AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING JUICES AND SACCHARINE MATTERS FROM SUGAR CANE AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING JUICES AND SACCHARINE
MATTERS FROM SUGAR CANE AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES." A com-
munication from abroad by Benjamin Odio, of the City of New York, and
Felipe Perozo, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, both in the State of
New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd December 1880.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
EXTRACTING JUICES AND SACCHARINE MATTERS FROM SUGAR CANE AND OTHER
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES." [A communication from abroad by Benjamin Odio, of
the City of New York, and Felipe Perozo, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings,
both in the State of New York, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to a process of extracting vegetable juices and saccharine
matters (such as those of sugar canes and beetroots) by subjecting the crushed cane
or other substance to steam pressure as bereafter described. The Invention also
relates to apparatus for carrying the said process into effect.
The apparatus consists of an upright cylindrical vessel divided internally into
two chambers by a perforated horizontal diaphragm, the upper chamber being
designed for the reception of the crushed sugar cane or other vegetable to be
treated, and the lower chamber for the reception of the juices extracted therefrom.
The cylinder is set upright upon a suitable support, preferably of brick or stone,
and is provided on its top with a manhole whereby the substances may be
introduced, said man hole being closed in the usual manner by a plate or door
held down by clamp and screw. In the top of said cylinder is also a steam supply
pipe provided with a cock or valve for the ingress of steam, and a steam gauge for
indicating the pressure, and in the side of the cylinder below its centre is a man
Price Gal

page_text: hole closed by a suitable device for the discharge of the bagasse after the extraction
of the sugar and juices. The perforated diaphragm is supported on lugs within the
cylinder below the latter man-hole and about on a level with the bottom thereof,
and is preferably made of two perforated plates placed face to face with felt or
some other filtering material between them. A central vertical shaft is fixed in
the cylinder with its upper end journalled in a cross brace beneath the upper man-
hole, and its lower end journalled in a suitable hanger that depends from the
bottom of the cylinder. Fixed upon and about this shaft in spiral form are
perforated iron blades and also arms for agitating the contents of the upper
chamber and assisting in the expression or extraction of their juices. At the lower
end of the shaft are bevel gear wheels, through which power is transmitted for
giving motion to the shaft.
In operating according to this Invention the crushed sugar cane, beetroot, or
other substance to be treated is introduced into the upper chamber through its
man-hole, and steam is then admitted into said chamber through the steam pipe.
The shaft is put in motion whereby the crushed cane, &c., is lifted and turned
upward, and the mass opened freely to the action of the steam, which penetrates
through the mass under strong pressure and into and through the fibres and cells
of the cane, and thereby dissolves and extracts the saccharine matter and juices
therein contained. The dissolved saccharine matter and juices then percolate
through the diaphragm into the lower chamber, whence they are drawn off for
further treatment through a discharge pipe. The steam is then shut off, the
lower man hole is opened, and the bagasse removed through it.
The upper
upper chamber may then be refilled and the juice extracting operation continued.
This method of extracting the juices and saccharine matter from cane and other
vegetable substances by steam pressure yields a more concentrated extract than
does the usual method of extracting them with water, and it is also found that the
juices and saccharine matters are more completely extracted than by the old
method, and that the bagasse is drier than that produced in the process as ordinarily
conducted, and will burn more readily under the boilers supplying the operating
steam.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd June 1881.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
EXTRACTING JUICES AND SACCHARINE MATTERS FROM SUGAR CANE AND OTHER
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES."
A communication from abroad by Benjamin Odio, of
the City of New York, and Felipe Perozo, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings,
both in the State of New York, United States of America.
This Invention relates to a process of and apparatus for extracting juices and
saccharine matters from sugar cane and other vegetable substances, and has for its
object to extract the juices more cheaply and thoroughly, and in a more concentrated
form than heretofore.
The Invention consists of an upright cylindrical vessel divided internally into
two chambers by a perforated horizontal diaphragm, the upper chamber being
designed for the reception of the crushed sugar cane or other vegetable to be treated,
and the lower chamber for the reception of the juices extracted therefrom, and it
further consists of a central vertical shaft carrying suitable spiral strirers for
agitating the contents of the upper chamber. The Invention further consists in
introducing steam under pressure into the closed chamber containing the vegetable
substance for the purpose of dissolving and extracting the juices and sugar
therefrom, and in assisting the extraction by the operation of the stirrers, the
extract being filtered or strained through the perforated diaphragm and drained off
from the lower chamber through suitable pipes, as hereafter set forth.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of the
device. Figure 2 is a plan of the same on line x, x, Figure 1. Similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts.
A represents a cylinder set upright upon a suitable cylindrical support B, which
is preferably of brick or stone. The cylinder A is provided on its top with a man
hole C, whereby the substances to be treated are introduced, said man hole C being
closed in the usual manner by a plate or door C¹ held down by clamp and screw C².
In the top of cylinder A is also a steam supply pipe D provided with a suitable
cock or valve a for the ingress of steam into the cylinder A, and a steam gauge E
for indicating the steam pressure within the cylinder A.; and in the side of the
cylinder A below its centre is a man hole F for the discharge of the bagasse after
the extraction of the sugar and juices, which man-hole F is closed by suitable
device F. Within cylinder A below the man hole F, about on a level with the
bottom thereof, a perforated diaphragm G is supported on lugs b that are secured
on the inside of cylinder A. This diaphragm is preferably made of two perforated
plates placed face to face, with felt or some other filtering material between them,
and divides the cylinder A. interiorly into two chambers A1, A2, the upper one of
which is designed to receive the vegetable substances to be treated, while the lower
chamber A2 is to hold the extract therefrom for delivery through the discharge
pipe O that is provided with a suitable valve O¹. H is the central vertical shaft
fixed in the cylinder A with its upper end journalled in the cross brace I beneath
the man hole C, and its lower end journalled in a suitable hanger K that depends
from the bottom of the cylinder A. Fixed upon and about this shaft H in spiral
form are perforated iron blades L and arms L' for agitating the contents of the
chamber A' and assisting in the expression or extraction of their juices. On the
lower end of the shaft H is a bevel gear wheel M into which gears a corresponding
driving gear wheel N through which power is transmitted for giving motion to the
shaft H.

page_text: In operating this device the crushed sugar cane, beet root, or other substance to
be treated is introduced into the cylinder chamber A¹ through the man hole C,
and steam is then admitted into said chamber A¹ through the steam pipe D. The
shaft H is then put in motion in the direction of the arrow Figure 2, whereby the
crushed cane, &c., is lifted and turned upward, and the mass opened freely to
the action of the steam, which penetrates through the mass under strong pressure
and into and through the fibres and cells of the cane, and thereby dissolves
and extracts the saccharine matter and juices therein contained. The dissolved
saccharine matter and juices then percolate through the diaphgram G into the
chamber A², whence they are drawn through the discharge pipe O for further
treatment. The steam is then shut off by turning the valve a in the supply
pipe D, the manhole F is opened, and the bagasse removed through it.
The
cylinder chamber A¹ may then be refilled, and the juice extracting operation
continued.
This method of extracting the juices and saccharine matter from cane and other
vegetable substances by steam pressure yields a more concentrated extract than
does the usual method of extracting them with water. It is also found that the
juices and saccharine matters are more completely extracted than by the old method,
and that the bagasse is drier than that produced in the process as ordinarily
conducted, and will burn more readily under the boilers supplying the operating
steam.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I would observe that I do not confine myself to the precise construction
of the device as herein shown and described (since it is evident that modifications
may be made in it without departing from the Invention), but that what I do
claim as the Invention to be protected by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
1st. The process, substantially as herein described, for extracting juices from
sugar cane and other vegetable substances, consisting in subjecting the crushed
cane or other vegetable substance to pressure of steam in a closed vessel as set
forth.
2nd. The process, substantially as herein described, for extracting juices from
sugar cane and other vegetable substances, consisting in subjecting the crushed
cane or other vegetable substance to pressure of steam while being stirred or
agitated as set forth.
3rd. In apparatus for extracting juices from sugar cane and other vegetable
substances, the combination with the cylinder A provided with steam pipe D of the
perforated diaphragm G and shaft H provided with stirrers L, substantially as herein
shown and described.
4th. In apparatus for extracting juices from sugar cane and other vegetable
substances, the combination with the revolving shaft H of the perforated spirally
arranged plates L, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the
crushed cane is agitated and its juices expressed as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty second day of June, A.D. 1881.