Improved Method of and Apparatus for Branding Carcases.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th July, 1899-Accepted, 19th Aug., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Branding Carcases.
I, ARTHUR JOHN CUMING, of 183, Hereford Street, Christchurch, in the
Provincial District of Canterbury, in the Colony of New Zealand, Journalist, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention provides an improved method of and apparatus for branding
carcases, which is especially applicable for marking the carcases of sheep intended
to be frozen.
My invention consists in the employment of steam or heated air or air at an
extremely low temperature which is conducted through a hollow metallic brand
of any required design.
The brand is heated by the hot air or steam or chilled by the cold air and when
pressed against the carcase the desired marking is clearly conveyed to the fat
and tissues of the meat.
When steam is employed any suitable reducing valve may be used to maintain
a constant pressure and temperature in the brand.
A plurality of brands may be mounted upon elastic beds or pneumatic cushions
hinged or pivoted upon one or more sides of the carcase such pivoted elastic beds
being operatable by a hand lever or automatically if desired, by the weight of
the carcase; so as to press the brands against the carcase and produce the desired
marks.
When pneumatic cushions are employed the degree to which they are inflated
may be requlated to suit the size of the carcase and suitable relief valves may be
employed to prevent the cushions being ruptured by over pressure.
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1 1000
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E.,
Chartered Patent Agent,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Associate Agent,
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Branding Carcases,
I, ARTHUR JOHN CUMING, of 183, Hereford Street, Christchurch, in the
Provincial District of Canterbury, in the Colony of New Zealand, Journalist, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what mannr the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention is principally for use in slaughter houses. freezing works, and

page_text: the like for branding carcases but it is also capable of employment for branding
certain kinds of live animals.
Hitherto when brand irons have been employed it has been usual to heat the
brand in a fire the result being that the marking produced was unsightly and
the method otherwise inconvenient.
I have found in practice that it is not necessary to have the brand at a very
high temperature to produce a permanent brand mark upon a flayed carcase or
the body of a live animal and my invention consists in the employment of a
hollow metallic casing to which the letters or device of the brand to be produced
are affixed and heated by water at boiling temperature or by steam, hot air, or
other heated fluid supplied to the interior of the casing.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is a vertical elevation partly in central section and
Figure 2 an inverted plan.
The cylindrical casing (a) has formed integral with it at one end the branding
letters (b) and at the other end a handle (c) of, non-conducting material to be
grasped by the operator.
Boiling water, steam, hot air or other heated fluid is conveyed to the interior
of the casing through a flexible pipe (d) fitted with a stop valve (e).
A waste and blow through tap (f) is attached to what is normally the lower part
of the casing whereby the heating fluid can be blown through the casing and
pressure therein regulated as desired.
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
1. In branding apparatus a hollow metallic casing to a surface of which a
branding device is fixed, means by which the interior of said casing is supplied
with heated fluid and means for holding the apparatus with the device in contact
with the object to be branded substantially as specified herein.
2. In combination a hollow metallic casing having a branding device upon
one surface thereof, a handle of non-conducting material fixed to said casing, an
inlet pipe and regulating valve for admitting heated fluid to said casing and a
tap for the withdrawal of fluid therefrom, substantially as specified and illustrated.
Dated this 13th day of July 1899
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E.,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Associate Agent.