IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BOLTING AND CLEANING FLOUR, OATMEAL, AND CORN
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ercole Poggioli, of Bologna (Italia), Doctor of Law,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BOLTING AND
CLEANING FLOUR, OATMEAL, AND CORN."
Sealed the 7th March 1879, and dated the 14th September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ercole Poggioli at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th September 1878.
ERCOLE POGGIOLI, of Bologna (Italia), Doctor of Law. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR BOLTING AND CLEANING FLOUR, OATMEAL, AND CORN."
The improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present Invention has for
object the bolting of flour and meal in order to entirely separate the bran, and the
cleaning of corn, and also other analogous operations.
The apparatus consists of three main parts, viz., an outer framework or body, a
cylindrical bolting frame, and a rotating cylinder, the arrangement and action of
which will be fully understood from the following description :-
1st. Outer Framework.-This is composed of four uprights united, so as to form
a body by means of eight horizontal beams or bars, of which four are at the upper
and four at the lower part of the uprights. The uprights are connected two and
two at their base by two wooden plinths. The four connected uprights and 8
beams constitute a body in whose centre is a space in the form of a prism, having
for its base a square, the length of whose sides is equal to the length of the beams
and its height equal to the distance between the upper and lower beams. This
space contains the other two parts of the apparatus and their accessories, arranged
to act as herein-after explained. This body is closed at the sides by panels and at
the top by a table fixed to the upper beams, and it is terminated at the bottom by
two hoppers fixed to the four lower beams and to two other beams between the
lower beams.
2nd. Cylindrical Bolting Frame.-Above the two beams above named is fixed
wooden ring, having an internal diameter of about 26 inches, on a foundation
formed of a board about an inch thick. To the floor of the upper beams is fixed

page_text: another ring of the same diameter as the first, but of a height of about 4 inches
only. Between these two rings is placed the frame, which is covered with silk or
wire gauze according to the work to be performed. The height of this frame is
regulated by the distance between the two rings, and its diameter is the same as
theirs. To facilitate its construction and working, the frame is divided vertically
into two parts, connected together by bolts placed in the bars, which come into
contact with each other. Each half of the frame is composed of longitudinal bars
connected at their ends by two iron semicircles, so that by fitting well-stretched
silk or gauze in the interior a semi-cylindrical area is produced. In order to stretch
and fix the silk or gauze on the frame, iron plates are superposed on the lintels and
on the wooden and iron rings, and they are fastened by screws so as to fully adhere.
Care must be taken to fit strips of flannel or cloth to prevent contact of the silk or
gauze with the iron or wood. By the combination of the two halves of the frame
thus constructed and covered there is formed in the interior a cylindrical space,
having for its base the area of a circle of 26 inches diameter, and for its
height the sum of the heights of the two rings and of the frame already described.
It is in this space that the rotating or working cylinder is situated.
"
The cylindrical frame is fixed to the lower wooden ring by a flap or other suitable
contrivance, and to the upper wooden ring by an iron band, which embraces the
frame as well as the ring itself. Two tubes communicating with the interior are
fixed to the lower wooden ring. One of them serves for introducing the material to
be operated upon in the apparatus and the other for an outlet by opening a valve
at its lower end when any obstacle renders such opening necessary. A third tube
is connected to the upper wooden ring, and serves for the exit of the material which
has been operated on by the apparatus and has not passed through the silk or gauze.
3rd. Rotating Working Cylinder.-This is composed of a wooden drum fixed by
cast-iron arms to a vertical shaft, which is supported at bottom in a step or bearing,
and turns at the upper part in a collar formed of three bearings with pressure screws.
Above this collar is a pulley for the driving band. Around the drum are fixed by
means of angle pieces bands of sheet iron placed one after another, so as to con-
stitute 10 blades, which run in the form of a right-handed screw, having a thread
of 8 inches, whose generatrix would be perpendicular to the generating line of
the external area of the drum. These blades are therefore 4ths of an inch
apart, and for each turn of the screw of these blades there are eight small equi-
distant wings, formed by small iron angle pieces, one arm of which serves to fix
them to the drum by means of screws, while the other arm forms the wing. These
'wings have a breadth adapted for almost filling the distance which separates the
'several blades, and they are inclined so as to form an angle of about 20 degrees
with the plane of the drum in the direction contrary to the movement of the
cylinder. Their length is such that their end reaches to about 11th of an inch
from the outer edge of the screw blades. The 8 wings of every spiral of each
blade, besides being equidistant, are each placed on the same generatrices of the
external area of the drum, so as to form 8 inclined and equidistant blades, which
divide into 8 equal compartments the area of the cylinder and the space comprised
between one screw and another. The lower part of the rotating cylinder, which
works in the lower wooden ring, has only a part of the screw blades, and it is
without wings, in order to facilitate the entrance of the material and its elevation up
to the zone where the useful work of the apparatus commences. Likewise at the
top of the cylinder, at the place where the silk of the cylindrical frame ceases, there
are no wings; on the contrary, there is one at the end of each screw blade in order
to throw into the outlet tube the material already operated upon. The dimensions
of the rotating cylinder should be such that it can move inside the cylindrical frame
without touching it, but leaving only a very small space between the parts which
approach nearest, that is to say, the internal area of the silk or gauze covering and
the outer edge of the blades.
Working of the Apparatus.-The rotating cylinder is put in motion by means of
a strap passing over the pulley on the cylinder shaft. The speed will vary according

page_text: to the work to be performed. A good medium speed is about 400 revolutions a
minute. The screw blades surrounding the cylinder being right handed, it turns
from right to left: The material to be treated is introduced by the inlet tube into
the cylindrical frame, or rather, into the lower ring, and thus the material spreads
between the inside of the ring and the rotating cylinder. By rotating the latter
receives the material in its screw blades, which impart to the said material an
upward movement, soon modified by meeting the wings of the cylinder from
which it receives a centrifugal motion; thus by the combined action of the blades
and wings the material acquires a centrifugal and ascending movement, which throws
it against the silk or gauze of the cylindrical frame at a point higher than that at
which it was received. The counter action throwing it back, it is received before
falling to its point of departure by the higher and successive blades, and several
times, again thrown against the frame and lifted until it has reached the top of the
rotating cylinder and the frame.
The operation is thus finished, and according to the kind of work and the material
introduced into the apparatus a part of the material will be pressed through the
silk or gauze of the frame, and will fall into the hoppers and into receivers below,
while the rest, passing through an opening formed for the purpose in the upper
ring, will issue by the outlet tube owing to the action of the discharge wings at the
end of each screw blade.
It is obvious that by increasing or diminishing the thread of the screws around
the drum and increasing or diminishing the number of the blades themselves, the
distance between them being always equal, a greater or less ascending speed of the
material is obtained. If the number, length, and inclination of the wings be
increased or diminished the energy of the blow of the material against the silk or
gauze is increased or diminished.
For bolting flour and meal of soft grain the speed should be about 400 revolutions,
and the "number" of the silk should be adapted to the quality of the flour to be
separated. For bolting flour and meal of hard grain fine brass gauze should be
used. For cleaning corn or grain very strong wire gauze should be employed, and
there should be a space of about 3rd of an inch between the two cylinders, while
for other operations the distance should be about 1th of an inch.

page_text: +
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ercole Poggioli in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
March 1879.
ERCOLE POGGIOLI, of Bologna (Italia), Doctor of Law. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR BOLTING AND CLEANING FLOUR, OATMEAL, AND CORN."
The improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present Invention has for
object the bolting of flour and meal in order to entirely separate the bran, and the
cleaning of corn, and also other analogous operations.
The apparatus consists of three main parts, viz., an outer framework or body, a
cylindrical bolting frame, and a rotating cylinder, the arrangement and action of
which will be fully understood from the following description and the annexed
Drawings, Figure 1 of which is an elevation and Figure 2 a section of the apparatus,
Figure 3 representing a portion of the rotating cylinder on a larger scale :-
1st. Outer Framework.-This is composed of four uprights united, so as to form
a body by means of eight horizontal beams or bars, of which four are at the upper
and four at the lower part of the uprights.. One of the beams or bars at the upper
part of the apparatus is seen in Figure 1, and is marked a, b, and one of the lower
beams is marked c, d. The others, which are placed at the same height, are situated
on the other sides. The uprights are connected two and two at their base by two
wooden plinths, one of which is seen at c; f. The four connected uprights and eight
beams constitute a body in whose centre is a space in the form of a prism, having
for its base a square, the length of whose sides is equal to the length of the beams
and its height equal to the distance between the upper and lower beams.. This space
contains the other two parts of the apparatus and their accessories, arranged to act
as herein-after explained. This body is closed at the sides by panels and at the top
by a table fixed to the upper beams, and it is terminated at the bottom by two
hoppers T, T¹, fixed to the four lower beams corresponding with the letters c, d, and
to two other beams, which are indicated by dotted lines at S, S¹, Figure 1.
2nd. Cylindrical Bolting Frame.-Above the two beams S, S', is fixed a
wooden ring I, having an internal diameter of about 26 inches, on a foundation
formed of a board about an inch thick. To the floor of the upper beams is fixed
another ring J of the same diameter as the first, but of a height of about four
inches only. Between these two rings is placed the frame G, which is covered with
silk or wire gauze according to the work to be performed. The height of this frame
is regulated by the distance between the two rings I, J', and its diameter is the
same as theirs. To facilitate its construction and working, the frame G is divided
vertically into two parts, connected together by bolts placed in the bars, which come
into contact with each other. Each half of the frame is composed of longitudinal
bars connected at their ends by two iron semicircles, so that by fitting well-stretched
silk or gauze in the interior a semi-cylindrical area is produced. In order to stretch
and fix the silk or gauze on the frame iron plates are superposed on the lintels and
on the wooden and iron rings, and they are fastened by screws so as to fully adhere.
Care must be taken to fit strips of flannel or cloth to prevent contact of the silk or
gauze with the iron or wood. By the combination of the two halves of the frame
thus constructed and covered there is formed in the interior a cylindrical space,
baving for its base the area of a circle of 26 inches diameter, and for its height the
sum of the heights of the two rings and of the frame already described. It is in
this space that the rotating or working cylinder is situated. The two parts of the
frame are held together by means of bolts r², r², Figure 2, passed through the bars
which are in contact.
The cylindrical frame is fixed to the lower ring I by a flap or other suitable con-
trivance, and to the upper ring J' by an iron band, which embraces the frame as
well as the ring itself. Two tubes communicating with the interior are fixed to the
lower ring I. One of them, O, serves for introducing the material to be operated

page_text: upon in the apparatus and the other, O', for an outlet by opening a valve at its
lower end when any obstacle renders such opening necessary. A third tube O" is
connected to the upper ring J¹, and serves for the exit of the material which has
been operated on by the apparatus and has not passed through the silk or gauze.
3rd. Rotating Working Cylinder.--This is composed of a wooden drum q, q',
Figure 2, fixed by cast-iron arms to a shaft A, A¹, which is supported at bottom in
a step or bearing M, and turns at the upper part in a collar C formed of three
bearings with pressure screws. Above this collar is a pulley P for the driving band.
Around the drum q, q¹, are fixed by means of angle pieces (see Figure 3) bands V
of sheet iron, placed one after another so as to constitute ten blades, which run in
the form of a right-handed screw having a thread of 8 inches, whose generatrix
would be perpendicular to the generating line of the external area of the drum.
These blades are therefore four-fifths of an inch apart, and for each turn of the
screw of these blades there are 8 small equidistant wings formed by small iron
angle pieces ✗, one arm of which serves to fix them to the drum by means of screws,
while the other arm forms the wing. These wings have a breadth adapted to almost
fill the distance which separates the several blades, and they are inclined so as to
form an angle of about 20 degrees with the plane of the drum in the direction
contrary to the movement of the cylinder. Their length is such that their end
reaches to about 1th of an inch from the outer edge of the screw blades. The eight
wings of every spiral of each blade, besides being equidistant, are each placed on the
same generatrices of the external area of the drum, so as to form eight inclined and equi-
distant blades, which divide into eight equal compartments the area of the cylinder
and the space comprised between one screw and another. The lower part of the rotat-
ing cylinder which works in the ring I has only a part of the screw blades, and it is
without wings in order to facilitate the entrance of the material and its elevation
up to the zone where the useful work of the apparatus commences. Likewise at
the top of the cylinder at the place where the silk of the cylindrical frame ceases
there are no wings; on the other hand, there is one at the end of each screw blade
in order to throw into the outlet tube 011 the material already operated upon. The
dimensions of the rotating cylinder should be such that it can move inside the
cylindrical frame without touching it, but leaving only a very small space between
the parts which approach nearest, that is to say, the internal area of the silk or
gauze covering and the outer edge of the blades.
Working of the Apparatus.-The rotating cylinder is put in motion by means of
a strap passing over the pulley P on the shaft A. The speed will vary according to
the work to be performed; a good medium speed is about 400 revolutions a minute.
The screw blades surrounding the cylinder being right handed, it turns from right
to left. The material to be treated is introduced by the tube O into the cylindrical
frame, or rather, into the ring I, and thus the material spreads between the inside
of this ring and the rotating cylinder. By rotating the latter receives the material
in its screw blades, which impart to the said material an upward movement, soon
modified by meeting the wings of the cylinder, from which it receives a centrifugal
motion. Thus by the combined action of the blades and wings the material acquires
a centrifugal and ascending movement, which throws it against the silk or gauze of
the cylindrical frame at a point higher than that at which it was received. The
counter action throwing it back, it is received before falling to its point of departure
by the higher and successive blades, and several times again thrown against the
frame and lifted until it has reached the top of the rotating cylinder and the frame.
The operation is thus finished, and according to the kind of work and the material
introduced into the apparatus a part of the material will be pressed through the
silk or gauze of the frame and will fall into the hoppers T, T', and into receivers
below, while the rest, passing through an opening formed for the purpose in the
ring J', will issue by the outlet tube 0", owing to the action of the discharge wings
at the end of each screw blade.
.
It is obvious that by increasing or diminishing the thread of the screws around
the drum and increasing or diminishing the number of the blades themselves, the

page_text: distance between them being always equal, a greater or less ascending speed of the
material is obtained. If the number, length, and inclination of the wings be
increased or diminished the energy of the blow of the material against the silk or
gauze is increased or diminished.
For bolting flour and meal of soft grain the speed should be about 400 revolutions,
and the "number" of the silk should be adapted to the quality of the flour to be
separated. For bolting flour or meal of hard grain fine brass gauze should be used.
For completely separating flour from bran, the frame should be covered with wire
gauze, and it will be better to increase the speed of the machine. For cleaning corn
or grain very strong wire gauze should be employed, and there should be a space of
about rd of an inch between the two cylinders, while for other operations the
distance should be about 1th of an inch.
:
The meshes of the gauze should be by preference rather large, so as to allow
dust to pass through, but not sufficient, however, to let the grain pass through.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the combination of parts sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawings,
forming an improved apparatus for bolting and cleaning flour, oatmeal, or corn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ercole Poggioli, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eleventh day of March, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-nine.
ERCOLE POGGIOLI. (L.S.)
J. ARMENGAUD, jeune,
of Paris,
Witness.
Bd. de Strasbourg, 23,
Civil Engineer.