US1890475A - Method of treating products - Google Patents

Description

Dec.13,1932. u. G. TODD 1,890,475

METHOD OF TREATING PRobucTs Filed June 8, 1928 4sheets sheet 1 INVENTOR U W 01 JbaZeZ L i r %zls ATTORNZS Dec. 13, 1932. u. G n-00D METHOD OF TREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 u. ca. TODD METHOD OF TREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 #W zls ATTORNEYS Dec. 13, 1932. D 1,890,475

' METHOD OF TREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 III I 51 INVENTOR WTOLZQZ ATTORIW "Patented DecQ 131-1932 r I-Tao STATES PATENT] OFFICE ULYSESS G. TODD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASFIGNOR TO THE PFAUDLEB C0401 BOCHESTERyNEW YORK, A CORPORATION OENIEW.YORK a METHOD or rm'rme anon-veers Application filed June 8,

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for treating fruits, vegetables, or

other articles or'products, as forexample, for

purifying and impregnating fruit to produce an articleof food. It has for its principal object the provision of a novel and improved method and apparatus which are more efficientand satisfactory than those heretofore provision of a method of treatment and of apknown.

Another object of the, invention is the provision of a method andof an apparatus which are applicable to various treatments of various products, such as organic products, for example. I

Still another object of the invention is the paratus for carrying out the method which enables various treatments to be accomplished satisfactorily in much less time than is possible by the use of the methods and apparatuses heretofore known.

It is a further object of the invention to i provide a method of treatment and an apparatus which will result in a better and more satisfactory product than any heretofore known. j

An additional object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus so arranged'that the treating process may be carried on prac tically continuously.

Other and further objects of the invention comprise improvements in. various details of the apparatus, such as the construction of siphons in such a manner that they will not injure the articles being treated nor become clogged thereby; and the construction of a pump so arranged that it may draw liquid from a partially evacuated container.

While mention has been made'above purificationandimpregnation of fruit, it should be understood that this is 1nerely,.by way of example and is not intended in a limiting sense. The method and apparatus are applicable to extraction as well as impregnation,

and the substances acted upon may be vegetables,flowers, or various other products as wellas fruit. H

Tothese and other ends the invention residesin certain improvements and combinations of parts,

. pointed out nate,'but also in the extraction of from any desired products.

.the specification and all as will be hereinafter more broadest sense.

i928. Serial No.'288,-79.

fully. described, the novel features being in the claim at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig.2 is a central vertical section through one of the fruit containers;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of thefruit containing vessels'or'trays to be placed within the fruit container;

' Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the fruit container taken substantially on the line4-4.-of Fig.2; a

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken centrally through one of the siphons, showing the teleseo ic portion thereof in extended position;

ig. 6 is a view similar toFig. 5 showing .the telescopic portion in another position;

Fig. 7 1s a longitudinal vertical section" taken centrally through a. portion of the- Fig. -1 is an elevation of one embodiment.

any particular treatment of any particular product, but are applicable equally well, either in whple or in part, to various treat: ments of various" products. For example, the method and apparatus, or either of them.

may be used not only in the impregnation of any products which it is-desired to impregsubstances This extraction may be either for the purpose of purification'of the material being treated, or for the purpose of obtaining extracts therefrom. .In, some instances, the

product of the treatment may be intendedas a food product, though this i'snot necessarily the case. The term treatment, as used in claim, is intended in its The novel method, in one aspect, comprises bringing a treating fluid and, a substance to be treated into contact with each other under suitable pressure conditions. In some instances, the contact may be made in the presence of a partial vacuum, if a pressure below that of the atmosphere is desirable.

At times it may be desirable to vary the pressure upon the substance being treated. When the treating fluid happens to be wholly or in part a liquid, the pressure variations may be produced entirely or in part bycausing fluctuations in the depth or head of the liquid, so as to produce changes in the hydrostatic pressure acting upon the substance. The pressure variations may also be produced wholly or partly by varying the pressure of the gas or vapor acting upon the substance being treated, when the treating fluid is in a gaseous state; or, when the treatingfluid is a liquid, the pressure of the air or other gas acting upon the liquid may be varied. When a treating liquid is used, the variations in pressure on the treated substance may be caused in part by fluctuations in the hydrostatic pressure, as above described, and in part by changes in the pressure of the gas.

acting upon the liquid.

Another aspect of. the method comprises bringing the treating fluid successively into.

contact with a plurality of batches of substance to be treated. If desired, the fluid may be returned so that it will contact a second time with one or more of the batches upon which it acted previously, and it may be treated, if preferred, between its first contact and the second contact with the substance.

Still another aspect of the method includes bringing a treating fluid repeatedlyinto contact with a substance to be treated, either with or without treating the fluid between its successive contacts with the substance. If treatment of the fluid be employed, this treatmentmay consist, for example, of concentration, as when the substance bemg treated is being impregnated by the fluid; or it may consist of a distillation, as when an extraction action isbeing effected on the substance; or itmay comprise combined distillation and T concentration, as when impurities arebeing removed from the substance being treated and it is also being impregnated. by the treating fluid.

WVhen any particular process or treatment is being carried out, any one of the aspects above mentioned may be employed separately, or various combinations of the several aspects may be used concomitantly or sue.- cessively, or all of them may be used together. As a concrete example of a method employing many of the abovefeatures, an improved process of manufacturing maraschino cherries will now be described for purposes of illustration.

Assuming that the cherries contamvarious impurities such as sulphur, which may have been added for purposes. of preservation, certain steps of the method may first be employed to remove the impurities. Preferably the cherries areflarranged in a plurality of separate batches, and are subjected to the influence of a suitable treating fluid. This fluid, for the present purpose, may be water or other desired .liquid. The. cherries or- 'be varied from time to time, in order to produce variations in the hydrostatic pressure, as mentioned above. The fluctuations in the head may be produced for example, by allowing liquid to flow into one batch of fruit until it reaches a predetermined height, when a part of the liquid may be withdrawn and transferred to another'batch; and when the liquid in this. batch reaches a predetermined height, apart of it may. be with-' drawn and transferred to a third batch, and

so on.

Preferably the various batches of fruit are subjected, at least during part of the time, to a partial vacuum. Furthermore, the degree of this vacuum may be changed from time to time in order to vary the pressure of the air or other gas acting upon the liquid which is in contact with the fruit. In this way, fluctuations in the pressure acting upon the fruit are produced, due not'only' to the changes in head of the treating liquid, but also to the variations in pressure of the gas acting upon the liquid.

These fluc tuations in pressure are advantageous in that they assist the treating fluid in working into or impregnating the substance being treated. When the pressure is varied in the manner above set forth, it is found that the action of the fluid upon the substance is much more rapid and more thor-' ough than when such changes m pressure are not used.

After leaving the last batch of fruit, the

treating fluid is preferably treated, such as by warming it preparatory to its next passage over the fruit.-' T he treatment of the fluid may further compr se a distilling action, during which part ofthe sulphur which has been collected by the fluid from the cherries is distilled off, thus partially purifying the treating fluid so that it may take up or 3 absorb still more sulphur and other impurities on its next contact with the fruit.

The treating fluid, after this heating and partial distillation, is preferably again brought into. contact with the first batch of J iii.

impurities from the fruit, and after each pass sage it is heated and partially purified by distillation, to prepare it for another passage through the fruit.

When this action has gone on for some time, thesulphur and other impurities are satisfactorily removed from the cherries, and

the cherries are then ready to be impregnated in order to form maraschino cherries. During this impregnation, the treating fluid may consist, for example, of a syrup composed of water, sugar, and coloring matter in proper proportions.

The syrup is brought into contact with'the first batch of fruit and travels successively through the several batches in'the same man- 'ner' described above in connection w th the removal of impurities from the cherries. Preferably also suitable pressure variations are produced as described "above, both by changes in the head of the treating liquid and by changes inthe degree of vacuum to which the fruit is subjected. These pressure variations result in a very. rapid and therough impregnation of the cherries by the treating fluid.

il l'ien the treating fluid has completed one passage through all of the batches of cherries, it is preferably heated and concentrated. This concentration may be only sufficient to counteract the dilution caused by the residue of water left in the cherries after the completion of the pur fying treatment, or the concentration may be carried still further to make the syrup somewhat stronger than it was originally. Preferably the concentration is carried out under a partial vacuum,

so that the boiling point of the syrup then I by reduced. Under these conditions. it is not necessary to heat the syrup to h gh a temperature'as would be required under normal atmospheric pressure. and therefore the dannor of undesired caramelization of the syrup is largely avoided.

After the treat-mg fluid has been concentrated to the required degree. it is preferably returned to the first batch of fruit and circulates again through all of the batches suc' ccssively. After its second passage, it may be again concentrated and returned for a third passage. and so on, the fluid be ng circulated over the cherries as many times as may be deemed necessary to impregnate the cherries to the desired extent.

Afterpart of the fluid in each instance being in theact of passing through the batches of fruit While another part is being distilledor concentrated, or simply heated, as, the case may be. 3

When a process such as that abovedescribed is used, it is found that a productof high quality results. Furthermore, the time required to produce a satisfactory product. by this method is very much less than the time required by other methods heretofore in use. The above description of the preparation of maraschino cherries is, of course, simply way of example, and is not intended in a limiting sense. The same method. of treat-- ment, or various parts thereof, may be used also for the treatment of various other'organic substances. For example, glac fruit may be manufactured by substantially this same method, or dried fruit may be impregnated so as to have many of the desirablecharacteristics of naturah-fruit. Furthermore, various extracts, essential oils: or other .products may be removed from fruit, vegetables, flowers, or other articles. The various uses of the method mentioned above are intended only as examples, and should not'be.

taken as a complete and exclusive list of the uses .to which this method may be adapted.

Having set forth the novel method, one possible embodiment of an apparatus for carrving out this method will now be described. This apparatus is particularly adapted to the manufacture of maraschino cherries but the embodiment described is for purposes of il-. lustration only-and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. Suitable changes 'may be made in the apparatus to adapt it to the carryinc; out of various other processes coming, within'thespirit of the invention, and all such changes and modifications are intended to be covered herein.

Referring" now to Fig. 1 of the. there is shown a suitable fluid receptacle 11. A plurality of containers is also shown, each drawings,

container havinga shell 12. These containers are for the purpose of holding the fruit.

con ainer. such as A. while the other container B is being unloaded and loaded with-.22 fresh supply of articles to be treated When the treatment of the articles within container A has been completed. By the provision of two or morecontainers in this way, the process may be carried out practically continuouslv, operations being transferred back and forth from one container to the other.

The receptacle 11 comprises a substantially closed container preferably provided with suitable heating means such as the coil 13, i

i which may be supplied with steam or other hot fluid through an inlet 14, and which has an outlet 15. Attached to the receptacleat a pointnear the top thereof is a conduit 16 leading past a control valve 17 to any s-uitable evacuating means, such as the eductor 18. This eductor may be operated by water supplied to it through a conduit 19 by means of a pump 20 operated by a motor 21.- The suction conduit 22 of the pump may extend into a well 23 from which the water isdrawn, additional water being supplied tothe well as may be necessary by opening the valve 24 in the water supply line 25.

The water driven through the conduit 19 by the pump 20 pases through the eductor 18 and creates a partial vacuum in the conduit 16, thus evacuating the receptacle 11. The water discharged from the eductor, together with the vapor or air drawn from the receptacle 11, passes through the outlet conduit 26 into the discharge well 27 separated from the intake well 23'by a bafiie wall 28,

the liquid flowing over the top of this bafiie wall. from the well 27 to the well 23. The use of a baflle wall such as this between the discharge and the intake, is advantageous in securing a supply of relatively quiet. water for the intake of the pump. An overflow opening 29 may be formed at any desired height in the wall of the well 23.

Other means may be used, if desired, to evacuate the receptacle 11, but thewaterwperated eductor above described constitutes one suitable means for producing the desired vacuum in the receptacle. It is obvious that by means of the proper adjustment of the valve 17, the degree of vacuum within the receptacle-ll may be varied at will from zero to the maximum vacuum obtainable with the L eductor.

Referring now to the containers for holding the material to be treated, the outer shell 12 of each container is somewhat the shape of an inverted cup, and is adapted to rest upon a dished base supported'by suitable legs 36. Each of these shells 12 mayhave peep holes 37 and 38 for observing conditions within. Rings or other members 39 are rigidly attached to each shell and provide means by which tackle 40 may be secured to p the shell for lifting it when desired.

In Fig. 1, the right hand fruit container A is shown with its shell 12 resting upon the base 35, in operating position. The left hand container B is shown with its shell raised to permit loading or unloading of the container.

This raising may be accomplished by a hoist 41 supported from a trolley 42 which runs upon the I-beam 43.

Within each of the fruit containers one or more fruit holding vessels may be placed. In the embodiment shown, several vessels are used within each container, and they are in the form of trays 45 placed one on top of.

another to form a vertical 'column.- .Thetop tray is shown in elevation in Fig. 3 and in cross-section in Fig. 2, anddiflfers. from the other trays below it in having a funnelshaped member 46 mounted therein, this fun nel having horizontally extending discharge portions 47 The funnel is arranged centrally of the tray, and is adapted to be in alinement with an inlet opening 48'at the top of the shell 12. Each tray or vessel 45 may be provided with a plurality of downwardly extending lugs 50 which overlap the sides of the tray next below, and thus hold the column of trays in proper alinement. The bottom tray of the column mayrest upon supports 51, as shown in Fig. 2-.

Each tray is provided with means for causing the discharge of a portion of the liquid 7 within the tray when the liquid level reaches apredetermined point. This discharge means may consist, for example, of the siphons shown in Fig. 2 the details of which are best seen in Figs. 5 and 6.

' Each siphon comprises a vertically extending pipe fixed to the bottom of its tray'45 and having a cup-shaped hood or cap 56 attached to the top of the pipe. Suitable openings 57 extend through the sides of the pipe 56, at which time the siphon action will stop.

An opening 60 is made through the bottom of the tray 45, within the pipe 55, and within this opening is slidably mounted a tube 61 having an annular flange 62 at its upper end to limit its downward movement. Openin s '63 may be, provided in the sides of the tube 61, the tube also being open at' top and bottom; It thus provides a telescoping extension to the siphon. When one tray is placed upon another tray, the extension 61 mounted I on the upper trav may telescope to a position such as that shown in Fig. 6, when the bottom of the tube 61 comes into contact with the material in the tray below. Thus the 55 at an elevation somewhat above the lower edge 58 of the cap' 56. A screen 59 may be crushing or mashing of the material invthe tray below, which would occur ifthe extenmore, the telescoping arrangement permits trated in Fig.3, when it is removed from the' container.

Preferably, the siphons in the various trays or vessels 45 are in slightly different posi-.

sion 61 were rigid, is prevented. Furthervthe tray to rest upon a flat surface as illusvalve 71 to the receptacle 11, as shown in Fig.

, evacuated receptacle 11.

' purpose of supplying tions,:so that when the trays are placed one upon another the various siphons will not be in alinement with each other, but will be circumferentially spaced as shown in Figs. 2- and4. A

. The bottom tray dischar es, of course,'into the dished bottom of t e container.--' An opening at thelovaest point 'of the bottom is controlled by a float valve-66 so that it is closed when the dished bottom is substantially drained of liquid, and is open when any substantial amount of liquid is within this dished bottom 35.'

A conduit 70 has a branch connected to the opening 65 at the bottom of each of the containers,- and this conduit leads through a 1. A thermometer 72 may be mounted on the conduit .70 to show the temperature of the flu'idpassing therethrough. 'At one pointin the conduit 70 there is a branch controlled by a valve 73, this branch having a flexible conduit or hose 74 attached thereto for the fluid to the system, as will-bede'scribedlater. r

A conduit 75 is connected to the receptacle 11 at a'point above the normal liquid level thereof, and has flexible branches76, one arranged to be connected to a pipe 77 attached to'the-top of each shell 12. Each of the flexible conduits 76 is controlled by a valve Extensions on this valve disk have links 84 pivoted to them at 85,. the opposite ends of these links being pivotally mounted on rods 86' mounted in the valve housing. The valve I disk '82 is therefore able to be moved back and forth to openor closed position by reason of its suspension from these pivoted links. It is obvious from Fig. 9 that the valve will open whenever the ressure on the right hand side of the valve disk 82 exceeds that on the left hand side, and vWill close whenever the pressure on the left is greaterthan that on the ri ht.

A ange 87 on one of the links 84 .1s arranged in the plane of .thevalve, stem-88.

which may be raised or lowered by turning the handle 89. The position of the lower end of the valve stem 88 controlsthe extent to-which the check valve may open, and this valve steam may-be moved, if desired, to a position-which will keep thc check valve closed in spite ofpressure tending to open,1t.- v

enters one branch of a T-shaped connection 90 placed in a vertical conduit 91 which extends upwardly from a pump. This pump maybe of any. suitable construction, 1n the embodiment here shown, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 7 and 8, the pump is of the reciprocating-type and includes a cylinder 92 in which I Continuing past thevalve 8 1, the conduit a piston 98 is adapted to move back and.

forth, the movements of the piston beingcommunicated to it by a piston rod 94 which is operatedby means such as the steam cylinder 95 (Fig. 1).

Chambers 96 and 97 (Fig. 7 are'formed at the right and left hand ends, respectively, of the pump cylinder, and each of these chambers has an outlet opening'in which is seated a spring-pressed check valve 98. When the check valves 98. are forced open by move -ment of the plunger or piston in the ap-.

propriatedirection, liquid may flow from the pump into a conduit 99 which leads, as

shown in Fig. 1, to the containers 12. This conduit 99has a branch 100 detachably connected'to each container, each branch prefer ably being flexible, such as a hose or thelikc} so that it can be easily attachedv to or detache 'from the elbow lOl-connected to the opening 48 at the top of the container. There is a valve 102 controlling each of the branches 100.

The vertical conduit 91, mentioned above, extends upwardly for some distance, and has an observation window 105 placed therein.

Near the top of this conduit, a float ball 111 is held in a suitable cage. (n'otshown) and is so arranged that it will close the conduit if the level of'liq'uid therein 'ever rises. as high as'this ball. 1

v The top of the conduit 91 is'connected-by means such as the conduit 106 to any suit} able evacuating means or source of vacuum.

For purposes of illustration, theconduit'106 is shown as leading to an eductor indicated diagrammatically at 107, this eductor being supplied with water through a pipe 108 and discharging through a pipe 109. It is found in practice that when the suction con-.

duit 91 of the pump is evacuated as just described, the pump is able to draw liquid from 'a partially evacuated container such as the receptacle 11.

Fach fruit container shell 12 is'provided with asuitable air leak of any convenient form, such as the cock 112, which may be opened fully or partially'to allow air to en'- ter the container at any desired rate.

In operation, assumingfor the purposes of illustration that the apparatus is'to be used in making maraschino cherries, the cherries" maybe placed in the vessels or receptacles45,

and these receptacles may be piled one on top of another as illustrated in Fig. 2. The

shell 12 may then be lowered to its normal position as-shown in connection with the container A in F-ig'. Theconduit 76 is then also. The sulphur and other impurities should first be removed. To do this, the receptacle 11 is partially filled with water or .other suitable liquid and the pump 93 is started. It will be understood, of course, that the eductors 18 and 107 have been set in operation, so that the receptacle 11 is partially evacuated and theconduit 91 is also evacuated preferably either to the same degree as or to a higherdegree than the receptacle 11.

The operation of the pump 92 draws the liquid from the receptacle 11 and forces it through the conduits 99 and 100 into the top of the fruit container, through the opening 48. The liquid entering through this opening falls into the funnel 46 and escapes therefrom throu h the lateral openings 47.

The liquid fills the top tray until the l1qu1d level reachesvthe openings 57 of the siphon, at which time the siphon action will begin. Port of the liquid from this top tray is then discharged through the siphon into the tray next beneath it, and thus partially fills the second tray and comes into contact with what maybe termed the second batch of fruit, the fruit within each one of thetrays 45 being considered a separate batch. After one or more discharges from the upper tray intothe one below, the siphon of the second tray will operate to discharge a part of the llquid into the third tray. As the flow of liquid through the conduit 100 continues, all of the trays or vessels'45 will eventually con-v tain more orless liquid and the liquid level in each of the trays will rise, when the siphon of the tray next above it operates and will fall when its own siphon operates to discharge into the vessel below.

. The fluctuations in the liquid level of eachvessel produce changes, of course, in the hydrostatic pressure acting upon the fruit, and these variations in pressure are of great ben efit in securing thorough penetration of the fluid into the fruit. In addition to these pres sure variations caused by fluctuations of the hydrostatic head, still other pressure variations may be produced by varying the pressure within the container 12.

These latter pressure variations may be caused by intermittently opening the valve 78 as often as desired by the operator. It

will be remembered that, when the eductor 18 is in operation, the receptacle 11 is partially evacuated. This evacuation may be of any communication with the container.

desired degree. When the valve 78 is open,

and the container therefore is likewise evacuated. The valve 78 may then be closed. .As

air gradually enters the container through the air leak 112 the pressure within the container will rise and the degree of vacuum will be lessened.

When this increase in pressure has reached the desired point, the operator may. again open the valve 78 to evacuate the container 12 and reduce the pressure therein. The air leaking in through the air leak again raises the pressure, and this cycle of pressure change may be repeated as often as desired.

Thus it is seen that two separate variations are produced in the pressure acting upon the fruit. Qne variation is causedby the change in the hydrostatic head, while the other variation is caused by change in the pressure of the air or other gas within the container. I

These two variations are preferably timed to occur at different intervals, so thatsomewh'at irregular pressure changes result.

The action or effect of these pressure changes may be spoken of as a breathing action or breathing effect. As the pressure acting upon any one piece of fruit increases, the liquid is forced into the pores and cells of the fruit. When the pressure decreases, the air or gas Within each cell of the fruit tends to expand and thus the cells may be partially broken down so that liquid can enter them more easily during the next increase in pressure, In this Way, the fruit is very rapidly impregnated by the treating fluid.

The water within the receptacle 11 may be heated to any desired point by the coil 13 before it is pumped into the fruit container most tray 45 into the dished bottom 35 of the container, the floatvalve 66 is automatically opened and the conduit 70 is thus placed into It will be remembered that the conduit 70 is connected to the partially evacuated receptacle 11, and therefore the liquid which passes the float valve 66 and enters the conduit 70 will be drawn by the vacuum through this conduit and into the receptacle 11, the rate of flow being controlled by the valve 71. Thus, the liquid is circulated alternately through the fruit container'12 and the receptacle 11, being pumped from the latter to the former by the pump 92 and being drawn from the former to the latter through the conduit 70 on account of the lower pressure in the receptacle 11 than the pressure in the container 12.

The sulphur laden water maybe removed and re laced by fresh water at intervals if desire If the water is boiled or partially 1 syrup, which may consist ,of mixed water} therein. This same method ofintroducing distilled within the, receptacle 1 1, sulphur fumes will be liberated and will be carried off through the conduit 16 to the'eductor 18.

The treating fluid is thus partially purified so that it is able to takeup more impurities.

from the fruit on its next contact therewith. When the operation of removing the sulphur has been completed, the water is drained off, and the second step of the treatment may be commenced. I

At the beginning of the second step of'the treatment, it is assumed that the receptacle 11 and the fruit container 12 have had substantially all of" the liquid which was used for extraction of the impurities removed therefrom, and that the container 12 holds a. sup ly of cherries from which the sulphur has een satisfactorily removed.

To impregnate the cherries in order to transform them into maraschino cherries, the receptacle 11 is partially filled. with suitable sugar, and coloring matter. One convenient way of filling the receptacle llis to place the hose .74 in a vat or tank containing a supply of the syrup. lVhenthe valves 71 and 73 are opened, syrup will then be drawn into the receptacle 11 because of the partial vacuum liquid into the receptacle may be used from time to time to replenish the liquid as the process goes on, and of course the same meth-' od may be employed for introducing the treating fluid which is employed for extracting'the impurities.

Steam is admitted to the coil 13 so that the syrup within the receptacle 11 is heated,

and the pump 92 is started to transfer liquid from the receptacle through the conduits 99 and 100 to the fruit container 12. The syrup falls into the top tray: containing the first batch of cherries and is siphoned from this tray into the tray below, containing the sec '.,ond batch, and on down to the lowerjtrays,

nection with the water-used to extractimin the same manner described above-in con purities from the cherries. The-vacuum with;

' in the receptacle 11, being of'ahigher degree than that within the container 12, will draw the liquid from the bottom of the container through the conduit into the receptacle.

Thus there will be practically a continuous circulation of liquid from the receptacle 11 to the container by means of the conduit 99,

and from the container to the receptacle by means of the conduit 70. p As the liquid continues to flow into the top tray -or vessel 45, the siphons of the various trays will operate at frequent intervals and thus the level of the liquid within each tray will be'varied from time to time, producing a fluctuating hydrostatic head' as was described above-in connection with theremoval of the sulphur and otherimpurities.

Each time that the liquid level in one of the concentration.

trays rises or falls, it tends to. stir up the I cherries within the tray and thus agitates them from time to time and prevents them from becoming packed or wedged.

In addition to the variations in pressure acting on the cherries produced by the change in hydrostatic head in each tray, the pressure within the container 12 is also varied by the intermittent opening of the valve 78 and 'the' slow leakof' air into the container through 'the air leak, in the manner mentioned above.

Thus two separate variations in pressure are produced, the combined effect of which causes a breathing action which permits the syrup to impregnate the cherries easily and theroughly in a comparatively short time.

While the circulation of liquid-is going, on, t

the liquid within the receptacle 11 is being heated by the coil 13 to the desired extent,

and a portion of it may be evaporated, the

resulting vapor being drawn off through theconduit 16 leading to the eductor 18. In this Way, the treating fluid may be concentrated,

if desired, as the process progresses, and'each' time a drop of fluid is drawn into the recep-. tacle 11 through the conduit 70, itmay be considered as being somewhat concentrated before it. is pumped out' through the conduit 99 to return to the container. tration counteracts the dilution of the syrup by the residuaLwater remaining in the fruit after the sulphur has been'removed, and the syrup may alsobe concentrated still further, iii desired, to increase its strength to any desired'd'egree. 1 v

Since the treating fluid isbeing concentrated as the process goes on, it follows that the This concenfruit is being acted upon'by a fluid having a gradually increasing strength or degree of Thus, the strongest'fluid acts upon the cherries toward the end of the process, and in this manner the cherries are impregnated in a highly satisfactory manner, and a product of high quality is produced.

"From time to time some of the fluid may .avoided. 'As is well known, water at nor:- -mal atmospheric pressure boils at 212 1.

Water in a vacuum of 15" of mercury, however, boils at about'179 F., wlnle 1f the degree of vacuum be increased to 28" of merj cury, the boiling pointis about 100 F. the vacuum within the receptacle 11, during the normal operation of the apparat1 is, ord1- narily is somewhere between thesehrnits of 15" and 28", it follows that the liquid may be evaporated and concentrated at a temperature considerably below 212 and therefore the danger of caram'elization which might result from higher temperaturesis avoided.

In the fruit container 12, the vacuum may vary from about 0' to about 25" of mercury. Thus when the valve 78 is opened, it may be left open long enough toproduce a vacuum of about 25"" in'the container 12, assuming that the receptacle 11 then carries a vacuum of about 28". When the valve'78 is closed, air may be allowed to entcr the container .12 through the air leak 112 until the vacuum is reduced to zero, before the valve 78 isagain opened; or the valve 7 8 may be opened to build up a vacuum again whenever the pressure within the container 12 has-risen to any predetermined point. Suitable gauges are applied, of course, to the receptacle 11 and to the containers 12, so that the operator may be informed at all times of the pressure conditions within these vessels.

When the treatment of: the fruit within the container A has been completed, the valve 102 leading to'this container, may be closed,

and the corresponding valve leading to the container B may be opened, assuming that this latter container has been supplied with fruit while the fruit within the container A was being treated. The process may then be carried on upon the fruit in'the container B, while the conduits 76 andlOO are disconnected, from the-container A and the shell 12,0f

this container is raised to permit access to the trays 45 for removal of the fruit and replacement of a fresh supply. WVhen the fruit within container B has been treated, operations may be transferred againto the container A.

Thus it will be seen that the apparatus is adapted for a practically continuous process. By the use oft-he method and apparatus above described, the cherries are satisfactorily impregnated-with the treating fluid to make high quality maraschino cherries in a much .shorter time than is possible with the old methods heretofore practiced. 'Forexample,

the old so-called cold method for making maraschino' cherries ordinarily takes from six to eight weeks, while the hot method often takes at least threeweeks. As distinguished from this, the present novel method :and apparatus will produce a satisfactory product in approximately thirty hours. resulting from this method and apparatus is of the highest quality, the fruit being thorod andapparatus may be used effectively both in the extraction or removal of substances from fruit, flowers-,and other products, aswell as in the impregnation of the products.

Furthermore, the treating fluid is not necessarily a liquid but may be a gas or vapor, and many features of the invention are applicable equally well to the use of a gaseous treating medium.-

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a num ber of ways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details shown but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling Within the spirit of the invention or the .scope of the appended claim.

claim as my invention: 1 v

The method of treating fruit, vegetables, and like organic products which comprises bringing products and a treating liquid into contact with each other in a partial vacuum and repeatedly varying the degree of said vacuum while said roducts are in contact wltlrsaid treating llquid so that said treating liquid may permeate said products thoroughly.

ULYSESSv G. TODD.-

The product oughly impregnated with the treating liquid,

and the treating liquid itself being controlled so that it has the desired characteristics- As has been stated above, it should be understood that the description'of this method and apparatus in connection with maraschino cherries is intended only by way of illustra-- tion. The same apparatus and the same method, or various'parts thereof, may be used I equally well i for many other products. For

I instance, glare fruit may be manufactured in

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