IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR CLEANING RICE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR CLEANING RICE."-A communication from
abroad by Henry Beaufort Sears, of the City of New York, in the United
States of America, Merchant.
Sealed the 11th January 1862, and dated the 15th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING RICE," a communi-
cation from abroad by Henry Beaufort Sears, of the City of New York, in
the United States of America, Merchant, to be as follows:-.
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for cleaning rice, and consists in the application and
use for that purpose of wire gauze or perforated metal plates and chambers or
cases in combination with detachable and adjustable stone blocks, the blocks
and wire gauze or perforated metal surfaces being so shaped and disposed that
when combined they will form a hollow cylinder, in the interior of which
revolves any suitable drum or beater. The wire gauze or perforated plates
may either be introduced between the contiguous edges of the stones or

page_text: inserted into the stones themselves, which in that case are cut away to receive
the chamber of which the wire gauze or perforated plates forms the inner
surface. The object of these cases or chambers is to allow of the free escape
of the meal, which, after passing through the wire gauze or perforated plate or
plates, is removed or carried off from the chambers by tubes or spouts to a
proper place of deposit. The same object may also be obtained by inserting
crosswise at intervals, within the length of one or more of the stones, sections
of wire gauze or wire cloth, leaving open spaces behind, so that the meal may
be withdrawn at intervals, or as fast as it is formed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING RICE," a communication from abroad
by Henry Beaufort Sears, of the City of New York, in the United States
of America, Merchant, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of
one of them, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for cleaning rice, and consists in the application and
use for that purpose of wire gauze or perforated plates and chambers or cases
in combination with detachable and adjustable stone blocks, the blocks and
wire gauze or perforated metal surfaces being so shaped and disposed that
when combined they will form a hollow cylinder or cone, in the interior of
which revolves any suitable drum or beater. The wire gauze or perforated
plates may either be introduced between the contiguous edges of the stones or
inserted into the stones themselves, which in that case are cut away to receive
the chamber of which the wire gauze or perforated plates form the inner
surface. The object of these cases or chambers is to allow of the free escape
of the meal, which, after passing through the wire gauze or perforated plate
or plates, is removed or carried off from the chambers by tubes or spouts to a
proper place of deposit. The same object may also be obtained by inserting
crosswise at intervals, within the length of one or more of the stones, sections
of wire gauze, wire cloth, or perforated plates, leaving open spaces behind so
that the meal may be withdrawn at intervals, or as fast as it is formed.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
I shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both
Figures.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the improved rice-cleaning machine,"
and Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same, taken about the middle of
the cylinder.
A is the base plate of the machine, upon which are erected the four
columns B, B, which support the annular plate C. Upon this plate rest the
lower ends of the four stone blocks D, D, which are made concave on their inner
sides, so that when arranged on the plate C, in combination with the chambers
E, E, they will form a hollow cylinder or a cone, as shewn more clearly in
Figure 2. The cases or chambers E, E, are introduced between the contiguous
edges of the blocks; these cases may be constructed of sheet iron, but their
inner sides are made of wire gauze or perforated metal plate e, e, and are
curved so as to conform to the inner surface of the cylinder or cone. F is a

page_text: vertical drum of any convenient construction rotating inside the cylinder; it is
preferred to apply a number of overlapping strips f, of sheep skin or other
suitable material to the surface of this drum, in combination with which a
series of drags or scrapers g may be used, hinged or jointed to the surface of
the drum, which on the rotation of the drum will have a tendency to fly out-
wards against the interior of the cylinder, and remove any coagulated or other
matter deposited therein; if the hollow space be of a conical form the drum or
rubber should be of a corresponding shape. The object of the wire gauze or
perforated metal plates e, e, and chambers E, E, is to allow of the free escape
of the meal or dust as fast as it'is' formed, such meal or dust passing through
the gauze or perforations into the chambers behind, whence it is withdrawn or
allowed to escape by the tubes or spouts G, G, which open into the bottom of
each chamber, and conduct the meal to any proper place of deposit. If the
meal, which is formed during the process of cleaning, be not allowed to escape
freely it has a tendency to adhere to the grain of the rice, thereby retarding
the cleaning process, causing a deadening of the color of the grain, and also
causing a tendency of the meal to adhere to the surface of the stones. H is
the feeding spout, and K the delivery spout or shoot for the finished rice. As
the stones wear away the blocks may be set up by means of the set screws L, L,
to the
proper guage again:
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of machinery or apparatus
for cleaning rice, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of wire cloth or wire gauze or perforated
metal plates and cases or chambers in combination with stone surfaces, for the
purpose of facilitating the escape of the meal in rice-cleaning machines, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)