LAI AND MEANDUM OF ALTERATION
Year: 1879

page_text: DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION as proposed to be
entered by Samuel Sidney Chisholm of No 24 Mark Lane in the City of
London, pursuant to the Statutes in that case made and provided.
WHEREAS Her Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland bearing date
the Twenty-fifth day of July 1879 No. 3038 in the Forty-third year of Her
Reign did give and grant unto the said William Robert Lake his executors
administrators and assigns, the sole privilege for the term of fourteen years
thence next ensuing, of making using exercising and vending within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, the
said Invention of "IMPROVED METHODS OF AND MACHINERY FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER GRAIN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MIDDLINGS AND FLOUR a communi-
cation to him from Abroad by Jonathan Mills of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United
States of America.
ور
And whereas in pursuance of a proviso in the said Letters Patent contained,
the said William Robert Lake did within six calendar months next after the date
of the said Letters Patent cause a Specification or Instrument in writing under
his hand and seal, purporting to describe and ascertain the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, to be duly filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office.
And whereas the said Letters Patent were afterwards assigned to and became
and now are vested in me the said Samuel Sidney Chisholm.

page_text: And whereas since the filing of the said Specification I the said Samuel Sidney
Chisholm have ascertained that objections might be raised to claims therein made
for parts of the machinery and processes described on the ground of their not
having been new at the date of the said Letters Patent and I have no desire to
retain claims in respect of such parts.
And whereas I desire to render some parts of the description more clear.
I therefore by and with the leave of Her Majesty's Solicitor General, disclaim
alter and amend the said Specification as follows:-
«
"
Referring to the Queen's Printers' Copy of the said Specification At Page 9
Line 9 for "improved methods" I substitute "an improved method" At
Page 9 Lines 22 and 23 I omit "during which the integument of the berry or
bran is concerned in the treatment." At Page 9 Line 23 for "such" I substitute
"the" At Page 9 Line 26 I omit from "Thirdly " to end of Line 29.-In
Page 9 I omit Lines 40, 41 and 42.-At Page 9 Line 53 after "tramming" I
insert "or adjusting" In Page 10 I omit from Line 9 to Line 29 inclusive.-
At Page 10 Lines 30 and 31 I omit "the several machines and their mode of
operation in the order above given, that is to say, I will first proceed to describe."
At Page 11 Lines 35 and 36 for "may be " I substitute "are." At Page 11 Line 36 I
omit glass or other suitable substance. They require to be" At Page 11 Line 49
after "inches" I insert that is to say, the line of each furrow is tangential to a
central circle of about 3 inches radius." At Page 12 Line 1 after "upon " I insert
"and sloping down to." At Page 12 Line 29 for "altitude" I substitute " attitude."
At Page 12 Line 53 for "or" I substitute "nor At Page 13 Line 13 I omit
"single." At Page 13 Line 14 for "in" I substitute "the deepening of the bosom
and At Page 13 Line 28 I omit from "reduction machine." to the end of the
line. In Page 13 I omit lines 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34. At Page 13 Line 35 I
omit "cleaning by the other apparatus." In Page 13 I omit Line 43 and the
succeeding lines to the bottom of the Page. I omit Pages 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and in
Page 19 down to end of Line 49. At Page 19 Line 50 for "machinery" I substitute
"machines." At Page 19 Line 56 after "scalps" I insert or
*દ sifts." At Page 20
Line 16 for "goes to the bran machine and is " I substitute "may be." At Page 20
Line 17 for "thereby as described" I substitute "in any known manner as for
example" and for "being" I substitute "may be." At Page 20-Line 18 I omit
"therefrom." At Page 20 Line 19 I omit "goes." At Page 20 Line 20 for "the"
I substitute "a." At Page 20 Line 21 for " goes "I substitute " may go." In
Page 20 I omit Lines 23 and 24. In Page 20 at the end of Line 44 I omit "the."
At Page 20 Line 45 before "middlings" I insert "such and after "mill " I insert
as may be employed At Page 20 Line 47 I omit "of my system." At Page 20
Line 49 I omit all after "flour" to the end of Line 50. At Page 20 Line 53 before
the word "claim" I insert "make no general claim to the treatment of grain by
passing it between a pair of dises one of which revolves, nor to the construction
" of such discs with hollows in the middle and with inclined grooves and ribs at
"the circumference so shaped and arranged as to have a cutting or grinding action
on the grain, but I." At Page 20 Line 54 I omit the first claim Lines 54 to 57
inclusive. At Page 21 Line 1 I omit the second claim Lines 1 to 4 inclusive.
Page 21 Line 5 for "Third" I substitute "First." At Page 21 Line 9 for
"Fourth" I substitute " Second." At Page 21 Line 10 I omit "or equivalent
substance I omit from the beginning of line 13 Page 21 down to the end of the
Specification. I desire to have Figs 9 to 24 inclusive to be considered as erased
from the Drawings.
$5
<<
"
"
"
"
At
And the said Specification when so altered and amended will read as follows:-

page_text: reductions or products or the interior grain substance. The complete apparatus
embraces several distinct machines, either of which may he used independently of
the others for the special branch of reduction for which it is particularly intended;
but they may all with better effect be worked in connection with each other, and
with auxiliary devices now in use; to perform the complete reduction of the grain
and flour.
The special objects of the present invention are, first, to abstract the germ of the
wheat and the dirt accumulated in the crease of the berry as a first. step in the
process of reduction. Secondly to carry forward the several operations upon the
grain to the production of the intermediate or preliminary product called
middlings," without materially comminuting the integument or bran I thus to a
great extent prevent the mixture of the bran in fine particles with the reduced
interior substance of the grain, from which it is with difficulty, and can be only
partially separated.
<
The general purpose of making as large a portion as possible of the food substance
of the wheat into a high grade flour is kept constantly in view throughout.
The said improved apparatus comprises,
First. An apparatus for splitting the grain longitudinally through the crease
for the purpose of releasing the germ and the impurities that accumulate in such
crease. This apparatus is termed a degerminator.
Secondly. A machine by which the interior part or food substance of the grain
is granulated and detached from the bran. This I term a reduction machine. It
differs froin the degerminator only in a slight modification of the operative discs
employed as will be further hereinafter explained.
In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 to 8 illustrate the degerminator and
reduction machine, shewing the differences in the removable and interchangeable
parts by which the machine is adapted to the several operations of removing the
germ and of further reducing the grain.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the said machine, and
Figure 2 is a central vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 is a detail view shewing in central vertical section the operative
interior discs between which the grain is passed, the said discs having the
construction adapted to the degerminating process.
Figure 4 is a detail view partly in vertical section shewing the devices by which
the feed is regulated, and also those parts concerned in tramming or adjusting
the discs.
Figure 5 is a horizontal section of certain parts shewn in Figure 4.
Figure 6 represents a portion of one of the disc faces adapted to the reduction
process, shewing the extent and direction of the marginal corrugations and of
the leaders in the bosom of the disc.
Figure 7 is a view of a portion of the two operative discs drawn to an enlarged
scale, shewing them in two relative positions, and illustrating the action of their
corrugations upon the whole grain in splitting the berry longitudinally through
the crease.
Figure 8 is a central vertical section of the lower disc shewn in Figure 6.
I will describe the degerminator and reduction machine shewn in Figures 1 to 8,
in which A is a portable tripedal frame of metal supporting the horizontal bed
plate B, and adapted to be securely fastened to the floor. CC are arms extending
inward from the several uprights of the frame, and centrally connected together
to form a bridge tree for the lateral support of the vertically adjustable socket or
bridge-pot D, in which rests the foot of the spindle E. The upper end of the
spindle has lateral support in the deep bearing b, depending from the bed plate B.
The said spindle is provided at its upper end with a circular head G, either cast
solid with the spindle, or rigidly secured thereto, and carefully turned up or fitted
to run perfectly true with the spindle. To further secure perfect accuracy of
motion between the head G and the spindle E, the latter should be cast in an
upright position, that it may be of equal density across any transverse section, and

page_text: be therefore more likely to expand and contract equally by change of temperature.
The spindle is driven by a pulley P. L and U are two similar operative discs, the
proximate faces of which have the general sectional form and the relation shewn
in Figures 2 and 3. Their specific features of construction and the mode of their
operation will be hereinafter more fully explained. The lower disc L is firmly
secured on the circular head G by bolts n, n, or otherwise, and therefore rotates
with the spindle. The upper disc is similarly secured by bolts u, u, or other
adequate means to the cap-plate I, and is stationary. This cap-plate extends
downward around the discs forming a cylindrical curb or housing reaching to the
bed plate B. The said curb is held concentric with the bed plate B and the
spindle E by means of the annular vertical flange a cast on the upper face of the
bed plate, and carefully turned up to fit within the curb, as shewn in Figure 2.
The cap-plate and curb I, with the disc U secured thereto, have vertical
adjustment with reference to the bed plate B and lower disc by means of a suitable
number (say three or more) of screws K which work vertically in an outer marginal
flange of the bed plate B and directly support the cap-plate which rests upon thei
by a horizontal flange at the base of the curb, as more clearly shewn in Figure 4.
The cap-plate is held down upon these screws K by means of clamp bolts O also
threaded into the bed-plate and passing through the horizontal flange of the curb.
Between the head of the bolts O and the curb flange are interposed the elastic
washers R, which while holding the curb down upon the bolts K with sufficient
firmness still yield to permit any hard foreign substance which may have been
accidentally admitted between the discs to escape without breaking the machine.
In the curb L are three doors J which give access to the interior of the curb for
the purpose of observing the discs in "tramming" and at other times.
Through a central opening in the cap-plate I and through the upper disc U
descends the tube N connected to the hopper H. This tube may be lowered or
raised by a screw connection with the neck f of the cap-plate in such manner as to
leave any desired space between the bottom of the tube and the lower disc L, and
thus regulate the rapidity of the feed from the hopper to the space between the
discs. For the purpose of holding the tube in place at any desired point above the
disc L, I employ rubber buttons which as shewn in Figures 4 and 5, are set in the
neck and bear outwardly by their elastic force against the sleeve M, which is rigidly
connected with the tube N and hopper H. The screw device is shewn in the said
Figures as consisting of the spiral grooves 8 formed in the neck f and the pin p.
Figure 4, which projects from the inner face of the sleeve M into said groove.
In Figure 2 the grooves are shewn in the inner surface of the neck f, and the pins
project from the tube N.
In the operation of the mill the grain is fed through the tube N directly between
the discs at the centre as described, and after being operated upon escapes from the
curb through the spout S. An annular flange c formed on the bed-piece B, and
rising into the corresponding groove d in the head G, excludes the product of the
discs from the spindle bearing. The spindle is raised and lowered at will by means
of the lighter-bar Qlinked to one of the arms C by the link and operated by the
screw V having the hand wheel W.
Having thus set forth the general_construction and operation common to the
degerminator and reduction machine I will now proceed to complete the description
of the discs U and L thereof and to point out their specific action upon the grain,
whereby the distinctive objects of the machine are attained. The said discs are
made of metal, hard and of a close texture so as to be capable of receiving a fine
smooth surface or polish on their working faces. I prefer to make them of
hardened steel or of chilled iron. In size they are, say, sixteen inches in diameter
and two inches thick. The working face of each disc is in a plane from the
periphery inward, say one inch and a half, at which point it sinks by an easy
incline extending inward about an inch, and downward in the degerminator to the
depth of about 5/8 of an inch.
The central portion of the disc therefore presents a depressed bosom of such

page_text: 59
depth, that when the two like discs of the degerminator are placed in proper
working relation to each other there is a central space between them of sufficient
depth to allow the grain to pass outward toward the periphery in a horizontal
position, but not sufficient to allow it to "end up." The raised skirt of each disc
is divided by furrows into corrugations or ribs m directed preferably on a draft of
about three (3) inches, that is to say the line of each furrow is tangential to a
central circle of about 3 inches radius. The ribs are each about 5%, of an inch in
width at the periphery of the disc, and are, say 1/16 to 3% of an inch high. The
summits of the ribs are rounded off into the furrow on either side so as to present
the sectional contour shewn on an elarged scale in Figure 7. The difference
between the degerminator and the reduction machine relates wholly to the length
of the furrows between the ribs m and to the depth of the central depression or
bosom of the discs. In the former the lower line of the furrows is substantially
straight, terminating in or above the plane of the bosom as indicated in Figure 3.
In the latter the furrows are extended inward about an inch farther, reaching in
upon and sloping down to the bosom of the disc as seen in Figure 8 The bosom
of the disc in the reduction machine is also depressed somewhat more than in the
degerminator, having a depth from one eighth (/) to a quarter (/) of an inch
increasing slightly toward the centre. The effect of thus extending the furrows
and increasing the bosom depression in the reduction machine is to increase the
rapidity of delivery of the grain between the ribs m to an extent practicable in the
operation of general reduction, but not desirable in the operation of degerminating.
Six or eight (more or less) of the marginal furrows, both in the degerminator and
in the reduction discs, are extended inward in the face of the bosom being both
widened and deepened as they advance, as shewn at t in Figure 6. These extended
furrows act as leaders or "drifts" and terminate about the draft circle as also
shewn in Figure 6. For the purposes hereinafter more fully explained the entire
surface of the disc faces, including the ribs m and the furrows, are polished or
made as smooth as possible, and all salient angles whatever are rounded away.
Preparatory to the operation of degerminating wheat by the apparatus described,
having the appropriate discs for the purpose the grain to be treated is "sized" by
any suitable appliance for the purpose, and the upper disc is "trammed" or set
perfectly parallel with the lower one and secured by means of the screw K and
clamp bolts O.
The discs are set at a proper distance apart for the particular size of grain to be
operated upon by turning the hand wheel W. Such proper distance will be
usually a little more than half the thickness of the berry, varying somewhat with
the kind and condition of the grain as the operator or attendant may think fit.
The "tramming" disc L should have a speed of about 500 to 700 revolutions per
minute imparted to it, and thus have a peripheral velocity of about 2000 to 3000
feet per minute.
The grain fed upon the lower disc through the tube N gradually acquires a
centrifugal movement which soon carries it into the marginal furrows, the
horizontal attitude of the grain being still maintained. Owing to the speed and
smoothness of the rib surfaces the grain is made to rise the easy incline of the
furrow and is brought into the narrow space between opposite ribs. If not already
lying on its creased side when it enters the furrow the berry seems almost
invariably to assume this position, and also to lie with its axis in the direction of
the ribs.
It will be understood that the pressure will naturally be applied to the kernel
in this position, for the line through the crease being the line of shortest diameter
in the kernel the berry will be likely to rotate until this line is found. Once
found the berry cannot further rotate under pressure between the smooth surfaces
but slips or slides upon one of them. It is also plain that pressure so applied by
smooth convex surfaces will easily produce the effect sought and attained, namely,
to split the berry longitudinally through the crease. For in such position of the
berry the pressure on one side is at a single point centrally opposite the crease,

page_text: while on the other it is at two points separated by the crease.
In the absence of
any hold or footing of the latter or separated points upon the smooth surface of the
rib these points will readily slip and spread resulting in the separation of the lobes
as desired and illustrated in Fig 7.
The result of so splitting the grain is to expose the germ which as well known
lies between the lobes at the base of the berry. As the germ is held to the body
of the kernel by only slight attachment it is often released and falls out as soon
as the lobes are sufficiently separated to allow it to escape; but in order to secure
its more general removal I prefer to wholly divide the grains into halves, so that
any germs disposed to still adhere in place may be rubbed off in the further
agitation before escaping from the machine or in the next following operations of
screening. It is evident that neither in the gliding movement of the grain upon
the disc surface nor in the pressing action by which the berry is split can there
be any material comminution of the bran. As soon as the berry is split it is
promptly discharged from the machine without furthur pressure.
The product of the degerminating machine is made up of half kernels of
wheat germs and impurities dislodged from the crease, and a small per centage of
coarse middlings and flour inevitably detached in splitting the grain.
This product may be separated by any suitable screen, but I prefer to use a short
reel, say 6 to 10 feet long, covered with wire cloth of from 16 to 24 meshes to the
inch. Both these numbers may be advantageously used in the saine reel, half of
the reel at the head being clothed with the #24, and the remainder or tail with
the #16.
By reason of the wide difference in size between the half kernels and the germs
their separation may be made very easy and complete so that the germ is in this
manner and at this stage of reduction of the grain more readily and more entirely
excluded from the later and ultimate products than is possible in those methods of
separation which follow the reduction of the grain and germ together.
The difference between the degerminator and the reduction machine having
been stated to be the deepening of the bosom and the inward prolongation of the
marginal disc furrows, and said difference having been fully described, it is
unnecessary to separately describe the reduction machine at length For the
operation of reducing the grain after its degermination the discs are set closer
together to each other than in splitting the grain, the object being in the reducing
process to do what in degerminating it is desirable to avoid, namely, crush the
grain in order to break down its interior structure and dislodge the interior
substance in the granular form of "middlings."
The process of reducing grain by the discs described from half kernels to the
middlings flour, and bran is performed by a succession of passages through the
machine, varying in number from 3 to 5 according to the condition of the grain.
In each succeeding operation the discs are set closer than in the preceding, but not
so close in the last as the thickness of the bran.
The granules of food substance are thus detached in a space not narrow enough
to flatten or pulverize them, and as a consequence very little flour is made in the
several operations of the reduction machine. It is evident from the description
given of the disc surfaces employed in the degerminator and the reduction machine,
first, that from their smoothness there can be no grating off of the bran substances;
and, secondly from the shortness of the marginal ribs or ridges, the narrowness of
their suminits as shewn and the distance between the ribs of opposite discs, there
can be no long continued pressure, no undue heating, and little pulverization of
any portion of the product.
As a consequence the middlings and flour produced are clean, white, and pure.
In the practice of a system of gradual reduction by means of the machines above
described the wheat is first graded into two or more sizes and each size is separately
passed through a degerminator specially set for the size of wheat to be split.
The entire product of all the degerminators used upon the several sizes of grain
is sent to a single reel, clothed as herein before described, that is, with 16 to 24

page_text: mesh wire cloth at the tail and head respectively, which "scalps" or sifts out the
flour, germs, middlings, and impurities, and passes the half-kernels over the tail.
The operation thus performed by the degerminator I call the first reduction; the
products are a small percentage of "low-grade" flour, the same of middlings, very
nearly all the germs of the wheat and the separated half-kernels. The split wheat
principally in the form of half-kernels, is next passed through one reduction
machine and the product is again bolted through a reel similar to the first.
The products of this second reduction are flour, middlings and fragments of
grain partially reduced with a very small percentage of detached germs not
previously removed.
The third and fourth reductions are precisely like the second, the reduction
machine being set closer for each reduction than for the one preceding and the
bolting reels being the same. The fifth reduction is also like the preceding but
the reducing machine used in this operation is followed by a reel with No 20 to
No. 24 or No 30 cloth.
On soft wheat it may be found desirable to increase the length of the reel on
the products of the fourth and fifth reductions.
The tailings or bran from the fifth reel may be operated on in any known
manner, as for example the product in the case of hard or spring wheat may be
sent to a reel clothed with wire cloth of No 30 to No 40 and the bran from this
reel to a brush brau-duster of any preferred kind. In the case of soft wheat two
operations of a bran machine thereon may be necessary each followed by a reel of
the kind just mentioned, and the bran then may go to a duster for final finish.
The management of the several products so far produced will now be explained.
All the flour germs and middlings obtained as set forth from the 1st, 2nd (and
in case the wheat is poor, also from the 3rd) reduction is sent to a bolting reel
18 to 20 feet long, covered at the head and for about 5/ths of its length with fine-
cloth, and the remainder with two or three increasingly coarser numbers.
The head of the reel will dust through the fine flour and dirt, and the coarser
numbers running to No 000 or even No 0000 at the tail of the reel will take out
the several corresponding grades of middlings. The flour obtained from this reel
is of "low grade," and should be packed as such. The middlings go to the purifiers
except the coarser grades, which will contain a few germs. The latter grades with
or without aspiration are sent to suitable rolls for the purpose of flattening the
germs preliminary to their removal by bolting; the flour from the rolls will go
into the best grade or grades produced by the wheat.
The flour and middlings from the 3rd reduction, when the wheat is of good
quality, and from the 4th and 5th reductions, is all sent to a reel or bolt of reels
having suitable grades of cloth. The flour obtained is considered a first quality of
first wheat flour," and should be so packed. The middlings go to the purifier
and thence to the middlings mill, as do also the finer grades of middlings from the
1st, 2nd and 3rd reductions.
"
or
A
In the reduction of the middlings and in the management of the products of the
such middlings mill as may be employed any discriminations as to quality may
be pursued according to the pleasure of the miller or the grade of final product
required.
As a general result the "low-grade" flour is taken from the 1st, 2nd (and also
sometimes also from the 3rd) reductions, and a portion that comes from cleaning
the bran; the remainder is first class flour.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I make no general claim to the treatment of grain by passing it between a
pair of discs one of which revolves, nor to the construction of such discs with
bollows in the middle and with inclined grooves and ribs at the circumference so

page_text: shaped and arranged as to have a cutting or grinding action on the grain, but
I claim :-
First. The method or process of gradually reducing wheat by first splitting the
grain longitudinally through the crease, for the purpose of exposing and releasing
the germs and subsequently reducing the halved kernels to middlings, flour, and
bran, substantially as herein described.
Second. In a machine for splitting or reducing wheat the discs U and L of hard
metal, each provided with the marginal ribs m raised above the central portion of
the disc face and rounded and smoothed, substantially as described and for the
purpose specified.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
W ROBT LAKE (L.S.)
Notice of the application for leave to file this Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration having been advertized in accordance with my direction:
I hereby grant my Fiat giving leave to the within named Samuel Sidney
Chisholm (the Assignee and now legal and equitable owner of the said Letters
Patent) to file in the Office of the Commissioners of Patents with the Specification
to which the same relates the above written Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration.
Dated this twenty first day of November 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, &
Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED METHODS OF AND MACHINERY FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER
GRAIN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MIDDLINGS AND FLOUR." A communication
from abroad by Jonathan Mills, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of
America.
Sealed the 7th October 1879, and dated the 25th July 1879.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th July 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE,, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED METHODS OF AND MACHINERY FOR
TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MIDDLINGS AND
FLOUR." [A communication from abroad by Jonathan Mills, of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to methods of and apparatus for the gradual reduction of
wheat to middlings and flour in accordance with the approved modern practice, in
which it is sought to constantly preserve a granular form in the several reductions
or products of the interior grain substance.
The special objects of the present Invention are:-First, to abstract the germ of
the wheat and the dirt accumulated in the crease of the berry as a first step in the
process of reduction; secondly, to carry forward the several operations upon the
grain to the production of the intermediate or preliminary product called
middlings," during which the integument of the berry or bran is concerned in
the treatment without materially comminuting such integument or bran.
I thus to a great extent prevent the mixture of the bran in fine particles with the
reduced interior substance of the grain, from which it is with difficulty and can be
only partially separated; thirdly, to perform the later or concluding reductions, or in
other words to reduce the middlings to flour without injuring the same by over-
heating any portion of the product, and in such manner as to give the flour a
granular form.

page_text: The general purpose of making as large a portion as possible of the food
substance of the wheat into high grade flour is kept constantly in view throughout.
The said improved apparatus comprises,―
First. An apparatus for splitting the grain longitudinally through the crease for
the purpose of releasing the germ and the impurities that accumulate in such
crease this apparatus is a degerminator.
Secondly. A machine by which the interior part or food substance of the grain is
granulated and detached from the bran; this is a reduction machine. It differs
from the degerminator only in a slight modification of the operative discs
employed, as will be further hereinafter explained.
Thirdly. A machine for detaching middlings and flour still adhering to the bran
after it has left the reduction machine, and called a bran machine. Finally, a
machine for reducing middlings to flour, namely, a middlings mill.
The degerminator and reduction machines are constructed as follows, that is to
say, I provide a portable tripedal frame of metal supporting a horizontal bed plate,
and adapted to be securely fastened to the floor; arms extend inward from the
several uprights of the frame, and are centrally connected together to form a
bridge-tree for the lateral support of a vertically adjustable socket or bridge-pot in
which rests the foot of a spindle. The upper end of the spindle has lateral support in
a deep bearing depending from the bed-plate. Said spindle is provided at its upper
end with a circular head either cast solid with the spindle, or rigidly secured
thereto and carefully turned up, or fitted to run perfectly true with the spindle.
To further secure perfect accuracy of motion between a circular head and the
aforesaid spindle the latter should be cast in an upright position that it may be of
equal density across any transverse section, and be therefore more likely to expand
and contract equally by change of temperature. The spindle is driven by a pulley ;
I provide two similar operative discs, the lower one of which is firmly secured on
the circular head by bolts, or otherwise, and therefore rotates with the spindle.
The upper disc is similarly secured by bolts or other adequate means to the cap-
plate, and is stationary. The cap-plate extends downward about the discs forming
a cylindric curb or housing reaching to the bed-plate. Said curb is held concentric
with the bed-plate and the spindle by means of an annular vertical flange cast on
the upper face of the bed-plate, and carefully turned up to fit within the curb.
The said cap-plate and curb with the upper disc secured thereto has vertical
adjustment with reference to the bed-plate and lower disc by means of a suitable
number, say three or more, of screws which work vertically in an outer marginal
flange of the bed-plate, and directly support the cap-plate which rests upon them
by a horizontal flange at the base of the curb. The cap plate is held down upon
these screws by means of clamp bolts also threaded into the bed-plate, and passing
through the horizontal flange of the curb. Between the head of the bolts and the
curb-flange are interposed elastic washers, which while holding the curb down upon
the bolts with sufficient firmness still yield to permit any hard foreign substance
which may have been accidentally admitted between the discs to escape without
breaking the machine.
On three sides of the curb there are doors, which give access to the interior of
the curb for the purpose of observing the discs in tramming and at other times.
Through a central opening in the cap-plate and through the upper disc descends
a tube connected to a hopper. This tube may be lowered or raised by a screw
connection with the neck of the cap-plate in such manner as to open any desired
space between the bottom of the tube and the lower disc, and thus regulate the
rapidity of the feed from the hopper to the space between the discs. For the
purpose of holding the tube in place at any desired point above the lower disc
I employ india-rubber buttons, which are set in the said neck and bear outwardly
by their elastic force against a sleeve, which is rigidly connected with the tube and
hopper.
The aforesaid discs may be made of metal, glass, or of other substance. They
require to be hard and of a close texture, so as to be capable of receiving a fine

page_text: smooth surface or polish on their working faces; I prefer to make them of
hardened steel or of chilled iron. In size they are say 16 inches in diameter, and
2 inches thick. The working face of each disc is in a plane from the periphery
inward, say one inch and a half, at which point it sinks by an easy incline
extending inward about an inch, and downward in the degerminator to the depth
of about 3ds of an inch.
The central portion of the disc therefore presents a depressed bosom of such
depth that when the two like discs of the degerminator are placed in proper
working relation to each other there is a central space between them of sufficient
depth to allow the grain to pass outward toward the periphery in a horizontal
position, but not sufficient to allow it to "end up." The raised skirt of each disc is
divided by furrows into corrugations or ribs, directed preferably on a draft of about
three (3) inches. The ribs are each about five eighths of an inch in width at the
periphery of the disc, and are say 1/18 to ³ds of an inch high. The summits of the
ribs are rounded off into the furrow on either side. The difference between
the degerminator and the reduction machine relates wholly to the length of the
furrows between the ribs and to the depth of the central depression or bosom of
the discs. In the former the lower line of the furrows is substantially straight,
terminating in or above the plane of the bosom. In the latter the furrows are
extended inward about an inch farther reaching in upon the bosom of the disc.
The bosom of the disc in the reduction machine is also depressed somewhat more
than in the degerminator, having a depth from one eighth (1%) to a quarter (/) of
an inch, increasing slightly toward the centre. The effect of thus extending the
furrows and increasing the bosom depression in the reduction machine is to
increase the rapidity of delivery of the grain between the ribs to an extent
practicable in the operation of general reduction, but not desirable in operation of
degerminating. Six or eight, more or less, of the marginal furrows both in the
degerminator and in the reduction discs are extended inward in the face of the
bosom, being both widened and deepened as they advance. These extended
furrows act as leaders or "drifts," and terminate about the draft circle. The entire
surface of the disc faces including the ribs and the furrows are polished or made as
smooth as possible, and all salient angles whatever are rounded away. Preparatory
to the operation of degerminating wheat by the apparatus described, having the
appropriate discs for the purpose, the grain to be treated is "sized" by any suitable
appliance for the purpose. The upper disc is trammed or set perfectly parallel with
the lower one, and secured by means of the screws and clamp bolts.
The discs are set at a proper distance apart for the particular size of grain to be
operated upon by turning a hand-wheel; such proper distance will be usually a
little more than half the thickness of the berry, varying somewhat with the kind
and condition of the grain, as will be noted by the operator. The tramming disc
should be given a speed of about 500 to 700 rotatious per minute, and thus have a
peripheral velocity of about 2000 to 3000 feet per minute.
The grain fed upon the lower disc through the tube gradually acquires a
centrifugal movement which soon carries it into the marginal furrows, the horizontal
attitude of the grains being still maintained.
The result of splitting the grain is to expose the germ, which as well known lies
between the lobes at the base of the berry; as the germ is held to the body of the
kernel by only slight attachment it is often released and falls out as soon as the
lobes are sufficiently separated to allow it to escape; but in order to secure its more
general removal, I prefer to wholly divide the grains into halves, so that any germs
disposed to still adhere in place may be rubbed off in the further agitation before
escaping from the machine, or in the next following operations of screening. It is
evident that neither in the gliding movement of the grain upon the disc surface nor
in the pressing action by which the berry is split can there be any material com-
minution of the bran; as soon as the berry is split it is promptly discharged from
the machine without further pressure.
The product of the degerminating machine is made up of half kernels of wheat,

page_text: germs and impurities dislodged from the crease, and a small per centage each of course
middlings and flour inevitably detached in splitting the grain. This product may
be separated by any suitable screen, but I prefer to use a short reel, say 6 to 10 feet
long, covered with wire cloth of from 16 to 24 meshes to the inch. Both these
numbers may be advantageously used in the same reel, half of the reel at the head
being clothed with the #24, and the remainder or tail with the #16.
By reason of the wide diference in size between the half kernels and the germs
their separation may be made very easy and complete, so that the germ is in this
manner and at this stage of reduction of the grain, more readily and more entirely
excluded from the later and ultimate products than is possible in those methods
of separation which follow the reduction of the grain and germ together.
The single difference between the degerminator and the reduction machine having
been stated to be in the inward prolongation of the marginal disc furrows, and said
difference having been fully described, it is unnecessary to separately describe the
reduction machine at length. For the operation of reducing the grain after its deger-
mination the discs are set closer to each other than in splitting the grain, the object
being in the reducing process to do, what in degerminating it is desirable to avoid,
namely, crush the grain in order to break down its interior structure and dislodge
the interior substance in the granular form of "middlings."
The process of reducing grain by the discs described from half kernels to
middlings, flour, and bran is performed by a succession of passages through the
machine, varying in number from 3 to 5, according to the condition of the grain.
In each succeeding operation the discs are set closer than in the preceding, but not
so close in the last as the thickness of the bran. The granules of food substance
are thus detached in a space not narrow enough to flatten or pulverize them, and
as a consequence very little flour is made in the several operations of the reduction
machine. When the bran machine, to be hereinafter described, is used in connection
with the reduction machine it is not necessary to attempt the complete removal of
the middlings from the bran by the latter, said bran machine being better adapted
by peculiarities of construction to operate on bran sheets than the apparatus described,
and in doing so to produce more middlings and less flour from the material adhering
to the bran. I therefore prefer to leave the bran "rich" as it comes from the
reduction machine, and to complete the operation of cleaning by the other
apparatus.
The bran machine is intended to detach the middlings and flour which still
adheres to the integument of the grain after it has passed through the several
reduction machines. While the grain fragments retain any considerable body of
the interior grain substance upon the bran, or while in other words they have such
thickness as makes the detachment of the flour substance practicable by a crushing
action, the reduction machine described may be advantageously used thereon. But
when the bran has been nearly denuded and is flattened out into sheets by successive
crushings the remaining food substance may be detached more perfectly and in
better condition or more largely in granular form by rubbing the bran flakes upon
each other in a mass, and thus rolling the adhering flour and middlings there-
from.
For this purpose my improved bran machine is constructed as follows, that is to
say I provide a tripedal portable frame having a bridge-tree formed of converging
arms from uprights centrally supporting a bridge-pot, in which rests another bridge-
pot supporting the foot of a spindle. I also provide parallel horizontal circular
plates separated by a cylindric-curb, upon which they are clamped by bolts which
pass through marginal flanges outside the curb. The circular plates and the curb
thus inclose a shallow cylindric chamber, say 30 inches wide and 5 inches high, com-
municating by a central opening at the top with a hopper, and provided with a
marginal delivery spout. There is a deep bearing box or bush secured centrally
to one plate, properly babbitted and provided with a gib and gib-screw for the
lateral support of the spindle at its upper end. Against the lower end the hub of

page_text: a pulley bears to prevent upward movement of the spindle, said pulley being secured
to the spindle after the latter has been properly adjusted vertically by means of the
spanner-nut threaded upon the bridge-tree, and supporting the last named bridge-pot.
The spindle projects above the bearing, and at its upper end receives the hub secured
thereto in any suitable manner to rotate with the spindle. In that form of the
machine now being described the hub is provided with flat arms, which extend
nearly to the curb, and lie and rotate in a plane midway between the circular plates.
Both above and below the said arms the hub is provided with vertical rings which
are excentric to the hub, and sweep backward toward their extremities, having
reference to the direction of motion of the arms.
On the inner faces of the stationary plates pins are fixed and arranged in con-
centric circles about one and one half (11/2) inches apart, each circle of the upper
plate being directly opposite or above a circle of the lower plate. All the pins of
these circles, except those of the innermost circle, are about 1/4 inch in diameter,
and are set at from 1/18 of an inch apart in the outer circle to, say, 3/16 of an inch
apart in the second circle from the centre. In the first or innermost circle of each
plate the pins are about 3/ths of an inch in diameter, and are set about 1/th of an
inch apart. These distances or proportions may be varied some what at pleasure.
These circles of pins form stationary concentric annular partitions, having numerous
narrow vertical slots. Between the upper and lower circles or partitions only
sufficient space is left to permit the arms to freely pass. In said arms, curved
obliquely, transverse rows of pins are securely set, protruding an equal distance
above and below the arms, and so far as to only freely escape the plates. The pins
in these rows are, say, ½ of an inch in diameter, and are set about 1/8 of an inch
apart in each row. The rows themselves form oblique curved slotted wings upon
the arms. The arms are connected by curved bars of equal thickness with said arms,
and arranged to pass in the rotation of the arms between opposite circles of pins.
These bars have slots or passages between them and between the arms through
which the bran may pass from the upper compartment of the chamber to the lower,
but they prevent the passage of any portion of the bran through the machine without
being acted upon. The inner surface of the curb has the vertical ribs or corruga-
tions, near which pass the outer rows of pins on the extremities of the arms.
The wings upon the arms may, if desired, be made solid and cast upon the arms;
they may also be made either ribbed or smooth, but I prefer to make them as
described, using for them and the fixed pins tough steel that will not easily break
or bend, and that has or soon acquires a fine surface not calculated to abrade the
bran. Practically the machine described is duplex, each compartment partially
separated from the other by the connected arms having the same number and the
same arrangement of intercurrent fixed partitions and moving wings.
I may construct a machine in which the axis of the rotating parts is horizontal
and in which the separation of the compartiments is made more complete by sub-
stituting a continuous disc for the bar connected arms, and providing a separate
inlet and outlet for each of the compartments. Opposite the edge of the disc an
annular rib is cast on the inner face of the curb, with which rib the disc edge may
be turned up to run as closely as desired. The capacity of the machine in either
form is very great, and an advantage in the form last mentioned is found in being
able by a single machine to operate on two qualities or conditions of material
simultaneously, and at the same time to keep them separate. I prefer to make the
plates wholly separate from the supporting frame in the second form for conveni-
ence in construction, shipment, and repair. For the purpose of insuring perfectly
true movement in the working parts I make the bearings long, and support them
by brackets cast or secured upon the plates, thus making the action wholly indepen-
dent of the supporting frame. The plates and curb being first connected by the
bolts the whole is secured to the frame, which is properly formed to receive it by
the bolts.. The shaft is held from lateral movement by shoulders at the inner ends
of the bearings, and is driven by a pulley.

page_text: "
The hopper for each compartment is preferably cast upon the adjacent plate,
and a suitable orifice is left in the plate for the admission of the bran about the
shaft.
The various products having been properly separated and graded the middlings
are reduced to flour. In my improved apparatus for this purpose, namely, the
middlings mill," the object sought is to obtain accurate and steady movement of
the runner with reference to the stationary stone, and particularly to avoid the "end
shake" of the runner, which produces a pounding action upon the middlings. The
effects of such pounding action common in most middling mills are to destroy in some
measure the granular character of the flour, and to impart a dead pasty quality thereto.
My improved mill belongs to the class of "stiff-underrunners," and the improve-
ments relate mainly to the manner in which the under-runner is mounted for the
purpose above set forth.
These improvements consist generally in a stationary spindle supported at
the bottom and at the top upon which the runner revolves, said runner being
provided with a long hub or sleeve cast solid with the bed of the stone, which sleeve
has extended bearing upon the stationary spindle. By this means the utmost
rigidity may be given to the spindle, the friction surface is reduced to a minimum,
and no oil bearing of the spindle is located above the runner.
In combination with the fixed spindle devices are employed whereby the runner
is positively deprived of "end shake" while permitted free movement in its proper
plane. I also use devices by which the upper stone is suspended instead of sup-
ported, and various other improvements.
stone.
In constructing the said improved middlings mill I provide a cast iron frame,
immediately supporting the bed plate, which in turn supports a cylindric cap plate,
that with its top or horizontal portion forms a housing for the stones. The upper or
stationary stone is suspended from the cap plate by means of three equidistant screws
operated by hand wheels which bear upon the cap plate. For this purpose a strong
cast iron double-flanged rim is securely fastened to the stone by means of screws which
pass through the vertical flange into the upper band, which is tightly shrunk upon the
On the under face of the rim at points beneath the screws are square recesses,
which receive nuts, the bottom of the recesses being countersunk, and the top of
the nuts being correspondingly rounded, so that the latter will accurately draw to
the line of the screw. Beneath each screw the stone is cut away before the rim
is applied to form the recess to accommodate the nut and protruding screw, and
within this recess is set a horizontal plate to support the nut in position to receive
the screw. The cap plate is chambered to receive a rubber or other suitable
cushion which surrounds the screw, and bears upon the rim and upon the. inner
face of the cap-plate or roof of the chamber. The metal of the cap-plate is also
extended to form a long bearing about the screw shaft and within the cushion for
the purpose of holding the stone by said screws more fixedly in place.
By means of these devices the upper stone may be accurately trammed, and is
adopted to yield to any hard foreign substance that may be accidentally admitted
between the stones.
The lower stone or runner is set in a strong circular cast iron bed, provided with
a marginal vertical flange which closely embraces the stone, and through which
screws pass into the shrunk band to firmly secure the stone upon the bed.
The said bed is also provided with a central hub which rises to or slightly
above the top of the stone, and extends downward to receive the driving pulley
located beneath the bed-plate. This extended hub has a central vertical aperture
through which rises the fixed spindle. This spindle or shaft sits deeply into a
bridge-pot which has a vertical movement through a bridge-tree by which it is
laterally held firmly in position. The spindle is keyed in its socket in the bridge-
pot by a pin, and is perfectly controlled in its vertical movement by a lighter-bar.
For the purpose of giving such control of the spindle through the lighter-bar, a
lighter-screw works in a long sleeve nut and has a head which is closely embraced
between the bed-plate and the horizontal flange of the cap-plate by which the

page_text: latter is secured to said bed-plate. Moreover all of the joints by which the lighter-
bar is connected to the screw, the bridge-pot and the frame are made so close as to
have no lost motion. The operation of a hand wheel which is provided therefore
positively raises or lowers the spindle as may be required.
The upper end of the fixed spindle is laterally supported with equal care and
firmness by means of a sleeve connected with the cap-plate by three or more arms
located in the hopper space; said cap-plate, arms, and sleeve are preferably cast in
a single piece.
Within the fixed sleeve and around the spindle closely fits a sleeve contracted
and threaded at the top to fit a screw cut on the upper protruding end of the
spindle or shaft. This sleeve bears upon the circular plate which is secured to
and rotates with the runner hub. A cap-nut follows the threaded sleeve upon the
Bcrew and operates as a set or jam nut.
The said runner hub or sleeve is provided at its lower extremity with a foot-
piece screwed or otherwise firmly secured thereto. This foot-piece rests upon an
adjustable annular step. I provide a strong flat bar thrust through a slot cut in
the spindle and poised to oscillate therein upon the pin which passes through the
spindle in the opposite direction and beneath it. The step-ring is similarly poised
on the rounded projecting ends of the flat bar. The ring being fitted loosely over
the spindle has thus by a double oscillating movement upon its supports perfect
adjustment to the foot piece.
The spindle being rigidly held at its lower extremity by the pin, and the lighter-
bar being controlled by the devices described, it is evident that by means of the
threaded sleeve the hub may be positively restrained from all vertical motion, and
the runner confined to a purely horizontal movement without "end-shake" or tremble
out of its proper plane. It is not intended to clamp the hub tightly under the
sleeve, but only to set the latter down in contact with the plate which is sufficient
for the object sought. The lower gib-set bears centrally upon the gib and passes
through the pulley hub. The circular plate has an annular vertical flange running
in a corresponding groove in the foot of the threaded sleeve, which device serves
equally to exclude dirt from the hub bearing and to prevent the escape of oil from
the bearing.
The shaft or spindle is surmounted by an oil cup which communicates with the
hub bearing through the tube.
The hopper as a whole is made up of three sections, namely, a section consisting
of a central opening in the cap-plate, an upper section of sheet metal secured
thereto, and a lower one of cast iron which sets down into the eye of the stone.
The last mentioned section has a bottom provided with several apertures. Immedi-
ately beneath this bottom is supported an annular plate having a corresponding
number of apertures, and adapted to slide in a circular direction beneath said
bottom, so as to open or close the passages either partially or wholly after the
general manner of an ordinary circular register. The under or sliding plate is
supported in place by means of three or more screws passing through concentric
curved slots therein and entering a fixed portion. It is operated by an exterior lever
through a shaft and an interior arm affixed to the shaft, said arm having a slot in
its lower extremity which engages a pin in the margin of the movable plate.
I prefer to make the aperture in the hopper bottom and in the sliding plate
beneath the same pear shaped or narrow at one end and broad at the other, in
order that by arranging the apertures of the sliding plate to have their broad ends
turned in the direction opposite those in the fixed bottom the passages for grain
when reduced will be more nearly circular, and the grain flow through them
consequently more uniform than it would if they were oblong and narrow.
The shaft should be adapted to be secured in any desired position, so that the feed
openings once set inay not be disturbed. For this purpose any suitable clamping.
or setting device may be employed, as, for example, a set-screw passing through the
lever and bearing against the surface of the curb, or an india-rubber friction-plug
may be used. Upon the lower face of the runner bed are fixed suitable oblique

page_text: sweeps as is common in under-running mills to secure the proper discharge of the
product through a spout.
Radial notches are cut in the upper face of the annular step to admit the oil
freely to the foot bearing.
In the practice of a system of gradual reduction by means of the machinery
above described, the wheat, is first graded into two or more sizes, and each size is
separately passed through a degerminator specially set for the size of wheat to be
split.
The entire product of all the degerminators used upon the several sizes of grain
is sent to a single reel clothed with 16 to 24 mesh wire cloth at the tail and head
respectively, which "scalps" out the flour, germ, middlings, and impurities, and
passes the half-kernels over the tail. The operation thus performed by the deger-
minator I call the first reduction. The products are a small per centage of "low-
grade" flour, the same of middlings, very nearly all the germs of the wheat, and the
separated half-kernels. The split wheat, principally in the form of half-kernels, is
next passed through one reduction machine, and the product is again bolted through a
reel similar to the first. The products of this second reduction are flour, middlings,
and fragments of grain partially reduced, with a very small percentage of detached
germs not previously removed.
The third and fourth reductions are precisely like the second, the reduction
machines being set closer for each than for the one preceding, and the bolting reels
being the same. The fifth reduction is also like the preceding, but the reducing
machine used in this operation is followed by a reel.
On soft wheat it may be found desirable to increase the length of the reel on the
products of the fourth and fifth reductions.
The tailings or bran from the fifth reel goes to the bran machine and is operated
on thereby as described, the product in the case of hard or spring wheat being sent
therefrom to a reel clothed with wire-cloth of No. 30 to No. 40, and the bran from
this reel goes to a brush bran-duster of any preferred kind. In the case of soft
wheat two operations of the bran machine thereon may be necessary, each followed
by a reel of the kind just mentioned, and the bran then goes to a duster for final
finish.
The double treatment by the bran machine can be most conveniently performed
by the duplex form of that machine bereinbefore described.
The management of the several products so far produced will now be explained.
All the flour, germ, and middlings obtained as set forth from the 1st, 2nd, (and
in case the wheat is poor also of the 3rd), reduction is sent to a bolting reel 18 to
20 feet long, covered at the head and for about 5/ths of its length with fine cloth,
and the remainder with two or three increasingly coarser numbers.
The head of the reel will dust through the fine flour and dirt, and the coarser
numbers running to No. 000 or even No. 0000 at the tail of the reel will take out
the several corresponding grades of middlings. The flour obtained from this reel
is of low grade " and should be packed as such. The middlings go to the purifiers
except the coarser grade, which will contain a few germs. The latter grades with
or without aspiration are sent to suitable reels for the removal of the germs by
flattening and bolting. The flour from the rolls will go into the best grade or
grades produced by the wheat.
The flour and middlings from the 3rd reduction when the wheat is of good
quality and from the 4th and 5th reductions is all sent to a reel or bolt of reels
having suitable grades of cloth. The flour obtained is considered a first quality of
" first
or "wheat flour," and should be so packed. The middlings go to the purifier
and thence to the middlings mill, as do also the finer grades of middlings from the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd reductions.
In the reduction of the middlings and in the management of the products of the
middlings mill any discriminations as to quality may be pursued according to the
pleasure of the miller or the grade of final product required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
January 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED METHODS OF AND MACHINERY FOR
TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MIDDLINGS AND
FLOUR." A communication from abroad by Jonathan Mills, of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improved methods of and apparatus for the gradual
reduction of wheat to middlings and flour, in accordance with the approved modern
practice in which it is sought to constantly preserve a granular form in the several
reductions or products of the interior grain substance. The complete apparatus
embraces several distinct machines, either of which may be used independently of
the others for the special branch of reduction for which it is particularly intended;
but they may all with better effect be worked in connection with each other, and
with auxiliary devices now in use; to perform the complete reduction of the grain
and flour,-
The special objects of the present Invention are, first, to abstract the germ of the
wheat and the dirt accumulated in the crease of the berry as a first step in the
process of reduction. Secondly, to carry forward the several operations upon the
grain to the production of the intermediate or preliminary product called
'middlings," during which the integument of the berry or bran is concerned in the
treatment, without materially comminuting such integument or bran.
I thus to a
great extent prevent the mixture of the bran in fine particles with the reduced
interior substance of the grain, from which it is with difficulty, and can be only
partially separated. Thirdly, to perform the later or concluding reductions, or in
other words, to reduce the middlings to flour without injuring the same by over-
heating any portion of the product, and in such manner as to give the flour a
granular form.
The general purpose of making as large a portion as possible of the food substance
of the wheat into high grade flour is kept constantly in view throughout.
The said improved apparatus comprises,―
First. An apparatus for splitting the grain longitudinally through the crease for
the purpose of releasing the germ and the impurities that accumulate in such crease.
This apparatus is termed a degerminator.
Secondly. A machine by which the interior part or food substance of the grain is
granulated and detached from the bran. This I term a reduction machine. It
differs from the degerminator only in a slight modification of the operative discs
employed, as will be further hereinafter explained.
Thirdly. A machine for detaching middlings and flour still adhering to the bran
after it has left the reduction machine and termed a bran machine; and,
Fourthly. A machine for reducing middlings to flour, and termed a middling mill.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1 to 8 illustrate the degerminator and
reduction machine, shewing the differences in the removable and interchangeable
parts by which the machine is adapted to the several operations of removing the
germ and of further reducing the grain.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the said machine, and
Figure 2 is a central vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 is a detail view shewing in central vertical section the operative interior
discs between which the grain is passed, the said discs having the construction
adapted to the degerminating process.
Figure 4 is a detail view partly in vertical section, shewing the devices by which
the feed is regulated, and also those parts concerned in tramming the discs.
Figure 5 is a horizontal section of certain parts shewn in Figure 4.

page_text: Figure 6 represents a portion of one of the disc faces adapted to the reduction
process, shewing the extent and direction of the marginal corrugations and of the
leaders in the bosom of the disc.
Figure 7 is a view of a portion of the two operative discs drawn to an enlarged
scale, shewing them in two relative positions, and illustrating the action of their
corrugations upon the whole grain in splitting the berry longitudinally through the
crease.
Figure 8 is a central vertical section of the lower disc shewn in Figure 6.
Figures 9 to 15 illustrate the bran machine in two forms, one having the working
parts arranged horizontally, and the other with these parts arranged vertically.
Figure 9 is an elevation of that form of the bran machine in which the axis of
the rotating disc is vertical, and
Figures 10 and 11 are respectively vertical and horizontal sections through the
operative parts of Figure 9.
Figure 12 is a perspective view of that form of the bran machine in which the
axis of the rotating disc is horizontal, and
Figure 13 is a central vertical section of the same through the axis of the disc.
Figure 14 is a vertical section transverse to the axis.
Figure 15 is a sectional detail view enlarged.
Figures 16 to 21 illustrate my improved middlings mill.
Figure 16 is a central vertical section of the said middlings mill, and
Figure 17 is a similar view of certain portions shewn in Figure 16 drawn to an
enlarged scale.
Figures 18, 19, and 20 are detail views of a part of the ridged spindle and
devices connected therewith, to furnish an adjustable footing or step for the outer
revolving sleeve or hub.
Figure 21 is a horizontal section on the line x, x, Figure 17, shewing the feed
register.
The remaining Figures are hereinafter described.
I will describe the several machines and their mode of operation in the order
above given, that is to say, I will first proceed to describe the degerminator and
reduction machine shewn in Figures 1 to 8, in which A is a portable tripedal frame
of metal supporting the horizontal bed plate B, and adapted to be securely fastened
to the floor. C, C, are arms extending inward from the several uprights of the
frame, and centrally connected together to form a bridge-tree for the lateral support
of the vertically adjustable socket or bridge-pot D, in which rests the foot of the
'spindle E. The upper end of the spindle has lateral support in the deep bearing b,
depending from the bed plate B. The said spindle is provided at its upper end
with a circular head G, either cast solid with the spindle, or rigidly secured thereto,
and carefully turned up or fitted to run perfectly true with the spindle. To further
secure perfect accuracy of motion between the head G and the spindle E, the latter
should be cast in an upright position, that it may be of equal density across any
transverse section, and be therefore more likely to expand and contract equally by
change of temperature. The spindle is driven by a pulley P. L and U are two
similar operative discs, the proximate faces of which have the general sectional form
and the relation shewn in Figures 2 and 3. Their specific features of construction
and the mode of their operation will be hereinafter more fully explained. The
lower disc L is firmly secured on the circular head G by bolts n, n, or otherwise,
and therefore rotates with the spindle. The upper disc is similarly secured by
bolts u, u, or other adequate means to the cap-plate I, and is stationary. This cap-
plate extends downward around the discs forming a cylindrical curb or housing
reaching to the bed-plate B. The said curb is held concentric with the bed-plate B
and the spindle E by means of the annular vertical flange a cast on the face
upper
of the bed plate, and carefully turned up to fit within the curb, as shewn in
Figure 2.
The cap-plate and curb I, with the disc U secured thereto, have vertical adjust-
ment with reference to the bed-plate B and lower disc by means of a suitable

page_text: number (say three or more) of screws K which work vertically in an outer marginal
flange of the bed-plate B and directly support the cap-plate which rests upon them,
by a horizontal flange at the base of the curb, as more clearly shewn in Figure 4. The
cap-plate is held down upon these screws K by means of clamp bolts O also
threaded into the bed-plate and passing through the horizontal flange of the curb.
Between the head of the bolts 0 and the curb flange are interposed the elastic
washers R, which, while holding the curb down upon the bolts K with sufficient
firmness still yield to permit any hard foreign substance which may have been
accidentally admitted between the discs to escape without breaking the machine.
In the curb L are three doors J which give access to the interior of the curb for
the purpose of observing the discs in "trainming" and at other times.
Through a central opening in the cap-plate I and through the upper disc U
descends the tube N connected to the hopper H. This tube may be lowered or
raised by a screw connection with the neck f of the cap plate in such manner as to
leave any desired space between the bottom of the tube and the lower disc L, and
thus regulate the rapidity of the feed from the hopper to the space between the
discs. For the purpose of holding the tube in place at any desired point above the
disc L I employ rubber buttons r, which, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5, are set in the
neck and bear outwardly by their elastic force against the sleeve M, which is
rigidly connected with the tube N and hopper H. The screw device is shewn in
the said Figures as consisting of the spiral grooves 8 formed in the neck f and the
pin p, Figure 4, which projects from the inner face of the sleeve M into said groove.
In Figure 2 the grooves are shewn in the inner surface of the neck f, and the pins
project from the tube N.
In the operation of the mill the grain is fed through the tube N directly between
the discs at the centre as described, and after being operated upon escapes from the
curb through the spout S. An annular flange c, formed on the bed-piece B, and
rising into the corresponding groove d in the head G, excludes the product of the
discs from the spindle bearing. The spindle is raised and lowered at will by means
of the lighter-bar Qlinked to one of the arms C by the link and operated by the
screw V having the hand wheel W.
Having thus set forth the general construction and operation common to the
degerminator and reduction machine, I will now proceed to complete the description
of the discs U and L thereof and to point out their specific action upon the grain,
whereby the distinctive objects of the machine are attained. The said discs may
be made of metal, glass, or other suitable substance. They require to be hard and
of a close texture so as to be capable of receiving a fine smooth surface or polish on
their working faces. I prefer to make them of hardened steel or of chilled iron.
In size they are, say, sixteen inches in diameter and two inches thick. The working
face of each disc is in a plane from the periphery inward, say one inch and a half,
at which point it sinks by an easy incline extending inward about an inch, and
downward in the degerminator to the depth of about 3/2ds of an inch.
The central portion of the disc therefore presents a depressed bosom of such depth
that when the two like discs of the degerminator are placed in proper working
relation to each other there is a central space between them of sufficient depth to
allow the grain to pass outward toward the periphery in a horizontal position, but
not sufficient to allow it to "end up." The raised skirt of each disc is divided by
furrows into corrugations or ribs m directed preferably on a draft of about three (3)
inches. The ribs are each about 5 of an inch in width at the periphery of the
disc, and are, say, 1/16 to 3/3 of an inch high. The summits of the ribs are rounded
off into the furrow on either side so as to present the sectional contour shewn on
an enlarged scale in Figure 7. The difference between the degerminator and the
reduction machine relates wholly to the length of the furrows between the ribs m
and to the depth of the central depression or bosom of the discs. In the former
the lower line of the furrows is substantially straight, terminating in or above the
plane of the bosom as indicated in Figure 3. In the latter the furrows are extended

page_text: inward about an inch farther, reaching in upon the bosom of the disc as seen in
Figure 8. The bosom of the disc in the reduction machine is also depressed
somewhat more than in the degerminator, having a depth from one eighth (th) to
a quarter (/) of an inch increasing slightly toward the centre. The effect of thus
extending the furrows and increasing the bosom depression in the reduction machine
is to increase the rapidity of delivery of the grain between the ribs m to an extent
practicable in the operation of general reduction, but not desirable in the operation
of degerminating. Six or eight (more or less) of the marginal furrows, both in the
degerminator and in the reduction discs, are extended inward in the face of the
bosom, being both widened and deepened as they advance, as shewn at t in Figure 6.
These extended furrows act as leaders or "drifts" and terminate about the draft
circle as also shewn in Figure 6. For the purposes hereinafter more fully explained
the entire surface of the disc faces, including the ribs m and the furrows, are polished
or made as smooth as possible, and all salient angles whatever are rounded away.
Preparatory to the operation of degerminating wheat by the apparatus described,
having the appropriate discs for the purpose, the grain to be treated is "sized" by
any suitable appliance for the purpose, and the upper disc is "trammed " or set
perfectly parallel with the lower one and secured by means of the screw K and
clamp bolts O.
The discs are set at a proper distance apart for the particular size of grain to be
operated upon by turning the hand wheel W. Such proper distance will be usually
a little more than half the thickness of the berry, varying somewhat with the kind
and condition of the grain as the operator or attendant may think fit.
"tramming" disc L should have a speed of about 500 to 700 revolutions per minute
imparted to it, and thus have a peripheral velocity of about 2000 to 3000 feet
per minute.
The
The grain fed upon the lower disc through the tube N gradually acquires a
centrifugal movement which soon carries it into the marginal furrows, the horizontal
altitude of the grain being still maintained. Owing to the speed and smoothness
of the rib surfaces the grain is made to rise the easy incline of the furrow and is
brought into the narrow space between opposite ribs. If not already lying on its
creased side when it enters the furrow the berry seems almost invariably to assume
this position, and also to lie with its axis in the direction of the ribs.
It will be understood that the pressure will naturally be applied to the kernel in
this position, for the line through the crease being the line of shortest diameter in
the kernel the berry will be likely to rotate until this line is found. Once found
the berry cannot further rotate under pressure between the smooth surfaces but
slips or slides upon one of them. It is also plain that pressure so applied by smooth
convex surfaces will easily produce the effect sought and attained, namely, to split
the berry longitudinally through the crease. For in such position of the berry the
pressure on one side is at a single point centrally opposite the crease, while on the
other it is at two points separated by the crease.
In the absence of any hold or
footing of the latter or separated points upon the smooth surface of the rib these
points will readily slip and spread resulting in the separation of the lobes as desired
and as illustrated in Figure 7.
The result of so splitting the grain is to expose the germ which as well known
lies between the lobes at the base of the berry. As the germ is held to the body of
the kernel by only slight attachment it is often released and falls out as soon as the
lobes are sufficiently separated to allow it to escape; but in order to secure its more
general removal I prefer to wholly divide the grains into halves, so that any germs
disposed to still adhere in place may be rubbed off in the further agitation before
escaping from the machine or in the next following operations of screening It is
evident that neither in the gliding movement of the grain upon the disc surface or
in the pressing action by which the berry is split can there be any material
comminution of the bran. As soon as the berry is split it is promptly discharged
from the machine without further pressure.
The product of the degerminating machine is made up of half kernels of wheat-

page_text: germs and impurities dislodged from the crease, and a small per centage of coarse
middlings and flour inevitably detached in splitting the grain.
This product may be separated by any suitable screen, but I prefer to use a short
reel, say 6 to 10 feet long, covered with wire cloth of from 16 to 24 meshes to the
inch. Both these numbers may be advantageously used in the same reel, half of
the reel at the head being clothed with the # 24, and the remainder or tail with
the #16.
By reason of the wide difference in size between the half kernels and the
germs their separation may be made very easy and complete so that the germ is in
this manner and at this stage of reduction of the grain more readily and more
entirely excluded from the later and ultimate products than is possible in those
methods of separation which follow the reduction of the grain and germ together.
The single difference between the degerminator and the reduction machine having
been stated to be in the inward prolongation of the marginal disc furrows, and said
difference having been fully described, it is unnecessary to separately describe the
reduction machine at length. For the operation of reducing the grain after its
degermination the discs are set closer to each other than in splitting the grain, the
object being in the reducing process to do what in degerminating it is desirable to
avoid, namely, crush the grain in order to break down its interior structure and
dislodge the interior substance in the granular form of "middlings."
The process of reducing grain by the discs described from half kernels to middlings,
flour, and bran is performed by a succession of passages through the machine,
varying in number from 3 to 5 according to the condition of the grain. In each
succeeding operation the discs are set closer than in the preceding, but not so close
in the last as the thickness of the bran.
The granules of food substance are thus detached in a space not narrow enough to
flatten or pulverize them, and as a consequence very little flour is made in the several
operations of the reduction machine. When the bran machine hereinafter described
is used in connection with the reduction machine it is not necessary to attempt the
complete removal of the middlings from the bran by the latter, said bran machine
being better adapted by peculiarities of construction to operate on bran sheets
than the apparatus described, and in doing so to produce more middlings and less
flour from the material adhering to the bran. I therefore prefer to leave the bran
"rich" as it comes from the reduction machine, and to complete the operation of
cleaning by the other apparatus. It is evident from the description given of the
disc surfaces employed in the degerminator and the reduction machine, first, that
from their smoothness there can be no grating off of the bran substances; and,
secondly, from the shortness of the marginal ribs or ridges, the narrowness of their
summits as shewn, and the distance between the ribs of opposite discs, there can be
no long continued pressure, no undue heating, and little pulverization of any portion
of the product.
As a consequence the middlings and flour produced are clean, white, and pure.
The bran machine is intended to detach the middlings and flour which still
adhere to the integument of the grain after it has passed through the several
reduction machines. While the grain fragments retain any considerable body of
the interior grain substance upon the bran, or while, in other words, they have such
thickness as makes the detachment of the flour substance practicable by a crushing
action, the reduction machine described may be advantageously used thereon; but
when the bran has been nearly denuded, and is flattened out into sheets by
successive crushings, the remaining food substance may be detached more perfectly
and in better condition, or more largely in granular form, by rubbing the bran
flakes upon each other in a mass, and thus rolling the adhering flour and middlings
therefrom.
For this purpose I employ my improved bran machine, which is illustrated in one
form by Figures 9, 10, and 11 of the Drawings, which I will now proceed to
describe. In these Figures A¹ is a tripedal portable frame having a bridge tree
formed of the converging arms from the uprights centrally supporting the bridge-

page_text: pot T¹ in which rests the bridge-pot O¹ supporting the foot of the spindle E¹.
B¹ and D¹ are parallel horizontal circular plates separated by the cylindrical curb C¹
upon which they are clamped by the bolts b¹ which pass through the marginal
flanges foutside the curb C¹.
The parts B, C, and D¹, thus inclose a shallow cylindrical chamber, say 30 inches
in diameter and 5 inches high, communicating by a central opening at the top with
the hopper H', and provided with a marginal delivery spout S¹. F¹ is a deep
bearing box or bush secured centrally to the plate B¹, properly "babbitted," and
provided with the gib G¹ and gib-screw N¹ for the lateral support of the spindle E¹
at its upper end. Against the lower end of the box F¹ the hub of the pulley P¹
bears to prevent upward movement of the spindle, said pulley being secured to the
spindle E after the latter has been properly adjusted vertically by means of the
spanner-nut M threaded upon the bridge tree T₁, and supporting the bridge-pot O¹.
The spindle projects above the bearing, and at its upper end receives the hub I¹
secured thereto in any suitable manner to rotate with the spindle. In that form of
the machine now being described the hub I' is provided with six (more or less) flat
arms R', R¹, Figure 11, which extend nearly to the curb C¹ and lie and rotate in a plane
midway between the plates B¹ and D². Both above and below the arms R¹ the hub
is provided with vertical wings w¹ which are excentric to the hub and sweep back-
ward towards their extremities, having reference to the direction of motion of the
arms indicated by the arrow in Figure 11.
On the inner faces of the stationary plates D' and B' pins u¹ and are fixed and
arranged in concentric circles about one and one half (1/2) inches apart, each circle
of the upper plate being directly opposite or above a circle of the lower plate, as
clearly shewn in Figure 10. All the pins of these circles, except those of the
innermost circle, are about 1/4 inch in diameter, and are set at from 1/16 of an inch
apart in the outer circle to, say, 3/10 of an inch apart in the second circle from the
centre. In the first or innermost circle of each plate the pins are about 3/8ths of an
inch in diameter, and are set about 1th of an inch apart. The Drawing is not
intended to represent these distances or proportions, which may be varied somewhat
at pleasure. These circles of pins form stationary concentric annular partitions having
numerous narrow vertical slots. Between the upper and lower circles or partitions
only sufficient space is left to permit the arms R¹ to freely pass. In said arms R¹,
curved obliquely, transverse rows of pins 71 are securely set, protruding an equal
distance above and below the arms, and so far as to only freely escape the plates B¹
and D. The pins in these rows are, say, 1/4 inch in diameter, and are set about
1/8 of an inch apart in each row. The rows themselves form oblique curved slotted
wings upon the arms R¹, the position of said rows with reference to the adjacent
circles of fixed pins being shewn in Figure 11, wherein the advanced ends of the
several wings are shewn to proximate the inner, and the rear ends the outer of said
fixed circles.
The arms R¹ are connected by the curved bars m³ of equal thickness with said
arms and arranged to pass in the rotation of the arms between the opposite circles
of pins u¹ and . These bars leave slots or passages 8¹ between them and between
the arms through which the bran may pass from the upper compartment of the
chamber to the lower, but they prevent the passage of any portion of the bran
through the machine without being acted upon.
The inner surface of the curb C has the vertical ribs or corrugations c¹, c¹, near
which pass the outer rows of pins 71 on the extremities of the arms R¹.
The operation of the machine is obvious from the foregoing description. The
arms R being revolved at a high speed bran is fed from the hopper H¹ directly
upon and about the hub I, and is at once thrown outwardly by the solid rings w¹
and borne against the inner circles of pins u³ and l'. These inner circles are made
heavy for the purpose of arresting any hard substance and of breaking up any
dough-balls" that may have formed in the bran. Having passed the first circle
the bran is sought by the first or inneroblique rows of pins on the arms R¹ which
operate to crowd the same outward through the next fixed circles, and so on until

page_text: the outer circles are passed. Here the corrugations c³, c¹, operate to restrain the
bran against the action of the outer moving pins r¹ upon the arms R¹, and continue
the attrition of the material until it is discharged through the spout S¹.
The action of the machine upon the bran is plainly to rub it one flake upon
another and against the pins in a manner calculated to detach any adhering
middlings and flour. It is also clear that in a mass so yielding the pressure cannot
be at any point so violent as to destroy the granular form of the particles detached
or as to comminute the bran.
The pressure being intermittent the detached material naturally falls to the bottom
of the mass and is swept out of the machine with the bran and afterwards separated
therefrom
The wings upon the arms R', herein shewn to be formed of the pins r', may
if
desired be made solid and cast upon the arms. They may also be made either
ribbed or smooth, but I prefer to make them in the form shewn, using for them and
the fixed pins u' and ' tough steel that will not easily break or bend, and that has
or soon acquires a fine surface not calculated to abrade the bran. Practically the
machine described is duplex, each compartment partially separated from the other
by the connected arms R³, having the same number and the same arrangement of
intercurrent fixed partitions and moving wings. In Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15
I have shewn a machine in which the axis of the rotating parts is horizontal and
in which the separation of the compartments is made more complete by substituting
a continuous disc for the bar-connected arms of Figure 11 and providing a separate
inlet and outlet for each of the compartments. Opposite the edge of the disc R¹ an
annular rib K¹ is cast on the inner face of the curb C¹ with which rib the disc edge
may be turned up to run as closely as desired. The capacity of the machine in
either form is very great, and an advantage in the form last mentioned is found in
being able by a single machine to operate on two qualities or conditions of material
simultaneously, and at the same time to keep them separate. The same letters
being used in the Drawings to indicate parts having the same office in both forins
of the bran-machine it is unnecessary to describe in detail all the modifications in
the second form apparent from the Drawings. I prefer to make the plates B' and D¹
wholly separate from the supporting frame A¹ in the second form for convenience
in construction, shipment and repair. For the purpose of ensuring perfectly true
movement in the working parts I make the bearings L' long, and support them by
brackets cast or secured upon the plates B1 and D2, thus making the action wholly
independent of the supporting frame A¹. The plates and curb being first connected
by the bolts 6 the whole is secured to the frame which is properly formed to receive
it by the bolts a³, as shewn in Figures 12 and 13. The shaft E' is held from lateral
movement by the shoulders d' at the inner ends of the bearings L' and is driven
by the pulley P¹.
The hopper for each compartment is preferably cast upon the adjacent plate, and
a suitable orifice is left in the plate for the admission of the bran about the shaft
as shewn at x1, Figures 13 and 14,
The various products having been properly separated and graded the middlings
are reduced to flour.
In my improved apparatus for this purpose, and termed the middlings mill, I have
sought to obtain accurate and steady movement of the runner with reference to
the stationary stone, and particularly to avoid the "end shake" of the runner, which
produces a pounding action upon the middlings. The effects of such pounding
action common in most middling mills are to destroy in some measure the granular
character of the flour and to impart a dead pasty quality thereto.
My improved mill belongs to the class of "stiff-underrunners," and the improve-
ments relate mainly to the manner in which the under runner is mounted for the
purposes above set forth.
These improvements consist generally in a stationary spindle supported at the
bottom and at the top, and upon which the runner revolves, said runner being

page_text: provided with a long hub or sleeve cast solid with the bed of the stone, which sleeve
has extended bearing upon the stationary spindle. By this means the utmost
rigidity may be given to the spindle, the friction surface is reduced to a minimum,
and no oil bearing of the spindle is located above the runner.
In combination with the fixed spindle devices are employed whereby the runner
is positively deprived of "end shake" while permitted free movement in its proper
plane. I also shew devices by which the upper stone is suspended instead of
supported, and other improvements that will be hereinafter more fully set forth in
connection with the Drawings.
In Figure 16 A represents a cast iron frame immediately supporting the bed-
plate B2 which in turn supports the cylindric cap-plate J2, that with its top or
horizontal portion forms a housing for the stones C and D. The upper or stationary
stone C2 is suspended from the cap-plate J2 by means of three equidistant screws K³
operated by the hand-wheels K2 which bear upon the cap-plate J2 at 2. For this
purpose the strong cast iron double-flanged rim f2 is securely fastened to the stone
by means of screws which pass through the vertical flange into the upper band h²
which is tightly shrunk upon the stone in the position shewn. On the under face
of the rim f2 at points beneath the screws K³ are square recesses which receive the
nuts j, the bottom of the recesses being countersunk and the top of the nuts being
correspondingly rounded so that the latter will accurately draw to the line of the
screw.
Beneath each screw K³ the stone is cut away before the rim f2 is applied to form
the recess a² to accommodate the nut and protruding screw, and within this recess
is set the horizontal plate b² to support the nut in position to receive the screw. The
cap-plate J2 is chambered to receive the rubber or other suitable form of cushion c²
which surrounds the screw, and bears, as shewn, upon the rim f2 and upon the inner
face of the cap-plate or roof of the chamber. The metal of the cap-plate is also
extended to form a long bearing about the screw-shaft K3 and within the
cushion c² for the purpose of holding the stone C² by said screws more firmly in
place.
By means of these devices the upper stone may be accurately "trammed" and is
adapted to yield to any hard foreign substance that may be accidentally admitted
between the stones.
The lower stone or runner D2 is set in the strong circular cast iron bed O2 provided
with the marginal vertical flange, as shewn, and which closely embraces the stone,
and through which screws pass into the shrunk band h² to firmly secure the stone
upon the bed.
The bed O2 is also provided with the central hub F2 which rises to or slightly
above the top of the stone, and extends downward to receive the driving pulley P2
located beneath the bed-plate B². This extended hub has a central vertical aperture
through which rises the fixed spindle E². This spindle or shaft sets deeply into
the bridge-pot U³ which has a vertical movement through tho bridge-tree T2 by
which it is laterally held firmly in position. The spindle is keyed in its socket in the
bridge-pot by the pin u² and is perfectly controlled in its vertical movement by
the lighter-bar Q. For the purpose of giving such control of the spindle through
the lighter-bar the lighter-screw V2 works in a long sleeve-nut v² and has a head w²
which is closely embraced between the bed-plate B2 and the horizontal flange of
the cap-plate J2 by which the latter is secured to said bed-plate, as shewn in
Figure 16. Moreover all the joints by which the lighter-bar is connected to
the screw, the bridge-pot and the frame are made so close as to have no lost
motion.
The operation of the hand-wheel W* therefore positively raises or lowers the
spindle E as may be required.
The upper end of the fixed spindle is laterally supported with equal care and
firmness by means of the sleeve R³ connected with the cap-plate J2 by three or more
arins located in the hopper-space, as shewn ; said cap-plate, arms, and sleeve are
preferably cast in a single piece.

page_text: Within the fixed sleeve R² and around the spindle closely fits the sleeve N², con-
tracted and threaded at the top to fit the screw 82 cut on the upper protruding end
of the spindle or shaft E2. This sleeve M² bears upon the circular plate m², which
is secured to and rotates with the runner hub F. A cap nut N2 follows the
threaded sleeve N2 upon the screw 82, and operates as a set or jamb nut.
The long hub or sleeve F2 of the runner is provided at its lower extremity with
the foot-piece f³ screwed or otherwise firmly secured thereto. This foot-piece rests
upon an adjustable annular step A³, which with its supports is made the subject of
special illustration, and shewn detached in Figures 18, 19, and 20. Referring to
these Figures B³ is a strong flat bar thrust through a slot cut in the spindle and
poised to oscillate therein upon the pin a³, which passes through the spindle in the
opposite direction and beneath it, as clearly shewn in Figure 19. The step-ring A³
is similarly poised on the rounded projecting ends of the bar B³, as shewn more
clearly in Figure 18. The ring A³ being fitted loosely over the spindle E² has
thus by a double oscillating movement upon its supports perfect adjustment to the
foot-piece f³
The spindle E2 being rigidly held at its lower extremity by the pin u³, and the
lighter-bar being controlled by the devices described, it is evident that by means of
the threaded sleeve M² the hub F2 may be positively restrained from all vertical
motion, and the runner D² confined to a purely horizontal movement without "end
shake or tremble out of its proper plane. It is not intended to clamp the hub
tightly under the sleeve M², but only to set the latter down in contact with the
plate m², which is sufficient for the object sought.
"
The hub F is "babbitted" and gibbed to bear upon the spindle or shaft, preferably
in two sections. G2, G², represent the several gibs, and g², g³, the gib sets or
screws, the upper one of which gib-sets is shewn as passing through a channel in
the under face of the stone D2, and through the vertical flange of the bed 0%
It is threaded into the hub to force the gib, and at its outer extremity is also
threaded to receive the set-nut g². The lower gib-set is shewn to bear centrally
upon the gib, and passes through the pulley hub. The circular plate m² has the
annular vertical flange n² running in a corresponding groove in the foot of the
sleeve M², which device serves equally to exclude dirt from the hub bearing and to
prevent the escape of oil from the bearing.
The shaft or spindle E2 is surmounted by an oil cup, which communicates with
the hub bearing through the tube d², partly shewn in dotted lines in Figures 16
and 17. The hopper as a whole is made up of three sections, namely, a section
consisting of a central opening in the cap-plate about the sleeve R2, as shewn, an
upper section H2 of sheet-metal secured thereto, and a lower one 2 of cast iron,
which sets down into the eye of the stone C².
The last mentioned section has a bottom provided with several apertures o³, the
preferred form of which is plainly shewn in Figure 21.
Immediately beneath this bottom is supported an annular plate, having a corre-
sponding number of apertures p³, and adapted to slide in a circular direction
beneath said bottom so as to open or close the passages o², either partially or wholly,
after the general manner of an ordinary circular register. The under or sliding
plate is supported in place by means of three or more screws passing through con-
centric curved slots therein, and entering the fixed portion i². It is operated by
the exterior lever L through the shaft e² and the interior arm & affixed to the
shaft, as shewn, said arm having a slot in its lower extremity, which engages the
pin y2 in the margin of the movable plate.
I prefer to make the aperture in the hopper-bottom and in the sliding plate
beneath the same pear-shaped or narrow at one end and broad at the other, in order
that by arranging the apertures of the sliding plate to have their broad ends
turned in the direction opposite those in the fixed bottom, as shewn in Figure 21,
the passages for grain when reduced will be more nearly circular, and the grain
consequently flow through them more uniformly than it would do if they were
oblong and narrow.
,

page_text: The shaft e² should be adapted to be secured in any desired position, so that the
feed openings o³, p³, once set may not be disturbed. For this purpose any suitable
clamping or setting device may be employed, as, for example, a set-screw passing
through the lever L², and bearing against the surface of the curb J2, or an india-
rubber friction plug may be used. Upon the lower face of the runner bed o² are
fixed suitable oblique sweeps, as is common in under-running mills to secure the
proper discharge of the product through the spouts.
Radial notches n³ are cut in the upper face of the annular step A³ to admit the
oil freely to the foot bearing.
In the use of metallic reducing discs, such as those herein before described, it is
desirable to provide means whereby a changing body of cool air or other cooling
medium may be applied to the interior of the discs or to the inner surface of the
face plate forming the working portions of such discs, and thereby maintain a
proper low temperature in such portion of the discs in order that the material
operated upon may not be heated and injured.
Figures 22 and 23 illustrate the construction of the discs and contiguous parts in
the mill designed to effect this purpose, said Figures being central vertical sections
of the discs and surrounding parts. Figure 24 is a perspective view of a portion
of Figure 22 detached.
In Figure 22 the lower disc or runner is shewn as being made in two parts;
first, the strong bed portion G cast continuous with or rigidly secured to the shaft,
as already described; and second, the metal face plate L, which bears a chilled or
otherwise hardened working surface as also before set forth. One or the other part
(herein the upper one) is deeply recessed, and has a marginal rim or flange r,
which properly supports the face plate at a suitable distance from the bed. Studs s
are provided on the under face of the plate L, and are tapped to receive the bolts n
which hold the parts firmly together. A closed chamber D' is thus formed within
the disc covered by the metal face plate L, which is made no thicker than is
necessary with its supports for proper strength.
For the purpose of supplying cool air to the interior of the hollow or chambered
disc described two concentric annular flanges c, c¹, are provided on the stationary
bed plate B, which run in the corresponding grooves d, d', of the runner G. Two
annular chambers T, T¹, are thus formed, which are connected with the interior of
the runner by two annular series of holes e, c¹. The chamber T is also connected
with the outer air by means of the opening or openings t¹ provided in the bed
plate B, between the flanges c, c¹. A passage t¹ is also made through the bed plate
B, within the inner flange c, through which air may be admitted to the chamber T.
F represents a tube inserted in the passage t¹, through which air may be forced
from a fan or other appliance into the chamber T. It will be understood that air
so introduced will pass upward through the holes e into the chamber D¹, within the
runner disc, and will find egress through the holes e¹, e', and chamber T¹. In order
to secure a distribution of the air over the entire under surface of the face plate L,
and especially to carry it into contact with that portion beneath the marginal
working surface of said plate the deflecting plate p¹ is provided, which rests and is
secured by a vertical portion p¹ upon the part G, between the outer and inner
series of holes e¹ and c. This plate extends outward nearly to the rim flange », and
in such proximity to the plate L as to secure effective action of the air current
thereon to abstract and carry away its heat generated by friction with the grain in
operation.
The movement of air through the disc interior may be aided or wholly effected
by giving to the inner series of holes e upward and backward inclination from
vertical radial planes of the runner axis, which will obviously induce an upward
current through the said holes. The escape orifices e¹ should also be inclined in
the opposite direction to similarly produce a draft.
The escape of the air may be provided for beneath the margin of the face plate L
instead of through holes at e¹, if preferred, as shewn in Figure 23, in which
construction the rim r is either absent altogether or is attached to the runner bed G.

page_text: The rim in this case, if present, rises to proximate the face-plate L for the purpose
of directing the air current forcibly, and in a thin body, against the margin of said
plate. When this mode of escape is provided the air passes out through the
spout S.
The application of a cooling medium to the upper stationary disc is more simple.
The disc may be recessed or chambered to any desired depth, and supported from
the cap-plate I by the marginal rim flange », or by such a rim aided by a suitable
number of studs. The air is forced in through passages i in the cap plate, say
near the rim, and out through the cap-plate at o, near the central feed tube.
Vertical flanges v, v, cast on the under surface of the cap-plate, and depending to
near the face-plate U, will insure proper contact and action of the current upon the
plate.
I have preferred to employ a peculiar construction whereby the air may be
discharged either wholly upward through the cap-plate I, wholly downward through
the face-plate U, and outward between said plate and plate L, through the spout S,
or partly in both directions. For this purpose several holes o and o³ are made in a
circle near the feed-tube, through the cap-plate and disc respectively. Between the
cap-plate and disc, and encircling the feed-tube, is placed a rotary moving double
flanged register R' shewn detached in Figure 24. The flanges f',f", are provided
respectively with holes h¹, h¹¹, which by turning the register close and open the
passages through the cap-plate and disc; the several passages through the parts are
preferably so arranged that when the upper ones of the register and cap-plate
coincide and are wholly open, the lower ones giving egress through the disc are
wholly closed, and vice versa. The register may obviously be so set as to allow the
air to escape partially in each direction at the same time. The movement of the
register is controlled by means of a knob and shank k, which is secured to the
register and protrudes through'a slot in the cap-plate I, as shewn in Figure 22.
prefer, in this construction, that the air shall be admitted at several points
directly over the margin or working portion of the disc, so that it may in its coolest
condition impinge forcibly upon the disc at the points most likely to be heated.
For this purpose a circular tube or chamber C¹ is secured to the cap-plate, as shewn
in Figure 22, and made to communicate through said plate with the air-space of the
disc at as many points as desired. A single inlet I will suffice to admit the air
from a proper forcing device.
In the construction last above described the air when permitted to escape through
the lower or disc apertures is made to act obviously on both surfaces of the thin
face plate forming the working part of the upper disc U, and also on the upper
surface of the lower disc L. Not only is the cooling effect thus obtained desirable,
but the outward passage of the air between the disc-faces may be regulated so as to
advantageously effect the feed, particularly to secure the immediate discharge of
the finer portions of the reduced material.
By employing the closed lower disc and an upper disc, having both inlet and outlet
passages through the cap-plate I, the joints of the parts united may be made so
close and the flanges c, c¹, so packed as to permit the use of water instead of air
as a cooling medium; but a strong air current is found to be ample for the effect
sought.
The chamber T interposed between the inlet t' through the stationary plate B
and the passages e through the runner bed G secures a uniform or uninterrupted
flow of air not otherwise to be obtained.
In the practice of a system of gradual reduction by means of the machinery
above described the wheat is first graded into two or more sizes, and each size is
separately passed through a degerminator specially set for the size of wheat to be
split.
.
The entire product of all the degerminators used upon the several sizes of grain
is sent to a single reel, clothed as hereinbefore described, that is, with 16 to 24
mesh wire cloth at the tail and head respectively, which "scalps" out the flour
germs, middlings, and impurities, and passes the half-kernels over the tail. The

page_text: operation thus performed by the degerminator I call the first reduction; the
products are a small percentage of "low-grade" flour, the same of middlings, very
nearly all the germs of the wheat and the separated half-kernels. The split wheat,
principally in the form of half-kernels, is next passed through one reduction machine
and the product is again bolted through a reel similar to the first.
The products of this second reduction are flour, middlings, and fragments of
grain partially reduced with a very small percentage of detached germs not pre-
viously removed.
The third and fourth reductions are precisely like the second, the reduction
machine being set closer for each reduction than for the one preceding and the
bolting reels being the same. The fifth reduction is also like the preceding, but
the reducing machine used in this operation is followed by a reel with No. 20 to
No. 24 or No. 30 cloth.
On soft wheat it may be found desirable to increase the length of the reel on the
products of the fourth and fifth reductions.
The tailings or bran from the fifth reel goes to the bran machine and is operated
on thereby as described, the product in the case of hard or spring wheat being sent
therefrom to a reel clothed with wire cloth of No. 30 to No. 40, and the bran from
this reel goes to a brush bran-duster of any preferred kind. In the case of soft
wheat two operations of the bran machine thereon may be necessary, each followed
by a reel of the kind just mentioned, and the bran then goes to a duster for final
finish.
The double treatment by the bran machine can be most conveniently performed
by the duplex form of that machine herein before described.
The management of the several products so far produced will now be explained.
All the flour germs and middlings obtained as set forth from the 1st, 2nd (and
in case the wheat is poor, also from the 3rd) reduction is sent to a bolting reel, 18
to 20 feet long, covered at the head and for about 5/8ths of its length with fine cloth,
and the remainder with two or three increasingly coarser numbers.
The head of the reel will dust through the fine flour and dirt, and the coarser
numbers running to No. 000 or even No. 0000 at the tail of the reel will take out
the several corresponding grades of middlings. The flour obtained from this reel
is of "low-grade," and should be packed as such. The middlings go to the purifiers
except the coarser grades, which will contain a few germs. The latter grades with
or without aspiration are sent to suitable rolls for the purpose of flattening the
germs preliminary to their removal by bolting; the flour from the rolls will go
into the best grade or grades produced by the wheat.
The flour and middlings from the 3rd reduction, when the wheat is of good
quality, and from the 4th and 5th reductions, is all sent to a reel or bolt of reels
having suitable grades of cloth. The flour obtained is considered a first quality of
"first or wheat flour," and should be so packed. The middlings go to the purifier
and thence to the middlings mill, as do also the finer grades of middlings from the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd reductions.
In the reduction of the middlings and in the management of the products of the
middlings mill any discriminations as to quality may be pursued according to the
pleasure of the miller or the grade of final product required.
As a general result of my system the "low-grade" flour is taken from the 1st,
2nd (and sometimes also from the 3rd) reductions, and a portion that comes from
cleaning the bran; the remainder is first class flour that cannot be equalled by any
method of reduction by millstones or other devices with which I am acquainted.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,-
First. The method of degerminating wheat or other lobated grain by first
splitting the berry through the crease, so as to expose or release the germs, and sub-
sequently subjecting the split grain to friction by screening or other operation for
the removal of adhering germs, substantially as above described.

page_text: Second. The method herein described of splitting the wheat longitudinally
through the crease, namely, by pressing the berry between two smooth hard
surfaces bearing upon the berry, one opposite the crease and the other on both
sides of the crease, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The method or process of gradually reducing wheat by first splitting the
grain longitudinally through the crease, for the purpose of exposing and releasing
the germs and subsequently reducing the halved kernels to middlings, flour, and
bran, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. In a machine for splitting or reducing wheat the discs U and L, of hard
metal or equivalent substance, each provided with the marginal ribs m raised above
the central portion of the disc face and rounded and smoothed, substantially as
described and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. In a bran cleaning machine the combination of the stationary plate B¹
or D', having concentric annular slotted partitions or rows of pins or u¹ and
the rotating disc or arms provided with the oblique wings or rows of pins,
arranged upon said disc or arms so as to sweep between the stationary partitions,
substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
Sixth. In combination with the central feed opening of the bran machine herein
described, having circular partitions or rows of fixed pins u' or ', the excentric
wings arranged opposite said opening upon the rotating disc or disc hub, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Seventh. The double bran machine herein described divided into two separate
compartments by a central rotating disc, each compartment having a series of
stationary concentric slotted partitions and a corresponding series of wings arranged
upon the disc face to sweep between the fixed partitions, and each compartment
also having separate feed and discharge openings whereby distinct bodies of material
may be simultaneously and separately operated upon in the same machine, sub-
stantially as above set forth.
Eighth. In the middlings mill herein described, the combination with an under
runner having a hollow hub of a fixed or non-rotating spindle passing through
said hub and rigidly supported both above and below the hub, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
Ninth. In the middlings mill herein described the combination with the hollow
hub of the non-rotating spindle, provided with a step or shoulder and a clamp-nut,
and vertically controlled by positive mechanism, substantially as described and for
the purposes set forth.
Tenth. In combination with the vertical spindle of a horizontal-disc-mill, the
adjusting device, consisting of the lighter-bar properly linked or jointed to the
frame, the screw V2 having the head embraced, as shewn, to prevent end movement
of said screw, the nut v² and the hand-wheel W2 connected and arranged to secure
positive control of the spindle E² vertically, substantially as above described and for
the purpose set forth.
Eleventh. In combination with the hollow hub F2 and non-rotating spindle the
annular step A3 adapted to oscillate upon its supports so as to adjust itself to the
end bearing of the hub, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
Twelfth. In combination with the rotating hub F and fixed clamp-nut M³ the
rotating plate having the annular flange, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
Thirteenth. In the middlings-mill herein described the combination with the
rigidly fixed cap-plate J2 and the stationary stone of the screws, hand-wheels,
cushion, and nut movably secured to the stone, whereby the said stone is suspended
adjustably from the cap-plate, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fourteenth. In combination with the stationary stone, the cap plate J², and the
suspended screws, the flanged plate secured to said stone and having apertures for the
passage of the screws K³, and sockets for the nuts retained beneath said apertures
substantially as described.

page_text: Fifteenth. In the feeding device of the aforesaid middlings mill the combination
with the hopper-bottom, having the apertures o³, of the sliding plate, having the
apertures 2, the shaft e², slotted lever pin and arm L², substantially as herein
described and as shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
Sixteenth. A hollow or chambered mill-disc provided with inlet and outlet
openings, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
Seventeenth. A mill runner-disc, having an inner chamber D' provided with a
suitable outlet, and having openings e in the bed portion G combined with the
passage through the plate B, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Eighteenth. The combination with a hollow runner-disc, having the inlet
openings in the bed portion G and the passage through the stationary plate B, of.
the chamber T intermediate between the stationary and moving passages, sub-
stantially as described and for the purposes specified.
Nineteenth. In combination with the said chambered mill-disc, having inlet and
outlet openings, one or more deflecting plates or flanges located within the disc-
chamber, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Twentieth. A mill-runner having an inner chamber D₁ cut off from the general
interior of the mill and provided with passages combined with the distributing
plate p', substantially as above described.
Twenty first. The hollow or chambered mill runner-disc having inlet passages
through the bed portion, inclined as described, for the purpose set forth.
Twenty second. A stationary chambered mill disc provided with the inlets i and
outlet or outlets o, arranged as described and shewn for the purpose specified.
Twenty third. The rotating register combined with the openings o and o¹, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Twenty fourth. The combination with a stationary chambered disc of the inlet
or inlets i, the upper discharge opening or openings o, and the lower or inner
opening or openings o¹, and register mechanism applied to the discharge openings,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.