Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Tea, Cocoanut and other Substances.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 5th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 18th Nov., 1899
Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Tea, Cocoanut and other
Substances.
I, ERNEST GEORGE SCOTT, of 67, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to provide improved means for drying delicate
substances such as cocoanut and tea which have to be dried in order to render them
fit for sale.
Hitherto this has been done principally by means of hot air at a relatively
high temperature, and necessitating the use of bulky apparatus.
According to my invention I use a series of tubular vessels through which the
tea or other substance is caused to pass by means of a conveyor or other suitable
methods. These tubes are heated by a jacket and the whole operates under vacuum.
I sometimes provide for introducing the substance continuously at one end of the
apparatus and removing it continuously from the other end. The heat applied
in this way and the constant movement of the substances to be dried causes the
vapors to be given off rapidly and at a very low temperature thus improving the
quality of the material dealt with.
Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Tea, Cocoanut and other
Substances,
I, ERNEST GEORGE SCOTT, of 67, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
My invention has for its object to provide improved means for drying_delicate
substances such as cocoanut and tea which have to be dried in order to render thei
fit for sale.
1.
Hitherto this has been done principally by means of hot air at a relatively
high temperature, and necessitating the use of bulky apparatus.
According to my invention I use a series of tubular vessels through which
the tea or other substance is caused to pass by a conveyor or other suitable
methods. These tubes are heated preferably by steam superheated or not which
[Price 8d.1
י

page_text: is admitted to a jacket surrounding the tubes and the whole operates under
vacuum. I sometimes provide for introducing the substance continuously at one
end of the apparatus and removing it continuously from the other end. The
heat applied in this way and the constant movement of the substances to be dried
causes the vapors to be given off rapidly and at a very low temperature thus
improving the quality of the material dealt with.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of apparatus for drying tea, cocoanut
and other substances constructed according to the invention :
Figure 2 is a plan of the apparatus; and
Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof.
a, a are the tubular vessels, which are here shewn superposed in a vertical
plane, the said vessels a being enclosed in jackets 6 so as to leave heating spaces c
around them. These tubular vessels are secured at either end to flanged tubular
joint pieces d. One of the joint pieces in each vessel, that is to say, at the right
and left hand ends respectively of adjacent vessels are formed with bottoms c.
The vessels are connected up one above the other by means of the joint pieces d, d
in such a manner that a continuous zigzag passage is provided for the tea or other
material to be dried which is introduced into the upper end of the apparatus, as
indicated by the arrow A, and passes to and fro in the passages a to the bottom
of the apparatus where it is discharged through a suitable outlet.
ff are the conveyors which are advantageously provided inside each of the
tubular vessels a, a although any other suitable means for conveying the material
from one end to the other can be employed. The said conveyors f, fare mounted
in end pieces or covers a¹, a¹ secured to the flanged joint pieces d. The shafts fl
of the said conveyors pass through stuffing boxes g in the covers a¹ at one end
of the apparatus, the projecting ends being supported in bearings h, h upon an
upright support i upon the frame or support of the machine. The said projecting
ends of the shafts are provided with spur gearing by means of which all
the conveyors are simultaneously driven from a countershaft mounted in
bearings m, m upon the support of the machine, the said countershaft being
furnished with fast and loose pulleys and n² respectively from which a belt
can be passed to a suitable driving shaft.
o is the main pipe for supplying the heating fluid to the spaces c around the
vessels a, the said spaces being supplied by pipes of branching from the main
pipe which branches enter the said spaces at the upper part thereof and the
supply being controlled by valves ², 08. is a pipe having branches p¹, p¹ which
are in communication with the bottoms of the spaces e, caround the vessels a so
that the heating medium supplied through the pipe o passes away through the
pipe the flow being in this case also controlled by means of valves p³.
9 is a pipe which is in connection, by means of branch pipes q with the right
and left hand ends alternately of the vessels a, the said pipe q being also in
communication with a vacuum pump or other suitable means for exhausting the
air from the drying vessels a.
With apparatus of this kind the substance to be dried is introduced as above
stated into the inlet end of the uppermost vessel a and is passed by the conveyor f
to the other end thereof when it drops into the next vessel along which it is
conveyed by the conveyor therein and so on until it reaches the outlet at the
bottom of the apparatus. Each of the vessels is heated by the heating medium
surrounding it and by reason of the vacuum which is maintained in the said
vessels, and the constant movement of the substances, the vapour is driven off from
the substance to be dried rapidly and at a very low temperature thus considerably
improving the quality of the resultant product.
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. Apparatus for drying tea, cócóáñït and other substances comprising a

page_text: number of jacketed vessels in communication with a source of vacuum and with
one another and provided with means for conveying the material through them,
substantially as, and for the purpose, hereinbefore described.
2. The improved apparatus for drying tea, cocoanut and other substances
constructed substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawing.
Dated this 5th day of October 1899.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London Agents for the Applicant.