Beeswax extracting apparatus

Byron Levy, Northridge, CA (US)

USPTO: us-12667086 · published 2026-06-30 · patents · A01K 59/06· A01K 59/04

Beeswax extracting apparatus

Byron Levy, Northridge, CA (US) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-07-01 22:32 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01K 59/06A01K 59/04

keywords beeswax extractionhoneycomb processingsteam heatingperforated membranebeekeeping equipmentwax filtrationsloped tray drain

0 comments

The pith

A perforated stainless steel membrane over a sloped tray extracts liquid beeswax from steam-heated honeycomb while blocking impurities.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent presents an apparatus designed to extract beeswax from honeycomb by melting it with steam. A stainless-steel membrane with small holes lets the liquid wax pass through but stops solid impurities. The membrane sits above a tray with a sloped bottom that collects the wax and directs it to a drain at the lowest point. Steam enters the tray through a dedicated hole to heat the honeycomb placed on top, and the whole assembly fits inside a box with aligned openings for the steam hose and drain tube.

Core claim

The apparatus comprises a stainless-steel perforated membrane having holes formed therein to permit beeswax heated to a liquid state to pass through while impeding impurities from passing through; and a tray comprising a sloped surface, the tray to be disposed beneath the membrane to receive and/or collect beeswax deposited from a honeycomb heated to the liquid state by steam while the honeycomb is positioned over the membrane, the deposited beeswax to pass through the membrane.

What carries the argument

Stainless-steel perforated membrane that filters liquid beeswax combined with a sloped tray that collects and drains the wax while admitting steam through aligned holes in a surrounding box.

If this is right

The sloped tray and aligned drain allow collected liquid wax to exit the device under gravity without manual scooping.
The membrane blocks impurities while the steam heats the honeycomb from below, separating the wax in one pass.
The box enclosure with fitted tray and membrane keeps the steam directed at the honeycomb and contains the melted wax.
The brass fitting and hose connection enable attachment to a standard external steam source for controlled heating.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The design could be adapted for small-scale beekeepers who want a contained steam-based extractor rather than open boiling methods.
If the hole sizes in the membrane are chosen to match typical impurity particle sizes, the same unit might handle different wax qualities without adjustment.
The alignment of drain and steam holes in the box suggests the apparatus is intended to be assembled and disassembled for cleaning between batches.

Load-bearing premise

Steam introduced through the tray will melt the beeswax in the honeycomb above so that it flows through the membrane perforations and separates cleanly from impurities without clogging or leaking.

What would settle it

A test in which steam is supplied as described but the honeycomb wax fails to melt and drain through the membrane or the membrane becomes blocked by unmelted material or debris.

read the original abstract

1 . An apparatus comprising: a stainless-steel perforated membrane having holes formed therein to permit beeswax heated to a liquid state to pass through while impeding impurities from passing through; and a tray comprising a sloped surface, the tray to be disposed beneath the membrane to receive and/or collect beeswax deposited from a honeycomb heated to the liquid state by steam while the honeycomb is positioned over the membrane, the deposited beeswax to pass through the membrane, wherein the tray further comprises: a drain to be positioned at a lowest point of the sloped surface relative to a direction of gravity to allow the received and/or collected beeswax heated to the liquid state to escape the tray; a first hole to receive steam from an external steam source to be applied to the honeycomb for heating the beeswax to the liquid state; and a box having one or more opened ends, wherein: the tray is fitted into one of the one or more opened ends; and the membrane is fitted over the tray fitted into the one of the one or more opened ends; the drain comprises a second hole formed in the tray; the box comprises a third hole that is aligned with the second hole while the tray is fitted into the box; the drain further comprises a tube having a size to permit insertion into the aligned second and third holes; the box comprises a fourth hole that is aligned with the first hole while the tray is fitted into the box; the first hole formed in the tray is adapted to be attached to a brass fitting of a hose, the brass fitting passing through a side of the box; and the hose is adapted to inject steam.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

A patent for a beeswax extractor using a perforated membrane over a sloped steam tray, internally consistent as a parts list but with no data or validation.

read the letter

This is a patent for a beeswax extracting apparatus that uses steam to melt wax through a perforated membrane into a sloped tray.

The design combines a stainless steel membrane with holes for liquid wax but not impurities, a tray with sloped surface and drain at the lowest point, steam inlet hole, and a box that encloses the tray with aligned holes for drain tube and steam hose with brass fitting. It specifies how the tray fits into the box and the membrane over it.

It does well by specifying all these elements and their relationships clearly, making the assembly unambiguous on paper.

The main shortcoming is the absence of any data on effectiveness, such as extraction rates, impurity levels, or reliability. The assumption that steam will heat the wax cleanly and the perforations will separate impurities without clogging is not tested or discussed. No prior art is cited, so it's hard to judge if this is incremental or not. Since there are no equations or parameters, there's no circularity.

The description is internally consistent as a mechanical design, with the functionality questions being external to the claim itself.

This is for people in the beekeeping industry interested in equipment patents, not for scientific researchers. A reader looking for new insights or validated methods won't find much here.

I recommend not sending it to peer review in a research context, as it's a patent application rather than a scholarly work.

Referee Report

0 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a patent application for a beeswax extracting apparatus. It claims an assembly comprising a stainless-steel perforated membrane to filter liquid beeswax from impurities, positioned over a sloped tray that collects the wax and includes a drain, a steam inlet hole, and alignment features with an enclosing box having corresponding holes for drainage and steam delivery via a hose and brass fitting.

Significance. The design is internally consistent as a parts list and spatial assembly for steam-assisted wax extraction. However, the manuscript provides no empirical data, measurements, validation tests, or comparisons to existing methods, so its practical significance cannot be evaluated. It does not include machine-checked proofs, reproducible code, or falsifiable predictions.

minor comments (2)

[Abstract] The abstract consists of a single, extremely long sentence (lines 1-14) that reduces readability; breaking it into shorter sentences or paragraphs would improve clarity.
[Full text] The description refers to 'the full text' and 'paper_source_context' but the provided content is limited to the enumerated claim; any accompanying figures or detailed embodiments should be explicitly cross-referenced if present.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We appreciate the referee's review of our patent application. However, the evaluation appears to apply standards appropriate for a scientific research paper rather than a patent application. We address the points below.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: The manuscript is a patent application for a beeswax extracting apparatus. It claims an assembly comprising a stainless-steel perforated membrane to filter liquid beeswax from impurities, positioned over a sloped tray that collects the wax and includes a drain, a steam inlet hole, and alignment features with an enclosing box having corresponding holes for drainage and steam delivery via a hose and brass fitting. The design is internally consistent as a parts list and spatial assembly for steam-assisted wax extraction. However, the manuscript provides no empirical data, measurements, validation tests, or comparisons to existing methods, so its practical significance cannot be evaluated. It does not include machine-checked proofs, reproducible code, or falsifiable predictions. Recommendation: reject

Authors: This submission is a patent application (US12667086) describing a novel apparatus, not a scientific manuscript. Patent applications require a clear written description of the invention that enables a person skilled in the art to practice it, along with claims defining the scope of protection. They do not require empirical data, experimental validation, comparisons, or falsifiable predictions, as those are elements of research papers. The provided claim details a specific assembly with a perforated membrane, sloped tray, steam injection, and alignment features for extracting liquid beeswax, which constitutes the inventive contribution. The internal consistency noted by the referee supports the enablement requirement for the patent. Practical significance and performance data are relevant to commercialization or further development but are outside the scope of what a patent filing must demonstrate. revision: no

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: pure apparatus description with no derivations

full rationale

The document is a patent claiming a mechanical apparatus defined by enumerated physical components (perforated stainless-steel membrane, sloped tray with drain and steam inlet holes, box enclosure, aligned tubes and fittings) and their spatial relationships. No equations, parameters, predictions, empirical results, or theoretical derivations appear anywhere in the abstract or full text. The central claim is a parts-list assembly whose functionality is asserted by construction of the description itself, with no opportunity for self-definition, fitted-input renaming, or self-citation chains. The reader's noted performance assumption (reliable melting and separation) is an external engineering question outside the claim and does not create circularity within the document.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

This document is a patent for a physical apparatus and introduces no free parameters, scientific axioms, or invented entities; the description relies on standard engineering components such as perforated metal and steam hoses.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.1-grok · 5826 in / 1117 out tokens · 33774 ms · 2026-07-01T22:32:01.464724+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

IndisputableMonolith.Foundation.RealityFromDistinction reality_from_one_distinction unclear

?

unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

An apparatus comprising: a stainless-steel perforated membrane having holes formed therein to permit beeswax heated to a liquid state to pass through while impeding impurities from passing through; and a tray comprising a sloped surface...
IndisputableMonolith.Foundation.Cost.FunctionalEquation washburn_uniqueness_aczel unclear

?

unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

the tray further comprises: a drain... a first hole to receive steam... a box having one or more opened ends...

What do these tags mean?

matches: The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports: The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends: The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses: The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts: The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear: Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.