IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING OR SCOURING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING OR SCOURING WHEAT AND
OTHER GRAIN."-A communication from abroad by Nathaniel Miller
Burr, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Sealed the 4th August 1868, and dated the 13th June 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 13th June 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING OR SCOURING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN," and have

page_text: petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad
by Nathaniel Miller Burr, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States of
America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
making a part of this Specification.
The said Invention relates to a grain hulling or scouring machine in
which a rough surfaced cone revolves inside of a revolving cone-shaped
screening cylinder, but in a direction contrary to that of the latter,
into and between which cylinder and cone the grain to be hulled or
scoured is fed by a forced feed, and from the chamber containing the
said cone and cylinder the cleanings, scourings, hulls, dust, and other
refuse are drawn by a forced current of air created by a suction fan,
whilst the cleaned or hulled grain is carried out of the machine at a
separate and remote point from where the cleanings or scourings are

page_text: there is placed a cone E, which turns with the said shaft, though it is
adjustable thereon in the line of its length, as will be hereafter described.
Upon the surface of the cone are placed (by preference in spiral rows)
wire teeth or other equivalent durable and efficient covering for moving
and rubbing the grains to divest them of their hulls or coatings. There
is also hung to or upon this shaft D a cone cylinder G, made of
woven or reticulated wires secured to a frame F, but the cylinder G
though hung to or on the shaft D does not revolve with it, on the
contrary it revolves in a direction contrary to that of the shaft and the
cone as follows:-Upon the end of the shaft D outside of the box or
case there is a pulley H or a crank I, by which it is turned from any
first moving power. There is also upon this end of the shaft a toothed
wheel J that turns an intermediate toothed wheel K, which latter
wheel K meshes with and turns another wheel L upon the end of the
conveyor shaft M, and thus gives motion to the conveyor shaft and in
the same direction that the shaft D moves in the intermediate wheel K
effecting this purpose; upon the conveyor shaft M and at or near the
end most remote from its wheel L there is placed a toothed wheel N
which works into a wheel O on the small end of the cone cylinder and
revolves it. This system of gearing causes the cone cylinder to revolve
in a direction precisely contrary to that of the cone itself, though both
are hung on the same shaft. The grain acted upon passes between the
cone and the cylinder, and is cleaned, scoured, or hulled by the
attrition it receives, and falls out of the large end of the cylinder and
through the opening a, whence it may be carried to any suitable
receptacle, or run into the mill hopper or between the grinding stones.
The screenings drop through the meshes of the cone cylinder, and the
lighter portions are drawn out of the chamber by the suction fan, as will
be explained hereafter, and the heavier portions falling upon the bottom b
are by the wings c on the conveyor shaft M moved along and drop out
at d. The cleaned grain after it falls below the opening a is also within
the influence of the suction blast, and any light impurities still remaining
with it are taken up by the suction blast and carried out of the machine.
The grain is fed into the machine through a tube P, and falls upon a
screw shaft or feeder Q, by which is forced and carried with great
regularity in between the cone and the cylinder. While the cone turns
with the shaft D, by means of a "feather" in one and a groove in the
other or a spline and groove, the former can move on the latter longi-

page_text: tudinally to adjust and regulate the space between them, which in
effect adjusts and regulates the amount or extent of the friction or
attrition upon the grain that is being operated upon. The nearer the
cone is drawn to the smaller end of the cylinder the nearer will their
surfaces approach each other, and the more remote it is from the small
end of the cylinder the more remote will be their rubbing surfaces. The
shaft D throughout a portion of its length is hollow, and a screw rod e
passes into it and has upon its outer end a thumb nut for equivalent
device by which it may be turned. This screw rod e works in a nut g
set in the cone, and by turning the rod the cone can be moved longi-
tudinally upon the shaft to adjust it. I have called the device in which
the screw rod e works a nut, but it need not be an entire nut as a
section of a nut will answer. Anything that will take and hold upon
the threads of the screw rod will serve the purpose; an entire nut would
require a separation of the shaft, whilst a section of. a nut or a pointed
stud could pass through a slot in the shaft and take into the screw
threads and serve the purpose as well and probably better than an entire
nut. Upon that end of the shaft D most remote from the pulley or
crank by which it is driven, and on the outside of the box or case A,
there is a fan wheel R that revolves in a fan case S. The fan is so
turned as to draw the air into its case S through the tubes or trunks T
from the interior of the hulling or scouring chamber, and pass all the
dust, dirt, hulls, and lighter particles out through the trunk U, whence
it is carried if necessary clear out of the building. The grains, which
from their greater specific gravity are not influenced by this suction
blast, drop down and are carried off as herein-bcfore explained, and that
the blast may be regulated, if excessive, slides h, h, are arranged on the
fan case, which may be moved to uncover openings, through which
the fan may draw a portion of the incoming air, and thus diminish the
volume coming from the interior of the machine.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may
be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim, in
combination with the cone and screening cylinder, the former running
inside of the latter and made adjustable in relation to it, and both
enclosed in a box or case, and revolving in opposite directions therein
the suction fan on the exterior of the said box or case, and drawing the

page_text: dust, hulls, and other matter from its interior through closed passages
whilst the cleaned grain by its greater specific gravity is separated and
passed off through other avenues, substantially as herein described and
represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.