AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SINGEING PIGS."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Denny and Edward Maynard Denny; both of
Waterford, Ireland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR SINGEING PIGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Denny and
Edward Maynard Denny at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 2nd February 1860.
We, ABRAHAM DENNY and EDWARD MAYNARD DENNY, both of Waterford,
Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SINGEING PIGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of singeing off the hairs, bristles, and other
like matters on pigs, a process necessary in the preparation of bacon, which
has hitherto been accomplished at a great expense by burning straw. We
propose to accomplish this process in a cheaper and more expeditious manner,
as follows: A stove or heated chamber made of brick, iron, or any other suit-
able material is heated by a fire, which may be made of coal, wood, or any other
substance or material. The flue from the fire may partly or entirely surround
the stove, so as to waste as little heat as possible. A door or entrance to the
heated chamber is provided for the introduction of the pig, which is hung by
suitable apparatus from the top or sides, as may be found most convenient.
When the stove or heated chamber is found to be sufficiently hot the pig is
introduced, and kept there sufficiently long to singe off the whole of the hairs,
bristles, and other matters. Provision may also be made to allow of the

page_text: introduction of a little of the flame of the fire so as to set fire to the hairs,
bristles, and other matters, which readily takes place, as they are dried by the
heat of the stove or chamber.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Abraham Denny and Edward Maynard Denny, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ABRAHAM
DENNY and EDWARD MAYNARD DENNY, both of Waterford, Ireland, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord-
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Abraham Denny and Edward Maynard Denny, Her special licence that
we, the said Abraham Denny and Edward Maynard Denny, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Abraham Denny
and Edward Maynard Denny, our 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SINGEING PIGS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Abraham Denny and Edward
Maynard Denny, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain 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 Abraham Denny and Edward May-
nard Denny, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-.
This Invention relates to a mode of singeing off the hairs, bristles, and other
matters in pigs, that is to say, off the carcasses or dead bodies of slaughtered
pigs; a process necessary to be performed in the preparation of those carcasses

page_text: which are to be converted into bacon, and which process has hitherto been
accomplished at a great expense by burning straw or other material.
We propose to accomplish this process in a cheaper and more expeditious
manner by the action of flame or heat in a stove or heated chamber, as follows:
-A stove or heated chamber made of brick, iron, or any other suitable
material is heated by a fire or fires, which may be made of coal, wood, or any
other convenient substance or material, and a flue or flues from the fire or fires
may partly or entirely surround the stove or heated chamber, so as to waste as
little heat as possible. A door or entrance to the heated chamber is provided
for the introduction of the carcasses of the pigs, which are hung by suitable
apparatus from the top or sides, as may be found most convenient. When the
stove or heated chamber is found to be sufficiently hot, the carcass of a pig is
introduced and kept there sufficiently long to singe off the whole of the hairs,
bristles, and other similar matters upon its surface.
Provision is made to allow of the introduction of flame from the fire into the
stove or heated chambers, in such a way as to act upon the surface of a carcass
in the chamber and set fire to the hairs, bristles, and other matters upon its
surface, which is readily effected after they have been dried by the heat of the
stove or chamber.
And that the Invention may be fully understood, we shall proceed to describe
the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shews a front view or elevation; Fig. 2, a transverse section; Fig. 3,
a longitudinal section; Fig. 4, a longitudinal elevation; and Fig. 5, a sectional
plan of a stove or heated chamber, arranged suitably for carrying out our
Invention.
In each of these Figures similar parts are indicated by the like letters of
reference. The arrangement shewn is capable of being used for the singeing
of one carcass of a pig at a time; but it may be made on a larger scale for
operating upon several carcasses at a time, if desired.
A stove or chamber A is made of brick work or other suitable material, in
which the carcasses of pigs are to be singed. We prefer to make this chamber
of an oblong shape or form as being more convenient for the purpose required,
but we do not bind ourselves to the particular shape or form. B, B, are fires
for heating the said chamber or stove, which we prefer to arrange parallel and
opposite to each other, as shewn in the Drawing; the same result might,
however, be obtained by more or less fires arranged in a suitable manner.
The flames from these fires have, or may be allowed to have, vent into the

page_text: chamber wholly or in part, or at such points either in the floor or side walls or
elsewhere as may be found effective. The direction of the current of hot air
from the fires is indicated in the Drawings by the. arrows, and passes through
the chamber A and the flue F: The two flues E and F communicate with the
chimney shaft S, and dampers are placed at e and.f, open, close, and.regu-
late the communication of the flues with the shaft. On lighting the fires. the
damper in the upper flue E is opened for the purpose of heating the stove 'or
chamber, and in working the chamber or stove the lower flue F is opened and
the upper one E is closed, or either may be partially closed; accordingly as it
may be found desirable for the purpose of producing the requisite effect upon
the surface of a carcass in the stove or chamber.
Air flues P, P, are formed under the fires, one at each side of the apparatus;
which may or may not communicate 'with each other, for the: purpose of
obtaining the requisite quantity of air to feed the fires; these flues.can be
closed or opened by means of doors R attached thereto. Should it be necessary
to increase the draft it may be effected by a fan or other apparatus driven by
hand, steam, or other power. On the centre block or division separating the
fires is placed a tray or fire-guard C, which protects the back of the pig's
carcasses from the direct action of the fire. The sides of the chambers over the
fires are so formed as to direct the flame inwards on to a carcass in the stove
or heated chamber.
:
The rails or guides G, G, upon which moves the wheeled waggon or truck H,
are fixed on covering stones or fire-blocks Q, Q, at the top of the chamber.
The carcass of a pig to be singed is hung or suspended by suitable, appa-
ratus to the said wheeled waggon or truck H; I, I, are the doors of the
stove or chamber A. A small space is left between the upper part of these
doors for the purpose of passing through a fork to withdraw the waggon to
which the carcass is suspended when the carcass is seen to be sufficiently
singed, the space or opening also serving as a sight hole. The covering stones
or blocks Q, Q, upon which the rails are laid are separated by a narrow
opening to permit the passage of the rods or bars of waggon to which the
carcass of the pig is suspended. Access is obtained for the waggon or
truck to the chamber W by means of a door or flap. A balance weight or
counterpoise is attached to the said door or flap by means of a chain passing
over guide pulleys, and is for the purpose of facilitating the opening or shutting
of the same; the flap may remain up during the working of the stove or
heated chamber.
The mode of operation. is as follows:-The damper in the flue E is first
opened, and fires lighted in the fire-places B, B; when the stove or chamber

page_text: is made sufficiently hot the damper in the flue E is closed and the flue F
opened, or each may be partially opened as may be found desirable. The
carcass of a pig is then suspended to a waggon or truck H outside the chamber
by means of chains, hooks, or other suitable apparatus, in the position shewn
in the Drawing; the flap or door K is raised, and so allowed to remain.
When thus secured the doors I, I, are opened. The waggon or truck with
the carcass suspended beneath it is then pushed inside the chamber A, when
the doors are immediately closed, where it is kept sufficiently long to singe off
the whole of the hairs, bristles, and other matters, which is quickly accom-
plished by the heat of the chamber, which dries them, and the flames from
the flue B, B, which sets them on fire. The operator by looking through the
opening kept between the doors I, I, can see when a carcass has been in
sufficiently long, and by means of a fork passed through the said opening and
dropped into an eye in back of waggon, the carcass of the pig may be
withdrawn.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of our
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed we would have it
understood that we do not claim as of our Invention any of the parts of the
apparatus shewn in the Figures and above described separate or apart from
the combination and arrangement thereof in manner and for the purposes
above described; and that we claim as our said Invention the method of
and apparatus for singeing off the bristles, hairs, and other superfluous matters
upon the surfaces of the carcasses of pigs by the action of flame or heat in a
stove or heated chamber, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Abraham Denny and Edward Maynard
Denny, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day
of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
civty
Witness,
JOSEPH WILLCOCK,
(L.S.) ABRAHAM DENNY.
(L.S.) EDWARD M. DENNY.
Patent Agent & Consulting Engineer,
89, Chancery Lane, London.