AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF DECORTICATING RICE, WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS OF DECORTICATING RICE, WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN."-A. communi-
cation from abroad by Gabriel Dupont Dennis, fils the younger, of Nantes,
France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th March 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF DECORTICATING RICE, WHEAT AND
OTHER GRAIN [A communication from abroad by Gabriel Dupont Dennis, fils the
younger, of Nantes, France.]
This Invention consists in a new method of decorticating cereals, particularly
wheat and rice, the said method consisting in subjecting the grain to the abrasive
action of a granular or pulverulent material of a hard abrasive character mixed
and agitated with the grain in a drum or other receptacle receiving rotary or other .
motion.
The apparatus for effecting this operation may be of varied construction but I
prefer that illustrated as an example in the accompanying drawing wherein figure 1
is a longitudinal section and figure 2 an end view of the rotary mixing drum, the
same letters of reference indicating the same parts in both figures.
a is the
circumference and b the end frames having a flanged periphery around which
the circumferential part a is rivetted and a' are end plates rivetted to the
frames b. The drum is keyed on a shaft c mounted in bearings and driven in
any convenient way, for example by means of a spur wheel d driven by a pinion
on the motor shaft. There is an opening in the circumference a closed by a door e
for charging and discharging.
The grain is mixed in the drum with a granular or pulverulent abrading material
such as fine sharp sand like that used for scouring kitchen utensils, the proportion
of sand used being about 25°/ by weight.

page_text: The decortication of the grain is effected by the mere attrition of the abradent,
caused by the rotation of the drum, the speed of which depends upon the kind of
grain operated on and its state of dryness. For a drum two metres in diameter,
the average speed would be eight to twelve revolutions per minute
Cereals before being decorticated should be purified by the means ordinarily
used in flour mills. When the decortication is complete the mixture of grain and
sand or other abradent is passed through a wire cloth cylinder to sift out the sand
and afterwards subjected to the action of brushes carried on a shaft revolving in a
wire cloth cylinder in order to eliminate any particles of sand not separated from
the grain in the first separator.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th September 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex
Patent Agent
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF DECORTICATING RICE, WHEAT, AND
OTHER GRAIN." A communication from abroad by Gabriel Dupont Dennis fils the
younger of Nantes, France.
This Invention consists in a new method of decorticating cereals, particularly
wheat and rice, the said method consisting in subjecting the grain to the abrasive
action of a granular or pulverulent material of a hard abrasive character by mixing
and agitating the grain therewith in a drum or other receptacle receiving rotary or
other motion.
The apparatus for effecting this operation may be of varied construction, and I
have illustrated two modifications of suitable apparatus in the accompanying
drawing wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 an end view of
one arrangement of rotary mixing drum. The same letters of reference indicate
the same parts in both figures. a is the circumference and b the end frames having
a flanged periphery around which the circumferential part a is rivetted and a¹ are
end plates rivetted to the frames b. The drum is keyed on a horizontal shaft c
mounted in bearings and driven in any convenient way, for example by means of a
spur wheel d driven by a pinion on the motor shaft. There is an opening in the
circumference a closed by a door e for charging and discharging. The grain is mixed
in the drum with a granular or pulverulent abrading material such as fine sharp
sand like that used for scouring kitchen utensils, the proportion of sand used being
about 25% by weight. The decortication of the grain is effected by the mere
attrition of the abradent caused by the rotation of the drum, the speed of which
depends upon the kind of grain operated on and its state of dryness. For a drum
two metres in diameter, the average speed would be 8 to 12 revolutions per
minute.
Cereals before being decorticated should be purified by the means ordinarily used
in flour mills. When the decortication is complete, the mixture of grain and sand
or other abradent is passed through a wire cloth cylinder to sift out the sand, and
afterwards subjected to the action of brushes carried on a shaft revolving in a wire
cloth cylinder in order to eliminate any particles of sand not separated from the
grain in the first separator. The subsequent operations will however depend in each
case on the nature and intended use of the cereals treated. The form, dimensions
and arrangement of the apparatus for producing the abrasive action upon the grain
of the particles mixed therewith and the nature of the granular or pulverulent
material may differ from those indicated.
Figures 3 and 4 represent another arrangement of apparatus for decorticating by
the process of this Invention in which the drum turns loose on its shaft and
receives motion through gear wheels i keyed on each end of its hub, and in which
a semicircular brush g carried by frames f upon a sleeve h, is keyed eccentrically
on the shaft for completing the decortication effected by the sand or other abrasive
matters employed. A lever k fixed on the end of the drum shaft enables the brush
to be adjusted so as to apply the necessary pressure to the cereals during the
operation. The drum is lined with stout wire cloth which has apertures at intervals
about 12 inches in width which are covered by buckets or scoops serving to return
to the drum the sand which escapes during the operation and also to prevent the
heating of the cereals in process of decortication. The drum rotates within a sheet
:

page_text: iron trough which prevents the sand from being projected outside. It is furnished
with a sliding door m at bottom for discharging the contents. It is preferred that
the sand be employed in a damp condition, its degree of humidity being dependent
upon the dryness of the grain to be treated.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performning
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein
before in part recited Letters Patent is.
1st. The improved process of decorticating rice, wheat and other grain by the
attrition of a hard, granular abrasive substance mixed and agitated therewith
substantially as described.
2nd. The use for effecting the decortication of grain by the abrasive action of
sand or other granular substance, of a horizontal rotary drum provided or not with
a semicircular brush arranged eccentrically within it as specified.
In witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this eleventh day of September, A.D. 1882.