A SYSTEM OF APPARATUS FOR SAWING AND BREAKING SUGAR
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Alexandre Michel, Merchant, of Paris,
Empire of France, and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City),.
London, for the Invention of "A SYSTEM OF APPARATUS FOR SAWING
AND BREAKING SUGAR."
Sealed the 22nd March 1854, and dated the 29th November 1853.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Louis Alexandré
Michel at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration, on the 29th November 1853, pursuant
to the 9th section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
..I, LOUIS ALEXANDRE MICHEL, Merchant, of Paris, (Empire of
France,) and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, do hereby
declare the nature of my Invention for "A SYSTEM OF APPARATUS FOR
SAWING AND BREAKING SUGAR" to be as follows, viz-
The object of this Invention is to produce any desired number of
pieces of sugar of an uniform size, appearance, and weight, from a given
weight of sugar, and consists in taking the sugar loaves as they are
sold, and dividing them by a saw, either longitudinally or transversely,
into pieces or layers of a thickness equal to the width intended to be
given to the pieces of sugar; these layers are then brought under: a

page_text: of
breaking machine, which is so arranged that by putting a shaft to
motion a knife falls on one or several layers of sugar, and breaks or
cuts off one or several pieces. Whilst the knife is lifted up the layer
sugar
receives a motion that causes it to advance, and the knife
descending again breaks one or several pieces of the sugar. It will be
easily understood that by changing the motion given to the layers of
sugar the thickness of the pieces may be varied. Hence with some
practice it is easy to determine the number of pieces, of sugar obtained
from a certain weight by comparing the dimensions of the layers
obtained by the saw with, the motion of the layer on the breaking
machine. Pieces of various forms with rectangular sides may be
obtained.
The whitish appearance produced by the sawing operation on the
pieces of sugar may be prevented, and 'changed into a brighter one,
either by immersing the long pieces, or layers of sugar, obtained by
the saw, in water; or by bringing them in contact, with steam, and
drying them thoroughly after they have undergone one or both of
these operations. After which they pass through the breaking machine,
and are then ready for sale.
The annexed Drawing represents several views of the first two
machines which I have devised for doing that work.. Figure 1, is an
outside view; Figure 2, a horizontal section; and Figure 3,, a vertical
section made through the line 1, 2, Fig. 2..
2.7
This saw mill is shewn with a wooden frame, but it may be of cast
iron or any other material. It carries two uprights which have grooves
or long mortices cut in them, in which the ends of a beam b; slide up
and down. This beam is connected with the lower beam c, by two
uprights d, thus forming a frame carrying the saw e; this frame may
contain any desired number of saws; in this case they would be set
apart by about the thickness which the pieces of sugar are to be. In
this arrangement the sugar loaf has to be carried on a carriage that is
capable of holding all the pieces of sugar till they are perfectly sepa-
rated from each other. This might be done with a kind of grate
having as many bars as there are pieces to be cut, and the pieces
might be held together with one cross bar by means of one or several

page_text: screws, weights, or by any other method. When only one saw is used)
I put the sugar-loaf on the carriage f, which slides on a cross rail g
the sugar loaf is held down by hand or by a single cross bar. A weight:
is attached to one end of a string, the other end of which is hooked to
the carriage f; and thus the sugar is forced up to the saw. In order
to regulate the thickness of the pieces separated by the the base
or bottom of the loaf buts against a rest i, which is put nearer to or
farther from the saw, and fixed by one or more set screws. The saw
frame receives its motion by means of two connecting rods j, joined at
the upper end to the cross beam b, and at the lower end to the arms, of
two fly wheels k, keyed to the ends of the horizontal shaft 7, which in
the middle carries a pulley m, receiving motion from the shaft o, by a
strap n. The shaft o'carries at one end the fly wheel p, and at the
other a pinion gearing into a wheel q, keyed on the crank shaft, which
is turned by the winchi v; circular saws may be used instead of reci-
procating saws, if desirable.
any
•
Although the arrangement I have described is for working by hand,
otlier motive power may be employed. The pieces thus obtained,
either by sawing the sugar lengthwise or across, are next separated
again by the saw, so as to form long pieces or pillars of sugar, which
are brought under the breaking machine represented in Figures 4,
5, and 6, of the Drawing. Fig. 4, is a front view of the breaking
machine; Fig. 5, a cross section; and Fig. 6, a plan. This machine
consists of a shoe or foot carrying two uprights tied together by two
cross rails. To the upper ends of these uprights are bolted the jour-
nals of the shaft s, on the middle of which the eccentric t, is keyed:
This shaft s, carries at one end a fly wheel with a handle, at the other
a cranked disc by which the traversing motion of the sugar is regu-
lated; the connecting rod u, gives motion to a ratchet wheel v, whose
shaft carries a pinion x, gearing into a rack y, which is mounted with
a rest y', on which one or more pillars of sugar w, are held down. The
vertical knife, the handle of which is lengthened, passes through a
double box containing a helical spring, which accelerates the fall of the
knife; the upper part of the handle has a slot large enough to allow
the passage of a cam t, which in turning raises the said knife. As

page_text: soon as the cam has reached its highest point, it falls back on one or
more pieces of sugar w under it, with all the force of its weight and
the spiral spring, and thus breaks one or more pieces of sugar; then
as the eccentric t rises, it pushes the sugar forward by means of the
connecting rod u, acting upon the ratchet wheel v, and the rack y,
which by the rest y', pushes the piece of sugar w forward. The knife
by its next fall again breaks 'one or more pieces of sugar, and so on, till
the piece or pieces of sugar are all broken; they have then to be re-
placed by one or more other pieces, after having turned the rack home.
By diminishing the throw given to the connecting rod u, the pillar or
pillars of sugar w, are pushed forward less, and by increasing it the
successive advances of the sugar will be greater, so that by practice it
will be easy to regulate the number of pieces to be obtained from a
given quantity of sugar.
I claim the sawing machine described, or any modification thereof,
and its application for the purpose of dividing sugar loaves into layers;
and also the machine described, or any modification thereof, for the
purpose of breaking the said layers of sugar into pieces of an uniform
size, appearance, and weight.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Alexandre Michel, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three.
HOTEL