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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
ARCHIBALD K. LEE, OF GALVESTON, TEXAS.
IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING TURPENTINE.
Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,550, dated September 24, 1872.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, ARCHIBALD K. LEE, of
the city of Galveston, in the State of Texas,
have made certain Improvements in an Appa-
ratus for Distilling Turpentine, and for bleach-
ing the resin or residuum thereof, of which the
following is a full, clear, and exact description,
when taken in connection with the accompany-
ing illustrative drawing constituting a part of
said description or specification.
Mypresent invention relates to an improve-
ment upon my apparatus for distilling turpen-
tine, for which Letters Patent of the United
States were grantedto me August 1, A. D. 1871,
and is designed to embody certain changes
from the said invention which a practical ex-
perience has demonstrated as necessary. The
object sought to be attained by my invention
is primarily the production of-from the chips,
blocks, or pieces of pine wood, from the saw-
dust of the same material, or from the crude
turpentine which is obtained from pine trees-
a perfectly pure, limpid, and a far more supe-
rior article of the spirits of turpentine than
can be produced by any of the known means
in use at the present time; and, secondly, the
purification, defecation, and bleaching of the
resin or residuum thereof, so as to produce in
the highest degree the most desirable, mar-
ketable, and therefore profitable, article of res-
in for the requirements of commerce, manu-
factures, and the arts. My improvement is as
simple in construction as any ordinary spirit-
distilling apparatus, and accomplishes the re-
sults for which it is designed to the extent of
producing, in an economical and effectual man-
ner, an article of turpentine perfectly inodor-
ous and entirely free from the pyroligneous
acids and other impurities which usually per-
tain to the spirits of turpentine produced in
the stills as at present constructed and in gen-
eral use throughoutturpentine-producing coun-
tries. My improvement, moreover, produces,
in the process of the distillation of the turpen-
tine as above mentioned, a residuum or resin
perfectly divested of all those discolorations,
foreign substances, and other impurities which
so much depreciate the value and usefulness
of common resin for the purposes of the arts,
manufactures, or commerce. For the reasons
above stated my invention becomes of infinite
value, not only to the manufacturers of the
spirits of turpentine and resin, but to the pub-
lic in general.
An important feature of my invention, as
will be hereinafter explained, is, that the pro-
cess of distillation and production of the re-
sults above mentioned, when once commenced,
are uniform, uninterrupted, and continuous, so
long as the crude material is supplied thereto.
The construction, arrangement, and mode of
operation of my improvement will be more
readily understood by referring to the draw-
ing, whereon all that pertains thereunto is
plainly and clearly shown, and whereon it is
shown mainly in vertical section.
A is a frame-work of timber, upon which is
placed the receiving and heating receptacle
B, which is divided into two chambers, a and
b. The said receptacle B is provided with a
man-hole, 1, through which, at intervals, is re-
ceived the raw or crude turpentine into the
said chamber a, where it is heated and thinly
liquidized by means of steam emitted in jets
from the steam-pipe coil 2, therein continued
from the superheating steam-chamber c placed
under and constituting a part of the evapora-
ting vessel or still C. The process of heating
and thinly liquidizing the crude turpentine re-
ceived into the chamber a, as aforesaid, is fur-
thermore facilitated by stirring the said crude
turpentine with the revolving rake 3, which
operation is performed by hand or steam pow-
er applied to the upper extremity of its ver-
tical shaft 4. The charge of crude turpentine
thus stirred, heated, and liquidized to the ex-
tent necessary, is allowed egress from the said
chamber a through the slide-valve 5, and is re-
ceived into the aforesaid chamber b, whence,
by means of the slide-valve 6, it may be drawn,
at the pleasure of the operator or as required,
directly through the supply-pipe 7 into the
said evaporator or still C. Surrounding the
said supply-pipe 7 is a steam-jacket, 8, which
receives steam by an inlet steam-pipe, 9, con-
necting with the steam-boiler, not necessa-
rily shown on the drawing, because constitut-
ing no part of my invention. The condensed
steam of the said steam-jacket 8 is allowed
egress therefrom at will through the outlet-
pipe 10, which must be provided with a stop-
cock for this purpose. The object of thus sur-
rounding and inclosing the said supply-pipe 7
with steam, is to maintain at all times the