IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIQUORING HARD SUGAR IN CENTRI- FUGAL MACHINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, &
Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIQUORING HARD SUGAR IN CENTRI-
FUGAL MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Otto H. Krause, of
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of America.
Sealed the 21st August 1877, and dated the 2nd May 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd May 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIQUORING
HARD SUGAR IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES." A communication from abroad by
Otto H. Krause, of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of America.
.
The object of this Invention is the equal distribution of the white liquor used to
liquor hard sugar in the centrifugal machine, and thus ensure a uniform effect upon
all parts of the sugar contained in the moulds.
I fill part of the central portion of the basket of the centrifugal machine opposite
the open inner faces of the sugar moulds with an absorbent material which can be
saturated with white liquor. This material may be sponge, cotton, wool, or other
material capable of holding the white liquor in suspension by capillary attraction
until acted upon by the centrifugal forces generated by the rapid motion of the
basket, which forces by their greater energy drive the white liquor radially outward,
into, and through the hard sugar contained in the moulds.
The object of liquoring hard sugar is to drive out the entire quantity of green
syrup it contains, and to substitute for the green syrup a prescribed quantity of
white liquor.
This Invention enables me to hold and present in the most fovorable position for
uniform injection into the hard sugar the exact quantity of white liquor which
may be required.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn my improved apparatus in connec-
tion with a perforated basket of a centrifugal machine.
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the said basket; Figure 2 is a central longi-
tudinal section through the basket and shaft of a centrifugal machine.
The Drawing exhibits the ordinary perforated basket A of a centrifugal machine,
containing a series of hard sugar moulds of the usual form. These moulds are of
such dimensions that their flaring sides meet in radial planes when all the moulds
are placed in the basket. The sugar moulds are open on the inner side to expose
the sugar they contain to the action of the white liquor.
Instead of filling the entire interior space of the said basket with sponge I prefer
to place the absorbent material in the inner series of moulds c, which for convenience
I call sponge moulds. The upper ends of these sponge moulds are provided with
the handles c¹, by means of which they may be lifted from or placed in the basket.
Each sponge mould is provided with an opening c³ in the top, through which white
liquor may be poured in upon the absorbent material without removing the mould
from the basket. It may be desirable in some cases to provide the sponge moulds
with one or more transverse positions c³ to prevent any settling of the white liquor
in the lower portion of the sponge mould, which might be caused by the weight of
the material in the upper portion. I also provide the sponge moulds with screens c¹,
composed of one or more thicknesses of cotton, cloth, or other porous material,
stretched along the sides next to the sugar moulds to prevent the too free discharge
of the white liquor from the sponge moulds when the machine is set in motion.
To ensure an adequate supply of white liquor in the upper part of the sugar
moulds I may construct the sponge mould with the prolongation c, which it will be
seen forms a chamber, closed except at the bottom, and that serves to carry a portion
of the absorbent material in a plane higher than the tops of the sugar moulds.
In operating the said apparatus the sponge or other absorbent material is saturated
with white liquor, and the sugar moulds and sponge moulds are then placed in the
basket in the position shown in Figure 1. The machine is then rotated, and the
centrifugal force thus generated drives the white liquor from the absorbent material
in the sponge moulds through the screens into the sugar contained in the moulds,
through which it passsss radially, driving the green syrup before it, and taking the
place of the green syrup in the sugar. As the white liquor is held in suspension
by capillary attraction, and is acted upon laterally by centrifugal force, it is in a
favorable position for equal diffusion through all portions of the sugar from the top
to the bottom of the moulds.
If desired the machine may be stopped and the sponge moulds may be recharged
with white liquor without removing them from the basket.
The sponge moulds may be made to fit two or more of the sugar moulds, if
preferred.
The absorbent material may be omitted from the sponge moulds if they are pro-
vided with screens of sufficient thickness to properly delay the expulsion of the
white liquor.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim in a centrifugal machine provided with moulds for containing hard
sugar,-
First. An absorbent material placed in the interior portion of the basket behind
the open inner faces of the sugar moulds, for the purpose of holding white liquor
in suspension prior to the operation of the machine, as above described.
Second. The combination of the sugar moulds with the movable moulds for con-
taining an absorbent material, as above set forth.
Third. The moulds provided with one or more transverse partitions, as above
set forth, and for the purposes specified.
Fourth. The moulds constructed with the vertical prolongation, as above set forth,
and for the purpose specified.

page_text: Fifth. The screen placed against the inner open faces of the sugar moulds for the
purpose of regulating the discharge into the sugar moulds of white liquor contained
in a chamber or chambers in the interior portion of the basket, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Willian Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
W. ROB. LAKE. (L.B.)