IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF CRUSHED SUGAR
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ralph Moore, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF CRUSHED SUGAR."-A
communication from abroad by Claus Spreckles, of San Francisco,
California.
Sealed the 6th November 1868, and dated the 11th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ralph Moore at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th May 1868.
I, RALPH MOORE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the' said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF CRUSHED
SUGAR," which Invention has been communicated to me from abroad
by Claus Spreckles, of San Francisco, California, to be as follows, that
is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to provide crushed sugar directly from
the centrifugal machine without the tedious delay in this method
hitherto employed, to wit, that of turning the melted sugar into moulds
and allowing it to refine and drain before it can be crushed into the
sufficiently sized lumps or pieces of commerce, this process requiring

page_text: from ten to fourteen days, whilst by my improved process only about
three days' time is required and a sugar is furnished of a quality equally
as good and at a less expense. In order to accomplish this object the
crude or raw sugar is dissolved and boiled in the usual manner. From
the boiler it is pumped into tanks, from thence through the usual
process into the vacuum pan, in which it is boiled down and granulated
to a proper state of crystalisation. From this state it is passed through
a mixer and well incorporated, after which it is carried to the usual
centrifugal machine, which extracts the water or syrup from the grains or
crystals. After this part of the process has been performed the sugar
is taken directly from the centrifugal machine and placed in moulds
of suitable size and passed to a press, where it is subjected to a sufficient
pressure to make the sugar adhere together in any desired form. The
form of mould preferred is about twenty-four inches long, ten inches wide,
and from two to three inches in thickness. From the press the cakes so
formed are removed to a room having suitable shelves, where they are
subjected to a mild heat for about ten hours, after which they are
removed from the shelves and placed in an oven with an increased
temperature of heat, where they are kept for a short time. The process
being now finished the cakes of sugar are removed to a crushing mill
of the usual construction with points and there reduced to a marketable
crushed sugar, the finer parts being passed through a grinding mill
and sold as powdered sugar.
The kind of press is immaterial, any
good press will answer, having suitable power with the necessary
appliances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ralph Moore in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RALPH
MOORE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of
our 'Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Ralph Moore, Her special licence that I;

page_text: the said Ralph Moore, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Ralph Moore, 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 MANUFACTURE
OR TREATMENT OF CRUSHED SUGAR," (a communication to me from abroad
by Claus Spreckles, residing at San Francisco, California), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ralph Moore, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ralph Moore, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, that is to say :-
The said Invention has for its object to provide or manufacture crushed
sugar directly from the centrifugal machine without the tedious delay
of the processes hitherto practised. In the ordinary processes the
melted or dissolved sugar is filtered into moulds, in which it is allowed
to refine and drain before it can be crushed into lumps or pieces of a
size suitable for commerce, and these operations require from ten to
fourteen days' time, whereas by the improved system only about three
days are required and a sugar is furnished of a quality equally as
good and at a less expence.
In order to accomplish the objects of the present Invention the
crude or raw sugar is dissolved and boiled in the usual manner. From
the boiler it is pumped into tanks, from thence passing through the
usual process it is transferred to the vacuum pan, in which it is boiled
down and granulated until it attains a proper state of crystallisation.
When in this state it is passed through a mixer and is well incorporated,
after which it is carried to the usual centrifugal machine, which extracts
the water or syrup from the grains or crystals. After this part of the
operations has been performed the sugar is taken directly from the

page_text: centrifugal machine and is put into moulds of suitable size. In these
moulds it is placed in a press of any convenient kind, and is therein
subjected to a pressure sufficient to make the grains or crystals adhere
together in any desired form, the moulds being shaped accordingly.
The form of mould preferred by the Inventor is that of a shallow
rectangular box about twenty-four inches long, ten inches wide, and
from two to three inches deep. The cakes formed by compression in
the moulds as described are removed to a drying room fitted with
suitable shelves, and they are therein subjected to a mild heat of
from seventy to ninety degrees Fahrenheit for about ten hours. The
partly dried cakes are removed from the drying room to a stove
or oven, in which they are subjected to an increased heat of from
one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit
for a short time, say from four to six hours, or until the cakes are
thoroughly dried and hardened. The process being now finished the
cakes of sugar are removed to a crushing mill of the usual construction,
and are therein reduced to a marketable crushed sugar, the finer
parts being passed through a grinding mill and sold as powdered
sugar.
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that
what is claimed as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the system or mode of
manufacturing or treating crushed sugar wherein the sugar after being
compressed in moulds is dried first at a mild heat and afterwards at
a strong heat, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ralp Moore, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, inthe year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
RALPH MOORE. (L.S.)