AN IMPROVED FLOUR DRESSING MACHINE.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
-
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FLOUR DRESSING MACHINE.”. -A
communication from abroad by Moritz Martin, of Bitterfeld,
Prussia.
Sealed the 30th April 1875, and dated the 13th March 1875.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 13th March 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
FLOUR DRESSING MACHINE," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
unto me,
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it was
communicated to me from abroad by Moritz Martin, of Bitterfeld,
Prussia.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming a
part of this Specification :—
By means of a machine constructed according to this Invention it is
intended to increase the efficiency of dressing cylinders, and conse-
quently to reduce the space hitherto occupied in mills by flour dressing
machines.
The revolving cylinder around which the silk gauze is stretched is
made very short and proportionately larger-in-diameter-than-usual. The
two solid wooden bottoms can be regulated in their reciprocal distance
by screwed stays outside of the gauze, but in the interior there are no
stays forming part of the cylinder. To the centre of the one, say the
right-hand bottom, is screwed a cast-iron hollow nave, the boss, of which
is fixed on the central wrought-iron shaft. The other, or left-hand
bottom of the cylinder, has in its centre a circular opening through the
same, and over the central shaft à cast-iron cylindrical tube entering at
its extreme end into the aforesaid hollow nave is placed, which by means
of spur wheels is made to turn very slowly in a direction contrary to the
dressing cylinder. Inside of the above-mentioned tube a worm, the
thread of which is fixed to the central shaft, moves together with the
dressing cylinder. In the tube there are four openings. Of these No. 1
communicates with a hopper for the feeding of the groats into the tube..
The worm having moved the groats a short distance forward they fall
through opening No. 2 into the cylinder. Here they are raked from
one side to the other and stirred up by several arms. fixed to the tube
and bearing inclined perforated ledges at their ends, by which means the
bolting process is accelerated. The flour falls into a funnel-shaped part
of the box, enclosing the whole apparatus, and thence into a bag or
other receptacle as usual. The bran however is removed by a scoop or
shovel, also revolving with the aforesaid cast-iron tube, the scoop raising
the bran and then letting it slide into opening No. 3 of the tube.
Between, the openings 2 and 3 there is a partition so as to prevent a
mixing of the groats with the bran. From opening No. 3 the worm
shifts the bran to opening No. 4 at the end of the tube, whence it falls
through a vertical channel into a proper receptacle as usual. Of course

page_text: all the revolving parts mentioned here are placed in proper bearings
fixed to a suitable frame, and closely fitted together so as to prevent a
waste of flour.
The machine, as above described, is represented in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections at right angles
to each other; Figure 3, a partial side view; and Figure 4, a half view
from the top.
a is the hopper, in which a small shaft f furnished with
pins stirs up the groats so as to facilitate their passing into the opening c
of the tube b.
In the Drawing this opening is shewn in its lowest
position, so that at the time no groats can enter the tube, but supposing
the same to be in communication with the hopper the second opening d
will be at the bottom, and considering that the worm on the shaft w
revolves much faster than the tube b the groats will speedily be delivered
into the dressing cylinder k. At the one end the tube 6 turns on a
wooden bearing, and at the other on the shaft w, as will be readily seen
from the Drawing. 9 is the spur wheel, by means of which the tube is
put in motion.
The dressing cylinder consists of the two discs o and 1, by preference
made of wood, and connected to cach other by the adjustable stays 1, 1.
On the periphery of these discs is fastened the silk, gauze, or other
dressing cloth, which can be stretched by the stays », the disc / being
somewhat moveable in the direction of the axis. The disc o is fastened
to the shaft to by means of the nave p, so that the cylinder k, the shaft w,
and the worm on the same rotate together, being driven from the
pulleys u. The gearing for the transmission of the motion to the tube 6
and also to the small shaft will readily be understood by reference to the
Drawing. To the revolving tube 6 are fixed a number of arms s, which
bear on their ends the perforated rakes or stirrers t, which are not placed
square to their line of motion, but somewhat inclined alternately right
and left for the purpose mentioned before. The perforations serve to
lessen the resistance of the groats against these rakes or stirrers. To
the tube b is also fixed the scoop or shovel e, which at every turn of the
former takes up the bran remaining in the cylinder, and upon rising
leads the same through the opening into the tube 6, whereupon it is
shifted by the worm to the opening 9. The nave » being also cast with
one or more openings the bran will fall into the channel a, as before
stated. n is the partition between the feeding and the eduction parts of
tho tube b.

page_text: From the Drawing it will be seen that all the moving parts are so
arranged with respect to each other and the fixed parts that no waste of
flour can take place.
For the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the machine or of
extracting several sorts of flour, or flour and semolina from the groats,
two or more dressing cylinders may be fixed on the same revolving tube b
close to each other. The groats remaining in the first cylinder have in
this case to be transported into the second cylinder by means of the
scoop e and the hollow shaft b, and so on until the bran from the last
cylinder is discharged into the channel x.
The entire machine, instead of standing on the floor, may be attached
to the ceiling or to the wall if preferred.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The combination with a flour dressing cylinder of the adjusting
screwed stays », as and for the purpose specified.
Second. The rakes or stirrers trevolving inside the dressing cylinder,
as herein described.
Third. The scoop or shovel e revolving inside the dressing cylinder, as
and for the purpose specified."
Fourth. The combination of the revolving tube 6 and the worm of the
shaft w with the dressing cylinder, as and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The arrangement of two or more dressing cylinders on the
same hollow shaft or tube b, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have heréunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year
£onu Land One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five
Witness,
HY. JA. NoONE.
W ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)