IMPROVEMENTS IN BAKING BREAD
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Alsop, of Huddersfield, Baker, and
Edward Fairburn, of Kirklers Mills, Mirfield, both in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BAKING BREAD."
Sealed the 6th March 1854, and dated the 7th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Alsop and
Edward Fairburn at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 7th September 1853.
We, JOSEPH ALSOP, of Huddersfield, Baker, and EDWARD FAIRBURN,
of Kirklers Mills, Mirfield, both in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BAKING
BREAD" to be as follows:-
Our improvements in baking bread consist of the use of two cylinders
of cast iron placed one over the other in a horizontal position, revolving
on friction rollers and suitably fixed. In the interior of these cylinders
are fire grates for the purpose of heating them, or gas may be
employed for this purpose. The dough or batter passes through a
hopper on to the top cylinder, and thence to the lower cylinder, (thus
being baked on both sides,) and thence it passes through rollers, and is

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Alsop and Edward Fairburn in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 7th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
JOSEPH ALSOP, of Huddersfield, Baker, and EDWARD FAIRBURN, of
Kirklers Mills, Mirfield, both in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Alsop and Edward Fairburn,
Her special licence that we, the said Joseph Alsop and Edward
Fairburn, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Joseph Alsop and Edward Fairburn, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BAKING BREAD," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Joseph Alsop and Edward Fairburn, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, should particularly 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Alsop and Edward
Fairburn, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:
'

page_text: nery.
The object of our improvements in baking bread is to. bake the
description of bread known as oat cake in a rapid and convenient
manner by machinery, in lieu of the method at present in use. Oaten
bread is made in thin cakes, and ordinarily baked upon a stove; the
machinery or apparatus we use for the purpose consists of a pair of
cylinders heated by gas or fire; the thin dough or batter is allowed to
fall upon one of the cylinders, the heat of which bakes it upon one side;
it passes from thence to the other cylinder, by which the baking is com-
pleted. The cylinders are made of cast iron, and are open at the ends;
a circular groove is cast on the exterior of one end of each cylinder,
and upon the other is fitted a rack which surrounds the periphery of the
cylinder. The grooved ends of the cylinders rest on three friction
pullies, the axles of which are supported by the framing of the machi-
The cylinders are placed in a horizontal position one above the
other, and the rack work upon their ends is made to gear with a pair
of spur wheels, which also gear with each other; on the axle of one of
these wheels is fixed a handle or pulley to which motion is communi-
cated from a steam engine or by manual labour. In order that the
cylinder may be adjusted a certain distance apart according to the
required thickness of the bread one of them rests in a sliding frame,
by which means the cylinders may be brought nearer to or farther
apart from each other. We propose to heat the cylinders either by
the combustion of coal or coke, or by jets of gas impinging upon the
internal surface of the cylinders; in the first-mentioned mode of heat-
ing, a central rod or shaft, which is secured to the framing, passes
through the axis of each cylinder; to this rod or shaft is fixed a grate
extending nearly the length of the cylinder, sufficient space being left
below the grate for the due supply of air. The ashes of the fuel are
caught in a circular or other shaped ash pan suspended from the grate.
and nearly filling the lower part of the cylinder, but leaving sufficient
room for the cylinder to travel freely round the grate and ash pan.
The feeding end of each cylinder is closed by a circular door or disc,
which is made to slide on the central fixed rod or shaft before referre<l
to. The smoke and gaseous products of combustion are carried off
from each cylinder by a metal pipe, one end of which is made with a

page_text: flange to fit the inside of the opposite end of the cylinder; the other end
of the pipe is carried into a stone or brick flue leading to a chimney
shaft. If gas be used for heating the cylinders it may be conveyed
into the interior through the central rod or shaft (which in this case
must be hollow) from the main tube; a branch pipe is to be carried
round the inside of the cylinder, either in a spiral or longitudinal
direction; the products of combustion may be carried off by a pipe fitted
to the other end similar to that described in the foregoing arrange-
ment for heating by coal or coke. The surface of the cylinders are kept
.clean and free from particles of dough adhering to them by the follow-
ing means-A bevel edge bar of steel is fitted so as to be in contact
with the surface of the upper cylinder; this steel bar or "cleaner" is
attached to an eccentric so as to give it a sliding motion over the face
of the cylinder when the apparatus is in motion. The feeding trough
from which the thin dough or batter is supplied to the cylinders is
fixed nearly in contact with the upper cylinder; one end is supported
on an axis attached to the framing, the other by a chain passing over a
pulley, so as to adjust the trough to any required inclination. The
trough is fitted with a valve divided by stops in such manner that bread
of any desired breadth may be made according to the width of the
stream of dough or batter allowed to flow from the trough. The dough
or batter is supplied to the trough from a mixing tub, which is con-
nected with the trough by a pipe, to which is fitted a valve to regulate
the supply. Below the lower baking cylinder, and parallel with it, is
fixed a roller, which gears by means of a toothed wheel with the
circular rack of the cylinder above it; at a short distance from this
roller, and in the same plane, is a similar roller, connected with the first
by a number of small chains, or a metallic web, or a band of strong
cloth; the first roller gearing with the cylinder causes the continuous
metallic or cloth band to travel at the same speed. A small inclined
table is fixed near or close to the outer roller, upon which is supported
a knife or chopper fixed to levers, the ends of which are alternately
elevated and depressed by a series of pins fixed on the roller. The
bread as it is baked passes from the lower cylinder on to the endless
band, by the motion of which it is carried onward to the cutting table,

page_text: where it is cut into pieces of the required size by the action of the
knife; the size of these pieces or cakes may be varied by altering the
number of pins on the periphery of the roller, causing the knife to
descend more or less frequently as desired. The action of the machi-
nery or apparatus is as follows:-The cylinders are heated to the
requisite temperature and put in motion; the feeding trough is supplied
with a quantity of dough or batter, and the valve of the trough raised;
the batter is allowed to flow on the upper heated cylinder, by which one
side is baked; from thence it passes round the lower cylinder which
bakes the other side on to the endless band, thence under the knife,
and from the cutting table it falls into a basket or receptacle placed
beneath to receive it.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do
not confine ourselves to the precise mechanical arrangements herein
described, so long as the general features of our Invention are adhered
to, nor do we confine our Invention to the manufacture of oaten bread
alone. But what we claim and desire to secure by these Letters
Patent is, baking bread upon one or more revolving metallic cylinders
heated by coal, coke, or gas, and the machinery for that purpose, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Alsop & Edward Fair-
burn, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-four.
JOSEPH ALSOP.
(L.S.)
EDWARD FAIRBURN. (L.S.)
JOSEPH ALSOP.
(L.S.)
EDWARD FAIRBURN. (L.S.)