A NEW MANNER FOR APPLYING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF THE FECULA OF POTATOES, OF STARCH, OF YEAST, OF PORCELAIN PASTE, OF PAPER PULP, AND ULTRAMARINE, AND THE APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jozé Luis, Patent Agent, of No. 18, Welbeck St.
Cavendish Sqr, London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Inven-
tion of "A NEW MANNER FOR APPLYING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF THE FECULA OF POTATOES, OF STARCH, OF YEAST, OF PORCELAIN
PASTE, OF PAPER PULP, AND ULTRAMARINE, AND THE APPARATUS FOR CARRYING
OUT THE SAME." -A communication.
Sealed the 18th March, 1859, and dated the 18th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jozé Luis at the Offico
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th Sep-
tember 1858.
I, JOZE LUIS, Patent Agent, of No. 1, Welbeck St. Cavendish Sq,
London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW MANNER FOR APPLYING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF THE FECULA OF POTATOES, OF STARCH, OP YEAST, OF PORCELAIN PASTE, OP
PAPER PULP, & ULTRAMARINE, AND THE APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THE SAME,"
(a communication to me from a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
"

page_text: be seen.
A, drum. This drum receives its movement from the shaft C, by
which it is traversed. The shaft C is surmounted by a bevil pinion F, formed
of leather rundles; this pinion is governed by the bevil wheel G, mounted on
the horizontal shaft H. It is by the friction the wheel G & the pinion F that
the shaft C, & consequently the drum is put in motion. The drum can be
made to revolve from 12 to 1500 times in a minute. B, a circular cast-iron
receptacl, which surrounds the drum A, & receives the liquid which passes
between the tissues and the partitions, pierced with holes; D, the framework
of cast iron, resting in the edge of the receptacle B, and supporting the
horizontal driving shaft H, and the pullies I, I, for the transmission of move-
ment, one of which is fast, the other loose; K, water pipe, by which the
liquid part runs into the receptacle B. Fig. 2, L, a tub or other receptacle
in which the fecula is mixed with water or other matters to cause them to
pass by means of the tube O into the centrifugal drum A. It will be seen
by the position of this drum that the matters can run of their own accord
into it. M, a shovel for stirring the matters in the tub; N, a block, stopping
or allowing the matters to run from the tub into the drum; A, a metal drum,
having the upper edge lapping over to the inside to retain the matters which
are introduced. The partitions of this drum are pierced with holes, and are
covered internally by a coarse metal cloth, or by other combinations of a
similar character to form a permeable thickness, which isolates the tissue
destined for retaining the solid matters from the partitions of the drum. On
this first thickness I place a metal cloth finer, and the last I place a tissue,
either of hemp, or wool, or cotton, or something similar, to answer the same
purpose, viz., of retaining the solid particles, and allowing the water to pass.
Q represents the interior side of the drum covered with tissue; R, another
side, but the tissue is removed, allowing the partition of the drum to be seen;
P, hollow cylinder surrounding the shaft C; it can be replaced by a cone, as
in the centrifugal apparatus for sugar. There is a hole at the bottom of the
drum, which can be corked & uncorked; it is for when the apparatus is used
'for yeast, as the the yeast being a greasy substance it sticks to the partitions of
the drum, thus the water falling at the botton can be withdrawn; the hole
'is then recorked.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jozé Luis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOZE
Luis, Patent Agent, of No. 13, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, London, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jozé Luis, Her special licence that I, the said Jozé Luis, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jozé
Luis, 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 "A NEW MANNER FOR
APPLYING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FECULA OF POTATOES,
OF STARCH, OF YEAST, OF PORCELAIN PASTE, OF PAPER PULP, AND ULTRAMARINE,
AND THE APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THE SAME," (a communication,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joze Luis, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 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 I, the said Jozé Luis, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, with accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The idea of the application of centrifugal force in the manufacture of fecula
is not new, it having been already brought before the public, but in so poor
a manner that it was impossible to employ centrifugal force in the manufacture
of fecula & starch, and the idea has consequently rested a dead letter for these
manufactures, & has never been employed.
The improvements which I make in the application of centrifugal force in
the manufacture of the fecula & starch, and the process I employ to attain

page_text: these desired results are as follows:-On the interior mantle of the drum of
the apparatus I apply a thickness of metallic coarse cloth of the size Nos. 3,
4, 5, or finer, as desired. A tissuo of ozier or wicker can be used as well,
provided the inequalities are not too great, or iron wire arranged in such a
manner near enough to perform the same office. We will suppose for the
present that the drum is of sheet iron, pierced with holes in the vertical
mantle; these holes can have about the eight of an inch in diameter. On
this surface I apply a metallic cloth, which may vary between Nos. 12 & 25.
About and on this sheet iron I put a tissue made of linen, wool, or cotton
sufficiently fine to retain the fecula or starch which the water filters through.
From this disposition it is easy to see that all the vertical part of the drum
becomes the strainer or part through which the water runs off. If a drum of
sheet iron is used, it must be closed or full at the lower part, & the upper
part must bend over to the centre in such a manner as to form an edge jutting
over inside about four to six inches in size; the holes pierced in the vertical
partition or mantle are about one-eighth of an inch in diameter, & as near as
can be together without injuring its solidity. At the exterior & round the
shaft or axle I arrange a cylinder of about 4 to 7 inches in diameter, or a
cone, as in the centrifugal apparatus for sugar. I suppose the drum at
present spoken of to be about 30 to 36 inches in diameter, & 10 or 12 in
height.
The modus operandi is as follows:-Let us suppose that the fecula is
extracted from the potatoe in the usual manner of rasping & by sifting, &
that it is placed at the bottom of the water which serves to draw it to the
bottom of the sieve. The water on the top is emptied, as is generally done,
to give a refresher or washing, which is performed by introducing a quantity
of fresh water, and mixing the water & fecula together; the fecula is then
allowed to settle, the water is again poured off, & fresh water added, the
operation being repeated 3 or 4 times according to the whiteness & purity to
be given to the fecular. Let us say three washings are to be given; the
fecula is kept well mixed, and in suspension in the water of the third washing
by a gentle agitation, then by means of a pipe & cock it is mado to run into
the drum of the centrifugal apparatus, which is made to revolve slowly and
progressively until it is sufficiently full; the cock is then closed, & the drum
is made to revolvo at its maximum velocity. From the effect of the centri-
fugal force the fecula is deposited in circular layers on the tissue placed in
the interior of the drum at the same time that the water with which it is
mixed escapes by the openings of the drum. At the end of eight or ten
minutes, and even less, during which the drum revolves at great velocity, the

page_text: fecula is sufficiently dry, so that it may be carried directly to the corestove
or drying place without it being necessary to put it in kilns, &c., thus allowing
a greater economy of time and hand work, and permits the suppression of the
necessary place for these kilns, &c., added to this the fecula is much whiter and
cleaner, as it has not time to gather dust. The cask or other receptacle
containing the mixture of water & fecula which is to run into the drum must
be placed high enough for this to take place. Much less water can be
employed in the washings which preceed the placing the fecula in the drum,
but when in the drum in circular layers a certain quantity of clean water can
be introduced, which by the centrifugal force is thrown against the circular
layers of fecula when in the drum. This proceeding is accomplished much
quicker & with less water than by the old process, hence we have economy of
space, water, workmanship, tubes, & time. By the same means waters charged
with chlor, acids, or alkalies, &c., can be made to pass through the fecula and
other substances, hot water also, but not above a certain temperature, for
fecula or starch.
It is understood, of course, that the above description relating to the fecula
of potatoes applies equally to all other feculas and starches of every grain,
care being taken to subject these products to the necessary modifications,
such as the separation of the different shades of white before putting them
into the drum.
Ultramarine, porcelain paste, lac or lacker, pulp for paper, &c., are treated
in the manner above described, that is to say, are sent to the drum while the
particles are in suspension in the water. I consider the manner of operating
(which I have above described) to be a point of great importance in the
different operations. There are substances whose particles are either so
compact or greasy, that it is with difficulty water can be made to pass through
the mass formed by them, such as porcelain paste, yeast, &c. In this case
I arrange at the bottom of the interior of the drum an opening, which is
closed by a cork, and which allows the liquid to run as desired. The modus
operandi is then as follows:-The water being lighter than the solid particles
with which it is mixed occupies the inner part of the circular layers of denser
matters which have settled on the mantle or sides; arrived at this part the
machine is stopped, and the water let out of the bottom hole, the solid matter
remaining all round the drum; the apparatus is again put in motion, and the
little remaining liquid passes out through the sides in the usual way.
In the manufacture of papers and beaver, when the pulp has undergone
the necessary operation of bleaching it is introduced in the drum in the form
of a very fluid pulp; the apparatus is put in movement, & when the paste

page_text: or pulp has formed a circular wall in the drum, a current of water is made to
pass through it in order to wash or whiten it. When the paste is sufficiently
washed, the water is stopped, and the process is finished in the same manner
as with the fecula.
The overlapping edge of the centrifugal drum, which is for retaining the
matters which are put in, can be made moveable, so it may be removed, if
desired, when the operation is terminated, in order to facilitate the emptying
of the drum. This overlapping edge exists or has existed in the manufacture
of sugar only, consequently its application for the different manipulations
above described is quite new. It is of course understood that the foot of the
axle of the drum would turn in a fixed socket, that is to say, the drum has a
foot fixed as in the manufacture of sugar.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, front elevation of the apparatus. The cast-iron receptacle B of the
apparatus is represented in vertical section, in order to allow the drum A to be 1
seen. A, drum. This drum receives its movement from the shaft C, by which
it is traversed. The shaft C is surmounted by a bevil pinion F, formed of
leather rundles. This pinion is governed by the bevil wheel G, mounted on
the horizontal shaft H. It is by the friction of the wheel G and the pinion F
that the shaft C, & consequently the druin, is put in motion. The drum can
be made to revolve from 12 to 1500 times in a minute. B, a circular cast-
iron receptacle, which surrounds the drum A, and receives the liquid which
passes between the tissues and the mantle, pierced with holes; D, the frame-
work of cast iron, resting on the edge of the receptacle B, & supporting the
horizontal driving shaft H, and the pullies I, 1, for the transmission of move-s
ment, one of which is fast, the other loose; K, water pipe, by which the liquid
part running into the receptacle B, escapes; L, a tub or other receptacle, in
which the fecula is mixed with water (or matter other than fecula,) so as to
cause it to pass, by means of the tube O, into the centrifugal drum A. It
will be seen by the position of this receptacle that the matters can run of
their own accord into the drum. M, shovel for stirring the matters in the
tub; N, a cock, stopping or allowing the matters to run from the tub into the
drum; A, a metal drum, having the upper edge lapping over to the inside
about 4 to 6 inches, to retain the matters which are introduced. The mantle
or sides of this drum are pierced with holes, and are covered internally by a s
coarse metallic cloth, or by other combinations of a similar nature, to form a
permeable thickness, which isolates the tissue destined for retaining the solid
matters from the sides of the drum. On this first thickness I placo a metallic

page_text: cloth finer, and again on this I place a tissue either of hemp, wool, cotton, or
something similar to answer the same purpose, viz., that of retaining the solid
particles, and allowing the water to pass. Fig. 2, Q represents the interior side
of the drum covered with tissue; R, another side, but the tissue is removed,
allowing the side of the drum pierced with holes to be seen; P, hollow cylinder
surrounding the shaft C. It can be replaced by a conc, as in the centrifugal
apparatus for sugar.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which the same
is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein described, as such may be
varied or modified without departing from the principle of action thereof,
but I claim as new and of my Invention the improvements and system of
centrifugal force as applied to the preparation and manufacture of fecula,
starch, and other matters where it may be advantageously adopted as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jozé Luis, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.