IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HULLING AND CLEANING GRAIN
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Gustav Adolph Buchholz at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th June 1878.
GUSTAV ADOLPH BUCHHOLZ, of Richmond, in the County of Surrey, Engineer..
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HULLING AND CLEANING GRAIN."
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements on the hulling machine for which
I obtained Letters Patent, bearing date 19th November 1862, No. 3113, and
12th August 1868, No. 2526, such machine consisting of a horizontal drum clothed
with steel blades, and running in a case lined at top and bottom and partially at its
inner periphery with similar steel blades.
As an improvement on this machine I now propose in place of the square-edged
blades (which were spaced out by interposed packing to present their square edges
to the grain) to use blades with a chamfered or knife edge, and to put them
together without any interposed packing. The advantage of this form of blade is
that it will require less driving power, perform its work in a more perfect manner,
and will maintain its efficiency for a much longer time than the square-edged
blades, the thinness of the cutting edge of the blade when worn by use ensuring the
maintainance of an efficient cutting action.
The blades I fit as before on rebated projections formed to receive them on the
periphery of the drum, and on the inner periphery and top and bottom of the case of
the huller. This case with its bottom is a fixture, but its upper part has an adjust-
ment vertically to provide for the wearing away of the top and bottom blades of
the huller.
Provision is also made to compensate for the wearing away of the blades on the
drum, and of the blades of the inner periphery of the case. This is effected by
mounting the blades at the inner periphery of the case in sections, in segment-
shaped holding blocks, which are capable of being advanced simultaneously towards
the axis of the drum. These blocks slide in guides in the fixed case, and they are
formed with a longitudinal inclined slot to receive an inclined horizontal bar, by
the raising and lowering of which the holding block will be advanced to or drawn
back from the drum. These bars are tapped to receive screws which work through
vertical holes made in the fixed guides. The sliding blocks thus provided being,
say, six in number, will form the inner periphery of the case, leaving however
D037

page_text: narrow spaces between them which are to be filled with india-rubber or other
equivalent elastic substance. In order however that these blocks may be advanced
or drawn back simultaneously to adjust them relatively to the drum, the screws
which serve to give them their sliding motion are each provided with a chain
wheel, and these wheels are all connected together by means of an endless chain,
which is laid around a contral chain wheel actuated by a chain and chain pullies by
a hand wheel conveniently situated for the attendant.
The drum shaft bears upon an adjustable steel bearing pin carried by an
adjustable cup screwed to a central pendant tube attached to the bottom of the
case. To this cup is keyed a chain wheel to receive a chain, which by means of a
pinion rotated by a hand wheel will raise or lower the cup, and thereby adjust the
height of the steel bearing pin, and consequently the position of the drum with
respect to the blades on the bottom of the case.
The upper set of blades is adjusted vertically by means of a central hand wheel
working upon a threaded neck projecting upwards from the plate which carries
those blades.
The manner of giving a simultaneous motion to the sliding blocks admits of
considerable variation; thus, for example, instead of the arrangement of chains and
chain wheels above mentioned for operating the inclined bars which adjust the
sliding blocks, each block may be fitted directly with an adjusting screw carrying a
chain pinion on a horizontal radial shaft below the machine. These shafts may
through bevil pinions in gear with a central wheel receive simultaneously an axial
motion, which being imparted to the adjusting screws of the several blocks,
will adjust those blocks to the required position with respect to the central
drum.
Radial bell-crank levers may also be employed for adjusting the blocks simul-
taneously, a central double-flanged wheel which embraces the tail ends of these
levers serving by means of a traverse motion which it receives from a central
screwed slíaft to tip the levers, and thereby advance or draw back the block, which
may be connected by links to their outer ends.
As an improvement in the feed I form an annular channel in the cover of the
machine excentric with the drum shaft, and the bottom of this channel I pierce
with holes which will allow of the grain dropping through the same into the
rotating drum. Over this annular channel I fit an annular funnel with openings in
its base corresponding with those in the annular channel; by giving a slight axial
motion to this funnel the openings may be brought into coincidence, when the corn
will be allowed to fall freely through.
If the feed requires to be slackened, a slight shifting of the funnel axially will
partially close the openings, and thereby restrict the discharge of the grain.
By a further movement of the funnel the feed may be cut off.
A clamping nut should be provided to fix the funnel in its adjusted position.
The Invention relates, secondly, to a machine for cleaning the hulled grain
preparatory to submitting it to the action of grinding or cutting surfaces to convert
it into flour or semolina.
This machine consists of two vertical discs of radial brushes, mounted in a case
somewhat like a will case, with a shoot at one side for discharging the grain
therefrom. The grain to be operated upon after leaving the hulling machine is fed
into the centre of the case, and passing through one of the discs comes under the
action of the rotating brushes, which, by preferance, are driven in opposite
directions. The grain subjected to the friction of these brushes will be rapidly
cleared of the dust and bran adhering thereto, and discharged from the machine
ready for the next succeeding operation.