Improvements in Means or Apparatus for use in Separating Cream from Milk and in Removing the Separated Matters.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for use in Separating Cream
from Milk and in Removing the Separated Matters.
I, GEORGE HENRY WESTON of 84 Kingston Street, Boston in the State of Massa-
chusetts, one of the United States of America, Machinist 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:-
This invention has for its object the production of an improved creaming machine
or apparatus by which to separate the cream from whole milk and remove the cream
and skim separately.
In creaming machines as heretofore constructed, great difficulty has been
experienced in the action of the creaming apparatus in taking off the cream separated
from the milk, the action of the device being so sudden as to in a measure break up
and destroy the globules of cream so that the cream is in a measure whipped into foam,
which necessitates it being used speedily or else the cream will spoil.
This has been a very serious objection and has prevented the extended use of this
class of machine.
In accordance with my invention I have provided a creaming machine with a
skimmer for removing the cream, the said skimmer being adapted to rotate with the
vessel containing the milk and cream to be separated, and this skimmer may be moved
in unison with or made to fall behind the speed of rotation of the machine more or
less, so as to remove the cream more or less slowly as desired, the speed of removal
of the cream depending upon the difference in speed between the rotation of the cream
cylinder and the cream skimmer.
The means which I have herein illustrated by which to put drag, as it may be
called, upon the rotation of the skimming device, so that it moves more slowly than
the cream cylinder, is a fan wheel, but this invention is not intended to be limited to
making the drag in the shape of a fan.
In the machine to be herein described the whole milk from which the cream is to be
separated, is fed through a hollow journal of the cream cylinder, the said journal
having near its outer end a somewhat enlarged chamber from which leads a milk
passage of smaller diameter and eccentrically placed with relation to the said chamber
and to the centre of rotation of the said journal, the inner end of the said milk passage
being turned out toward the periphery of the milk cylinder so as to discharge the
whole milk into the said cylinder.
This eccentric location of the milk passage not only with relation to the chamber
referred to but to the centre of rotation of the journal, constitutes what may be called
one form of centrifugal pump which carries the milk introduced into the said chamber,
forcibly into the milk cylinder.
In all previous creaming machines known to me the milk cylinder has been adapted
to rotate about a vertical axis, and the milk cylinder has been made comparatively
short, necessarily so, and the separation of the cream from the milk has been effected
only by or through a high speed of rotation of the milk cylinder, it being not
unfrequent to run them from five to six thousand revolutions a minute to enable them
to separate the cream at a practical speed so that they can afford to be used.
This invention is based upon the discovery that by placing the cream cylinder so as
to rotate about a horizontal centre, that the said cylinder may be made of any desired
length and of comparatively small diameter, thus enabling the cream to have a longer
distance to travel through when being separated from the milk.
My invention therefore consists in a creaming machine containing a rotating cylinder,
and a skimming device rotating therewith but at a slower speed.
Also in a creaming machine, a rotating cylinder having a hollow journal provided

page_text: with a chamber, and a milk passage eccentric to the said chamber and to the centre
of rotation of the journal, to aid in forcing the milk through the said journal into the
milk cylinder.
Also in the combination with a horizontally arranged rotating milk cylinder, of a
cream skimmer to remove the cream therefrom.
Also in the rotating cylinder having hollow journals, a skimmer mounted loosely
with relation to one of the said journals to take the cream out through the said journal,
combined with the skim milk skimmer and means to adjust it 'toward and from the
periphery of the skim milk chamber, substantially as will be described.
Figure 1 in side elevation represents a creaming machine embodying my
invention.
Figure 2 is a left hand end elevation thereof, the drag being omitted.
Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal partial horizontal section of the machine shown
in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is an enlarged left hand end elevation of the part shown in Figure 3, the
drag device being omitted.
Figure 5 is a section of Figure 3, supposed to be in about the line z looking toward
the left, the head B' being broken out, and
Figure 6, is a sectional detail showing part of the device for actuating the skim-
milk discharge tube.
The base A of the machine has mounted upon it a horizontal casing A, A, suitably
bolted together and having suitable bearings for the reception of the journals a, b, of
the said milk cylinder B, the said cylinder consisting essentially of a cylindrical body
suitably attached to heads B', B2 which are secured in any suitable manner to the said
journals a, b, the bearings for the said journals having any usual linings or
contrivances to prevent wear and enable the journals to be run with little friction
and noise.
The journal a has fast upon one end of it a driving pulley Cabout which will be
placed any usual driving belt.
The journal a has at its outer end a chamber a!, shown best in Figure 3, into which
is extended the end of a tube a leading from any usual supply for whole milk, the
said tube introducing the whole milk into the said chamber.
The journal a is bored through from one side of the chamber a¹ so as to provide a
"whole milk" passage a³ in the said journal, which is not only eccentric to the
chamber but also to the centre of rotation of the journal a, so that the whole milkifed
into the chamber will, in the rotation of the journal, be thrown with force into the
interior of the milk cylinder B, through the opening in the hub of the head (B'..
The chamber and milk passage constitute a sort of centrifugal pump, the speed at
which the whole milk is thrown into the cylinder depending upon the speed of rotation
of the said cylinder.
i
The journal b'is bored centrally and has fitted into it loosely the cream skimmer,
shown as a tube b'having its inner end bent down into the milk cylinder toward
its periphery the said end extending substantially to the point where the cream wall
will be formed.
The cream cylinder is provided at its inner wall with one or more thin partitions:B
extended from one to its other end, the said partition standing in the milk and carrying
it around with the cylinder in usual manner, and as herein shown, the edge of the
partition is notched to let the mouth of the skimmer pass a little below the main part
of the edge of the wall.
The outer end of the skimming device, b₁ see Figure 3, is provided with a drag,
herein represented as a fan wheel c, the hub of which is connected directly totthe said
cream skimmer the blades of theifan wheel acting within a casing e, connected to the
frame-work and having at some suitable place a cover or slide, asc, by which to
regulate the amount of air which may pass through the said casing, thus regulating
the amount of drag, for in practice the smaller the opening in the casing the less the
drag, and the greater the drag upon the skimming device the slower its speed of
rotation with relation to the speed of rotation of the milk cylinder.

page_text: By regulating this drag, the open end of the cream skimmer which enters the cream
wall and removes the cream from the skim milk, may be made to travel sufficiently
slow so that the cream wall being carried around by the milk cylinder may be fed or
pushed into the open mouth of the skimmer at any desired speed, the speed being
sufficient however to overcome the centrifugal force of the revolving skimmer 6¹, care
being also taken to so regulate this speed that the cream globules will not be broken
and destroyed, thus causing the cream to be whipped, as it is called, after which it
rapidly sours.
By my improved machine it is possible to take off the cream in such way that the
cream globules are not broken. The head B of the milk cylinder is provided with a
suitable number of passages, as 2, as shown at the right of Fig. 3, through which the
skim milk is forced in the skim milk curb D, the said curb rotating in unison with the
milk cylinder.
This curb is open at its center, and I have extended into it a skim milk tube D¹,
the said tube being carried by a bracket e, the shank of which, provided with a suit-
able screw thread and placed in a suitable guide D³ bolted to the frame-work, is acted
upon by a screw, as e', shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the said screw having a
suitable handle e by which to rotate it to thus move the carrier and its connected
skim milk tube, so that the open inner mouth of the tube may be placed more or less
in the skim milk chamber to remove the milk therefrom and discharge the same into
a suitable receptacle.
In practice when the machine is rotated regularly, the inner end of the skim milk
tube is projected just a little way into the skim milk chamber so as to take the skim
milk out gradually, but just before the machine is to be stopped, the screw is operated
to place the inner end of the skim milk tube further into the skim milk chamber
substantially in line with the walls of the milk cylinder so as to remove all the milk
therefrom, or any other fluid matter therein.
In practice the milk cylinder arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis may be
made of considerable length, say from two to six times the diameter of the cylinder
more or less, such increase of length affording an increased travel for the milk in the
cylinder while the cream is being separated from the milk, which greatly increases
the efficiency of the machine and enables it to be run at a slower speed and yet do
better work, the action of the machine upon the "whole milk" and cream being less
violent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is:-
In apparatus for separating cream from milk
1: An organised creaming machine containing a rotating cylinder, and a cream
skimming device rotated therewith but at a slower speed, substantially as described.
2: The rotating milk holding cylinder having a hollow journal provided with a
chamber, and a connected milk passage eccentric to the said chamber and to the center
of rotation of the said journal, to aid in forcing the milk through the said journal into
the said cylinder, substantially as described.
3-A horizontally supported rotating cylinder to contain milk, combined with a
cream skimmer travelling therewith but at a slower speed, and with a drag to
control the difference in speed between the cylinder and skimmer, substantially as
described.
4-The rotating cylinder having hollow journals, a skimmer mounted loosely with
relation to one of the said journals to take the cream out through the said journal,
combined with the skim milk skimmer and means to adinst it toward and from the
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.