An Improved Rapid Apparatus or Sifter for Sifting Flour, Meal, Grain, Seed, Peas, Beans, Maize, Sugar, Manure, or any other Material by Hand or other Power.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 5th May, 1897-Accepted, 5th June, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Rapid Apparatus or Sifter for Sifting Flour, Meal,
Grain, Seed, Peas, Beans, Maize, Sugar, Manure, or any other
Material by Hand or other Power.
We, GEORGE GARNISH, and JOHN ROCK LEMON, both Millwrights and
Engineers of Pilton Barnstaple, in the County of Devon and JOSEPH ABELL
ELLACOTT, Flour Salesman, of The Hermitage Exwick, in the County of Devon,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object an apparatus with an improved and novel
method for sieving or sifting and is designed more especially for sifting bakers
flour in bakehouses by means of 2 sieves and sieve box fitted with a cam wheel
with a various number of cams on a revolving axle, & produces a bobbing and
reciprocating motion against the sieve box by means of the cam bobbing against
a roll made of rubber, or other material on a revolving axle attached to the sieve
box, and this roll also revolves at each bob or beat of the cams and produces a
jerking, oscillating, or vibrating effect on the sieve. And the roll is held against
the cam by means of a spiral spring, or its equivalent, which is adjustable. And
the box is held in its oscillating position by means of wood or metal springs.
The apparatus is also fitted with an oscillating iron or wood frame, or agitator
worked by means of a double or single crank, or excentric motion, and connecting
rods, from the cam shaft, and is fitted with a number of square bars which revolve
and oscillate between the aforesaid sieves, and keeps the material in a state of
agitation, causing it to freely pass or flow through the sieves, which are clothed
with fine gauze wire or any other perforated material.
Dated this 4th day of July 1896.
GEORGE GARNISH.
JOHN ROCK LEMON.
JOSEPH ABELL ELLACOTT.
An Improved Rapid Apparatus or Sifter for Sifting Flour, Meal,
Grain, Seed, Peas, Beans, Maize, Sugar, Manure, or any other
Material by Hand or other Power.
We, GEORGE GARNISH, and JOHN ROCк LEMON, both Millwrights and
Engineers, of Pilton, Barnstaple, in the County of Devon, and JOSEPH ABELL.
ELLACOTT, Flour Salesman, of The Hermitage, Exwick, in the County of Devon,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention consists in improved apparatus specially designed for sifting flour,
but adapted also for sifting other substances.

page_text: The apparatus which constitutes this invention consists of a sifting box capable,
through the medium of suitable mechanism, of reciprocating movement longi
tudinally, and fitted with two sieves, one placed at a suitable height above the
other. The sieves are of reticulated wire, or they may be perforated plates or
slabs of metal or other material. The sifting box is attached to a frame by flat
springs of wood, iron or steel which are bolted to the box at the top and to the
frame at the bottom. These springs impart a vibratory movement to the sifting
box as it travels backwards and forwards. A coiled spring, connected at one end
to a hook. fixed in the box and at the other end to a screw-threaded adjustable
tension rod carried in the bracket fixed to the frame, tends constantly to pull the
sifting box forwards to the end of the forward stroke. The rearward stroke of the
sifting box is produced by a toothed cam, driven by hand or mechanically, the teeth
of which cam come, in turn, into contact, as the cam rotates, with a roller carried
on a spindle the journals of which are supported in a bracket bolted to the front of
the sifting box.
The flour or other material to be sifted is charged into the box and is partially
sifted by the upper sieve which is of coarser mesh than the lower. Such material
as passes through the upper sieve is received on the lower sieve and is finally
sifted thereby.
Over the face of the lower sieve extend transversely a series of square or
rectangular bars loosely pivoted at their ends in flat arms which are arranged to
reciprocate longitudinally at the sides of the sifting box. The arms are actuated
by means of connecting rods connected to them and to cranks carried on the shaft
ou which the cam aforesaid is carried, or when mechanical power is used on a
separate shaft arranged to rotate at increased speed.
The transversely disposed bars serve to agitate, blend, and mix the material in
process of being sifted."
Referring to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings, Fig. 1 represents
in plan an example of our improved apparatus for sifting flour and other
substances. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line x, x, Fig. 1. This example
is adapted for manual operation.
The apparatus consists of a sifting box a fitted with sieves band c.
The upper
sieve can be lifted off the bearers b' by means of the button 62, or drawn out
sideways where mechanical power is used. The sieve b is of coarser mesh than
the sieve e of which, for the purpose of avoiding confusion and complication in the
drawing, the mesh is not shown at Fig. 1, but is diagrammatically indicated at
Fig. 2. The sieve b is shown at Fig. 1 as having a part thereof removed or
broken away.
The sifting box a is attached to a frame d of wood, iron or steel, by flat springs e
of wood, iron or steel. These springs are bolted at top to the box a, and at
bottom to the frame d. A coiled spring f connected at one end to the box a, and
at the other to a screw-threaded hooked rod g, pulls the box a forward. The
tension of the spring 9 is adjustable through the nut
bracket which is secured to the frame d. A lock nut g3 bears against the inner
bearing against the
face of the bracket g².
To the front end of the box a is secured a bracket in which are supported the
journals of the spindle i of the roller j which is preferably made of india-rubber,
but may be of other suitably resilient and durable substance.
On the shaft k, which is supported in brackets k', k, bolted to the frame d, is
centred a cam 1. The shaft k is rotated by turning the spindle m, to which a
handle, not shown in the drawings, is attached. Turning the spindle m gives
motion to a spur wheel n gearing with a pinion o centred on the cam shaft k. The
pinion e, being below the spur wheel n, cannot be seen at Fig. 1, but both are
diagrammatically indicated at Fig. 2. The bracket k¹, Fig. 1, which is extended
up to form a shield from the teeth of the wheel n, is shown cut away on a line
with the longitudinal axis of the spindle m.
As the cam k rotates, the teeth thereof, which are specially shaped as shown,

page_text: come, in turn, into contact with the roller j, and thus the sifting box a is pushed
back. It rebounds when a tooth of the cam is not in contact with the roller j, and
thus the box moves backwards and forwards with a jerky motion. The springs e
impart a vibratory movement to the box a.
The flour or other substance to be sifted is charged into the box a on the sieve b
where, by the operation of the apparatus, it is sifted. Such material as passes
through the sieve b is received on the sieve e, of finer mesh, below. The material
which passes through the sieve e is delivered into bags or other suitable receptacles
placed for that purpose.
To assist in agitating the material and to mix and blend it, transverse bars p, of
iron or steel, are laid over the face of the lower sieve c. These bars are loosely
pirotted in the arms q supported in brackets q' situated beyond the front and rear
of the box a. The arms y are extended along the inside of the box a close against
the sides thereof and they are carried through the front and rear ends of the box,
and are tied together beyond the rear end of the box by the transverse arm q'.
By connecting rods r the arms q are connected to cranks s carried on the cam
shaft k. Where mechanical power is used the cranks are carried on a separate
shaft arranged to rotate at increased speed., As the shaft k rotates, the arms q are
reciprocated longitudinally and the bars p are moved backwards and forwards.
They revolve among the material over the face of the sieve c and assist in
agitating and blending and mixing the said material.
A cover t, of which a longitudinal section is shown at Fig. 3, is provided to fit
over the box a and rest on the side beams of the frame; the legs of the cover
being inserted in the staples u fixed in the frame. The cover has a hopper t' for
charging into the box a the flour or other material to be sifted. It is also fitted
with a door t³.
The action of the apparatus is rapid, and no crushing effect is exerted on the
material, so that foreign matter is separated uncrushed.
Further, the can and roller action causes the material to, travel, as a body,
virtually in one direction only, that is to say, forwards towards the front end of
the box.
In the adaptation of the apparatus for operation mechanically the construction
is substantially the same as for manual operation; a pulley or pulleys being
centred on the driving shaft or shafts. For the withdrawal of the residue
remaining on the sieves in mechanically operated apparatus, an open space is
provided in each sieve at the front end, through which spaces the residue tails over
from the sieves and falls into a shute provided for the purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. Apparatus for sifting flour, meal, grain, and other substances; consisting of
a box such as a open at top and bottom and fitted with a sieve such as b and a sieve
such as e, of finer mesh, situated below the sieve b; the said box being connected
to a frame or other support by springs such as e and being fitted to move
backwards by means of a cam such as centred on a shaft supported on the frame
and making intermittent contact as it rotates with a roller such as i of india-rubber
or other suitable material carried on-the box front; the return motion forward of
the box being produced by a spring such as f, or its equivalent, connected at one
end to the box and at the other to the frame, or to a tension adjusting arm such
as g, substantially as hereinabove described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
2. In apparatus, such as is claimed in the foregoing claim, for sifting flour,
meal, grain, and other substances; means for agitating and mixing the substances
in process of being sifted; said means consisting of bars such as p extending
transversely across the face of the lower sieve and loosely pivotted at each end in

page_text: arms such as 9 arranged to be reciprocated through the medium of the connecting
rods, cranks s, and cam shaft k, substantially as hereinabove described with
reference to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.
Dated this 4th day of May 1897.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Bristol, Chartered Patent Agent.