Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Raisins or other Dried Fruit.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Sept., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 30th June, 1900-Accepted, 15th Sept., 1900
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Raisins or other
Dried Fruit.
I, JOSEPH GRANT GIBSON, of 36, Ashdale Road, Waterloo, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows;
-
In the process of maturing Muscatel raisins, the bunches of grapes are pruned
and then stripped of their leaves when the fruit has become ripe, and the sun
beaming on the grapes completes their saccharification and expels the superfluous
water; in the case of Valencia raisins, the raisins are plucked, cleansed and dipped
in a boiling lye, and the wrinkled fruit is lastly drained, dried and exposed in the
sun. In seeding this dried fruit by any of the machines now in use for the purpose,
it frequently arises that the puncturing of the skin by the impaling points or pins
which act to eliminate the seeds from the flesh of the fruit, cause the juicy or
gummy matters in the fruit to exude through the punctures in the skin, even
though these punctures are mere pin pricks. This results, if the fruit is kept
for any length of time, in the crystallization of the juice or gummy matters which
have exuded through the punctures in the skin, which seriously spoil the fruit
for commercial or consumption purposes.
Now by my invention I avoid these defects by treating raisins and other dried
fruits before being cleaned or seeded to prevent them from drying or becoming
candied. The process consists in placing the raisins in a hot box or chamber
whereby the fruit is partially cooked, then chilled, then steamed.
A convenient method is to provide a hot chamber or hot box wherein the fruit
is partially cooked or dried. After being thus treated the fruit is chilled and
then subjected to a steaming process. All three operations can be effected in any
suitable manner and I do not confine myself to any particular mode of effecting
the partially cooking, chilling and steaming of the fruit. A convenient way
however is to provide in conjunction with the drying chamber or hot box, a feed-
ing belt which feeds the seeded raisins therethrough, so that they are individually
exposed to the drying or partially cooking action of the heat for a period just long
enough for the purpose but no longer. The fruit therefore is fed into and spread
on this feeding belt in a single layer and then passes through the hot box in such
The fruit is then subjected
a manner that the fruit shall pass slowly through it.
to processes of chilling and steaming.
It is found that when this process is completed crystallization is prevented. The
fruit is of course spread on the belt in such a manner that the hot air has free
access to the fruit thereon. It must be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the processes of partially cooking, chilling and steaming in the order
named, and I reserve to myself the right of dispensing with any one or more of
the said processes if so desired.
1900

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Raisins or other
Dried Fruit.
I, JOSEPH GRANT GIBSON, of 36, Ashdale Road, Waterloo, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:
In seeding raisins or other dried fruit by any of the machines now in use for
the purpose, it frequently arises that the puncturing of the skin by the impaling
points or pins which act to eliminate the seeds from the flesh of the fruit,
cause the juicy or gummy matters in the fruit to exude through the punctures
in the skin, even though these punctures are mere pin pricks. This results, if
the fruit is kept for any length of time, in the crystallization of the juice or gummy
matters which have exuded through the punctures in the skin, which seriously
spoil the fruit for commercial or consumption purposes.
Now by my invention I avoid these defects by treating the raisins and other
dried fruits before being cleaned or seeded to prevent them from becoming candied.
The process consists in placing the raisins in a hot box or chamber whereby the
fruit is heated or partially cooked, after which it is chilled and then steamed.
The chilling process follows immediately after the heating or cooking, and the
fruit, while in this reduced condition of temperature, is passed through a clean-
ing or brushing machine. The object of this heating and chilling is to evaporate
the moisture in the fruit and thus get rid of any excess of such moisture which
would be liable to exude through the punctures which are made in the skin by
the subsequent seeding process. The fruit after being thus treated is taken to
an apparatus where it is spread upon trays and exposed to the steaming process
which softens the fruit sufficiently to facilitate the puncturing of the skin in the
process of seeding.
A convenient method is to provide a hot chamber or box A (shown in Figure 1
of the accompanying drawings, which is a sectional elevation) wherein the fruit
is heated or partially cooked. This chamber is provided with racks B for receiving
the fruit holders or trays C on which the raisins are spread out in loose condition.
The said trays may have wire or openwork bottoms. The side walls of the
structure may have sliding or hinged doors which permit them to be opened, for
the insertion or removal of the fruit trays. D is a rotating fan, preferably an
exhaust fan, for drawing a current of hot air through the chamber, and E is a
heating coil located at the opposite end of the chamber to that of the fan, so that
the hot air is drawn through the chamber by means of the exhaust fan. The
temperature to which the raisins are heated depends upon circumstances, but it
may be as high as 160° F. After being thus treated, the fruit is chilled. This
be effected in the same chamber by drawing a current of cool air through the
apparatus, for which purpose the steam which heats the heating coils is cut off.
The fruit is now taken to the cleaning apparatus, where it is subjected to an
abrasive or separating treatment. Such apparatus is well known in the trade,
and comprises, by preference, a rotary cylindrical cage or wire work cylinder, of
such mesh that the stalks, dust and foreign material only, can pass out between
the wires, leaving the stemmed and cleaned fruit inside. Inside this cylinder,
there is a device such for example as beaters mounted on the shaft and adapted
to rotate in an opposite direction to that of the cylinder, and somewhat faster than
the cylinder, the action of these beaters being to set up an abrasive or separating
treatment, and thus separate the stems, dust and other foreign matters from the
fruit. The stems and foreign matter pass away through the meshes of the cylinder
while the further action of the beaters feed the cleaned and stemmed fruit to the
may

page_text: end of the cylinder where it is delivered. For steaming the fruit after the
cleaning process has been completed, an apparatus is provided shown in sectional
elevation in Figure 2, in which F is a hot box or chamber provided with racks
for receiving the fruit holders or trays G, which trays can have wire bottoms, and
the racks have slides upon which the trays slide and rest. His a steam pipe for
feeding this chamber with steam. The side walls of the box have hinged doors,
which permit the said sides to be opened for the insertion or removal of the fruit
trays. In use therefore, the cleaned raisins placed on the trays are inserted into
this chamber, and live steam applied, whereby the fruit is exposed to the steam
which softens the fruit, and renders it sufficiently soft and pliable for the seeding
operation. It must be understood, however, that all the above operations can be
effected in any suitable manner, and I do not confine myself to any particular
mode of effecting the heating or partially cooking, the chilling or the steaming of
the fruit.
Another way is to provide in combination with the drying chamber or hot box
a feeding belt which feeds the raisins therethrough, so that they are individually
exposed to the drying or partially cooking action of the heat for a period just long
enough for the purpose but no longer. The fruit in such case is fed on to and
spread on this feeding belt in a single layer, and then passes through the hot box
in such a manner that the fruit shall pass slowly through it, after which the
fruit is subjected to the process of chilling and steaming.
It is found that when this process is completed, crystallisation is prevented.
The heating operation removes excess of moisture and thus gets rid of liquid
matter which would exude through the punctures in the subsequent seeding
process and thus cause crystallisation. This heating operation, and the subse-
quent chilling process renders the fruit somewhat hard. The steaming process
softens the fruit and facilitates the seeding operation. It should be noted, how-
ever, that this steaming operation is prolonged only just sufficiently to soften the
fruit to enable the puncturing and elimination of the seeds to be easily effected.
The fruit should, of course, be spread on the belt or in the trays in such a
manner that the hot air has free access to the fruit thereon. The invention has
been designed more especially for the treatment of raisins to which it is specially
adapted. The chilling process can if desired be dispensed with, such e.g. as in
cases where the fruit does not require cleaning.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A process of treating dried fruit, which consists in heating or cooking the
fruit to partly evaporate the moisture therein, then quickly cooling it (to render
the fruit comparatively hard) or not, according to the nature of the fruit, then
subjecting it to a cleaning treatment, and finally steaming the cleaned fruit to
soften it preparatory to the seeding operation, substantially as described.
2. An apparatus for heating or partially cooking dried fruit and for subse-
quently cooling it, constructed, arranged and operating substantially as and for
the purpose herein before described with reference to and shown in the drawings
annexed.
3. The apparatus for steaming the fruit, constructed, arranged and operating
substantially as herein before described with reference to and shown in the draw-
ings annexed.
Doted this 29th day of June 1900.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Patent Agents, of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Patent Agents, of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London.