IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND PRE- , SERVING, ANIMAL, AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Brown Orr, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Queensland Merchant, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND PRE-
, SERVING, ANIMAL, AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES."-A communication from
abroad by Joseph Bancroft, residing at Brisbane, Queensland.
Jealed the 25th September 1868, and dated the 26th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Brown Orr
.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th March 1868.
.
I, MATTHEW BROWN ORR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Queensland Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR
DRYING AND PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," which Invention
has been communicated to me from abroad by Joseph Bancroft,
residing at Brisbane, Queensland, to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the drying and preserving of animal
and vegetable substances, so as when applied to otherwise perishable
food to admit of its being stored for a long time, and of its being
conveyed from where it is superabundant and cheap to where it is
comparatively scarce and dear.

page_text: The Invention consists in applying steam-heated plates in com-
bination with currents of air, which may or may not be heated, to the
drying of animal and vegetable substances, which substances in a
subdivided or ground state, if not naturally in small or thin pieces,
are placed on or in direct contact with such steam-heated plates.
The apparatus when arranged for solid substances, such as meat or
vegetables, is formed with a horizontal or nearly horizontal upper
plate of thin sheet iron, having beneath it an enclosed space to receive
the steam. Steam of very low pressure will suffice, so that the casing
does not require to be very strong, and may even be made of wood
where this material is the least costly. The steam case is provided
with safety pressure and collapse valves, and with a pipe for drawing
off water of condensation. It is also provided with ingress and egress
water pipes when it is wished to substitute cold water for the steam,
as, for example, for crystallising sugar syrup after sufficient water has
been driven off from it by the heating and drying process.
The top
plate of the casing is formed in some cases with slight hollows having
pipes communicating with the bottoms thereof to collect and draw off
fatty matter from meat, for example. The currents of air are to be
produced by fans in the ordinary way, and their office is to carry off
or disperse the moist vapor that rises from the substances that are
being operated upon. In some cases scrapers or agitators actuated
by hand or by mechanical appliances are employed to turn over and
agitate the substances on the plates. In using the improved apparatus
the substances to be preserved are ground either before being dried or
when partly dried; and the drying and grinding is repeated until a
perfectly dry powder is obtained, which must be packed in closed
vessels or cases, and so as to be as much as possible inaccessible to
air or moisture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 30
filed by the said Matthew Brown Orr in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
BROWN ORR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Queensland Merchant, send greeting.
3

page_text: .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters. Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the.
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Matthew Brown Orr, Her
special licence that I, the said Matthew Brown Orr, my ex-
ecutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Matthew Brown Orr, my 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS
FOR. DRYING AND PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," (a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Joseph Bancroft, of Brisbane, Queensland,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthew Brown
Orr, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Matthew Brown: Orr, do
liereby declare the nature of the 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 the drying and preserving of.
animal and vegetable. substances, so as when applied to otherwise.
perishable food to admit of its being stored for a long time, and of its.
being conveyed from where it is superabundant and cheap to where.
it is comparatively scarce and dear.
The Invention consists in applying steam-heated plates in com--
bination with currents of air, which may or may not be heated, to the
drying of animal and vegetable substances, which substances in a
subdivided or ground state, if not naturally in small or thin pieces,.
are placed on or in direct contact with such steam-hicated plates.

page_text: And in order that the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a
Sheet of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and
representing two modifications of the improved apparatus.
One modification is shown in vertical section in Figure 1, and is
arranged for solid substances, such as meat or vegetables. It is
rectangular in plan, and is formed with á horizontal or nearly
horizontal upper plate 1 of thin sheet iron, having beneath it a space 2
to receive steam, such space being enclosed by means of side and
end walls 3, and a bottom shell or plate 4. Steam of low
very pressure
will suffice, so that the casing does not require to be very strong, and
may even be made of wood where this material is the least costly.
The steam case 2 is provided with a safety pressure valve 5 with an
air pipe 6 and valve to prevent collapse, and with a pipe 7 for drawing
off water of condensation. It is also provided with an ingress water
pipe 8 when it is wished to substitute cold water for the steam, as,
for example, for crystallising sugar syrup after sufficient water has
been driven off from it by the heating and drying process; the steam
enters the case 2 by a pipe 9. The top plate 1 is formed with slight
hollows, having pipes 10 communicating with the bottom thereof to
collect and draw off fatty matter from meat, for example. The pipes 10
are united to a single inclined pipe 11, into which a branch 12 leads
from the steam pipe 9; so that steam can be admitted to expel the
The air current is produced by a
fatty matters from the pipe 11.
blowing fan 13 in the ordinary way, and its office is to carry off or
disperse the moist vapor that arises from the substances that are being
operated upon. The fan 13 is represented as encased in a steam
jacket 14, shown in section, for the purpose of heating the air so as
to increase its drying powers; and the air current is guided so as to
áct equally over all parts of the drying plates 1 by fixing over them
a cover or hood 15 of canvas stretched upon half-circle hoops. This
cover forms a tunnel, the whole length of which the air must traverse
before obtaining egress.
The modification shown in vertical section in Figure 2 is like that
already described in many respects, and the same reference numerals
are used to mark the same or like parts in both.
The second modification is, however, circular in plan, and a scraper
or rake 16 is arranged to revolve on a vertical axis immediately above

page_text: the steam heated plate 1, so as to turn over and agitate the substances
on the plates. An uncovered screw fan 17 is arranged above the
rake 16, and also revolves on a vertical axis, its action inducing
upward currents of air, and thereby dispersing the vapor. The rake 16
is on a vertical shaft supported in a footstep on the top of a hollow
central pillar 18, and the fan 17 is on a tubular shaft revolving upon
the rake shaft. The two shafts are fitted with pulleys 19, 20, to receive
driving belts, and they may be actuated by hand gear or from any
convenient revolving shaft. When the substances to be operated upon
are such as are liable to be affected by the iron top plate 1, or are of
a nature to cause the corrosion of such plate, it must be enamelled
to prevent such actions.
In using the improved apparatus the substances to be preserved are
ground either before being dried or when partly dried; and the drying
and grinding are repeated until a perfectly dry powder is obtained,
which is by preference packed in closed vessels or cases, and so as to
be as much as possible inaccessible to air or moisture.
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that it
is not restricted to the precise details herein described or delineated,
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the hercin-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the applying of steam-heated plates in combination with
currents of air for drying and thereby preserving animal and vegetable
substances, the substances being placed in direct contact with such
plates substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Brown Orr, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
MATT. B. ORR. (L.S.)