AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING VACUUM IN ORDER TO PRESERVE MEAT, FOOD, AND OTHER ORGANIC OR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES.”
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard, of Marseilles
(France), Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF
AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING VACUUM IN ORDER TO PRESERVE MEAT,
FOOD,
AND OTHER ORGANIC OR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Etienne Antoine
Sicard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th November 1873.
$
I, LOUIS ETIENNE ANTOINE SICARD, of Marseilles (France),
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
" AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING VACUUM IN ORDER TO
PRESERVE MEAT, FOOD, AND OTHER ORGANIC OR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to construct an apparatus for producing
vacuum in a given chamber, in combination. with a process for effecting
by means of this vacuum in the said chamber the preservation of meat,
food, and other animal or vegetable substances.

page_text: The apparatus is based on the principle of the barometric column. A
supply pipe furnished with a cock conducts water from an upper
reservoir into the top of the column which is surmounted by a vessel
which I will term chamber No. 1.
The column may be composed of a single pipe with a central longi-
tudinal division, or of two juxtaposed pipes, or of two concentric pipes.
It is terminated at its lower end by a cistern or clbow picce to prevent
the admission of external air.
A valve worked by a rod and handle is fitted to the cistern or elbow
piece, and prevents or allows of the escape of water according as it is
closed or open. The water brought by the supply pipe finding this
valve closed first fills the column, then rises into and fills chamber No. 1
above, and drives the air before it through a cock on this chamber.
This cock and that on the supply pipe are then closed and the valve is
opened; the water by its own gravity begins to flow from the column,
leaving a vacuum behind until it reaches a height of about 33 feet only,
where it is retained by the atmospheric pressure. The column being of
greater height than this, it follows that the chamber No. 1 has become
completely empty of water, and as the air cannot enter it a vacuum
exists therein. A cock between this chamber and another chamber in
which the preserving process is carried out and which I will call
chamber No. 2, is then opened. Chamber No 2 has previously been
shut off from the outer air by the closing of a cock thereon and of its
cover which is maintained by pressure screws, a hydraulic joint ensuring
that the closing is hermetic. Part of the air in chamber No. 2 now.
passes into chamber No. 1, forming an equilibrium. The cock between
the two chambers is then closed and also the valve, while the cocks on
the supply pipe and on chamber No 1, are opened. The water which
enters not being able to issue by the opening which is now closed
by the valve again fills chamber No. 1, a vacuum being then produced a
second time in this chamber in the manuer above explained; the two
chambers are again put into communication, and the operation is
repeated until a complete vacuum is obtained in both the chambers
which is indicated by a gauge or manometer.
If mercury or other liquid be substituted for the water the column
will be only about 31 inches in the case of mercury; and in the case of
other liquids a height in proportion to the density of the liquid.

page_text: Such being the construction and action of the apparatus I proceed to
describe the manner of preserving meat or other animal or vegetable
substances with the aid of the same:-The substances to be preserved
are placed in a case or box, the cover of which has a conical aperture
provided with a valve which is free to rise within a certain limit. This
case is placed in chamber No. 2, and when a vacuum is formed in this
chamber, the air in the case raising the valve escapes so as to produce
equilibrium with the rarefied air in the chamber; this valve then falls
by its own weight and closes the aperture in the case. When the
perfect or nearly perfect vacuum has been obtained the cock on
chamber No. 2 is opened, and the air entering this chamber forces the
valve tightly down upon its seat. The cover of chamber No. 2 being
then removed the case is lifted out and a tin plate or other capsule is
soldered over the valve.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 1st May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
ETIENNE ANTOINE SICARD, of Marseilles (France), Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three,
in the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs.
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Etienne
Antoine Sicard, Her special licence that I, the said Louis Etienne
Antoine Sicard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard, 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 "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING VACUUM IN ORDER TO PRESERVE

page_text: MEAT, FOOD, AND OTHER ORGANIC OR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :—
The object of my Invention is to construct an apparatus for producing
vacuum in a given chamber, in combination with a process for effecting
by means of this vacuum in the said chamber, the preservation of meat,
food, and other animal or vegetable substances.
The apparatus is based on the principle of the barometric column, and
will be fully understood on reference to the annexed Drawiugs, in which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation. A supply pipe G furnished with a
cock H conducts water from an upper reservoir into the top of the
column C which is surmounted by a vessel B.
The column may be composed of a single pipe with a central longi-
tudinal division C¹, as represented in Figure 2, or of two juxtaposed
pipes, as shewn in Figure 3, or of two concentric pipes, as shewn in
Figure 4; it is terminated at its lower end by a cistern or elbow piece U
to prevent the admission of external air.
A valve D worked by a rod E and handle F is fitted to the cistern or
elbow piece, and prevents or allows of the escape of water according as it
is closed or open. The water brought by the supply pipe G finding this
valve D closed, first fills the column C, then rises into and fills the
chamber B above and drives the air before it through a cock I on this
chamber; this cock I and the cock H on the supply pipe are then
closed, and the valve D is opened; the water by its own gravity begins
to flow from the column C leaving a vacuum behind until it reaches a
height of about 33 feet only, where it is retained by the atmospheric

page_text: .
pressure. The column C being of greater height than this it follows
that the chamber B has become completely empty of water and as the
air cannot enter it a vacuum exists therein. A cock K between this
chamber and another chamber A, in which the preserving process is
carried out, is then opened. The chamber A has previously been shut off
from the outer air by the closing of a cock J thereon, and of its cover N
which is maintained by pressure screws L, L, a hydraulic joint
ensuring that the closing is hermetic; part of the air in the chamber A
now passes into the chamber B, forming an equilibrium. The cock K
between the two chambers is then closed and also the valve, while the
cock H on the supply pipe, and the cock I on the chamber B are opened.
The water which enters not being able to issue by the opening which is
now closed by the valve Dagain fills the chamber B, a vacuum being then
produced a second time in this chamber in the manner above explained,
the two chambers are again put into communication by opening the
cock K, and the operation is repeated until a complete vacuum is
obtained in both the chambers, which is indicated by a gauge or
'
will be only about 31 inches, in the case of mercury; and in the case
of other liquids a height in proportion to the density of the liquid.
Such being the construction and action of the apparatus I proceed to
describe the manner of preserving meat or other animal or vegetable
substances with the aid of the same:-The' substances to be preserved
are placed in a case or box R, the cover e of which has a conical
aperture provided with an india-rubber valve x which is free to rise
within a certain limit, viz., up to the piece g, which allows it to rise, as
seen in Figure 5. The case R is placed in the chamber A, and when a
vacuum is formed in this chamber the air in the case raising the
valve x escapes so as to produce equilibrium with the rarefied air in the
chamber. This valve then falls by its own weight and closes the
aperture in the case, see Figure 6. When the perfect or nearly
perfect vacuum has been obtained the cock J on the chamber A is
opened, and the air entering this chamber forces the valve x tightly
The cover of the chamber A being then removed
the case R is lifted out and a tin plate or other capsule Z is soldered
over the valve.
down upon its seat f.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
1st. The process of producing vacuum, herein-before described
and for the purpose specified.
2nd. Constructing machinery for producing vacuum, substantially as
herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings
and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Etienne Antoine Sicard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth-eighth day of
April, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
CHARLES FROSSARD,
of Rue Tholozé, No. 6,
at Paris.
L. E. A. SICARD. (L.S.)