IMPROVEMENTS IN APPPARATUS FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPPARATUS
FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS."-A communication from abroad by
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th May 1870.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to clean grain by the wet process in a
more economical and satisfactory manner than has heretofore been
accomplished.
The grain to be cleaned is placed in a hopper which delivers it to an.
elevator that raises it to a horizontal rotating sieve formed of pierced

page_text: metal. This sieve sifts out the dust from the grain and discharges the
grain into a vertical cylinder. This cylinder is perforated and fitted
with a shaft armed with curved beaters, to which rapid rotation is given
for the purpose of breaking the smuts and loosening any extraneous
matters adhering to the grain. As the grain leaves this cylinder it meets
with an upward current of air projected from a rotary fan which forces
the dust, lighter grains, and husks, or other light extraneous particles
up a pipe from which the dust is discharged, while the light grains fall
back into a suitable receiver. The heavy grain falls into a third hopper
of sufficient capacity that it will not overflow, while the attendant is
stopping the machinery, should any derangement of the parts of the
apparatus that follow take place. On leaving this hopper the grain falls
into an adjustable receiver which discharges it. at a regulated speed into
a cistern, through which water constantly flows. A receptacle is made
in the cistern for heavy particles to deposit, and means are provided for
discharging this deposit from time to time. The grain floating on the
surface of the water is discharged with it onto an inclined grid, through ·
which the water escapes, while the grain finds its way into a centrifugal
apparatus.
This apparatus consists of a pierced vertical cylinder fitted with rotary
beaters, which serve also as clevators, and carry up the grain to a
discharge shute near the top of the cylinder. In passing down this shute
the grain enters a second centrifugal apparatus, where the drying is com-
pleted. The grain is taken from this apparatus by an elevator, which
discharges it into a passage leading to a suitable receptacle. In this
passage the grain may meet with an upward current of air delivered by
a second rotary fan to clear the grain of any husks or outer cuticle that
may still adhere to it, or may have been loosened by the swelling caused
by wetting, and detached by the beating action of the two centrifugal
cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the. Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th November 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in a
the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting..

page_text: .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any 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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS,” being a
communication to me from abroad by Frederic Wegmann, of Paris,
in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and scals, 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 I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
There are two processes in use for cleaning grain, viz., the dry and the
wet process, and all the apparatus employed for this purpose has special
reference to one or other method.
wet process, and all the apparatus employed for this purpose has special
reference to one or other method.
When this operation is performed by the dry process it has one great
disadvantage to contend against notwithstanding all the accessories
that can. be employed, viz., that of not separating the damaged grain,
which is, however, indispensable to obtain a flour wholesome and of
good quality. The miller is also deceived when he believes his grain is
cleared from dirt and small stones because he has a good cleaning appa-

page_text: ratus, and the admission of small stones with his corn into the mill
ensures the destruction of his millstones.
'
Many descriptions of machines for washing grain have been tried
which remove the earthy matters and separate the light and damaged
grains and the small stones from the good corn. But this separation
has taken place in so imperfect a manner that the millstones are injured,
or else by the washing process the grain is so softened that unless dried
artificially or by the sun, the miller, although he obtains a flour that
is very white, still loses a large percentage of flour by reason of the
great humidity, causing a large quantity of flour to adhere to the bran.
For grain for exportation, or for storing, this method is not at all
suitable, still less for grain with a thin skin. Sometimes, as, for instance,
with grain of an inferior quality, the washing process is indispensable,
and it is to remove the- difficulties attendant thereon that the present
Invention is designed.
According to this Invention the grain is required to be kept for one
minute only in the water for the purpose of separating all stones or
extraneous matters that it may contain, and there is added to this system
of washing other accessories employed in most mills and which form
together a complete system of cleaning, by the aid of which the most
delicate grain can be treated.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the whole of the
cleaning apparatus in sectional elevation, and Figures 2 to 6 show in
section detached parts of this apparatus.
A is the hopper in which the grain to be cleaned is placed, the delivery
from this hopper to the apparatus is regulated by the register a, the
grain is raised to a horizontal rotary sifter C by means of a chain
elevator B. The construction of this sifter will be readily understood
by reference to Figures 1 and 2, the latter of which shews the sifter in
cross section. This sifter is mounted above two receptacles, provided
one to receive the dust and the other the assorted grain. The dust and
siftings fall at c into the box D, from which they are withdrawn through
the opening E at the bottom of the box. The end c¹ of the cylinder C is
formed of perforated zinc or sheet iron with holes sufficiently large to allow
the grain to pass into the hopper F, while the larger grains are thrown
out at e. From the hopper F the grain falls into the vertical cylinder G
which is composed of perforated sheet iron. In this cylinder it is
intended to remove the outer skin or envelope adhering to the grain.

page_text: For this purpose it is fitted with a central shaft g on which is mounted
a scries of curved blades g', see the cross section Fig. 3. On the upper
end of the shaft g is keyed a bevil pinion g², see Fig. 1, into which gears
a bevil wheel g³ receiving rotary motion from suitable belt and pulley
gear. Rotary motion being thus imparted to the curved blades of the
cylinder G the grain contained therein will be subjected to severe
friction which will clear the grain of the outer skin or envelope adhering
thereto. On leaving the cylinder G the grain falls through a shute g
into an inclined ascending pipe H open at its upper end. The grain is
here met by a strong ascending current of air from a rotary fan I, which
current forces the light grains and light extraneous matters towards the
upper end of the pipe H, the extraneous matters passing out through
the orifice and the light grains falling through the opening h', which
can be regulated at pleasure by means of a moveable board, these grains
are then collected into a suitable receiver at J. The full grain falls through
the opening k at the bottom of the pipe H into the hopper K, which
should be made of such capacity as to allow of an accumulation of grain
therein, thus if any derangements of the parts of the apparatus to be
presently described should take place the attendant will be enabled to
stop the action of those parts after shutting the slide ¹, without risk
of the apparatus being choked. On leaving the hopper K the grain falls
into a small hopper L, and from thence through an opening four hundred
millimetres (say fourteen inches) in length by fifteen millimetres (say
five-eighths of an inch) in breadth into a water cistern M divided trans-
versely into three compartments m³, m², m³. This cistern is fitted with
a pipe m for the purpose of supplying the cistern with a current of water,
which water enters at the compartment m³, and flows thence to the
central compartment m¹ and then to the compartment m², at the bottom
of which it makes its exit. The quantity of water which enters by this
pipe should be about two hundred and twenty litres a minute; m' is a
transverse board which dips into the water immediately above the
division between the compartments m¹ and m³, but allowing a free
passage for the water beneath it, the object of running the water into
the compartment m³ and under the board m' is to moderate the rush
and turbulence of the water. The light specific gravity of the grain
allows of its floating in the current to the compartment m². Imme-
diately below the small hopper L in the cistern M is an inclined plate n
on to which the contents of the hopper are discharged. The heavy
extraneous matters fall from this plate to the bottom n¹ of the central

page_text: compartment m³, and they are discharged thence from time to time into a
perforated receptacle. N. When the grain is intended for a lower class of
flour and no further separation is required, the register o which commands
the outlet of the compartment m² is left open to allow of the water and
grain being discharged into a pipe or duct O, the bottom of which is
of sheet iron perforated in such a manner as to allow of the escape of the
water. If, however, a fine quality of flour is required, the register at O
is so far closed as to allow the water to rise in the compartment m² to
the level of the opening p, when the light and damaged grain will pass
off through that opening whilst the good grain is kept back. An inclined
partition x set at a distance of about fourteen millimetres from the
inclined side of the compartment m² can be raised or prolonged at
pleasure towards the lower extremity. The grain discharged from the
pipe O enters a centrifugal dryer Q, a sectional plan of which is given
at Fig. 4, the blades of this centrifugal dryer being inclined, as shown
at Fig. 1, will lift the grain to the top of the cylinder and discharge
it down a shute q into the top of the cylinder of a second centrifugal
dryer R which is shewn in cross section at Fig. 5. These dryers are
both made to revolve at the rate of four hundred revolutions per minute,
or thereabouts. By this means the grain is dried so completely that
it may be conveyed by the chain or elevator v into the receiver V; where
it may remain without being submitted to any further drying; T is a
rotary fan through the blast from which the grain may be passed
previous to being deposited in the box V. This blast is also sometimes
useful in clearing the grain from the skins or outer cuticle which
are loosened by the swelling produced by the soaking and which
may have been separated by the rubbing or beating in the drying
cylinders.
First. Grain of various kinds can by remaining a shor
water be cleaned by this system, for, notwithstanding their immersion,
they do not contain more humidity than when damped, as is frequently
the case, in order to obtain a purer flour and lighter bran.
Second. It is impossible by reason of the difference of density for
the heavy matters, such as stones, &c., to pass with the grain into the 3
compartment m².
Third. The waste, which in other machines is pure loss, in this can

page_text: here be separated by raising more or less the register o and partition x,
so that the assorting of the grain can be regulated at pleasure.
Fourth. By varying the size of the opening h¹ more or less of the
light grain can be obtained, so that the value of the grain when dry can
be more easily determined.
Fifth. By reason of the entire separation of all the extraneous
matters the millstones may be dressed finer and will last much longer.
This allows of a whiter flour being obtained and a superior yield of
flour.
Sixth. By reason of this economy the stones for all sorts of grain may
be dressed with the diamond, which is further economy both in time and
material.
Seventh. One attendant will suffice for overlooking the cleaning
operations and one to fill the hopper A with grain, and by the aid of
this system about three hundred and fifty hundredweights of grain can
be cleaned in twenty-four hours.
Having now set set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improve-
ments in Apparatus for Cleaning Grain and Seeds," and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the method of
washing grain and seeds for the separation therefrom of small stones
and other extraneous matter as above described, but I do not limit
myself to the disposition of parts constituting the cistern as represented
in the Drawing, as that can be modified at pleasure without altering the
principle of action of the apparatus.
Secondly. I claim in combination with the assorting cistern the
arrangement of apparatus for treating the grain before and after the
washing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and