IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR BREAKING OR REDUCING GRAIN
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Springmann one of the firm of Carl Pieper,
Civil-Engineer and Patent Agent, resident at 109-110 Gneisenaustrasse,
Berlin S.W. Prussia, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
BREAKING OR REDUCING GRAIN' a communication to him from August
Christian Nagel, Reinhold Hermann Kaomp and Adolph Linnenbrügge all
three of the firm of Nagel & Kaemp in Hamburg, German Empire
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Springmann at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th July 1883.
HENRY SPRINGMANN, one of the firm of Carl Pieper, Civil Engineer and Patent
Agent, resident at 109/110 Gneisenau-Strasse Berlin S.W. Prussia, IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR BREAKING OR REDUCING GRAIN, a communication to mo from
August Christian Nagel, Reinhold Hermann Kaemp and Adolph Linnenbrügge, all
three of the firm of Nagel & Kaemp in Hamburg, German-Empire,
.
This invention relates to machines on which grain is broken or reduced between
disks having annular reducing surfaces, and the improvements consist:
firstly in so constructing and arranging the operating surfaces and certain other
parts of the disks that the grains on their first passage through the machine will
be split lengthwise, and that in the subsequent passages middlings will be
obtained with but little flour; secondly, in a ventilating-arrangement for giving
an air-current which, in addition to the cooling of the grist, brings about its
conveyance to its place of destination; thirdly, in the means employed for fastening
detachable rings bearing the reducing surfaces, to the disks, and fourthly, in a new
arrangement for regulating the distance of the reducing surfaces from each other
and also the degree of pressure with which these surfaces act on the grain.
The improved machine is especially intended to be used in the first stages of the
high-grinding or gradual reduction process, in which it is the object to produce
middlings with as little flour as possible. For this purpose the machine is, according
to the first improvement, provided with reducing surfaces which are so narrow
that the ridges or projections thereof will impart to each grain or part of a grain

page_text: but a single blow. Moreover, in order to cause a division of whole grains
(especially of wheat) lengthwise in their furrow, the reducing surfaces are bevelled
or curved so as to diverge considerably in the direction towards the centro of the
disks, and thus to present in transverse section a funnel-shaped space or passage
between them. Besides, the rotating disk is provided near its centre with short
throwing-ledges. These ledges not only distribute the grains over the periphery
of the disks, but in projecting them through the free space between the ledges and
the reducing surfaces, they put the same into the condition to follow their natural
inclination when falling or flying through the air, to move with one of their ends
foremost.
The grains on passing in between the reducing surfaces, will in consequence,
have assumed a nearly radial position thereto. The said surfaces, when formed as
described, will then by their projections-seize the grains-in this position and divide
them lengthwise.
The machine may be constructed with one or with two pairs of disks, and the
disks may be vertical or horizontal or inclined. When they are vertical, the fixed
disks are provided upon the lower part of their inside face with a ledge forming
an arc of a circle and arranged close to the path of the ends of the throwing
lodges. This circular ledge serves to prevent the lower part of the reducing
surfaces from receiving moro grain than the upper part.
The rotating disk or disks project beyond the outer edge of the reducing surfaces,
and on both sides of this projocting part, each of the said disks is provided with
fan-blades, the series of blades on one side drawing air together with the grist or
reduced grain from between the rotating and the fixed disks, whilo the other series
of blades draws air from behind the rotating disk. The air drawn in by both series
of blades, is forced along with the grist into a channel surrounding the rotating
disk, and thence-into-a-conduit leading to the sifting or purifying machines upon-
which the material is to be submitted to further treatment, or to a storage-room.
The air-current thus serves to cool the disks and the material, and bosidos as
convoying medium for the latter, instead of the ordinary creepers and olevators.
The reducing surfaces are, by preference, formed on separate rings secured to
the disks by other rings which are screwed onto screw-threads on off sets of the
disks, while they overlap with their outside edge the inner edge of the rings
carrying the reducing surfaces. These surfaces may be provided with cutting
edges, ridges, teeth or other suitable projections.
Each stationary disk is pressed towards the corresponding rotating disk by a
spring or a weight, but it is maintained at the proper distance from the co-operating
rotating disk by an adjusting ring screwed onto its periphery and bearing against
the machine frame. This ring on being turned one way or the other, will cause
the distance between the reducing surfaces to be increased or diminished, as may
be desired. Besides the aforesaid spring or weight is so arranged that the pressure
with which it acts on the disk, may be regulated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Springmann in the Patent Office on the 26th January
1884.
HENRY SPRINGMANN, one of the firm of Carl Pieper, Civil-Engineer and Patent
Agent resident at 109/110 Gneisenau-Strasse Berlin SW. Prussia "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR BREAKING OR REDUCING GRAIN," a communication to me from
August Christian Nagel, Reinhold Hermann Kaemp and Adolph Linnenbrügge, all
three of the firm of Nagel & Kaemp in Hamburg, German Empire®
This invention relates to machines on which grain is broken or reduced between
disks having annular reducing surfaces, and the improvements consist: firstly, in
so constructing the operating surfaces and certain other parts of the disks that the
grains in their first passage through the machino will be split lengthwise, and that
in their subsequent passages the grinding will produce middlings with but little
flour, secondly, in a ventilating arrangement for producing an air-current which, in
addition to cooling the grist, effects its conveyance to its place of destination;
thirdly, in the means employed for fastening detachable rings bearing the reducing
surfaces, to the disks, and, fourthly, in a new arrangement for regulating the
distance of the reducing surfaces from each other and also the degree of pressure
with which these surfaces act on the grain.
A machine constructed according to this Invention is represented on the annexed
sheet of drawings, all the before named improvements being shown combined in
the one machine, although it will be readily understood that certain of them may
be used independently of the others if desired. Fig. 1 of the said drawings is a
longitudinal sectional elevation, Fig. 2 an end elevation partly in section, & Fig. 3
a section of a part of the machine drawn to a larger scale.
•
The machine is especially intended to be used in the first stages of the high-
grinding or gradual reduction process, in which it is the object to produce middlings
with as little flour as possible. In all the milling machines which act with their
faces against each other and hitherto employed for this purpose, the operating
surfaces have always been made comparatively broad. This construction presents
the disadvantage of leaving the material to be reduced, for too long a time exposed
to the action of the said surfaces, and that, consequently, there is produced,
together with the middlings, a considerable quantity of flour of very inferior
quality.
In order to reduce as much as possible this prematuro production of flour, the
inventors employ reducing surfaces which are so narrow that the ridges or
projections thereof will impart to each grain or part of a grain but a single blow.
These surfaces are shown in section at c and C in Figs. 1 and 3, while Fig. 2
shows a part of one of them in elevation.
For the purpose of causing a division of the entire grains lengthwise, which,
though of great importance, (especially with wheat, on account of the furrow in
the grains,) has heretofore been attempted with but little success, the reducing
surfaces are constructed in a particular form, and specially arranged appliances for
projecting the grains outward are combined with them. The said surfaces are
bevelled or curved in such a manner as to diverge considerably in the direction
towards the centre of the disks, and thus to present in transverse section a funnel-
shaped space or passage between them. The appliances for projecting the grains
outward consist in short throwing ledges h cast upon the central part of the face
of the rotating disk, and between which and the reducing surfaces there is a
comparatively large space. These ledges serve in the first place, as in other milling

page_text: machines to distribute the grain over the periphery of the disks, and we do not
therefore claim them broadly as new. But they are so constructed and arranged
in this machine that their outer ends terminate a considerable distance from the
reducing surfaces, and thus leave a large space for the free movement of the grains.
They hence coöperate in attaining a new result which is based on the property
possessed by grains of wheat, rye, &c., to move with one of their ends foremost
when falling or when flung through the air. In consequence of the said con-
struction of the ledges, all the grains thrown by them towards the reducing
surfaces, will have space in which to turn and pass with their longitudinal axes
nearly in radial direction into the funnel shaped space between the said surfaces.
The projections forming these surfaces will then nip or scizo the grains in this
position, and impart to them a single blow that will divide them lengthwise.
The machine represented in the drawing is provided with two vertical rotating
disks b and two like stationary disks f. The two rotating disks, which may be
cast together as shown in Fig. 1, or made separate from each other, are keyed on
the shaft a, while the stationary disks are supported and guided in circular
openings of the machino frame so that they may be moved in axial direction, and
they are pressed towards the rotating disks by springs. The drawing shows for
this purpose a spiral spring o, which acts by means of a collar s, nut y and screw
spindle o on the lever n, that bears with its upper forked end on hubs projecting
from the ring u, attached to the disk f. By means of the nut y the tension of the
spring o may be regulated while the machine is in operation. This tension and
consequently the pressure exerted between the reducing surfaces may be indicated
on a scale o¹ by a pointer on the collar z. Instead of springs, weights may bo
employed, which may also be arranged to be regulated while the machine is
working. The disks fare prevented from turning by means of projections & cast
on them, and bearing laterally against the levers-n. The grain or other grist to ho
treated, is introduced through a feed channel g into the space between the disks b
and f, and is here caught by the ledges h.
The improvements constituting this invention may also be applied to machines
having but one pair of coöperating disks, and the disks may be horizontal or
vertical or inclined. But if, in a machine having two pairs of disks, these are to be
arranged horizontally, or in a position deviating considerably from the vertical, the
lower pair of disks must be fed by special means, such as the air-current created in
the manner to be described hereafter. When the disks are vertical, each stationary
disk is provided close to and below the path of the ledges with a ledge t forming
an are of a circle, and serving to prevent the lower part of the circumference of the
disks from receiving more grist than the upper part. The reducing surfaces may
be provided with edges, ridges, teeth or other suitable projections as may bo
required in respect to the nature of the grist to be treated or the product to be
obtained. For controlling the quantity of grist to be admitted into the machine,
feed-rollers or other known feeding devices may be employed.
The rotating disks b project beyond the outer edge of the reducing surfaces and
upon this projecting part each of them is provided on one side with the fan-
blades p, and on the other side with the like blades p'. The former draw air
through the corresponding feed-channel g, the space between the lisks b and fand
the reducing surfaces, and thus create an air-current, which, in addition to its
keeping the said surfaces cool, conveys the reduced grist into the channel q
surrounding each rotating disk, and the area whereof gradually increases in the
direction of the air-current. The blades 2' draw in air through the slit 2, which is
left between the disk b and the wall of the channel q, and also drive it into tho
channel q. In the machine with two pairs of disks the air is admitted to the
slits through the spaces between the two channels q. The air-current produced
by the blades p' of each disk b cools the latter at the back and increases tho
strength of the air-current in the said channels. The quantity of air drawn in by
the fan-blades may be controlled by the vertical adjustment of the funnels on the
feed channels 9 and by more or less covering the space or slit s. By this

page_text: ventilating arrangement an efficient cooling of the grist is also brought about; but
the same has the special purpose of conveying the grist by means of the air-current
in any required direction to the sifting or purifying machines upon which the
material is to be submitted to further treatment, or to a storage room, and of thus
replacing the elevators and creepers hitherto used. In view hereof the channels q
are connected at r with suitable conduits leading to the said machines or room.
With these conduits arrangements may be combined for dividing the grist, while
being carried by the air-current, according to the specific gravity of its parts on
the well-known principle of middlings purifyers. This ventilating arrangement
may be applied to machines of this class whether their reducing surfaces be or be
not formed as hereinbefore described.
Considering that the reducing surfaces are almost the only parts of the disks
subject to wear, it is advantageous to form these surfaces on special rings c, C,
fastened in such a manner to the disks that they may be taken off and exchanged.
Similar arrangements have already been applied in other milling-machines, but the
separable parts have always been fastened by bolts or screws or other like means.
For the purpose of avoiding to weaken the narrow rings by bolt or screw-holes,
and to do away with the oporations of drilling and tapping in the hardened
portions thereof, as well as to obtain a connection which allows a speedy exchange
of the rings, and at the same time ensures their truc concentric position, the means
of attachment shown in the drawing have been devised. These means consist in
the rings d and e screwed onto screw-threads on offsets of the disks and over-
lapping with their outer edgo the inner edge of the rings c, C. A rotation of the
latter on the disks is prevented by means of short studs or pins inserted into the
rings and the disks. The drilling of the holes therefor into the back part of the
rings presents no difficulty, as this part is soft.
Each stationary disk is maintained at the desired distance from the co-
öperating rotating disk b by an adjusting ring i screwed on the periphery of the
disk f. By the force of the aforesaid spring o, or the weight which may be used
instead thereof, this ring is pressed with its edge v against the machine frame, and
thus limits the extent to which the reducing surface of the diskf projects into the
frame. The rin w of the ring is at the same time used as guide for the disk ƒ in
the opening of the frame. On its periphery the ring i has teeth m with which
gear the teeth of a pinion connected with the hand-wheel k. A rotation of the
latter will consequently produce a rotative motion of the ring i, which, being
always pressed against the frame, causes the disk to be shifted forward or
backward, and the distance between the reducing surfaces to be varied accordingly.
This distance may be indicated on a scale. The rotation of the ring i may,
however, also be caused by other mechanical means, as for instance by a lever
and pall.
The specified means of fastening the rings c, C, on the disks, and of adjusting the
distance of the reducing surfaces from each other, and the pressure between them,
may be applied to machines of this class whether their reducing surfaces be or be
not formed as hereinbefore set forth.
Having thus described the nature and object of this invention and the manner in
which it is to be carried out in practice, as communicated to me by my
correspondents, I hereby claim as new and important features of the same:
1. In machines for breaking or reducing grain, the combination of disks b and ƒ
having annular reducing surfaces of such width as that the projections thereof
deliver but a single blow to the grains, the said surfaces at their inner parts
diverging from each other towards the centre of the disks, the rotating disk or disks b
being provided with throwing ledges h between which and the reducing surfaces
there is a considerable space, and the parts being so arranged and combined that
entire grains flung outward by the ledges h will be thrown endwise between the
reducing surfaces and split lengthwise by the single blow of the projections of the
said surfaces, substantially as herein beforo described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.

page_text: "
2: In machines for breaking or reducing grain, the combination with a stationary
disk provided with a reducing surface and coöperating with a rotating disk balso
provided with a reducing surface and having throwing ledges h, of the ledge & on
the stationary disk, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore specified
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
3. In machines for breaking or reducing grain, the combination with a rotating
disk provided with a reducing surface, of fan-blades arranged to draw air
through the feed-channel g, and of fan-blades p' drawing air from behind the said
disk, both series of blades delivering the air together with the grist into a channel
surrounding the disk, substantially as and for the purpose herein before described
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. In machines for breaking or reducing grain, the means employed for attaching
-rings C and c provided with the reducing surfaces, to the stationary and the
revolving disks, consisting in rings & and e overlapping the said rings and screwed
onto offsets of the disks, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
5. In machines for breaking and reducing grain, the combination with a
stationary disk f provided with a reducing surface, of a ring i working on screw-
threads on the body of the said disk and abutting against the frame of the
-machine, with means for rotating the said ring and for maintaining it pressed into
position with any required degree of force, substantially as and for the purpose
herein before described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
In Witness whereof I the said Henry Springmann have hereunto set my hand
and seal this ninteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty-four.