UNITED
STATES PATENT OFFICE.
GAIL BORDEN, JR., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK..
IMPROVEMENT IN CONCENTRATION OF MILK.
Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,553, dated August 19, 1856.
To all whom it may
concern:
Be it known that I, GAIL
BORDEN,
Jr., of of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of
New York, have discovered and invented a new and useful Process and
Improvement for the Concentration and Preservation of Milk; and I do
hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact
description of the same, reference being had to thc annexed drawing,
said drawing being a vertical view of the apparatus and forming a part
of this specification, except the vessel marked D, which does not
pertain to this application. To enable others skilled in the art to
make and use my invention, I herein describe its nature, office, and
construction.
First. The nature of my discovery and invention consists in
concentrating,milk in a vacuum-vessel out of contact with the
atmosphere, to prevent incipient decomposition, or any hurtful change
in the constituent elements of the milk during the process of
evaporation.
Second. It also consists in keeping the new
sweet milk to be concentrated, in vacuo, in a vessel from which the air
is exhausted, to keep the milk out of contact with the atmosphere.
B is a vacuum boiler or pan for concentrating the milk out of contact with the atmosphere.
A is a pipe connected with the vacuum-boiler, and to an air-pump and condenser.
C is a vacuum-reservoir, in which new sweet
milk is placed all kept in vacuum until it is required to be
transferred or let into the vacuum-boiler B for concentration. This
reservoir is connected with the boiler and with the air-pump.
The milk is boiled and concentrated in the
vacuum-vessel B by means of steam applied in the known way, and the
application of the air-pump and condenser. When a steam-pipe is
employed inside of the boiler, it should he so coiled that every part
of it maybe reach by the hand with a scrub-brush to clean it. Both
steam-pipe and jacket may he employed at the sametime. A
thermometer is inserted into the boiler, and a vacuum-gauge connected
with it to indicate thc temperature of the boiling fluid and the extent
of the vacuum.
The milk which I desire to concentrate is
placed in the vacuum-reservoir C as soon as practicable after the
milking, where it remains until let into the boiler for concentration.
The milk may be scalded in this reservoir, or it should be done
previous to its being put into it. By scalding the milk at a
temperature of from 150º to 200º Fahrenheit, previous to its
concentration, portions of its albumen coagulate and adhere to the
surface of the vessel, and thus prevent its coating the vacuum-boiler.
The vacuum is produced in the reservoir C by the air-pump, through a
pipe connected therewith, as A and C'.
c is a cock to open and close the communication.
C'' is a pipe communicating with the reservoir and boiler.
c' is a cock to open and close the communication.
The reservoir is provided with a man-hole for
convenience of cleaning. It is charged with milk through a pipe leading
to the cans by means of atmospheric pressure.
The boiling or working of the vacuum-boiler is
conducted in a similar manner to vacuum-pans in the manufacture of
refined sugar in the common way, except that I find it best first to
place a small quantity of milk in the boiler. I then (after the boiling
has commenced) let the milk flow into the boiler from the reservoir by
a stream gradually running in through pipe C", regulated in quantity by
the cock a' in such a manner
as always or during the principal part of the evaporating process to
keep and maintain the fluid in the boiler B at about the same
consistence or state of spissitude.
The arrangement and position of the vessel
employed may be made to conform with buildings in which they are placed.
To facilitate the operation of concentrating
milk, so as to keep the vacuum-boiler constantly employed. I provide a
vacuum receiving-vessel below and in connection with the boiler, as E,
in which I can at pleasure produce a vacuum by a connecting-pipe
leading to the air-pump, a cock being provided to let on and shut off
the vacuum, as E' and e". When the milk is sufficiently concentrated in the boiler B, it can he let into the receiving-vessel E by means of cock e'' without breaking the vacuum in the former.
Milk may be concentrated to any degree
required. I do not confine myself to one standard. I have reduced it
eighty-three per cent, but commonly sixty-five to eighty per cent.
For long keeping I place the concentrated, milk in
hermetically-scaled vessels.. For keeping a few days or weeks,
according to the temperature of the weather, it is unnecessary thus to
seal them.
The concentrated milk, having been cooled, is
poured into the canisters or vessels, which are filled quite full,
covered tightly, turned upside down, and deposited in a cool place.
I am aware that a vacuum-pan has long been
used for the concentration of saccharine sirups and refining sugar, to
prevent discoloration by a high degree of heat, and also employed in
producing extracts to avoid scorching or burning. I concentrate milk in
vacuum for a different purpose.
I have discovered that the water in milk can
be expelled without changing the qualities of its other constituents if
evaporated out of contact with the air by preventing the action of the
oxygen on the milk while in the process of concentration, thereby
preventing incipient decomposition or any harmful change.
Like blood, milk is a living fluid, and as
soon as drawn from the cow begins to die, change, and decompose. In no
other process for concentrating milk with which I am acquainted has any
adequate means been adopted to prevent incipient decomposition of the
milk and render it preservative and soluble.
My milk is prepared for use by adding water in
proportion to the degree of concentration to which it had been
subjected, and when in this state will produce an equal quantity of
cream with the original milk It is rendered preservative and soluble
without the use of sugar or any antiseptic, which has not, to my
knowledge, ever been effected before.
Besides the advantages of concentrating milk
in vacuum, there is no means yet, discovered by which evaporation is so
rapidly and safely conducted.
Milk concentrated by my plan can be afforded
for less than half the price at which other concentrated milk has
usually been sold. My process will cause milk to become in as general
and common use as sugar.
Having thus explained my invention, I would state
that I am well aware that sugar and various extracts have been and are
now concentrated in a vacuum under a low degree of heat to prevent
discoloration and burning. I do not claim boiling milk and
concentrating it in a vacuum-vessel for such a purpose.
I am also aware that scalding milk to improve
its preservative qualities has long been known, and that it has been
kept in hermetically-scaled vessels. I do not claim these processes.
I am also aware that Wm. Newton and many
others since have obtained patents for concentrating milk by various
modes of evaporation, and combining it with sugar to render it soluble
and preservative. I do not claim this as my discovery or invention; but
What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is—
Producing concentrated sweet milk by
evaporation in vacuo, substantially as set, forth, the same having no
sugar or other foreign matter mixed with it.
Brooklyn, June 12, 1856
G. BORDEN, JR.
Witnesses:
CHARLES MCNEIL,
WALTER S. LEWIS.
[Note:
This patent was reissued 13 May 1862, No. RE 1,306; on 10 Feb 1863, No.
RE 1,398; on 14 Nov 1865, No. RE 2,103, on 17 Ap 1866 , No.2,236]
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