IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH AND FOOD FOR ANIMALS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Harris Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co. Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH AND FOOD FOR ANIMALS,
AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR A communication to him from abroad by
William Thomas Jebb of Buffalo, New York, United States of America.
دو
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Harris Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th September 1882.
"
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STARCH AND FOOD FOR ANIMALS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR [A communi-
cation to him from abroad by William Thomas Jebb of Buffalo, New York,
United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of starch and food
for animals from grain, and in apparatus therefor. The said Invention has for its
object to recover and collect the valuable parts which are contained in the water
with which the grain, or the products derived from the grain, are treated in
obtaining the starch. In the present modes of manufacture these portions of the
grain are discharged with the water and lost, whereby the manufacturer loses a
considerable portion of valuable constituent parts of the grain, which are useful in
part for producing the desired article of manufacture or as food for cattle and other
animals, and whereby the water courses into which this refuse water is discharged
are contaminated and rendered offensive as these derivatives of the grain ferment
or putrify rapidly, especially in warm weather, and whereby the employment of
very large quantities of water is rendered indispensable in the manufacture.
By the improvements hereinafter described these valuable constituent parts are
recovered in a useful condition, whereby a large saving is effected, the contamination
of water courses is prevented, and a considerable portion of the water employed in

page_text: the manufacture is used repeatedly, thereby reducing the quantity of water
employed and the cost of the manufacture.
The grinding mills or disintegrating mills by which the grain is reduced are of
the usual and well known construction.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a separating or shaking
sieve whereby the crude starch contained in the ground grain is separated from
the husk or bran in a well known manner. The crude starch, together with the
bulk of water, passes through the meshes of the separating-sieve into a receptacle
below the sieve, and the bran or coarse offal passes over the tail end of the sieve
into a hopper. The water containing the crude starch passes from the said
receptacle through a pipe, trough, or other conduit into settling vats or tanks in
which the liquid is permitted to come to a state of rest whereby the starch is
caused to settle on the bottom of the tanks. The supernatant liquor is then drawn
off from above the starch through a series of discharge pipes provided with
suitable valves or cocks, care being taken not to draw off the water to a depth at
which any considerable portion of the deposited starch would be removed with
the water.
In ordinary practice, this water is permitted to run to waste and as it contains
some starch and other valuable constituent parts of the ground grain it is desirable
to recover these parts. I therefore conduct the water which is drawn from the
settling tank through a pipe into a receiving tank which is provided with an
agitating device or rotating stirrer of well-known construction. After the water
standing above the deposited starch in the settling tanks has been drawn off, fresh
water is added to the starch in the said tank together with a small quantity of
alkali, which latter is intimately mixed with the starch by rotating stirrers with
which the said tanks are provided.
The liquor or starch milk resulting from this operation is conducted to starch
tables or depositing troughs which may be of any ordinary and well known
construction and upon which the starch is deposited in a comparatively pure state,
while the water, gluten, and other light or soluble refuse escape at the tail ends of
the slightly inclined starch-tables. The material which so escapes from the starch
tables is collected in another tank which is provided with a suitable stirring device.
The liquid contained in this tank is delivered by means of a pump into a filter in
which the solid particles contained in the liquid are separated from the liquid.
The coarse offal or bran which is discharged from the aforesaid separator is
collected in a receptacle from which it can be delivered wholly or in part by a
spout to a charger or feed-box which is arranged at the upper end of the said
filter. The latter consists of a closed cylindrical vessel provided near its upper end
with an opening communicating with the said charger and having a slide or
movable gate whereby it can be opened and closed. A follower or movable piston
is arranged in the upper end of the cylinder and provided with an upwardly
extending screw whereby it can be raised and lowered in the said cylinder. The
said piston is provided with fine perforations to permit the passage of the liquid
but retain the coarse offal and bran.
The discharge pipe of the aforesaid pump opens into the upper end of the said
cylinder. The cylinder is provided at its lower end with one or more perforated
discharge pipes extending a short distance upward into the cylinder and with a
central discharge opening through which the solid material can be discharged.
The discharge pipe or pipes are imperforate outside of the cylinder and lead to a
receiving tank in which the liquid entering the said pipes is collected. The
cylinder is first filled with offal, refuse, or bran from the said charger, which material
is compacted in the cylinder by lowering the said piston. When the material has
become sufficiently dense to operate as a filtering medium, the liquid collected in
the collecting tank is forced into the cylinder and through the compressed offal by
means of the said pump. The offal intercepts the solid particles contained in the
liquid while the liquid deprived of its solid particles enters the discharge-pipes

page_text: through the perforations with which they are provided within the cylinder, and is
conducted to the said receiving tank.
When the bran in the cylinder has become fully charged with solid particles
separated from the liquid, the operation of filtering is suspended and the bran is
discharged from the cylinder through the said opening into a movable receiver
which is provided with a movable bottom through which the material is discharged
into a feed-hopper. From the latter the material is delivered to a squeezing
machine of ordinary and well-known construction whereby the moisture is pressed
out of the material and from which the latter is discharged in a comparatively dry
state. This offal may be dried in a kiln or drier by artificial heat or air currents,
or both, and may be used as food for animals, or as fertilizing material, either in
this condition or mixed with other fertilizers.
The water collected in the receiving tank may be used again in the various
steps of the manufacture where the presence of a small quantity of alkali is not
objectionable.
The solid particles separated from the liquid in the said filter and consisting
principally of starch, gluten, and fragments of bran, increase the bulk of the offal
supplied to the filter and enhance its value as food for animals.
The liquid collected in the aforesaid tank from the settling tanks is forced by a
pump into and through a press-filter of any suitable and well-known construction in
which the solid particles contained in the liquid, and consisting principally of starch
and albumenoids with a slight admixture of bran specks, are separated from the
liquid. The solid material remains between the filter plates while the water passes
through the filter cloths and is conducted through a pipe to a receiving-tank from
which it may be drawn off from time to time as it may be required for further use
in the manufacture, for instance for feeding the grinding mills, supplying the
separating sieves, and other uses.
When the said press filter has become filled with solid matter the plates of the
filter are separated and the solid matter is removed and worked up, either separately,
or in connection with the starch deposited on the aforesaid tables. Or, if preferred,
the liquid collected in the said tank from the settling tanks is forced by a pump
through a filter constructed like the first named filter and in which the starch
contained in the liquid is separated therefrom and added to the offal contained in
the filter. The water resulting from this filtration is conducted through the dis-
charge pipe into the said receiving-tank from which it may be drawn off to be used
again in the various steps of the manufacture in the same manner as hereinbefore
described with reference to the water derived from the press filter.
If preferred the liquid collected in the tank from the starch-tables is forced by a
pump through a pipe into and through a press-filter whereby the solid_particles
contained in the liquid are separated therefrom, and collected separately and without
mixing them with the offal. In this case the water derived from the said press
filter is discharged into one of the aforesaid receiving tanks by a suitable pipe.
I also provide a tub in which the starch deposited on the aforesaid tables is
broken up and mixed with fresh water. After being so mixed, the starch is per-
mitted to settle and the water standing above the starch is drawn off into one of the
aforesaid receiving tanks from which it passes to the filters, as hereinbefore
described, or, if preferred, this water may be conducted to a separate receiving-tank
as it contains traces of alkali.
In order to facilitate the removal of the filter plates, a rod is extended through
the upper portion of the same so that upon releasing a screw which holds the
filter plates together, all the filter plates can be lifted simultaneously by means of a
chain or rope connected with the said rod.
-
The starch obtained from the grain in the manner described is then further
treated in any well known manner according to the ultimate product desired to be
manufactured, whether commercial starch, grape-sugar, glucose, beer, spirits and so
forth.

page_text: It is obvious from the foregoing that all the solid particles held in suspension by
the water employed in the various steps of the manufacture are collected, either
together with the offal which is used for feeding cattle and other animals or for
fertilizing purposes, or in a form in which it can be worked up with the separated
starch, thereby effecting a considerable saving and preventing the injurious
consequences which attend the discharge of the water charged with the said particles
from these factories.
Any suitable filtering material may be employed in the said filters instead of the
offal, if preferred, and the filters, tanks, and other parts of the apparatus are
preferably provided in such numbers that empty filters and receptacles are always
ready to receive the material to be treated, while the filled filters and receptacles
are being emptied. A suitable receptacle may be arranged below each pressure
filter to receive the collected solid material when the filter plates are separated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Harris Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd March 1883.
"
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STARCH AND FOOD FOR ANIMALS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR." A communi-
cation to me from abroad by William Thomas Jebb of Buffalo, New York,
United States of America.
This Invention relates to the manufacture of starch from grain and to apparatus
therefor, and it has for its object to recover and collect the valuable parts which are
contained in the water with which the grain or the products derived from the grain
are treated in obtaining the starch. In the present modes of manufacture these
portions of the grain are discharged with the water and lost, whereby the manu-
facturer loses a considerable portion of valuable constituent parts of the grain, which
are useful in part for producing the desired article of manufacture, or as food for
cattle and other animals, and whereby the water courses into which this refuse
water is discharged are contaminated and rendered offensive, as these derivatives of
the grain ferment or putrify rapidly, especially in warm weather, and whereby the
employment of very large quantities of water is rendered indispensable in the
manufacture.
By the improvements hereinafter described these valuable constituent parts are
recovered in a useful condition, whereby a large saving is effected, the contamination
of water courses is prevented, and a considerable portion of the water employed in
the mannfacture is used repeatedly, thereby reducing the quantity of water
employed and the cost of the manufacture.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of apparatus embodying the said Invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the press filter, and.
Figure 3 is a transverse section thereof
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
The grinding mills or disintegrating mills by which the grain is reduced are not
shown in the drawing, being of the usual and well known construction.
A indicates the separating or shaking sieve whereby the crude starch contained
in the ground grain is separated from the husk or bran in a well known manner.
The crude starch together with the bulk of water passes through the meshes of
the said sieve into a receptacle A¹, below the sieve and the bran or coarse offal
passes over the tail end of the sieve into a hopper A². The water containing the
crude starch passes from the receptacle A¹, through a pipe, trough or other conduit a
into the settling vats or tanks B, in which the liquid is permitted to come to a
state of rest, whereby the starch is caused to settle on the bottom of the said tanks.
The supernatant liquor is then drawn off from the starch through a series of
discharge pipes b provided with suitable valves or cocks, care being taken not to
draw off the water to a depth at which any considerable portion of the deposited
starch would be removed with the water. In ordinary practice this water is per-
mitted to run to waste, but as it contains some starch and other valuable consti-
tuent parts of the ground grain it is desirable to recover these parts, I therefore
conduct the water drawn from the tanks B through the pipe 6, into a receiving
tank C, which is provided with an agitating device or rotating stirrer of well
known construction. After the water standing above the deposited starch in the tanks
B has been drawn off, fresh water is added together with a small quantity of alkali,

page_text: which latter is intimately mixed with the starch by the rotating stirrers with which
the tanks are provided.
The liquor or starch milk resulting from this operation is conducted to the starch
tables or depositing troughs D, which may be of any ordinary and well known
construction, upon which the starch is deposited in a comparatively pure state,
while the water, gluten or other light or soluble refuse escape at the tail ends of
the slightly inclined starch tables. The material which so escapes from the starch
tables is collected in a tank E, provided with a suitable stirring device. The liquid
contained in the tank E is delivered by means of a pump F, into a filter G, in which
the solid particles contained in the liquid are separated therefrom.
The coarse offal or bran which is discharged from the separator A is collected in
a receptacle H from which it can be delivered wholly or in part by a spout h, to a
charger or feed box h' arranged at the upper end of the filter G. The latter
consists of a closed cylindrical vessel which is provided near its upper end with an
opening g, communicating with the charger h¹ and having a slide or movable
gate gl, whereby it can be opened and closed. I indicates a follower or movable
piston arranged in the upper end of the cylinder, and provided with an upwardly
extending screw i, whereby it can be raised and lowered in the cylinder G. The
piston I is finely perforated to permit the passage of the liquid, but retain the
coarse offal and bran.
The discharge pipe of the pump F opens into the upper end of the cylinder G,
which at its lower end is provided with one or more perforated discharge pipes j
extending a short distance upward into the cylinder, and with a central opening J
through which the solid material can be discharged. The discharge pipe or pipes jare
unperforated outside the cylinder and lead to a receiving tank K, in which the
liquid passing through the said pipes is collected.
The cylinder G is first filled with offal, refuse or bran from the charger h¹, which
material is compacted in the cylinder by lowering the piston I. When the material
has become sufficiently dense to operate as a filtering medium, the liquid collected
in the tank E is forced into the cylinder G and through the compressed offal by
means of the pump F. The offal intercepts the solid particles contained in the
liquid which deprived of its solid particles enters the discharge pipes j through the
perforations with which they are provided and is conducted to the tank K. When
the bran in the cylinder G has become fully charged with solid particles separated
from the liquid, the operation of filtering is suspended, and the bran discharged
from the cylinder G through the opening J, into a movable receiver L which
provided with a movable bottom through which the material is discharged into a
feed hopper M. From the latter the material is delivered to a squeezing machine M¹
of ordinary and well known construction whereby the moisture is pressed out of
the material which is discharged in a comparatively dry state. This offal may be
dried in a kiln or dried by artificial heat or air currents, or both, and may be used
as food for animals, or as fertilizing material, either in this condition or mixed with
other fertilizers. The water collected in the tank K may be used again in the various
steps of the manufacture where the presence of a small quantity of alkali is not
objectionable.
The solid particles separated from the liquid in the filter G and consisting prin-
cipally of starch, gluten, and fragments of bran, increase the bulk of the offal
supplied to the filter and enhance its value as food for animals.
The liquid collected in the tank C. is forced by a pump N into and through a
press filter N' of any suitable and well known construction, in which the solid
particles contained in the liquid and consisting principally of starch and albumenoids
with a slight admixture of bran specks are separated from the liquid. The solid
material remains between the filter plates, while the water paeses through the
filter cloths and is conducted through a pipe n to a receiving tank K', from which
it may be drawn off from time to time as it may be required for further use in the
manfacture, for instance for feeding the grinding mills, supplying the separating
sieves and other uses.

page_text: When the press filter N1 has become filled with solid matter, the plates are
separated and the solid matter is removed and worked up, either separately or in
connection with the starch deposited on the tables D, as may be preferred.
Or, if preferred, the liquid collected in the tank C may be forced by a pump O
through a filter G¹ of similar construction to the filter G, and in which the starch
contained in the liquid is separated therefrom and added to the offal contained in
the filter. The water resulting from this filtration is conducted through the dis-
charge pipe into the receiving tank K' from which it may be drawn off to be
used again in the various steps of the manufacture in the same manner as herein-
before described, with reference to the water derived from the press filter.
If preferred the liquid collected in the tank E may be forced by the pump F
through a pipe f into and through the press filter N₁, whereby the solid particles
contained in the liquid are separated therefrom, and collected separately and
without mixing them with the offal. In this case the water derived from the
press filter N' is discharged into the receiving tank K by a pipe n'.
Q indicates a tub in which the starch deposited on the tables D is broken up
and mixed with fresh water. After so being mixed the starch is permitted to settle
and the water standing above the starch is drawn off into the receiving tub C,
from which it passes to the filters, as herein before described, or if preferred, this
water may be conducted to a separate receiving tank as it contains traces
of alkali.
In order to facilitate the removal of the filter plates, a rod p is extended through
their upper portions as shown in Figures 2 and 3 so that upon releasing the
screw p which holds the filter plates together, they can all be lifted simultaneously
by means of a chain or rope p2 connected with the rod p. The starch obtained
from the grain in the manner described is then further treated in any well known
manner according to the ultimate product desired to be manufactured, whether
commercial starch, grape sugar, glucose, beer, spirits and so forth.
It is obvious from the foregoing that all the solid particles, held in suspension
by the water employed in the various steps of the manufacture are collected either
together with the offal, which is used for feeding cattle and other animals, or for
fertilizing purposes, or in a form in which it can be worked up with the separated
starch, thereby effecting a considerable saving and preventing the injurious
consequences which attend the discharge of the water charged with these particles
from the factories.
Any other suitable filtering material may be employed in the filters G G², instead
of the offal, if preferred, and the filters, tanks and the like are preferably provided
in such numbers, that empty filters and receptacles are always ready to receive the
material to be treated while the filled filters and receptacles are being emptied. A
suitable receptacle may be arranged below each press filter to receive the collected
solid material when the filter plates are separated.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim:
First. The herein described method of recovering the valuable particles contained
in the waste water of factories in which starch is manufactured from grain and
other substances, which method consists in filtering such waste water through
suitable filter cloths, substantially as set forth.
Second. The herein described method of recovering the valuable particles
contained in the waste water of factories in which starch is manufactured from
grain and other substances, which method consists in filtering such waste water
through suitable filtering material under pressure, substantially as set forth.
Third. The herein described method of recovering the gluten and other solid
matter contained in the liquid refuse derived from the starch tables or starch
depositing tanks, which method consists in passing such liquid refuse through
suitable filters which intercept the gluten and other solid matter, substantially as
set forth.

page_text: Fourth. The herein described method of recovering the valuable particles
contained in the waste water of factories in which starch is manufactured from
grain, which method consists in filtering such waste water through the husky
matter of the grain.
Fifth. The improvement in the manufacture of starch, which improvement
consists in separating the starch milk from the husky matter of the grain by sifting,
then separating the starch from the liquid by deposition, and then filtering the
waste water through the husky matter of the grain.
Sixth. The food for cattle or other animals consisting of the husky matter of the
grain mixed with the valuable ingredients recovered from the waste water by
filtering the said water through the said husky matter.
Seventh. The combination, with the starch settling tank, of a pipe or conduit
through which the liquid is drawn from the said tank, and a pressure filter through
which the said liquid is forced, substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The combination, with starch depositors, of a pipe or conduit through
which the liquid refuse escapes from the said depositors, and a filter through which
the said liquid refuse is forced, substantially as set forth.
Ninth. The combination, with the starch breaking tank or tub, and the starch
settling tank, of a conduit or pipe through which the liquid is drawn from the said
settling tank, and a pressure filter through which the said liquid is forced,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Henry Harris Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this third day of March in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
HENRY H LAKE (L.S.)
2