IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PULPING COFFEE BERRIES Communicated
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Walker of Bishopsgate Street, in the city of
London for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PULPING
COFFEE BERRIES Communicated to him from abroad by Mess" Arens
Irmãos of Campinos and Rio de Janeiro in the empire of Brazil.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th January 1883.
WILLIAM WALKER of Bishopsgate Street in the city of London
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PULPING COFFEE BERRIES" [Communicated to him from
abroad by Mess** Arens Irmãos of Campinos and Rio de Janeiro in the empire of
Brazil.]
This invention relates to machinery for pulping coffee berries for the separation
of the bean therefrom. Such machines, as heretofore constructed, consist of a
cylinder or drum, with a roughened surface, on one side of which is arranged an
upper and a lower rigid plate, generally called the "upper and the lower chops,"
of which the upper chop has its edge slightly farther removed from the cylinder
than the edge of the lower chop which is so close to the cylinder that the skin and
pulp of the berries are torn off and dragged down through the narrow opening
between the lower chop and the cylinder, that opening, however, being too small
to allow the beans to pass; the beans are therefore thrown out free of pulp and
pass through an opening between the upper and lower chops.
With the above arrangement, it often happens that when a hard berry or other
hard substance passes in with the soft berries, it gets jammed between the upper
chop and the cylinder and impedes the working of the machine and also damages
the cylinder.
Now the present improvement has for its object to obviate this defect and consists
in making the upper chop of a number of elastic plates or keys, arranged closely

page_text: side by side and formed sufficiently elastic as to offer the requisite resistance to
effect the proper pulping of the ripe berries but to yield to the pressure of unripe
berries or other hard substances so as to allow these to pass through without damage
to the cylinder or the chops.
The said elastic plates or keys may be arranged in various ways for this purpose,
thus according to the arrangement employed by preference, they are constructed
of yellow metal, malleable cast iron, or steel and are pivotted on a strong bar,
having at their backs tails which rest beneath on an adjustable stop, and pressed
upon from above by a spring, which may either be of caoutchouc or steel and the
pressure of which may be regulated by a pinching screw above

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th July
1883.
"
«
WILLIAM WALKER of Bishopsgate Street, in the city of London. IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PULPING COFFEE-BERRIES A communication to me from
abroad by Messrs Arens Irmãos of Campinos and Rio de Janeiro in the empire of
Brazil.
This invention relates to machinery for pulping coffee berries for the separation
of the bean therefrom. Such machines, as heretofore constructed, consist of a
cylinder or drum, with a roughened surface, on one side of which is arranged an
upper and a lower rigid plate, generally called the "upper and the lower chops" of
which the upper chop has its edge slightly farther removed from the cylinder than
the edge of the lower chop which is so close to the cylinder that the skin and pulp
of the berries are torn off and dragged down through the narrow opening between
the lower chop and the cylinder, that opening, however, being too small to allow
the beans to pass; the beans are therefore thrown out free of pulp and pass through
an opening between the upper and lower chops.
With the above arrangement, it often happens that when a hard berry or other
hard substance passes in with the soft berries, it gets jammed between the upper
chop and the cylinder and impedes the working of the machine and also damages
the cylinder.
Now, the present improvement has for its object to obviate this defect, and
consists in making the upper chop of a number of elastic plates or keys, arranged
closely side by side, and formed sufficiently elastic as to offer the requisite resistance'
to effect the proper pulping of the ripe berries, but to yield to the pressure of
unripe berries or other hard substances, so as to allow these to pass through without
damage to the cylinder or the chops.
The said elastic plates or keys may be arranged in various ways for this purpose;
thus, according to the arrangement employed by preference, they are constructed
of yellow metal, malleable cast iron or steel, and are pivotted on a strong bar,
having at their backs tails, which rest beneath on an adjustable stop, and pressed
upon from above by a spring which may be either of caoutchouc or steel, and the
pressure of which may be regulated by a pinching screw above.
The accompanying drawing shews the improvement described above, and it may
be applied to any description of cylinder pulper. Fig. 1 is a cross section and fig 2
is a side view from V. kis the cylinder covered with a punched sheet of copper
or other metal and a. b is the section of the improved or elastic chop fitted in
position to the cylinder. The upper and lower chops of ordinary cylinder pulpers
are described above, and in applying the present improvement, the lower chop is
practically unchanged; it is in the upper chop that the change is made. Instead
of being a continuous plate of iron or steel placed lengthwise, with its edge very
close to the cylinder, the elastic chop is made up of a large number of thin metallic
keys, d d d and these are pivotted on the bar or axle m and being exactly in line
at the point o, they form a continuous face against the cylinder. They are kept
in line by resting with their tails on the bar e, and from above they are held down
by the pinching screw h, which presses upon the flat metal bar g, the bar g pressing
again upon the elastic cushion f, made of india-rubber or other elastic substance,
thus regulating the elasticity of the metallic keys at the points o, in much the
same way as the keys of a piano are kept in line by means of the small spiral
spring pressing upon each, and yet yielding to the touch when they are pressed
upon.

page_text: The passage of the berries through the pulper has already been described and it
is shewn in fig. 1. The berries are fed from above at p and get pressed between
the cylinder surface and the elastic chop or keys at o, the points of the keys at o
being sufficiently rigid to tear off the soft pulp from ripe berries, and so to allow
the beans to pass out between the two chops, minus their pulp; but when a hard
uuripe berry presses against the keys they yield and let the berry pass unpulped,
without damaging the surface of the cylinder.
Having thus described the nature of the said invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed as communicated to me by my said correspondents, I
claim
:-
The construction of cylinder pulping machines wherein the upper chop is con-
structed of a series of narrow elastic keys or blades, placed closely side by side,
and so arranged that as the berries pass between them and the cylinder, they offer
sufficient resistance to effect the pulping of ripe berries, but will yield to the
pressure of hard berries or other substances, substantially as herein described,
In Witness whereof, I the said William Walker have hereunto set my hand and
seal this seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight
hundred and eighty three.
WILLIAM WALKER, (L.S.)