Untitled record

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Patented Ja/i. 25, /866.

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AM. PHOTO-LiTHO. CO. N.Y (OSBORNE'S PROCESS)

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AM. PHOTO-LITHO. CO. N.Y. (OSBORNE'S PROCESS)

United States Patent Office

JAMES ROBERTSON, OF EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WINE-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,208, dated January 23,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, James Robertson, of East Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable WinePresses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which—

Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 is longitudinal section.

The object of my invention is to provide for family use a neat and convenient portable press for the manufacture of wine from grapes currants, rhubarb-plant, berries, or other vine-bearing products of the field and garden.

To this end I construct a cylinder of suitable dimensions and material, usually of wood, tin, or iron, and varying in size from one to three feet in diameter, and from one to four feet in length. This cylinder has a ring or flange of india-rubber extending around its bottom on the inside from two to six inches in width, more or less. This ring is designed to serve as an elastic bottom to the cylinder, but leaving an opening in the center thereof through which the liquid may flow, as hereinafter described. I also surround the lower end of the cylinder, on the outside thereof, with an india-rubber ring or gasket, which serves the purpose of packing and prevents the liquid from flowing up around the cylinder. It also serves to prevent the cylinder from being rubbed or chafed.

Letter a of the drawings is a cross-head, with an open jaw at each end fitted to receive the heads of the upright pillars b b. The heads of these pillars have turned-over lips fitted to the turned-up points of the jaws of the cross-head, so as to leave circular openings for the reception of bolts or pins, as represented at c c. These pillars also have projecting shoulders, upon which the cross-head rests. They also have projecting plates or lugs, through which the pillars are bolted and made secure to the stand or pedestal. These plates are marked d on the drawings. Near the lower end of these pillars, and on the inside thereof, I make openings, as represented by f f, in which the bolts rest that support the bottom of the press, and in which it swings. I also provide for removing the bottom of the press with great ease by making recesses in the sides of the pedestal into which the lower ends of the pillars, which, for that purpose, are provided with shackle-hinges, may be pressed back whenever I desire to release the bolts. This arrangement enables me to remove the bottom of the press with great ease, whenever I desire to doso, forcleaning or other purposes.

The bottom of the press swings in these openings in the pillars on two projecting bolts or points, one on each side thereof. It has a rim to receive the bottom of the cylinder, also a depressed center with circular and converging grooves to convey the liquid to the delivering-tube h, which is attached to the said bottom at the center thereof. This bottom has also three or more points or pegs on the top thereof, to secure and retain a small perforated plate, which has a surface adapted to the size and shape of the plunger, though of less diameter. I have marked this plate i. It has only one-half the diameter of the said bottom, to allow the slanting space around it to deflect the material under pressure toward the center of the plunger. The bottom above described is marked g on the drawings.

Between the perforated plate above mentioned and the bottom g, I adjust a wire-cloth or perforated tin strainer. (Marked It.) It covers the grooves on the said bottom and prevents them from being filled up. It also serves to strain the liquid after it passes from the plunger and the plate i. The screw and lever by which it is turned are marked I. The bottom of this screw rests upon the plunger m. This plunger rests upon the material to be pressed, and as the screw is forced downward by turning its lever the juice of the grapes is pressed out between the plunger and the plate i. It then passes through the strainer 1c into the grooves on the surface of the bottom Gr, and from thence through the receiving-tube h to the vessel designed to recieve it.

I attach these devices to a neat and light pedestal of wood or iron to render the machine

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portable and easy to attach to a bench or table by common screws.