US1489268A - Manufacture of margarine - Google Patents

Description

April 8 1924. 1,489,268

C). MIICHELSEN MANUFACTURE OF MARGARINE Filed Feb. 27. 1922 Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES I 1,489,268 PATENTXQOFFICE.

OLUF MICHELSEN, OF EALING, ENGLAND ASSIGNOR '10 MAYPOLE MARGARIN E WORKS LIMITED, OF SOU'THALL, ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF MARGARINE.

Application filed February 27, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLUF MIorInnsnN, a British subject, residing at Dimlands, Blakesley Avenue, Ealing, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Manufacture of Margarine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the final stages in the manufacture of margarine wherein the previously rapidly cooled material in the form of flakes or separate particles or granules obtained by a known method is consolidated by pressure and is finally subjected to the usual blending operation in which the consolidated material is worked into the reuired condition by rotating blades or heading mechanism in accordance with well known practice.

According to this invention the separate margarine particles or granules are subjected to a consolidating pressure and the consolidated material is driven under such pressure through a blender to the outlet of the latter. The consolidating and blending stages are therefore combined in one apparatus and both operations are continuous and one dependent on the other so that the complete process is carried out in a very raid and economical manner.

Tn one type of apparatus the separated granules are fed into a cylinder within which operates a reciprocating piston compressing in front of it, by repeated strokes the granulated material and forcing a por tion of it at each stroke through a restricted opening into the inlet end of a blender provided with mechanically operated blending mechanism the piston pressure driving the consolidated material through the blender to the final outlet.

Instead, however of employing piston pressure which operates by successive strokes, other methods, of applying consolidating pressure may be employed and this pressure may be maintained substantially constant by means for example, of a pressure producer of rotary pump type. A suitable form of compressor comprises a pair of intermeshing rotary toothed wheels or drums in a suitably shaped casing, into the mouth of which the loose granules are fed continuously at a uniform rate and are carried forward by the rotors which com ress them in front, causing the consolidate ma- Serial No. 539,794.

terial to pass through a contractin outlet into the blender through which tie cont nuous pressure drives the finished margarine.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 is a plan of one type of apparatus embodying this invention.

Figure 3 is a vertical section partly in elevation of the blending mechanism shown in Figures 1 and 2; and

Figures 4 and 5 show a modification of the apparatus.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, A, A are a pair of cylinders situated side by side at one end of a strong frame B mounted upon a substantial base C. D, D are contracting nozzles or outlets belonging to the two cylinders A, A, which nozzles, however, may form part of one casting, the two cylinders forming part of a second casting. E is a crank shaft, the cranks e of which drive the connecting rods 7 of the trunk pistons F so as to reciprocate the latter in the cylinders A. G is the blender casing of double cylinder form, mounted on the gear casing H which in its turn is supported on the base J. K, K are a pair of paddle blades of spiral form in the casing G and mounted upon the top and bottom shafts k, In, the latter shafts being geared together by the wheels and driven through the bevel wheel by the engine driven shaft L with bevel pinion Z.

In the construction illustrated the apparatus is shown with a pair of cylinders the pistons in which work alternately, chiefly for the purpose of giving greater uniformity of action, and one, two or more cylinders may be employed in the same apparatus, as found convenient.

The frame B on which the various parts of the apparatus are mounted is provided at its front end with a vertical part 7) through which the cylinders pass and on the face of which they are bolted or otherwise secured 105 so as to extend horizontally or substantially horizontally, the cylinders also extending rearwardly at a behind the vertical support 6. The cylinders are each provided with a, large opening a in the upper face, through 110 which the anulated or flaked cooled margarine is ed throu h a hopper or other convenient device. en the piston F is reciprocated in its c linder by the rotation of the crank shaft E: at the rear end of its stroke it clears the opening a and allows the flakes or granulated margarine to enter the cylinder A in front, filling or partly filling in a loose manner the space cleared by the piston. On the return or forward stroke of the piston the latter carries forward the loose particles and presses them against the already consolidated material lying in the forward part of the cylinder, the front end of the piston extending at the end of the compression stroke a little distance in front of the forward end of the opening a, as can be seen from Figure 1, which shows one of the pistons a little distance from the end of its forward stroke and the other a corresponding distance from the end of its rearward stroke. Thus during each complete double stroke of a piston the inlet aperture (1' is opened and the loose margarine allowed to fall into the cylinder and thenbe pressed forward by the piston into the forward end of the cylinder, the inlet aperture a being closed as the piston passes under it. The consolidated mar arine on its way to the blending cylinder may pass through slotted or perforated discs indicated at 03 so that the margarine is divided up as it passes to the blender.

The blending mechanism is of known type,

paddle blades such as K being used in ex- 1sting apparatus for blending margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, the essential feature of the present invention being the combined apparatus whereby the consolidation under piston pressure and the subsequent blending are completed at one stage, the piston pressure serving not only for consolidation but also for the progressive passage of the margarine through the blender. The blades K preferably turn at high speed, say about 500 revolutions per minute.

The blender casing G is connected to the front end of the nozzles D through the pair of inlets g at the upper end of the casing, the single outlet 9 being placed at the lower end of the casing. The blending paddle blades in the twoparts of the casing G co-operate in their rotation so as to stir up the margarine and obtain the highest degree of uniformity in the material before it escapes from the outlet g under the pressure given by the separated piston strokes of the consolidating mechanism, the outlet g being sufliciently contracted to ensure that the blending cylinder or casing is always full of margarine. Any addition of salt or other material to be incorporated with the margarine in the blender may conveniently be made to the flakes before they enter the openings a of the cylinders A. The complete process is continuous, a stream of margarine granules falling into the hopper of the piston pressure device, while the consolidated and blended margarine issuesu-ZO at a corresponding rate from the outlet of the blender, ready for packin In Figures 4 and 5 the mo ified construction of apparatus illustrated comprises a pair of rotors M in the form of toothed wheels or drums the teeth m of'which mesh with one another, these rotors being placed in the casing I. the sides n of which are of part cylindrical form following the outline of the rotors. The casing N is shown vertical and the loose granulated material is fed into the mouth or aperture n at the upper end while the lower end contracts at n. The rotors M are driven by a shaft m as shown in Figure 5.

The blender in this modification is shown horizontal, but is otherwise similar to that already described, comprising a casing G of double cylindrical form carryin two paddle blades K, the driving shaft is 1n this case being horizontal and gearing with the second shaft or spindle carrying the second blending blade through the gear wheel is.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is 2-- 1. In apparatus for consolidating and blending margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, a blender, and a consolidating apparatus adapted to receive the margarine in the form of separate particles and provided with means whereby the said particles aresubjected to consolidating pressure, the blender and the pressure mechanism being so connected together that the consolidated material is forced by the consolidating pressure through the blender, for the purpose specified.

2. In apparatus for consolidating an blending margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, ablender comprisingapair of rapidly rotating paddle blades and driving mechanism for rotating the said blades and a consolidating apparatus adapted to receive the margarine in the form of separate particles and provided with means whereby the said particles are subjected to consolidating pressure, the blender and the pressure mechanism being so connected together that the consolidated material is forced by the consolidating pressure through the blender, for the purpose specified. v

3. In apparatus for the consolidating and blending of margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, a cylinder having an opening adapted to receive the margarine in the form of separate particles, a reciprocating piston working in the said cylinder and adapted to compress by repeated strokes the margarine particles which are fed in front of it, an outlet at the end of the said cylinder, a blendercasing having an inlet secured to the said cylinder outlet and mechanically operated blending mechanism in the said casing, through which casing the consolidated margarine is forced by the repeated Zingkes of the piston, for the purpose speci- 4. In apparatus for the consolidation and blending of margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, a pair of parallel cylinders each having feeding openings adapted to receive the margarine in the form of se arate particles, a reciprocating piston in eac cylinder in front of which the margarine particles are fed and adapted to compress by repeated strokes the granulated material in front of it, a pair of contracting outlet apertures leading from the cylinders, a double cylindrical blender casing having an inlet secured to the said cylinder outlets, a pair of rotating blending paddle blades mounted in the said casing and driving means for rotating said blades, for the purpose specified. 5. Apparatus for the consolidation and blending of margarine in the final stages of its manufacture, comprising a consolidating apparatus receiving the granulated margarine and provided with a pair of intermeshing rotary wheels or drums carrying round the granulated material and pressing it continuously towards the outlet, and a blender attached to the said outlet and adapted to receive the consolidated margarine, which is forced through the blender under the continuous pressure due to the rotary members, for the purpose specified.

OLUF MIGHELSEN.

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