AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RETARDING THE PROCESS OF DECAY IN FLOUR
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, of 16, Castle
Street, Holborn (City), London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RETARDING THE PROCESS OF DECAY IN FLOUR,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Edouard Loradoux
Bellford at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th May 1854.
I, AUGUSTE EDOUARD LORADOUX BELLFORD, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn
(City), London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RETARDING THE PROCESS OF DECAY IN FLOUR, MEAL,
GRAIN, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The nature of this Invention consists in removing the centre of the mass,
by placing therein an open tube or tubes, or by the employment of any sub-
stantially similar means, by which the mass is so distributed, that if decay
commences at any point, it must extend to a very great distance, in order to
affect any considerable portion of the mass.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste Edouard Loradoux, Bellford in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 10th November 1854:
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
EDOUARD LORADOUX BELLFORD, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, Her special licence that I, the said
Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, my execu-
tors, 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 of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RETARDING THE
PROCESS OF DECAY IN FLOUR, MEAL, GRAIN, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES,"
"a communication," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, 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 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 Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say:―
This Invention is based upon the theory that in vegetable substances which
contain only a small quantity of moisture the process of decay always or
almost invariably commences at the centre of a mass, and from thence extends
in all directions. It is well known to millers, and others engaged in the
manufacture, storage, or transportation of flour, meal, and grain, that in those
substances such is the case.;. the centre_being_frequently found soured and

page_text: heated highly, while those portions near the outside of the mass are uninjured.
It is also the case in hay, or other substances of a similar nature. In order
therefore to retard as much as possible the process, the nature of this Inven-
tion consists in removing the centre of the mass by placing therein an open
tube or tubes, or by the employment of any substantially similar means, by
which the mass is so distributed, that if decay commences at any point
it must extend to a very great distance in order to affect any considerable
portion of the mass, and therefore its progress must be very slow. By
thus removing the centre, the mass is also distributed in a body of less than
one-half the thickness it would otherwise be, and thus it is believed the
tendency to decay is in a great degree prevented. The accompanying
Drawing illustrates two of the modes of putting the Invention in practical
operation.
Fig. 1 is a section through the axis of a barrel of flour or meal; Fig. 2 is
an end view of the same.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a hay-stack; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of the
same.
Fig. 5 is a sectional plan of the centre, somewhat modified from Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a diagram, intended to assist in explaining the principle of the
Invention.
In Fig. 6, the outer circle a represents the outline of a mass of any substance,
and the inner circle 6, the opening made in the centre by the tube or other
means. It will be understood the centre of the mass will be anywhere midway
between the circles a and b, or in the circle c. The decay, commencing at any
point in the circle c, has to extend round its whole circumference in order to
affect the whole mass; and it is obvious that a much greater time will be
occupied in spreading round in that direction than in diverging in all directions
from the centre d; and that, in order to extend through the whole mass, as
when it commences in the centre, it must commence in several places at
once.
In Figs. 1 and 2, the sides of the barrel are indicated by A, A, the heads by
B, B, and the central tube by C. The barrel is constructed in the usual way,
except that a hole is made in each head to receive the tube. The tube is made
of thin sheet metal of any kind not liable to injurious corrosion, and is inserted
in the lower head of the barrel previous to filling it. The barrel is filled
around the tube and packed, and the top head is then put on over the
tube and made secure. The tube should be made to protrude so far through
each head as to enable its ends. to be opened, and turned over the outside of

page_text: the heads, to prevent its withdrawal. The contents of the barrel 'are thus con-
fined as effectually as when no tube C is used. The size of the tube will vary,
according to the liability to decay of the substance contained in the barrel, and
the length of time it is required to be kept therein. As Indian corn meal and
wheat flour are the two materials to whose preservation it is contemplated the
Invention will be most extensively applied, and as the Invention is more
particularly applicable to their transportation by sea, it may be well to give
such dimensions as it is considered desirable to use for voyages of different
length. In a barrel of wheat flour of the usual size, which contains about one
hundred and ninety-six (196) pounds, for a voyage of about one month or six
weeks average duration, a tube of two (2) inches diameter may be used; and
a tube of two and a half (2) inches will be sufficient for a six months voyage.
But in consequence of the greater liability of Indian meal to decay, it is
desirable that a tube of five (5) inches diameter be employed in a barrel of the
size above mentioned for the shorter, and one of seven (7) inches diameter for
the longer, of the two voyages. These data will serve as a guide to those persons
who are skilled in the transportation or storage of flour, meal, &c., and enable
them to judge of the necessary dimensions of the tubes under other circum-
stances. It may be well to observe, however, that the Invention is by no means
intended to be limited to the above sizes of the tubes, but that they may be varied
indefinitely, if required. It is advisable that if it is desired to make the barrels
_contain the same quantity as usual, the increase in their external dimensions
necessary to compensate for the space occupied by the tube should be made
lengthwise. In storing corn in bins or other receptacles, the same principle
may be adopted of placing a tube in the centre or any number of tubes.
It is believed that flower, meal, or grain packed or stored in this way will
seldom be required to be submitted to the kiln-drying process. In Figs.
3, 4, and 5, the opening D through the centre of the stack is formed by a series
of upright poles E, E, arranged in a circle, either close together, as represented
in Figs. 3 and 4, or at a distance apart, not too great, to enable them to hold
up the hay or the produce, and preserve the opening, as shown in Fig. 5. The
stack should have a space below it, as shown in Fig. 1, and the opening D
should be ventilated at the top. The size of the opening in a stack of the
usual proportionate height and horizontal area to contain ten (10) tons of hay
may be about four (4) feet, and for other stacks the opening may be larger
or smaller, according to the judgment of the farmer or other person having the
control over their construction.
I claim the within-described method of retarding and to a certain extent

page_text: preventing the process of decay in flour, meal, grain, hay, and other vegetable
substances, by means of one or more tubes or other open spaces extending
through the central portion of a mass thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
A. E. LORADOUX BELLFORD. (L.S.)