AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF MECHANISM OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRESSING' OR DISTRIBUTING THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF GROUND OR PULVERIZED GRAIN INTO COMPARTMENTS OR CHAMBERS
Year: 1869

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Staniar, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Stephen Dawson, of the same Place, and Edward Davies,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF MECHANISM OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRESSING' OR DISTRIBUTING THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES
OF GROUND OR PULVERIZED GRAIN INTO COMPARTMENTS OR CHAMBERS."
Scaled the 28th January 1870, and dated the 9th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Staniar, Stephen
Dawson, and Edward Davies at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 9th August 1869.
We, JOHN STANIAR, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
STEPHEN DAWSON, of the same Place, and EDWARD DAVIES, of Bir-
mingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF MECHENANISM
OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRESSING OR DISTRIBUTING

page_text: THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF GROUND OR PULVERIZED GRAIN INTO COMPARTMENTS
OR CHAMBERS," to be as follows:-
The Invention is designed for the purpose of separating or sorting
ground or pulverized substances into chambers or receptacles according
to their different degrees of fineness.
And in order that the Invention may be clearly understood, we will
proceed to describe, as an example, its construction when designed for
the purpose of sorting ground wheat or other simial grain.
The improvements consist in supporting within a suitable framework
the following arrangement of apparatus:-At the head of the frame a
cylinder is supported, which is constructed of wire gauze, and enclosed
in an outer cylindrical case of zinc or other suitable material, in which a
hopper is placed at one end for feeding the machine with the material to
be dressed. The shaft or journal running through the centre of the
gauze cylinder is provided with brushes spirally placed, which form,
when the shaft is revolving, wings or beaters that separate the extreme
coarse portions of the ground grain, such as the bran, from the finer
portions, the bran being with the spiral action of the brushes impelled
from the hopper to the opposite end of the cylinder, from whence it is
delivered. The meal during this process passes through the gauze on to
the end of a vibrating table or bed which is supported from the frame
by connecting rods that allow of its free vibration, which is transmitted
thereto by means of eccentric crank or other equivalent, the connecting
rods supporting such tube being adjustable, so as to allow the vibrating
table to have any dip or inclination desired from the head where it first
receives the meal from the wire gauze cylinder to its termination. The
upper surface of the vibrating table or bed on to which the meal is
received from the gauze cylinder is composed of a series of frames
covered with silk gauze composed of "meshics" having different counts
or degrees of fineness. These frames are removeable, in order that they
may form a vibrating bed suitable for the quality of flour submitted
to their operation for dressing. Any number of these frames may be
arranged longitudinally the whole length of the vibrating table, being
secured thereto by set screws or other equivalent. The portion of the
frame underneath the vibrating bed is composed of zinc or other material
forming a trough divided into compartments or chambers that correspond
with the receptacles for receiving the different qualities of meal or flour
passing through the silk gauze immediately above them; for instance,

page_text: the fine flour passes through the silk gauze into the front receptacle, out
of which it passes into a bag or other receiver, the next compartment
receives the "seconds," the next the "sharps," the next the "gurgeons,"
'pollards," or "bran." Thus it will be seen that by extending the series
of continuous silk gauze vibrating tables ground grainular substances may
be thoroughly and effectually dressed or separated into any number of
qualities desired. The meshes of the silk frames are maintained in an
open and free state for the passage of the flour by means of a beater that
is arranged at short periods of time to strike one end of the vibrating
table. A cover is provided that completely encloses the upper surfaces
of the silk frames through and over which the material is being operated
on for "dressing," thereby preventing any portion of the finer particles
of the material from flying off, and also keeping the flour free from
extraneous matter. It is also evident that the silk frames may be placed
according to their degrees of fineness or above another in a suitable
frame, each having a dip or inclination, so that the material acted upon
will descend through them from the highest to the lowest. By this
arrangement the coarser particles are delivered from the first silk gauze,
the "seconds" from the next, and so on, the finest being delivered from
the lowest or bottom gauze,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Staniar, Stephen Dawson, and Edward Davies
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
STANIAR, STEPHEN DAWSON, and EDWARD DAVIES, all of the City of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, 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 us, the said John Staniar, Stephen Dawson, and Edward
Davies, Her special license that we, the said John Staniar, Stephen
Dawson, and Edward Davies, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others. as we, the said John Staniar, Stephen Dawson, and.
Edward Davies, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR
DRESSING AND SORTING THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF GROUND GRAIN INTO SEPARATE
COMPARTMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Staniar, Stephen Dawson, and Edward Davies, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said John Staniar, Stephen Dawson,
and Edward Davies, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accom-
panying Drawings (that is to say) :—
The Invention is designed for the purpose of separating or sorting
ground or pulverised substances into chambers or receptacles according
to their different degrees of fineness.
And in order that the Invention may be clearly understood, we will
proceed to describe, as an example, its construction when designed for
the purpose of sorting ground wheat or other similar grain.
The improvements consist in supporting within a suitable framework
the following arrangement of apparatus:-At the head of the frame a
cylinder is supported, which is constructed of wire, gauze and enclosed in
an outer cylindrical case of zinc or other suitable material, in which a
hopper is placed at one end for feeding the machine with the material
to be dressed. The shaft or journal running through the 'centre of the
gauze cylinder is provided with brushes spirally placed, which form
when the shaft is revolving wings or beaters that separate the extreme
coarse portions of the ground grain, such as the bran, from the finer
portions, the bran being with the spiral action of the brushes impelled
from the hopper to the opposite end of the cylinder, from whence it is
delivered. The meal during this process passes through the gauze on to
the end of a vibrating table or bed, which is supported from the frame
7

page_text: by connecting rods that allow of its free vibration,, which is transmitted
thereto by means of eccentric, crank, or other equivalent, the connecting
rod's supporting such table being adjustable so as to allow the vibrating
table to have any dip or inclination desired from the head where it first
receives the meal from the wire gauze cylinder to its termination. The
upper surface of the vibrating table or bed on to which the meal is
received from the gauze cylinder is composed of "meshes" having
different counts or degrees of fineness. These frames are removable in
order that they may form a vibrating bed suitable for the quality of flour
submitted to their operation for dressing. Any number of these frames
may be arranged longitudinally the whole length of the vibrating table,
being secured thereto by set screws or other equivalent. The portion of
tlie frame underneath the vibrating bed is composed of zinc or other
material forming a trough divided into compartments or chambers that
correspond with the receptacles for receiving the different qualities of
meal or flour passing through the silk gauze immediately above them;
for instance, the fine flour passes through the silk gauze into the first
receptacle, out of which it passes into a bag or other receiver, the next
compartment receives the seconds, the next the "sharps," the next
the "gurgeons," "pollards," or "bran." Thus it will be seen that
by extending the series of continuing silk gauze vibrating tables
ground granular substances may be thoroughly and effectually dressed or
separated into any number of qualities desired. The meshes of the silk
frames are maintained in an open and free state for the passage of the
flour by means of a beater that is arranged at short periods of time
to strike one end of the vibrating table. A cover is provided that
completely encloses the upper surfaces of the silk frames through and
over which the material is being operated upon for dressing, thereby
preventing any portion of the finer particles thereof from flying off, and
also keeping the flour free from any extraneous matter. It will also be
evident that the silk frames may be placed according to their degrees of
fineness one above another in a suitable frame, each having a "dip" or
inclination, so that the material acted upon as the frames vibrate will
descend through them from the highest to the lowest. By this arrange-
ment the finest particles are delivered from the first silk frame, the
"seconds" from the next, and so on, the coarsest being delivered from
the lowest or bottom frame.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a

page_text: scale of about one inch to a foot, similar letters of reference being marked
on corresponding parts on all the Figures alike.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of our improved flour
sorting or dressing machine shewing the arrangement of mechanism
employed for actuating the vibratory frame containing the trays or
platforms, which are composed of silk or other suitable material forming
a fine "mesh," also the compartments into which the different qualities
of material are received after having been sorted; Fig. 2 represents
an end elevation of the machine shewing the gauze cylinder in section
into which the material to be sorted is first placed; Fig. 3 represents
a plan view of a portion of the vibratory table or tray and its framing;
Fig. 4 represents an enlarged detached view of the knockers or abut-
ments against which the vibratory table comes into contact whilst in
motion.
Fig. 5 represents a front elevation of another modification and
construction of flour sorter or dresser in which the elongated vibrating
table shewn in Fig. 1 is divided and placed in tiers one above another,
each tier being separately employed for sorting from the aggregate
quantity of material put in the machine its own particular quality of
flour; and Fig. 6 represents a detached end view of the same shewing.
more particularly the arrangement or method of suspending the sorting
tiers.
.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, a, a, is a cylinder composed of wire gauze,
supported in the bearings or box 6 attached to the frame c at the head
of the machine. This cylinder is provided with brushes d spirally
arranged around the central axis x, and has an opening or thorough-
fare e, which forms a channel or duct from the hopper finto the inside
of the cylinder a at the head of the machine. From this cylinder, after
having had the "bran" separated therefrom, the meal passes on to the
platform or table g, which is formed by a number or series of trays
composed of silk or other gauze having a fine mesh, and which may be
placed side by side, forming one long table or bed; or they may be
placed one over another, as seen in Fig. 5; or the material to be sorted
may, if desired, be placed on the table direct. This table or platform g
is supported from the frames or uprights c by means of the connecting
blades or rods h, which allows the whole length of the table freely to
vibrate when actuated so to do by the revolving of the crank or cranks i
of the driving shaft k through the medium of the connecting rods

page_text: The connecting blades or rods h can be adjusted so as to allow the
table any dip or inclination desired from the head where it first
receives the meal from the cylinder a to its opposite termination. The
gauze trays of the vibrating bed are situated over a number of recep
tacles or compartments m, n, o, and p, which are boxed up and lined
with zinc or other suitable material, each receptacle or compartment
being provided with an outlet or opening m³, n', o¹, and p¹. The trays.
over the first compartment m are connected by tie rods to the slanting
tray q, which forms the base of such compartment leading to the
outlet m; or in lieu of such tray, if desired, an endless creeper of
ordinary construction may be employed for carrying the flour to the
outlet m. The slanting sides of the remaining compartments lead direct
to their outlets n', o', and p'. The longitudinal rods or bars 7 running.
the whole length of the table or bed g immediately underneath the
gauze trays, are provided with buffers a (seen more clearly in the
enlarged Fig. 4) that as the table vibrates are brought into contact
with the bosses t, abutting against the intersecting transverse bars u
forming the stretchers or ties of the outer stationary frame c. The space
above the table g is enclosed in with the screens v.
On reference to the Drawings and foregoing lettered description the
action of the machine as herein-after described will readily be under-
stood, it being always understood that the material to be operated upon
as an example is ground corn, wheat, or other similar grain. The
ground material is first fed into the gauze cylinder a through the
hopper f, the meal of which passes through the gauze of such cylinder
on to one end of the slanting vibrating table or bed g, the bran or coarse
portion of the material being by, the revolving spiral brushes passed on
from one end of the cylinder to the other, where they are delivered or
expelled through the exit thoroughfare q' into a bag or receptacle. The
meal as it falls through the gauze of the cylinder a is received on to the
upper end or head of the table g, which being suspended by the. blades
or rods from the uprights c, and caused through the medium of the
cranks i and connecting rods to vibrate at a rate of about two
hundred beats per minute, causes such meal immediately it is received
to spread and traverse over the inclined surface of such table in the
direction of the arrows towards the bottom end thereof. The vibratory
motion of the table g in combination with the continued and repeated
succession of raps or knocks such table receives through the medium of

page_text: the buffers a during the time the meal is traversing over the surfaces of
the silk gauze trays prevents "blinding" or choaking of the meshes,
which keep the silk gauze sieves open and free, thereby, causing the
finer particles or flour of the meal to first pass through the gauze of the
trays into the chamber or receptacle m, where it is received on to the
slanting tray q, from the end of which as the tray vibrates it is con-
tinuously delivered through the outlet m¹ into a bag or other receptacle,
the length of the vibrating table devoted for this purpose being much
longer than the rest. The meal from which the fine or first quality of
flour has been thus separated in its progress when passing over the gauze
tray or trays of a coarser mesh covering the receptacle n becomes again
separated from its second quality of flour termed "seconds," which
passes through the gauze and is received into and passes out of the
trough or receptacle n through the outlet n'. The coarse particles of the
ground grain, consisting of "sharps" and "pollards" or " gurgeons,"
after this separation remaining on the bed of the vibrating table are
during their passage over the remaining distance of the table separated
according to their quality, the "sharps" passing through the gauze into
and out of the receptacle o, and the "pollards," "gurgeons," or "bran"
into and out of the receptacle p. Thus it will be seen that the ground
grain, during the time it is passing through the machine, becomes
separated and conveyed to their respective bags or receptacles according
to the degrees of fineness or quality of each. The upper surfaces of the
silk frames of the vibrating table through and over which the meal is
being separated is covered in by means of the screens v, preventing
thereby any portion of the finer particles thereof flying off, and also
keeping the flour free from dust or other extraneous matter.
In Figs. 5 and 6 another modification of our improvements is shewn,
in which the gauze trays or sieves are arranged according to their degrees
of fineness one above another in the frame c, a vibratory combined with
a knocking motion being imparted to them in the manner and for the
purpose similar to that in the machine herein-before described, each tray
having alternate inclinations or dips from the point where the meal is
received; therefore it will be seen that any meal placed upon the upper-
most tray whilst the machine is in action becomes separated from the
flour, which passes through the meshes of such tray and falls into the
trough w, from whence it is discharged at the outlet 20. The coarse
meal left upon the tray falls through the opening y on to the next tray,

page_text: and becomes again separated and discharged in like manner, effecting
thereby, as the material is descending from the highest to the lowest
tray, a separation of the ground grain into their respective compartments
according to the quality of each.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, together with
the means of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be
distinctly understood in conclusion that we do not confine ourselves to
the precise details herein-before set forth in connection with these
improvements, as they may be slightly modified and still the chief
features of the Invention retained; therefore we particularly wish it to
be understood that we claim the novel employment and use of a silk or
other suitably constructed fine mesh platform or table composed of
independent trays or frames placed side by side in one continuous
length or one above another, over the surfaces of which the material
to be separated or dressed is placed after passing through the cylinder
marked a in the Drawings, or the material may be placed on the end of
the table direct over which it passes; also with the adaptation to such
platform or table of mechanism that will impart thereto a combined
vibratory and knocking motion, together with the general arrangement,
construction, and adaptation of such machine for the purpose of sepa-
rating or dressing ground grain, as herein-before described, set forth,
and fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Staniar, Stephen Dawson, and
Edward Davies, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this the
Sixth day of February One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness to the signatures,
THOMAS WRIGLEY,
Agent to the Patentees,
Imperial Chambers,
Manchester.
JOHN STANIAR.
(L.S.)
STEPHEN DAWSON. (L.S.)
EDWARD DAVIES.
(L.S.)