US235996A - Vinegar-generator - Google Patents

Description

s J. CLARK.l Vinegar Generator.

No. zssge. Patented Dem-28,1880.

lvl-.PETERSF FHDTOLITNOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C

, Uil-viren Simfree SAMUEL J. CLARK, OF

ArtNr* ,prima DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

VlNEGAR-GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,996, dated December 28, 1880,

Application filed January 13, 1879.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. CLARK, of Detroit, in the county ot' Wayne and State ot' Michigan, have invented an Improvement in Vinegar-Generators, of which the following is a specification.

The nature of my invention relates to certain new and useful improvements'in the construction of that class of devices employed in converting cider into vinegar after the vinous fermentation (by which the lees of the cider is thrown off) has taken place.

The invention consists in the details ot' construction and the combination of said details, as more fully hereinafter described.

Figure l is a perspective of a section of my improved generator, all the sections of which are alike, and connected together in a similar manner. Fig. 2is a vertical longitudinal central section. I

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, A represents a box, tight at each end, supported at the top of a suitable frame, one end of said box being slightly elevated and provided with an opening, a, on il s upper surface and near its highest point of elevation. In the bottom ofthe box there are driven series of wooden pegs b, projecting upward butaportion of the depth of the box. At the lower end of the box there are perforations, into which are driven from below the hollow and perforated plugs c. These plugs are inclosed in a box, B, which forms a connection between the box A and a similar box, A', immediately below. This box Al is inclined in the opposite direction from the one above, and is constructed in precisely a similar manner, except that the opening a in its top is enlarged to the area of the box B. The opposite end of this box A is provided with similar perforations and similar perforated hollow plugs, the latter opening into a box, B', in the manner heretofore described. Thus I construct and build up, one above the other, as many of these boxes as I may desire, each inclining in the opposite direction from the one above, and connected together by the boxes inclosin g the hollow plugs. The bottom box, A2, of the series is constructed like the others, except that it has a perforation, d, for the discharge of thevinegar. The frame-work which sustains this series of inclined boxes incloses at each end a vertical air-chamber, C, closed at the top and open at the bottom. Perforations ein the inner walls ot' these chambers admit air into the boxes B B', and steam-pipes D pass laterally through the lower ends of these chambers, said pipes communicating with any convenient steam-generator. Perforated diaphragms f are inserted in the lower ends of these chambers, to prevent the ingress of vinegar-dies or other insects.

In practice, these generators, when in use, should be set up in rooms that can be conveniently kept at a proper temperature to facilitate fermentation. The cider to be used after the vinous fermentation has taken place is allowed to run in a small stream through the opening c in the upper box. In its passage down the incline the current is spread into a vthin lm by means of the obstructing-pins,

\ward, communicating heat to the ends of the generator-boxes.

The various boxes necessary to form a perfeet generator may be constructed with doors, as shown in the drawings, or other appliances by means of which access can be had to the interior when desired, and which, when closed, will prevent the escape of the gases of fermentation.

The end which I accomplish is a very rapid generation of vinegar from cider, of uniform color and strength, by the flow of the cider in thin lms in inclosed boxes or generators under suitable conditions of heat.

I am aware that sloping troughs have heretofore been employed in vinegar-generating apparatus; and I am also aware that an apparatus for making vinegar consisting of a IOO box provided with a series of parallel horizontal troughs provided with plates for retarding` the passage of the liquid alongthem, the troughs communicating` with each other by means ot' pipes at one end otl eaeh trough, each ot' the said pipes being,` arranged on the side opposite to that on which the pipe on the trough above is arranged, the box being provided With holes in its sides and top for the passage Ot' heated air introduced into the lower part of the box, has heretofore been eniployed, and l therefore lay no claim to suoli construction, my invention being,` conlined to the details ot' construction set forth in the claim.

YV hat I claim as my invention is- The vinegar-generator described, consisting of the horizontal compartments A A A2, inclined in opposite directions, and having pins b on their bottom boards, the vertical connecting-chambers B B', having' perforated plugs o, the vertical compartment G at the ends of the generator, the openings e, lending into the chambers B B', and the steam-pipes D, all constructed and arranged substantially as set forth and shown.

SAMUEL J. CLARK. Witnesses:

lil'. S. SPRAGUE, THEO. S. DAY.

Images