IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CREAM, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF CREAM, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR." A communication from abroad by
William Cooley, of Waterbury, in the State of Vermont, United States of
America
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th June 1879.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CREAM, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR." A communi-
cation from abroad by William Cooley, of Waterbury, in the State of Vermont,
United States of America.
The
The Invention relates to a new process of raising cream from milk, and it consists
mainly in water sealing the milk within the vessel containing it, and also in
submerging such vessel in water and in apparatus hereinafter described.
ordinary mode of raising cream is with open pans, either shallow or deep, and then
by band labor skimming the cream from the surface after the milk bas stood, say,
from thirty six to forty eight hours. This mode is open to several serious objections,
among which may be named the exposure of the milk to the atmosphere, from
which it attracts insects and absorbs gases and odors often very deleterious, and
from which it collects and retains dust and dirt floating in the air, the agitation of
its surface from winds and other causes, the great length of time required to raise
the cream, the unavoidable lack of uniformity in the quality of the cream and
consequently in the butter made from it, because of the various subtle and invisible
atmospheric causes which tend to taint, accidify, or otherwise vitiate it, the positive
and direct exposure to all the sudden changes, electrical, thermal, and otherwise, of
the atmosphere, and the necessity of having pans enough to hold the milk of two
or more days milking. When milk is set in open vessels which are cooled by water
underneath them, it being at a lower temperature than the surrounding atmosphere,
and being, as is well known, a ready absorbent of odors and taints, it will absorb
from the air by condensation the moisture contained in it together with its
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page_text: impurities. Another method is to place the milk in a closed pan or vessel, and
then place this in a tub or box containing more or less water; but in this method
the contents of the pan are not uniformly cooled throughout the whole mass, inas-
much as the pan is not submerged, a portion only taking the temperature of the
water, and the upper portion being exposed to another temperature, namely, that of
the surrounding atmosphere, hence there is a corresponding inequality in the
temperature of different portions of the milk and consequential bad results in the
quality of the cream produced and of the butter made from it; nor by this method
is the pan or vessel water sealed. By the present Invention I waterseal the can or
other vessel containing the milk to be treated, whereby all possibility of the
entrance into it of foreign matter, gases, or odors is prevented; and when I wish
to bring the whole to uniform temperature to any degree desired I then submerge
this vessel entirely in water, of tho required. low degree. The effect of these two
steps of the operation is the production of a better quality and of an increased
quantity of cream, and in a far less period of time than usual, the securing of a
uniformity of quality all the year round, great economy in time, apparatus, and
expense, a superiority in the skimmed milk, the production from the cream thus
raised of a butter having not only a better quality but also a better keeping
property and the capacity in the remaining milk technically called "skimmed
milk of producing a better character of cheese. The Invention can be very
simply and cheaply practised, and by very simple means, such, for instance, as a
tank or vessel B for holding water, a pan or can (or cans) A, preferably cylindrical,
for holding the milk provided with a removable cover C shaped similarly to an
ordinary tin pan, and placed upside down on the top of the pan A and held down
by any appropriate weight or fastening, the overlapping or flaring sides of the
cover leaving an annular space between such sides and the vessel A. No packing
is required to make this cover water tight when the water is high enough in the
tank B to reach up to or a little above the lower edge of the cover, because the air
in this annular space is then unable to rise and escape and remains there, thus
making a perfect air-packing, and the whole can be thus simply but completely
water sealed. This water sealing is a distinct thing from submerging, and if the
water be no higher than is sufficient thus to seal the cover all the advantages due
to the exclusion of the outer atmosphere and atmospheric effects are completely
attained, and a nearer approximation is also made to an equalization of the
temperature of the contents of the can than by any other method known to me;
but by submerging or covering the vessel and its cover completely with water still
better effects are attainable, as there is thereby insured an equality of temperature
for the entire vessel and its contents, and no part of the milk can in such case be
subjected to one degree of temperature from the water while another part is
subjected to a different degree from the outer air. The degree of temperature of
the water for the best effects may vary with circumstances, say from 40° to 50°
Fahrenheit; but I find most satisfactory results at about 45°, this cool condition of
the watery part of the milk seeming to make it more dense, and thus to drive
upward the oily portions or butter globules which are not so readily affected or
condensed at the same degree. By the improved method the same uniform results
are obtainable in all climates and at all seasons of the year, and the milk may be
taken warm from the cow, thus retaining its natural flavor, adding greatly to the
market value of the butter made from it. The cream thus raised is also more
liquid than ordinary cream, and in the most favorable form to separate or "gather"
the butter globules in churning. Milk set in the early part of the day will by my
process yield its cream before the vessels will be needed for the milk drawn at
evening, thus dispensing with about three fourths of the pans or cans required by
any other process. The usual method of skimming or dipping the cream from the
surface of the milk is laborious, requires skill, and is attended by a loss of cream
because of its becoming mixed with the milk during the operation. dispense
with all dipping or skimming, and instead I gradually and gently permit the milk
to be discharged from the can without disturbing the cream, which is all left alone

page_text: in the can, and can then be poured out all together, no special skill being required.
As a means for accomplishing this I attach to an outlet at the bottom of the can a
flexible tube J whose other and discharging end is connected with a slide 7 arranged
to be adjustable at will upon the side of the can not far from its bottom. When
the cream is set and is to be taken from the can any appropriate stop-cock, plug, or
valve i connected with this tube is turned or removed to permit the flow, the
slide L having been previously adjustable for a height from the bottom of the can
about equal to the depth of cream in the can. The pressure of the liquid contents
of the can steadily forces a stream of the milk up through the tube, and this
continues until all the milk has been discharged, leaving only the cream, which
does not pass up and through the tube as its top line or level is no longer above the
discharging mouth of the tube and the pressure has ceased. This easy descent of
the cream, resting all the time on the surface of the milk as on a solid bed, prevents
any agitation or disturbance of it or its globules, and any commingling of it with
the milk from which it has been separated. Figure 3 is a modification of devices
for withdrawing the milk and leaving the cream in the can. In this case the can
has a side projection or chamber B connecting with the chamber of the can by an
opening, and this chamber B has a series of holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c., to permit
the discharge of the milk at such point as shall be determined by the adjusted
position of the slide valve v which covers all the openings when desired, or all but
the one from which the discharge is to take place, which occurs when the spout W
of the slide is adjusted to coincide with such opening and permit the flow.
Claims-1. The process of treating milk for raising cream by sealing with water
and air the cover applied directly to the vessel containing the milk, substantially
as set forth. 2. The described process of treating milk for the raising of cream by
totally submerging in water the closed vessel containing it. 3. The described
process of separating the cream after it has been raised from the milk from which
it was raised by gradually and automatically withdrawing such milk from the
bottom of the vessel, leaving the body of cream therein. 4. The combination in
an apparatus for setting milk for cream of a vessel for holding the milk, a cover
adapted for water sealing the same, and a fastening device serving to hold the cover
to the vessel, substantially as shown and described. 5. In combination with the
vessel for milk and with the water sealing cover and fastening device a water
vessel adapted to contain the milk vessel and to permit it to be water scaled or
submerged therein, substantially as shown and described. 6. In combination with
a can or vessel for raising cream a flexible tube J applied at the bottom of the can
and adjustable at Rs exit end to the desired height, and adapted for discharging
the milk from the vessel, leaving the cream remaining therein, substantially as
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentyseventh day of June, A.D. 1879.