Year: 1898

page_text: I, JASPER WETTER, Patent Agent, of 37 & 39, Essex Street, Strand, in the
County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention a communica-
tion from the Firm of Raoul d'Ambrières & Cie., Merchants, of Dunkerque (Nord),
in France to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a process for preserving milk in its natural condition,
and if desired in the same receptacles which are used for retailing it.
For this purpose the fresh milk is first treated with antiseptic but innocuous
gases in an apparatus situated near the source of supply, subsequently it is
transferred, by pressure of an innocuous gas, to the receptacles in which the
milk is retailed, and is left in the said receptacles under the pressure of the
said gas in order to prevent the access of air. The details of procedure may be
as follows:-
After the milk has been passed through a strainer, in order to relieve it of
solid impurities, it is caused to enter the preserving apparatus, which chiefly
consists of two receptacles connected with each other by means of pipes and
provided separately with pressure gauges and level indicators.
When the milk has filled the first receptacle, which communicates through a
pipe and stopcock with an ozone reservoir, this gas-ozone or ozonized air-
which is an energetic antiseptic, is allowed to enter.
As soon as the required quantity of ozone has penetrated into the milk, the
stopcock is closed and the gas allowed to act for a certain time, depending on
the quantity of milk and of ozone present, and immediately afterwards oxygen
under pressure is allowed to enter through another pipe, likewise provided with a
stopcock.
When the pressure gauge indicates, that the pressure has reached the desired
limit, the supply cock is closed, and communication with the second receptacle,
which is empty, is established by opening the stopcock of the pipe leading from
the first to the second receptacle. The milk will now flow into the second recep-
tacle, in which it passes through a series of grates by falling in fine drops from
grate to grate, without any appreciable shock, and therefore without disaggregation
of the elements composing the milk.
When the milk has reached the desired level, as shown by the gauge glass,
the supply is cut off and a discharge valve is opened allowing the milk under
pressure to flow into a hermetically closed vessel, in which it remains. This
vessel, which serves for transporting and retailing the milk, contains therefore

page_text: the milk under a pressure of oxygen higher than that of the surrounding
atmosphere, in consequence of which the latter, with the invisible spores and other
minute organisms suspended in the same, cannot enter the milk.
Dated this 19th day of October 1898.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, JASPER WETTER, Patent Agent, of 37 & 39, Essex Street, Strand, in the
County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
any
:
The problem of preserving milk so that after treatment it will retain its
natural condition, and storing it in receptacles which allow of
desired quan-
tities being withdrawn without leaving the remainder in contact with atmospheric
air, has not yet been satisfactorily solved.
The present invention has for its object, to provide a practical solution of
this problem.
The process employed for this purpose comprises the following features or
operations: firstly, treating the milk at a moderate temperature; secondly,
mixing it intimately with antiseptic and aseptic gases which are innocuous;
thirdly, producing the intimate mixture by causing the milk to pass through a
set of strainers of gradually increasing fineness; fourthly, producing the mixture
at a gradually diminishing pressure; fifthly, receiving the milk treated as
described in a holder from which it is transferred by means of a drawing-off
device deprived of air, to cans suitable for transport, or to retailing vessels;
sixthly, effecting the partial withdrawal of milk without the admission of air
by acting on the vessels in a special manner.
Milk treated by this process in its natural condition as it comes from the cow,
will not undergo any material change, the fatty matter and the useful ferments
are not attacked, while the micro-organic germs are partly destroyed and partly
atrophied and rendered innocuous, as long as no air is allowed to enter.
Oxygen is an aseptic, while ozone is an antiseptic almost equal to formol, and
the best antiseptic effect can be obtained by treating the milk with these two
gases.
The combined strainers divide the milk into sufficiently small drops, so that
each of them can be impregnated with the gas, the operation is carried out without
shock, without liberating any appreciable quantity of electricity, and consequently
without separating the various elements composing the milk.
The storing of the milk in special vessels, so that small quantities may be
drawn off or the vessels partly emptied without bringing the milk into contact
with the atmosphere, is the complement of the new process.
It is not sufficient for attaining the desired object, to preserve milk by relieving
it in the apparatus of pathogenic materials and of acid ferments, we must be
able to keep it unaltered until it reaches the table of the consumer and to carry
it a great distance by land and by water and in all climates, without in any way
changing its normal condition.
In this way we realize the necessary and indispensable conditions for having
in all climates. even in the hottest, and for any desired length of time, natural
milk, such as it came from the cow, to preserve its colour, its taste and digesti-

page_text: bility, and at the same time to get rid of the pathogenic germs hitherto known,
such as those of tuberculosis, anthrax and typhoid fever.
It is not, however claimed that this treatment will destroy hitherto unknown
germs which, perhaps, are capable of resisting the most powerful sterilising
media hitherto known, and it is for this reason that I call the invention a process
of preservation and not of sterilisation.
In order to further explain the nature of this invention and to describe the
details of procedure, I refer to the accompanying drawing, which represents an
example of an apparatus embodying the present invention.
The milk, immediately after having been drawn off, is passed through a
strainer of silk and thereby relieved of gross impurities; subsequently it is intro-
duced into a vessel A, whence it flows through the tube B into a receiver G,
which partly dips into a tank D containing hot or cold water according to the
season, so as to keep the milk at a suitable medium temperature, which is indicated
by the thermometer E. When a sufficient quantity of liquor has been introduced,
as indicated by the gauge glass F, the stopcocks or valves a and a situated
between the vessel A and the receiver G are closed, and stopcocks d and which
admit successively ozone and compressed oxygen are opened. As soon as the
pressure gauge indicates that a sufficient pressure has been reached in G, the
valves or cocks d d are closed, and a pair of valves e and e¹ situated in the dis-
charge pipe I are opened.
In consequence of the pressure existing in G, the milk now flows through the
syphon pipe H and discharge pipe I into the receiver J, and passes through
the strainers K K¹ which break it up into drops or globules without shock and
consequently without disaggregation of the elements of the milk.
When the gauge glass shows that a sufficient quantity of milk has been
introduced, the cocks e and e¹ are closed, and the valve n communicating with
a vacuum pump is opened, by means of which pump gas is drawn off until the
pressure gauge indicates the required fall of pressure.
Thereupon the cock n is closed, and the cocks n¹ and n¹ are opened, through
which the milk treated as described enters the receiver L having approximately
the same volume as the receiver G. When the gauge glass F shows that all
the milk contained in J has passed over, the receiver L is removed and replaced
by an empty one, and the same operation is repeated. When it is desired to utilize
the preserved milk, the discharge cock e¹ is connected with a suitable drawing-off
apparatus deprived of air, and the milk drawn off into transporting cans
retailing flasks.
Gr
The excess of gas is collected in a cylinder by means of a suction and force
pump, and may be used for subsequent operations; in this manner the waste of
gas is reduced to a minimum and the cost of the treatment is therefore insignifi-
cant.
The internal surfaces of the different vessels are rendered incorrodible by a
suitable ozone-proof coating, such as enamel prepared with red lead, and the
apparatus may therefore be easily and completely cleaned for instance, by dipping
the different parts into boiling water which is strongly salted, or into a bath of
superheated steam.
The shape, dimension and arrangement of the various parts constituting the
apparatus may differ from that shown in drawings by way of example, without
departing from the present invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The process for preserving milk in its natural condition, which consists in,
exposing the fresh milk consecutively to the influence of ozone and of oxygen
under pressure in a suitable apparatus, and then storing the milk in vessels

page_text: adapted to transport and retail the milk without the admission of air, substantially
as described.
1
2. In apparatus for preserving milk by the process specified above, a set of
strainers of gradually increasing fineness, so arranged that the milk is obliged
to pass through the said strainers and thereby divided into drops of gradually
decreasing size, substantially as described.
3. The herein described process and combination of devices for preserving milk
in its natural state.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1898
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents, 37 & 39, Essex Street, Strand, London.