THE EXTRACTION OF JUICE BY MILLS. 



minute, may be driven by its own motor, or very conveniently by belt gearing 

 off the mill engine. The useful effect of this contrivance is very pronounced, 

 and provided the knives are kept sharp but little power is used. 



In some recent patterns the preparer is incorporated in the mill itself, 

 and takes the form of a heavily indented top roller; three designs on the 

 market are known as the Diamond, Excelsior, and Pelaez rollers ; in the first- 

 mentioned the surface of the roller consists of a number of prisms arranged 

 at right angles to each other, so that the surface comprises a large number of 

 L shaped units. 



Of the earlier cane preparers, reference may be made to that of Faure, 

 similar in principle to the shredder but with the bottom roll replaced by a 

 fixed counter plate ; to that of Bonnefin, consisting of a system of reciprocating 

 saws, and to that of Mignon and Rouart in which the cane was fed into a 

 cylinder wherein revolved a system of knives. This last device was based on 

 the machines designed to pulp straw for paper making. 



FIG. 123. 



Forced Feed. A diagram illustrative of the ' pusher ' or forced feed 

 is shown in Fig. 123; it is an apparatus designed automatically to force 

 megass into a second or third mill and at the same time to ensure an even and 

 regular feed. It consists essentially of a strong iron bar extending the length 

 of the roller to which a to-and-fro motion is given by means of a spur and 

 pinion and lever gear worked off the gearing of the cane engine ; the rocking 

 bar moves below the feeding table and above the front lower roller, and forces 

 the megass into the mill by impact. In Fig. 123 a represents a spur wheel 

 6 ft. in diameter worked off the shaft of the second motion pinion of the cane 

 engine ; this wheel gears with a pinion b 1 in. in diameter ; the pinion carries 

 on one side a flange c, 20 in. in diameter ; attached to the flange by means of 

 a pin is a strong bar d which works the piece e to which is communicated a 

 backwards and forwards movement in an arc of a circle ; to e is attached a bar 

 / running parallel to the rollers ; / carries, placed at either end of the roller, 

 pieces similar to e and to these is attached the pusher which forces the megass 

 to the rollers. The pinion makes about 70 revolutions per minute, and this is 

 consequently the number of strokes given by the pusher. 



193 



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