IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER MILLS FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London,
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER MILLS FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER GRAIN." A communication from abroad by Oscar Oexle, of
Augsburg, in the Empire of Germany, Civil Engineer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martin Benson at the Office
"IMPROVEMENTS
A communication
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th May 1880.
MARTIN BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London.
IN ROLLER MILLS FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN."
from abroad by Oscar Oexle, of Augsburg, in the Empire of Germany, Civil
Engineer.
My improvement relates to roller mills, by which a new mode of rotation is
imparted to the grinding, crushing, or cutting surfaces of the rollers for the purpose
of treating wheat, grain, and their component parts, as well as other material.
Heretofore, rollers of smooth, corrugated, or grooved surfaces composed of chilled
iron, steel, cast iron, or porcelain have been used for milling purposes, for the
reduction of grain into seinolina and middlings, and smooth surface rollers are then
used for the reduction of semolina and middlings into flour.
These rollers are generally mounted in cast iron frames in one or more pairs, with
one roller in each pair revolving in stationary bearings, and the other in adjustable
bearings, and pressed together by self acting mechanism composed of levers and
weights or springs, and set screws acting on the adjustable bearings. Each set of
rollers are usually provided with a feeding apparatus for regulating the quantity of
grain or material being fed to the rollers. The movement of the surface of all these
rollers in the same sets are in opposite directions, and thereby causing the surface
of the two rollers to turn towards each other, which draws the material being fed
to them between their surfaces, which grain or material is more or less crushed and
pressed according to the pressure put on the adjustable roller and speed of the
roller surfaces, which in some cases move at an equal and in others at a differential
speed. The differential speed is intended to increase the grinding action on the
material.
In my improved machine I cause the roller surfaces of the same pair to rotate
in the same direction in such a manner that only one roller surface has a tendency
of drawing the material being treated between the grinding or cutting surfaces of
the rollers.

page_text: Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings is an end elevation of my improved
machine.
Fig. 2 is a top view, and Fig. 3 is a partial section of two rollers of the same
pair shown in section to represent the action of their grinding surfaces on the
grain. Half of each of the Drawings Figs. 1 and 2 are shown in section.
The rollers a, a¹, are made to revolve, so that their surfaces run downwards and
perform the function of drawing the material being treated between the surfaces of
the rollers a, a', and b, b', the surface of the rollers b', b, running upward. The
roller surfaces are provided with grooves made parallel with their length or
spirally.
The rollers a, a', revolve from 80 to 300 revolutions per minute, more or less, to
suit the quality of work required; they are worked by means of a belt on the
pulley cattached to the roller shaft a; the roller a' receives its motion through
gear wheels d, d' on the roller shaft a¹ and a, as more fully represented in Fig. 2.
Motion is imparted to the rollers b, b¹, by the gear pinion e attached to the roller
shaft a, a gear wheel c¹, shaft f, bevel gear g, shaft h, worm screws i, i¹, and worm
wheels k, k¹, as represented in the Drawings. It will be observed by the manner of
working the rollers b, b¹, that they revolve much slower than the rollers a, a¹,
thereby giving the two rollers in each pair a great differential motion, the
rollers b, b, as before stated, being made to revolve in the same direction as the
rollers a, a. The rollers may be driven by belts, frictional gearing, or by any
other known means of driving rollers for treating grain and middlings.
The rollers are supplied with an ordinary feeding hopper and regulating slides m
and m, and feeding rollers n and n¹.
The adjustable rollers b, b¹, are pressed against the rollers a, a¹, by means of
spiral springs and set screws, as represented in the Drawings.
I claim the following advantages in treating grain, by rotating the rollers in each
pair in the same direction.
1st. It is better adapted for the gradual reduction or granulation of grain, by
which the main object lies, in the least possible production of flour, and in the
least production of coarse sized semolina and middlings.
2nd. The grooves or corrugation on the surface of the rollers exert a cutting
action on the grain and imparting but little pressure. The action of the groove on
the grain will be more fully understood by reference to Fig. 3.
3rd. By the slow upward motion of one roller surface in each pair of rollers the
grain becomes equally distributed between the roller surfaces, and is broken in its
longitudinal axis, which is very important for the first reduction, whereby the crease
or grooves are opened without injury to the interior of the kernel and the dark
dust and germ which always remains in the crease, and cannot all be removed
before the grinding, even by the best cleaning machinery, may be in this way
easily separated by passing the broken wheat through a wire reel or similar
appliance.
The grinding effect is more intense, and the grain can be reduced into good
semolina without great production of flour in a far quicker time than in other ways
used at present.
4th. By the peculiar shape of the grooves shown in Fig. 3, and the opposite
direction of the motion of the grinding surfaces of the rollers in each pair, the
sharpness of the grooves are more durable than in grooved rollers with the common
way heretoforo of revolving the rollers in opposite directions.
5th. The action is more scraping than squeezing and tearing, and in consequence
a larger and cleaner bran can be produced.
6th. When used on smooth or finely grooved rollers the above way of rotating
the rollers is very efficient for the reduction of large middlings and the cleaning of
bran.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Martin Benson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd October
1880.
MARTIN BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN ROLLER MILLS FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN." A communication
from abroad by Oscar Oexle, of Augsburg, in the Empire of Germany, Civil
Engineer.
My improvements relates to roller mills by which a new mode of rotation is
imparted to the grinding, crushing, or cutting surfaces of the rollers for the
purpose of treating wheat, grain, and their component parts as well as other
materials.
Heretofore rollers of smooth, corrugated, or grooved surfaces composed of chilled
iron, steel, cast iron, or porcelain have been used for milling purposes for the reduction
of grain into semolina and middlings, and smooth surface rollers are then used for
the reduction of semolina and middlings into flour. These rollers are generally
mounted in cast iron frames in one or more pairs (in the Drawings two pair of
rollers are shown), with one roller in each pair revolving in stationary bearings and
the other in adjustable bearings, and pressed together by self acting mechanism com-
posed of levers and weights, or springs and set screws acting on the adjustable
bearings. Each set of rollers are usually provided with a feeding apparatus for
regulating the quantity of grain or material being fed to the rollers. The feeding
apparatus is usually worked by means of belts and pulleys worked from one of the
roller shafts. The movement of the surface of all these rollers in the same sets are in
opposite directions, and thereby causing the surface of the two rollers to turn towards
each other, which draws the material being fed to them between their surfaces, which
grain or material is more or less crushed and pressed according to the pressure put on
the adjustable rollers and speed of the roller surfaces, which in some cases move at an
equal and in others at a differential speed. The differential speed is intended to
increase the grinding action on the material.
In my improved machine I cause the roller surfaces of the same pair to rotate
or work in the same direction in such a manner that only one roller surface has a
tendency of drawing the material being treated between the grinding or cutting
surfaces of the rollers.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings is an end elevation of my improved
machine.
Fig. 2 is a top view, and Fig. 3 is a partial section of two rollers of the same
pair, shown in section to represent the action of their grinding surfaces on the
grain. Half of each of the Drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, are shown in section.
The rollers a, a' are made to revolve so that their surfaces run downwards and
perform the function of drawing the material being treated between the surfaces
of the rollers a, a, b, b¹, the surface of the rollers b, b¹ running upward. The roller
surfaces are provided with grooves made parallel with their length or spirally
around their surfaces.
The rollers a, a¹, revolve from 80 to 300 revolutions per minute, more or less, to
suit the quantity of work required to be done; they are worked by means of a belt
on the pulley c attached to the roller shaft a, and operated from any suitable prime
mover; the roller a¹ receives its motion through gear wheels d, d, on the roller
shafts a, a, as more fully represented in Fig. 2. Motion is imparted to the
rollers b, b', by the gear pinione attached to the roller shaft a, and gear wheel e¹,
shaft f, bevel gear g, shaft h, worm screws i, i¹, and worm wheels k, k¹, as repre-
sented in the Drawings. It will be observed by the manner of working the
rollers b, b¹, that they revolve much slower than the rollers a, a¹, thereby giving
the two rollers in each pair a great differential motion; the rollers b, b', as before

page_text: stated, being made to revolve in the same direction as the rollers a, a¹. The rollers
may be driven by belts, frictional gearing, or by any other known means of driving
rollers for treating grain and middlings.
The rollers are supplied with an ordinary feeding hopper and regulating slides
'm, m³, and feed rollers n, n¹. The rollers b, 61, are adjusted to the rollers a, a¹, by
means of spiral springs and set screws, as represented in the Drawings, or any
other known means may be used for this purpose.
I claim the following advantages in treating grain by rotating the rollers in each
pair in the same direction.
1st. It is better adapted for the gradual reduction or granulation of grain, by
which the main object lies in the least possible production of flour and in the least
production of coarse sized semolina and middlings.
2nd. The grooves or corrugation on the surface of the rollers exert a cutting
action on the grain, and imparting but little pressure. The action of the grooves
on the grain will be more fully understood by reference to Fig. 3.
3rd. By the slow upward motion of one roller surface in each pair of rollers the
grain becomes equally distributed between the roller surfaces, and is broken in its
longitudinal axis, which is very important for the first reduction, whereby the
crease or grooves are opened without injury to the interior of the kernel, and the
dark dust and the germ which always remain in the crease and cannot all be
removed before the grinding, even by the best cleaning machinery, may be in this
way easily separated by passing the broken wheat through a wire reed or similar
appliance.
The grinding effect is more intense, and the grain can be reduced into good
semolina without great production of flour in a far quicker time than in other ways
used at present.
4th. By the peculiar shape of the grooves shown in Fig. 3 and the opposite
direction of the motion of the grinding surfaces of the rollers in each pair, the
sharpness of the grooves is more durable than in grooved rollers with the common
way heretofore of revolving the rollers in opposite directions.
5th. The action is more scraping than squeezing and tearing, and in consequence
a larger and cleaner bran can be produced.
6th. When used on smooth or finely grooved rollers the above way of rotating
the rollers is very efficient for the reduction of large middlings and the cleaning
of bran.
Having now described the nature of my said improvement, and manner of con-
structing and working the same, what I claim as my improvement, and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,-
Working or moving the two crushing, grinding, or cutting rollers in the same
pair in the same direction for treating grain and its parts in the manner and for the
purposes substantially as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord 1880.