CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN OR SEEDS FROM SMUT OR OTHER INJURIOUS MATTERS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HICK, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and forty-five, and in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Hick, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John Hick, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said John Hick, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all.
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully-might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN OR SEEDS FROM SMUT OR
OTHER INJURIOUS MATTERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso obliging me, the said John Hick, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to ascertain and describe the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery at West-
minster within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hick, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
These improvements consist in a novel and peculiar construction or arrange-
ment of apparatus adapted for the above-named purposes, and will be clearly
understood by reference to the Drawing attached to these Presents, which
represent the machine drawn in perfect elevation at Figure 1, and in vertical
section at Figure 2, and of about one fifth the scale of a machine as constructed
for general use. The machine consists of an outside casing of conical form,
with the exception of a conductor or hopper a, for introducing the grain, and
a spout or covering to an outlet passage at (b). This circular casing is com-
posed of triangular files c, c, c, case-hardened, made of iron, the necessity of
using which will be herein-after explained. They are placed at such distances
apart as to allow the disengaged smut or dirt to pass out freely between them,
and at the same time retain the grain within; the lower ends of the said
files being placed in a groove provided for the purpose in the rim which
supports them, shewn at d, Fig. 2; they are fixed in their places by filling the
angular spaces between them within the groove with pieces of lead or other
metal; they are also fixed in the upper rim e, e, in like manner.
Thus placed,
they are secured by screw bolts passing through the lower rim into the bottom
of the pillars f, f, shown in the Drawing, and also through the lateral projec-
tions of the upper rim into the top of the same, thereby firmly connecting the
two rims with the fan thus extended between them. This triangular form of
files is preferred as being best adapted to the discharge of dust as it becomes
separated from the grain by the process of cleansing, on account of the.out-
wardly diverging sides. Within the case of files thus described is another,
g, g, of like conical form, composed of quadrangular files made of iron, case-
hardened, the inside of which is seen in the section at Fig. 2. These are in
like manier secured by the rings h, h, and i, i;
nuts, as seen at Fig. 2, and as before described.
connected with the vertical shaft at the centres, as shewn in the Drawings,
is made the revolving part of the machine, and its dimensions are such as to
allow the space necessary for the passage of the grain between its outer surface
and the inner surface of the files which form the outside case. Inasmuch as
all files are liable, in the process of manufacture, more or less, to wind and
twist, and as it is essential in this machine that the acting surfaces of the files,
to insure an uniform action upon the grain, should present surfaces as ever
and h, k, are
rods with the
This inner structure of files

page_text: and uniform as possible, the advantage of using files made of iron, case-
hardened, about the sixteenth of an inch below the surface, rather than steel
files, is obvious, for the reason that we are enabled to effect this uniform and
even surface with great facility and precision. The case-hardened file still
possessing flexibility, all imperfections as to wire and twist can readily be
obviated, and the cost of the machine greatly reduced, both as respects hazard
of loss on that account, and also as to the comparative cost of the material
from which they are manufactured, iron being much cheaper than steel. In
respect to graduating the space between the acting surfaces of the files, the
apparatus is regulated and adjusted by means of the bar m attached to the
bottom of the lower rim by screw bolts through the lateral flanges with which
it is supplied at each end, so as to secure it as a bridge tree to the shaft l.
n is a socket, and has a box at its centre, to which a piece of steel or other
material is fitted, so as to form, when placed therein, the step for the foot of
the shaft on which it revolves. o is an adjusting screw extending upwards till
it comes in contact with this step, as shewn in Figure 2, by means of which
the shaft and its appendages are raised and let down at discretion, without
changing its vertical position. Now, from the conical form of the outside
series of files, as well as of the inside connected with the shaft, which form is
produced by giving the files of both an inward inclination equal to about an
inch in twelve of their length (the degree, however, of said inclination being
optional), it is obvious that, by raising or letting down the step by the action
of the screw, the space between the two sets of files is increased or diminished
accordingly. An inward inclination is given to the upper section of the out-
side plate of the hopper or conductor for introducing the grain, as already
referred to, in order thereby to present it to the action of the files as near the
top as practicable. From thence the same plate is extended in the direction
of the files, with its inner surface flush with theirs, to the lower groove in
which it terminates. To each of the arms which connect the inside lower
rims with the shaft plate p, as of sheet iron or the like, is attached to serve
as vanes or wings, for the purpose of ventilation; and in order to provide space
and passage for the air brought in action thereby, as well as to confine it so
far as to give effect to the wings and other co-operating parts of the machine
in motion, the inside edge of the lower outside rim is extended down by
means of a flange, and a thin horizontal plate, with a circular opening at the
centre, is attached to the bottom of the flange by screws or otherwise. The
entrance from the space for the circulation of the grain between the files into
the spout as the outlet passage is shewn at q, q, being an opening provided
between the inner edge of that side of the spout which the grain carried

page_text: round by the machine first approaches, and the nearest edge of the plate of
the feeding tube above described; or, instead of this mode of discharging the
grain, I provide an opening for it to pass out as soon as it reaches the bottom
of the passage, in which it circulates between the files, and they cease to
operate upon it. For this purpose the lower revolving rim is elevated, so as
to place its upper surface about half an inch above that of the outside rim
next to it, and by giving an inward bend to the edge of each a space is left.
between them throughout their entire circle about equal to that between the
files. Either of the modes thus above described for discharging the grain may
be used at pleasure, and the choice depends somewhat upon the size of the
machine employed. One may be large enough to scour the grain sufficiently.
at once going round, while another of smaller dimensions may. require longer.
circulation. Another alternative improvement, and which may be adopted or
not, at discretion, is the employment of triangular bars without teeth, instead
of files, as above described, in which case the inner edge of each bar, which
the grain, in the direction in which it circulates, first approaches, is made to
project inward, beyond the nearest edge of the next which precedes it, about
one sixteenth of an inch, more or less, at discretion, in order to contribute to
the cleansing operation of the machine without cutting or injuring the grain.
This position of the bars is effected by giving a corresponding form to angular
pieces of metal, as above pointed out, for keeping the files in place of the
groove; or, as a further substitute for files or bars without teeth, or both,
when the nature of the grain, or of the impurities from which it is to be freed,
or other considerations, may render it expedient, cast-iron plates may be used,
ground in the manner represented in Fig. 3, with their ribs and furrows more
or less inclined, at discretion, the plates being made conformable to the circle
and conical inclination required.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim, by virtue of the above-recited Letters Patent, the application and
employment of the case-hardened iron files or bars in the formation of the
conical, convex, and concave surfaces of the aforesaid machine, and also the
whole machine, in combination or arrangement, in the manner and for the
purposes above described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hick, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
JOHN
(L.S.) HICK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Sixth day of October,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Hick came before our Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Seventh day of October in the year above writton