IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DECORTICATING GRAIN
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Håkan Steffanson of Brompton, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, and Jonah Hadley, of the City Flour
Mills, Upper Thames Street, in the City of London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DECORTICATING GRAIN."
Sealed the 19th January 1869, and dated the 13th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Håkan Steffanson and
Jonah Hadley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 13th August 1868.
We, HÅKAN STEFFANSON, of Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, and JONAH HADLEY, of the City Flour Mills, Upper Thames
Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DECORTICATING GRAIN," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery whereby the
hulling of grain may be effected with great expedition and with a small
expenditure of power.
The improved machine consists of a rotating cylinder in which a series
of roughened arms or blades mounted on a central spindle are caused

page_text: to rotate, the grain to be operated upon, when the hulling operation
is continuous, being let into the cylinder at one side near, the centre
and discharged therefrom at the other side. The castings forming the
side frames of the vertical cylinder are provided with hollow trunnions
which turn in bearings suitably shaped to form on one side an inlet
and on the other side an outlet for the grain, the discharge being
regulated by a sliding shutter. The sides and periphery of the vertical
cylinder are covered in by wire gauze or pierced metal, and on the
delivery side of the cylinder passages are made for conducting the
hulled grain from the inner periphery of the cylinder to the hollow
trunnion, which discharges (as the cylinder is slowly rotated) the grain
into and through the fixed bearing. The blades or arms may be made
in sets of two or more and keyed on to the spindle at such distance
apart as will allow a free passage for the grain between them. These
arms or blades are by preference made slightly wedge-shaped, and their
faces are roughened by forming thereon under cut parallel lines to
ensure an efficient action on the grain. It is important to make these
arms very hard approaching a file temper so that they may stand the
friction to which they are exposed, and in order that they may cause
the grain to travel from the feeding to the delivery side of the cylinder
they are arranged helically or so as to produce a "lead" in their
rotation. In some cases it is proposed to pass air through the cylinder,
and to this end the spindle carrying the arms is made hollow and
connected with a fan or blower. Air channels are also formed through
the arms, which are screwed into the hollow spindle and receive air
therefrom. The air is discharged into the grain through the back edges
of the arms, and drives off through the pores of the cylinder the dust
formed during the hulling operation. If thought desirable the grain
may be supplied to the cylinder through a doorway in the periphery
and in the same way discharged therefrom. The cylinder is enclosed
in a case with two apertures at bottom, the one for the dust and the
other for the cleaned grain. A hinged plate is fitted to cover the
discharge aperture for the grain and to prevent the dust escaping in
that direction. The cylinder is fitted with a ring of spur teeth into
which a spur pinion takes for giving it a slow axial motion.
In the continuous hulling machine the grain as it is hulled enters
the passages at the side of the cylinder, and being lifted up is discharged
through the hollow trunnion.

page_text: It is proposed in some cases to arrange the arms or blades to work
in horizontal instead of vertical planes. In this arrangement the feed
will be at top and the discharge at bottom, and no "lead" will be
required in the arms or blades.
A further modification of this Invention will be to mount the
roughened blades or surfaces on rotating plates or arms keyed to the
central spindle, such blades being so set as to act uniformly upon all
the grain admitted to the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Håkan Steffanson and Jonah Hadley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HÅKAN
STEFFANSON, of Brompton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, and
JONAH HADLEY, of the City Flour Mills, Upper Thames Street, in
the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Håkan Steffanson and Jonah Hadley,
Her special licence that we, the said Håkan Steffanson and Jonah
Hadley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Håkan Steffanson and Jonah Hadley, our 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 "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR DECORTICATING GRAIN," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Håkan Steffanson and Jonah Hadley, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or
their, or one of. their hands and 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

page_text: 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 Jonah Hadley, on behalf of
myself and the said Håkan Steffanson, do hereby declare the nature
of our 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):
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery whereby the hulling
of grain may be effected with great expedition and with a small expendi-
ture of power. The improved machine consists of a series of roughened
rotating arms or blades mounted on a central shaft or spindle in a
cylinder to which the grain to be operated upon is admitted by
preference in a continuous stream, and from which it is discharged after
having been sufficiently long exposed to the decorticating action of
the roughened blades.
The form of the apparatus admits of various modifications as will be
hereafter shown, but in all the same main principle of construction is
retained.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 shows in sectional
elevation at right angles to the central shaft the improved machine
for decorticating grain arranged for making the operation either
continuous or intermittent at pleasure; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the
machine with the outer covering removed; and Fig. 3 is a cross
section of the same taken at or about the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1.
A, A, is a stout wooden framing carrying bearings a, a¹, for receiving
the central shaft B which carries the roughened blades. The bearing a
forms a spout for admitting a continuous feed to the machine, while
the bearing a¹ allows of a continuous discharge from the machine.
The rotating blades are shewn at C; they are formed at the middle
of their length with a boss which is secured by a key to the shaft B.
These blades are contained in a case or cylinder D, the side frames of
which are formed each of two semicircular castings or balf wheels
which are provided with hollow trunnions d, d'. These trunnions turn
in bearings suitably shaped to form on one side an inlet as at d, and
on the other side an outlet d' for the grain, the discharge through
which latter is regulated by a sliding shutter, as shewn in Fig. 4, which

page_text: represents the trunnion d¹ and its fittings in cross section taken in the
line 3, 4, of Fig. 3, but looking in an opposite direction to Fig. 1.
The sides and periphery of the cylinder are covered in by wire gauze
or pierced metal D', D³, and on the delivery side of the cylinder
passages D are cast in the parts forming the circular frame D for
conducting the hulled grain from the inner periphery of the cylinder
to the hollow trunnion d, which discharges the grain into and through
the fixed bearing a when it is desired to work with a continuous supply
and discharge of grain. In the periphery of the cylinder a slide ď² is
provided for admitting the grain to the cylinder and discharging it
therefrom when hulled or decorticated. This slide is however only used
when the operation is made intermittent. The blades or arms C¹ are keyed
on to the shaft or spindle B at such distance apart as will allow a free
passage for the grain between them. These arms or blades are by
preference made slightly wedge-shaped, and their faces are roughened by
forming thereon undercut parallel lines to ensure an efficient action
on the grain. It is important to make these arms very hard approaching
a file temper so that they may stand the friction to which they are
exposed, and in order that they may cause the grain to travel from the
feeding to the delivery side of the cylinder they are arranged helically
or so as to produce a "lead" in their rotation. The cylinder D is
enclosed in a case E which contracts below the cylinder to a hopper
shape. This case will prevent the bran and dust that may escape from
the cylinder from floating about the mill; it is provided with two
apertures e, e, at bottom, the one for discharging the dust and the
other the cleaned grain. A hinged plate e is fitted to cover the discharge
aperture for the grain, and to prevent the dust escaping in that direction
while the decorticating action is proceeding. This arrangement for
discharging the grain is intended to be used only when the supply is
intermittent. The cylinder being turned to bring the slide d2 uppermost
the grain is supplied in proper quantity to the cylinder through the
opening covered by the slide, and the same being then closed the
machine is set in action. When the hulling of the grain is completed
the slide is brought over the opening e, and the hinged plate e² being
thrown back into the dotted position the slide d² is drawn, and the
grain is discharged from the cylinder into a proper receptacle below.
The cylinder D is fitted externally with rings of spur teeth F, into which
spur pinions F¹ take for giving the cylinder a slow axial motion.
The pinions F are keyed to a transverse shaft F fitted with band

page_text: pullies which are driven by a crossed band from a pulley on the shaft B.
When the hulling machine is working with a continuous feed supplied
thereto the slide a² in the trunnion a¹ is drawn so soon as the grain
has passed under the action of the roughened blades for a suitable time to
become decorticated, and a slow rotary motion being now imparted to the
cylinder by the means described the hulled grain will pass through the
passages D at the side of the cylinder D, and be discharged through
the hollow trunnion a¹ into a proper receptacle provided to receive it.
It is proposed in some cases to arrange the arms or blades to work
in horizontal instead of vertical planes.
An arrangement of this kind is shewn in vertical section at Fig. 5,
and in sectional plan at Fig. 6. In this arrangement the feed will be
at top and the discharge at bottom, and no "lead" will be required in
the arms or blades. The same letters of reference being used to indicate
like parts in this and the first-described machine no further description
of this machine will be required. The case D it will be seen is
stationary resting upon suitable supports, and the discharge of the grain
at the bottom is regulated by an adjustable slide, shown in the detached
view Fig. 5*. Air is allowed to be drawn into the case (by the action
of the blades) through openings formed in the top or cover of the
case.
The Figures in Sheet II., represent the vertical arrangement somewhat
simplified in its construction. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine;
Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 2. The
cylinder D is in this example a fixed case made of cast iron and
supported on suitable standards. An opening D' is made in the upper
part of its periphery to receive a curved panel of pierced metal or wire
gauze through which the case is ventilated, the rotation of the blades
as in the other arrangements causing a circulation of air through the
machine. The case D is cast with parallel ribs (as shown) on its inner
periphery to increase the rubbing or hulling action as the grain is swept
over it by the rapidly rotating blades C, and for a like reason the sides
of the case are cast with ribs arranged like the furrows of an ordinary
millstone. These blades C are keyed to the shaft B as before described,
and are made wedge-shaped in cross section, as shown at Fig. 2. and
on an enlarged scale at Fig. 4. Their faces it will be seen are made
like files, so that in passing through the grain in the cylinder they will
act most energetically upon it. The grain is supplied to the machine

page_text: through a spout D' cast in one side of the case, and as it is decorticated
it is discharged through the openings D³ in the opposite side of the
case, which openings are fitted with regulating slides, as shewn at Fig. 1,
for determining the rate of discharge of the hulled grain from the
machine. It is sometimes proposed to send a blast of air through the
cylinder or case D, and to this end the shaft B carrying the arms C
is made hollow and connected with a fan or blower. Air channels are
also formed through the blades, which are screwed into the hollow
shaft and receive air therefrom. This modification is shewn in partial
side elevation and in sectional plan at Figures 7 and 8, Sheet I. The
air passages are made through the greater length of the blades and
terminate at the back of the blades. The air will therefore be discharged
into the grain through the back edges of the blades, and will thus drive
off through the pores of the cylinder the dust formed during the hulling
operation.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improved
Machinery for Decorticating Grain," and explained the 'manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim, the improved
machinery above described for operating upon an intermittent or
continuous supply of grain in the manner and for the purpose above set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonah Hadley, on behalf of myself
and the said Håkan Steffanson, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.