Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882

by Various

HYDRAULIC FILTERING PRESS FOR TREATING OLEAGINOUS SEEDS.

Messrs. Laurent Bros. & Collot exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1878 a patented hydraulic apparatus styled a filtering press, the principle and construction of which it will prove of interest to describe. The apparatus is remarkable for its simplicity and ease of manipulation, and is destined to find an application in most oil mills.

Details of Structure.--The filter, which is shown in detail in Figs. 5 to 7, is formed of two semicylindrical cast iron shells, F, that are firmly united, and held by a strong iron band which is cleft at one point in its circumference, and to which there is adapted a mechanism permitting of loosening it slightly so as to facilitate the escape of the oil-cake. Within these shells, F, there are grooves, a, which have the arrangement shown by the partial section in Fig. 11, and through which flows the oil expressed by pressure. To prevent the escape of the material through these grooves or channels, the interior of the shells is lined throughout with plates or strips of brass that fit very closely together, and present a simple slit with chamfered edges opposite the grooves. At the two joints of the shells four of these plates are riveted two by two; all the others are movable, and rest, like the pieces of an arch, against the fixed plates that form abutments. Each half lining is thus held by means of a central plate, b' (Fig. 10), with oblique edges, and which, being driven home by the top of the filter, binds the whole tightly together. All these plates, which are slightly notched at their upper part, rest on a small flange at the lower part of the shells.

FILTERING PRESS FOR OLEAGINOUS SEEDS.--AUTOMATIC INJECTION PUMP

As regards their manufacture, these plates are cut out of sheets of perfectly laminated brass, and are afterward set into a matrix to center them properly. After the shells have been bored out, all the plates are mounted therein so as to obtain a perfectly cylindrical and uniform surface. The plates are then numbered and taken out; and, finally, a slit with chamfered edges is cut longitudinally through them, save at three points--two at the extremities and one at the middle. The plates thereafter rest against each other only at these three points, and leave at the chamfered places capillary openings just sufficient to give passage to the oil, but not to the pressed paste, however fine it be. As will be seen in Fig. 5, the points of contact are not in the same horizontal plane, but are arranged spirally, so that the flow will not be stopped at this place as it would be were these solid parts all at the same height. The filter, F, is completed by two pieces that play an important part. The first of these is a cast iron rim, J, which is set into the upper edge, and forms a sort of lip whose internal diameter corresponds exactly to the surface of the plates, b. This rim, J, is cast in one piece, and carries on its circumference two small, diametrically opposite iron studs, which are so placed that they may engage in the groove, p, at the upper edge of the shells, F.

The second of the two pieces is a cast iron bottom, K, which works on a hinge-joint, and which is perforated with a large number of holes for giving passage to the oil that has traversed the hair cloth cushion of which we shall speak further on. These holes must correspond accurately with the radial conduits presented by plate, E, and through which flows the oil to a circular channel running around this same piece. In order to exactly maintain such a relation between the holes and channels, the piece, E, is provided with a stirrup-iron, d, that passes around one of the columns, C, of the hydraulic press.

The entire filter thus constructed is attached to one of the columns, C', of the hydraulic press in such a way that it can revolve around it. For this purpose, the column is surrounded by an iron sleeve, L, cast in two pieces, and which in its lower position rests on the shoulder, e, of the column. The filter is connected with the sleeve by means of screws, as shown in Fig. 6.

We shall now describe the mechanism for loosening the band, I, and moving the bottom, K.

The band, I (Figs. 5 to 9), is cleft at a point in its circumference corresponding to one of the joints of the shell, F, and carries at each side of the cleft a bearing in which turns freely a steel pin. One of these latter, i, is cylindrical, and the other, j, has eccentric extremities that are connected with the former by two small iron rods, k and l. The upper extremity of the pin, j, is provided with a bent lever-handle, M, and the lower one carries in its turn a small disk, m, the use of which will be explained further on. It results from such an arrangement that by acting on the lever, M, with the band, and by reason of the eccentricity of the pin, j, the two extremities of the band, I, may be made to approach or recede at the will of the operator. The position of nearest approximation is limited by the abutting of the hook at the end of the lever, M, against the side of the filter. This latter position corresponds to the moment of charging the apparatus (Fig. 6), while the contrary one indicates the moment that the oil cake falls (Fig. 4). Although the separation is but a few millimeters, it is sufficient for disengaging and allowing the cake to drop.