IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING. CLEANSING AND DRYING GRAIN
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Penny and John Booth, both of Пeckmondwike,
in the County of York, Corn Millers, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR WASHING. CLEANSING AND DRYING GRAIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Penny and John
Booth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 19th December 1856.
We, JAMES PENNY and JOHN BOOTH, both of Heckmondwike, in the County
of York, Corn Millers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING, CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in certain new mechanical arrangements and com-
binations of parts, constituting improved machinery or apparatus in which the
several operations of washing, cleansing, and drying grain may be performed in
one machine or apparatus, in a more speedy, simple, and efficient manner than
when separate machines are employed for performing those operations, as
heretofore practised.
The improved machinery which I employ for effecting the above operations
is arranged and combined as follows:-First, as regards that portion of the
apparatus employed in and for the operation of washing, it consists of an iron

page_text: cylinder, upon the inside of which are fixed a number of iron spikes, against
which the wheat or other grain to be washed is worked by revolving brushes
suitably placed in said cylinder, which is filled with water. After the grain has
been worked by the above means a sufficient time to cleanse it, it is then
discharged into a sifter, placed at another part of the machine or apparatus, to
separate the water from the grain, to which suitable motion is imparted; from
thence the grain passes into another part of the machine or apparatus, where
it undergoes the operation of drying, which may be effected by imparting to the
vessel into which the grain passes to be dried a very high speed or velocity for
effecting that object.
An important feature in this Invention consists in performing all the above
operations simultaneously and in one machine or apparatus, and for feeding
and discharging the machine while in motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Penny and John Booth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th Juno 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
PENNY and JOHN BOOTH, both of Heckmondwike, in the County of York, Corn
Millers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
Ono thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said James Penny and John Booth, Her special licence that we, the said
James Penny and John Booth, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said James Penny and John Booth, our 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WASHING,
CLEANSING, AND DRYING GRAIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said James Penny and John Booth, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: 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 we, the said James Penny and John Booth, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists in certain new mechanical arrangements and com-
binations of parts, constituting improved machinery or apparatus in which the
several operations of washing, cleansing, and drying grain may be performed
in one machine or apparatus, in a moro speedy, simple, and efficient manner
than when separate machines are employed for performing those operations, as
heretofore practised.
The improved machinery which we propose to employ for effecting the above.
operations is arranged and combined as follows:-First, as regards that portion
of the improved apparatus to be employed in and for the operation of washing
grain, it consists of an iron cylinder, upon the inside of which are fixed a
number of iron spikes, against which the wheat or other grain to be washed is
worked by revolving brushes suitably placed in said cylinder, which is filled
with water. After the grain has been worked by the above means a sufficient
length of time to cleanse the same, the grain is then discharged into a sifter,
or any other convenient mode of conveyance, placed at another part of the
machine or apparatus, to which suitablo motion is imparted; from thence the
grain passes into another. part of the machine or apparatus, where it undergoes
the operation of drying, which may be effected by imparting a very high
speed or velocity to the vessel into which the grain passes to be dried.
And we would here remark, that an important feature in our said Invention
consists in performing all the above operations simultaneously and in one and
the samo machine or apparatus, and in feeding and discharging the said
machine whilst in motion.
:
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible, we now
proceed to describe the best means we are acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, and have attached to theso Presents a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative of the same, and have marked such said Drawings with
numeral figures and letters of reference, similar letters being employed to
denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at
each of such said Figures respectively.

page_text: Figure 1, a sectional elevation of our improved machine as adapted for
drying grain; Figure 2, an outside elevation of said drying machine, with a
washing machine or arrangement adapted thereto for washing grain; Figure 3,
a bird's-eye view of drying machine.
A, Fig. 1, is the main driving shaft of drying machine, made of wrought iron,
turned true and parallel, and adapted to receive a driving pulley which may
be fixed upon said shaft, either above or under the machine; B, a cylinder, the
bottom of which consists of curved arms a, a, attached by a dome or conical-
shaped boss to another boss b, where it is keyed fast on the shaft A. The outer
or upright rim of the aforesaid cylinder consists of a number of pillars with
collars c, c, formed thereon, thus forming an open or skeleton cylinder, to which
is affixed a plate perforated with innumerable small holes. At the top of the
nforesaid cylinder there is a flat horizonal rim C, to which is attached a perpen-
dicular rim of metal D, ascending from a flat rim d. The aforesaid cylinder
and rims should be turned perfectly true, and the whole securely and firmly
keyed on the shaft A. E is a metal plate fitted accurately within the cylinder
B, and adapted to slide up and down the same from top to bottom thereof,
and vice versa; said plate is perforated with fawcet holes, and is attached
by a dome or conical-shaped boss to to the sliding boss D, by bolts passed
through the broad flange on the boss; this last-mentioned boss, as also the
plate E, are connected to the vibrating lever II by links I; said lever is raised
by means of the rack K, and wheel and pinion L and M, motion being imparted
thereto by the winch handle N until the lever arrives at the position donoted
by the dotted lines, at which point the plate E will have been raised from the
bottom to the top of the cylinder. O is a cover for said cylinder, formed in
six compartments, as exhibited at Figure 3; each compartment is covered with
strong wire gauze, and said cover is attached to the sliding boss D on the flat
rim d by pillars and bolts e, e. P is an outer case or tub, made of cast metal,
in which the cylinder B is enclosed; Q is an outer flange, formed in six
compartments, which are connected together and to the case or tub P by bolts;
one compartment has the outer rim thereof removed for discharging the
contents of the cylinder, as denoted by red color at Figure 3. R is the frame-
work of the machine, supporting the main driving shaft A, case or tub P,
lever II, &c. &c., thus rendering the machine portable; there is a pedestal at
bottom of the machine for the neck of the shaft to work in, and a flat plate of
brass S under the foot of the shaft A for supporting same, said plate being

page_text: placed in a box containing oil, and there is a brass bush set by four screws f
for supporting the top of the shaft in proper working position. T is the middle
neck of the shaft A; fixed.in the dome in the centre of the case or tub P; and
9, 9, aro three wedges of hard wood, each prossed to its position by a set..
screw h. At Figure 2, U, U, are two additional feet attached to the case P,
serving as stays to the machine whilst in motion.
We now proceed to describe that part of our improved machinery which we
employ for effecting the washing of grain. At Figure 2, V is a vessel formed
of any material suitable for containing water; W, a shaft, on which are fixed
arms or agitators i, i, as also a sweeper k; a is a perforated plate, forming the
bottom of the vessel V, through which the dirty water passes after washing the
grain, said water being conveyed away by a pipe 1, furnished with a valve, for
retaining the water in the machine as long as is needful; m is a pipe and tap for
supplying water to the machine. We would here observe, that we have found
it desirable in practice to line the washing cylinder with wire gauze, placed
between the beaters and the outside, and into the space under the false bottom,
as at r,, where the dirty water is collected and carried away. We also
employ pieces of iron (not shewn) projecting from the cylinder through the
wire gauze, for the beaters to break the dirt against, as also to prevent tho
grain from circulating with the motion of the beaters. Y, a spout for con-
veying the grain into the machine, and Z is a valve and spout for discharging
the grain therefrom when washed; the wet grain falls direct into the drying
machine, where it is received upon the plate d, and from thence is spread by
centrifugal force against the outer rim or surface of the cylinder B, and by the
same force the water is thrown out of the grain through the perforated plate.
After the grain has been subjected a sufficient length of time to this operation,
tho plate E, boss b, and cover O are then raised by the lever II, as before
stated, by which the grain will be thrown with great force over the rim and
against the flange, and is finally discharged through the open side of the flange
by
a sweeper (not shewn in the Drawing), which may be adapted according to
circumstances. The speed at which the drying machino should work may vary
from two hundred revolutions and upwards per minute.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of our said
Invention of "Improved Machinery for Washing, Cleansing, and Drying
Grain, together with the best means we are acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, we desiro it to be understood that we do not intend
to restrict ourselves to the precise details of construction above described and
referred to, as other mechanical equivalents could be employed with equal

page_text: advantage for effecting the objects of our said. Invention. And we hereby
declare our Invention to consist in, and we claim, the means above described,
set forth, and represented, of washing, cleansing, and drying grain, as con-
stituting improved machinery for those purposes..
In witness whereof, we, the said James Penny and John Booth, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD PEPPER,
JAMES PENNY. (L.S.)
JOHN BOOTII.
(L.S.)
Heckmondwike,
(Clerk to Mess Penny & Booth.).