IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEATEN FLOUR.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Downs Bowyer, of Ripley, Woking, in
the County of Surrey, and James Lee Norton, of Belle Sauvage
Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEATEN FLOUR.".
aled the 13th August 1869, and dated the 17th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Downs Bowyer
and James Lee Norton at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their -Petition, on the 17th February 1869.
We, HENRY DOWNS BOWYER, of Ripley, Woking, in the County
of Surrey; and JAMES LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate
Fill, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEATEN FLOUR," to
De as follows:
The first part of our Invention consists in subiecting wheat to the

page_text: moisture to permeate the husk or bran, after which the wheat is dried
in order to cause a contraction of the grain, with the object of loosening
the husk or bran so as to cause it to separate more freely from the farina
or flour. After the wheat has been dried it is then crushed but without
being entirely broken into pieces by being passed though rollers of metal
or other material either fluted or plain. The wheat is delivered to the
rollers in an even stream or thickness by a shaking screen feed motion,
which screens the wheat and frees it from dust and small seeds before
it enters or passes into the crushing rollers.
For crushing wheat previous to grinding we prefer to employ three
rollers arranged in a triangle, thus 8, and so mounted that they can
be adjusted with great nicety so as to crush the wheat more or less at
pleasure, the first rollers through which the corn passes being set so
that they only partially crush the corn, and the second rollers being set
closer to complete the crushing, or similarly two or more pairs of rollers
may be employed to crush wheat at two or more operations previous
to grinding. Although we prefer to use plain rollers, fluted rollers or
a. combination of fluted rollers with plain ones may be used. The
crushing rollers are by preference geared together to run at the same
surface speed.
Similar arrangements of apparatus to those above described may be
employed for crushing wheat that has not been previously moistened
or steamed and dried, the wheat being passed over a sieve or screen, as
above described, before passing between the crushing rollers, or the
wheat may simply be dried before passing it over the screen and through
crushing rollers.
For steaming or moistening wheat previous to crushing and grinding
the wheat is delivered from a hopper into a vessel and exposed to the
action of steam sufficiently long to impregnate the outer skin or coating
of the wheat with moisture, and from the steam vessel it passes into a
continuous drying machine, which delivers the wheat when dried on to
the screen or sifter, which delivers it to the crushing rollers. To prevent
stones, nails, or other foreign matters from injuring and passing through
the crushing rollers a metal guard is fixed in front of the rollers to
prevent the passage of anything of larger size than the corn, and
scrapers are fixed at the back part of the rollers, so as to clean them
in case of anything adhering to them. In some cases it will be advan-
tageous when the wheat varies in size to separate it into various sizes by

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Downs Bowyer and James Norton Lee in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
DOWNS BOWYER, of Ripley, Woking, in the County of Surrey, and JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto us, the said Henry Downs Bowyer and James
Lee Norton, Her special licence that we, the said Henry Downs Bowyer
and James Lee Norton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Henry Downs Bowyer and James Lee
Norton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEATEN FLOUR," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henry Downs Bowyer
and James Lee Norton, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us or them, sholud 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 Henry Downs Bowyer, on behalf
of myself and the said James Lee Norton, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say ;-
The first part of our Invention consists in subjecting wheat to the
action of steam or moisture to such an extent that it takes up sufficient
moisture to permeate the husk or bran, after which the wheat is dried
in order to cause a contraction of the grain, with the object of loosening
the husk or bran so as to cause it to separate more freely from the
farina or flour, or the moistening of the grain may be omitted and
the wheat simply be passed through a drying machine to dry it. After
the wheat has been dried it is then crushed by being passed through
rollers of metal or other material either fluted or plain. The wheat
is delivered to the rollers in an even stream or thickness by a shaking
screen feed motion, which screens the wheat and frees it from dust
and small seeds before it enters or passes into the crushing rollers.
For steaming or moistening wheat previous to crushing and grinding
the wheat is delivered from a hopper into a vessel and exposed to the
action of steam or water sufficiently long to impregnate the outer skin
or coating of the wheat with moisture, and from this steam or water
vessel it passes into a continuous drying machine, by preference a
machine such as is described in the Specification of a Patent granted
to one of us on the Thirteenth day of July 1867 (No. 2071), but other
arrangements of drying machinery may be employed. From the drying
machine the wheat is delivered when dry on to the screen or sifter,
which delivers it to the crushing rollers, the screen being by preference
caused to deliver the wheat on to an inclined board which conducts
the wheat to the nip of the rollers, the inclined board being divided
into numerous channels, as described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to one of us on the 25th of January 1869, No. 232.
To prevent stones, nails, or other foreign matters from passing through
and injuring the crushing rollers a metal guard may be fixed in front of
the rollers to prevent the passage of anything of larger size than the
corn, and scrapers are fixed at the back part of the rollers so as to clean
them in case of anything adhering to them. In some cases it will
be advantageous when the wheat varies in size to separate it into various
sizes by means of a Child's separator, or other machine used for this
purpose, before it is treated by any of the processes before described.
What we claim as regards this part of our Invention is,―

page_text: First. The process herein described of manufacturing wheaten flour,
consisting in first moistening the busk or bran, then drying the grain
and passing it between rollers to crack or burst the grains, and sub-
sequently grinding the wheat so prepared into meal and dressing the
meal to separate the bran and offal from the farina or flour.
Second. We also claim drying wheat or grain by passing it through
a drying machine previous to crushing and grinding into meal.
thus
Another part of our Invention consists in employing for crushing
wheat previous to grinding three rollers arranged in a triangle,
and so mounted that they can be adjusted with great
nicety so as to crush the wheat more or less at pleasure, the first
rollers through which the corn passes being set so that they only
partially crush the corn, and the second rollers being set closer to
complete the crushing, or similarly two or more pairs of rollers may
be employed to crush wheat at two or more operations previous to
grinding. Although we prefer to use plain rollers, fluted rollers or a
combination of fluted rollers with plain ones may be used.
crushing rollers are by preference geared together to run at the same
surface speed.
The
The grain before being fed between the rollers may be passed over a
screen or sieve, as above described.
We claim passing wheat previous to grinding between two or more
pairs of crushing rollers, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Downs Bowyer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine
HENRY DOWNS BOWYER. (L.S.)