I̧- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ralph Moore, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "I¸-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
-A communication from abroad by Claus Spreckles, of San
Francisco, California.
Sealed the 29th August 1871, and dated the 3rd March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ralph Moore at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd March 1871.
I, RALPH MOORE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR," which Invention has been communicated to me
from abroad by Claus Spreckles, of San Francisco, California, to be as
follows, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object to produce an article resembling
the finest class of loaf sugar in a much quicker and more economical
manner than that in which such sugar is ordinarily manufactured.

page_text: In the ordinary process the boiled sugar is filled into moulds, and
the colored and impure syrup retained between the crystals is displaced
by means of pure white syrup, which is allowed to percolate and drain
through the loaves, and which in solidifying cements the crystals
together into a solid mass.
In the Specification of certain Letters Patent granted to the present
applicant for an Invention communicated to him by the said Claus
Spreckles, and dated 11 May 1868 (No. 1530), a process is described,
whereby a good quality of sugar is rapidly and economically obtainable,
such process consisting of the following successive operations, namely,
the draining of the boiled sugar by means of centrifugal apparatus, next
the compressing of the drained sugar into cakes, then the drying of
the cakes, and finally the crushing of the cakes.
By the present Invention the same operations are adopted, but with
the important addition, that after the most of the impure and colored
syrup has been thrown off by the centrifugal apparatus the sugar is
covered with pure white syrup by running it into the apparatus. By
these means the last adherent traces of color are removed, and there
is obtained a plastic mass analogous to that composing the ordinary
sugar loaves.
The processes are completed as described in the earlier Specification
herein-before referred to, but the sugar may be sold or used in either the
cake or crushed form.
This Invention also comprises a convenient form of apparatus for
compressing the sugar into cakes. This consists of a horizontal shaft
rovolving in bearings at the lower parts of a pair of parallel vertical
standards, which act as guides for the vertical movement of a platen
or pressing plate. This platen is worked by cranks or eccentrics on tho
shaft below through the intervention of connecting rods. A scries of
shallow moulds or trays is provided, into which the sugar taken from
the centrifugal apparatus is put, and the series is moved along a table
or bed plate, so as to pass between the standards of the press. Each
mould is stopped beneath the platen whilst this is brought down to
compress the sugar, and is subsequently withdrawn to give place to the
next mould.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ralph Moore in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Ralpu
MOORE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Ralph Moore, Her special
licence that I, the said Ralph Moore, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ralph Moore, my exccutors,
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, excrcise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ircland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF Sugar, and IN APPARATUS THEREFOR” (a communication
to me from abroad by Claus Spreckles, residing at San Francisco,
California), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, tho said Ralph
Moore, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ralph Moore, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :—
The said Invention has for its object to produce an article resembling
the finest class of loaf sugar in a much quicker and more economical
manner than that in which such sugar is ordinarily manufactured.

page_text: In the ordinary process the boiled sugar is filled into moulds, and tho
colored and impure syrup retained between the crystals is displaced by
means of pure white syrup, which is allowed to percolate and drain
through the loaves, and which in solidifying cements the crystals
together into a solid mass.
In the Specification of certain Letters Patent granted to me for an
Invention communicated to me by the said Claus Spreckles, and dated
11 May 1868 (No. 1530), a process is described whereby a good quality
of sugar is rapidly and economically obtainable, such process consisting
of the following successive operations, namely, the draining of the boiled
sugar by means of centrifugal apparatus, next the compressing of the
drained sugar into cakes, then the drying of the cakes, and finally the
crushing of the cakes.
By the present Invention the same operations are adopted, but
with the important addition that after the most of the impure and
colored syrup has been thrown off by the centrifugal apparatus, purc
water being added, if necessary, to facilitate its removal, the sugar is
covered with pure white syrup by running it into the apparatus. A
quart of such white syrup is found in practice to be a suitable addition
for about eighty pounds of sugar, the quantity in a convenient size
of centrifugal apparatus. The motion of the centrifugal apparatus is
stopped immediately after adding the syrup, so that the latter may just
permeate the mass of sugar without being thrown out. By these means
the last adherent traces of color are removed, and there is obtained
a plastic mass analogous to that composing ordinary sugar loaves. The
processes are completed as described in the earlier Specification herein.
before referred to, but the sugar may be sold or used in either the
cake or crushed form.
The present Invention also comprises a convenient form of apparatus
for compressing the sugar into cakes, and which is shown upon the
accompanying Sheet of explanatory Drawings, Figure 1 being a sido
elevation, Figure 2 a front clevation, and Figure 3 a plan.
The apparatus comprises a horizontal shaft 1 revolving in bearings
at the lower parts of a pair of parallel vertical standards 2, which are
at their upper parts shaped to act as guides for the vertical movement
of a platen or pressing plate 3. This platen 3 is worked by cranks or
cccentrics on the shaft 1 below through the intervention of connecting

page_text: rods 5, and these rods aro jointed to rods 6 passing up through the
platen to washers, between which and the top of the platen rubber
rings 7 arc interposed to impart some elasticity to the compressing
action. The springs 7 are screwed up to give a suitable pressure, such
as about sixty pounds per square inch, which is found to answer well in
practice. A table or bed plate 8 is fixed in between the standards 2,
and projects out at one side, so that a shallow mould or tray containing
the sugar to be compressed may be put on it and be slid into the
press and out again. The mould is made in two parts, as shown,
detached in plan in Figure 4, and in vertical section in Figure 5. Onc
part is an outer case 9, by preference of wood, and with three sides,
and the other or inner part 10, which is also made with only three sides,
is made to slide and fit into the outer case, as shown in Figure 3. The
inner part 10 is made with a bottom of thin sheet metal, so that it will
scoop up any sugar accidentally lying on the bottom of the outer case
when it is slid into the latter. The mould 9, 10, is filled by means of
a hopper 11, which is a box without top or bottom, and which is fitted
to slide on a table 12 (Figures 2, 3) fixed in line with the tops of the
sides of the inner mould part 10. The hopper 11 is filled and moved
over the mould 9, 10, which it fills, and on being drawn back it "strikes'
or levels off the sugar even with the top of the mould. A board 18,
shown in plan and edge view in Figure 6, and fitting into the mould, but
not tightly, is then placed on the top of the sugar and the mould is slid
into the press, pressed therein, and then withdrawn. The inner part 10
5 of the mould is then withdrawn by means of finger holes at the end,
turned over with its open end upwards, and so as to bring the board 13
undermost, and is next lifted off, leaving the cake of sugar on the
board. The sides of the mould part 10 are by preference slightly bevilled
internally to facilitate the separation of the cake of sugar. The cakes of
sugar are kept on the boards 13 on shelves or racks in a chamber where
the temperature is from 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, for from fifteen
to twenty-four hours, so as to become sufficiently set and hardened
for handling. The cakes are afterwards placed in a drying chamber
or stove, wherein the temperature is maintained at about 130 degrees
5 Fahrenheit, and are kept there for about forty-eight hours, or until dry.
"
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to
the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I believe

page_text: to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1. The manufacture or treatment of sugar by the improved process
or combination of successive operations herein-before described.
2. The arranging or combining together of the parts of apparatus
for compressing sugar, substantially as herein described and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ralph Moore, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
RALPH MOORE. (L.S.)