Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Aug., 1887
Specification Accepted, 29th Nov.. 1887
I, ALEXANDER HENRY REED, of Suffolk House, Laurence Pountney Hill, Cannon
Street in the County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for reducing or pulverizing
cereals, ores etc., by which the grain or particles of ore or other material are reduced
by attrition upon each other, and it consists of certain novel features of construction
and combination of parts, fully pointed out in the following specification and claims,
and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,
Fig. 1 represents a part sectional side view of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a part sectional end view.
Fig. 3 is a section on the line a
fig. 2.
Figs. 4 and 5 are details which will be described hereinafter.
Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.
In this drawing, the letter A designates a table upon which are mounted three
independent metallic cases, B. C. D. provided with hoppers a a¹ a². In each of these
cases is journalled a shaft which carries a disk E and to which rotating motion is
imparted by means of the pulleys c, fig..2. Only one of these disks E is shown in
fig. 1, since the section is taken for convenience of illustration and for the purpose of
more fully showing the construction in different vertical planes. The disks E carry
four beaters d, the outer face of each of which is ratchet dressed, while the radial face is
smooth. The inner peripheries of the cases are dressed in the same manner as the
outer peripheries of the beaters, except that the angle of the dressing on the beaters is
the reverse of that on the inner peripheries of the casings.

page_text: When the disk E with each beater d is revolved at a high rate of speed it causes a
rotation of the air in the bottom of the case and also produces a reactionary effect
upon the belt of air lying between the path of revolution of the upper faces of the
beaters and the dressed surface of the inner periphery of the case.
The ratchet dressing on both the beaters and the inner surface of the case is not
intended for grinding but for the purpose of presenting a succession of abrupt surfaces,
radial to the circle in which the belt of air revolves, which serve, by the impinge-
ment of this belt of air upon them, to break it into whirlpools or eddies. These eddies
of air, while each revolves on its own axis, have also a path of revolution about a
fixed centre.
The material to be reduced is poured into the hopper a from which it passes into
the centre of the case B, on both sides of the disk E by means of the pipes e, fig. 2.
At the instant it enters the case it flies out in radial lines toward the periphery of
the case and is there caught up by the revolving belt of air eddies above described,
and each particle is then rapidly reduced to powder by the violent attrition of the
particles upon each other. The operation of the machine imparts to the particles a
tendency to discharge at right angles to the plane of revolution through the port
holes in the sides of the case, fig. 2.
The size of the particles will depend upon the length of time that they are subjected
to these air eddies and attrition in the case.
The port holes in the ends of the cases, which opens into chambers G are covered by
annular slides g having holes of a like size and number with those in the ends of the
case, and by moving each slide so as to partly close the port holes, the size of the
particles driven out of the portholes into the chamber G by the operation of the machine
can be easily controlled. The slides 9 are supported between the walls of the casings
and the annular chambers G as shown in fig. 2.
If desired only a section of the case ends may be provided with portholes covered
by slides of corresponding length, or the slides may be made in sections and operated
separately. The slides may also be dispensed with altogether, and portholes of different
sizes may be formed in the different cases. When this is done, the largest portholes
would be put into the first case, smaller ones in the second, and the smallest in the
last case of the series.
The annular slides may be operated in any convenient manner, but it is preferred
to use gear wheels fig. 1, carried by shafts, and meshing with a toothed section
on the slides g, see fig. 5. Upon each shaft is inserted a lever or finger m, fig. 1,
which also serves as an index and travels over a graduated are indicated on the outer
walls of the annular chambers G whereby the position of the rings relatively to the walls
having ports (fig. 4) is easily determined. It will be seen that by the adjustment of
these annular slides, the ports f, may be diminished in size, according to the circum-
stances of each case.
The particles, after leaving the case B, are carried by the annular chambers G and
tubes leading from said chambers to a bolting reel H, where the finer particles are
separated from the coarser, the latter dropping from the bolting reel into the path of
an elevator I which carries them up and discharges them into a pipe J leading into a
hopper on the case C. This is in all respects like case B except that the disk
carrying the beaters revolves at a somewhat greater speed. From this case the
material passes in a like manner to the elevator K by which it is carried through the
pipe L into the case D in which the disk revolves at a still greater speed. Another
elevator M is provided when it is desired to carry the particles into some other
machine.
When cereals, wheat for instance, are reduced by this machine, the passage of the
same through the various cases with disks running at increasing speeds will result
about as follows: the kernels upon being introduced into case B are broken into two
pieces and thoroughly scoured, the dirt being taken out of the crevices in the kernels,
and the fine "fuzz" on their ends removed. The portholes in this case are opened
wide to accomplish this. About two per cent of Hour is made which bolts with the
dirt and fuzz. The broken and cleaned kernels are then elevated by the elevator I

page_text: and discharged into the case C, the portholes therein being set closer than in
case B.
About 50% of middlings and about 5% of flour are made in case C and the flour
will be very fine, white, and good. This flour is bolted out, and what runs over the
end of the bolting reel, middlings and bran, is carried by conveyor K into case D.
The portholes in this are set closer still, and all that remains is reduced to flour and
fine iniddlings. 5% of flour is made which is bolted out. The bran and middlings
which are then left are bolted, the bran being separated from the middlings, and the
latter purified and are carried by the elevator M into another machine which com-
pletely reduces them to flour.
By the construction herein described, the amount of work required of each case
is accurately controlled, and the material which has passed through the first case has
the particles which are of the required fineness taken out or separated before passing
it into the next case, which it will enter clean and free from dust. The operation of
each case is independent of the others, and the particles sufficiently reduced by it,
are deposited in the bolting case and not passed through the next one.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:
1. The combination with a series of casings B CD, each having ports and
provided with semi-circular extensions W on their end covers, of annular slides y
having toothed sections L, and provided with openings which may be caused to
register with the ports, the gear wheels h mounted in the extensions of the casings,
and meshing with said toothed sections of the slides g and chambers G communi-
cating with the ports substantially as described.
2. The combination with the case B having ports in its end walls and provided
with an extension upon one side, of the disk E having beaters d, the annular plates g
having openings which may be made to register with the ports f, and provided with
a toothed section 1, the gears h mounted on a shaft lying in the extension of the
annular chambers G and meshing with said toothed section 1, and the index finger j,
mounted in the projecting end of the said shaft, a graduated are being provided on
the end of the casing B over which the end of the finger travels, substantially as
described.
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