Improvements in the Manufacture of Sugar and in the Apparatus to be Employed therefor.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Aug., 1887
Complete Left, 8th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 8th June, 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Sugar and in the Apparatus to
be Employed therefor.
I, LOUIS EDME ACHILLE PRANGEY, Engineer, of 37 Boulevard Ornano, Paris, in
the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this' invention to be as
follows:-
The fundamental feature of my invention consists in leading the masse cuite as it
arrives in the machine (either cooled or not, as the case may be) between movable
surfaces, the intervening space between which it fills, and which dispose it in a thin
layer and in this state cause it to traverse rather slowly the whole of the machine, so
that during its passage it may be submitted successively to all the necessary operations,
such as drainage, clarification, etc.
A second feature in my system consists in effecting these operations by acting
preferably on the two sides of the layer of sugar, for which purpose it is caused to
pass between two series of boxes, one above and the other below. Each of the upper
boxes is, for example, in communication with a force pump, which supplies it with
hot or cold air or with the clarifying agent, while each of the lower boxes communi-
cates with a suction pump, which retakes the air or clarifying agent by suction, so
that the layer of sugar, which is readily permeable as it is always comparatively thin,
is submitted by its two sides to two actions which combine to obtain the result
required, a condition which not only ensures perfect treatment, but also rapidity.
A third feature of this system, when it is employed to produce compact sugar as
hereinafter described, consists in moulding the hot masse cuite in a comparatively thin
sheet, and in causing it to advance, guided as before by four movable surfaces
enclosing it on all sides, between boxes in which a circulation of cold water or other
refrigerating agent is maintained, in order to produce the setting of the mass of the
material before it reaches that part of the machine where the refining or bleaching
begins.
This method of moulding is applicable to the making of pieces, bars, or cakes,
either with refined sugar or with brown or raw sugar, bleached if required by steam
or otherwise. On the other hand it is evident that it cannot be applied when the
process is employed to replace the centrifugal operation and the sugar is not to leave

page_text: the machine in a compact form, consequently in this case the moulding apparatus is
abolished or remains inoperative.
The invention further includes, as a means for carrying it into practical operation,
a special construction of pulley to support and actuate the endless belts or aprons, either
of metal or not, which cause the sugar to travel through the machine, such pulleys
being specially constructed in order to avoid the slipping of the belts.
It further comprises special arrangements for sawing and breaking the continuous
sheet of white sugar obtained, and for packing it in boxes, or for packing the granular
sugar in sacks as the case may be.
In order to enable the invention to be clearly understood, I shall suppose it to be a
question of producing broken refined sugar, and in the first instance give a description
of the complete machine, and indicate the operations that the sugar is subjected to
from the moment when the machine receives same in the condition of masse cuite up
to the time when it is brought, in the condition of a continuous refined sheet, to the
apparatus serving to saw and break such sheet and to place the pieces thus obtained
in boxes.
The material after having undergone the preliminary operations of ordinary
refining, up to and including the boiling, instead of being then poured into moulds,
directly it leaves the boiling apparatus is led to a reservoir arranged at the head of the
machine in which it is kept hot, by means of a steam jacket for example. This reservoir
is provided with an overflow as well as with a float which controls the supply valve so
as to always maintain the same pressure at the bottom of the reservoir, and to facilitate
the drawing off of the green syrup. It is advisable to provide a suitable form of agitator
for stirring the material.
The reservoir terminates at its lower end in a flat channel, having for example a
width of 0.400 metres by 0.030 metres in height inside, if such are the dimensions
required to be given to the continuous sheet of sugar. This channel conveys the hot
masse cuite between two endless belts carried by pulleys on horizontal axes, which
maintain between the bottom of the top belt and the top of the bottom belt a space of
say 30 millimetres. The belts may be of sheet iron, steel, or of copper, or of any
other material which will resist the action of sugar and of heat, and are sufficiently
inextensible. Each of them instead of being carried by two large pulleys may be carried
by four small pulleys. Packings which may be formed of a band of india rubber
arranged like the cup leathers of hydraulic presses ensure a tight joint between the
channel above mentioned and the pulleys nearest same, so as to prevent the sugar
material escaping.
When desired to mould masse cuite which has been allowed to cool before
entering the machine, it will be advisable to submit same to the action of rather moist
or humid steam.
The masse cuite thus introduced between the last above mentioned pulleys passes on
account of the charge in the reservoir into a space of rectangular section which
řemains open between the belts above mentioned on the one hand, and on the other
hand between narrow belts placed on edge and carried by pulleys on vertical axes
situated to the right and left of the machine; these latter belts constitute the lateral
walls of the chamber which is thus closed on all sides with the exception of the two
ends. The four belts move between two boxes which are arranged so as to enclose them
on all four sides, and in which a refrigerating agent circulates in the opposite direction
to the masse cuite, thus cooling and causing it to set; for this purpose cold water for
example may be employed, and caused to enter at one end and leave by the other
following the path formed by baffle plates inside the boxes.
A comparatively thin sheet of sugar is thus formed which arrives in a solid and
homogeneous state at the extremity of the refrigerating boxes.
At this point it leaves the metallic belts above referred to, and, carried by a series
of small rollers, or by a well stretched endless apron, or even by a fixed table, it
enters between two other metallic belts carried by pulleys on horizontal axes, which
cause it to traverse the rest of the machine between a series of upper and a series of
lower boxes, which serve to submit it to the operations of drainage of the green syrup,

page_text: clarification, suction drainage, drying, and cooling, all of which are preferably carried
put under double action, that is to say by pressure on one side of the sheet and by
suction on the opposite side, which, mainly on account of the small thickness of the
sheet, permits of the belts being driven at a quick speed, as the action is rapid. A
single action may be employed, that is to say that either the pressure on the top
surface or the suction on the under surface may be dispensed with if desired.
The belts last mentioned are of perforated iron, steel or copper, the holes or slots
pierced in the metal being tapered in the direction requisite to tend to always keep
them clear, that is to say, that those in the top belt are tapered towards the sheet of
sugar whilst those in the lower belt taper in the reverse direction, it being understood
that the air or the clarifying agent traverses the sugar from top to bottom.
Being engaged between these belts, the sheet of sugar passes first between an upper
and a lower box arranged opposite each other and perforated like the belts, on the
side in contact with the latter; in the case of the operation being double, the top box
communicates with a force pump for hot air, whilst the lower box is connected to a
suction pump. The sugar is thus submitted to a forced drainage which purges it of
the green syrup.
The length of the boxes above mentioned is calculated so as to prolong the action of
the hot air for the length of time necessary to produce the drainage.
The sugar continuing to advance passes between other boxes, similar to those
mentioned, but into one of which is forced the clarifying agent whilst the other com-
municates with an air pump which forms a partial vacuum under the lower surface and
thus assists the passage of the clarifying agent through the sheet.
The same operation is repeated on the sugar with clarifying agents of greater
and greater purity, as it passes between boxes forming a continuation of the former,
and arranged in the same way.
The whole or a portion of the clarifying boxes, which may vary in number according
to the number of clarifications that it is desired to be able to give to the sugar, are
connected together in such a way that the white clarifying agent retaken from the
underside of the sheet of sugar, in the last lower box, may be forced back by the
same pump to the last upper box but one, then redrawn off from the lower box situated
immediately beneath it by another pump which will send it above the sugar to the
preceding box. The same clarifying agent can thus be utilized methodically in all the
clarifying boxes or at least in a part of same in succession, the purest syrup being
directed upon the whitest sugar, and the least pure syrup serving to clarify the sugar
which has just been purged of the green syrup.
After the last clarification the sugar is submitted to suction or forced drainage by
passing between other boxes, in the first of which is blown air that can be drawn
out beneath the sheet of sugar by means of a pump communicating with the
lower box.
There now remains to dry the sugar and then to cool it so that it may be ready to
pack. The first of these operations if effected between still other boxes by the injection
of hot air, either with or without suction of the air from below the sheet of sugar, which
may be first prepared by an injection of dry steam. The drying is effected, like the
clarification, in several succeeding cases, or in boxes having several compartments and
by means of air of which the temperature increases and decreases progressively.
Finally, the cooling is effected between other boxes by the injection and suction of
air, becoming colder and colder.
The sheet of sugar thus dryed and cooled has only now to be divided in order to be ready
for consumption. It leaves the perforated belts and proceeds to a table provided with a
series of circular or band saws which divide the sugar into bars. These saws are
preferably placed so that their points of contact with the sugar are not in a straight
line normal to the direction of its travel, which might lead to the sheet being
prematurely broken; it is better to arrange them one in advance of the other or in a
line oblique to the direction of the travel of the sheet of sugar.
The bars produced by the saws by continuing to advance come under a divider which
may have an alternating vertical movement, or be in the form of a revolving cylinder

page_text: furnished with longitudinal blades. They are thus divided into small pieces in the
form of parallel-opipedes, of the usual size, which, further, as will be understood,
remain situated one against the other, so that it suffices to push them automatically
into a box placed at the end of the table and which descends by intermittent movements
as each row is completed.
I may further employ any known means of dividing the sheet of sugar which has been
refined by my process, and also to pack it.
In the case where it is not a question of making broken sugar or tablets, and where
the sugar is to leave the machine in a granular condition and not in a compact form,
the moulding and cooling apparatus consisting of the unperforated belts and the first
mentioned boxes acting in conjunction therewith is abolished and a hopper serving to
receive the sugar as it leaves the crystallizing apparatus where it has been cooled after
the boiling is placed immediately in front of the pulleys which carry the perforated
belts. The sugar carried between these belts passes with them between the boxes acting
in conjunction therewith and in its travel is submitted to the whole or a portion of the
operations above described, according to its nature and the degree of purification it
is desired to impart thereto.
As it is not here a question of a solid sheet, but of granular sugar, it is necessary to
retain it laterally by means of cheeks, which may either move or be fixed.
On passing beyond the boxes the crystallized sugar falls into a hopper, at the bottom
of which is a conveyor, or a conduit in which turns an archimedian screw which causes
the sugar to advance in order to place it in sacks.
For low class refinery products instead of clarifying them by syrups, which is too
costly for certain kinds, or on the contrary not clarifying them at all, by means of my
machine the clarifying or bleaching can be easily effected by steam, employing for
this purpose if necessary steam which has been expanded and superheated to the
desired degree so as to avoid melting the sugar, whilst at the same time not running
the risk of carrying off the crystals by too strong a pressure. One of the boxes which
normally serve for clarification will then receive the steam.
It will be readily understood that the clarification may also be effected by water.
The bleaching by steam might also be employed for making broken sugar or tablets
from unrefined brown sugar as already stated. For this purpose the moulding and
solidifying apparatus will be retained, if this is considered necessary or desirable. It
will be understood that the unperforated metallic belts and also the perforated ones
are cleaned mechanically and constantly in their travel outside the corresponding
boxes.
I employ a particular construction of pulleys or rollers in order to ensure the perfect
adherence of the metallic or non-metallic unperforated belts on such pulleys or
rollers, which serve to actuate them.
The means which I employ consist in creating a partial vacuum in the interior of the
pulley, in the angular space which the belt surrounds, and allow the action of the vacuum
to be exerted on this belt on this same portion through holes pierced in the rim of
the pulley throughout its width. For this purpose the space which is to be put in
communication with the air pump is confined by a fixed sector which makes a tight
joint with the inner wall of the pulley by hermetically fitting packing. This hermetical
sealing may be effected by means of grooves formed in the edges of the fixed sector,
and to which water is admitted, the vacuum maintained in the interior of the fixed
sector preventing the outward flow, whilst the water drawn into the interior will pass
off by the hollow trunnion, to the air pump, which in this case must have a piston
working beneath the water.
Supposing that each belt is carried by four small pulleys, it will surround each of
the latter for a quarter of a circle, then the sector above referred to will form in
conjunction with the part of the full belt which surrounds that part of the pulley, a
closed space which is put into communication with an air pump by the hollow shaft
on which the pulley is mounted. The sector is composed of radial arms and cheeks,
which in place of the hydraulic joint above described, may terminate towards the
circumference in a rather wide groove in the whole width of which is arranged a

page_text: packing of any suitable kind, which if not elastic itself may be forced outwards by any
suitable springs.
It will be understood that during the rotation of the pulley, when a part of the
unperforated belt arrives opposite the fixed sector, it will be submitted to pneumatic
action which will cause it to adhere tightly to the pulley and prevent all slip; at the
moment it passes the sector it again receives atmospheric pressure on both sides and
can therefore detach itself from the pulley without difficulty.
Pulleys for effecting a pneumatic adherence may also be employed for the perforated
belts, it only being necessary to provide round the exterior surface of these belts, upon
the portion which surrounds the pulley, a fixed covering with an unperforated surface
with light packing on its four sides, which with the fixed interior sector will form a
closed space in which the vacuum may be produced. The joint of this outer covering
with the belt may be rendered tight in the same way as the interior sector, that is to
say, by means of a solid packing, or by a hydraulic joint.
The unperforated belts being unable to slip on their pulleys will advance with a very
uniform movement and will produce no irregularities or breaks in the sheet of sugar
that they serve to mould and carry forward. It is advisable to construct the pulleys
on vertical axes which actuate the narrow belts forming the lateral walls of the mould
in the same manner.
If desired to carry each belt by two pulleys only, the only change necessary will
consist as will be understood, in making the sector an arc of 180° instead of 900.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: to be Employed therefor.
I, LOUIS EDME ACHILLE PRANGEY, Engineer, of 37 Boulevard Ornano, Paris, in
the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
My invention consists in an improved method of purifying sugar, which enables
same to be conducted in a manner absolutely continuous and very rapid, and without
having to employ either moulds or centrifugal apparatus.
It is well known that in the manufacture of sugar at the present time the juices
extracted from sugar cane, beetroot, or other vegetables, are treated so as to obtain
crystallized sugar, and that the raw sugar thus produced then nearly always undergoes
a series of operations for increasing its purity, and which constitute what is called
refining," which is carried on in special works called refineries.
Now, in the present system of refining a fractional method is employed, which has
the great disadvantage of requiring a large and costly plant, as well as great
space, and occupies a great time. The employment of such method is, therefore, very
costly, both on account of the expensive works and the working expenses, and on
the other hand it does not permit of as rapid execution and delivery of orders as it is
commercially desirable to be able to effect.
My invention has for its object to at once overcome all these inconveniences by
providing means for refining or purifying sugar in a continuous manner, and so to
speak instantaneously. It in effect enables the raw material to be submitted, in a
few moments only, to the whole of the requisite operations, without having to pour it
into moulds as at present, and to leave it there for a long time, while causing it to
undergo the various operations (drainage of the green syrup, suction drainage, clari-
fying), then withdrawing same for subjecting it to the drying, stoving and cooling
operations. I have in effect invented a method which enables me to submit the raw
material to refining operations similar in principle to the ordinary operations, but
carried out in a special manner without having to place the sugar in permanent
receptacles such as " moulds."
For this purpose my invention consists essentially in conducting the raw material
between perforated or open surfaces, between which a suitable space is left, and which
are caused to travel along by any suitable means, so as to cause such material to pre-
sent itself in the form of a comparatively thin layer to the action of different agents
in succession, which are to effect its purification and then dry it.
On account of the material being in a thin layer and of its being caused to travel
along by any suitable means, such agents, which act at fixed points, operate succes-
sively on its different parts with ease and rapidity, so that when it has passed through
them all it has arrived at the desired degree of purity, and has only to be collected

page_text: for packing or for being submitted to any further operations that may be desired,
such for example as breaking into pieces, if desired to make broken refined sugar.
From the fact that the raw sugar in my system has only to be confined during
the time of the application of the purifying and drying agents, which further, act one
after the other without interruption-contrary to what occurs in the ordinary method,
where for clarifying, for example, the sugar upon which the clarifying agent has
been poured must then remain in the "mould" to allow such agent to slowly effect
its action it follows that the moving surfaces, which serve to cause the material to
be treated to advance, themselves suffice to hold or carry same for the time required;
so that my process entirely suppresses moulds or holders of any kind, thus effecting
an enormous saving in the plant, in maintenance, hand labour, and in space, more
particularly as the stoves ordinarily employed for drying the sugar loaves are
rendered unnecessary, as well as the "packing rooms and the "store rooms.'
"
As far as I am aware, it has never hitherto been tried to simplify the refining
operations in the direction I have indicated, the improvements that have been made
all adopting as their basis the old principle of working in "moulds," or relying upon
the employment of centrifugal apparatus. It is therefore an entirely new process to
do away with what I have indicated, and to obtain a continuous treatment by a
method the essential characteristics of which are the two following points-1st. The
arrangement of the raw sugar in a thin layer; 2nd. Moving it in this form before
fixed openings through which the different agents, for effecting its purification and
then its drying, act upon it in succession.
As a complement to my invention and in order to efficiently carry same into effect,
I conduct the different operations upon the sugar, under special conditions which will
be hereinafter described.
One very important advantage obtained by my process is, that if the compara-
tively thin layer of sugar material is solidified, and this either when the material is
taken in a hot and fluid condition, or is re-heated if it is cold, then by cooling same
during the first part of its forward movement, after it has been purified during the
continuation of its movement, a sheet of refined, purified or bleached sugar, will be
obtained, which is compact, of regular form, and can consequently be sawn and
broken without producing waste, as is the case with conical loaves.
It will be understood that my system may be employed to effect the whole of the
operations included in refining, or only a part of same, and in the same manner that
each operation (clarifying for example) may be repeated a fewer or larger number of
times, as may be thought useful.
For the complete refining the raw material, which may be in the form of " masse
cuite" of refineries, either in a hot or cold condition, that is to say raw sugar which
in the ordinary manner has undergone the whole of the operations preliminary to
refining, up to and including the boiling, or of commercial
masse cuite" which
has not undergone such operations, or of raw sugar in crystals, pasty or not, is
conducted between the movable perforated or open surfaces which cause it to advance
in the form of a thin layer, and in its travel it is subjected in succession to the
following operations:-drainage for removing the green syrup; clarification by
means of sugar syrup; suction drainage of the clarifying agent; stoving and cooling
finally by means of air the temperature of which goes on increasing and then
decreasing as the material advances.
It will be seen that the above are the ordinary operations but I carry on the same
under different conditions.
The whole of the operations above mentioned must be rapidly effected in my
process; and I obtain this result by the aid of pressure or of a vacuum, or of the
two combined, thus permitting the agents employed to act efficiently upon the
comparatively thin layer of material.
Taking the case of working with the double action, that is to say by pressure upon
one side and a vacuum behind the other, the first operation, the drainage, is carried
out by forcing warm air upon one side of the layer of sugar, and causing a suction
upon the other side. In practice, the pressure and the vacuum respectively will be

page_text: produced preferably in boxes of any suitable form, against which move the perforated
surfaces carrying the sugar, the face of the boxes contiguous to such surfaces being
itself perforated for the passage of air; in this manner the action will be uniformly
distributed throughout the layer. For working with single action, the operation is
confined to projecting hot air on to one of the faces of the layer of sugar without
creating a vacuum behind the other face. This injection of air, which is not employed
in the ordinary process, enables me to act rapidly by using if necessary a considerable
pressure.
The drainage being effected, the material in its continued advance receives the
clarifying agent or syrup under pressure on one side, and such agent passes through
it driving out before it the molasses, which was mingled with the sugar crystals; if
necessary a vacuum is created under the other side to draw out the agent and the
impurities. In practice I prefer to cause the agent to be delivered by a perforated
box of the width of the layer of sugar, and in the same way to create the vacuum in
a box arranged on the other side, and provided with a perforated face to permit the
vacuum to act upon the whole width of the layer. The material will be treated suc-
cessively by clarifying agents which become purer and purer, as in the ordinary
refining process; the samo clarifying agent can be caused to pass through the layer
of sugar several times if thought desirable, providing that it is the purest clarifier
which serves to complete the clarification, that is to say, that this agent must be sent
from one box to another in travelling in the reverse direction to the material being
treated, to produce a methodical purification.
After having received the desired number of clarifications, the material is subjected
to suction or forced drainage of the clarifier, which is effected either by means of
air pressure, or of suction, or by forcing air upon one side at the same time that a
suction is exerted upon the other. This operation, like those preceding, is taken from
the ordinary process of refining, with the exception that it is carried out in a different
manner.
The sugar being then completely purified, it remains to dry it. Ordinarily for
this purpose the sugar loaves are placed in a stove, where they are left for the number
of hours necessary to ensure that no moisture remains in them. In my system I
replace the stoving by an injection of hot air through the layer of sugar, either with
or without suction of such air from the opposite side. This injection of hot air may
be preceded by an injection of dry steam. As the material advances it is acted upon
by air becoming hotter and hotter, the temperature of the air being different in
each of the perforated boxes before which the layer of sugar passes in succession.
It will be seen that this operation differs from stoving as ordinarily carried out
for the purpose of drying sugar; in the stoves the sugar loaves are simply surrounded
by hot air, which can only remove the moisture when it arrives on the surface of
the loaves; in my process the hot air does not remain round the layer of sugar, but
penetrates it, acting further upon the whole length of the layer at the same time, and
it thus nearly instantaneously carries off all the moisture by becoming saturated with
it in its passage.
After this injection of hot air or improved stoving, it only remains to cool the sugar
gradually, which is effected by causing it to be traversed by air becoming colder.
and colder, such air being injected on to one side of the layer, either with or without
suction of such air by an air pump from the other side.
It will be understood that according to the degree of purification that I desire the
sugar to undergo by my process, I can suppress any part of the operations above
indicated. I may also replace the clarification by means of syrup, by a clarification
or cleaning by means of water, or by a bleaching by means of steam, which by
preference will be expanded and superheated steam.
66
As an example of partial purification which may be advantageously effected
according to my method, I will instance in particular the operation known as
turbining," because it is usually carried out in a turbine or centrifugal apparatus,
such operation having for its object to remove the molasses by the action of centri-
fugal force, either from raw sugar delivered to the refinery from the sugar makers,

page_text: which it is usual to turbine before remelting it for refining, or from the low grade
products obtained in the course of refining. It suffices to cause air, hotter or colder,
and under sufficient pressure, to traverse the sugar, which moves forward in a com-
paratively thin layer, its action being aided if desired by a vacuum acting upon the
other side of the layer, in order to obtain at very little cost the same result as by tho
employment of a turbine. It is easy to complete this operation, if thought desirable,
by bleaching with water or steam.
Further, as already stated, my method of purification may also just as well be
applied in sugar factories proper, as in refineries, since it does not require the large.
plant and space necessary with refining processes hitherto in use; consequently
my invention resolves the problem of the production of "white sugar" by the makers,
to be delivered directly to the consumers. The makers may content themselves with
purifying their sugars by means of air acting under pressure, either with or without
the assistance of a vacuum, or they may afterwards bleach then by an injection of
steam or otherwise, or even subject them to more or less complete clarification by
means of syrup.
By my process without having to employ either centrifugal apparatus or moulds,
makers as well as refiners could produce compact and solid sugar in the form of
tablets, bars or small pieces, by solidifying the layer of sugar at the beginning of
the operation, in the manner above indicated, that is to say by acting upon the hot
material which will be cooled during its forward movement, so as to cause it to set and
form a solid sheet before purifying it; such sheet can be broken or sawn without
waste by known means.
«
"
66
The material employed for thus forming a compact sheet may be raw masso
cuite" of the sugar makers, or masse cuite" of the refinery, used hot and fluid
immediately after boiling, or masse cuite" which has cooled, in which latter case
the material must be first re-heated by slightly humid steam, so as to bind the crystals
together.
The method is also applicable to the more or less perfect purification of raw
sugar, in grains pasty or not, which will remain in a granular condition after the
operation.
According to whether it is desired to effect the whole or part of the operations
hereinbefore mentioned, the machine employed will naturally be more or less com-
plete, but in order to enable the invention to be clearly understood, I will now
proceed to describe same by the aid of the accompanying drawings, and supposing
that it is a question of producing broken refined sugar, will give a description of
the complete machine, and indicate the operations the sugar is subjected to from the
moment when the sugar is taken in the state of "masse cuite" up to the delivery in
the form of a continuous refined sheet to the apparatus for sawing and breaking such
sheet, and for packing the pieces thus obtained in boxes.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section through one of the clarifying or drying boxes.
The material after having undergone the preliminary operations of ordinary
refining, up to and including the boiling, instead of being then poured into moulds,
directly it leaves the boiling apparatus is led to a reservoir A arranged at the head of
the machine in which it is kept hot, by means of a steam jacket A' for example.
This reservoir A is provided with an overflow A2 as well as with a float A' which
controls the supply valve so as to always maintain the same pressure at the bottom
of the reservoir A, and to facilitate the drawing off of the green syrup. It is
advisable to provide a suitable form of agitator for stirring the material.
The reservoir A terminates at its lower end in a flat channel A having for example
a width of 0.400 metres by 0-030 metres in height inside, if such are the dimensions
required to be given to the continuous sheet of sugar. This channel conveys the hot
masse cuite between two endless belts C, C₁, carried by pulleys D, D', D², D', on
horizontal axes, which maintain between the bottom of the top belt and the top of
the bottom belt a space of say 30 millimetres. The belts C, C', may be of sheet
B

page_text: iron, steel, or of copper, or of any other material which will resist the action of sugar
and of heat, and are sufficiently inextensible. Each of them instead of being carried
by two large pulleys may be carried by four small pulleys. Packings which may be
formed of a band of india rubber arranged like the cup leathers of hydraulic presses
ensure a tight joint between the channel A* above mentioned and the pulleys D, D2,
nearest same, so as to prevent the sugar material escaping..
The masse cuite thus introduced between the pulleys B and D² passes on account
of the charge in the reservoir into a space of rectangular section which remains open
between the belts C and on the one hand, and on the other hand between two
narrow belts E, E, placed on edge and carried by pulleys E' on vertical axes situated
to the right and left of the machine; these latter belts constitute the lateral walls of
the chamber which is thus closed on all sides with the exception of the two ends.
The four belts move between a box F and a box F¹ which are arranged so as to
enclose them on all four sides (see Fig. 2), and, in which a refrigerating agent circu-
lates in the opposite direction to the masse cuite, thus cooling and causing it to set;
for this purpose cold water for example may be employed, and caused to enter at one
end and leave by the other following the path formed by baffle plates F³ inside the
boxes.
A comparatively thin sheet of sugar is thus formed which arrives in a solid and
homogeneous state at the extremity of the refrigerating boxes.
At this point it leaves the metallic belts C, C, and, carried by a series of small
rollers F, or by a well stretched endless apron, or even by a fixed table, it enters
between two other metallic belts H, H', carried by pulleys G, G1, G2, G3, on horizontal
axes, which cause it to traverse the rest of the machine between a series of upper
and a series of lower boxes, which serve to submit it to the operations of drainage of
the green syrup, clarification, suction drainage, drying, and cooling, all of which are
preferably carried out under double action, that is to say by pressure on one side of
the sheet and by suction on the opposite side, which, mainly on account of the sunall
thickness of the sheet, permits of the belts being driven at a quick speed, as the
action is rapid. A single action may be employed, that is to say that either tho
pressure on the top surface or the suction on the under surface may be dispensed with
if desired.
The belts H, H', are of perforated iron, steel or copper, the holes or slots pierced
in the metal being tapered in the direction requisite to tend to always keep them
clear, that is to say, that those in the top belt are tapered towards the sheet of sugar
whilst those in the lower belt taper in the reverse direction, it being understood that
the air or the clarifying agent traverses the sugar from top to bottom.
Being engaged between these belts H, H¹, the sheet of sugar passes first between
an upper box 1 and a lower box I arranged opposite each other and perforated like
the belts, on the side in contact with the latter; in the case of the operation being
double, the top box communicates with a force pump for hot air, whilst the lower box
is connected to a suction pump. The sugar is thus submitted to a forced drainage
which purges it of the green syrup.
The length of the boxes above mentioned is calculated so as to prolong the action
of the hot air for the length of time necessary to produce the drainage.
The sugar continuing to advance passes between the boxes J, J₁, similar to the
boxes I, I, but into one of which is forced the clarifying agent whilst the other one
communicates with an air pump which forms a partial vacuum under the lower
surface and thus assists the passage of the clarifying agent through the sheet.
The same operation is repeated on the sugar with clarifying agents of greater and
greater purity, as it passes between boxes forming a continuation of the boxes J, J',
and arranged in the same way.
The whole or a portion of the clarifying boxes, which may vary in number according
to the number of clarifications that it is desired to be able to give to the sugar, are
connected together in such a way that the white clarifying agent retaken from the
underside of the sheet of sugar, in the last lower box, may be forced back by the same

page_text: pump to the last upper box but one, then redrawn off from the lower box situated
immediately beneath it by another pump which will send it above the sugar to the
preceding box. The same clarifying agent can thus be utilized methodically in all
the clarifying boxes or at least in a part of same in succession, the purest syrup being
directed upon the whitest sugar, and the least pure syrup serving to clarify the sugar
which has just been purged of the green syrup.
After the last clarification the sugar is submitted to suction or forced drainage by
passing between the boxes K and K', in the first of which is blown air that can be
drawn out beneath the sheet of sugar by means of a pump communicating with the
lower box K¹
There now remains to dry the sugar and then to cool it so that it may be ready to
pack. The first of these operations is effected between the boxes L and L' by the
injection hot air, either with or without suction of the air from below the sheet of
sugar, which may be first prepared by an injection of dry steam. The drying is
effected, like the clarification, in several succeeding cases, or in boxes having several
compartments and by means of air of which the temperature increases and decreases
progressively.
Finally, the cooling is effected between the boxes M and M¹ by the injection and
suction of air, becoming colder and colder.
The sheet of sugar thus dried and cooled has only now to be divided in order to be
ready for consumption. It leaves the perforated belts H, H', and proceeds to a
table N provided with a series of circular or band saws which divide the sugar into
bars. These saws are preferably placed so that their points of contact with the sugar
are not in a straight line normal to the direction of its travel, which might lead to the
sheet being prematurely broken, it is better to arrange them one in advance of the
other or in a line oblique to the direction of the travel of the sheet of sugar.
The bars produced by the saws by continuing to advance come under a divider
which may have an alternating vertical movement, or be in the form of a revolving
cylinder furnished with longitudinal blades. They are thus divided into small pieces
in the form of parallel-opipedes, of the usual size, which, further, as will be understood,
remain situated one against the other, so that it suffices to push them automatically
into a box placed at the end of the table and which descends by intermittent
movements as each row is completed.
I may further employ any known means of dividing the sheet of sugar which has
beon refined by my process, and also to pack it.
In the case where it is not a question of making broken sugar or tablets, and
where the sugar is to leave the machine in a granular condition and not in a compact
form, the moulding and cooling apparatus consisting of the unperforated belts C, C',
and the boxes F, F1, acting in conjunction therewith is abolished and a hopper serving
to receive the sugar as it leaves the crystallizing apparatus, where it has been cooled
after the boiling, is placed immediately in front of the pulleys G, G³, which carry the
perforated belts H, H'. The sugar carried between these belts passes with them
between the boxes I, J, K, L, M, acting in conjunction therewith, and in its
travel is submitted to the whole or a portion of the operations above described,
according to its nature and the degree of purification it is desired to impart thereto.
As it is not here a question of a solid sheet, but of granular sugar, it is
necessary to retain it laterally by means of cheeks, which may either move like
the walls formed by the belis E, E³, or be fixed.
On passing beyond the boxes the crystallized sugar falls into a hopper, at the
bottom of which is a conveyor, or a conduit in which turns an archimedian screw
which causes the sugar to advance in order to place it in sacks.
For low class refinery products instead of clarifying them by syrups, which is
too costly for certain kinds, or on the contrary not clarifying them at all, by
means of my machine the clarifying or bleaching can be easily effected by steam,
employing for this purpose if necessary steam which has been expanded and
superheated to the desired degree so as to avoid melting the sugar, whilst at the
saime time not running the risk of carrying off the crystals by too strong a

page_text: pressure. One of the boxes which normally serve for clarification will then receive
the steam.
It will be readily understood that the clarification may also be effected by water.
The bleaching by steam might also be employed for making broken sugar or
tablets from unrefined brown sugar as already stated. For this purpose the
moulding and solidifying apparatus will be retained, if this is considered necessary
or desirable. It will be understood that the unperforated metallic belts C, C²,
and also the perforated ones H, H¹, are cleaned mechanically and constantly in
their travel outside the corresponding boxes.
Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate in cross and longitudinal section a special arrangement
which I employ for ensuring the perfect adherence of the metallic or non-metallic
ünperforated belts C, C₁, on the pulleys or rollers which serve to actuate them.
I have horo supposed the two pulleys indicated in Fig. 1 for carrying each of
the belts to be replaced by four smaller pulleys.
The means which I employ consist in creating a partial vacuum in the interior
of the pulley, in the angular space which the belt surrounds, and allow the action
of the vacuum to be exerted on this belt on this same portion through holes
pierced in the rim of the pulley throughout its width. For this purpose the
space which is to be put in communication with the air pump is confined by a
fixed sector which makes a tight joint with the inner wall of the pulley by
hermetically fitting packing. This hermetical sealing may be effected by means
of grooves formed in the edges of the fixed sector, and to which water is admitted,
the vacuum maintained in the interior of the fixed sector preventing the outward
flow, whilst the water drawn into the interior will pass off by the hollow trunnion,
to the air pump, which in this case must have a piston working beneath the water.
In the drawing a represents the rim of the pulley with the belt surrounding it for
à quarter of a circle; the sector composed of radial arms 61, 62, and cheeks bs, b,
forms in conjunction with the part of the full belt which surrounds the sector and that
part of the pulley, a closed space which is put into communication with an air pump
by the hollow shaft c. The parts b', 6, 8, 1, terminate towards the circumference in
a rather wide groove d in the whole width of which is arranged a packing e of any
suitable kind, which if not elastic itself may be forced outwards by any suitable
springs f
It will be understood that during the rotation of the pulley, when a part of the
unperforated belt arrives opposite the fixed sector, it will be submitted to pneumatic
action which will cause it to adhere tightly to the pulley and prevent all slip; at the
moment it passes the sector it again receives atmospheric pressure on both sides and
can therefore detach itself from the pulley without difficulty.
Pulleys for effecting a pneumatic adherence may also be employed for the
bolts H, H, although they are perforated. It will only be necessary to provide
round the exterior surface of these belts, upon the portion which surrounds the
pulley, a fixed covering with an unperforated surface, with tight packing on its four
sides, which with the fixed interior sector will form a closed space in which the
vacuum may be produced. The joint of this outer covering with the belt may be
rendered tight in the same way as the interior sector, that is to say, by means of a
'solid packing, or by a hydraulic joint.
The belts C, C, being unable to slip on their pulleys will advance with a very
uniform movement and will produce no irregularities or breaks in the sheet of sugar
that they serve to mould and carry forward. It is advisable to construct the pulleys
'on vertical axes which actuate the narrow belts E, E', forming the lateral walls of
the mould in the same manner.
If desired to carry each belt by two pulleys only, the only change necessary will
'consist as will be understood, in making the sector an arc of 180° instead of 90°.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
1. The continuous method of refining, purifying or bleaching sugar, consisting in

page_text: arranging the material in a comparatively thin layer between perforated or open
surfaces which cause it to advance with them continuously or intermittently, in order
to present it in this form to openings through which are projected the respective
purifying or bleaching agents, which then pass in succession through the layer of
sugar, under the influence of their pressure, and in addition thereto when advisable
under the action of a vacuum created on the side of the layer on which the agents
are to leave, substantially as specified.
2. In the method of refining, purifying or bleaching sugar described in the
preceding claim, the optional solidifying of the layer of sugar, so as to form a solid
and compact sheet, which will remain in that condition after having undergone a
more or less complete purification as desired, such solidifying being effected by acting
upon the hot material and cooling same by any suitable means during its travel,
substantially as specified.
3. In the method described in claim 1, forcing air under pressure through the
layer of sugar, both for purging it of " green syrup," and for afterwards purging it
of the clarifying agent, the action of the air under pressure being assisted when
necessary by a vacuum created on the other side of the layer, substantially as
specified.
4. In the method described in claim 1, effecting the clarification by forcing the
clarifying agent under pressure through the layer of sugar during its travel, such
agent being either syrup, water, steam, or other suitable purifying or bleaching agent,
either with or without the aid of a vacuum created on the surface through which the
agent is to leave, substantially as specified.
5. The employment of the same clarifying agent several times over, when desirable,
by causing it to act upon portions of the layer of sugar becoming less and less
purified, so that the clarification may be begun with the impurest clarifying agent,
and be finished with fresh agent, substantially as specified.
6. In the method described in claim 1, drying the layer of sugar by causing it to
be traversed by air under pressure of which the temperature increases and then
diminishes, suction being employed to assist the operation when necessary, and further
the injection of air being preceded or not by an injection of dry steam, substantially
as specified.
7. In the method described in claim 1, causing the different purifying, bleaching
or drying agents to act at numerous points on the surfaco of the layer of sugar,
through openings provided in the surfaces which carry it along, so as to obtain a
uniform action on all parts of the material, substantially as specified.
8. The employment of pulleys or rollers having a pneumatic action, for actuating
the metallic or other belts which cause the material to travel through the machine,
such pulleys being constructed and arranged substantially as described, both for the
unperforated and the perforated belts.
9. The combination of an apparatus for sawing and dividing a continuous sheet of
sugar, and for placing the pieces thus obtained in boxes, with the machine serving
to mould such sheet, substantially as specified.
10. The combination and general arrangement of parts for moulding sugar into a
solid and continuous sheet, and more or less completely purifying same, substantially
as specified.
11. The combination and general arrangements of parts for moulding sugar into
a solid and continuous sheet, substantially as specified.
12. The combination and general arrangement of parts for more or less completely
purifying sugar when in a comparatively thin layer, either solid or not, substantially
as specified.
12 The combination and general arrangement of parts for moulding sugar into a

page_text: solid and continuous sheet, and more or less completely purifying same, substantially
as specified and shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.
14. The combination and general arrangement of parts for moulding sugar into a
solid and continuous sheet, substantially as specified and shown on the left hand side
of Fig. 1 of the drawings.
15. The combination and general arrangement of parts for more or less completely
purifying sugar when in a comparatively thin layer, either solid or not, substantially
as specified and shown on the right hand side of Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2 of the drawings.
1000