IMPROVEMENTS IN PRE- SERVING AND PACKING FLOUR
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Antrobus, of Chepstow, in the County of
Monmouth, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRE-
SERVING AND PACKING FLOUR."
Sealed the 11th April 1856, and dated the 20th December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Antrobus at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
December 1855.
I, PHILIP ANTROBUS, of Chepstow, in the County of Monmouth, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRE-
_SERVING AND PACKING FLOUR" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of preserving and packing flour by forcing it, by
hydraulic or other great pressure, into metal cases, and soldering or closing the
same hermetically in such cases. For this purpose, by preference, tin cases of
a square section are used, though other metal may be employed, and other
forms of cases may be resorted to.
The cases are in succession filled by means of apparatus arranged in the
following manner:-A hollow trunk or chamber of like section to the cases is
employed, and, by preference, fixed in an upright position. At the lower end

page_text: is an opening to introduce a metal case, and to, inclose it therein with its open
end upwards. The flour to be packed and preserved is to be introduced at the
other end of the trunk or chamber; a tin plate of the size suitable to close
the case is placed on the upper surface, and then the ram of the hydraulic or
other powerful press is caused to enter the chamber or trunk till the flour is
all forced into the case, and also the metal plate, when the case is to be taken
out and the cover-is to be soldered in or hermetically sealed..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Philip Antrobus in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
ANTROBUS, of Chepstow, in the County of Monmouth, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Philip Antrobus, Her special licence that I, the said Philip
Antrobus, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Philip Antrobus, 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, "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING AND PACKING FLOUR," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Philip Antrobus, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 I, the said Philip Antrobus, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists of preserving and packing flour by forcing it by

page_text: : .
hydraulic or other great pressure into metal cases, and soldering or closing the
same hermetically in such cases. For this purpose, by preference, tin cases of
a square section are used, though other metal may, be employed, and other
forms of cases may be resorted to.
The cases are in succession filled by means of apparatus arranged in the
following manner :-A hollow trunk or chamber of like section to the cases is
employed, and, by preference, fixed in an upright position; at the lower end is
an opening to introduce a metal case, and to inclose it therein with its open end
upwards. The flour to be packed and preserved is to be introduced at the other
end of the trunk or chamber; a tin plate of the size suitable to close the case
is placed on the upper surface, and then the ram of the hydraulic or other
powerful press is caused to enter the chamber,or. trunk till, the flour is. all
forced into the case, and also the metal plate, when the case is to be taken out
and the cover is to be soldered in or hermetically sealed.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
1
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows an elevation, partly in section, of apparatus arranged or
combined, and suitable for carrying out my Invention; Figures 2 and 3 are
horizontal sections, taken respectively through lines A, B, and C, D, in
Figure 1.
e, e, is a cylinder, hooped round with strong hoops e¹,. el, as is
shewn; this cylinder is formed hollow on the interior, and, by preference, of a
square section; this cylinder is carried by the plunger f, f, of a hydraulic press.
9, 9, are radial guides for guiding the cylinder up and down on the uprights
h, h, of the hydraulic press; the cylinder e, e, is formed in two parts, so that
the parts may divide at the line E, E, when the case containing the pressed
flour is to be forced out of the lower part of the cylinder e, as hereafter
explained. i is a tube, through which the flour is fed into the case j, j
contained in the lower part of the cylinder e, e. At the lower, part of the
tube i there is a plug or valve it, which, when the proper quantity of flour has
been- fed through the tube i, is to be raised or closed by the cord or chain k,
or by other convenient means.. Through the upper part of the cylinder, e is a
slit e, by which a plate of tin or paper, when the upper parts of the sides of
the case are such as to be folded on to the top of the case and cover the
same, is introduced, suitable to enter into and close the case ; above the flour
pressed into the same.
.
In using this apparatus a case j'of tin plate' or suitable thin metal is to be

page_text: placed into the lower part of the cylinder e, and such case should fit easily
into the hollow therein. The upper edges of the case are turned somewhat
outwards by the inclined filling piece 7. The upper part of the cylinder e haying
been lowered down to the position shewn in the Drawing, the flour is to be
filled or fed into the interior of the cylinder e by the tube i; the valve or plug
is then to be closed; the press is to be set to work to bring the opening e
through the upper part of the cylinder, to coincide with the bottom of the
valve; a plate of metal or paper is to be forced in under the valve; the
press is to be worked till the lower part of the valve has entered some dis-
tance into the upper part of the case; the flour is to be retained for a time
under pressure, say, about ten minutes; in order that the elasticity of the flour
may not cause it to expand when the pressure is removed, the upper part
of the cylinder is retained from descending; but to obviate this delay in the
use of the press, I can press it into square frames of iron, with both ends open,
with ends which can be fixed and retained after taking out of the press, which
can be put on one side until the elasticity. has ceased, after which the flour
may be pushed out by means of pressure into the tin cases.
The lower part
of the cylinder e is allowed to descend with the ram of the press, by which the
cylinder will separate at the line E, E. The filling piece is to be removed,
and the case, with the compressed flour therein, is to be raised out of the recess
in the lower part of the cylinder e by means of the small ram m, provision
being made for forcing water into the space below the ram m; such provision,
however, is not shewn in the Drawing, but will readily be applied by a work-
man; another case is then to be placed in position, the filling piece is to be
introduced, and the upper part of the cylinder e is to be lowered into the
position shewn in the Drawing. The upper parts of the previously mentioned
case, when taken from the press with the compressed flour therein, are then
to be soldered and closed at all parts, and in this manner will the flour be
preserved.
In place of the lower part of the pressing chamber being made and used as
above explained, so as to deliver the packed case by the small ram above
explained, the lower part of the chamber (wherein the empty case is placed to
be filled and packed with flour) may be made with inclined sides, as shewn in
section at Figure 4, in which arrangement the lower part of the chamber
'which receives the empty case is made separate and capable of folding, as
shown in plan at Figure 5, and in section at Figures 4 and 6. In this
arrangement the case would not require to be turned outwards at its upper
end, but its upper edges would come just flush with the interior of the upper

page_text: part of the chamber, and the upper or covering plate would be introduced after
the filled case has been removed from the press.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the parts
separately, nor do I confine myself to the precise details; but what I claim is,
the preserving and packing flour, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Antrobus, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
SAMUEL HILL SOULS, of Chepstow.
PHILIP ANTROBUS. (L.S.)