IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLOUR FOR SEPARATING THE BRAN AND OTHER DARK COLOURED PORTIONS FROM THE WHITE OR FARINACEOUS PORTIONS OF SHARPS OR MIDDLINGS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Huddleston Dana, of Rochester, New
York, United States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Build-
ings, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO
BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLOUR FOR SEPARATING THE BRAN AND OTHER
DARK COLOURED PORTIONS FROM THE WHITE OR FARINACEOUS PORTIONS OF
SHARPS OR MIDDLINGS."-A. communication from abroad by George
Thomas Smith, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States aforesaid.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Huddleston
Dana, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the. 26th March 1873.
I, GEORGE HUDDLESTON DANA, of Rochester, New York, United
States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE Manufacture of Flour foR SEPARATING THE BRẠN

page_text: AND OTHER DARK COLOURED PORTIONS FROM THE WHITE OR FARINACEOUS PORTIONS
of Sharps or MIDDLINGS," a communication, to be as follows :—
This Invention relates more particularly to that class of bolting
apparatus in which a current of air is made to pass through the bolting
cloth in an upward direction for the purpose of carrying off the lighter
and finer portions of the bran and specks or other refuse matter, but
some of the devices herein described are adapted to be used either with
or without a blast or draft of air.
In practising the said Invention I combine with a flour bolt a fan or
equivalent apparatus and an air chamber, by means of which a current
of air is made to pass through the bolting cloth, and a brush or a series
of brushes arranged below the said bolt and traversing its lower surfaco
to keep the meshes of the cloth free, and thus facilitate the passage of
both the flour or middlings and the current of air through the cloth. I
arrange a series of air chambers above a reciprocating bolt for the
purpose of more effectually controlling and regulating the different
currents of air which pass through the different portions of the
said bolt. The said brushes are operated by means of an endless
belt, chain, or rope in such manner that they are made to travel
continuously on ways and around pulleys. Or I impart to them a
reciprocating motion by means of a crank and connecting rod. I employ
a horizontal reciprocating bolt or shaker, and divide into two or more
longitudinal sections, each section having a bolting surface or surfaces
differing in fineness from the cloth in the adjacent section or sections.
It is thereby adapted for receiving and bolting flour or middlings of
different grades. I combine with the horizontal bolt or shaker divided
into different sections as above described a reel bolt provided with cloth
of different numbers in such manner that it shall divide the flour or
middlings into different grades of fineness, corresponding substantially
to the different sections of the shaker.
The horizontal vibrating bolt or shaker is operated by a cam. I usually
cover each of its said sections with a cloth of about the same fineness as
that of the corresponding section of the upper bolt from which it
receives its flour. Vertical partitions are arranged immediately above
the partitions in the shaker, and divide the interior of the bolt chest
into chambers, from which the air is exhausted by a. fan or fans. The
apertures through which the air passes from these chambers to the fan
are provided by preference with dampers, by means of which I am

page_text: enabled to regulate the strength of the current, and in order that the
current shall increase in velocity after passing through the cloth I
employ converging wing boards which form throats.
Gather boards are arranged to collect the flour as it falls and deliver it
to the conveyers. Each conveyer has the usual traps or discharge spouts.
An adjustable partition is hinged to the central gather boards to regulate
the proportion of flour delivered to either conveyer.
The reel bolt is placed in an inclined position, the end having the
finest cloth being the highest. The flour is fed in at the highest end,
and the finer portions are delivered to the finest section of the shaker.
Another portion not so fine is discharged upon a corresponding portion
of the shaker, and another coarser portion upon a coarser portion of the
said shaker.
From the above description it will be seen that each section of the.
lower bolt has delivered to it only the grade of middlings for which it is
adapted, and hence its surface is not covered with a large quantity of
material which cannot pass through the meshes of its cloth. If desired
the arrangement of the bolts may be varied as satisfactory results may
be obtained when they are placed at some distance apart.
For the purpose of keeping the current of air more perfectly under
the control of the operator I have further divided each longitudinal air
chamber into sections by means of transverse partitions. I usually
grade the cloth upon each section of the shaker to correspond thereto.
I sometimes employ a graded shaker in place of the graded reel for
delivering the middlings to the lower shaker, when I operate the brushes
by means of endless belts. The ways are adjusted to give a proper
pressure by means of set screws.
I employ a hopper and feed roller with a regulating slide to feed the
middlings to the shaker. This construction may be advantageously
adopted when it is not convenient to arrange the grading bolt in the
same chest with the lower shaker. In both these forms of the machine
the material which passes over the end of the lower shaker is delivered
through a throat or outlet.

page_text: SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said George
Huddleston Dana in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HUDDLESTON DANA, of Rochester, New York, United States of America,
now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Huddleston Dana, Her special licence.
that I, the said George Huddleston Dana, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Huddleston Dana,
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,
usc, 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 TO BE USED IN the ManufactuRE OF FLOUR FOR
SEPARATING THE BRAN AND OTHER DARK COLOURED PORTIONS FROM THE WHITE OR
FARINACEOUS PORTIONS OF SHARPS OR MIDDLINGS," a communication to me
from abroad by George Thomas Smith, of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
United States aforesaid, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Huddleston Dana, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 on or before
the Fourteenth day of October 1873.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Huddleston Dana, 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 accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
This Invention relates more particularly to that class of bolting
apparatus in which a current of air is made to pass through the bolting

page_text: cloth in an upward direction for the purpose of carrying off the lighter
and finer portions of the bran and specks or other refuse matter; but
some of the devices herein described are adapted to be used either with
or without a blast or draft of air.
'
In practising the said Invention I combine with a flour bolt a fan, or
equivalent apparatus, and an air chamber, by means of which a current of
air is made to pass through the bolting cloth and a brush or a series of
brushes arranged below the said bolt, and traversing its lower surface to
keep the meshes of the cloth free, and thus facilitate the passage of both
the flour or middlings and the current of air through the cloth. I
arrange a series of air chambers above the reciprocating bolt for the
purpose of more effectually controlling and regulating the different
currents of air which pass through the different portions of the said bolt.
The said brushes are operated in such a manner that they are made to
travel to and fro or with a reciprocating motion imparted to them by
means of a crank and connecting rod. I employ a horizontal recipro-
cating bolt or shaker, and divide the same into two or more longitudinal
sections, each section having a bolting surface or surfaces differing in
fineness both transversely and longitudinally from the cloth in the
adjacent section or sections. It is thereby adapted for receiving and
bolting flour or middlings of different grades. I combine with a
horizontal bolt or shaker divided into different sections, as above
described, a second bolt provided with cloth of different numbers in
such manner that it shall divide the flour or middlings into different
grades of fineness corresponding substantially to the different section of
the shaker
'

page_text: E
"A, A, are the sides, and A¹ the top of a bolting chest of the ordinary
construction, or nearly so; B, B¹, B³, is a revolving reel bolt, into which
the meal or middlings is introduced from an elevator, or by any other
approved method. This bolt is divided into transverse sections, three
being shewn in the Drawings, but any number may be used. The 1
section B is covered with, say, No. 10 cloth; B¹, with No. 8 cloth; and
B, with No. 6 cloth. C, C¹³, C³, is a horizontal vibrating bolt or
shaker operated by a cam D on the shaft D'. This bolt is divided
by partitions into longitudinal sections corresponding in number and
width with the transverse sections of the aforesaid reel bolt B, B', B³.
In practice I usually cover each of the said sections C, 0, 0³, with
a cloth of about the same fineness as that of the corresponding
section of the upper bolt from which it receives the flour.
(Figure 3) are vertical partitions arranged immediately above the par-
titions in the shaker, and dividing the interior of the bolt chest into
chambers from which the air is exhausted by a fan or fans E. The
apertures through which the air passes from these chambers to the fan
are preferably provided with dampers, by means of which I am enabled
to regulate the strength of the current; and in order that the current
shall increase in velocity after passing through the cloth I employ con-
It follows from this
verging wing boards e, e, which form throats c¹.
contrivance that after a particle of bran or other refuse leaves the cloth
or surface of the meal its movement becomes constantly accelerated
until it is discharged through the throat, so that it has no tendency to
fall back upon the bolt. After the bran leaves the throat it may either
pass out through the fan or be deposited upon the wing board. F, F,
are brushes mounted upon a travelling frame, and caused to traverse the
under surface of the bolt by means of crank F and pitman ƒ, or any
equivalent device; G, G, are gather boards, which collect the flour as it
falls, and deliver it to the conveyors G¹, G³. Each conveyor has the
usual trap or discharge spouts, as in Figure 3. H is an adjustable par-
tition hinged to the central gather boards, and employed to regulate the
proportion of flour which shall be delivered to either conveyor G³, G³.
The fan E, cam shaft D', crank wheel F¹, and conveyors G², G², may be
driven by any usual or approved train or system of gearing or bolting,
which need not be particularly described. The reel bolt B, B¹, B³, is
placed in an inclined position, that end having the finest cloth being the
highest. The flour is fed in at the highest end, and the finer portions
are delivered to the finest section C of the shaker. Another portion is

page_text: discharged upon the section O³, and another coarser portion upon the
section C³. It is intended that all of the material containing any flour
or middlings worth regrinding shall pass through the last and coarsest
portion of the upper bolt, leaving only the bran to pass off at the tail,
and cloth sufficiently coarse must be used to insure the separation.
From the above description it will be seen that each section of the
lower bolt or bolts have delivered thereto only the grade of middlings
for which it is adapted, and hence the surface of the same is not covered.
up with a large quantity of material which cannot pass through the
meshes of the cloth. For this reason the operation of bolting or
purifying is effected much more rapidly and effectively than by other.
machines.
The operation of the lower bolt will be substantially the same whether
the upper bolt is graded or not, when they are arranged in the above
described relative positions, for even with a cloth of uniform fineness
the fine flour will pass through first, I do not limit myself to the use of
the aforesaid two bolts in the same machine as satisfactory results may
be obtained when they are placed at some distance apart.
During the bolting process a current of air is made to pass upward
through the lower shaker by means of the fan E¹ to carry off the bran
and other impurities, and the finer particles of flour are thereby caused
to adhere to the under surface of the cloth and clog it, therefore I
employ the brusher F for the purpose of keeping the said bolt clean.
To keep the current of air more perfectly under the control of the
operator, I have further divided each longitudinal air chamber into
sections by means of transverse partitions I, I', Figure 2. I usually grade
or vary the fineness of the cloth upon each section of the shaker to
correspond with the same. I sometimes employ a graded shaker in
place of the graded reel for delivering the middlings to the lower shaker.
In the modification illustrated in Figure 5 I employ a hopper K and
feed roller K¹, with a regulating slide to feed the middlings to the
shaker, and this construction may be advantageously used when it is
not convenient to arrange the grading bolt in the same chest with the
lower shaker. In both of these forms of machine the material which
passes over the end of the lower shaker is delivered through a throat
or outlet. It this Figure I have not shown the mechanism for operating

page_text: the brush or the conveyor, but these parts may be the same-as-in.
Figure 3.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,—
First. In combination with the bolting surface of a flour bolt
through which a current of air is made to pass by means of an air
chamber and a fan or equivalent apparatus or brush, or series of brushes
operated to travel with a reciprocating or to-and-fro motion upon the
under surface of the said bolt, as herein set forth and for the purpose
specified.
Second. In a flour dressing machine or shaker C, O¹, C³, divided into
sections and with its cloth graduated or differing in fineness both
longitudinally and transversely for receiving and bolting flour or meal of
different grades as herein set forth.
Third. In combination with the aforesaid reciprocating flour bolt
divided into sections, a separate feeding bolt which divides the meal and
delivers it to the shaker in different grades of fineness as herein set
forth.
Fourth. In combination. with the shaker the inclined short wing
boards e, e, for increasing the draft of air at the throat through which
the bran passes after leaving the bolt, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Huddleston Dana, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
JA. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
G. H. DANA. (L.S.)