IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING FLOUR
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 17th April 1855, and dated the 20th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Keefe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1854.
I, RICHARD KEEFE, of Nock Mills, near Trim, Ireland, Miller, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING
FLOUR" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the general arrangement and construction of a
vibrating silk machine or sieve, into which the meal is introduced by a hopper,
and dressed by the vibrating action of the sieve, causing the flour to pass
through the silk.
The machine consists of a long wooden shaft, triangular in the cross section,
and duly mounted in bearings at each end, from which is suspended a triangular
open frame of wood, covered internally with calico at the sides, and silk of the
required fineness at the lower part, thereby forming a sieve open at each end.
The long wooden shaft is strengthened by means of longitudinal and transverse
arches of iron, suitably united to form a kind of frame, capable of resisting
the strain on the said shaft, tending to draw it out of the horizontal line. To

page_text: each end of the shaft is fixed an upright bar, to the upper end of which is con-
nected a rod, which is again connected to a crank, and these two cranks are on
the same shaft, which may be driven in any convenient manner from a first
mover, so as to impart a vibrating movement to the sieve suspended from the
long wooden shaft. The hopper for supplying the meal has at its lower end
a spout passing into the upper end of the sieve. The silk employed to
form the bottom of the sieve must be of the proper number or degree of
fineness, and I prefer that its elastic strength should be increased by the
insertion of a strip of india-rubber along it. When the silk is leased on
this machine it must be done very tight, else the meal will slacken it, and
thereby render it more or less incapable of dressing the flour; therefore I
join to one side of the silk on its length a strip of india-rubber, about an inch
wide, and of sufficient strength to keep the silk from bagging under the weight
of the meal, and at the same time with a softness of elasticity that will prevent
the silk from being snapped asunder by the vibrating motion of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Keefe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
KEEFE, of Nock Mills, near Trim, Ireland, Miller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Keefe, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Keefe, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Keefe, 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, "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING
FLOUR," upon the condition (amongst others)-that--I, the said Richard
Keefe, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 'should pär-
ticularly 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
باتل

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 Richard Keefe, do hereby declare the
nature of my said 'Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say (reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Dressing Flour "is intended to provide
the means of performing this operation with encreased efficiency by the use of
a machine which admits of the employment of a finer silk than could be here-
tofore used for sifting the 'meal. And this object is accomplished by means of
the vibrating silk machine or sieve, arranged and constructed as herein-after
described, into which the meal 'is' introduced by a hopper, and dressed by the
vibrating action of the sieve causing the flour to pass through the silk.
ר
The machine consists of a long wooden shaft, triangular in the cross section,
and duly mounted in bearings at each end, from which is suspended a
triangular open frame of wood, 'covered internally with calico at the sides, and
with silk of the required fineness at the lower part, thereby forming a sieve
open at each end. The long wooden shaft is strengthened by means of longi-
tudinal 'and transverse arches of iron, suitably united to form' a kind of frame,
capable of resisting the strain on the said shaft, tending to draw it out of the
horizontal line. To each end of the shaft is fixed an upright bar, to the upper
end of which is connected a rod, which is again connected to a crank, and
these two cranks are on the same shaft, which may be driven in any convenient
manner, from a first mover, so as to impart a vibrating movement to the sieve
suspended from the long wooden shaft. The hopper for supplying the meal
has at its lower end a spout passing into the upper end of the sieve. The silk
employed to form the bottom of the sieve must be of the proper number or
degree of fineness, and I prefer that its elastic strength should be increased
by the insertion of a strip of india-rubber along it. When the silk is cased on
this machine it must be done very tight, else the meal will slacken- it, and
thereby render it more or less incapable of dressing the flour; therefore I join
to one side of the silk on its length a strip of india-rubber, about an inch wide,
and of sufficient strength to keep the silk from" bagging under the weight of
the meal, and at the same time with a softness of elasticity that will prevent
the silk from being snapped asunder by the vibrating motion of 'the machine.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will pro-
ceed to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying Drawing,

page_text: in which is represented the general arrangement and construction of the
machine above referred to.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section, and Fig. 3
is a plan or horizontal view of the machine; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an
enlarged scale of the vibrating shaft and the silk machine or sieve. In all
those Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A, A, is the framework or standards of the machine; B is the driving
pulley; C is the crank shaft, which receives motion through the pulley B by
means of a strap from the first motive power; D, D, are two cranks, one at
each end of the shaft; E, E, are two connecting rods proceeding from the
cranks to the vertical bars F, F, which are fixed at their lower ends to
the triangular shaft G. This shaft is mounted in bearings at each end, and is
strengthened by means of an iron frame, consisting of a longitudinal bow or
arch H, to prevent vertical strain, and two longitudinal bows or arches I, to
prevent lateral strain of the shaft. These bows or arches H and I are con-
solidated as a frame by means of a cross piece K at the central part of the
shaft, as shewn; or there may be more of such cross pieces arranged in
suitable positions. If preferred, the shaft G may be secured against the
effect of vertical or lateral strains by other means than those described; as,
for instance, a frame of wood may be employed instead of the iron frame
represented in the Drawing, the object being to give the shaft G sufficient
strength to resist strains in both a vertical and a lateral direction. L is a
triangular frame, fixed to and suspended from the shaft G, on which frame is
distended the calico at M and the silk at N, required to constitute the silk
machine or sieve into which the flour is to be introduced for the purpose of
being dressed; O is the hopper, at one end of the machine, through which the
flour is passed into the sieve.
It will be obvious from the foregoing description of the parts of the machine
that, on power being applied to the driving pulley B, motion will be com-
municated to the crank shaft; and through the cranks D, D, and connecting
rods E, E, a vibrating motion-will-be-imparted-to-the-vertical-bars-F,-E,-which
extend from the shaft G. By this means the shaft G will receive a vibratory
motion on its bearings, which will be imparted to the sieve, and its lower part
or bottom-of-silk-will-be-made-to-vibrate-through an arc described from the
centre of motion at the ends of the shaft G, thereby causing the flour contained
in-the-sieve-to-be-dressed-through-the-silk.at.N..
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not mean

page_text: or intend to confine myself to the precise forms and arrangements of the
mechanism represented and described; but what I claim as of my Invention
is, the general arrangement and construction of the silk machine or sieve, and
the mechanism for working it, in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Keefe, have hereunto subscribed
my name and affixed my seal, the Fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
RICHARD KEEFE. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the presence of
PATRICK MASTERSON,
Nock Mills, near Trim.