IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND DECORTICATING WHEAT AND OTHER KINDS OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING, CLEANING, AND POLISHING RICE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Bryant Childs, Engineer, of 16, Mark
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND DECORTICATING
WHEAT AND OTHER KINDS OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING, CLEANING, AND
POLISHING RICE."
Sealed the 18th January 1870, and dated the 20th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Bryant Childs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th November 1869.
I, AUGUSTUS BRYANT CHILDS, Engineer, of 16, Mark Lane, London,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND
DECORTICATING WHEAT AND OTHER KINDS OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING,
CLEANING, AND POLISHING RICE," to be as follows:-
The machine consists of one, two, or a series of pairs of discs, between
the surfaces of which the wheat or other grain is acted on.

page_text: The essential part of the improvement consists in the form of the
cleaning and scouring surfaces of the discs herein-after described. One
disc of each pair is made to revolve by attaching them to a suitable
spindle which receives its motion from the lower end through the
medium of a belt, or may be driven if desired from its top end. The
other discs of each pair are fixed stationary to a suitable frame, and
constructed for adjusting to or from the revolving disc, to suit the
nature of the work required to be done. The adjusting device can be
made to adjust all the discs in a series of pairs at the same time, or so
constructed as to adjust one disc at a time. The surfaces of the discs
when in operation are placed in a horizontal position. As a rule the
lower disc of each pair will revolve while the upper one is stationary,
excepting as it is moved for adjusting purposes, but if desired the upper
one can be made to revolve and the lower one fixed stationary. The
machine is supplied with grain through an opening in the centre of the
top pair of discs which falls on the revolving disc and by its rotative
action the grain is carried out between the two discs and wholly or
partially cleaned and scoured, and is discharged from the periphery of the
discs and falls into a hopper which conducts it to the centre of the
next lower pair of discs if required, when it again undergoes another
cleaning process and is again discharged into a hopper and carried to
the third pair of discs for another cleaning, and so on through as many
as may be required for properly cleaning and scouring grain or per-
forming other functions for which the machine is intended and hercin-
before described. The faces of the discs are furnished with peculiar
forms, consisting of a series of concentric grooves or channels and ridges
made to fit into cach other; the use of these grooves or channels and
ridges is to increase the cleaning and scouring surfaces of the discs by.
acting on and retarding the motion of the grain in its passage from the
centre to the circumference of the discs, and by thus providing the faces
of the discs with concentric grooves and ridges they can be made of a
small diameter and at the same time with larger surfaces for acting on
the grain or material than plain faced discs would have of a much
larger diameter. These concentric grooves or channels and ridges will
as a rule be cast on or made part of the disc, but if desired the face of
the disc can be made plain and the ridges made separate of cast iron,
wrought iron, steel, or other metal of a suitable shape to form the grooves
or channels, and attached to the plain disc by means of screws, bolts, or
otherwise.

page_text: The grooves can be made of any shape in their transverse section or
outline, the ridges formed by two adjoining grooves on a disc are made
to fit grooves of a corresponding shape or nearly so on the face of its
companion disc. In some cases the transverse section of the grooves
will be curved or circular at their bottom, and the top of the ridge
formed by two adjoining grooves will have a corresponding shape or
nearly so, or the grooves and ridges can be made of a V shape. This
form will admit of the surface of the grooves or ridges on a pair of discs
being adjusted at equal distances apart over their whole surfaces, and
therefore bringing the whole surfaces into action, and cause them to
act on the grain with an equal cleaning and scouring force at all points
in its passage from the centro to the circumference of the disc. The
grooves of whatever shape diminish in size in their transverse section as
they approach the circumference of the disc, so that the surfaces of any
two of the grooves and ridges on a disc will have about an equal area
and an equal amount of space between the different grooves and ridges
on the same pair of discs when they are adjusted at various distances
apart. This is done to obtain an equal pressure or action on the grain
by the discs at all points of its traverse between the discs from the time
it enters until it is discharged. The grooves or channels on the discs
will be made deep or shallow to suit the nature of the work required to
be done. If the wheat or other grain is to be retained an increased
length of time between their surfaces the grooves should be made deep,
which increases their arca and travers of the grain, consequently
cleaning power of the machine.
The grooves, ridges, or discs will be provided with smooth surfaces;
in such cases it is proposed to impart an action or motion to the grain
by feeding it to the machine in proper quantities so as to make it self
cleaning and scouring by causing the grains of the material to rub
against cach other by the motion imparted to them by the revolving
disc, in place of wholly depending on the surface of the discs to perform
the cleaning and scouring process, while in other cases when a severe
action is required on the grain, the grooves, ridges, or discs will be made
rough by cutting small radial channels over their surfaces, or cutting
such channels in any direction on the discs compared with their circum-
ferences, or the discs can be provided with teeth of any suitable shape
made to point in the same or different directions on discs belonging to
the same iain

page_text: Fans are attached to the lower part of each revolving disc or to
the spindle to which the discs are fixed, for exhausting and blowing thic
dust and separating other foreign matters from the grain as it falls
from the circunference of each disc. The dust and other matter is
separated from the grain by blowing it through a wire cloth or perforated
sheet metal plate, which is attached to the circumference of the
stationary discs and upper part of the hopper for conducting the grain
to the next lower disc. An inclosed dust chamber is formed at the
outside and around the wire cloth attached to each disc for receiving
the dust and other matter, from whence it is discharged at any suitable 1
point of the circumference of the dust chamber into a spout for con-
ducting it away by the action of the blast. The dust chambers aro
constructed independant of each other, and furnished with separate
spouts for carrying off the dust.
The machine is supplied with air through annular openings at the 1
lower part of each hopper for conducting the grain from disc to disc,
and also through the eye of each revolving disc, which will be provided
with openings for the purpose and covered with wire cloth to prevent
the grain from passing otherwise than between the discs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said Augustus Bryant Childs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
BRYANT CHILDS, Engineer, of 16, Mark Lane, London, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, Her special
licence, that I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustus Bryant
Childs, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND DECORTICATING
WHEAT AND OTHER KINDS OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING, CLEANING, AND
POLISHING RICE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Augustus Bryant Childs, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters.
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
The machine consists of one, two, or a series of pairs of disks, between
the surfaces of which the wheat or other grain is acted on for cleaning
and other purposes.
The essential part of the improvement consists in the form of the
cleaning and scouring surfaces of the disks, consisting of a series of con-
centric grooves or channels and ridges cast on or otherwise attached to
their surfaces, which are more fully hercin-after described. One disk of
each pair is made to revolve by attaching them to a suitable spindle,
which receives its motion from the lower end through the medium of a
belt, or may be driven if desired from its top end. The other disks of
each pair are fixed stationary to a suitable frame, and constructed for
adjusting to or from the revolving disk, to suit the nature of the work
required to be done. The adjusting device can be made to adjust all
the discs in a series of pairs at the same time, or so constructed as to
adjust one disk at a time. The surfaces of the disks when in operation
are placed in a horizontal position. As a rule the lower disk of cach
pair will revolve while the upper one is stationary, excepting as it is
moved for adjusting purposes, but if desired the upper one can be made
to revolve and the lower one fixed stationary. The machine is supplied
with grain through an opening in the centre of the top pair of disks
which falls on the revolving disk, and by its rotative action the grain
is carried out between the two disks, and wholly or partially cleaned

page_text: and scoured, and is discharged from the periphery of the disks, and falls
into a hopper which conducts it to the next lower pair of disks, if
required, when it again undergoes another cleaning process, and is again
discharged into a hopper, and carried to the third pair of disks for
another cleaning, and so on through as many as may be required for
properly cleaning and scouring grain, or performing other functions for
which the machine is intended and herein-after described. The faces
of the disks are furnished with peculiar forms, consisting of a series of
concentric grooves or channels and ridges made to fit into cach other;
the use of these grooves or channels and ridges is for retarding the
motion of the grain in its passage from the centre to the circumference
of the disks, and increasing the cleaning and scouring area of their
surfaces. By thus providing the faces of the disks with concentric
grooves and ridges they can be made of a small diameter, and at the
same time with larger surfaces for acting on the grain of the material
than plain faced disks would have of a much larger diameter. These
concentric grooves or channels and ridges, as a rule, will be cast on or
made part of the disk, but if desired the face of the disk can be made
plain, and the ridges made separate of cast iron, wrought iron, steel, or
other metal of a suitable shape to form the grooves or channels, and
attached to the plain disk by means of screws, bolts, or otherwise. The
grooves can be made of any shape in their transverse section or outline.
The ridges formed by two adjoining grooves on a disk are made to fit
grooves of a corresponding shape, or nearly so, on the face of its com-
panion disk in or against which it revolves. In some cases the transverse
section of the grooves will be curved or circular at their bottom, and the
top of the ridge formed by two adjoining grooves will have a corre-
sponding shape or nearly so, or the grooves and ridges can be made of
a shape. This form will admit of the surfaces of the grooves or
ridges on a pair of disks being adjusted at equal distances apart over their
whole surfaces, and therefore bring their whole surfaces into action on
the grain with an equal cleaning and scouring force at all points in its
passage from the centre to the circumference of the disks. The series of
concentric grooves or channels and ridges on the disks will be made
obtuse or acute, deep or shallow, large or small, to suit the nature of the
work required to be done. If the wheat or other grain is to be retarded
an increased length of time between their surfaces the grooves should be
made deep, which likewise increases their area, and consequently
cleaning efficiency of the machine.

page_text: The grooves and rigid surfaces of the disks may be provided with
smooth surfaces; in such cases it is proposed to impart an action or
motion to the grain by feeding it to the machine in proper quantities,
so as to make it self cleaning and scouring by causing the grains of the
material to rub against each other with sufficient force by the motion
imparted to it by the revolving disk, in place of wholly depending on
the surface of the disk to perform the cleaning and scouring process,
while in other cases when a severe action is required on the grain the
grooves and rigid surfaces. of the disks will be made rough by cutting
small radial channels over their surfaces, or cutting such channels in
any direction on the disks compared with their circumferences, or the
disks may be provided with teeth of any suitable shape made to point
in the same or different directions on disks belonging to the same pair.
Fans are attached to the lower part of each revolving disk, or to the
spindle, to which the disks are fixed for exhausting and blowing the
dust and separating other foreign matters from the grain as it falls from
the circumference of each disk. The dust and other matter is separated
from the grain by blowing it through a wire screen or other perforated,
sheet metal plate, which is attached to the circumference of the
stationary disk and upper part of the hopper for conducting the grain
to the next lower disk. An enclosed dust chamber is formed at the
outside and around the wire screen attached to each disk for receiving
the dust and other matter, from whence it is discharged at any suitable
point of the circumference of the dust chamber into a spout for con-
ducting it away by the action of the blast. The dust chambers aro
constructed independent of each other and furnished with separato
spouts for carrying off the dust. The machine is supplied with air
through annular openings between the conducting hopper for taking the
grain from disk to disk..
In order to obtain a fuller understanding of the Invention I shall
now refer to the Drawings hereunto annexed and forming part of this
Specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.
Similar letters refer to corresponding parts of the machine on both
Sheets of Drawings.
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is a side elevation of the machine provided with five
pairs of disks; Fig. 2 is a top view of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitu-
dinal sectional view of the machine through the centre of the disks.
shewing the forms of the grooves with which their working surfaces are

page_text: provided; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the machine through the
wings of the fans, which fans are placed under each pair of disks. The
plans on Sheet 2 of the Drawings represent various views and forms of
the disks, drawn to an enlarged scale, for more fully shewing the action on
the grain in the process of cleaning and for other purposes. Fig. 5 is a
sectional view of a pair of discs through their diameter, furnished with
grooves in form similar to those represented in Fig. 3, Sheet 1; and
Fig. G is a face view of one of the disks provided with radial furrows
or channels over the surfaces of the grooves for increasing the scouring
and scrubbing action on the grain in the process of cleaning if required.
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a pair of a disks through their diameter
provided with V-shaped grooves, and Fig. 8 is a face view of these disks,
and Fig. 9 is a sectional view through the diameter of a pair of disks,
showing the smallest concentric grooves and ridges next to the centres
of the disks and made to increase in size towards their circumference as
represented.
Any form of frame may be used for working the disks. The
one represented in the accompanying Drawings is composed of a
circular cast-iron base A, and a similar shaped top piece C connected
together by four hollow metal columns B, and the whole firmly united
by screw rods passing up through the columns, as represented in
Fig. 3, the nuts being at the top. D is a metal spindle made to revolve
in a step in the base piece A through the medium of a pulley i by
means of a belt; the lower end of the spindle besides working in the
step will have lateral bearings attached to the frame piece A and made
adjustable by screws, as represented in Fig. 1, and if desired the step on
which the spindle revolves can be constructed for adjusting the spindle
up and down to regulate the distance of the disks apart. The disks, as
a rule, will be cast in one piece about four feet in diameter more or less,"
with the series of grooves and ridges on their faces formed in the mould;
the lower disks E of each pair are firmly attached to the spindle D by
keying, set screws, or analogous devices, while the upper disks Fare
held stationary, except so far as they are made adjustable to and from
the revolving disks through the medium of the suspending rods or
bolts S, S, pinion nuts P, P, and horizontal shaft a provided with
endless screws at each end for working in the teeth of the pinion
nuts P, P, as represented in Fig. 2. Brackets or supports R, R, arc
attached to the top and at the sides of the upper discs F, F; the
rods S, S, are made to pass through these supports in holes sufficiently

page_text: tight to hold the disks firm and steady. The upper disk of each pair
is adjustable to its proper position on the suspending rods S, S, by
means of the adjusting studs or tubes O, O. The lower ends of the rods
S, S, are snugly fitted into openings made in the frame A, as represented
by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the Drawings, to prevent any lateral motion
of the rods in the process of adjusting the disks. From the foregoing
description of the parts employed for adjusting the disks F it will be
readily understood that by turning the horizontal shaft a mounted on
the top of the machine the pinion nuts P, P, are made to revolve, which
raises or lowers the suspending rods S, S, and consequently the disk F,
and thereby adjust them to or from the revolving disk E on the
spindle D to suit the nature of the work required in cleaning grain:
Other devices may be employed if desired for adjusting each stationary
disk separately in place of together. The grain is fed into the machine
through the spout H, Fig. 3, and falls on the top revolving disk E near
its centre at d, and by the centrifugal force the grain receives from
the revolving disk it is carried out between the grooved and ridged
surfaces of the revolving and stationary disks for cleaning and other
purposes, and is discharged at their circumference, as denoted by tho
arrows marked between the grooved and ridged surfaces of the disks in
Figs. 5, 7, and 9, on Sheet 2. The discharged grain from the circum-
ference of the top disk falls on the conducting hopper M, M, and passes
to the centre of the second or next lower pair of disks, and, as before
described, by the centrifugal force of the revolving disk it is again
carried between their grooved and ridged surfaces for a second cleaning,
scouring, or for other purposes, and conducted by the hopper M, M,
to the next lower or third pair of disks for undergoing a similar opera-
tion, and so on until it has passed through each pair of disks in the
machine, and is discharged at the lower part of the machine out through
the spout N. In some cases it may be found useful to subject the grain
to a brushing action before it is finally discharged from the machine
for better removing from its surface the loose particles of dust and other
matters that may adhere to it after receiving the last rubbing action by
the disks. This may be accomplished by providing the cleaning face of
the lower stationary disk F with brushes, as represented in Fig. 3,
Sheet 1, and the face of the revolving disk E with a wire screen for
permitting the dusty matter to escape from the grain as it is being
acted on by the brushes and carried off by the fans placed beneath tho
revolving disc as represented in Fig. 3. The circumferences of cach

page_text: pair of disks are provided with air chambers h, as fully represented in
Figs. 3 and 4, into which the dust and other foreign matter is blown
from the grain in the process of cleaning, as it falls from the cir-
cumference of the disks on the conducting hopper M, M, as before
stated. The blades of the fans employed for this purpose in the present
casc are attached to the lower part of the revolving disks; g, g, Figs. 3
and 4, represent the blades secured to stem pieces screwed into the
bosses of the revolving disk E. The fans are supplied with air through
the annular openings W, W, between the conducting hopper M, M, as
shewn by the arrows marked on the Drawings on Sheet 1. If desired
the fans can be constructed independent of the revolving disks and
attached to the spindle D. The inner parts of the air chamber aro
composed of perforated sheet metal J or wire screen of a proper gauge, and
are attached to and around the circumference or edges of the stationary
disks F as represented. The dust is blown out through the openings in
the perforated sheet J into the air chamber h and discharged at the
spout n, as represented in Fig. 4, Sheet 1. Each pair of disks has an
independent air chamber and discharging spout n, and when the
machine is in action they may be made to discharge into a partially
enclosed apartment, or out of the building through a main discharge
spout. The lower edges of the fan blades 7, 9, are provided with
shields ff, made of sheet metal, and attached to the blades by any
suitable means for preventing their edges and the current of air from
the fan from striking, retarding, or retaining the grain on the conducting
hoppers M, M, as it passes from disk to disk in the process of cleaning.
In practice the grooved and rigid faces of the disks will be made and
adjusted apart, so that the space left between the grooved surface for tho
passage of the grain will be so proportioned that the rubbing and cleaning
action of the disk on the grain will be performed with an equal intensity
at all points over the surface of the disks between their centres and
circumferences. As a rule the grooved surfaces of the disks at their
circumferences will be set about one-half an inch apart, when in working
position for ordinary purposes more or less to suit the nature of the
work required to be done on the grain, while the distance or space
between their surfaces increases sufficient towards their centres, as
represented in Figs. 5, 7, and 9, Sheet 2, so that the whole space between
the disks will be filled with grain under an equal pressure, and thereby
cause an equal intensity of rubbing and cleaning action on it at all
points between the surfaces of the disks as before stated. The surfaces

page_text: of the series of concentric grooves and ridges on the disks will be made
rough by channelling or other means similar to the face of a millstone,
or as represented in Fig. 6, Sheet 2, for increasing the severity of the
rubbing or cleaning action on the grain; or the disks may be employed
with their grooved and ridged surfaces made smooth. As a rule in such
cases the revolving disks will be worked at an increased velocity to cause
increased motioned of the grain which will act with sufficient force and
severity on each other so as to cause the grain to clean itself, independent
or nearly so of the cleaning action of the grooved surfaces of the disks.
In the present case the series of concentric grooves, channels, and ridges
on the disks, represented in most of the accompanying Drawings, are
made larger in their transverse sections next to the centre of the disks,
and diminish in size as they approach their circumference, but if desired
they may be of a uniform size from the centre to the circumference, or
smaller next to the centre of the disk, as represented by Fig. 9, on Sheet 2
of the Drawings, and increase in size towards their circumference.
Either of these methods of proportioning and distributing the size of the
grooves and ridges on the face of the disks will more or less effectually
accomplish the object for which they are used, namely, for retarding
the motion of the grain and increasing the area of the cleaning and
scouring surfaces of the disks.
Having explained the manner of constructing and using my improve-
ment hercin-before described and represented, what I consider new and
therefore claim is,-
First. The use of a series of concentric grooves or channels and ridges
of any form or shape in their transverse or cross section made in, on,
or over the faces or surfaces of the disks as hercin-before described and
represented, for retarding the motion of the grain imparted to it by the
centrifugal force of the revolving disk or disks as it passes over or
between the surfaces of the said disks, in order to prolong the cleaning
action of the disks on the grain, and for increasing the cleaning and
scouring areas or surfaces of the said disks, constructed and used
according to any of the descriptions herein contained and represented,
and for the purposes specified.
Second. The adjusting the stationary disks F to or from the revolving
disks, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Third. The fans g arranged to or directly under cach revolving disk,
for the purposes herein-before specified.

page_text: Fourth. The air chamber constructed around and to the circumference
circumference of each stationary disk, in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before specified.
Fifth. The conducting hoppers M, M, constructed and arranged in
connection with the pairs of disks, for the purposes herein-before
specified,
In witness whercof, I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Fourth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.