IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUID OR MOISTURE FROM SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Needham, of Smallbury Green, in
the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, and James Kite the
younger, of Princes Street, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUID OR MOISTURE FROM SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 23rd December 1853, and dated the 14th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Need-
ham and James Kite at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 14th July 1853.
We, WILLIAM NEEDHAM and JAMES KITE, the younger, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA.
CHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUID OR MOISTURE FROM SUB-
STANCES" to be as follows:-
We propose to
to expel moisture or liquid from substances thus:
We take several flat pieces of wood or other suitable material of an
uniform length and breadth, and cut grooves or channels on both
surfaces. We place these pieces in a strong frame, supporting each
F

page_text: piece by placing other pieces of wood or other suitable material at the
ends, the sides being entirely or partially open or closed, according to
the nature of the substance to be operated upon. We then place
between each pair of flat pieces a cloth or cloths or other suitable
material, connected with a pump, and force in the substance to be
operated upon, employing a greater power than can be resisted by
the moisture or liquid which is to be expressed, and which finds its
way out along the grooves or channels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Needham and James Kite in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 14th January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WILLIAM NEEDHAM, of Smallbury Green, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, and JAMES KITE, the younger, of Princes Street, Lam-
beth, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, 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 successor's,
give and grant unto us, the said William Needham and James Kito,
Her special licence that we, the said William Needham and James
Kite, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said William Needham and James Kite, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 Chan-
nel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUID OR MOISTURE FROM
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
William Needham and James Kite, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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 William Needham and James
Kite, 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, reference being had to
the annexed Drawing:
As the means by which we carry out the principle of our said Inven-
tion in one branch thereof, namely, as it applies to the expression of
moisture from the residium of anylum (starch), is fully developed and
illustrated by the following description and annexed drawing (the
latter forming part of this our Specification); and we are unaware
that Letters Patont have heretofore been granted for any portion of
our Invention, or that any combination of the parts thereof have been
used for any purpose; we consider it unnecessary to refer to any of
the processes in common use for making and drying or otherwise
treating anylum or starch. But as our Invention applies to the ex-
traction or expression of moisture from any substances capable of
being treated by the apparatus hereafter described, we consider it
right to notice that fact, in order that it may not be considered that
the apparatus or machinery is only applicable to the purpose above
mentioned. In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1, represents an
elevation of a portion of the arrangement combined for one of the
purposes of the Invention, the expression of moisture from the resi-
dium of anylum or starch; and Figure 2, represents a longitudinal
section of the same. Similar letters refer to similar parts in both
diagrams, and they illustrate a new mode by which liquid or moisture
may be expressed from substances, by means of a number of slabs a¹,
a², as, a4, made of wood or other fibrous material, metal, gutta-percha,
earthenware, or any other suitable material or combination of mate-
rials dissimilarly prepared or otherwise dissimilarly arranged. On
both sides of the slabs a', a², a³, a4, (the number of which slabs depend
upon and are regulated by the particular requirements of each parti-

page_text: cular case,) are cut rectangular grooves or channels, the transverse sec-
Lions of which will vary according to the nature of the material or mate-
rials used singly or in combination, and in some cases it may be found
necessary to give a curved form to these sections. These grooves are
made to extend from end to end of the transverse section of the cross
timbers, and are shewn in both the elevation and longitudinal section
at b, b, b, b, and c, c, c, c. The lower grooves are made for the purpose
of allowing the liquid or moisture when expressed to escape, while the
upper ones give a means of getting rid of the atmospheric air con-
tained between the slabs when pressure is exerted. The moisture
grooves are made of sufficient sectional area under the requirements
of each particular case, and in practice it is found that the proportion
of area to the air grooves should be about 2 to 1, as shewn in the
Drawings. The slabs are placed one above another, and one, two, or
more cloths or other textile fabrics or materials placed between them,
being supported at the sides by laths or blocks of wood, metal, or
other suitable material. This arrangement of the slabs with the
cloths or other textile fabrics or materials, and laths or blocks between
them, being placed one above another, form chambers or cells e, e, e, e,
and fare bound together by a strong frame of wood, metal, or other
material, according to special requirements of size and strength. A
portion of such an arrangement consisting of uprights f, f, and trans-
verse bearers g, g, h, h, of timber tied together by means of wrought
iron rods or other ties i, i, i, let in the socket chains j,j, and tightly
wedged up by means of the wedges k, k, k. The ends of the cloths or
other textile fabrics or material in each chamber or cell are screwed
by a nut 1, on to a pipe m, in communication (by means of the vertical
junction pipe n, which may be carried under the press, as shewn at o, o,
with a force pump. This junction pipe is plugged at each of the
junctions with the smaller pipes, as shewn at n¹, n, n¹, n¹, so as to
admit of the cutting of the communication with the smaller tubes, in
the event of it being desirable to close the communication with either
of the chambers, or other convenient stop way or cock can be introduced
which may be capable of performing such service. The feeder of the
pump is connected with a tank or vessel containing the substance to be

page_text: operated upon, and motion being communicated to the pump (by
manual labor, steam, or other convenient power), the substance is
forced with a regulated pressure, by means of a safety valve adjusted
for the purpose, and according to the requirements of the case, along
the duct o, o, and through the pipes m, n, into the. chambers or cells
herein-before described. The liquid or moisture finding vent under the
pressure through the cloth or other textile fabrics or materials runs
along the channels or grooves, and makes its escape, leaving the more
solid particles of the substance between the cloths in the said chambers
or cells. When manual power alone is used to work the process, it
may be found advantageous to attach to the handle of the pump a
weight or weights, hereafter to be described, instead of the safety valve;
for, as the water yielding to the pressure makes its escape, the weight or
weights attached to the handle of the pump would maintain the
pressure upon the chambers or cells, and thus would supersede the
necessity of continuous attention to the pump, which would otherwise
be necessary. But when any other than manual power is used to work
the pump a weighted lever is attached to a safety valve, by which the
pressure on the chambers or cells is regulated; for, as these become
charged, the safety valve yields to the pressure in the chambers or cells,
and is lifted at each stroke of the pump, by which
means any
unnecessary strain upon the machine is prevented. This safety valve
is only brought into action when the pressure becomes too great to
allow time for the moisture to escape, and is consequently greater than
the weight on the lever.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and shewn the
means by which the same is to be carried into effect, we desire it to
be distinctly understood, that in the combination of parts so described
and shewn for the expression of moisture from the residium of amylum,
"starch," we have shewn the best arrangements and apparatus for
such purpose. But as
our Invention applies to the expression of
moisture from all substances capable of being so treated, it is obvious
that alterations of some parts of the machinery or apparatus shewn and
described will be requisite (as when sewerage or large bodies of matter
are to be operated upon); but these extensions or alterations may be

page_text: nade without departing in any way from the principle of our Invention,
as they will be confined to the enlargement or contraction of the various
parts of the apparatus or machinery herein-before described and
illustrated in the Drawing. And we here state that we do not claim
the exclusive use of any of the parts (taken as parts) of the machinery
described and shewn, but only in so far as the same is used in combi-
nation for the purposes of our Invention, which we declare to be, and
we claim the sole use of the combination of parts herein-before
described, forming apparatus or machinery for expressing liquid or
moisture from substances.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Needham aud James
Kite, have heretofore affixed our hands and seals, this Four-
teenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JOHN GEDGE,
Patent Agent,
4, Wellington Street South,
Strand, London.
Wx. NEEDHAM. (LS.)
JAS. KITE, jun. (LS)