IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLOUR."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLOUR."-A communi-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th October 1855.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLOUR" to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of machinery for
dressing flour, and consists in the combination of the mill or grinding apparatus
with the dressing apparatus. The mill is of the ordinary construction, and is
connected to the bolting apparatus by means of suitable gearing. The flour
after leaving the stones passes down a spout into a box or receptacle, from
which it is taken up by buckets affixed to an endless strap, and is delivered
into the trough of the conveyor, fixed above the bolting cylinder. In the

page_text: passage of the flour through this trough, it is cooled by its exposure to the air,
and by the revolution of the conveyor. It is thence delivered by another spout
to the bolting or dressing apparatus, which consists of a cylinder covered with
wire gauze of different degrees of fineness. The finer portions of the flour pass
through the meshes into the first compartment on to a conveyor placed below
the bolting cylinder; the coarser portions or "middlings" fall through wider
meshes into a second compartment on a third conveyor, the inside of which is
hollow, and revolves with the second conveyor, while the bran is delivered at
the open end of the bolting cylinder into a third compartment. In these com-
partments are a series of spouts for the delivery of the various qualities of flour,
each one of which is opened and closed by means of slide valves. By this
arrangement of gearing the bolting apparatus is connected as directly as
possible to the mill spindle, and a great saving of room is effected, and by
introducing the flour at that end of the bolting cylinder furthest from the mill
it is subjected to an extensive cooling influence.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my 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 IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLOUR," being a commu-
nication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under, my hand and

page_text: seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Edward Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
.5.
The principal object intended to be effected by this Invention of improved
machinery for dressing flour, is the economy in the room occupied, and the
power required for flour mills. Usually in constructing flour mills, the bolt-
ing cylinders, the conveyors, coolers, and elevators are situated at a distance
from the grinding surfaces, and from each other, being generally placed in
separate rooms above and below, and are generally actuated at a considerable
expenditure of power and material in consequence of the extensive intermediate
gearing required. By the arrangement of these several parts in the improved
machinery which constitutes the present Invention, a very compact and con-
venient mill is produced, and will be found to possess numerous capabilities
which will be very advantageous.
One of the improvements consists in connecting the bolting cylinder as
directly as possible to the mill spindle, whereby a great saving of room is
effected, and by introducing the elevators between the bolting cylinder and the
millstones, and supplying the material to be operated upon at that end of the
bolting cylinder farthest from the millstones, and arranging the conveying and
returning conveyors above and below the bolting cylinder, and parallel to each
other, or nearly so, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, and hereafter more
particularly described. The whole mill is arranged within convenient rect-
angular limits, with the exception of the casing for the elevators, which of
necessity projects somewhat above the other parts. As a consequence of this
arrangement, the flour is subjected to an extensive cooling influence in its
passage up the elevators, but more particularly through the trough and
conveyor which conducts it to the bolting cylinder.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the whole mill
complete; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of part of the bolting cylinder with
its appendages, shewn in section, and shewing the conveyor for the middlings,
and the delivery spouts for ships' stuff and bran. The hopper and shoe
adapted to the millstones are not shewn, as they as well as the millstones are
similar in construction and operation to those usually employed. The casing

page_text: or concave a enclosing the millstones is also of the usual construction. An
endless screw upon the vertical spindle 6 gears into and drives the intermediate
b
shaft 6, and from this shaft motion is communicated by means of a pinion to
the toothed wheel c. The main shaft c', upon which the wheel c is mounted,
also carries the bolting cylinder k, l, and the pullies or drums of the elevators
ff; belts d, d, pass round these pullies or drums, and the elevator belts f, f',
lie over the belts d, d, and pass around the lower drums q, q, shewn by dots in
Fig. 1.
The shaft of these lower drums carries the worms or conveyors n, p,
and o, and the upper worm or conveyor i is driven by a belt m from the
opposite end of the lower shaft; but this conveyor i may be driven by a belt
from the bolting shaft, or by gearing with the same. The step t of the vertical
spindle is provided with a cup y, for the reception of the foot or pivot of the
spindle b. This cup moves freely in a vertical line, but is restrained from
turning by means of a pin or rib working in the slot u, as shewn in Fig. 1.
The cup y may be raised and lowered when required by the screw w, which
is worked by the large gear wheel x and mangle wheel a¹. The object of this
arrangement or construction of parts is to preserve the parallelism of the
stones, which is a point of great consequence to be observed in milling.
In adjusting the stones to compensate for their wear, or to grind fine or
coarse, or damp or dry grain, the raising of the step is often attended with a
slight tilting of the stones, and a great loss in the operation, but by the con-
trivance above described the step cup cannot work out of the vertical line,
and the stones are therefore kept parallel.
The course of the flour and material through the mill is as follows:-On
leaving the stones the material passes down the spout r into the box or
receptacle, from whence it is taken up by elevators g on the belt f, and is
delivered into the spout 7, which conducts it into the spout or trough of the
conveyor i.
In its passage through this trough it is cooled by exposure to the
air, and by being moved or stirred by the worm or conveyor. It is thence
delivered to the bolting cylinder through the spout ³, and the finer portions of
the flour pass through that part of the bolting cylinder marked k, while the
coarser portions are carried forward by the rotation of the cylinder, and pass
through that part of the cylinder marked l, and the bran is delivered at the
open end of the bolting cylinder beyond the chamber r. The finer portions,
that is, the "extra fine flour," the "superfine," and the "fine flour," or "fine
middlings," as it is sometimes called, falls upon the conveyor or worm n within
the wall or partition n. The middlings fall on the outer side of the partition
upon the large conveyor or worm p, while the "ship stuff" falls into the
divisions p', and the bran into the division o'. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are spouts for

page_text: the delivery of the various qualities of stuff, and as each one of these spouts
may
be opened and closed by means of slide valves or shutters m', m', it will be
readily seen that by opening and closing in various ways the slides of 1, 2, 3, 4,
the extra fine, superfine, and fine, or fine middlings, may be had separately or
in various degrees of admixture, or that by closing them all the two kinds may
be carried through the tube o by the worm or conveyor n, and delivered into
the receptacle, and from thence it may be taken along with the material
direct from the mill by the elevators g, and returned to the bolting cylinder to
be resifted; or by opening a part and closing a part of the slides m', m', of the
spouts 1, 2, 3, 4, any of the desired admixtures of flour may be carried over,
as above stated, in order to be resifted. The middlings falling upon the large
worm or conveyor p, which is attached to the outside of the tube o, may be
carried by this conveyor into the receptacle ra by closing the slide m¹ of the
spout 5, or by opening this slide they may be run out at the spout 5. When
the middlings are carried into the receptacle r², they are raised by elevators g¹,
and delivered into the spout j, and conveyed back into the "eye" of the stone
to be ground over again.
The "ship stuff" from the bolting cylinder, by falling into the division p', is
run out through the spout 6 (Fig. 2), and the bran delivered at the end of the
bolting cylinder falls into the division o¹, and is run out at the spout 7 (Fig. 2).
A portion of the bran, however, flies off from the sieve, and is caught by the
spout 5', which conducts it into the receptacle r', from which it is taken up by
the elevators g, and conveyed thence a second time into the bolting cylinder,
for the purpose of keeping the bolting cylinder clean by its attrition, and
aiding in the sifting of the flour. This spout may be controlled by a slide or
other regulating valve.
Having now described this Invention of improved machinery for dressing
flour, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to
be understood that I claim the use and application of the double conveyor
n, o, p, for the fine flour and middlings, or any mere modification thereof, in
which the conveyor for the middlings is attached to a tube inclosing or partly
inclosing the conveyor for the fine flour, so that the conveyor for the fine flour
by terminating in one receptacle, and that for the middlings terminating in
another receptacle, the different kinds of flour may be separated with facility
by a very simple arrangement of parts.
I claim also the combination with this double conveyor of the receptacles
,, the elevators 9, 9', and spouts h, j, for returning the fine flour and
middlings respectively to the bolting cylinder or the eye of the mill, as set
forth.

page_text: I also claim the arrangement of the series of spouts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, with their
slide valves in combination with the separate receptacles and conveyors
n and p.
And, lastly, I claim connecting the bolting cylinder directly to the mill
spindle, as herein fully set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)