Improvements in and in Apparatus for Transference to suitable Portable Receptacles and the Withdrawal therefrom of Sterilized Milk.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in the United Kingdom), 19th Jan., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 19th Jan., 1899-Accepted 22nd July, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in Apparatus for Transference to suitable
Portable Receptacles and the Withdrawal therefrom of Sterilized
Milk.
We, COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE POUR LA CONSERVATION DES LIQUIDES, of 68, Rue
de la Croix, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, and of 76, Boulevard Hauss-
mann, Paris, in the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement: —
The object of this invention is to provide means whereby sterilized milk can
be decanted from one vessel to another without allowing it to come into contact
with air at any period of its passage from the sterilizing apparatus to the receivers
in which it is to be carried from place to place; the latter being previously
sterilized and freed from air.
A further object of this invention is to preserve the milk in the said receivers,
whilst however enabling small quantities of it to be drawn off at a time without
subjecting it to any risk of contamination by dust or the like.
The arrangements devised for the purpose of carrying these objects into practice
are based upon the employment of steam as a sterilizing agent and are so disposed
as to render the operations particularly easy, and also economical as regards the
cost of labour.
The process according to this invention mainly consists in expelling the air
from the churn or milk receptacle by means of a current of steam, which is caused
to circulate in the said receptacle long enough to sterilize its walls.
After this,
the milk is conducted, through an air-tight pipe (or system of pipes) from the
sterilizing apparatus, to the said receptacle, which it fills owing to the vacuum
produced by the condensation of the steam. The milk receptacle is fitted with a
special arrangement enabling its contents to be subsequently discharged in por-
tions at a time and only admitting air thoroughly freed from dust, or the like
so as to ensure the preservation of the milk in the sterilized condition as long
as it remains on the retailer's premises.
In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated the main portions of a
milk-sterilizing plant erected in accordance with this invention.

page_text: Figures 1 and 2 are respectively an elevation and a cross section of the complete
apparatus for sterilizing milk and filling the milk receptacles.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are respectively a side elevation, a cross section and a plan
of part of the carriage, or trolley, adapted to travel on a track and to carry the
milk receptacles backwards and forwards.
Figure is an axial section of a lid or top for a milk receptacle with its tap
and pipe coupling properly connected.
Figure 7 is a detail view of a tappet for stopping the carriage, or trolley.
Figures 8 and 9 are a side elevation and a sectional front elevation of one of
the distributing branch pipes; and
Figure 10 is a diagram of complete apparatus for decanting milk from one
receptacle to another.
In the process according to this invention the receptacles a (which I will refer
to as cans) into which the milk is to be decanted are mounted in an inverted
position upon a trolley, or car, b, adapted to travel on rails c preferably about
breast high, the said rails being supported by brackets such as d, or any other
suitable contrivance.
At a suitable point of the track e there is arranged the apparatus for sterilizing
the passages and receptacles and decanting the milk the said apparatus comprising
a pipe c supplying the milk, another pipe f, admitting steam, and a series of
moveable pipes g g serving to place the pipes ef in communication with the cans
on the trolley. This apparatus furthermore comprises a system of cold water
pipes, the object of which is to condense the steam in the cans a, by spraying
or sprinkling water on to their external surface. A trough i, placed underneath
the track and about as long as the trolley, serves to receive the water after. it
has been utilised for the purpose of condensation.
The milk cans we make use of are of a novel construction, being provided with
devices which permit the said cans to be sterilized by the action of steam; and to
cause the air, which enters the said cans whilst their contents are being discharged,,
to be filtered; also, they are so made that they can conveniently be mounted in
an inverted position.
The improved milk can consists of a body a conveniently of tinned sheet iron
the body of which is preferably cylindrical and is surmounted by a conical neck
and a tube adapted to receive a tightly closing lid.
Above the bottom plate a' as shewn in Figures 3 and 5 there is arranged another
bottom plate a² and between these two plates is interposed an air-filter ³ con-
sisting of a series of U-shaped tubes, containing a material such as cotton, and
fitted within each other so as to extend for a considerable length. One end of
this series of tubes is free and opens into the interior of the space between the
double bottom plates aa², which space communicates with the atmosphere
through the orifices in the bottom plate a²; while the other end of the said series
of tubes is fited with a three-way cock at which enables the interior of the milk
can to be placed in communication either with the air filter a³ or directly with
the external air. In the intermediate position all connection is cut off.
The can is provided with cars, or arms, a³ so arranged, at right angles to each
other, as to afford it a firm support when it is mounted in the inverted position.
The lid, or cover, of the milk can (of which Figure 6 is a section) is fitted with
a tap, or cock, a, having two ways, or ports, a, as, which, when the can is in
the position indicated in Figure 6, serves to place it in communication both with
the pipe g and with the atmosphere. When the plug of this tap is turned 180°
only the communication with the atmosphere is cut off, and when it is
turned only 90°, both ports a, and 8, are closed. The nozzle of the tap a
and the end of the pipe g to which it is attached are connected by a conical
coupling, to tighten which, in connecting it, there are provided inclined projec
tions against which similar inclined parts on the coupling collar bear.
Around the lid there is placed a washer al of flexible material serving to form
a tight joint at the edge of the neck of the can.

page_text: The trolley 6 which serves for moving the cans backwards and forwards mainly
.consists of a floor mounted on wheels and made up of two parts 6' 6', whereon there
are secured a series of flat iron frames which are tied together at the top by
a horizontal rail 63 which form as many compartments as correspond to the
number of cans which the trolley is constructed to receive. When the cans have
been put in place in these compartments, resting upon their arms, or brackets, a³,
they are retained in position by a chain 6, which is stretched parallel to the
rail 63 but on the opposite side. An arresting tappet 65 (Figure 7) pivotted to
the floor and engaging with properly placed recesses in the track enables the
position of the trolley on the track to be adjusted in relation to the decanting
apparatus, or the trolley to be set at any other convenient point. The two
pipes e, f, which constitute the feeder of this apparatus are connected as follows:-
Une communicates, through a tap el, with a sterilized milk-pipe leading from a
sterilizing apparatus of any convenient kind, while the other communicates,
through a tap f', with a steam pipe fed from any convenient boiler. The pipes e
and are also fitted with waste cocks e2f2 at the ends opposite the said
taps e and f. A series of pipes & branch off from the pipes ef each pair being
provided with three-way cocks k' arranged to feed the pipes y with either steam,
or milk, as required and to permit the pipes ef to be put into communication
with each other at starting. The short pipes leading from the branches and
cocks are connected to the pipes g by means of conical joints and couplings
like those shewn in Figure 6.
In order to ensure the condensation of the steam in the milk cans a series of
perforated tubes h' branching off from the cold water pipe h are arranged above
the decanting apparatus so as to direct cold water onto the exterior of the cans
when the car, or trolley, is moved up to its operative position.
In the diagram Figure 10 we have represented diagrammatically a complete
milk decanting installation. In order to facilitate the work the length of the
rail track c should be equal to, at least, three times the length of the trolley b
so that if two trolleys be placed on the track, one-of them can be discharged and
recharged whilst the other is connected with the decanting apparatus; by which
means waste of time between two consecutive operations is avoided.
The operation of the improved apparatus is as follows:-
Before commencing to make use of the apparatus it is necessary to sterilize
it in all its parts. To this end after closing the tap e' for milk from the sterilizing
apparatus and opening the taps & so as to put the pipes ef into direct communica-
tion, the steam is admitted through the pipe f and tap f1 for a sufficient length
of time to cause the portion of the milk-pipe comprised between the taps el ki kl
and those for admitting milk to the pipe e to be entirely sterilized. In the mean-
time the trolley b is charged with empty milk cans and it has by this time been
brought up, with the cans, over the decanting apparatus, the communication
between each of the cans a and the corresponding branch pipes & having been
opened. After taking care to turn on the taps at and a of each can, so that
they both open a direct connection between the interior and the atmosphere, the
cocks are so operated as to admit steam into the cans through the pipes g. Part
of this steam becomes condensed and, in so doing, heats the walls of the cans,
while the rest escapes along with the internal air and the condensation water
through the taps a and a. After a sufficient time (usually about ten minutes)
to allow the milk cans, as well as the pipes g to become thoroughly sterilized,
the taps a are fully closed while the taps a are turned so as to close the port a³,
whilst maintaining the connection with the pipes g. Then after having cut off
the steam supply at fl the taps k¹ are reversed so as to place the cans in con-
munication with the pipe e; and the inlet tap el on the pipe e is opened to admit
the milk and the cans will soon become filled with milk, owing to the vacuum
resulting from the condensation of steam. This vacuum moreover is accelerated
by the cooling of the walls effected by the water emitted from the perforated
tubes h. When the cans are entirely filled without having been allowed to come

page_text: in contact with the air even for an instant, the taps as are turned so as to entirely
close them and after uncoupling the junction tubes g, the trolley with the filled
cans is removed and replaced by another. Before commencing the next operation
the tape for the supply of milk to the pipe e is turned off, whilst through the
waste cock e the milk still contained in the pipe e and in the several pipes g
is discharged; after which the operation is recommenced, and conducted in the
manner herein before described.
When the milk has been conveyed from the sterilizer into the cans, the filled
cans can be transported for any distance and preserved indefinitely without their
contents becoming in the slightest degree impaired in quality.
When it is desired to empty the cans say at the consumer's house, or on the
tradesman's premises, if the whole of the contents is to be consumed at once
the lid of the can is simply removed and the milk poured out directly through
the top orifice in the usual way, but when it is desired to draw off a portion only
of the contents the longer the milk is kept out of contact with the dust of the
atmosphere or the like the better, and therefore the lid is left in place, and after
resting the can upon its arms, the tap at at the bottom of the can is so operated
as to place the interior in communication with the filter a³. By then drawing
off the milk through the lower tap a as it is required, the air entering the can
will be compelled to pass through the filter and to become cleansed of any dust
or the like, it may carry along with it, such dust or the like being intercepted
by the fibres of the cotton or material constituting the filter and therefore no
contamination of the contents, or of the interior of the can, can take place up
to the time of the withdrawal of the whole of the contents.
It will be understood that this result which is so important to the preservation
of the consumer's health is, by this invention, attained without necessitating any
special installation at the retailer's shop. The milk cans which we propose to
employ can be readily constructed if desired from existing milk cans, churns,
or the like. The fixed plant for sterilizing and filling the cans can be kept in
good repair with ease; its efficacy is absolute, and it requires very simple
manipulations involving no waste of time.
It will be obvious that the details of the apparatus may be varied without de-
parting from the nature of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim
is:_
1. A process for the decantation transport and draught of sterilized milk sub-
stantially as herein before described, wherein the milk from a sterilizing apparatus
is conducted without contact with air into receivers which have been previously
sterilized and from which the air has been expelled; the said receivers being
provided with means for enabling the milk to be drawn off in portions at a time
whilst admitting air which has been filtered.
2. Apparatus for decanting sterilized milk in accordance with the process of
the preceding claim the said apparatus comprising a carriage or trolley for the
receptacles to be filled; a track for the said carriage or trolley, milk receptacles
fitted with a tap for the escape of air and for the admission of filtered air and
also with an inlet and outlet tap (such as a) in combination with apparatus con-
sisting of pipes for the passage of sterilized milk from a sterilizer and for steam
and branch pipes connecting the said apparatus with the receptacles on the
carriage or trolley, a series of three-way cocks between the milk supply pipe,
the steam pipe and the said branch pipes; and a pipe or pipes for spraying cold
water onto the said receptacles all substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. A sterilized milk receptacle provided at bottom with an air filter formed
of tubes containing cotton or the equivalent, a three-way cock capable of placing
the interior of the can in communication with the external air either directly,

page_text: or through the said air filter; and a cock fitted to the lid of the receptacle and
adapted for the passage of either steam or milk and for the discharge of the water
of condensation substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
4. In apparatus for sterilizing milk receptacles and for decanting milk a pipe
or pipes with a tap or taps leading from a milk sterilizer; a steam pipe or pipes,
and tap or taps, a series of branch pipes capable of being connected with the milk
receptacles, three-way cocks, capable either of connecting the milk pipes or
steam pipes together, or with the branch pipes, and a pipe or pipes for spraying
cold water over the exteriors of the milk receptacles all substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of Tonu 1800
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.