IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND DECORTICATING WHEAT, AND OTHER KIND OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING, CLEANING, AND POLISHING RICE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Bryant Childs, Engineer, of 16, Mark
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND DECORTICATING
WHEAT, AND OTHER KIND OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING, CLEANING, AND
POLISHING RICE."
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated the 9th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Bryant Childs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th February 1870.
I, AUGUSTUS BRYANT CHILDS, Engineer, of 16, Mark Lane, London,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING, AND
DECORTICATING WHEAT AND OTHER KIND OF GRAIN, AND also for HullING, CLEANING,
AND POLISHING RICE," to be as follows:-
This machine is composed of an inner and outer cylinder or conical
cylinders or a series of cylinders or conical cylinders made in pairs, that
is, one made to fit over or around the other of each pair. The cleaning

page_text: or working surfaces of the cylinders are furnished with grooves around
their circumferences, and made to fit and work in each other with
sufficient space left between the two grooved surfaces for the passage of
grain for cleaning and other purposes. The cylinders are made of cast
iron in segments or sections and bolted together, or of other metals if
desired, or they may be made of perforated sheet metal or wire cloth, in
part or entirely by mounting it on or attaching the cloth to a suitable
skeleton of metal framework.
For making this description more fully understood I shall refer to the
cylinder or cylindrical cones as the inner and outer cylinders or cones of
cach pair, and by using the term cylinder or pairs of cylinders I intend to
be understood to mean conical cylinders, cones, or pairs of cones as well
as cylinders. By preference the inner cylinder is made to revolve by
attaching it to a suitable spindle which may be driven by a belt or other
means from the top or lower end; the machine will be so constructed that
it can be placed to work in a vertical, inclined, or horizontal position. The
outer cylinder will be affixed to a suitable frame, or so constructed to
form a frame itself and provided with means of adjusting to the inner or
revolving cylinder, or the revolving cylinder can be made to adjust to the
outer or stationary one. The outside surface of the inner cylinder will be
provided with a series of grooves around its circumference made from one
to three inches deep and wide (more or less) to suit the purposes herein-
after described, and the inside of the outer cylinder is likewise provided with
grooves of a corresponding size and shape to fit those on the outer surface
of the inner cylinder; the grooves on the surfaces of the inner and outer
cylinders may be made of any form in their transverse section, either of
a V, circular, or curved shape. The use of the grooves are for increasing
the cleaning and scouring surfaces of the cylinders by acting on and in tho
meantime retard the motion of the grain in its passage between the sur-
faces of the cylinders. The grooves on the cylinders will be made deep or
shallow, narrow or wide, acute or obtuse, and their surfaces rough or
smooth, to suit the intensity of the cleaning and scouring action that may
be required on the grain. The grain is fed in at the top of the machino
and passes down between the grooved surfaces of the two cylinders, and if
required it may be carried between a series of cylinders arranged in the
same machine by suitable means of spouts or hoppers for conducting the
grain from one to the next lower pair of cylinders arranged in the same
machine. The outer cylinder will be cast or made in segments and bolted

page_text: together, and in the meantime around the inner cylinder, so that the
grooves on the surfaces of the inner and outer cylinder will fit and work
into each other. The surface of the grooves will be adjusted to or from
cach other by moving or adjusting the cylinders in a longitudinal
direction. This mode of adjusting will bring the sides of the grooves
together or apart in place of their bottoms, and is done to increase or
diminish the severity of the cleaning or scouring action on the grain as
it passes between the grooved surfaces of the cylinders. A fan will bo
attached to the revolving spindle or cylinder at the top or lower end of
the cylinder, or at both ends, for exhausting or blowing the dust and other
foreign matter from the grain as it leaves the machine in the process of
cleaning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Augustus Bryant Childs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Augustus
BRYANT CHILDS, Engineer, of 16, Mark Lane, London, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
. Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, Her
special licence that I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustus
Bryant Childs, 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 MACHINERY FOR CLEANING, SCOURING,
AND DECORTICATING WHEAT AND OTHER KIND OF GRAIN, AND ALSO FOR HULLING,
CLEANING, AND POLISHING RICE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Augustus Bryant Childs, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and

page_text: seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the 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
mouths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, 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:—
This machine is composed of an inner and outer cylinder, or conical
cylinders, or a series of cylinders or conical cylinders made in pairs, that
is, one made to fit over and around the other of each pair. The cleaning
or working surfaces of the cylinders are furnished with grooves around
their circumferences, and made to fit and work in each other with
sufficient space left between the grooved surfaces of the cylinders for the
passage of the grain for cleaning and other purposes. The cylinders
are made of cast iron in segments or sections and bolted together, or of
other metals if desired, or they may be made of perforated sheet metal
or wire cloth in part or entirely by attaching the cloth to a suitable
skeleton of metal framework made to form the outlines of the cylinders.
'
For making this description more fully understood I shall refer to
the cylinder or cylindrical cones, or to the inner and outer cylinders or
cones of each pair, and by using the term cylinder or pairs of cylinders
I intend to be understood to mean conical cylinders, cones, or pairs of
cones as well as cylinders. The inner cylinder is made to revolve by
attaching it to a vertical spindle which may be driven by a belt or
other means from the top or its lower end. The outer cylinder is affixed
to a suitable frame, or so constructed to form a frame itself, and pro-
vided with moans for adjusting the inner or revolving cylinder, or the
revolving cylinder can be made to adjust to the outer stationary
cylinder. The outside surface of the inner cylinder will be provided
with series of grooves around its circumference made from one to three
inches deep and wide, more or less, to suit the purposes herein-after
described, and the inside of the outer cylinder is likewise provided with
grooves of a corresponding size and shape to fit those on the outer
surface of the inner cylinder; the grooves on the surfaces of the inner
and outer cylinders may be made of any form in their transverse or cross
section, either of a V, circular, or curved shape. The use of the grooves
are for increasing the cleaning and scouring surfaces of the cylinders

page_text: by acting on and in the meantime retard the motion of the grain in its
passage between the grooved surfaces of the cylinders, in order to
prolong and thereby complete the cleaning process on the grain as. it
passes through the machine. The grooves on the cylinders will be
made deep or shallow, narrow or wide, acute or obtuse, and their surfaces
rough or smooth to suit the intensity of the cleaning and scouring
action that may be required on the material. The grain is fed in at
the top of the machine and passes down between the grooved surfaces of
the two cylinders, and if required it may be carried through a series of
cylinders arranged in the samo machine by suitable spouts or hoppers for
conducting the grain from one to the next lower pair of cylinders. The
outer cylinder will be cast or made in segments, and bolted together
around the inner cylinder, so that the grooves on the surface of the
inner and outer cylinder will fit and work into each other. The surface
of the grooves will be adjusted to or from each other by moving or
adjusting the cylinders in a longitudinal direction. This mode of
adjusting will bring the sides of the grooves together or apart in place
of their faces, and is done to increase or diminish the severity of the
cleaning or scouring action on the grain as it passes between the
grooved surfaces of the cylinders. A fan will be attached to the
revolving spindle or cylinder at the top or lower end of the cylinder, or
at both ends, for exhausting or blowing the dust and other foreign
matter from the grain as it leaves or enters the machine in the process
of cleaning.
In order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now particularly describe the same by referring to the accompanying
Drawings forming part of this Specification, and to the figures and
letters of reference marked thereon, similar letters refer to the same parts
of the Drawings.
Figure 1, Sheet -1, is a side elevation of a machine composed of an
inner and outer conical cylinder combined with two pairs of discs at
the lower part of the machine, or more than two may be used if desired;
the lower disc of each pair is made to revolve, and in the present case
the lower stationary disc is furnished with brushes for polishing the
grain before it finally escapes from the machine, but if desired in place
of the brushes a cleaning pair of discs provided with grooves may be
used instead of the brushes; Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation
of the machine through the diameter of the cylinders and discs ;

page_text: Figure 3 is a transverse section through the line x, x ; and Figure 4. is
'an clevation of a plain cylindrical machine, showing a portion of the lower
part of the cylinders and the discs in section. Both the machines
represented by Figures 1 and 4 on Sheet 1 are alike in their action
and structure, excepting one is provided with conical, and the other
plain cylinders. K, K, Sheet 1, are the outer cylinders made of cast
metal of suitable diameter, shape, and length, the size of the large end
of the outer cone cylinder will be about four feet in diameter, more
or less, and the plain cylinders, represented in Figure 4, the same size
their whole length. The outer and inner cylinders in both machines
will be made in segments of any suitable size and bolted together.
The outer cylinder K, K, is supported by legs or frame pieces B, B, as
represented; G, G, is the inner and revolving cylinder provided with
centre pieces at each end for attaching to the spindle D; the lower end
of the spindle works in a step in the bridge piece A, and likewise in
lateral bearings made adjustable by set screws, as represented in Figures
1, 2, and 4; the upper end of the spindle works in a bearing in the
arch piece L, as represented. This arch piece is secured to a flanged
projection cat the top of the outer cylinder K, K, in Figure 1, and on
the top of the outer cylinder in Figure 4, as represented. The spindle D
may be worked by a belt over the pulley i at its top end, or by gear
wheels. The inner circumference or surface of the outer cylinders and
the outside circumference or surface of the inner cylinders are provided
with grooves or ridges of a V or other shape in their cross-section, and
made to work into each other as represented in the sections shown in
Figures 2 and 4, with sufficient space left between their grooved
surfaces for the passage of the grain, denoted by the arrows marked
thereon. The object of these grooves and ridges, as before stated, aro
for retarding the motion of the grain in its passage through.the machine
and increasing. the area of the cleaning surfaces within a given space.
In placing the cylinders together the outer cylinder K, K, is built
around the inner cylinder G, G, their forms being such as will not
admit of the cylinders being slipped or otherwise put together. The
machine is supplied with grain through the spout H and falls on the
top of the inner revolving cylinder G at d, and by the centrifugal force
of the cylinder it is made to pass to the circumference of the cylinders
and down between their grooved side surfaces. In cases when but
one pair of cylinders are employed in a machine provision will be made
for attaching a fan. to the spindle of the machine for blowing. the bran

page_text: and dust from the grain as it escapes from the lower end of the cylinders
into a dust chamber for conducting it off, which will serve the double
purpose of cleaning and cooling the grain should it happen to heat in
the process of cleaning; but in place of using a fan as stated in the
present case the grain is carried by a conducting hopper M from the
cylinder portion of the machine to the centre of a pair of discs E, F,
the lower disc E of the pair is made to revolve by attaching it to the
spindle D, to which the inner cylinder G is attached, while the upper
disc F is fixed stationary to the arm pieces R, R. These discs are con-
structed and act on the grain like those represented in a machine for
which I obtained Letters Patent, bearing date the 20th day of November
A.D. 1869, No. 3357. The cleaning faces or surfaces of the upper pair
of discs are provided with a series of concentric grooves and ridges,
while the stationary disc of the lower pair is provided with brushes for
removing the loose bran and dust and polishing the grain, if desired,
before it escapes from the machine. The grain falls on the revolving
disc E near its centre at d through an opening in the stationary disc F,
and by the centrifugal force imparted to it by the rotating disc it is
made to pass between their surfaces from the centre to the circumference
of the discs, and as it falls from the circumference of the disc the bran
and dust is separated from it by a blast from the fan g, g, attached
beneath and to the revolving disc or spindle D which blows the bran
and dust into and out of the chamber h constructed to and around the
stationary disc with its inside portion J made of wire screen of the
proper mesh for the escape of the bran and dust. The fans are supplied
with air through annular openings W formed between the conducting
hoppers M, M. The lower edges of the blades are provided with
shields made of sheet metal for preventing their edges and the
currents of air from striking, retarding, or retaining the grain on the
conducting hoppers M, M, as it passes from the upper to the lower
disc. After the brushing disc's action on the grain it is discharged
from the machine through the spout N. The grooved surfaces of the
cylinders K and G, as well as the discs E and F, are adjusted apart
by raising or lowering the spindle D by the adjusting screw 5 in the
bridge piece A. This method of adjusting will bring the sides of the
cylinder grooves together or apart, and the face of the grooves on the discs
together or apart. In place of using discs arranged with the cylinders
K and G, as herein-beforo described; two or more pairs of cylinders or
conical cylinders may be arranged and used in the same machine, as before

page_text: mentioned, with fans arranged to the lower ends of cach pair of cylinders
for separating the bran and dust from the grain as it passes from pair
to pair of cylinders according to the plan of using the fans represented
in the machine by the Drawings on Sheet 2.
The Drawings on Sheet 2 represents different views of a machine i
`similar in structure in every particular to the machine. for which I
obtained Letters Patent, herein-before mentioned, excepting in the
general outlino shape of the face or cleaning surface of the discs, which
are inverted cones, as represented, instead of being plain or flat discs.
The object of using the cones is to obtain an increased area of cleaning:
or working surface within a given compass compared with flat or plain
discs of the same diameter.
Figure 5, Sheet 2, is a side elevation of a machine provided with
cones. Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the
centre of the machine, showing sections of the cones through their
diameter. Figure 7 is a top view of the machine. Figure 8 is a trans-
verse sectional view of it through one of the dust chambers constructed
around the circumference of cach disc. The frame in which the concs
revolve is composed of the circular base piece A and top c, joined
together by four hollow metal columns and bolts B, the lower and
revolving cone E of each pair is attached to the spindle D, this spindlo
revolves in a step in the base piece A and in a bearing at the top of the
frame as fully represented in Figure 6, the spindle is worked by a
belt over the pulley i, at its top end, or if desired may be driven by a
system of gear wheels. The grain is fed to the machine at the top
through the spout H, and falls on the upper revolving cone E, at d, and
by the centrifugal force of the cone it is made to pass up, out, and
between the revolving and stationary cone F, to their circumference
as denoted by the arrows marked thereon, the cleaning or rubbing
surfaces of the cones E and F are provided with a scries of concentric
grooves or offsets made to fit into each other as represented in Figure 6
with sufficient space left between their working surfaces for the passage
of the grain. The grooved surfaces of the cones are made rough or
smooth to suit the intensity of the cleaning required on the material.
The grain falls from the circumference of the upper pair of concs into
the conducting hopper M and is carried to the centre of the next lower
pair of cones to undergo another cleaning between their surfaces, and so
on between the third and fourth, or as many pairs of cones as may be

page_text: used in the machine. The grain is acted on by the brushing and
polishing disc at the lower part of the machine, and then discharged
out of the spout N, in the manner before described and represented on
Sheet 1. As the grain falls from the circumferences of the different
pairs of cones on the conducting hopper M the bran and dust is
separated from it by a blast from the fans g, attached to the under part
of the revolving concs E and blows it into the dust chamber h con-
structed around the circumference of each stationary cone. The inner
partitions J of the dust chambers h are made of wire screen of proper
mesh for the passage of the bran and dust into the chamber h, from
whence it is discharged from the circumference of the chamber out
through the spout n. The fans are supplied with air through the
annular openings W, between the conducting hoppers M, M. The
lower edges of the blades of the fan are provided with sheet metal
shields ff to prevent their edges and currents of air from striking,
retarding, or retaining the grain on the conducting hoppers M as it
passes from conc to cone in the process of cleaning, all the stationary
cones are adjusted together and at the same time to and from the
revolving concs for regulating the space between their surfaces for the
passage of the grain; this is accomplished by suspending the cone to
the rods S, S, by the brackets or arm pieces R, R, and adjusting tubes
or sleeves O, O. The rods are raised or lowered, and consequently the
cone by an arrangement of mechanism attached to the top of the
machino consisting of the horizontal shaft a, provided with endless
screw worms at each end, as represented in Figure 7 working into the
teeth of the pinion nuts P, P, which nuts are screwed on to the ends
of the rods S, S, and by turning the shaft a in the proper direction, the
nuts are made to revolve and thereby raise or lower the rods S, S, and
adjust the stationary cones F to or from the revolving cones E as may
be required.
Having thus fully described the nature of my improvements, and the
manner of constructing and working the same, I shall now state what
I consider novel in it, and therefore claim,-
Firstly. The grooved and ridged surfaces made around or over the
circumference of cleaning surfaces of the inner and outer cylinders, or
conical cylinders, or cones, according to any of the plans herein-beforo
specified and represented on Sheet 1 for increasing the area of the said
cleaning surfaces and retarding the motion of the grain by causing it

page_text: to pass at a right angle or obliquely over or between the said grooved
surfaces as it passes through the machine for prolonging or completing
the cleaning of the grain before it is discharged therefrom in the manner
herein-before stated.
Secondly. The use of one or a series of pairs of cleaning cylinders &
or conical cylinders or cones arranged and constructed in the same
machine when their cleaning or working surfaces are provided with
grooves or ridges in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, have here- 1
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of May, in
Ta thanaand night hundaad and
AUGUSTUS BRYANT CHILDS. (L.S.)