THE EXTRACTION OF THE JUICE BY MILLS 229 



(753 f I 858,) who claimed a system of saws on parallel rotating shafts, 

 the saws on one shaft acting in the spaces between the saws on the other. A 

 patent on a similar principle was granted to Easton and Hoyland (642 of 1888). 

 Bonnefin's apparatus (1185 of 1877) consisted of a gang of parallel saws 

 alternately raised and drawn across the canes, which were presented to the 

 action of the saws in a cradle. Another system of saws, patented by Reynoso 



FIG. 138 



(1556 of 1875 and 1492 of 1877) included a drum, on which was mounted a 

 series of staggered or drunken saws, set oblique to the axis, so that on 

 rotation the system formed virtually a continuous circular saw. 



The first patent on knives as a preparatory device is that of De Coster 

 (1921 of 1854), wno employed a rapidly rotating disc carrying knives or 

 cutters, and this device in various forms remains in use. 



FIG. 139 



Such a system, shown in Fig. 138, consists of a horizontal shaft, on which 

 curved knives are arranged spirally and rotate in a vertical plane. Besides 

 slicing the cane, this appliance serves to beat down and to level the matted 

 mass of material, thus aiding in maintaining an even feed. 



The shredder is a torsion machine, which acts on the principle of passing the 

 cane between two surfaces moving at different speeds. The effect of this is to 



