204 MANUFACTURE OF MitLK PoWbER 
the same, while in the Stauf patent the milk spray ascends and is 
carried into separate collecting chambers. 
In a later design, U. S. patent No. 1,038,773, September 17, 
1912, McLachlan causes the heated air to be forced into the drying 
chamber through a rotating discharge head located in the center of 
the drying chamber. ‘The rotating discharge head directs the air 
currents radially outward toward a deflecting ring. 
The milk is blown into the drying chamber through multiple 
supply nozzles or atomizers. ‘These supply nozzles enter through the 
periphery of the deflecting ring. They discharge in a horizontal 
plane and incline to the radius in such a manner as to cause Maxi- 
mum commingling of the finely divided particles of the milk with the 
heated air. The dried powder, deposits in the bottom of the drying 
chamber, a belt conveyor discharges it into a screw conveyor pocket, 
whence it is removed to any suitable storage container. 
The moisture-laden air leaves the drying chamber through 
drums near the bottom and top of the drying chamber. These dis- 
charge drums are equipped with suitable arrangement to recover 
such parts of the powder as are deposited on their surfaces. 
The Merrell-Merrell-Gere Process.—This process is similar 
to the Stauf process except that the patent covering the Merrell- 
Merrell-Gere process specifically refers to the desiccation of pre- 
viously condensed milk, while the Stauf patent makes no specific ref- 
erence to the use of condensed milk, although the term “milk” may 
have been intended to embrace all kinds of milk regardless of the 
degree of concentration prior to desiccation. 
The Merrell-Soule Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., purchased the 
Stauf patent in 1905 and two years later L. C. Merrell, I. S. Merrell 
and W. B. Gere, of Syracuse, N. Y., assignors to Merrell-Soule Co. 
patented the process as applied to desiccating condensed milk, U. S. 
patent No. 860,929, July 23, 1907. Their patent claims read as 
follows: 
1. “The process of obtaining the solid constituents of 
liquids and semi-liquids, in the form of powder, which process 
consists in concentrating the substance by removing a large 
percentage of the water therefrom, converting the concentrated 
mass into a fine spray, bringing such spray into a current of dry 
air or gas having an avidity for moisture so that substantially 
all the remaining liquid constituents are separated thereby, 
