US8137A - Improvement in machines for expressing - Google Patents

Description

" NITE, *STATES ATENT- Ormes.Q

HENRY EEssEiiiEE, or BAXTER House oLD' sr. rANeEnsnoAD, Y l y ENGLAND. v

lliviesoill-2t'lE 'i\ii' in wiAoHiNss FOR EXPRESSHNG'CANE-Juice i Specification,formingpart of Letters. Patent No. 8d3?, dated June 3, 1851.

. To all whom it Wawyconcermft f :se it known that I, HENRY misstaan, f

Baxter House, Old St. Pancras Road, in the' countyvof- Middlesex, England, engineer, a

subject ('f'theQueen of Great Britain, have invented or discovered new and'useful improve# ments in .the methods olfexltracting sacchavrine juices from the sugarcane, as also in the machinery. cr apparatusemployedtherein,

and I, the said HENRY- BEssEMER, hereby de.-

clare'that the nature of Vmy, invention and the l but `most commonly threekrollers are used, and' arranged so that the canes are pressed a sec! ond time in passing through the spaces between them, which spaces are increased or diminished by regulating Wedges orscrews. The `canes are i'ed endwise in between them by.

handrseveral passing through at one time, crossing each other. occasionally in all directions. The expressed juice runs into a receptacle below, andthe refuse caiielorV bagas'sefpasses out on "the, opposite side of the machine. Cane-mills of this description are subject to various defects, which I will here brieliy point' out, in order to show more clearly the nature of the Vpresent invention', which has for its `object to lessen or entirely remove these j defects. f In :order to extractthe juice fromga cane bymeans oi" a rolling-mill, lit is 'obvious that the' rollers must' be .set sufliciently close to give a veryftight pinch; but the rollers must not be too close, inasmuch as too hardy press-- ing of the cane extracts certain other'matters .therein contained which are found to be highlyr prejudicial to the saccharine juice'. Itis therefore clear that to-produce the best 'eiect thev rollers shculdbe setlat a 'certain ascertained `distance apart, which distance ought, of course, Y ,to depend on thethickness of the cane, for, supposetwo rollers are Aplaced sol as -t0-produce'- the best eect onel canelqllonegandahalf-inch in-diametenand thatfin.thecollrSeLQL-riork twocanes passthrough together, one of which is an inch.thickand the other two inches, it

must follow that both will be done iinperfectly," since their respective bulks are as four to one, the small one being only partially pressed,

and. a small portion of the saccharine juice eX- ltracted,while from the larger one a larger amount of saccharine juice will be expressed, but mixed with much of the foreign and :injurions 'matters before referred to. lil'uvthen when a cane is passing between. a pair of rollers the pressure at anyone, time does not extend to more than twoor three inches of its length, and the extreme pinch is exerted on a' mere line only where the rollers approach -nearest together, .the pressure gradually decreasing'on eachside'o'f the center cf pressure.` Now,when' rollers of two feet diameter- 4are making ten revolutions 'per minute, the 'surfaces, andl consequently anything passing.

between them, must be moving at' a rateexceeding one `foot per second; therefore, if we assume ythat the effective pressure upon a cane amounts to threelineal inches at one time, it is clear that one'qua'r/ter `of a second o'nly isl allowed for expressing the juice from each por- 'tion -of :the cane under operation, a. periodl -wholly [inadequate to effect. the thorough displacement of the duid from the congeries of cells in Awhich it is contained. Another serious defect of the roller-mill is the extraordinary facility it 4affords'for Vthe reabsorption, of the juice after it has beenfonce expressed. The cane, it is well-known, consists of an' outer rind envelopinga spongy cellular masswh-ich con-` tains the saccharine juice, Thefspongymass possesses -a considerable amount 'of' elasticity when deprivedv of the juice,``` and; fasthe 'cane `'emerges vfrom its momentary pressure between the .rollers this elasticityV causesthe cane to expand? in;` the' same way' 'as 'sponge does Awhen relieved -frompressure,z when it reabsorbs the j nice.which,isowingtinfcontactwith it among the' rollers, fandjtherhy 'n oteonly. wastes jthe` ,juicebutleavesthe refuse cane scimpregnated ,with it that it isifoundnecessary to spread the vc'ane'trash `in fthemillfya'rd, tobe Ldried by' the sun lbefore it can be burned. j I have before fstatedthat the'` pressure en a cane while assing betweenthe rollers oa mill will always be proportion to the'` relative-thickness or diameter of the cane and the 4amount j of space l and C', cast 'upon those sides of them-whichl between the rollers; but' the amount of pressure exerted upon the different parts of the cane is far from equal, since the rind and knots are more hard andy woody thanthe rest ofthecane, and are therefore subjected to a much heavier pressure than the intermediate parts, which are composed, chiefly, of soft cellular matter and juice; and thus it is that so much green wax, chlorophyl and other objectionable matters are expressed from the knots and rind, which should, if possible, have escapedpressure altogether. The superior hardness and solidity of these cause the roller to exert a far greater pressure upon them, by which kthe injurious matter before referred to are'expressed, the

juice greatly contaminated, and the power of the mill absorbed. This defect is'common to all roller-mills however, the yrollersI may 'be varied in number or position.- Lastly, the action of the rollers upon the canes when great or repeated pressure is exerted tends to lacerate them to a considerable extent, causing thereby many of the larger fragments to fall into the juice, and forcing out and mixing with it innumerable small pieces -of the delicate cellular tissues of which thestructure of the cane is chiefly composed, the mixture of which with the juice greatly increases its tend' tudinal section 011 the lineX Y of FigfIL,

Fig. IV is a longitudinal section of two tubes in the line X Y of Fig. VII. Fig. V is a planA A of 4the same. Fig. VI is a verticalv longitudinal section on the line X Y of Fig. V. Fig. VII is a side elevation of one of vsaid tubes;l and similar letters indicate similarparts throughout the iigures.

A is a strong `iron frame Or-,bcd-plata-east in one piece. B B and C C are fourgun-metal tubes or trunks placed above the cross-pieces Af, which also form part of the frame A. The ends of the tubes are firmly attached by bolts to the cross-pieces A', and are further vsecured in their places by the projections W W,which are cast on the' linder side of the tubes, and abut against the .cross-pieces A. The tribes arereetangular in their cross-section, and are 'parallel throughout internally, and are of a width sufiicient to receive aeane of vthe largest diameter. yI prefer to 'make them of tough gun-metal, and they should be of such thickness as to be capable' of withstanding a considerable amount of internal pressure. The

tubes are also further strengthened by' ribs B are nearest .to the center.,l The opposite sides 'of the tubes come in contact with similar ribs.

'A2, cast on the sides of the frame A, so that lB and C have fitted into them two rams or pistons, D D, having a stout wrought-iron crosshead, E, passing through them. The pistons D D are worked by the engine by means of the connectingrods, (seen at N N which couple the cross-head E with a-pair of cranks attached to the main shaft G, these cranks being set at right angles to the crank of the enginej On the upper side of the tubes B B and C C are -fixed the conical hoppers P l? and lQ Q. 'Ihe tubes B B and G C are perforated all round with numeroussmall'hole's, B2 and C2. These holes maybe about one-tenth of an inch indiameter on the interior of the tube, and a quarter of an inch on the exterior, the holes being made conical, in order to facilitate the `escape of any matter that may be forced into them from the interior. In order that the place where these perforations should be made may be fully understood, I have shown. at Fig. IV a horizontal section of two tubes on the line X'Y of Fig. VII on anenlarged scale, and a plan of them at Fig. V;also, at Fig. VIavertical longitudinal section lon the line XY of Fig.V, anda side elevation of one at FgVII,

from which it will be seen that at the parts l l` onthe upper and under side of the tubes there are no `perforations, those being omitted because the rapid' flow of juice fromthe cane, when the pressure first comes upon'it, would cause a large quantity of the cellular tissues l of ,the cane'to bev carried out with the juice from both ends of the cane; but Iat the parts 2 2l there are perforations for the escape of the juice. As, however,-the cane has its fibers in a transverse direction, the cellular tissues and fibers are not driven out'of these holes in the f manner before referred to with reference to the parts'vl 1. The parts 3 3 are perforated with numerous holes to facilitate as far as pos* sible the escape of the juice. The cane, before itarrives at this part of the tube, is in a highly-compressed state, and its fibers `sotightly held as to prevent their escape through these openings. From the parts 3 3 the perforations are less numerous in each compartment between the 4ribs as they approach the tion Fig. VI.

At n, Figs. IV, V, and VL'is seen a'pair of wedges introduced into the discharge ends of the tubes, for the purpose of contracting the aperture in order to produce a back pressure upon the canes. These wedges are'to 'be 'adsus? 4 43 justed so as to janr the whole mass'within the y angles, D', of the pistons D have a pieceof hardened steel. attached to them, and another piece of steel should be let into that part of Y the tubes Band C against which they cane is cut oi'; or theopenings into thehopper might be lined f'with a ring of steel extending downward into the metal of the tube and flush` 'with theinsideof it. rlihe two cuttingangles,

being formed of steel,- would lastlonger and actbetter than if of the'metal 'forming the tubes and the pistons., l

. The operation is as follows: Motion .having .been given the pistons-D D by the steam-engine or other motiveforce emp1oyed,canes are put into -the hoppers P l? and Q Q in a vertical position,A and as the pistons DD move,

frorn'under the hoppers the canes fall down into the tubes; as shown at R, Fig. III. In the-drawings the machinery -is representedas v ,having been some .timefat work and the pistons inthe middle of their stroke. Y0n the returnstroke the' pistons cutt oi froml thev canes, which-have dropped'froxn-.the hoppers -P Pinto their respective tubes lengths equal vto the height ofthe'tubes, and the further progress of the piston forces thefpieces so cut oli against the compressed masses of cane m which have' accumulated in the tubes While ei'ecting this operation, the opposite fends of the pistons willhave passed from iiny der thenpenings into the hoppers Q .Q,-and allow a cane to'drop from each of these hop- 'n pers down intoltheln, as, shown 'at R, so that -on the next strokeof the pistonsy D they will also cut' oit from the canes last dropped lengths corresponding with; the height of the tube, and compressed-inthe same 4.manner as' before. It vhas been found that'canes so conipessed in a tube requirev a; considerable amount offorce to be exerted upon thein in order to move them forward in the tube, and 'the resistance thus opposed` to the piston D is found sufiicientto express thesaccharine juice frorn'the cane, which juice, passing through the perfcrati'onsinthe tubes-isfv received in' Ither'aceptables, whence it ows through the the spoutsuc, andmay thence be conveyed into tliejdefecati ng-yessel, as sual. The cranks' throws which .act/nate' the pistons D being A'placed at right anglesto the throw, in con- 'necti'on With-the .steamcane ,in-the '.'tubes yieldin'gfto the force'thus exerted upon; them,- portions will be pushed youtatftheopenendsof 'the-tubes` The same advantageous .position of the steam and other -r-pistonswith reference to each! other taires @lace at `eaclie1`1db"i` thestroke. i f TWhen the Voperation of pressing 'canes is ir'st `dmmneed withempty tubes, 'it will be found pistog, it follows that" as the steam-engine piston ,acquires its mosth `that thelrst two 0r three-minutes work will have been performed imperfectly, owing to 'theof i cane-trash to a second operation, which will be effected by simply putting it again into the 'hoppers Whenthe pressure first comes upon a new portion of cane, the juice is given out sol rapidly as tobe projected through the perforationsof the tubes 'with sufcient force to carry'it beyond the receptacles a and c. .To prevent this a cover'forrned of sheet=copper should be put over each set of tubes, as shown at d and f, and also. a similar cover is placed at e over the pistons to prevent any splashing of juice 'from those. There is also a chute or receptacle, b, with a spout, b', placed beneath the pistons, to prevent the vwaste of `any.juice that may escape past 'the pistons, which are fitted freely to the tubes and have nodescription'of packing."r

I-have shown in Fig. II a semicircular guard or opening, Z, through-which that portion of l the cane-trash or bagasse falls which is expelled from the ends of the tubes nearest the-cranks. There is also a rectangular gurd, V, at the oppositetcnds lot' the tubes, for vthe purpose of guiding the trash which falls at that end onto the endless web.4 The cane-press should be placed upon agslightly.- elevated base, and a small arched opening should be left forthe purpose of fixing the bagasse-carrier. j'

I'v havev herein described how the friction againsttbc parallel sides ofy the tubes forms a resistance yto theniovement of the ^canes along them.v This resistance in a parallel tube must be in proporti'on'to its length; but the resist ance maybe greatly vincreased 'by contracting the aperture, which may beeither done quite atthe end of thetube; or thetu'bc may be made wedge-,shaped throughout.

In order still further to regulate thc press;

4ure on `the canes'in a tube or other vessel, the' ends at which the cane is intended to escape may be partially or entirely closedA by a door or valve kept shut by a spring or weighted lever, so that theforce required to overcome the counterpoise shall constitute, wholly or in part, the resistance required, andth'us deter; mine the force' exerted upon the cane by the piston'. 'This construction ot' the'escape-aperture may be readily effected byi'orniing a' portion of the sides ofthe tubeor other vessel into doors or ilapsmhieh maybe hinged to the side of the tubes, so as; to unfold and form between theni a parallel space equal to thesi'zeoi' the tube;` but when inclined slightly inf" Ward `toward each other (by the force of any weighted lever upon 'them) they would form.' La wedge-shaped aperturethe sizeof. which'A might be 'either regulated by a Weightedlever or spring, as before described; ofthe-doors or flapsrnight be acted pon by screws, so as to forma permanent contraction of theaperture v tothe required citent. I prefer, upon the whole.

the parallel open-endedtubcs, as represented iin the drawings.

The advantages proposed'to berealized under this head of my invention may be thus briefly summedup:

First. With regard to the equalization of pressure upon canes of ydifferent diameters in `the cane-press, it descrvesfto be noticed that the pistons move an equal distance at every stroke; but that as the masses of canes, which form the resisting media, slide along the tubes whenever a certain amount of pressure is ex` erted upon them, and will so move anyrequired distance without an additional intensity of pressure, it follows that as every cane, Whatever may be its diameter, has to move the. I nass forward, an equal pressureis given to all 'of them, the only differencebeing that when a larger cane than ordinary is put on itcauses,

by the insertionof its increased bull: between the piston 'and the-rest of the canes, a greater movement of the latter, and by the same rule, however small a eaneis Aput' in, the yielding mass does notgive way until the requisite pressure is exerted upon it,when it will move' forward a small distance onl-y,which in every case must be in directv proportion to the bulk -of solid matter contained in the newly-inten posed portion of cane, The canes by this process are cut into convenient lengths for burn.-

ing, and are not lacci-ated, as usual, the trash resembling flatly collapsed tubes, having a smooth and glossy external appearance. The knots sinkslightiyinto the soft portions of those pieces which comein contact with them,

and consequently, although the pressure is sufiicient to extract the saccharine juices from.

the soft cellular interior of the cane, it is not suiiieiently rigid to cause the extraction of the green wax and other objectionable matters from the knots and rind.

Secondly. IVith regardl to the time which is allowed in the common rolling-mill for the expression of the juice, I have before shown that in one quarter of a second after the pressure isapplied it is again entirely removed; butin the cane-press hereindeseribed the pressure itfollows that eachpiece will require about three 4minutes before it arrives at and is expelled from the open end of the tube.- It is this retention of pressure on the cane which causes so much of the juice to drain out of it with so little pressure, and that other matters more difficult to extract are retained in the rind and knots, whereby the purity of the sac-f eharine juicefis greatly enhanced.

Thirdly. lWith regard to reabsorption of the juice into the'pores andvcells of the cane as Vit emerges from the rollers of an ordinary mill, it will be seen from the operation of the canepress just described that each pieceof cane is propelled successively farther and farther along the tube. The first effort of the press bringsout a large portion of juice; but as the piece of' cane recedes from the piston it gets farther'. from contact with the principal iloiir of juice and continues to-give out I juice until it has progressed about eighteeninches along the tube and beeomesexausted, or nearly so. Thus; the piece of cane is deprived of its saecharine juice'by a continued pressure, and ampletime is afforded for the juice to percolate through the labyrinth of tissues in which it is contained, and the Vremoval of the cane'while yunder pressure from contact withv the'juiee preventsthe possibility of reabsorption.

I do not wish to limit myself to the precise forms of construction h erein described, as many parts may be varied to suit the quantity of work to be performed 'orother contingencies;

and I intend to make Asuch changes, while I' preserve substantially the general character I havesetforth." j

What I claim as of mybwn invention, and desire to secure by Letters .Patent vof theUnited States, isf .l

l.' The extractionof the juice from cane by y submitting the stalksof the same in perforated tubes, orother vessels constructed on the prin- 4ciple described herein, to' afcontinuous pressure in the manner set forth, whereby time is afforded for the juicey to flow from the cellular tissues, and reabsorption intol the exhausted cane is avoided.

2. The perforated lcompressing-tubes having y leither a straight or a tapering bore.

3. The combination of the pistonswith the perforated tubes and hoppers, whereby the operations of regulatingthe feedfeuttingthe canes into equal lengths, pressing, and discharging .the same are effected, substantially as herein set forth.

HENRY BESSEMER. Witnesses:

JOSEPH MARYATTE, .f ALFRED L oNGsnoN.

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