IMPROVE MENTS IN EFFECTING THE DRAINAGE OF MOULDED SUGAR
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Steele, of Greenock, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Sugar Refiner, for the Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN EFFECTING THE DRAINAGE OF MOULDED SUGAR."
Sealed the 30th October 1855, and dated the 11th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Steele at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
May 1855.
I, JAMES STEELE, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Sugar Refiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN EFFECTING THE DRAINAGE OF MOULDED SUGAR," to be as follows,
that is to say:
This Invention relates more especially to the drainage or extraction of the
syrup or treacle and moisture from sugar in the process of refining the same.
When the draining process is to be effected as at present pursued, the attendant
drives a pin into the apex of the mould, so as to produce the outlet necessary
for the drainage of the moisture. Now, in this old process great uncertainty
of effect is produced, owing to the difficulty of properly entering the pin; and
in addition to this, much loss of saccharine matter arises, from the wasteful
escape at the apex of the mould. In the present improved process or arrange
ment, the drainage pins are all entered into the moulds prior to the deposition

page_text: therein of the fluid sugar. The pins have broad heads or flange pieces carrying
cloth or elastic washers to fit up against the mould aperture, hence all wasteful
escape is prevented. When the drainage is to commence, the operator with-
draws the pins, leaving the drainage aperture moulded, as it were, in the sugar.
With this arrangement, not only is the process materially shortened and
simplified, but the effect is rendered quite uniform throughout an entire set or
range of moulds.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Steele in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
STEELE, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Sugar
Refiner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of ller
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Steele, Her special license that I, the said James Steele,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Steele, my executors, administrators, or 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 IN EPPECT-
ING THE DRAINAGE OF MOULDED SUGARS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Steele, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Steele, do hereby declure the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates more especially to the drainage or extraction of

page_text: the syrup or treacle and moisture from sugar in the process of refining the
same. When the draining process is to be effected as at present pursued,
the attandant drives a pin into the apex of the mould, so as to produce the
outlet necessary for the drainage of the moisture. Now, in this old process
great uncertainty of effect is produced, owing to the difficulty of properly
entering the pin; and in addition to this, much loss of saccharine matter arises,
from the wasteful escape at the apex of the mould. In the present improved
process or arrangement, the drainage pins are all entered into the moulds prior
to the deposition therein of the fluid sugar. The pins have broad heads or
flange pieces carrying cloth or elastic washers to fit up against the mould
aperture, hence all wasteful escape is prevented. When the drainage is to
commence, the operator withdraws the pins, leaving the drainage aperture
moulded, as it were, in the sugar. With this arrangement, not only is the
process materially shortened and simplified, but the effect is rendered quite
uniform throughout an entire set or range of moulds.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto attached.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figure 2 is a plan, of a sugar mould as fitted
with my improved apex stopper, in readiness to receive the sugar to be drained;
Figure 3 is an elevation, and Figure 4 is a plan, of the apex pin or stopper, as
detached; Figure 5 is a vertical section of the mould as filled with sugar, in
the act of being drained into a jar.
put, is of the usual
The mould A, into which the sugar to be drained is
conical shape, being in this instance made of thin metal. The apex or cone
point B of the mould is made with an aperture, through which the syrup or
uncrystallised portion of the sugar liquor or moisture escapes or drains off; this
aperture being ordinarily closed by a simple plug whilst the sugar liquor is
being poured into the mould. Now, my present Invention consists in closing
the aperture in the apex or cone point of the mould by means of a plug C,
which, like that represented in Figures 3 and 4 on the Sheet of Drawings, is
formed with a spike D, which projects into the mould, as represented in
Figure 1. A washer E, of leather or other suitable material, is fitted upon the
plug C, for the purpose of making the plug fit tightly into the mould aperture.
5 The spiked plug C being thus fitted into the mould aperture, the sugar liquor
is poured into the mould in the usual way, and when it is sufficiently solidified
the plug is withdrawn, and leaves a cavity F in the sugar, as shown in Figure 5.
This cavity is necessary for the proper drainage of the sugar, as is well under-
stood by the practical sugar refiner; and as any difference in the size or position

page_text: of this cavity in different moulds necessarily affects the drainage action, it is
obvious that my improved system, by which a uniform shape and accurate
position is secured in any number of moulds, must render this portion of the
refining process more certain and regular than according to the ordinary mode
of forming the cavity by hand, by means of an instrument introduced into the
sugar when partially solidified. It will be obvious that the spike or projection
D may be modified in size or shape, so as to produce the particular form of
cavity which is found to answer best in practice.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and thereforo claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application and use in moulds used in the draining or refining of
sugar of a plug or stopper, having a spike or projection which enters the
mould and produces a cavity in the sugar, for the purpose of aiding the
drainage thereof, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of forming the cavity which is required in the
apex of a mould of sugar for aiding the drainage action, by means of a spike or
spiked plug, which is inserted in the mould prior to the deposition of the sugar
therein, as herein-before described.
'Third, the system or mode of producing the drainage cavities in moulds of
sugar by moulding the same therein.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Steele, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five.
JAMES STEELE. (L.S.)