CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Thom and George Aldcroft Phillips, both of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Soap Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SOAP."
Sealed the 27th March 1857, and dated the 29th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Thom and George
Alderoft Phillips at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th September 1856.
We, DAVID THом and GEORGE ALDCROFT PHILLIPS, both of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Soap Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature
of our said. Invention for "CERTAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," to be as follows:-
Our improvements apply to that stage of the soap manufacturer known as
"soap finishing," and consists in a novel arrangement of taps or outlets for
the purpose of more readily and effectively separating the "goods" or refuse
insoluble matter from the soap. The boiler or pan containing the soap may
be of a cylindrical form or otherwise, in which we effect an improvement by
making the interior surface. of the bottom convex, upon which the "goods" or
refuse will settle or be deposited, and above which deposit the pure liquid soap
.will remain. In this convex bottom we place a tap or outlet, and also in the
side, at any convenient point above or about the level of the convex surface a

page_text: second tap is situated. When the soap is ready to be transferred to the soap
frames, the lower tap is opened, and the "goods" or refuse matter runs from
under the soap until the soap arrives at the level of the upper tap or outlet,
which is then opened, and spouts or channels are placed from the tap to the
soap frames until all the soap is drawn from the pan. By this arrangement
of taps, we are enabled to employ boilers or pans of much larger dimensions
than are usually used, and by transferring the soap by this means in lieu of by
hand, great saving in time and labor is obtained, and the whole of the soap
can thus be drawn off perfectly clear and pure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Thom and George Aldcroft Phillips in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
THOM and GEORGE ALDCROFT PHILLIPS, both of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Soap Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said David Thom and George Aldcroft Phillips, Her especial licence that we,
the said David Thom and George Aldcroft Phillips, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said David Thom and George
Alderoft Phillips, our 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
HMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," upon the condition,
amongst others, that we, the Daid Thom and George Aldcroft Phillips,
by an instrument in writing under our 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 we, the said David Thom and George Aldcroft
Phillips, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that
is to say):
Our improvements apply to that stage of the soap manufacture, known as
soap cleansing, and consist in a novel arrangement of taps or outlets for the
purpose of running the soap out of the copper without having any "goods,"
ley, or sediment mixed. The boiler or pan containing the soap may be of, a
cylindrical form or otherwise, in which we effect an improvement by making
the interior surface of the bottom convex, upon which the "goods" will settle
or be deposited, and above which deposit the pure liquid soap will remain.
In this convex bottom is placed a tap or outlet, and also one in the side, at
any convenient place above the level of the convex surface. When the soap
is ready to be transferred to the soap frames the lower tap is opened, and the
"goods," sediment, or ley runs from under the soap, until the soap arrives
at the level of the upper tap or outlet, which is then opened, and the soap run
in spouts to the frames. By this arrangement of taps, however large the pan
is, it will not be a drawback in cleansing, and by transferring the soap by this
method in lieu of by hand, great saving in time and labour is obtained, and
the whole of the soap can thus be drawn off perfectly clear and pure; or the
same effect may be accomplished by the more preferable method, as shewn in
the Drawings, by means of a swivelling or vibrating discharge pipe in com-
munication with the tap by which the soap is discharged or drawn off.
In order that our Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings, made upon a scale of
about half an inch to a foot, and having similar letters of reference marked
upon corresponding parts of the apparatus.
Figure 1 is a sectional view of the vessel containing the soap, shewing the
position of the upper and lower taps, and the pipe for discharging the soap
through the upper or "soap tap." In this Figure a, a, is the pan or vessel,
and b, the outlet tap for the pure soap, with which is connected the pipe c by
means of the swivel joint d. This pipe is therefore capable of being moved to
either side by the handle or rod e. The lower tap f is that through which the
"goods," sediment, or ley is taken from the said vessel after having settled
or deposited upon the bottom and separated from the pure soap. The action
of the pipe, and the advantages arising therefrom, will be easily understood
by the following description:-When the soap is "fitted," the soap tap bis
opened and the soap is discharged therefrom through the pipe c, until it
arrives at the level of the top of the pipe; in order then to cause the soap to
flow again, the pipe is gradually lowered by the rod so as to follow the level of

page_text: the soap as it becomes lower; this is continued until the pipe arrives at the
level of the "goods," upon which the "goods" tap f is opened and the vessel
emptied, the pure soap having been separated from the refuse which it
contained.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention, together
with the method of performing the same, we would remark, in conclusion, that
we claim the novel application, employment, and use of the upper and lower
taps, in combination with the discharge pipe c, for the purpose of running the
soap clear into the frames without having any "goods," sediment, or ley mixed,
as herein-before described, set forth, and fully exhibited in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said David Thom and George Aldcroft
Phillips, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-seventh
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-seven.
DAVID THOM.
(L.S.)
GEORGE ALDCROFT PHILLIPS. (L.S.)
DAVID THOM.
(L.S.)
GEORGE ALDCROFT PHILLIPS. (L.S.)