IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE JUICE FROM THE SUGAR CANE.
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thornborrow Manifold, Charles Spencer
Lowndes, and John Jordan, all of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE JUICE FROM THE SUGAR CANE.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thornborrow
Manifold, Charles Spencer Lowndes, and John Jordan, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the
19th May 1853.
We, JOHN THORNBORROW MANIFOLD, CHARLES SPENCER LOWNDES,.
and JOHN JORDAN, all of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engi-
neers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE JUICE FROM THE SUGAR CANE "
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in reducing the cane to saw-dust by means,
of circular or other saws, or in any other convenient manner, for the
purpose of facilitating the subsequent extraction of the juice by pressing

page_text: or otherwise, and in passing steam through this saw-dust or cane cut
up in any way, by which means the steam dissolves the sugar, which,
together with the ivice is released from the woody fibre, and is driven
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thornborrow Manifold, Charles Spencer
Lowndes, and John Jordan, in 'the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 18th November 1853.1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
JOHN THORNBORROW MANIFOLD, CHARLES SPENCER LOWNDES, and JOHN
JORDAN, all of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, send
greeting.
TE
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and
grant unto us, the said John Thornborrow: Manifold, Charles, Spencer
Lowndes, and John Jordan, Her special license that we, the said .John
Thornborrow Manifold, Charles Spencer-Lowndes, and John Jordan,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said John Thornborrow Manifold, Charles Spencer Lowndes, and John
Jordan, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully night
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE JUICE FROM
THE SUGAR CANE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we; the
said John Thornborrow Manifold, Charles Spencer Lowndes, and John
Jordan, by an instrument in writing under our hands; and seals,
or under the hand and seal. of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: 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 we, the said John Thornborrow Manifold,
Charles Spencer Lowndes, and John Jordan, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
Our said Invention relates to various arrangements of machinery,
apparatus, or means to be employed in the extraction of the juice from
the sugar cane, on the system of reducing the raw canes to the condi-
tion of saw-dust or minute particles, disintegrated by the action of
circular or other saws, or by other convenient reducing agents. Such
system of treatment obviously facilitates the subsequent .extraction of
the juice from the solid portions of the canes, the syrup or fluid matter
being separated from the cane dust by pressure or otherwise. And to
aid the discharging action steam is passed through the reduced
material so as to effect the speedy dissolution of the sugar, and to
assist its release from the cane saw-dust and woody fibres when they
are put under pressure.
And in order that our Invention may be properly understood we
shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto attached. Figure 1, on our Sheet of Drawings
is a
plan of the, extracting presses which we employ for the sepa-
ration of the juice., Figure 2, is the corresponding side view of the
presses, one half being in, longitudinal section, and the other half in
elevation. Figure 3, is an end elevation of the same; and Figures 4,
5, and 6, are separate details of the apparatus.. The canes to be
operated upon are conveyed to the saws by the ordinary endless chain
A, and carrier wheel B, which allows them to fall into the hopper or
mouth C, shewn in detail at Figures. 4, and 5. This hopper is secured
to the flooring D, and has inside it a series of circular saws E, set close
together and fixed on to the shaft F, which is fitted with a small
driving pulley G, or any other convenient arrangement for driving the

page_text: saws. Beneath these saws is fitted a conductor H, which opens into
the moveable spout I, leading to the pressing chambers J, J. The
spout I, shewn detached at Figure 6, is not connected with the con-
ductor H, being merely held up on one side or the other by the ropes
K, K', according as one or other of the pressing chambers is to be
filled. For this purpose the conductor and spout are situated exactly
over the partition L, which divides the two pressing chambers. These
chambers are of rectangular section, open at the top, and covered over
by iron lids M, which turn upon the hinges N, N. The lids are not
shewn in Figure 2, being removed for the purpose of exhibiting more
clearly the construction of the chambers. A counter weight or back
balance O, fitted to the lids for the purpose of facilitating their being
opened when required. At P, P, are two hydrostatic presses of the
ordinary construction. The rams Q, of these presses are fitted with
pistons or rectangular heads R, which fit accurately into the rectangular
chambers J. These heads have a number of vertical grooves S, S,
formed in their faces, which are covered over by a perforated plate or
wire guaze T, or by a number of iron rods placed loosely in a liori-
zontal position, so as to allow the juice to escape. A similar plate is
fitted at U, to the fixed end of the chamber. The bottoms of the
chambers are composed of a number of rectangular rods V, which are
laid close together to allow the juice to escape into the channel W,
without permitting portions of the cane to run off with it. The ex-
pressed juice is received by the cistern X, placed between the supporting
beams Y. At Z, Z, are the steam pipes for conveying steam to the saw-
dust or reduced canes in the chamber. The pressing pistons R, R, are
so arranged that as one is pressing the saw-dust in one chamber the
other one in the opposite chamber is pushed back by the rods a, a,
which connect the two pistons. This arrangement permits of one
chamber being emptied whilst the other is in full operation. The
following is the mode of working the apparatus:-The cane saw-dust
produced by the saws E, falls down the conductor H, and passes
through the spout I, into one or other of the pressing chambers .J.
One of these chambers being filled in this way, its lid M, is shut down,
and wedged tight by the key b, and steam is then admitted into the

page_text: saw-dust at the same time that the pressing ram or piston R, is set in
motion. The spout or conductor I, is then reversed, and the lid of the
other chamber is opened by the handle C, to allow of its being filled;
when this is effected the lid is closed in the same way as the other,
and a jet of steam is admitted to the mass of cane. By this time the
saw-dust in the earlier filled chamber has been sufficiently pressed to
expel the juice contained therein, which juice then passes off into the
channel W, and thence to the receptacle or vessel X. It will thus be
seen that a constant supply of juice will be run off from one or other of
the chambers without intermission.
.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that we do not
confine or restrict ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which
we have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may
be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main
features of our Invention; but what we consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery,
apparatus, or means for the extraction of juice from the sugar canes,
as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of extracting the saccherine matter
from the sugar cane, wherein the cane is first reduced into small pieces
or into dust, the juice being afterwards expressed therefrom whilst the
treated matter is under the action of steam.
Third, the system or mode of reducing the sugar cane into small
pieces or to dust preparatory to the obtainment of the saccharine
matter therefrom.
Fourth, the system or mode of subjecting the sugar cane to the
action of steam preparatory to the extraction of the saccharine matter
therefrom.
Fifth, the application and use in the extraction of juice from the
sugar cane of continuous or duplex action hydrostatic presses, as herein-
before described.

page_text: Sixth, the system or mode of reducing sugar canes by means of
ircular saws...
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Spencer Lowndes, on
behalf of myself and of the said John Thornborrow Manifold
and John Jordan, have hereunto set-my-hand- and seal, the
Eighth day of November, -One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
CHARLES S: LOWNDES. (L.S.)