IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR THE MANUFAC- TURE OF BARLEY AND RICE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew White Gibson, of Edinburgh, Scotland,
Miller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF BARLEY AND RICE."
Sealed the 20th June 1854, and dated the 28th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew White Gibson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1854.
I, ANDREW WHITE GIBSON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Miller, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF BARLEY & RICE" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to such mills self-acting
means of regulating the supply of the raw material to be operated upon, also
the discharge of the manufactured material, its separation or cleansing from
dust, and its suitable deposit in proper receptacles.
And the means by which these combined effects are produced consist, in the
first place, in connecting with the ordinary shaft for driving the stone or pair
of stones an apparatus or mechanism, by means of which the supply of raw
material to the case inclosing the stone or stones is regulated, by the
periodical withdrawal of a slide from the lower part of a spout or hopper.
In the second place, these self-acting means of accomplishing the object
consists in mechanism connected with that above referred to, by means of

page_text: which a door with a spring lock is periodically opened and made to discharge
the manufactured material from the lower part of the case.
For the separation of dust from the manufactured material the case is
entirely enclosed, and by means of fans driven from the main shaft the dust is
blown from it and carried along a spout into an outer room or space. And
for the required deposit, the manufactured material, after being thus cleaned,
it is enabled to fall into a small hopper beneath the case from which it was
discharged previous to its cleaning. At the bottom of this hopper is fitted a
valve, which is kept closed by a weighted lever until overcome by the weight
of the barley or rice, when the valve is opened and the material free to pass
down a spout into bags or receptacles placed below.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,. filed
by the said Andrew White Gibson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
WHITE GIBSON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Miller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the, year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year
of Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Andrew White Gibson, Her special license that I, the said
Andrew White Gibson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Andrew White Gibson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BARLEY AND RICE," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Andrew White Gibson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my 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 within six calendar months next-and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew White Gibson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Mills for the Manufacture of Barley
and Rice," has for its object the substitution of a mechanical mode of supplying
the material to be operated upon, and removing or discharging it from the
mill after the operation, for the ordinary mode of supplying and removing or
discharging the same by hand. It is intended by means of such arrange-
ment, combined with suitable mechanism for carrying on the ordinary opera-
tions on the material, to reduce the whole process to one uniform mechanical
mode of operation, uninterrupted by any necessary intervening operation ou
the part of an attendant.
And
my Invention with this object consists in adapting and applying to
such mills self-acting means, as herein-after described, of regulating the supply
of the raw material to be operated upon; also the discharge of the manufac-
tured material, its separation or cleansing from dust, and its suitable deposit
in proper receptacles.
And the means by which these combined effects are produced consist, in the
first place, in connecting with the ordinary shaft for driving the ordinary stone
or pair of stones an apparatus or mechanism, by means of which the supply of
raw material to the case enclosing the stone or stones is regulated, by the
periodical withdrawal of a cylindrical slide at the lower part of a spout or
hopper. This feeding may also be regulated by the use of two flat slides, one
above and the other below a box fixed in the ordinary feed pipe, capable of
containing a quantity of material adapted to the size and working power of
the mill, such slides, whether cylindrical or flat, being worked by the mechanism
in the manner herein-after described. .
In the second place, these self-acting means of accomplishing the object of
my Invention consist in mechanism connected with that above referred to, by
means of which a door with a spring lock is periodically opened, and made to
discharge the manufactured material from the lower part of the case.
For the separation of dust from the manufactured material the case is
entirely enclosed, and by means of fans driven from the main shaft the dust
is blown from it, and carried along a spout into an outer room or space.
This effect may also be produced by forcing air into the case between its side
and the stone, the dust being separated from the material in the manner
herein-after described.
And for the required deposit of the manufactured material after being thus
cleaned, it is enabled to fall into a small hopper beneath the case from which
:

page_text: it was discharged previous to its cleaning.. At the bottom of this hopper is
fitted a valve, which is kept closed by a weighted lever until overcome by the
weight of the barley or rice, when the valve is thereby made to open, and the
material is then free to pass down a spout into bags or receptacles placed
below.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe. more particularly by the
aid of the accompanying Drawings the combination of mechanism above
referred to.
Fig. 1 is a sectional plan or horizontal view of the mill, shewing the
general arrangement of the mechanism; Fig. 2 is. a side elevation; and
Fig. 3, an end clevation of the same. a, a, are the standards or framing; b is
the main driving shaft, set in motion by any first mover through the pulley c.
On the shaft is mounted the ordinary stone d, enclosed within the ordinary
revolving case e; this case is driven at suitable speed by means of the strap f,
from the pulley g on the shaft h; on this shaft h, driven by the strap i from
the main shaft b, is also a worm k, taking into the worm wheel on the shaft
m, which carries the conical pulley n; this pulley gives motion through the
conical pulley o, worm p, and worm wheel q, to the shaft r, with a speed
regulated by the position of the strap s, on the conical pulleys n and o. On
this shaft rare fixed the cams to act on the apparatus for causing to take
place at the proper intervals the required supply of raw material to the case,
and the discharge of the same therefrom after it has been operated upon.
t is a duplicate cam, one half of which is fixed to the shaft r, the other being
loose and adjustable by means of a set screw, so as to vary the time during
which the lever u with the cylindrical slide or pipe v is held in the position
required to admit of the material passing into the stationary case w. Into
this stationary case enters the cylindrical eye a of the revolving case e, which
is furnished with an internal screw thread, so constructed as to convey the
material forward into the case e. On the shaft -are-also-fixed-the two.cams-y.
and z, for opening and shutting the exit door A, shewn detached in plan on
an enlarged scale at Fig. 4. B is an ordinary spring lock, with the arm or
lever C protruding from the case e, as shewn at Fig. 1, so as to be acted upon
by the spring stud D, when the latter is pushed forward into the case e by the
revolution of the cam y. The door A is again closed by the action of the
spring stud E on the spring F, this stud E being pushed forward into the case e
at the proper interval by the revolution of the cam .
The fan for blowing the dust out of the material and carrying it forward is
shewn at G. This fan is of the ordinary kind, and may be driven independently

page_text: of the machine, or from the main shaft b, as shewn. The dust is by this means
driven along the passage H to the room adapted to receive it.
I is a valve, balanced and closed by the weighted lever K, but opened when
the weight of manufactured material that has passed through the door A has
become sufficiently great to counterbalance the weighted end of the lever K.
When this takes place a passage. is opened for the material down the spout L
into the suitable receptacles connected therewith. It will thus be seen that the
material to be operated upon will become admitted to the case e, at intervals
regulated by the action of the cam t on the shaft r, the speed of which, as has
been seen, may be varied by means of the conical speed pulleys n and o. The
cam t, suitably adjusted, according to the quantity of material required to be fed
into the case at each period, raises the end of the lever u, thereby raising the
cylindrical slide or pipe v, and allowing the material to pass for the regulated
period from the hopper into the stationary case w, whence it is conveyed to the
revolving case e by the cylindrical eye a, containing an internal screw thread..
On the continued revolution of the cam t, the end of the lever u is allowed to
become depressed by the weight u, thereby lowering the cylindrical slide or
pipe von to its base or cup, and preventing the material from passing. This
mode of feeding will be better understood by considering it as an adaptation of
the ordinary pipe and cup feeder used in corn mills to the mechanism above
described, except that in this instance the cup is stationary.
This process of feeding may also be regulated by means of two flat slides,
acted upon by ordinary suitable mechanism; one slide being placed above and
the other below a box fixed in the ordinary feed pipe, and so placed that when
the lower slide is in the pipe or spout, (i. e. closing the passage leading to the
case e,) the upper slide is withdrawn from the spout (i. e. opening the passage
from the hopper into the spout). The capacity of the box for holding grain
placed between these two slides may be adapted to the size and working power
of the mill.
The effect then of the action of the suitable mechanism from the shaft r
upon these slides is to force the lower slide out and the upper slide in, thus
allowing the grain deposited in the box by the previous movement of the slides
to fall from the box and pass into the case. Again, at the required interval the
same mechanism will force the slides in the opposite directions, thereby closing
the passage to the case and opening it from the hopper to the box; and these
respective movements of the slides succeed each other alternately.
It will be seen also that the material, after being operated upon, is allowed
to pass from the case at intervals, regulated by the action of the cam y on the
shaft r. This cam y causes the spring stud D to be pushed forward into the

page_text: case e, thereby intercepting the arm or lever C of the spring lock in the
rotation of the case e, and thus allowing the door A to fall open by its own
gravity and discharge the quantity of material; and the door is closed at the
next revolution of the case e by the spring stud E (which has been pushed
forward into the case by the action of the cam =) pressing against the spring.F
on the door A. Thus the two operations of feeding and discharging are duly
regulated by their respective apparatus set in motion by the shaft 1.
1
The fanning and separating from dust is also combined therewith, as
described; but instead of the plan represented and described, air may be forced
into the case (through the eye thereof) between its side and the stone; in such
case the dust and manufactured material are both allowed to fall below the
mil case, and carried from, under it by screw elevators and afterwards
separated by fans and sifters.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not mean or
intend to confine myself to the precise formis. and arrangements of the parts
represented and described; neither do I claim as of my Invention any of the
parts separately, but only when used in combination with the other parts for
the purposes described; but what I do claim as.of my Invention is, the general
arrangement and combination. of the mechanism described, whereby the several
operations of feeding, discharging, cleaning from dust, and finally collecting
the material in suitable receptacles,, may be successively carried on with due
relation one to the other, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew White Gibson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of. October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
ANDREW WHITE GIBSON. (L.S.)
JAMES GRAHAM WALKER, Witness.