IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING OF THE DE SCRIPTION KNOWN AS FELTON'S AMERICAN MILL
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Barford, of Peterborough, in the County of
Northampton, and Thomas Perkins, of Hitchen, in the County of Herts,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING OF THE DE
SCRIPTION KNOWN AS FELTON'S AMERICAN MILL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Barford and
Thomas Perkins at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 2nd September 1865.
We, WILLIAM BARFORD, of Peterborough, in the County of Northampton,
and THOMAS PERKINS, of Hitchen, in the County of Herts, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING
OF THE DESCRIPTION KNOWN AS FELTON'S AMERICAN MILL," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in mills of the description
known as Felton's American mill, for which a Patent was granted to Charles
Frederick Stansbury, dated the 25th day of August, 1855, No. 1927.
:
In this mill a horizontal corrugated cylinder is employed, and a concave
surface similarly corrugated is set up to it, so that as the cylinder revolves
whilst the concave is held stationary, the grain or material fed between the
two is ground. The concave has heretofore been set up to the cylinder by
,causing it at each end to rest on a lever capable of being slowly raised or

page_text: lowered by a screw, the screw and lever at the one end being altogether
independent of that at the other. This method of adjusting the concave is
found inconvenient, as each time it is set it requires care that the two ends of
the concave are equally raised or lowered, besides which the adjustment
occupies both the hands of the workman, so that he cannot at the same time
adjust the feed which it frequently would be desirable to do. In these mills
also as at present constructed there is nothing to ensure the concave rising
and falling truly, and sometimes it rises at one edge only, bringing the teeth
on this side close up to those of the cylinder, whilst at the other side they are
left at a distance from them, and besides in some cases when the mill is
overfed the concave becomes jammed up, so that it will not descend again by
its own weight as it should do, and no means are provided for forcing it down.
To obviate these inconveniences we provide the concave with guides to compel
it to rise and fall truly or without any sideway movement; for this purpose
we cast a stem on the concave at each end, and this stem is fitted accurately
into vertical guides fixed to the end frames of the mill; and in order that the
concave may by moving one handle be raised or lowered equally at the two
ends we employ a forked or bent lever, the prongs or arms of which turn on
centres at their ends, these centres being on the end frames of the mill opposite
to each other; each prong or arm then passes through a notch or recess in the
guide stem on the concave, and is then bent round so that they meet at the
front of the mill at the centre of its length, and here a nut is fixed to the lever,
and through it a screw actuated by a hand wheel passes.
turned the front end of the lever is raised or lowered, turning about its
centres at the back of the mill, and the lever carries the concave with it,
raising it to the cylinder or forcing it down should it be necessary. On the
screw we also employ a loose nut above the nut fixed in the lever, and when
the concave is adjusted we set this loose nut, which for convenience has a
hand wheel formed on it, down on to the nut of the lever, and then should it
become necessary to lower the concave to prevent the mill choking, it can
immediately afterwards be raised again precisely to the same point as before.
In some cases it is desirable that the concave should not be equidistant from
the cylinder at the two ends; to effect this adjustment we provide the two
axes of the forked or bent lever with independent adjustments by screws or
otherwise, so that one end may thus be raised without affecting the other
and as soon as the concave is set at the desired inclination, the centre screw
or adjustment may be used to obtain the exact distance from the cylinder
required. Other means of raising and lowering the two ends of the concave
equally and simultaneously may be resorted to; there may be a rack at each
As the screw is

page_text: end, such racks gearing with pinions which are caused to rotate simultaneously
when the handle is turned, but the arrangement first described is the more
convenient.
Also according to this Invention we fit into the feeding trough of the
machine a screen in such manner as to catch and lead away by a shoot any
stones, pieces of iron, or other large substances which may accidentally be
mixed with the grain, and which otherwise would enter the mill and injure it.:
We also attach to the feeding trough a pointer showing on a scale the
inclination of the trough, as it is the inclination of this trough which regulates
the speed of the feed; or more conveniently the scale may be graduated to
give the number of bushels fed into the mill in the hour for each inclination
of the feeding trough.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Barford and Thomas Perkins in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd March 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BARFORD, of Peterborough, in the County of Northampton, and THOMAS
PERKINS, of Hitchin, in the County of Herts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Barford and Thomas Perkins, Her special licence that we,
the said William Barford and Thomas Perkins, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Barford and Thomas
Perkins, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING OF THE DESCRIPTION KNOWN AS FELTON'S AMERICAN
MILL," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Barford
and Thomas Perkins, executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the

page_text: 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 William Barford, on behalf of myself
and the said Thomas Perkins, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in mills of the description
known as Felton's American mill, for which a Patent was granted to Charles
Frederick Stansbury, dated the 25th day of August, 1855 (No. 1927).
screw,
In this mill a horizontal corrugated cylinder is employed, and a concave
surface similarly corrugated is set up to it, so that as the cylinder revolves
whilst the concave is held stationary, the grain or material fed between the two
is ground. The concave has heretofore been set up to the cylinder by causing
it at each end to rest on a lever capable of being slowly raised or lowered by a
the screw and lever at the one end being altogether independent of that
at the other. This method of adjusting the concave is found inconvenient, as
each time it is set it requires the utmost care that the two ends of the concave
are equally raised or lowered to prevent unequal wear and tear, besides which
the adjustment occupies both the hands of the workman, so that he cannot
at the same time adjust the feed, which it frequently would be desirable to do.
In these mills also as at present constructed there is nothing to ensure the
concave rising and falling truly, and sometimes it rises at one edge only,
bringing the teeth on this side close up to those of the cylinder, whilst at the
other side they are left at a distance from them, and besides in some cases
when the mill is overfed the concave becomes janined up, so that it will not
descend again by its own weight as it should do, and no means are provided
for forcing it down to clear the mill. To obviate these inconveniences we
provide the concave with guides to compel it to rise and fall with the lever
truly or without any sideway movement; for this purpose we cast a stem on
the concave at each end, and this stem is fitted accurately into vertical guides
fixed to the end frames of the mill; and in order that the concave may by
moving one handle be raised or lowered equally at the two ends we employ a
forked or bent lever, the prongs or arms of which turn on centres at their
ends, these centres being on the end frames of the mill opposite to each other;
each prong or arın then passes through a notch or recess in the guide stem on
the concave, and is then bent round so that they meet at the front of the mill
at the centre of its length; and here a nut is fixed to the lever, and through
'it a screw actuated by a hand wheel passes. As the screw is turned the front

page_text: end of the lever is raised or lowered, turning about its centres at the back of
the mill, and the lever carries the concave with it, raising it to the cylinder or
forcing it down should it be necessary. On the screw we also employ a loose
nut above the nut fixed in the lever, and when the concave is adjusted we set
this loose nut, which for convenience has a hand well formed on it, down on
to the nut of the lever, and then, should it become necessary to lower the
concave to prevent the mill choking, it can immediately afterwards be raised
again precisely to the same point as before. In some cases it is desirable that
the concave should not be equidistant from the cylinder at the two ends; to
effect this adjustment we provide the two axes of the forked or bent lever with
independent adjustments by screws or otherwise, so that one end may thus be
raised without affecting the other, and as soon as the concave is set at the
desired inclination the centre screw or adjustment may be used to obtain the
exact distance from the cylinder required. Other means of raising and
lowering the two ends of the concave equally and simultaneously may be
resorted to; there may be a rack at each end, such racks gearing with
pinions, which are caused to rotate simultaneously when the handle is turned,
but the arrangement first described is the more convenient:
Also according to this Invention we fit into the feeding trough of the
machine a screen in such manner as to catch and lead away by a separate
shoot any stones, pieces of iron, or other large substances which may acci-
dentally be mixed with the grain, and which otherwise would enter the mill
and injure it.
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mill constructed according to our Inven-
tion. a, a, is the frame of the mill; b, b, and c, c, are side and end plates
fixed on the top of this frame; one of the end plates c is shewn separately in
side view, plan, and edge view at Figures 2. d is the concave; it is shewn
separately in side view and transverse section at Figures 3. The concave is
formed with stems d', d', at its ends, which fit between the guides c¹, c', on the
end plates c. e is a forked lever; it is centered at e', e', to blocks f, f, one of
which is shewn separately at Figure 4. These blocks slide in guides c³, c³, on
the end frame, and, as will be seen, they are furnished with tails, on which
screw threads are cut; these tails pass through lugs on the plate c, and
between these lugs the band nuts g, g, pass, so that the height of the centres e¹

page_text: can be raised or lowered, as may be required. The lever e is shewn separately
at Figure 5, and with the parts in connection therewith at Figures
and 7;
this lever on each side passes through the grooves d³, d³, in the stems of the
.concave, so that the concave is compelled to move with the lever, and at the
front the levere receives the nut h, which for freedom of action is made so as
to be able to slide a short distance on the lever. i is a screw, shewn
separately at Figure 8; it hangs on pivots i, ', from the front plate b, and
it passes down through the nut h. is a hand wheel at the upper end of the
screw, so that by turning this hand wheel it will be seen that the lever e and
concave d can be raised or lowered; k is a nut on the screw i, which can be
set in any desired position, and there locked by the set screw k¹ so as to form
a gauge to regulate the height to which the concave is raised; the set
screw k¹ presses on a small block loosely fitted into a slot in the nut k, and
jams it on to the main screw'i; lis a trough conducting the grain from the
feeding hopper m into the grinding cylinder and concave; in it is fixed the
screen, which stops anything much larger than the grain passing, and it
discharges the bodies so stopped into a trough n at its lower end, which
passes them away clear of the working parts of the mill; these parts are
shewn in end view and section at Figures 9.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Barford, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM BARFORD. (LS.)