IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING AND DRESSING MICE STONE TOLAT DUISSTH GRAIN.
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Graham, of Aughton, in the County of
Lancaster, of the Firm of Kay and Hilton, Liverpool, Millstone
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING
AND
DRESSING MICE
STONE TOLAT DUISSTH
GRAIN.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Graham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th February 1856.
I, JOHN GRAHAM, of Aughton, in the County of Lancaster, of the Firm of
Kay & Hilton, Liverpool, Millstone Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING AND
DRESSING RICE AND OTHER GRAIN, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to expedite the operation of cleaning and
dressing rice and other grain by rendering the supply and discharge of material
continuous instead of intermittent as at present. The case for containing the
stones or polishing surfaces I make of wire work or perforated metal, and by
preference of a conical form, and I shape the periphery of the stones or
polishing surfaces to correspond thereto. I propose to employ one or more
stones on the same shaft, which, with the cylinder, may be set either vertically,

page_text: horizontally, or at an angle as thought most desirable for the material under
treatment. When two or more stones are used, I either set them so as to
form one compact dressing surface, or with intervening spaces between the
stones. Rotary motion is communicated to the shaft; and if required to the case
also. The grain, being fed into the case at the upper end, will pass down and
be discharged at the lower end, during which passage it will be subjected to
the rubbing action of the surfaces between which it travelled. I would
observe in reference to 'my improved machinery that I do not intend to
confine myself to the use of stones, but propose to use either real or artificial
mill stones or other material as dressing or polishing surfaces. Under some
circumstances (for the purpose of giving the grain a final polish after it has
been roughly dressed), I submit it to a disc of wood covered with cork, sheep-
skin, or other suitable material, which will polish the surface of the grain, and
greatly improve its appearance. This disc I propose in some instances to
mount on the shaft that carries the dressing surfaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Graham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th August 1856..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRAHAM, of Aughton, in the County of Lancaster, of the Firm of Kay and
Hilton, Liverpool, Millstone Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Graham, Her special license that I, 'the said John
Graham; my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Graliam, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should fat '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 CLEANING AND DRESSING RICE AND OTHER GRAIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that 1, the said John Graham, by an instrument
n writing under my hand and seal should particularly 'describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
in
•

page_text: 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 John Graham, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :--
•
The object of this Invention is to expedite the operation of cleaning and
dressing rice and other grain by rendering the operation continuous instead of
intermittent as at present.. This I am enabled to effect by supplying the
material to be operated upon in a continuous. stream to one end of the
dressing machine, and causing a simultaneous discharge of the dressed grain
at the other end thereof. The case for containing the stones or cleaning
surfaces I make of wirework or perforated metal, and by preference of a conical
form, and I shape the periphery of the stones or polishing surfaces to correspond
thereto. On the central driving shaft I fit either one stone or two or more
stones, which, with the cylinder, may be, set either vertically, horizontally,
or at an angle as thought most desirable for the material under treatment.
When two or more stones or polishing surfaces are used I either combine
them so as to form one compact dressing surface, or arrange them with
intervening spaces between the stones, which spaces may be occupied or no
with brushes or soft rubbing surfaces.
J
In the accompanying Drawing; Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a dressin
machine constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a cross section
taken through the line 1, 2,. of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3. is, a partial longitudina I
section. In this arrangement a is a conical stone, mounted on a shaft b, which
is set at an incline, and turns in suitable bearings carried by the main framing c.
Surrounding this stone is a conical case d, formed of bracings and wire cloth.
At each end this case is provided with an annular groove e, into which .fit
plates that are affixed to the framing c, and form, bearings for the case, and
permit of its rotation. f is a hopper for supplying grain to the interior of the
case is a pulley keyed to the shaft b, and, intended to receive a strap from
any first mover, by which, rotary motion is given to the shaft b and the stone a
which it carries. The adjustment of the stone endways in the case is effected
by means of a screw and regulating nuts.h: By this arrangement it will be
understood that in consequence of the conical form of the stone and the case
containing it, the space between the periphery of the stone and the inner
periphery of the case can be regulated with ease to the greatest nicety to suit

page_text: the size of the grain to be operated upon.
A slow rotary motion is imparted
to the case in the opposite direction to that of the stone by means of the
arrangement of gearing shewn in the Drawing, wherein i is a spur pinion
keyed on the shaft b, and gearing into a wheel k on a stud axle carried by the
framing. This wheel k gears into a wheel 7 on a short shaft that carries at its
opposite end a spur pinion m, and into this pinion gears a ring of teeth n.
carried by the case d. The meshes of the wire gauze or other covering, it will
be understood, must be sufficiently small to prevent the escape of seed through
them, but at the same time permit of the easy discharge of the dust and other
extraneous matters from the rice. 0, 0, are hoppers for receiving the dust and
other matters that find their way through the pores or meshes of the case d.
A shute is provided at the lower edge of the machine to guide the dressed or
polished grain as it escapes from the case into a bin or other suitable receptacle
placed to receive it. Fig. 4 shews my improved dressing machine in a
modified form. Instead of setting the central shaft at an incline, it has here
mounted vertically, and in place of a continuous length of conical dressing or
polishing surface there are three stones set-one under the other on the same
shaft. In other respects this and the machine first described are precisely the
same in principle of construction. The advantage of this arrangement is that,
if required, a set or sets of brushes may be fitted to the central shaft and
rotate with the stones, or discs of wood covered with cork, sheep skin, or other
suitable yielding material may be mounted on the shaft so as to occupy the
vacant space or spaces, and thus polish the grain after it has been acted upon
by the stone or stones. From the above description it will be understood that
when rotary motion is communicated to the machine, and the grain is fed from
the hopper into the case at the upper end thereof, it will pass down and be
discharged at the lower end, but during this downward passage it will be
subjected to the rubbing action of the rotating surfaces between which
it travelled, and thus will be delivered out of the machine in a cleaned or
dressed state.
I would remark that, although I have shewn in the Drawing the stones and
cases constructed of a conical form, yet I also propose to use cylindrical stones
and cases, and indeed any other suitable form for operating in the manner
above described on a continuous supply of rice or other grain, so long as the
principle of my Invention is retained, which, besides ensuring a more rapid
.and efficient action on the grain than is at present attainable by apparatus of
the like proportions, will effect a larger yield from the same amount of
material by reason of the diminished risk of breaking the grain or seeds.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "improved

page_text: machinery for cleaning and dressing rice and other grain," and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the use of rotating stones or
other analogous grain cleaning surfaces which take the figure of their
periphery from the form of the containing case, as described, and when in
operation are enabled to clean or dress a continuous supply of grain fed into
the case.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Graham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JOHN GRAHAM. (L.S.)