough, Fig 14, has two bottoms;
the upper one is perforated with holes, so that the liquor may fall through
and be secure in case any one should stir it up, from hence it begins its
course again through the pump into the apparatus. The pipet is on purpose
to let the liquor into the lower trough. On the top of the pump is a small
vessel filled with water; if this were not so, the piston would at each stroke
come out wet with liquor, which would evaporate and spoil the air for
breathing, but now the water makes the piston wet, and no liquor can
escape.
Now, to recover the liquor which is in the seed that falls out of the sieve
and through a pipe into the drying cylinder, Fig. 7, this pipe must be shut up
so that no vapour can rise, and that is done by a valve, Fig. 6, which turns
slowly round. The seed falls between the blades of this valve, turns round
with them, and falls out when below. To prevent the wet seed from hanging
to the inside of the pipe, there is a crank with a chain on it, and this keeps
the pipe open, and makes any seed fall off that would get fast on the inside.
The drying cylinder, Fig. 7, is also a double one, and the interior one is
heated by steam which comes from the steam engine, and is let into the space
between the two cylinders. The valve u will allow stean into the interior
of the cylinder where a screw moves slowly round. The lower end of the
screw has the thread entire, but a little farther up the worm is cut away
in grooves, as shewn in Fig. 11. This screw transports the seed in the

page_text: drying cylinder to its upper part. The seed falling into the drying cylinder
comes in contact with the heated surface of it, and also with the steam;
both of thein are hot, and cause the liquor to evaporate and turn into vapour,
which latter passes through the pipe to a condenser like those before
mentioned, laying alongside of them, as shewn in Fig. 12 in a smaller scale.
The vapour is heavier than the steam, therefore the steam will fill the upper
part of the drying cylinder while the vapour will descend into the condenser;
and this is the reason for putting the cylinders in such a position. If they
were horizontal the vapour would be in the whole length of the cylinder,
but now it is only in the lower part, and in the upper part there is only
steam. The seed falls out of the upper end of the drying cylinder through
a pipe and cock w, which must be slut when the apparatus is not at work.
When the apparatus is standing still, the vapour which falls down on account
of being heavier than the air will pass through the valve, Fig. 6, into the
large pipe, because the valve fits loosely, and what does go through mixes
with the air in the drying cylinder, and goes forward into the pipe and cock w.
When the apparatus is at work the steam drives the vapour downwards so
that it cannot come up; the seed comes out of the drying cylinder and
falls through the cock w into a similar cylinder which might be called the
shutting-up cylinder. This is likewise a double one, so that by the pipe x
stean is led in, and the condensed water passes out through the pipes.
The valve y is to supply steam to the interior of the cylinder, which drives
all the air and vapour up through the cock w. In this cylinder there is a
screw which forces the seed out till it comes to the step a, and fills a box
so that no steam comes out. Near the step there is a pin in the shaft
that stirs up the seed, so that it fills the box, also shewn in Fig. 10, and the
interior of the cylinder, so that no steam can come out.
If anything is required to be done to the apparatus, and it is necessary to
empty it from all liquor, this is to be done in the following manner-At
first open all the screws a¹, a¹, a', Fig. 1, and let the liquor run into cups
with water, so that the liquor comes under the cover of water, and cannot
evaporate then shut all these screws, and open the cock j, Fig. 9, which
empties the filter; when all is empty of liquor, open the pipes 7. b. and, 1.
Figs. 15, 9, and 1, and take out the valve, Fig. 6, and the steam will drive
the liquor out, turn it into vapour, and drive it into the condenser, Fig. 14.
At the same time open also the valves and y, Figs. 7 and 8, and all vapour
will be very soon under water. The steam makes the seed in the upper
trough wet, and this must be cleaned, because if any water comes into the
apparatus it will not work; the seed itself should be dry for working well.

page_text: The pipe v is made of tin plate which has the least material, and is warmed
and cooled the quickest by the vapour in it, and the operative may feel on
the outside, whether he has steam, or vapour, or cold air in it.
As the filter and sieves become stopped in time, the following apparatus
may be employed to obtain a clear solution :-The cans f, shewn in Fig. 4,
can be dispensed with, and the lower end of the trough must be made so low
that the solution from the seed trough flows through a tube D into a trough e
near it, Figs. 18, 19, and 20, Sheet 3, which trough is divided by walls
placed in it in many partitions. These walls are of an inch lower than
the liquid. The particles of seed sink to the bottom in the liquid, the purest
portion of which passes to the next partition, where again any particles
remaining sink till the pure solution flows at last through the tube D into
the vessel, Fig. 9, in which the filter may be now dispensed with. The
particles of seed sink as slime into the lower part of the trough e, in which
there is a screw which turns very slowly, and forces back the slime into the
chief trough where the scoops therein receive it, and lift it to the next higher
partition, from whence it passes on with the seed. To the walls are cast
arched covers, which cover the screw so that its motion cannot stir the
slime. Between the walls of the trough and the covers there are spaces
This screw is
through which the slime sinks so that the screw may catch it
driven by means of two bevil wheels and a vertical shaft a, which at the
upper end where it enters the trough has a water closing that no carbo-
sulphuret can escape. The trough is likewise closed with a cover made
close by water.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim, the condenser
and mode of condensing the vapour in the apparatus for making it, and
also the general arrangement of the apparatus or machinery for extracting oil
from seeds, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying three
Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
EDWP, T. HUGHES. (L.S.)