AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OR METHOD OF DRYING MALT, BARLEY, AND OTHER GRAIN, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR DRYING CHICORY, ROOTS, OR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, AND APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wetherill, of Selby, in the County of
York, Surveyor, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OR
METHOD OF DRYING MALT, BARLEY, AND OTHER GRAIN, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
DRYING CHICORY, ROOTS, OR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, AND APPARATUS TO BE
EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 10th February 1874, and dated the 13th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wetherill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th August 1878.
I, JAMES WETHERILL, of Selby, in the County of York, Surveyor,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SYSTEM OR METHOD OF DRYING MALT, BARLEY, AND OTHER GRAIN, ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR DRYING CHICORY, ROOTS, OR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, AND APPARATUS
TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows:
-
According to the present system or mode of drying malt, grain, or
vegetable products the heated gases and sulphur generated in fires
made of coke or cinders pass direct therefrom through perforated tiles to

page_text: the malt or material being dried, which is laid thereupon, and in
addition to damaging the same by depriving it of its saccharine or
nutritive qualities, it is found injurious to the health of the workmen or
attendants.
According to my improved system I effect the desired drying by
means of heated air, which I prefer to obtain by passing ordinary
atmospheric air through open ended tubes arranged across the fire-place
or furnace of a kiln, with their ends resting on supports or in a
wall of fire-brick or other suitable material and covered with an arch
of iron or brickwork, the products of combustion being thereby prevented
from having access to the malt or other substance, provision being made
for their exit through a flue or flues to a chimney.
The air is admitted to an enclosed firing place through wooden or
other shutters, and passes through the tubes to a hot air chamber,
whence it has access through the tiles to the grain or other substance
being dried.
The advantages derived by this method are that the grain is not
affected by the smoke and sulphur, and that the work is rendered much
more healthy for the operatives, and that in addition to coke or cinders
I am enabled to use coal or slack, which cannot be used in the present
method of drying, and by the use of the latter fuel a material saving of
cost will be effected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Wetherill in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WETHERILL, of Selby, in the County of York, Surveyor, send grecting.
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 seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Wetherill, Her special licence that I, the
the said James Wetherill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as I, the said James Wetherill, 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 SYSTEM OR METHOD OF
DRYING MALT, BARLEY, AND OTHER GRAIN, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR DRYING
CHICORY, ROOTS, OR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, AND APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Wetherill, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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 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 James Wetherill, 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 in writing, and on reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
According to the system or mode of drying malt, grain, or vegetable
products, hitherto practised, the heated gases and sulphur generated in
fires made of coke or cinders pass direct therefrom through holes in
perforated tiles to the malt or other material being dried, and which is
laid upon them, and thus damage the said material by depriving it of its
saccharine or nutritive qualities in addition to being injurious to the
health of the workmen or attendants.
According to my improved system which is illustrated on the accom-
panying Drawings in Figures 1 and 2, I effect the desired drying by
means of heated air which I obtain by passing ordinary atmospherio air
thrōugh open ended metal or other tubes 1 arranged horizontally or
otherwise across the fire-place or furnace 2 of a drying kiln 3, with their
ends resting on supports or in walls 4 of fire-brick or other suitable
material and covered with an arch 5 of iron or brickwork, which retains
the products of combustion and prevents them from having access to the
material being dried, these products after being led backwards and
forwards through a flue or flues 6 are conveyed to a chimney 7.

page_text: The fire-place 2 is constructed so as to consume either slack, coal,
coke, or other fuel.
The air for effecting the drying of the materials is admitted to an
enclosed firing place 11 through a grating or through wooden or other
shutters 8, and passes through the tubes 1 (becoming heated in its
passage) to a hot-air chamber 9, whence it has access through the
perforations in the tiles 10 to the grain or other substance being dried.
The waste heated air may then pass through a second perforated
flooring 12 so as to partly dry the material thereon, which may
subsequently be let down to the first floor to complete the drying 1
thereof.
The advantages derived by this method are that the grain is not
affected by the smoke and sulphur, and that the work is rendered much
more healthy for the operatives, and that in addition to coke or cinders
I am enabled to use coal or slack, which cannot be used in the present 1
method of drying, and by the use of the latter fuel I effect a material
saving of cost.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion 2
that I claim as my Invention, the improved system or method of drying
malt or other grain, or roots or vegetable products, as herein-before
described and the means described of carrying the said system into
practice.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wetherill, have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the
practice.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wetherill, have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.