A New or Improved Method of and Apparatus for Removing the Outer Skin or Skins from Wheat and like Grain.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 6th July, 1899-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1899
A New or Improved Method of and Apparatus for Removing the
Outer Skin or Skins from Wheat and like Grain.
***I, SAMUEL DAVID HOOLE, of Bickerton Grange, Wetherby, in the County of
York Miller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to remove the outer skin or skins from wheat
and like grain, in such a manner that the pure grain is left ready for the mill,
and this without injuring the grain itself or removing any portion but the bran
or outer covering.
According to my invention, I subject the grain to a preparing operation
whereby it is brought to the necessary humid state so as to soften and loosen the
outer skin or skins, and this preparing operation may suitably be performed in
a cylindrical apparatus provided with a conveyor in its interior, which feeds
the grain forward to an outlet and allows it to be subjected to the necessary
moisture for a predetermined time. On arriving at the opening, the grain with
its outer skins softened, falls down a shoot and is fed to a conical perforated
drum, the interior of which contains a rotary brush having its surface concen-
tric with the interior surface of the drum, and with a short clearance between
the same. The exterior of the drum is provided with brushes, the bristles of
which press against the surface of the drum and project through the perfora-
tions, in such a manner that the grain is brushed and rubbed between the
surface of the central brush and the interior of the drum and the external brushes.
The outer skin or skins of the grain is or are thus peeled off, and the grain itself
is left quite free from bran and without any waste or injury to the grain itself.
A fan is provided for drawing off the bran or outer skins at the tail end of
the machine, and the grain is removed by way of a shoot at the base of the
drum.
The brushes before referred to may suitably be made of vegetable fibres or a
mixture of vegetable fibres and metallic bristles.
4
A New or Improved Method of and Apparatus for Removing the
Outer Skin or Skins from Wheat and like Grain.
I, SAMUEL DAVID HOOLE, of Bickerton Grange, Wetherby, in the County of
York, Miller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
[Price 8d.]

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to remove the outer skin or skins from wheat
and like grain, in such a manner that the pure grain is left ready for the mill,
and this without injuring the grain itself or removing any portion but the bran
or outer covering.
According to my invention, I subject the grain to a preparing operation
whereby it is brought to the required humid state, so as to soften and loosten the
outer skin or skins; and the grain in this prepared condition is then subjected to
brushing and separating operations, with the result that the pure grain, bran and
foreign substances, are all separated and conveyed to separate receivers.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar
letters refer to like parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a machine constructed according to my
invention, Figure 2 is a left hand elevation and Figure 3 is a right hand eleva-
tion of the same machine.
A is a shute for feeding the grain, having a spray B for giving the required
degree of moisture, and the said shute A is provided with a perforated base C
for draining off any excess of moisture contained in the grain. D is a con-
ditioner or conveyor into which the grain is fed from the shute A by means of a
hopper E, and is a shaft carrying blades F1, which, as they rotate, thoroughly
mix the grain and equalize the moisture, at the same time feeding the said grain
forward in the machine. G is a spout connected with the bottom of the con-
veyor D, and the lower end of the spout C communicates through a fixed plate H
with the interior of a rotary conical perforated drum J, carried on anti-friction
rollers J. K is a brush having a conical surface of the same taper as that of
the drum J, and the said brush K is mounted on a main shaft K' which is sup-
ported in suitable bearings on the frame of the machine. L is a spout for dis-
charging the cleaned grain, and H is a fan which creating a suction through a
passage N, carries off the bran or other light particles from the interior of the
drum J. The drum J being made of perforated material, allows any dust or
other foreign matter to pass through and fall into a hopper P. R is the main
driving pulley which is mounted on the end of the shaft K', the brush K being
thus driven at a high rate of speed, and S is another pulley which through the
medium of a belt S¹, pulley M³, and shaft M2, drives the fan M.
R is an
auxiliary shaft carrying three spur wheels R', R2, and R3, and motion is imparted
to the said shaft R through a chain K³ from a pinion K2 carried on the main
shaft K of the machine. The pinion R' transmits motion to a spur ring J¹
carried on the end of the druni J through the medium of a chain J³, thus
causing the drum J to turn at a slow speed. The shaft F of the conveyor
receives its motion from the pinion R3 through a chain 13 and a spur wheel F.
The grain is fed through the shute A, where it receives a suitable amount
of moisture from the spray B on its way to the hopper E. The grain in a
moistened state then falls into the conveyor D along which it travels and passes
by way of the spout G to the interior of the drum J, where it is subjected to a
peeling operation between the interior surface of the drum J and the brush K,
and this has the effect of removing the outer skin or skins from the grain as it
passes along towards the spout L of the machine. During this passage of the
grain, the dust or other small particles of foreign matter carried by the grain
Fasses through the perforations of the drum J and fall into the hopper P, whilst
the grain and the removed skins arriving at the delivery end become separated
by the suction of the fan; and the skins or bran are drawn upwards, whilst the
grain now in a pure and perfectly clean state falls through the spout L.
The drum J has been shewn in the drawings to rotate in the same direction
as that of the brush K, but it is obvious that if a greater difference in speed
between the two parts is desired, they could be run in opposite directions.

page_text: The distance between the exterior surface of the brush K and the interior
surface of the perforated drum J, should be such as to enable each grain to be
rolled between the two surfaces, and the said distance may be adjusted with the
greatest nicety by means of a screw adjustment K+, which enables the shaft K¹
to be drawn to the right or left as desired.
Having now particularly .described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;-
1. The method of removing the outer skin or skins from wheat and like grain,
by softening and loostening the said skin or skins by the addition of moisture,
and then subjecting the grain to a peeling operation between a rotary brush and
the interior of a perforated drum, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. The conveyor D having a shaft F with blades thereon, in combination
with the spout G, perforated drum J and brush K, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
3. The combination of the shute A having a perforated base C, spray B,
hopper E, conveyor D, shaft F having blades F¹, spout G, perforated drum J,
brush K, spout L, fan M, passage N, and hopper P, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
4. The general arrangement, construction, and combination of the various
parts forming the apparatus for removing the outer skin or skins from wheat and
like grain, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 6th day of July 1899.
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds. Agents for the Applicant.