CANE AND BEET MACHINES.—­The first step in the process of sugar making is the extraction of the juice from the beet or cane.  This juice is obtained by pressure.  The operation is not usually, but may be, performed in a special kind of centrifugal.  One style (Pat. 239,222) consists of a conical basket with a spiral flange within on the shaft, and turning on the shaft, and having a slight rotary motion relative to the basket.  The material is fed in and moves downward under increased pressure, the sirup released flying out through the perforations of the basket, the whole revolving at high velocity.  The solid portion falls out at the bottom.  Another plan suggested (Pat. 343,932) is to let a loose cover of an ordinary cylindrical basket screw itself down into the basket, by reason of its slower velocity (owing to inertia), causing pressure on the charge.

Various other applications of the different styles of sugar machines are the defibration of raw sugar juice, freeing beet crystals of objectionable salts, freeing various crystals of the mother liquor, drying saltpeter.

DRIERS.—­Another important division of this first class of centrifugals is that of driers or, as they are variously styled, whizzers, wringers, hydro-extractors.  The charge in these is never large in weight compared to a sugar charge, and its initial distribution can be made more symmetrical.  The uses of driers are various, such as extracting water from clothes, cloth, silk, yarns, etc.  Water may be introduced at the center of the basket from above or below to wash the material before draining.  A typical form of drier is shown in Fig. 24. (Pat.  Aug. 22, 1876—­W.P.  Uhlinger.) Baskets have been made removable for use in dyeing establishments, basket and load together going into dyeing vat.  Yarn and similar material can be drained by a method analogous to that of hanging it upon sticks in a room and allowing the water to drip off.  It is suspended from short sticks, which are held in horizontal layers around the shaft in the basket, and the action is such during the operation as to cause the yarn to stand out in radial lines.

[Illustration:  Fig. 24.]

Driers are not materially different from sugar machines.  Any of the devices before enumerated for meeting vibrations in the latter may be applied to the former.  There is one curious invention which has been applied to driers only (Pat. 322,762—­W.H.  Tolhurst).  See Fig. 25.  A convex shaft-supporting step resting on a concave supporting base, with the center of its arc of concavity at the center of the upper universal joint, has been employed, and its movements controlled by springs, but the step was apt to be forced from its support.  The drawing shows the improvement on this, which is to give the shaft-supporting step a less radius of curvature.

[Illustration:  Fig. 25.]

An interesting form of drier has its own motor, a little steam engine, attached to the frame of the machine.  See Fig 24.  This of course demands fixed bearings.  The engine is very small.  One size used is 3"x4”.  When a higher velocity of basket is required, we have the arrangement in Fig. 26.