IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAMERS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JESSE GILMAN WEBB of Boston in the County of Suffolk and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America Confectioner, do hereby declare the
nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAMERS to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an apparatus designed for use in shelling cocoanuts; and
it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more
fully set forth and claimed, by which a simpler, cheaper, and more effective device
of this character is produced than is now in ordinary use-In shelling cocoanuts by
the ordinary process a great deal of labor is required to remove the outer covering
unless the nuts are steamed before the operation is performed, and when steamed
by the usual methods it is very difficult to remove them from the steamer while
they are hot without burning the hands of the workman, and consequently requires
a great deal of time to perform the labor properly.
My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties and objections, and to that
end I make use of means which will be readily understood by all conversant with
such matters by the following explanation its extreme simplicity rendering an
elaborate description unnecessary.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved steamer, and Fig. 2 a vertical
longitudinal section of the same.
In the drawings A represents the body or case of the steamer, B the cover, and
C the door-The body is preferably composed of wood, of any suitable size and form,
and may be lined with zinc, tin, or other sheet metal, if desired.
The cover is hinged to the top of the body at x, and provided with buttons mor
other suitable fastenings to keep it closed-The door is hinged at its upper edge to
the side of the body, and opens outwardly, as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with
buttons & or other suitable fastenings to hold it closed.
Disposed within the body of the steamer there is an inclined rack D mounted on
the supports f. v. the support v being considerably higher than the other and the
lower edge of the rack nearest the door C.
An induction steam pipe E opens into the box near its bottom and passes through
the support into the body of the same beneath the rack D-There is also a dip or
eduction pipe adapted to carry off the water of condensation.
In the use of my improvement the door C is closed and secured by the buttons d
or other suitable fastenings, and the nuts to be steamed placed on the rack or
grate D and the cover B tightly closed.

page_text: Steam is then let into the steamer through the pipe E, and when the nuts are
sufficiently steamed or the shells sufficiently softened, the door C is opened and
the nuts permitted to roll out by gravitation into any suitable receptacle or onto
the ground.
I do not confine myself to using the apparatus for steaming cocoanuts exclusively
as it is well adapted for steaming various other articles-Neither do I confine
myself to constructing the support D with slats or in the form of a rack, as it may
be of any other suitable form, provided it is sufficiently inclined to discharge the
contents automatically or by gravitation when the door C is opened.
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
A steamer for steaming cocoanuts and other articles consisting of a close
receptacle having a steam pipe leading thereinto, and provided with an inclined
false floor or rack, and with a side door at the lower end of said rack, substantially
as described.