IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WETTING CORN OR OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Morgan-Brown, of the Firm of Brandon and
Morgan-Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
London, and 1, Rue Laffitte, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WETTING CORN OR OTHER GRAIN." A communication from
abroad by George Rose and Henry Rose, Engineers, of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Morgan-Brown at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th April 1877.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown, Engineers
and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1, Rue Laffitte,
Paris. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WETTING CORN OR OTHER GRAIN." A
communication from abroad by George Rose and Henry Rose, Engineers, of Paris,
France.
The corn to be wetted is utilized as the motive power for raising the water to be
added thereto, so that the greater the amount of corn to be wetted the greater the
amount of water mixed therewith, thus the water added will be proportionate to
the corn.
In practice the corn is allowed to fall on the vanes of a small vertical
wheel, somewhat similar to a water wheel; this wheel is made fast on a horizontal
shaft, on which is also keyed a wheel having on its circumference a series of buckets;
this latter wheel runs in a trough of water.
The corn or other grain on falling rotates the first wheel and imparts similar
rotary motion to the second wheel, which, raising water in the buckets, throws the
same in an inclined trough containing a screw; the corn after leaving the first
wheel also falls in this trough, and the water and the grain are intimately mixed
and convey to the grinding stones by means of a rotating screw placed in such
inclined trough.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Morgan-Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
October 1877.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown, Engineers
and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1, Rue Laffitte,
Paris. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WETTING CORN OR OTHER GRAIN." (A
communication from abroad by George Rose and Henry Rose, Engineers, of Paris,
France.)
For the effective grinding of corn and other grain it is often necessary to wet or
damp them before passing them through the stones, and for this purpose, besides
sprinkling the same in a heap, different arrangements have been adopted in order to
effect the wetting more regularly, that is to say, to proportion constantly a deter-
mined quantity of water with a determined quantity of corn; as far as we are
aware these arrangements have not given satisfactory results. This Invention is
intended to realize the object in view in a simple, practical, and accurate manner,
with facilities for varying the amount of water according to the nature of the corn;
it differs from all the systems adopted hitherto, in so much that it is the corn itself
which regulates the quantity of water to be added thereto, in such a manner that
when once the proper proportion has been established the augmentation or the
diminution of the corn passed determines automatically a corresponding augmentation
or diminution of the water mixed with the said corn, and also when from any cause
the corn ceases running the water will also cease running.
.
In order that the action and the construction of the machine be clearly under-
stood I will describe them conjointly with the three Figures of the accompanying
Drawing, of which Figure 1 is a plan partially in section through A, A, Figure 3;
Figure 2, a front elevation in section through B, B, Figure 1; and Figure 3 a lateral
elevation in section through CC, CC, Figures 1 and 2.
In these Figures a represents the motive-power wheel keyed on a horizontal
shaft b revolving on the points o fixed in either side of the frame of the machine;
on one side of the wheel is fixed the ring e, on which are articulated the buckets f;
g is the hopper in which the corn is charged, and from whence it falls on the vanes
of the wheel a; h is the hopper or spout through which the water is introduced in
the reservoir i, from which latter it is raised by the buckets f; jis a passage
through which the corn and the water fall together into the trough k, containing an
archimedean screw l, which serves to mix them and drive them in their mixed state
in the direction of the arrow towards the stones.
In order to regulate rapidly and accurately the amount of liquid raised at each
rotation of the bucket wheel I mount these buckets on central pivots m and provide
them with. tails n, which are connected by means of rods o to as many ears p
adapted on the circumference of a plate q, which is passed over the boss of the
wheel, and can be affixed thereto by means of a screw r, as shown in Figures 2
and 3; without further explanation it will be understood that by turning slightly
to the right or to the left the plate q the buckets f will be inclined more or less in
either direction, and thus the amount of the liquid that they raise will be augmented
or diminished as required.
Having thus explained the nature of the Invention, as well as the best means
that I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practice, I beg to state that the
principle on which it is constructed is susceptible of useful modifications or
extensions; thus, by adapting another bucket, wheel, and reservoir on the other
side of the motive power wheel, two different kinds of liquids can be raised and
mixed simultaneously by and with one solid; and further, by an inversion of the
main parts a solid pulverized material can be made to act as the motive power,
either for the purpose of raising and mixing therewith another solid or liquid
material with one lateral lifting wheel, or two such materials by the aid of two such
lifting wheels.

page_text: I claim as the Invention the construction of machines for the purposes above
stated for mixing water and grain, as above described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings, indicating one mode of putting the Invention into practical
operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Morgan-Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN. (L.S.)