IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SCREENING GRAIN, SEED, RICE, TEA, AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry William Miller, of Burton-upon-Trent, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SCREENING GRAIN, SEED,
RICE, TEA, AND OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 27th March 1866, and dated the 14th December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry William Miller
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1865.
I, HENRY WILLIAM MILLER, of Burton-upon-Trent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SCREENING
GRAIN, SEED, RICE, TEA, AND OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Heretofore in order to separate broken grain or seed from whole or
unbroken grain or seed the mixed grain or seed has been passed over screens
composed of flat perforated surfaces which have had a vibratory to-and-fro
motion communicated to them, and as the whole grains pass more readily
over the perforations of the screens than the short broken grains the whole
grains have by repeated screenings been separated.
Now my Invention consists in constructing screens or sieves of perforated
surfaces which have corrugations or undulations formed across them transversely
of the direction in which the grain, seed, or other material is caused to travel
over the screening surface. By forming screens in this manner the screens
will separate broken from whole or unbroken grain or seed much more quickly

page_text: than when the screens are constructed of flat perforated surfaces as above
.mentioned.
Screens constructed in the above manner are also applicable for screening
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry William Miller in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILLIAM MILLER, of Burton-upon-Trent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry William Miller, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
William Miller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry William Miller, 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 APPARATUS FOR SCREENING GRAIN, SEED, RICE, TEA, AND
OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry William Miller, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and canse the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry William Miller, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
Heretofore in order to separate broken grain or seed from whole or
unbroken grain or seed the mixed grain or seed has been passed over screens
composed of flat perforated surfaces which have had a vibratory to-and-fro
motion communicated to them, and as the whole grains pass more readily

page_text: Figure 1 is a side view of apparatus for screening grain or other material
constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse section
taken at the line 1, 1, Figure 1.
a, a, is the main framing of the apparatus, on which a moving frame b,
carrying the screens, is capable of sliding to and fro. The frame b receives its
motion from the axis c by means of a connecting rod d linking it with a crank
on the said axis; there is a pinion on the axis c gearing with a spur wheel on
the axis e, which is turned by means of a crank handle; at its end ƒ is a tie
bar for steadying the head of the.frame on which the hopper g is fixed; into
this the grain or material to be screened is supplied from time to time, and
it descends from the hopper through an opening which is regulated by a slide
actuated by the hand lever or quadrant h. i, i, i, are three screens made
conveniently of perforated zinc; they are all mounted on the sliding frame b;
each screen is mounted separately, and is a simple tray laid in a recess made
to fit it, so the machine may be used with one, two, or three screens, as may
appear most desirable. The perforations in the screens should be circular,
and the size of the perforations should be adjusted to suit the material to be
treated; they should be of a diameter exceeding somewhat the width of each
grain or piece of material, but less than the length thereof. Wirework screens
may be used, but they are not so good. When the material passes on to the
upper screen i, the broken rapidly passes through, whilst the whole or unbroken
for the most part escapes and runs off at the lower end of the screen. Of the
whole grain or material which falls through the first screen the greater part

page_text: will fail to pass through the second and will fall over the end thereof, but the
broken which falls on to the second sieve will all or practically all pass through,
and so with the lowest sieve; in this way the broken is separated from the
whole grain or material. If desired more than three screens may be
employed, this number, however, works very well in separating the broken
from whole barley, and for this purpose the perforations in the screens should
be about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter; the whole grain or material
passing over the ends of the screen passes into a trough l, from which it
may be delivered into a heap on the floor. The broken grain or material
which passes through the screens is caught in a receptacle k, from which it
may be drawn at the opening k³.
The screens may be corrugated transversely to many different forms
more or less advantageous, the form preferred however is indicated at
Figure 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry William Miller, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness to the signature of
H. W. Miller,
C. H. JAMES,
Clerk,
Burton-on-Trent.
H. W. MILLER. (L.S:)