IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFEE-PULPING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM VAN VLECK LIDGERWOOD of the City of New York United States
of America, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFEE-PULPING MACHINES" to be as follows:-
My invention relates to machines for removing the pulp or fruity part from the
seeds of the coffee cherries and comprises improvements in the machine described
in the specification of former Letters Patent granted to me and dated 25th March
AD 1875 N° 1103.
According to the present invention I provide a suitable frame whereon I mount
the pulping cylinder or roller which is covered with a toothed or serrated plate of
copper or other suitable metal.
Above the said pulping cylinder is fixed a hopper, the bottom of which may, if
desired, be caused to oscillate by means of an excentric or otherwise, to accelerate
the passage of the cherries down onto the, pulping cylinder. Within the hopper is
a perforated plate upon which the cherries are first placed, and from which they
are feil to the bottom of the hopper by means of a stream or jet of water directed
against the said perforated plate. This method of feeding the cherries to the
cylinder prevents the latter and the breasts hereinafter described from becoming
choked. The surplus water runs through the perforations in the said plate into a
trough or troughs extending above a rotating sieve or screen.
Bearing upon, or in near proximity to, the pulping cylinder is a roller covered
with india-rubber or other similar material. This roller is adjustable towards, and
from, the pulping cylinder. As the cherries fall onto the pulping cylinder they
are carried between the latter and the said roller, whereby a considerable portion
of the pulp or fruity part of the cherries is loosened or partially separated from the
seeds or beans.
The said roller, as it rotates, is also caused to move laterally by means of an
arm carrying a roller bearing upon a cam surface on the end of the pulping
cylinder.
Below the said roller are arranged two breasts faced with india-rubber or the
like which are adjustable relatively to the pulping cylinder.
The pulp and seeds, after passing between the said pulping cylinder and
roller, pass between the pulping cylinder and the first breast; when however they
reach the surface of the second breast the pulp alone passes between this and the

page_text: cylinder. The pulp is discharged underneath the pulping cylinder to the rear of
the machine, while the seeds or beans and unpulped cherries are moved forward
between the upper and lower breasts into a hopper from which a stream of water
passing throngh' a suitable pipe from the aforesaid channel or channels conveys
them into the rotating screen or sieve.
I provide the said channel or channels with perforations through which jets of
water are discharged onto the screen, whereby the motion of the seeds thereon is
accelerated and the choking of the screen is prevented.
It is, in some cases, necessary or desirable to arrange in connection with the
machine herein before described, a second machine of similar construction into
which all the unripe or unpulped cherries will pass as they drop from the end of
the rotating screen.
Although I have hercinabove particularly described my invention with reference
to the treatment of coffee cherries, it is obvious that it may be employed for
separating and removing the pulp from the seeds of other fruit.

page_text: I, WILLIAM VAN VLECK LIDGERWOOD, of New York, United States of America
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN COFFEE-PULPING MACHINES" and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to machines for removing the pulp or fruity part from the
seeds or beans of coffee-cherries, and comprises improvements in the machine
described in the specification of former Letters Patent granted to me and dated
25th March, A.D. 1875, Nº 1103.
My present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure is a side elevation of my improved machine.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is an elevation, partly in section on the line a, x, Figure 1, shewing,
details of the said machine, and
Figure 4 is a section, drawn to an enlarged scale, showing the breasts hereinafter
described.
a indicates the frame of the machine, b the lower or main pulping cylinder or
roller, which is covered with a toothed, serrated or roughened plate of copper or
other suitable metal.
Above the pulping cylinder 6 is fixed a hopper c, which is provided with a
reciprocating slide d for ensuring a regular or uniform feed or supply of the
cherries to the pulping mechanism as described in the said former specification.
This slide is operated by means of an excentric e fixed on the shaft f on which the
pulping cylinder b is mounted. The excentric rod e' is connected' with a toothed
segment, which gears with a rack on the said slide, as indicated by dotted lines in
Figure 1. Within the hopper c is arranged a perforated plate or strainer g of
copper or other suitable material, upon which the cherries are to be placed. The
cherries are fed or carried from the said plate or strainer into the bottom of the
hopper c by one or more streams or jets of water which are directed, by any
suitable means, upon the said plate or strainer. The greater portion of this water.
flows through the perforations in the said plate or strainer into the compartment c
of the hopper, whence a portion of it passes through the pipes into the troughs
or channels i, which extend above the rotating separating sieve or screen j, and
which are perforated with small holes for the purpose hereinafter explained. The
remainder of the water which flows into the compartment cl passes through the
pipes into a cylindrical vessel c³, from which it is directed in a series of jets or
streams upon the surface of the cylinder b, for the purpose of keeping the same
clean.
k is a cylinder or roller, which is covered with india-rubber or similar material,
and which bears upon, or is in close proximity to, the top of the cylinder b. The
said cylinder or roller is mounted in bearings k' which are adjustable by means
of set-screws k³, so that the roller & can ho moved, at will, towards, or away from,
.

page_text: the cylinder b. Motion is imparted from the cylinder 6 to the cylinder or roller k
by means of the gear-wheels be, k*.
The above described method of feeding the cherries to the pulping cylinders by
means of jets or streams of water obviates the liability of the said cylinders and
the breasts hereinafter described to become choked.
I provide for imparting lateral reciprocating motion to the roller k, during its
rotation, by the following means, that is to say, a bent lever is pivotted on a pin
or stud fixed in the bracket.m. The two arms of this lever are forked, and one of
its arms engages with the axle of the roller & between two collars formed or fixed
thereon. The other arm of the said lever engages with a projecting cam or cain-
surface n fixed or formed on one end of the cylinder b. This cam is of oval or
elliptical shape; the roller k will, therefore, be moved first in one direction and
then in the other direction in each revolution of the said cam.
In some cases, I provide for imparting lateral reciprocating motion to both of
the said cylinders or rollers; and both of these rollers are sometimes covered with
india-rubber or similar material.
As the cherries fall upon the cylinder b, they are carried between the latter and
the cylinder or roller k; a considerable portion of the pulp or fruity part of the
cherries is thus loosened or partially separated from the seeds or beans.
Below the roller k are arranged two breasts o, o'; these breasts are both faced
with india-rubber or similar elastic material, so that they will yield to permit the
passage of the beans or seeds between them and the cylinder b; they are adjustable,
relatively to the pulping cylinder 6 by means of the screws q, and can be secured
in the desired position by the screws which pass through transverse slots in the
said breasts, and are screwed into the metal brackets 8.
The pulp and seeds, after passing between the pulping cylinders or rollers b, k,
pass between the cylinder 6 and the upper breasts o, o'; when, however, they
reach the surface of the rigid breast p, the pulp alone passes between this breast
and the said cylinder, and is discharged, beneath the latter, down the chute t to
the rear of the machine, while the seeds or beans, and any cherries which may
remain unpulped, are pushed forward between the upper breasts and the lowermost
breast into a spout or trough u, down which they are conveyed into the rotating
sieve or screen j, by streams of water flowing through the pipes from the troughs
or channels i. The water flowing along the said troughs or channels i, moreover,
passes through the perforations in the same and falls upon the screen or sieve j.
The motion of the seeds from one end to the other of the said screen or sieve is
thus accelerated and the choking of the screen or sieve prevented.
By the above described arrangement of the hopper c and the pipes and troughs
connected therewith, the greater portion of the water used for feeding the cherries
to the pulping cylinders is removed or separated from the said cherries in the
hopper, and is conveyed to other parts of the machine for the purpose of removing
the pulp or fruity part from the seeds or beans, after the cherries have been passed
between the pulping cylinders without water, or with only a very small quantity
of water.
It is, in some cases, necessary or desirable to arrange, in connection with the
machine herein before described, a second machine of similar construction, into
which all the unripe or unpulped cherries will pass as they drop from the end of
the rotating screen or sieve j.
By employing two or more yielding or elastic breasts, I ensure the better
separation of the pulp from the beans or seeds.
Although I have herein particularly described my invention with reference to
the treatment of coffee-cherries, it is obvious that it may be employed for separating
and removing the pulp from the seeds of other fruit.
Moreover, although only two elastic or yielding breasts o, o¹ are used in the
machine shewn in the drawing, a larger number of the said breasts can be employed,
if desired.

page_text: 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
First. The combination of the two pulping cylinders or rollers arranged to rotate
in opposite directions, and means for imparting lateral reciprocating motion to one
or both of the said cylinders or rollers, substantially as, and for the purpose, set
forth.
Second. The employment of the perforated plate or strainer arranged above the
compartment c' of the hopper, in combination with means for directing one or
more jets or streams of water thereon (with or without the means for conducting.
the water from the said compartment to the other parts of the machine), all
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Third. The combination, with the pulping cylinder 6 and the rigid or unyielding
breast p, of two or more elastic or yielding breasts arranged one beneath another,
substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Fourth. The improved machine consisting of the parts constructed and combined
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings and
operating as, and for the purposes, specified.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.