CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PULPING CHERRY COFFEE, AND IN THE MACHINERY' APPLICABLE THERETO
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BOWMAN TENNENT, of Gracechurch Street, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Bowman Tennent, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert Bowman Tennent, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Robert Bowman Tennent,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned.
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies.
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
PULPING CHERRY COFFEE, AND IN THE MACHINERY' APPLICABLE THERETO," being a
communication from abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Robert Bowman Tennent, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be.
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court

page_text: of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as. in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Bowman Tennent, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say)-
In the operation of pulping cherry coffee (or of cleaning the beans from
their rinds or husks) as at present carried on it has been found that a great
many of the cherries which are passed into the machine merely get crushed,
and not separated, and thus many of the rinds pass out with the beans,
thereby rendering it necessary to employ a sieve to. effect their separation.
Through this sieve the beans pass freely, and the rinds (which, even when
empty retain more or less of their original spherical form) roll off into a heap.
As many of these rinds contain one or more beans, it is requisite to put them
all through the machine again and again, to prevent the loss of the beans. still
retained in the rinds, for upon an average only one third or one-fourth of the
cherries are completely pulped in once passing through the machinea
Besides the consumption of power consequent on thus. repeating again' and
again the operation of pulping upon the same fruit; the liability of the beans
to be crushed is greatly increased by the succeeding operations. Now the
object of the first part of this Invention is to overcome these two defects of
the present machine. This is effected by the means which I will now proceed
to explain, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings:
'
In Sheet I: Fig. F is a side elevation of an improved pulping machines
Fig. 2 is an end elevation, Fig. 3 a plan, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal vertical
section of the same. These Figures are drawn to a scale of about one and
a half inches to the foot. a; a, is the frame of the machine; bb; is the frame:
of the feed box, and is capable of being taken off for more convenient access
to the cylinders d, &c; c is the feed box;'d is á cylinder, which It call the
pulping cylinder; e is another cylinder, which I call the sifting cylinder; its
bearings admit of a slight motion to and fro longitudinally, so as to determine
the amount of space requisite for the escape of the beans. fis a bar or blade
of iron set just free of the pulping cylinder, and called the "chop". It is
supported by two holders 9, 9, and held in these holders: by screws 33; by
which it may be adjusted. The holders ġ, g, are firmly bolted down to the
frame. hh, are two plates of sheet iron, which are attached by: bolts to the

page_text: upper frame b. These two plates meet two other plates h', h', which are
attached to the chop f, and, together with those plates, fit closely against the
ends of the cylinders d and e, and enclose the space between them. i is a
slide fitted in the upper frame b, shod at its lower edge with iron; it is called
the "doctor," and is adjusted so as to approach as closely as possible to the
cylinder e without touching it. k is another slide, to prevent the coffee
escaping over the cylinder d when the machine is over fed; is a "back-
board," the upper edge of which abuts against or is joined to the chopf,
and is intended to keep the pulp which the pulping cylinder & carries down
behind the chop separate from the pulped coffee which escapes in front of
the chop between it and the sifting cylinder e. m is a front board to guide
away and keep separate that part of the pulp which is separated from the
coffee by the doctor i; n is a spur pinion on the shaft of the cylinders d; o is
a spur wheel or carrier gearing into the pinion n and wheel o; r is a common
winch handle, and s is a fly wheel on the shaft of the cylinder d; t is a
covering of sheet brass, copper, or iron, punched like a nutmeg grater, with
which both the cylinders d and e are covered. u, u, u (Fig. 6), are battens laid
on to the cylinders to receive the covering t, which is nailed thereon, spaces or
hollows v, v, v, being left beneath the covering for the accumulation or escape
of the slime or pulp of the coffee which enters the punchings or graterings of
the covering, and would otherwise fill and choke them up. The coffee to be
pulped is put into the feed-box c along with a stream of water, which, as it
flows over the side c' of the feed-box, carries over with it the fruit, leaving at
the bottom of the box any sand or stones which would injure the cylinders.
The fruit is thus regularly fed or applied between the cylinders d and e to the
action of the machine. The mode of working the machine is as follows:-The
cylinder d being turned by the winch r, or by a pulley or other suitable means, in
the direction indicated by the arrows (see Figures 1 and 4), at a speed of about
forty to eighty revolutions per minute, the motion is communicated by means of
the pinion n and wheel p to the cylinder e, in the direction indicated upon it at
Figures 1 and 4, but at a velocity of about one third to one fifth of that
of the cylinder d. By the rotation of these two cylinders, which will be
most clearly understood by reference to Figures 4 and 6, the cherry coffee
is pressed slightly between them, and under the influence of this pressure the
skin or rind is pierced by the graterings of the pulping cylinder d, and is torn
off and carried behind the chop f. The parchment beans contained in the
cherry thus liberated and divested of their skin fall down through the space
between the chopf and the cylinder e; but if the rind should not be wholly
removed, the cherry is detained or carried back by the action of the sifting or

page_text: reversing cylinder e, which will admit of nothing larger than a parchment
bean passing through the nick between it and the chop f.
:
Fig. 6 represents a portion of the two cylinders d and e and chop fin full
size, with the coffee between them, showing their action on the coffee. The
amount of pressure to which the cherry coffee is subjected between the
cylinders depends on the relative speeds of those cylinders, and also in some
measure on the depth of the chopf below the line of their centres. If the
pulping cylinder d be made to revolve faster in relation to the cylinder e,
the pressure on the cherry coffee submitted to their action will be increased;
and on the other hand if its speed be diminished in relation to that of the
cylinder e, so that the speeds of the two become nearer equal, the pressure
will be diminished. The relative speeds which have been found to be most
effectual are one revolution of the sifting cylinder to three and a half or four
of the pulping cylinder if they are of equal diameters, or in the same pro-
portion if of different diameters, the relative speed of the peripheries being
understood to be meant. The cherry coffee is prevented from escaping at
the ends of the cylinders whilst they are in action by the plates h, h', and it
is kept by the doctor i from being carried away by the sifting cylinder e. The
sifting cylinder e being covered with a gratered covering acts in some measure
as a pulping cylinder, and carries away some rinds between the doctor. These
rinds go round with the cylinder, and fall from it in its progress round, and
are caught and guided away by the front board m. It will thus be under-
stood that the separation of the rinds from the parchment beans is effected
completely by this machine at one operation, the beans falling through the nick
f(see Fig. 6), between the cylinder e and chop f, and the rinds being carried
away by the cylinders behind the back board and front board m. It is
important that the chopf and doctor i be kept as close as possible to the
cylinders d and e respectively without touching them, as otherwise the ends
of the beans might enter between them and the cylinders, and be cut off by
the points or graterings. There being no upper chop nor crushing operation
in this machine, the liability to damage is greatly diminished; and if ordinary
care be used in the adjustment of the parts, scarcely any appreciable proportion
of the beans will be damaged by this machine.
Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11 represent various modifications of machinery for
pulping coffee, embracing more or less the advantages of the machinery
above described, and as they bear a general resemblance to that machinery
their construction will be sufficiently explained by the sectional views here
given, in which the principle and working parts only are delineated, and the
same letters apply in all cases to the same parts, or to parts having similar

page_text: functions in the Figures already described. The cylinders are represented as
covered on the solid, and not with hollows under the coverings, as in Figures
1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet I. Either plan may be adopted.
Fig, 8 represents a modification of the old pulping machine (which is
shewn in section at Fig. 7). In this modification the upper chop of
Fig. 7 is retained, and the cherries are pulped exactly in the same manner as
in that machine, but a sifting or reversing cylinder is adapted to it, to lift back
the unpulped and partially pulped cherries, and allow only the pulped beans
to pass out of the machine. As the cylinder e is used in this arrangement
only for sifting the coffee, and not for giving pressure by the difference of its
speed, it is caused to revolve at about the same speed as the pulping cylinder;
so as to insure the space being kept clear. The sieve already mentioned
as forming part of the old machine is thus dispensed with, and the labor
of working it and throwing back the "tails" into the machine again is thereby
saved.
Fig. 9 represents an arrangement of the machine similar to that described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet I., except that the reversing
or sifting cylinder e is of much smaller diameter than the pulping cylinder d.
By this arrangement, the diameters of the cylinders being so different, the
speed of the axles are nearly equal, the machine is more easily driven, and
the pulping cylinder having a smaller surface exposed to the pressure its
gratered covering is not so soon blunted as in the arrangement before
described, but its reversing cylinder and doctor do not pulp so much as they
do in that cylinder.
:
Fig. 10 represents a double acting machine. The two cylinders d, d, both
being pulping cylinders, are made to revolve at the same speed in the direction
indicated by the arrows. The sifting cylinders e, e, it will be observed, are
made to revolve in a direction opposite to that of the sifting cylinder in the
other arrangements, and instead of carrying back the unpulped and partially
pulped cherries, they carry them over or past the nicks left between the chops
f, x, x, ², & f respectively, and thence back into the mass of unpulped
coffee, to be again admitted to the action of the pulping cylinders. The
parchment beans fall through these nicks, and are thus completely separated
from their rinds. The nicks are kept from choking up by the revolution of
the cylinders e, e, whose peripheries are for that purpose made to travel as
fast as those of the pulping cylinders. No doctor is needed in this
arrangement.
The modification shewn at Fig. 11 has two pulping cylinders which revolve
in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows marked on them, and should

page_text: have a speed from 40 to 80 revolutions per minute. In this arrangement no
sifting cylinder is employed, but to keep the nick between the chops f, f, clear,
and prevent its clogging up, a bar 1, with a number of pointed pins 2, 2, fixed
upon it, is made to travel backwards and forwards rapidly. The traverse of the
bar 1 exceeds by a little the distance at which the pins are placed asunder.
Fig. 13 is a side view of the bar 1 and pins 2, 2. The bent form of the pins,
as shewn in this Figure, is to ensure a clearance of the nick. In this
arrangement the separation of the pulp is not completely effected at one
operation, but after leaving the machine the coffee needs to be sifted, and the
tails have to be again submitted to the action of the machine; nevertheless it
is an improvement on the old machine, as it does a larger amount of work.
Figure 12 represents an arrangement different from the preceding. The
cylinders employed in it are quite plain, and not covered with a gratered
covering, and they are set close together so as almost to touch each other. The
cylinder d is made to revolve at a high velocity, say 60 revolutions per minute,
and the cylinder e at about 20 revolutions per minute, in the directions of the
arrows shewn in the Figure. The slide in this case is not close to either
cylinder, but is so adjusted that it will allow a parchment bean to pass between
it and the cylinder c, and will let a cherry pass freely between it and the
cylinder d.
When in operation, the cylinder d by its superior velocity draws
down the coffee between the two cylinders, and, but for the slimy nature of the
coffee bean in this state, would carry it between the cylinders, and destroy it;
but owing to the slime contained in the fruit, and enveloping the beans, they
are spurted out of the rind, as soon as it receives the first nip or crush
between the two cylinders. The rinds pass out between the two cylinders, and
the beans adhering to the cylinder e, or conveyed by its motion, are carried
under the slide i. f, f, are two doctors, set to keep the cylinder e quite
clean.
The second part of this Invention has for its object to cleanse the parchment
coffee of the pulp or slime which remains on it, and clings to it after the
rind has been removed, and thereby to complete the operation of pulping the
coffee.
Figs. 14 and 15 represent a machine designed for this purpose. The two
cylinders & and e are mounted in a frame, such as has been described with
reference to Fig. 1, 2, 3, and 4. They are covered with card cloth y, y, such
as is used for carding cotton, or with brushes of stiff bristles, piassava, or whale-
bone, or any such like suitable material. In the Figure they are represented
as covered with card cloth. They are each made to revolve at a velocity of
three hundred to four hundred revolutions per minute, in the directions indi-

page_text: cated by the arrows (see Fig. 14). is a chop; h and h' are two plates of:
iron; i is a doctor; is a back board, and m is a front board; all such as
were described at Fig. 1. ,, are battens or strips of wood, to fasten down
the card to the cylinder. The cylinders in this machine are a little further
apart than in Fig. 1, and to allow of this the chop is thickened by a piece of
wood. The coffee is fed into the machine at one end only of the feed-box, and
the rest of the feed-box is covered in, as the coffee would otherwise be apt to
fly out by reason of the great velocity of the cylinders. The coffee escapes, not
as in the machine, Fig. 1, through a nick the whole length of the cylinder,
but only at one end, the opposite to that where the coffee enters. The wood
part of the chop is cut away at that end where the coffee escapes, and thus
leaves a space for it to fall down. The coffee submitted to the action of
the machine is put into the open end of the feed box ¹, and is thence distri-.
buted by the action of the cylinders along their whole length until it escapes at
the other end, as shown by the direction of the arrows.in Fig. 15. The brushes
acting on the slimy beans cleanse them, and carry the slime behind the chop f
and doctor i, throwing it off again from their surface by the centrifugal force.
acquired by their velocity. At the end where the slimy coffee is first submitted
to the action of the cylinder the principal part of the pulp or slime is immedi-
ately removed, and the beans become more perfectly cleansed as they traverse
the length of the cylinder.
Having described the nature of the Invention as communicated to me from
abroad, and the manner in which the several operations are performed, I wish
it to be understood that the particular features of novelty which I claim
arc,-
Firstly, the application to machinery for pulping coffee of a second cylinder,
whether it be used for sifting the coffee, and retaining it under the action of the
machine till its complete separation from the rinds, as explained with reference
to Figs. 8 and 10, or whether it be also used for putting a limited pressure on
the coffee, as explained with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Secondly, constructing the cylinders of coffee-pulping machines with a space
or spaces under the covering thereof for the escape of the slime, whereby the
clogging up of the graterings or teeth of the cylinders will be prevented.
Thirdly, the application of the clearing motion, as described with reference
to Figs. 11 and 13.
Fourthly, the arrangement of two cylinders, as described with reference to
Fig. 12, whereby the coffee rinds are removed by the nip of the cylinders.
Fifthly, the employment of rotary brushes or cards, or other suitable friction

page_text: surfaces, for removing the slime or pulp which remains on the coffee beans
after the rinds have been removed.
And, in conclusion, I desire it to be understood that I do not intend to
confine myself to the precise forms, dimensions, and details shewn in the Draw-
ings, but I claim the right of modifying the apparatus in any way which shall
embrace the peculiar features of each part of my Invention, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Bowman Tennent, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.