AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING ENSILAGE OR FOOD FOR CATTLE
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING ENSILAGE OR
FOOD FOR CATTLE" Communicated to him from abroad by Samuel Marshall
Colcord of Dover, Massachusetts, United States of America
"
T
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd July 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR PRESERVING ENSILAGE OR FOOD FOR CATTLE Communicated. to me from
abroad by Samuel Marshall Colcord of Dover, Massachusetts, United States of
America
This invention relates to an improved method of preserving ensilage in silos and
to apparatus therefor.
1
When corn, or other vegetable matter, is cut up and put in a silo, it is essential
for its preservation that atmospheric air should be eliminated, or separated from it,
before it has time to heat or set up fermentation. The less air retained in the
ensilage, the less the chances of fermentation, and, the more perfectly it will be
preserved in a sweet and wholesome condition for food; the detrimental chemical
changes produced in the ensilage being always in proportion to the air retained
in it.
.
Heretofore, the air has been expelled or partially expelled, from silos, by placing
very, heavy weights on the boards covering the top of the ensilage, the air escaping
through the spaces or cracks between the said boards; the said spaces or cracks.
being the only places heretofore provided for the egress of air from a silo; But as
Price 1

page_text: silos are from twelve to twenty feet deep a large percentage of air has heretofore
always remained in contact with the ensilage especially in its central and lower
portions, as the air cannot easily rise through the mass of ensilage to find an exit
at the top.
The heavy pressure heretofore resorted to for expelling the air from ensilage, has
a double disadvantage, that is to say ;-It renders very strong and expensive walls
necessary for silos to resist the lateral pressure, and causes fermentation to proceed
much more rapidly than it otherwise would.
It not unfrequently happens that two or three feet of water, or juice from the
ensilage, is found at the bottom of a silo, and that fermentation has been very
active in the central and lower part of its contents. It is therefore very desirable
to know, at all times, the condition of the matter in the silo, especially in regard
to temperature and fermentation; by means of this invention these important
features can be readily ascertained, and fermentation prevented or arrested.
The said invention has for its objects to remove atmospheric air, and other gases,
from a silo, more speedily, more perfectly, and with less pressure than that with
which it has heretofore been accomplished; to enable a purer, sweeter and more
wholesome ensilage to be produced than heretofore; to enable the general condition
of the contents of a silo, as regards temperature and fermentation to be ascertained
from time to time; and to enable chemical antiseptic solutions to be applied
to the contents of a silo for the purpose of preventing or arresting fermentation.
The said invention partly consists in combining with a silo an apparatus by, and
through, which the atmospheric air, and other gases, contained in the ensilage in
the said silo may escape, and the water, juices and the like from the ensilage may
be drawn off. It also partly consists in providing means by which chemical
antiseptic solutions can be sprayed or distributed amongst the contents of a silo,
for the purpose of preventing or arresting fermentation; and it further partly
consists in providing a device by means of which the temperature of the contents
of a silo may at any time be' ascertained, and the commencement of fermentation
detected.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1. is a top view of a silo ready to receive the ensilage, and showing a
portion of the apparatus resting on the floor.
Figure 2. is a vertical section, on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an underside view of a portion of a pipe drawn to an enlarged scale,
taken from one of the front corners of the apparatus.
Figure 4 is a top view, drawn to an enlarged scale, of a portion of the bottom
of the silo, before the principal portion of the apparatus has been placed in
position, showing the upturned end of the drip-pipe, and the strainer attached
thereto.
Figure 5 is a section of a portion of the pipe and elbow, also drawn to an
enlarged scale, and showing the wooden peg which prevents the pipe from turning
in its bearings.
According to the said invention I take iron pipes a a¹, of any dimensions
desired, and join them together so as to form a frame A with a continuous air
connection (which also communicates with the drip pipe b) by screwing each of
the ends of the pipes a and a¹, into its connecting elbow 8 or coupling 9, as
shown at c.
+
The ends 10 and 12 of the pipes a are thrust or telescoped into their connecting
elbows 8 and couplings 9, as shown in Figure 1; all the horizontal pipes, excepting
the drip-pipe b, which runs toward the side wall of the silo .B, are perforated,
on their under side, with holes about one fourth of an inch in diameter. and
about six inches apart as illustrated in Figures 3 and 5 The ends 10 of the
pipes are each held in position by a small wooden peg or pin e as shown in
Figures 1. 3 and 5.

page_text: A. T-coupling is screwed onto the projecting end of the drip pipe b, and
the vertical pipe. g is screwed into the upright, branch of said coupling f, the
vertical pipe g affording an outlet, or means of escape from the silo for the air
and gases.
I
The pipes a', a which extend across the centre of the frame A from side to side,
are screwed into the couplings 9, 9 and ; the downward branch of the latter
coupling fitting loosely within the upturned end of the drip pipe b. The water,
juices and the like from the ensilage are drawn off when desired, through the drip
pipe b, the outer end of which is provided with a stopper kc, but a faucet may be
employed instead of the stopper if preferred. The mouth of the vertical pipe g is
closed with a stopper 7.
The apparatus for the bottom of the silo being in place, the cut corn is piled
upon it in the usual manner, and when the silo is about half full, another
apparatus, or frame A, not differing materially from that on the bottom of the
silo, excepting that its vertical pipe m which performs the same office as the
vertical pipe g and also has its mouth closed. by a stopper, rises from the inside of
the silo as seen in Figure 2.
For the better support of the second frame A, it is placed on a skeleton platform n,
Figure 2, composed of narrow strips of furring and upon this platform n with the
frame A upon it, the cut corn is piled until the silo is filled. To secure the second
frame A in its place on the skeleton platform n, nails or staples are driven into the
said platform for that purpose.
As soon as the silo is filled, the ordinary boards are put upon the top of the
ensilage, and the weight placed on the said boards.
When the freshly cut corn is placed in the silo, it has not yet had time to
become much wilted, if indeed, it is wilted at all, consequently, the air which
remains in contact with it there, is in a much more free condition than it is after
it has wilted, for through the operation of wilting the said air becomes much more
intimately associated with it, and much more difficult to separate from it.
Therefore during the process of filling the silo, containing the improved apparatus,
a large portion of the air in contact with the ensilage will be taken. into the
pipes a, a¹ and escape into the surrounding atmosphere through the vertical pipes
g and m. If fermentation sets in, or heat is generated in the silo, it can be
detected by the odour rising in either of the vertical pipes g, m, or by dropping
a sensitive thermometer into either of the said vertical pipes, or in any other
suitable manner.
To prevent or arrest fermentation, chemical antiseptic solutions of any desired
kind, and in any desired quantity or strength, can be poured into either of the
vertical pipes g or m and be thus distributed into, or amongst, the ensilage.
In opening the silo to remove the ensilage, when the first part of frame A of the
apparatus is reached, the pipe a nearest to the front end r of the, silo B is pulled
away from its connections with the adjacent longitudinal pipes a, and the latter
are then also removed, the pegs e which held the pipes a in position, having been
first taken out. A portion of the skeleton platform n is then cut or sawn off
As the work of discharging the silo proceeds, on arriving at the central portion,
the pipes a" with their couplings 9, 9, 2, after the pegs e have been removed, can
be pulled out and lifted from their place, and their adjacent longitudinal pipes a,
drawn out, leaving only the pipe a at the rear part of the silo to be removed when
reached.
+
In building a new silo, I place the drip-pipe b, Figure 2, so that its up-turned
end will be flush with the surface of the bottom of the silo-Just below the surface
of this upturned end, I place a strainer 8, Figures 2 and 4, which will allow water
and juice to pass freely, but will arrest coarse pieces of matter.
When liquid rises in the pipe g it can be drawn off by removing the stopper
and when it rises in the pipe m it can be syphoned or pumped out. If desired,
"

page_text: °
.
pet cocks may be attached to the vertical pipes g and m outside the silo, for the
purpose of ascertaining the pressure of gas or air in the said pipes. The pipes may
be galvanized or japanned, or made of brass, as preferred.
I do not confine myself to the use of any specific number of the frames A or
apparatus as herein setforth, as two, three or more such frames may be used in the
same silo as may be desired.
:
"
In putting the apparatus into a silo already built, I'drill a hole through its wall,
on a plane with the surface of its bottom for the passage of the drip-pipe b, which
is cemented at this point to prevent leakage around it.
For a silo twelve feet wide, sixteen feet deep, and thirty six feet long, I make
the frame A of pipes, preferably one inch in diameter with elbows and couplings
to fit them. It is evident that a half-round pipe, or a pipe with a slot on its under
'side, or an inverted V-shaped gutter, might be substituted for the round pipe with
holes on its under side, as herein described and shown. I do not therefore confine
myself to any particular form of pipe or passage, but intend to use such form as
'may be found best adapted for the purpose.
The advantages of this invention are, that silos can be made more cheaply than
heretofore because less weight is required to expel the air; consequently the walls
of the silo do not require to be so strong, as the lateral pressure exerted is much
-less than heretofore; that antiseptic chemicals can be introduced to prevent or
arrest fermentation; that the ensilage will be more free from acidity or other
injury from fermentation, and purer, sweeter, and more wholesome for food than
has before been the case; and that the ensilage, when taken from the silo and
opened up a little will very soon begin to heat and the saccharine and alcoholić
'fermentation will commence, so that the said ensilage can be given to animals in
a warm condition thus furnishing a more palatable and more digestible food
than when given in a cold condition as heretofore except when mixed with warm
water,
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim.
First-The combination with a silo, of one or more pipes or passages arranged
within the same and adapted to receive and collect either air, gases, water or juices
from the ensilage, an outlet pipe or passage whereby the air, gases, water or juices
are withdrawn from the ensilage in the silo and discharged into the surrounding
atmosphere, and means for introducing chemical antiseptic solutions into the
ensilage, and also for ascertaining the temperature of the latter, substantially as,
and for the purpose, setforth.
Second-The combination with a silo, of one or more frames A each composed
of a series of pipes connected together by suitable couplings, and provided with
an outlet or discharge pipe g or m, substantially as, and for the purpose,
described.
Third. The combination with a silo, of the frame A placed within the same
and composed of a series of perforated pipes connected together by suitable
couplings, a horizontal drip-pipe b connected there with and having at its outer
end an outlet controlled by a plug or faucet, and the vertical pipe g connected
with the drip pipe, all constructed to operate substantially as, and for the purpose,
setforth.
Fourth-The combination with a silo, of the frame A. composed of a series of
pipes a a¹ having their ends 10 adapted to slide telescopically within their
couplings to facilitate their separation therefrom, and held in position by pegs or
pins e, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
Fifth The herein described method of preserving ensilage in silos, which
method consists in withdrawing or removing therefrom the atmospheric air and
gases, together with water, juices, or the like by means of pipes or passages

page_text: arranged within the silo and adapted to receive and collect the said air, gases,
water and juices, and discharge the same into the surrounding atmosphere,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof. I the said. William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this third day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred, and eighty three.
W ROB
RODT LAKE (L.S.)