IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO VESSELS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Waller, of Lickhill, near Calne, in the County
of Wilts, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO VESSELS USED
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE."
Sealed the 22nd May 1857, and dated the 28th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Waller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th November 1856.
I, HENRY WALLER, of Lickhill, near Calne, in the County of Wilts, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE
TO VESSELS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE," to be as follows:-
This Invention applies to certain vessels used in the manufacture of cheese,
for the purpose of breaking up and compressing the curd and removing the
whey therefrom. I would here remark that the ordinary process of removing
the whey from the curd has been to remove the same (as the curd settles) by
carefully dipping or immersing a bowl or other vessel, or by a fixed strainer, at
the side or bottom, or both at the side and bottom of the vessel.
In the application of my Invention, I employ an ordinary vessel without
strainer, and after the curd has been cut up by the ordinary means, and the
cutters have been removed, I place on the surface of the contents of the
vessel a finely perforated plate or compresser, which fits closely the inside of
the vessel. This plate or compresser immediately commences to sink, carrying
the curd with it, and leaving the clear whey above. When the compressor has
sunk as far as its own weight will carry it, additional pressure may be applied
thereto by weights, levers, screw, or other mechanical means.
The whey may

page_text: be drawn off from above the compressor by means of a syphon, or by
taps placed at the side of the vessel, or by the following means:-A small
vertical chamber is to be formed at the side of the vessel, and is closed by
a shutter capable of sliding vertically in grooves, and divided horizontally
into two, three, or more sections, the edges of the divisions being bevilled
or grooved, so as to form a close joint. As soon as the compressor has sunk
below the level of the first division, the upper section of the slide or
shutter is to be withdrawn and the whey allowed to flow off into the chamber,
and thence through an opening or tap at the bottom thereof; as the com-
pressor sinks further, this operation is repeated until the whole of the whey
has been removed, care being taken that no slide is withdrawn until the
compressor and curd have sunk below the level of the upper edge of the
succeeding one.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Waller in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WALLER, of Lickhill, near Calue, in the County of Wilts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Waller, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Waller, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Waller, 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 APPLICABLE TO
VESSELS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Waller, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Waller, do hereby declare tho
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, that
is to say:
My said Invention applies to certain vessels used in the manufacture of
cheese, for the purpose of breaking up and compressing the curd and removing
the whey therefrom. And before describing my Invention I would remark that
the ordinary process of separating the whey from the curd has been to remove
the same (as the curd settles) by carefully dipping or immersing a bowl or
other vessel, or by a fixed strainer, at the side or bottom, or both at the side
and bottom of the vessel.
In carrying out my Invention, I employ an ordinary vessel without strainer,
and after the curd has been cut up or broken by the ordinary means, and the
cutters have been removed, I place on the surface of the contents of the vessel
a finely perforated plate or compressor, which fits closely the inside of the
vessel. This plate or compressor immediately commences to sink, carrying the
curd with it, and leaving the clear whey above. When the perforated com-
pressor or separator has sunk as far as its own weight will carry it, the whey is
to be let off, and the compressor must then be slightly pressed by hand, after
which it is removed, and a solid pressing plate substituted, and the requisito
pressure is applied thereto by weights, levers, a screw, or other mechanical
The whey may be drawn off from above the perforated compressor by
means of a syphon, or by taps placed at different heights in the side of the
vessel, or by sliding shutters working in grooves in a vertical opening in the side
of the vessel. But what I have found by experience to be the most simple and
efficient way of removing the whey is by forming a narrow vertical opening in
the side of the vessel, opposite to which is a cylindrical chamber closed by
means of a tubular barrel tap, the hollow plug of which is provided with a
spiral opening working opposite to the vertical opening in the vessel, so that
by turning the tap the point of draught is gradually lowered as the compressor
sinks, by which means the curd is drained quite dry.
means.
The method of carrying my Invention into practical effect will be readily
understood upon referring to the annexed Drawing, and the following explana-
tion thereof.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, taken through about the middle of tho vessel;
Figure 2 is a view of the perforated compressor or separator; and Figure 3 is
a plan or top view of the vessel.
A, A, is an ordinary cylindrical vessel, which I prefer to be made of brass;

page_text: B, B, is the perforated compressor or separator, which may either be made of
a finely perforated metal plate a, a, or wire gauze soldered on to a ring b, b,
furnished with handles c, c; or it may be made of any other suitable material,
but I prefer the perforated metal plate. In Figure 1 the perforated com-
pressor is shewn in the act of sinking, carrying with it the curd, and leaving
the clear whey above. The vessel A is provided with an opening d, e, at the
side communicating with the barrel tap C, the hollow plug of which is
furnished with a circular opening f and a spiral opening g. The lower end
of the barrel tap C is also provided with a tap h. When the compressor or
separator B has sunk below the level of the opening d, the tap C is turned,
till the opening f comes opposite to the opening of the vessel, and the tap h is
opened, the whey will then flow quickly out of the vessel to the level of the
opening in the barrel tap. As the compressor sinks lower, the tap C is
turned still further, bringing the spiral opening 9 opposite to the opening e,
and thus gradually lowering the point of draught as the compressor sinks.
When the compressor B has been pressed slightly by hand, and all the whey
is drawn off, the compressor B is removed, and the solid pressing plate D
(see Figure 3), is substituted, and the necessary pressure given by any suitable
mechanical means.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of im-
provements applicable to vessels used in the manufacture of cheese, together
with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark
in conclusion, that,―
I claim as my Invention the application to such vessels of a compressor or
separator made of perforated metallic plate or other suitable material, which
being placed on the surface of the contents of the vessel gradually sinks, and
thus separates the curd from the whey.
I also claim the application to such vessels of a barrel tap with a spiral
opening for the purpose of drawing off the whey, as shewn in the Drawing,
and above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Waller, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
HENRY WALLER. (L.E.)