IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND THE FITTING UP OF GRANARIES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Charles Louis Devaux, of King William
Street, in the City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of." IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND THE FITTING UP OF GRANARIES."
Sealed the 22nd January 1856, and dated the 5th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Charles Louis
Devaux at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th November 1855.
I, ALEXANDER CHARLES LOUIS DEVAUX, of King William Street, in the
City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND THE FITTING UP OF GRANARIES"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to reduce the cost of constructing granaries,
and also to facilitate the storing of grain, and the transference of the same.
from granaries to barges or other receptacles when required to be removed, by
substituting mechanical contrivances for manual labor. To this end, I propose
to construct granaries with bins or chambers of a depth, say, of 30 feet, more
or less, which I ventilate by means of air passages formed in the bottom or
sides of the bins, and communicating with a main flue, which is supplied with
air from a rotary fan or other blowing machinery; or I apply fans or blowers
directly to the air passages. Endless chains of buckets are provided for raising
the grain above the level of the bins, and the grain is discharged into the
several bins by the action of a horizontal screw confined in a case, from which
shutes lead to the several bins. To facilitate the discharge of the grain from
the bins, I mount propelling screws at the side thereof (enclosed'in cases), and

page_text: near the level of the floor of the 'bin,. which slants towards the screw, and by
means of sliding doors I let out the grain from the respective bins as required
into the case of the adjacent screw, which, being driven by the steam engine or
other motive power which actuates the blower, will carry the grain forward to
any suitable receptacle prepared to receive it. Or the grain, instead of running
out of the bins into the propelling screw case, may be run directly into sacks,
if thought desirable. By this arrangement it will be understood that the cost
of piling story above story in granaries may be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Charles Louis Devaux in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
CHARLES LOUIS DEVAUX, of King William Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Charles Louis Devaux, Her special license that I, the said Alex-
ander Charles Louis Devaux, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alexander Charles Louis Devaux, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND
THE FITTING UP OF GRANARIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alexander 'Charles Louis Devaux, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Charles Louis Devaux, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in a novel mode of constructing and fitting up
buildings for the storing of grain; the object being,—
First, to obtain with a given expenditure a greatly increased capacity of
stowage.
Secondly, to preserve the grain in good condition.
And, thirdly, to facilitate by the aid of mechanical appliances the transference
of the same to and from the bins as required. To this end, I propose to construct
granaries with bins or chambers of a depth, say, of thirty feet, more or less, which
I ventilate by means of air passages formed in the bottom or sides of the bins,
and communicating with a main flue, which is supplied with air from suitable
blowing apparatus, and by means of endless chains of buckets and archimedean
screws I distribute the grain into the bins and discharge it therefrom, as
required.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn in several views the manner
of carrying out these improvements.
Fig. 1 represents, in plan view, a group of bins constructed, fitted, and
arranged according to this Invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevation,
partly in section, of this group. Fig. 3 is an end elevation; and Fig. 4 is a
cross section, shewing the interior construction of two contiguous bins. a, a,
are the bins, constructed of brickwork, strengthened by tie bars of angle iron.
A brick arch 6 forms the bottom of these bins, and above this arch, forming
as it were a false bottom to the bins, pierced corrugated metal is applied, for
the purpose of admitting air to the overlying mass of grain. The air flues c,
formed this arched perforated metal, communicate with parallel main air
flues d, d, which run from end to end of the series of bins. These flues I
supply with air by means of fans or blowers e, e, which receive rotary motion
through driving straps and pulleys f from the main driving shaft g. Each of
the flues d, d, may be provided with fans, or they may be connected together
by air passages h, h, (shewn at Figs. 2 and 4,) which passages will conduct air
from the fans to the flues d*. Dampers are provided in the main flues for
regulating the amount of air to be supplied to the several bins, or for cutting it
off when required. An endless band of buckets i, i, similar to those in common
use in breweries, is provided for each series of bins for the purpose of raising
the grain from any given receptacle to an elevation suitable for discharging it
into the bins. This chain of buckets (which is driven by the engine employed
for driving the blowers and the other mechanism, to be presently explained,)

page_text: deposits the grain into a trough k, situated immediately over the division wall
of the double row of binis of the same series, and extending from end to end
thereof. Mounted in this trough is an archimedean screw 7, which receives
rotary motion from the shaft g, (through a strap, as shewn,) and carries forward
the grain as it is deposited in the trough. This trough is provided with shutes
mat opposite sides, for conducting the grain as it is traversed forward by the
screw into the several bins. Each shute is fitted with a shutter for closing it,
and at the parts where the shutes connect with the trough the bottom of the
trough is sunk or depressed, to facilitate the discharge of the grain, which might
otherwise be carried forward past the openings. At the bottom of each row
of bins discharge shutes n are provided, which are calculated to discharge the
grain into separate receptacles, or to guide into a trough o situate beneath
them, and fitted with an archimedean screw p for traversing it to a shute q,
from which it will fall into a barge or other receptacle. The discharge screws
are driven by straps from the main driving shaft g, as indicated in the
Drawings, and for the purpose of cutting off the communication of the
shutes n with a trough when the same is not required, these shutes are fitted
with a slide on their under side, which slide may be drawn out or closed,
as indicated at Fig. 3.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction and the Fitting up of Granaries," and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim
the mode of constructing and ventilating the bins of granaries, as herein
described.
And, secondly, I claim the application thereto of endless screws mounted
and actuated as above described, for the purpose of facilitating the distribution
of the grain into the bins and the discharge of the grain from the granaries.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Charles Louis Devaux, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. C. L. DEVAUX. (L.S.)