AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREPARING HARD WHEAT AND OTHER HARD GRAIN FOR GRINDING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Frederick Plummer, of St. Mary's Overy
Wharf, Southwark, Machinist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF PREPARING HARD WHEAT AND OTHER HARD GRAIN FOR GRINDING."
Sealed the 17th March 1857, and dated the 18th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Frederick
Plummer at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th September 1856.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK PLUMMER, of St. Mary's Overy Wharf, Southwark,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF PREPARING HARD WHEAT AND OTHER HARD GRAIN FOR
GRINDING," to be as follows:--
The object of this Invention is to prepare hard dry wheat and other hard
grain for the grinding process. This I propose to do by running the grain
through a damping machine of a peculiar construction, whereby I am enabled
to impart to the individual seeds the requisite amount of moisture for softening
the outer coating, and thus permitting of the easy removal of the bran. The
seed I conduct from a hopper to one or more pairs of damping rollers, which
are mounted in a suitable framing, and receive rotary motion by bands or
gearing driven by steam or manual power. One or both of the rollers of each
pair I cover with flannel or other suitable absorbent, and I cause jets of water
to fall upon one of the rollers in a regulated quantity. The seed passing down
by its own gravity between the rotating rollers will be pressed by the moist
yielding surface, and moisture will thus be imparted to the individual seeds.
The rollers are held in contact by springs or weights, which will yield to any

page_text: undue pressure, but when the apparatus is working properly will prevent more
than a thin stream of seeds passing between the rollers. The supply of seed
and water I propose to regulate by the speed of rotation of the rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Frederick Plummer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FREDERICK PLUMMER, of St. Mary's Overy Wharf, Southwark, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Frederick Plummer, Her special license that I, the said William
Frederick Plummer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Frederick Plummer, 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
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREPARING HARD WHEAT AND OTHER HARD GRAIN FOR
GRINDING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Frederick Plummer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Frederick Plummer, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to prepare hard dry wheat and other hard
grain for the grinding process. This object is effected by running the grain
through a damping machine of a peculiar construction, whereby I am enabled
to impart to the individual seeds the requisite amount of moisture for softening

page_text: the outer coating, and thus permitting of the easy removal of the bran. In
carrying out this operation, the seed is conducted from a hopper to one or
more pairs of damping rollers, which are mounted in a suitable framing, and
receive rotary motion by bands or gearing driven by steam or manual power.
One or both of the rollers of each pair is or are covered with flannel or other
suitable absorbent material, or an endless band or cloth may be passed round
one or both of them, and I cause jets of water to fall upon one or both of the
rollers or cloths in a regulated quantity. The seed descends from a hopper by
its own gravity, and passes down between the rotating rollers, where it will be
pressed by the moist-yielding surface, and moisture will thus be imparted to
the individual seeds. The rollers are held in contact by springs or weights,
which will yield to any undue pressure, but when the apparatus is working
properly will prevent more than a thin stream of seeds passing between the
rollers. The supply of seed and water should be regulated by the speed of
rotation of the rollers.
In order, however, that my Invention may be clearly understood, I have
shewn in the accompanying Drawings various views of the apparatus I employ
in carrying out my improvements.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine for preparing hard grain for
grinding; Fig 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 an end elevation thereof; Fig. 4 is
a cross section of the damping rollers and some of the other parts connected
therewith, drawn on a larger scale for the purpose of shewing more clearly the
mode of acting upon the corn. a, a, is the stationary framing of the machine,
the two sides of which are bolted and held firmly in their position by cross
stays b, b. The rollers, which are instrumental in damping the corn as it
passes between them, are shewn at c, c, (seen best in Fig. 4). These rollers
have a band of felt, india-rubber, or other suitable elastic substance secured by
nails or otherwise around their surfaces; bands of felt d, d, also pass over these
rollers c, c, and around the tension rollers e, e, which may be set by means of
the screws e, e, so as to keep the bands & perfectly tight over the rollers c, c.
The bands are moistened by means of jets of water playing upon them from
a pipe or rose, as at 9, 9, (Fig. 4). Above the rollers c, c, and contiguous
thereto, is placed a hopper h (Fig. 4), into which the corn to be moistened is
thrown. h*, h, are openings for the corn to pass through from the hopper to
the rollers c, c; these openings extend the entire width of the hopper, and are
provided with doors or shutters i, i, for closing or regulating the size of the
opening h, so as to adjust the flow of corn from the hopper to the rollers.
The axles of the rollers c, c, are mounted in plummer blocks j,j, the outer
bearings of which are adjustable, being made to slide within their plummer

page_text: blocks, in which they can be set at any required distance from the fixed
bearings jj, by the screws k, k, so as to regulate the space between the
rollers for the corn to pass through. Pieces of india-rubber or other elastic
material j³,j, are interposed between the regulating screws k, k, in order to
allow the rollers c, c, to recede from each other when an undue quantity of
corn seeks to pass between them.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-Motion is communicated to
the machine by means of a band passing round the pulley on the axle of one
of the rollers c, and by means of a band m* passing over a pulley m on the
other end of the said roller, and around another pulley n on the axle of
another roller c, communicates motion to the other pair of rollers, the felt
bands d of which, as the rollers c, c, revolve, pass the corn between them and
allow it to fall in a moistened or damp state upon the sieve o below (down
which it runs), all extraneous matter passing through the meshes of the sieve
as the corn runs down. In order to connect each pair of rollers, so as to pre-
vent as much as possible any injurious effects that might arise from friction of
contact between the rollers, I pass bands p and q around pullies r, r, and s, s,
which, as the rollers revolve, cause each pair to revolve with equal speed.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improved Mode of Preparing
Hard Wheat and other Hard Grain for Grinding," and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean
or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or construction of
parts herein shewn and described, as the same may doubtless be varied without
departing from the nature and object of my Invention. In conclusion, I claim
the mode herein described and set forth, or any mere modification thereof for
damping, wetting, or moistening wheat or other hard grain, for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Frederick Plummer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
THOS. NOLAN,
WILLIAM FREDERICK PLUMMER. (L.S.)
66, Chancery Lane.