IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEAT INTO FLOUR
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Westrup, of Old Ford, in the County of
Middlesex, Mill Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WHEAT INTO FLOUR."
Sealed the 28th November 1854, and dated the 1st June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Westrup at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his l'etition, on the 1st
June 1854.
I, WALTER WESTRUP, of Old Ford, in the County of Middlesex, Mil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MINTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEAT INTO FLOUR" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in operating upon wheat in such manner that the
interior of the grain or kernel is divided into small particles or substances
without being in the first instance pulverized, while by means of a peculiarly
constructed fan, the outer husk and bran are entirely separated from the
inner portions of the grain. After the husk and outer coats of the grain
are separated, the kernel or heart is pulverized, by grinding in the usual
manner, and a very superior flour results from the process.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Westrup in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
WESTRUP, of Old Ford, in the County of Middlesex, Mill Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Walter Westrup. Her special licence that I, the said Walter Westrup,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Walter Westrup, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an "Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEAT INTO FLOUR," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Walter Westrup, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Walter Westrup, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
that is to say-
My Invention consists in operating upon wheat in such manner that the
interior of the grain or kernel is divided into small particles or substances
without being in the first instance pulverized, while by means of a peculiarly
constructed fan, the outer husk and bran are entirely separated from the
inner portions of the grain. After the husk and outer coats of the grain
are separated, the kernel or heart is pulverized, by grinding in the usual manner,
and a very superior flour results from the process.
The object of this improved system is to obtain the kernel of the grain
separate from the other portions thereof previous to reducing the same into

page_text: flour, instead of effecting such separation after the grain has been ground into
flour, as is now commonly practised. This object is attained by grinding or
breaking the grain a number of times successively, and between each grinding
or breaking separating the central, and consequently the whiter and heavier
particles, from the outer, darker, and less weighty parts, by the action of a blast
of air, and the specific gravity of the different kinds of grit and offal.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect is as follows:-The
ends of the grains of wheat are first cut off, by rough-grinding them between
a pair of millstones or metal plates, set at a sufficient distance from each
other not to crush or pulverize the kernel of the grain. The grain is then
broken as nearly as possible into quarters, and the flour unavoidably produced
in this process is separated from the other particles, which pass over a screen
or sieve, and are divided into three parcels, the coarsest being the bran, and
such portions of the kernel as still adhere to it, which are re-ground; and the
other two parcels being grit of different degrees of coarseness which are passed
through the separating or cleaning machine, herein-after described, where they
are subjected to the action of a moderate blast of air, and again subdivided
into other parcels. The various qualities of grit thus obtained are then
re-ground, re-separated, and re-cleaned, until no longer separable, when they
are ground into flour.
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a side elevation, partly in section, and
Figure 2 is a cross section, of the separating or cleaning machine, herein-before
mentioned. A, A, is the casing or framing of the machine, and B, B, are
hoppers through which the grit is supplied to be operated on; D, E, F, are
three compartments, with shifting boards C, C, between them, into which the
grit falls from the hoppers B, B; D', E', F', are three other compartments,
similar to those before mentioned, with shifting boards C', C', into which the
grit passes from the first-mentioned compartments; G, G, are the air canals,
through which a blast of air is sent by any convenient blowing apparatus, such
as a fan; H, H', are nozzles or apertures through which the air enters the
two tiers of compartments D, E, F, and D', E', F'. These nozzles or apertures
are fitted with slides I, I', by which their area of opening can be increased
or diminished at pleasure. J, J, are slides to the compartments D¹, E', by
which the grit can be retained in the machine or allowed to escape from it
when required. The action of the machine is as follows:-The grit falling
from one of the hoppers B, is met at a by the current of air entering through
the nozzle H, which acts upon the falling grit, and blows it according to its
specific gravity, and the angle at which the shifting boards C, C, are set into

page_text: the compartments D, E, F, the lightest particles being driven into the farthest
compartment, and so on. The grit then falling from the compartiments D, E, F,
passes into the compartments D', E, F, where it is met at 6 by a second blast
of air, entering through the nozzle H, which performs a second separating
operation. The grit can be removed from the compartments D', E', by the
slides J, J, and from the compartment F¹ by a door in the side of the machine.
The various qualities of grit obtained from the separating processes are
re-ground, re-separated, and re-cleaned, until no longer separable, as before
directed, when they are ground into flour, which will be found to be of a very
superior quality to that produced by the ordinary processes of manufacture.
The machine represented in the Drawing is, it will be observed, a four-fold
one, having four distinct feeds of grit and eight of air; but this may be varied,
if preferred.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Inven
tion is, the operating upon wheat in such manner that the interior of the grain
or kernel is reduced to grit, or divided into small particles or substances without
being in the first instance pulverized; and the separation of the outer husk and
bran from the inner portions of the grain by a blast or current of air previous
to grinding the same into flour, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Westrup, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-four.
WALTER WESTRUP. (L.S.)