AN IMPROVED SAUSAGE-MAKING AND MINCING MACHINE
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Keene at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th September
1866.
I, GEORGE KEENE, of No. 39, Durham Terrace, Peckham, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SAUSAGE-MAKING AND MINCING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to the novel construction of a machine for
making sausages, and for cutting and mincing meat, vegetables, and other
substances, and consists chiefly in the peculiar form and arrangement of a
series of propellers by which the meat or other substance being cut is first
forced into contact with knives or blades and then ejected from the machine,
and also in the means for adjusting the said machine to cut or mince the
meat or other substance more or less finely, as required.
The propellers, of which there may be any convenient number, are made of
white metal, brass, or other suitable metal, in the form of a long oval or
ellipse with the ends flattened. The said propellers are perforated or bored
in the centre, and are fixed upon a central shaft or axis which extends from
end to end of a box or cylinder into which the meat or other substance to be
cut is introduced through a suitable hopper. The propellers are arranged at
sufficient distances from each other to allow them to pass freely between the
knives or blades, which are secured to the bottom of the said box or cylinder
with their points projecting upward. The hopper through which the meat or
other substance is introduced into the machine is placed on the top of the

page_text: box or cylinder at one end thereof, and the exit opening is formed on one side
of the said box near the opposite end of the same. On the central axis, in
close proximity to the exit opening, an ejector is fixed which forces the
meat or other substance, when sufficiently reduced, through the said opening.
The said ejector consists of a number of curved blades or wings projecting
from a boss or ring by which they are secured upon the central axis at the
end of the series of propellers. The said ejector may be of brass or other
suitable metal, its blades being curved in the direction of its motion. On one
side of the box or cylinder a long slot or aperture is formed into which a
sliding plate is fitted. The edges of this plate are, by preference, bevelled or
dovetailed, and the sides of the slot are correspondingly formed. One end of
this plate is provided with a hole or opening to which, when the machine is
making sausages, a tube is connected to conduct the meat as it escapes from
the machine into the sausage skins, which are thus conveniently and expe-
ditiously filled. This tube is made taper, and is fitted tightly to the hole in
the sliding plate, into which it is introduced when required from the back or
inside thereof. When employed in mincing or cutting meat or vegetables for
other purposes the sliding plate is reversed, the exit opening being then
formed between the end of the said plate and the contiguous edge of the slot
or aperture in which the said plate is fitted; by sliding this plate further in
or out of its slot the said exit opening is reduced or enlarged, and the meat or
other substance is thereby cut more or less fine before being allowed to escape
from the machine. The upper part of the box or cylinder carrying the hopper
is by preference jointed or hinged to the lower portion thereof, so as to give
ready access to the propellers and other parts of the machine. The central
axis or spindle is fitted into bearings at each end of the box, one end of the
said spindle being extended and provided with a handle by which the machine
is operated.
The above described machine is economical of construction, simple in
operation, and besides its use for either of the purposes above specified may
be advantageously employed as a masticator for invalids and others requiring
the aid of artificial 'means in eating.
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