IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SINGEING THE HAIRS FROM OFF THE CARCASSES OF PIGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Griffiths Prossor, of Waterford, Merchant, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
SINGEING THE HAIRS FROM OFF THE CARCASSES OF PIGS."
Sealed the 15th August 1861, and dated the 22nd February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Griffiths Prossor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd February 1861.
I, HENRY GRIFFITHS PROSSOR, of Waterford, Merchant, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR SINGEING THE HAIRS FROM OFF THE CARCASSES OF PIGS," to be
as follows, that is to say :-
My method of singeing consists in passing the carcase of the pig (sus-
pended) through a heated chamber. The apparatus which I propose to make
use of to form this oven or chamber is composed of two concentrically placed
cylinders or tubes of considerable length open in the central portion at each
end;
these are firmly attached to each other and set in brickwork, so that the
whole somewhat resembles a Cornish boiler with a central tubular. flue, but
open at each end. A furnace is formed at each end, the flues, passing spirally
round the tubes in the annular space between them, and having their uptakes

page_text: end.
leading into one chimney near the centre or into separate chimneys at each
The tube being thoroughly heated, the pig being slung up and attached
to hooks; is passed in a suspended position from the one end of the tube to the
other; this is effected by causing the suspending books to traverse along two
parallel bars running through the whole length of the upper portion of the
tube; or it may be effected by means of a travelling crab acted upon from
each end by means of a continuous chain, or by any other well known
means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Griffiths Prossor in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GRIFFITHS PROSSOR, of Waterford, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Griffiths Prossor, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Griffiths Prossor, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Henry Griffiths Prossor, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE AND APPARATUS FOR SINGEING THE HAIRS FROM
OFF THE CARCASSES OF PIGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Griffiths Prossor, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Griffiths Prossor do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-

page_text: My method of singeing pigs consists in passing the carcass of the pig
(suspended) through a heated chamber. This chamber which I propose to
form of iron, metal, or fire-clay, consists of an oval-shaped tube, which I set in
mason work so as to economise the heat, and while surrounding it with flues
I protect it from the direct action of the flames by means of a brick arch or
arches on which it is placed; the furnace for heating the tube I place either
at one end or the other, or both, or even at the side; the flues being arranged.
to discharge into the chimney, which may be at the end, side, or middle of the
tube, according as I have one or more furnaces in action, or may find it other-
wise to answer; the tube to be open at one, and may be open at both ends, if
convenient. The carcass of the pig I propose to mount upon a truck, which
passes on rails, or any other convenient manner, through the cylinder, when
such has been sufficiently heated, and it may either pass in at one end of the
tube and out at the other, or may simply move through and return again. I
propose also that the said truck may be so formed as to be capable of being
extended or lengthened after the animal is suspended and previous to its
passing through the tube. The operation of singeing in this apparatus being
performed by heated air.
In order more clearly to show the nature of my Invention, and how the
same is constructed and acts, I have to this Specification appended the accom-
panying Drawings, which are intended, however, only to illustrate the general
principles of my Invention, as modifications in the details and mode of arrange-
ment must necessarily be introduced to suit the particular locality and extent
of use, the general principles being always retained.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the apparatus, shewing the tube a
set upon the brickwork b, which has its sides perforated at e, e, to allow the
heated air and gasses to pass through the flues c, c, towards the arch d, which
retains the heated air and entirely surrounds the tube; f,f, is the furnace.
In this plan only one furnace is introduced; and in Figure 2, which is a
longitudinal section, the flues uptake into the chimney m at the end; the
length may be from 6 to 15 or more feet. The carcass is introduced and
acted upon, as before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
constructed and acts, I wish it understood that what I claim and desire secured
to me by the before in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction and use
of an apparatus for singeing the hair and other matter from off the carcasses of
pigs composed of a Dietal, fire-clay, or iron cylinder or chamber of any shape set

page_text: in mason work, arranged; heated, and acting upon the animal, after the manner
herewithin described and set forth, and more, fully illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, or any open or partly open, heated chamber.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Griffiths Prossor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
HENRY GRIFFITHS PROSSOR. (L.s.).