IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING, CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen White, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Miller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING,
CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN."
Sealed the 30th November 1855, and dated the 22nd June 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen White at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
June 1855.
I, STEPHEN WHITE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Miller, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING,
CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in an apparatus for washing grain, constructed
as follows:-I take a case or tank filled with water to a given height; inside
this case is a perforated, curved, and inclined plate, and inside this plate an
archimedean screw; on portions of the screw I fit cups, forks, or agitators.
The operation is as follows:-Corn_or_other_grain requiring to be washed.and..
cleansed is introduced at the lowest part of the incline, the screw is made to
revolve, whereby the grain is carried up through the water, becomes well
turned over by the forks on the worm of the screw, is raised out of the water,
and finally removed from the screw when it has reached the upper part
thereof. It is then to be drained in any suitable manner, and next transferred
to a drying kiln.

page_text: My improvement in drying grain consists in fitting in a kiln ordinarily used
for such and similar drying purposes a shaft with arms or agitators fixed spirally
thereon, whereby the grain will be well agitated and ejected from a part of
the kiln opposite to that at which it entered.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Stephen White in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
WHITE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Miller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, 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 Stephen White, Her special licence that I, the said Stephen White, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Stephen
White, 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 expressed, 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 WASHING,
CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Stephen White, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the.said. Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, 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 Stephen- White, do hereby declare-the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, of an apparatus for washing and cleansing grain,
constructed as follows:-A, case or tank suitable for holding water or other
fluid has fitted within it a longitudinally inclined plate or trough, the trans-
verse section of which is of a curved form at its lower part. This plate or
trough is perforated, and has placed within it an archimedean screw, the axis

page_text: of which is supported in suitable bearings. Between the threads of the screw
are fitted forks and cups, or other suitable agitators, at convenient distances
apart. The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The case or tank is
supplied with water, and the grain to be washed and cleansed is introduced
into the plate or trough at its lower end, the water which passes through the
perforations of the latter mixing with the grain. The archimedean screw is
made to rotate by the application of any suitable motive power in any suitable
manner, and the grain is forced by it along the plate or trough, being turned
over and agitated in its passage by the forks and cups or other agitators
before mentioned. When the grain reaches the other end of the plate or
trough, it is delivered from the apparatus to be drained by any suitable
drainer.
My Invention consists, secondly, in employing in a kiln ordinarily used for
drying grain and other similar purposes a shaft with arms and rakes or other
suitable stirrers fixed thereon in spiral or inclined directions, or with a series
of arms placed above each other, each carrying rakes, whereby when the shaft
is made to rotate by the application of any suitable motive power in any suitable
manner, the grain will be well stirred and moved from the point of the kiln at
which it entered towards that at which it is to be delivered.
One form of my apparatus for washing and cleansing grain is represented
by Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 1 being a
plan, Figure 2 a sectional elevation, and Figure 3 a transverse section of the
same. A is the case or tank'; B, the perforated plate or trough fitted within
it; C, the archimedean screw placed within the plate or trough B; and D, D,
E, E, are respectively the forks and cups, fitted between the threads of the
screw C (shewn only in Figure 1); F, F, are the bearings in which the axis
of the screw C is supported; and G is a drum, round which passes a band or
strap which imparts rotary motion to the screw. The inclinations of the
screw C and the case or tank A, the pitch of the screw C, the number of the
forks D, D, and cups E, E, and the height of the water in the case or tank A,
may each and all be varied as circumstances may require.
One form of my apparatus for facilitating the drying of grain is represented
in Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 4 being a
sectional elevation, and Figure 5 a plan of the same; Figure 4ª is a sectional
elevation of a slight modification. A is the shaft, and B, B, are the arms or
series of arins with which it is fitted, and which have fixed upon them the
inclined stirrers and rakes C, C; D, D, are the bearings of the shaft A; and
E, F, are the bevilled wheels-by which rotary motion is communicated to the
shaft-A. The rakes and stirrers C, C, may be set in such manner as either

page_text: to force the grain outward from the shaft A, or to spread it out from the shaft,
and gather it in towards it alternately, as in Figure 4°.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment for the purpose of washing and cleansing grain of
an apparatus consisting of an archimedean screw, furnished with agitators
between its threads, and placed in a perforated plate or trough contained
within a case or tank supplied with water or other fluid, as herein-before
described.
And, second, the employment in a kiln for drying grain and similar pur-
poses of a shaft with arms and rakes and stirrers fixed thereon in inclined
directions, or a series of such arms carrying rakes in such manner that the
materials to be dried may be well stirred and moved towards the point at which
they are to be delivered from the kiln, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen White, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
STEPHEN WHITE. (L.S.)