CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WINNOWING MACHINES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, adñors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WINNOWING
MACHINES," being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
:-
The improved construction of machinery which forms the subject of the
present Invention is shewn in several views in the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a view of a machine in perspective; Fig. 2 is a vertical
longitudinal section taken at the line 1, 1, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical
transverse section taken at the line *...* of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a horizontal
section at the line ☑
✓ of Fig. 1; and Figs. 5 and 6 are views of
detached parts that will be hereafter specially referred to and described.
One of the objects accomplished by this Invention is winnowing the grain
twice by means of a single fan blower and the same current of air. The first
winnowing is effected by passing the grain through the current of air discharged
by the fan, and the second by passing it through the current of air entering
the fan. By passing the grain once through this machine it is much more
thoroughly cleansed than when it has been passed twice through a machine
of the usual construction, although the time and labor of passing it once
through this machine does not exceed that of passing it once through the
ordinary machine.
The separation of grain from the chaff and impurities with which it is mixed
after being thrashed, in order to prepare it for market and for being ground, is
effected by the use of a fan blower, which by generating a blast drives off those
impurities which are specifically lighter than the grain, and by the use of
riddles and screens whereby the heavy impurities are extracted from the grain.
The hand machine represented in the accompanying Drawings consists of a
strong frame A, which may be made of light scantling, and a casing B, which
may be made of thin boards; the latter encloses both sides, the top, and the
back end of the machine, the front end being open to allow the chaff and dust
to pass freely out. The frame is surmounted by a hopper C to receive the
foul grain, which is permitted to pass gradually and regularly into the machine
through an opening in its bottom. This opening is provided with a register a,
susceptible of adjustment to regulate the discharge of the grain as may be
required. Below the hopper a frame D (which I call a shoe) is hung by four

page_text: rods b, b, b, b, one at each of its corners, these rods being hinged at the top to
the main frame A or the casing B, and at the bottom to the lower part of the
shoe. The shoe is as much narrower than the space between the two sides of
the frame as is necessary to give it sufficient room to swing or vibrate from
side to side, to shake the riddles and screens which it carries. This riddle E is
placed near the top of the shoe and in a horizontal position, and the screen F
is placed at the bottom of the shoe and inclined down towards the back of the
machine. About the centre of the frame and behind the shoe a radial fan G,
of the usual construction, is placed within a cylindrical shell I, the latter is
shorter than the space between the sides of the frame, so as to leave a sufficient
passage for air to supply the fan. The shell is open at the front to allow the
blast to pass out beneath the riddle through the descending grain. A plate H
extends across the opening in the front of the fan and is hinged at its upper
edge to the shell A. The office of this plate is to give direction to the blast,
which can be deflected less or more by raising or lowering the front edge of
the plate by means of a cord c, which suspends it to a pin on the frame to
hold it at the elevation to which it may be adjusted. Behind the fan a
chamber K is situated, from which the supply of air is drawn. This chamber
is supplied with air through an upright pipe L, situated at its back, and
through a valve M at its top. Its bottom is inclined towards a box N (Figs.
1, 4, and 5) placed at one side, the slope of the bottom being sufficient to
cause small grain or seeds, if dropped upon it, to run down into the box. The
bottom of this box is closed by a hinged door e opening downwards, and kept
shut by a spring f, of barely sufficient strength to overcome its gravity and
keep it closed. The valve M at the top of the chamber is of considerable area,
and it open inwards. It is held up against its seat by a weight acting
through a lever g, whose fulcrum is in the standard h. The force by which
the valve is closed may be varied by increasing or diminishing the weight, or
by placing it on the lever at a greater or less distance from the fulcrum. The
object of this valve is to prevent variation in the speed of the fan from
effecting, except within certain very narrow limits, the force of the current of
air up the pipe L, and it effects this object when the weight is so adjusted
that it is about half open when the fan is running at a mean speed, so that as
the speed of the fan slackens and demands a less supply of air, the downward
pressure on the valve will slightly diminish, and the weight O preponderating
will close it to lessen the entrance of air, so that the draught up the pipe L
may not be reduced. When the speed of the fan increases and demands more
air to supply it, the downward pressure on the valve will slightly increase, and
preponderating over the weight will open-the valve to admit a greater quantity

page_text: of air so that the increased demand by the fan may not increase the draught
up the pipe L. Under this arrangement the pipe L supplies a regular and
constant quantity of air, not exceeding the minimum demand by the fan, and
the complement over and above this regular supply is furnished by the valve
M. Thus it will be seen that there is no other variation in the force of the
draught up the pipe L than the slight and almost inappreciable amount
required to open or close the valve.
Beneath the chamber K an inclined trough P is placed, whose lower end
enters the front side of the pipe L. The lower end of the screen F enters the
upper end of this trough. Beneath the shoe D an inclined apron or trough Q
is placed, which terminates at its lower end in a box R, provided with an
inclined bottom, at the lower end of which a door i is placed, through which
the seeds or other matters that may have accumulated in it may be with-
drawn.
On the side of the frame A, a large band wheel S is mounted upon a pro-
jecting pin l. This wheel is fitted with a handle m, by which it is turned, and
it communicates motion to a pulley T through a band n, which encircles both
of them. This pulley is secured to the fan shaft p, which it turns, carrying
around with it a cone pulley 9 on the opposite end of the fan shaft which turns
the cone pulley r through a band s, which passes round both of them. The
pulley r is secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft t, on whose lower end
a crank of variable throw is formed, which is best seen at Fig. 6, which
shews the device as it appears when locking up at the lower end of the
shaft t. This device consists of a disc U secured to the end of the shaft t,
with a groove u across the face in which a plate v is fitted to slide. This
plate carries the wrist pin w and has a slot made in it, through which
an adjusting screw y passes to hold it in any position to which it may be
set. By sliding the plate to move the wrist pin w towards the set screw
y, the radius and throw of the crank will be diminished, and by moving
the wrist pin w in the contrary direction, the throw of the crank will be
increased.
The revolutions of the crank will be increased or diminished as the larger or
smaller of the pulleys 9 and is made to drive the band s. The wrist w of
the crank is linked by a connecting rod z to a pin W on a bracket Y secured
to the bottom of the shoe, so that at each revolution of the crank the shoe D
will make a double vibration or shake, the length of which will depend upon
the throw of the crank at the time.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The wheel S is turned to
operate the fan and thus cause a draught up the pipe L'and a blast beneath

page_text: the riddle in the directions represented by the arrows; and the shoe D, with
its riddle and screen, are by the same operation put into rapid vibratory
motion. The register at the bottom of the hopper is now opened to the
proper distance to allow the foul grain to run down into the machine in such
quantity as may be required. The grain in descending first meets the riddle,
whose meshes are just large enough to allow it to pass freely through them, so
that anything larger than the grain, as heads, straws. &c. will be intercepted
and carried over the front of the machine by the blast, the grain will continue
falling beneath the riddle E, until it reaches the screen F; the blast during
its descent blowing out the chaff, dust, and other impurities which are deposited
in front of the machine. The meshes of the screw are of such a size that they
will intercept the sound grain, but will allow shrivelled grain, small extraneous
seeds, sand, and heavy impurities, smaller than the grain to pass through
and run down the inclided slide or trough into the box R, where they can be
withdrawn through the door i, whenever they have accumulated in sufficient
quantity to render their removal necessary.
The grain upon the screen runs down into the trough P, and through the
same into the pipe L, where it encounters an upward current or draught of
air of such strength that it will carry up o with it any chaff or light grain seeds,
dust, or other light impurities that may have escaped the first blast, and will
deposit them in the chamber K; the precipitation of the seeds, &c. from the
current of air into the bottom of the chamber being greatly facilitated by a
hanging partition Z, which deflects the current downwards on its first entry
into the chamber so suddenly as to give the particles carried in by the draught
such a degree of momentum that they are thrown without the range of the
current passing to the fan, and subside into the bottom of the chamber, which
conducts them down its inclined surface into the box N. Whenever a
sufficient quantity has accumulated to about half fill the box, its bottom e
opens by the weight to permit the contents to run out until the weight of the
quantity left is insufficient to hold the door open against the action of the
spring. In this way the door opens and closes itself so as to empty the
chamber without admitting air; while the lighter substances are being thus
carried up the pipe L, the sound grain descends slowly against the current
and is discharged from the pipe into a trough measure or other suitable
receptacle beneath.
If light grain or seeds are to be cleansed, a lighter blast must be employed
than when heavier grain is to be purified; but changes of this kind must be
left to the judgment of the attendant, and they will have to be made, as in the
common wiunower, to suit almost every different lot of grain that is operated

page_text: upon.
The strength of the blast is of course regulated by the speed at which
the fan is turned, and the strength of the draught up the pipe, by the position
of the weight O on the lever g.
Again, the direction of the blast through the shoe D will have to be
regulated according to circumstances, as for example, if there should be a
large preponderance of straw and beads, the plate H should be raised that
a larger portion of the blast may go upwards, and by aiding in carrying off the
straw, &c. over the front of the machine relieve the riddle of its load and
prevent it from clogging, but if small seeds should present themselves in large
quantities with but little straw and heads then the plate H should be lowered
so as to direct more of the blast down upon the screen, to retard the descent of
the grain towards the spout P, and thus ensure a more thorough screening;
care however must be taken on the one hand not to direct too strong a blast
up through the riddle, so as to carry the grain off over the front of the machine
along with the straw, &c., and on the other hand not to direct the current so
strongly upon the screen as to retard the grain too much and cause it to
accumulate in so thick a stratum as to impede the screening.
Where there is much straw and chaff mixed with the grain the bottom of
the hopper will have to be connected with the shoe or otherwise shaken, in
order to ensure a sufficiently regular feeding of the machine. It may also in
this case be necessary to place a series of fingers between the riddle and shoe
to facilitate the separation of the straw; such fingers should be placed an inch
apart, be made of wire one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and extend from
about the back of the riddle to within about one-third of its length of the front.
These wire fingers should be secured at their back ends in a stock in a manner
similar to that in which the teeth of a rack are secured to the head.
It is obvious that the form and arrangement of most of the parts of the
machine may be varied considerably without departing from the principle of
operation above set forth, and I contemplate making such changes and modi-
fications whenever circumstances may render them expedient to adapt the
machine to special uses or to suit the views of different constructors; as for
example, the compensating valve M may be held to its seat by an adjustable
spring instead of the adjustable weight.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in winnowing machines,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, constructing
and arranging winnowing machines in such manner that the grain in passing
once through them shall be twice subjected to the action of the blast of air
unplied thereto.

page_text: I likewise claim the method substantially as herein described of maintaining
a constant blast for the second winnowing of the grain by combining with the
revolving fan, which moves irregularly, a compensating supply valve sub-
stantially as herein set forth.
I likewise claim the arrangement of an air chamber between the place at
which the second winnowing of the grain is effected and the fan in which the
impurities separated by the current of air entering the machine may subside
before the air enters the fan.
I also claim the self-regulating discharge valve which prevents the admission
of air into the machine while it opens to discharge the impurities separated
from the grain, and thus prevents their accumulation at the bottom of the air
chamber.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the
year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
(L.B.) A. V. NEWTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Alfred Vincent Newton came before