IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR 'CURING' AND 'LIQUORING' SUGAR BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wright, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR 'CURING' AND 'LIQUORING' SUGAR BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE."
-A communication from John Reid, of Jersey City, in the United States.
of America.
Sealed the 21st July 1854, and dated the 11th March 1854...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents; with his. Petition, on the 11th
March 1854.
I, JAMES WRIGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPRO
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CURING' AND 'LIQUORING' SUGAR BY CENTRI-
FUGAL FORCE," as communicated to me by John Reid, of Jersey City, in the
United States of America, to be as follows:-
In the "centrifugal machine" as hitherto constructed and employed in the
manufacture of sugar, the rotary or running part is surrounded by a stationary
casing or jacket to prevent the molasses from being scattered about whilst the
machine is in operation. This improvement consists in constructing such
machines so that the outer casing is made to revolve with the inner or centri-
fugal chamber as part of itself, instead of being separated and stationary as
above described. Further, in order to remove all impediment to the free
egress of the molasses through the centrifugal chamber or drainer, and thus
obtain the full benefit of the centrifugal action of the machine, the air is to

page_text: be exhausted from the case between the case or jacket and the drainer, and
thus receiving the syrup or molasses into a partial vacuum, instead of dashing
them through a whirlwind of impure air, as is now the case. This exhaustion
is obtained by the simple motion of the apparatus without the aid of air-pumps
or other machinery of that nature, and the discharging of the machine is
effected through the bottom thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WRIGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Wright, Her especial licence that I, the said James Wright,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Wright, 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, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CURING AND LIQUORING SUGAR BY CENTRIFUGAL
FORCE," (communicated to me by John Reid, of Jersey City, in the United States
of America,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Wright, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should- parti-
cularly 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 imme--
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wright, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
tatement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
In the "centrifugal machine" as hitherto constructed and employed in the
manufacture of sugar, the rotary chamber containing the sugar to be operated

page_text: upon is surrounded by a stationary casing or jacket to prevent the molasses
from being scattered whilst the machine is in operation. These improvements
consist in constructing such machines, so that the outer casing is made to
revolve with the inner or centrifugal chamber as part of itself, instead of the
outer jacket or casing being separated and stationary as above mentioned.
Further, in order to remove all impediment to the free egress of the molasses,
through the centrifugal chamber or drainer, and thus obtain the full benefit of
the centrifugal action of the machine, the air is to be exhausted from the
case between the case or jacket and the drainer, and thus receiving the syrups
or molasses into a partial vacuum, instead of dashing them through a whirl-
wind of impure air, as is now the case. This exhaustion is obtained by the
simple motion of the apparatus without the aid of air-pumps or other
machinery of that nature; and the discharging of the machine is effected
through the bottom thereof. But in order that these improvements may be
the better understood and explained in detail, I have hereunto attached a
Sheet of Drawing, made upon a scale of about an inch and a quarter to a
foot, and having on the several Figures exhibited in the Drawing the same
letters of reference or similar parts of the machine or apparatus.
Fig. 1 represents an elevation of the improved machine, having part of the
casing removed to show the drainer and exhaust valves or tubes; Fig. 2.
exhibits a sectional elevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of
the apparatus. In constructing this machine the outer case or jacket is
attached (which is of thin boiler plate iron, and represented in the Drawings
at e, e,) to the curb or upper flanged part of the drainer b, b, then carried down
about eight inches lower than the bottom of the drainer c, c, d, d, and flush,
rivetted to a bottom of its own f, f, thus leaving. a space between the two
bottoms, amply sufficient to contain all the molasses from a charge in a
machine of ordinary dimensions, say thirty-three inches diameter, by fifteen
inches deep. A space of six inches between the side or wall of the jacket
and the drainer is left; so as to allow a sufficient separation between the.
molasses and the sugar; so that when the machine is stopped, and the molasses
settled down into the receptacle at the bottom, there may be no danger of
contact. In order to obtain the vacuum referred to, by inserting 2 two inch
pipes into the bottom of the case, through stuffing boxes with trumpet-shaped
or flanged elbows, shown at g, g, h, h, these elbow pipes move freely up or
down in the stuffing boxes; when pushed up, their ends will project above the
molasses in the receptable, so that none can run out, but when pulled down
the molasses will flow into and through them, and so be discharged from the
machine; the flanged orifices of these pipes revolving rapidly with the motion.

page_text: of the machine will leave a vacuum behind them in their course, into which of
necessity, the air from between the drainer and the jacket must pass; thus
producing a partial vacuum. As a diaphram for the drainer, the following.
arrangement is preferable:-First, a perforated sheet of metal, with perfora-
tions one quarter inch in diameter, and as close together as possible;
second, a sheet of coarse copper wire cloth, the meshes one-sixteenth of an
inch in size; third, a sheet of fine wire gauze of brass or copper; this last-for
immediate. contact with the sugar. The coarse wire gauze prevents the finer
tissue from being pressed against the metal and its operation impeded; which
is the only purpose served by the second layer of wire cloth; without this
coarser medium, the gauze would cling too closely to the perforated plate, 'and'
part of it be thus rendered ineffectual. This machine may be mounted upon
a shaft or spindle, so as to revolve with the least friction upon its bearings, or
it may be set upon a stationary spindle as in the American system, but this.is:
left to the discretion of the workman: The operation of this machine in'
liquoring refined sugar will alone: require to be described, its action with
regard to raw sugars being identical; the operation is as follows: Suppose the?
sugar filled into moulds, when sufficiently set to admit of drawing the plugs; i
instead of this being done, the sugar is "knocked out". green, and crushed to
separate the crystals.. In this state it is.. like dough in consistence; more:
"drips" are added to those already in the sugar, till it assumes the form of a
thinnish mortar. One hundred and eighty pounds of this is then put into the?
machine, and the machine started after running at speed; (one thousand revo-
lutions per minute,) say for one minute; or till the sugar appears to have
whitened at the surface (this will vary according to the quality); a gallon of
liquor is then added,, being simply poured slowly into the centre of the
machine, out of a gallon measure or other utensil; in five or at most eight
minutes the operation is complete. If the sugar is required to be very white,
another liquor may be necessary. When the machine is to be discharged, the
sugar is detached from the sides by a blunt wooden scoop, so as not to injure
the wires, and then passed through a hole in the bottom or lifted out" by
hand. In this machine two four-inch tubes may be passed through' both
bottoms, and the ends flanged out tight; through these tubes the sugar may be i
allowed to fall when scraped from the sides, and received into any vessel.
prepared for it. These orifices may be furnished with piston stoppers, or be
otherwise closed; while the machine is running the orifices should be at right
angles with the exhaust tubes, and being lined with pipe. will in no way affect
this action. Sugar liquored in this way is in the form of "moist sugar," but
may be pressed into moulds for the production of loaf. A loaf in this way

page_text: may be produced from the green sugar in ten minutes, ready for the." stovė
room in the ordinary way it would require four or five days. Syrups
obtained from this machine differs in no respect from those produced by the
ordinary slow mode: of dripping; in fact they are better adapted for re-boiling,
being less exposed to they air during the operation of cloying; and from
properly boiled sugar seventy per cent of dry crystal perfectly white ought to
be obtained, there being no tip to be knocked off. Sugars to be liquored in this
way do not require moulds; a wooden cooler is sufficient. The advantages
which this machine possesses over the one at present in use are, that it does
not destroy the syrups, and does its work in one-half of the time required by
the other. In the machine as hitherto constructed, no sooner has the drainer
c, d, acquired any degree of velocity within the fixed jacket e, than a strong
whirlwind is generated between the drainer and its stationary case. This, in
the first place, prevents the molasses from leaving freely the drainer, and of
course retards the operation. In the second place, when the molasses have
succeeded in leaving, and have been dashed against the outer case, this blast
of impure air plays upon them during their spiral course to the bottom, and
thoroughly impregnates them with whatever impurities it may possess, ren-
dering them acid and in part grucose; on taking up some of these molasses in
a glass, they seem to be full of small crystals of sugar; this is not the case, but
owing to innumerable small globules of air with which the molasses is
saturated. With this machine the case is different. The molasses are
received into almost a vacuum, and after crossing the space of five inches
between the drainer and the jacket remain at rest out of contact with the
air, exactly opposite the spot where they left the drainer until the machine is
stopped, when they gently settle down between the bottom of the drainer and
the bottom of the case ready to be drawn off. Hitherto the revolving drainer
and stationary jacket have only been employed to improve the lowest grades
of sugar; where a re-crystallization of the product of the molasses was not
contemplated, this has been owing to the defects referred to. This is obviated
by the machine as herein described, and rendered available for the separation
without injury of even the most delicate syrups, those of the beet root.
Having now particularly described the nature of my Invention and the
manner in which it is performed, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I
claim,
First, the combination of the outer jacket and interior drainer, in such a
manner that both may partake of the rotary movement, and the one revolve
with the other.
And, secondly, the mode of exhausting the air as well as the discharging

page_text: the contents of the machine through the bottom, as herein particularly
described and set forth, and fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JA. WRIGHT. (L.S.)