IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING Coffee, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Walter, of 34, Leadenhall Street, in the City of
London, Merchant, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING Coffee,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." A communication from abroad by
Messrs. F. C. da Cunha and Company, of Rio Janeiro, Brazil,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Walter at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th April 1881.
JACOB. WALTER, of 34, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Merchant.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING COFFEE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
[A communication from abroad by Messrs. F. C. da Cunha and Company, of Rio
Janeiro, Brazil.]
The coffee berry as picked from the plant or tree is surrounded with a fruity
substance somewhat resembling a cherry, the coffee when first picked being in
fact said to be "in the cherry." It is important to remove this fruity portion and
the inner or so called parchment skin from the berry as quickly a possible, and
with as little loss of the fragrance of the coffee as possible. Hitherto these objects
have been effected by washing, partial trituration, and drying in the sun, or in
many cases only by drying in the sun, and the operations have required 30 to 40
days or more to complete, and have necessitated much labor in storing the coffee
at night or during wet weather and again spreading it out in the sun.
Now the object of this Invention is to enable the labor at present required to
be, to a great extent, dispensed with, and to make the process of curing the coffee
continuous and independent of the weather; and the Invention consists in subjecting
the berry as hereinafter described to the influence of heat in a vessel in which a
vacuum or partial vacuum is created, so that the atmospheric pressure being
removed the fixed air in the pulp or fruity portion forces out the juices which are
then quickly evaporated by the heat, and the parchment skin adhering to the
berry is also cracked and loosened. The vessel in which the berries are placed
may be a fixed vessel heated by steam coils and connected with a suitable condenser
and air pump, or, as is preferred, the vessel may be made to rotate and be heated
Price Rd 1

page_text: by an internal or external steam cylinder or pipes and be likewise connected with
a condenser and air pump.
One convenient arrangement of rotary apparatus consists of a horizontal drum,
within which arranged concentrically is a steam cylinder, the annular space
between the cylinder and the drum forming the receptacle for the berries to be
operated upon which are introduced through one or more manholes. The drum is
mounted on trunnion pipes, one of which forms the inlet for steam to the cylinder
while the other forms the means of communication between the annular space of
the drum and an ordinary condenser and air pump. The steam cylinder is fitted
with a pipe by which the condensations are removed therefrom.
The cylinder
does not extend quite to that end of the drum which is further from the steam
inlet, and near this end there is a partition which may be formed of a perforated
plate covered with wire webbing to prevent the berries being drawn through to the
'condenser. The steam cylinder may be covered with wood guards and, wire
webbing. The drum may receive its rotary motion from spur gearing or otherwise
and be provided with friction rollers to facilitate its rotation.
When the apparatus is fixed or non-rotating a convenient arrangement is as
follows: Within a vessel or chamber of any suitable form are placed a number of
wire baskets to receive the berries, and between these baskets are arranged steam
pipes communicating with any convenient source of supply. The baskets are
fitted with doors at the bottom; these doors are opened by means of levers worked
by a handle or handles outside the vessel when it is wished to remove the coffee,
which will then fall to the bottom of the vessel. At the bottom of the vessel is
an outlet fitted with a valve or shutter. The pipe communicating with the
condenser and air pump may be connected with the vessel near the bottom or
otherwise. The baskets are filled through a manhole at the top of the vessel.
The condenser employed with the air pump may be an ordinary jet condenser or
other well known means of producing a vacuum may be used, such as an ordinary
surface condenser and air pump, as employed in marine engines, or a pipe condenser,
the condensing liquid being made to trickle over the outside of the pipes while the
vapor is passing through them, or a jet barometrical condenser in which in place of
the air pump a pump supplies injection water to the escaping vapor at the top
of a column more than 32 feet high, from the bottom of which the water and
condensed vapor escape.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Jacob Walter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th October
1881.
"
JACOB WALTER, of 34, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Merchant.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING COFFEE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.'
(A communication from abroad by Messrs. F. C. da Cunha and Company, of Rio
Janeiro, Brazil.)
The coffee berry as picked from the plant or tree is surrounded with a fruity
substance somewhat resembling a cherry, the coffee when first picked being in
fact said to be "in the cherry." It is important to remove this fruity portion and
the inner or so called parchment skin from the berry as quickly as possible, and
with as little loss of the fragrance of the coffee as possible. Hitherto these objects
have been effected by washing, partial trituration, and drying in the sun, or in
many cases only by drying in the sun, and the operations have required 30 to 40
days or more to complete, and have necessitated much labor in storing the coffee
at night or during wet weather and again spreading it out in the sun.
Now the object of this Invention is to enable the labor at present required to be
to a great extent dispensed with, and to make the process of curing the coffee
continuous and independent of the weather; and the Invention consists in the
construction and employment as hereinafter described of apparatus for subjecting
the berry to the influence of heat in a vessel in which a vacuum or partial vacuum
is created, so that the atmospheric pressure being removed the fixed air in the
pulp or fruity portion forces out the juices, which are then quickly evaporated by
the heat, and the parchment skin adhering to the berry is also cracked and
loosened. The vessel in which the berries are placed may be a fixed vessel heated
by steam coils, and connected with a suitable condenser and air pump, or, as is
preferred, the vessel may be made to rotate and be heated by an internal or
external steam cylinder or pipes, and be likewise connected with a condenser and
air pump.
In the annexed Drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a
transverse section of the apparatus as I construct it when the vessel is made to
rotate, and has an internal steam cylinder for heating it. Figure 3 is a longitudinal
section, and Figure 4, a transverse section of the apparatus as I construct it when
the vessel is made to rotate, and is heated by an external steam cylinder; Figures 5,
6, and 7 represent the apparatus as I construct it when the vessel is fixed or
non-rotating. The rotary apparatus, Figures 1 and 2, consists of a horizontal
drum A, within which arranged concentrically is a steam cylinder C, the annular
space B between the cylinder and the drum forming the receptacle for the berries
to be operated upon, which are introduced through one or more manholes A', A¹.
The drum A is mounted on trunnion pipes D, F; the pipe D forms the inlet for
steam to the cylinder C, while the pipe F forms the means of communication
between the annular space B of the drum and an ordinary condenser and air pump.
E is a pipe by which condensations are removed. The cylinder C does not extend
quite to that end of the drum A which is further from the steam inlet D, and near
this end there is a partition H, which may be formed of a perforated plate covered
with wire webbing to prevent the berries being drawn through to the condenser.
The steam cylinder may be covered with wood guards and wire webbing. The
drum receives its rotary motion from a shaft G (or otherwise) and is provided with
friction rollers J, J, to facilitate its rotation; K is a steam stop valve. When the
coffee is sufficiently dried the manholes A', A¹, are uncovered and the coffee then
falls into the shoots L, L.

page_text: In the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4, in which the vessel containing
the berries is made to rotate inside a steam cylinder, B is the rotating vessel or
cylinder which should be nearly filled with berries through the manhole A; C is
the external steam cylinder for heating the vessel B; D is a door at the bottom
for discharging the dried coffee; E is a shaft for driving the vessel B; F is a pipe
leading to an ordinary condenser and air pump; G is a steam stop valve; and H, a
pipe by which condensations are removed.
;
The fixed or non-rotating apparatus, Figures 5, 6, and 7, consists of a vessel or
chamber A, which may be of any suitable form. Within it are placed a number
of wire baskets B, B, to receive the berries, and between these baskets are arranged
steam pipes C, C, communicating with a steam casing H, which is supplied from
any convenient source. The baskets are fitted with doors D, D, at the bottom
these doors are opened by means of levers E worked by a handle or handles E¹
outside the vessel A when it is wished to remove the coffee, which will then fall to
the bottom of the vessel. At the bottom of the vessel is an outlet fitted with a
valve or shutter F; G is the pipe communicating with the condenser and air pump,
it may be connected with the vessel A near the bottom or otherwise. The
baskets, are filled through a manhole A' at the top of the vessel; K is a steam
stop box.
The condenser employed with the air pump may be an ordinary jet condenser
or other well known means of producing a vacuum may be used, such as an
. ordinary surface condenser and air pump as employed in marine engines, or a pipe
condenser, the condensing liquid being made to trickle over the outside of the pipes
while the vapour is passing through them, or a jet barometrical condenser, in
which in place of the air pump a pump supplies injection water to the escaping
vapor at the top of a column more than 32 feet high, from the bottom of which
the water and condensed vapor escape.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
First. The coffee drying apparatus constructed substantially as hereinbefore
described and represented in Figures 1 and 2, and in Figures 3 and 4, by means of
which the berries are subjected to the influence of heat in a rotating vessel in
which there is a vacuum or partial vacuum, as set forth.
Second. The coffee drying apparatus, constructed substantially as herein before
described and represented in Figures 5, 6, and 7, by means of which the berries are
subjected to the influence of heat in a stationary or non-rotating vessel in which
there is a vacuum or partial vacuum, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacob Walter, have hereunto. set my hand and
seal, this Sixth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and eighty
JACOB WALTER. (L.S.)