IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE REDUCTION, COMMINUTION, OR PULVERIZATION OF GRAIN OR OTHER SUB- STANCES.
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Wilson, of Exeter, in the County of Devon,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE
REDUCTION, COMMINUTION, OR PULVERIZATION OF GRAIN OR OTHER SUB-
STANCES.
Sealed the 15th June 1880, and dated the 16th December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Wilson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th December 1879.
EDWARD WILSON, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE REDUCTION, COMMINUTION, OR PULVERIZATION OF
GRAIN OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
My Invention relates to machines for the reduction, comminution, or pulverization
of substances of various kinds, and may be very advantageously employed in the
reduction of grain or seed for the manufacture of flour or meal.
According to the said Invention I construct a box or casing which is toothed or
serrated on its inner periphery. Within this box or casing I enclose novel devices
for effecting the reduction or pulverization of the grain or other material, that is to
say, I employ a series of steel wire rods or bars fixed between two circular plates or
discs. In one of the latter near the centre thereof I form a series of holes, and I
form near its periphery a corresponding number of notches. Each of the said rods
or bars has at one end a short portion bent at about a right angle to the other
portion of the said rod, and this short bent portion is inserted into one of the said
holes, and the said rod extends radially therefrom through one of the said notches.
When all of the rods are in place, the two plates or discs are forced together with
the rods between them by a screw-nut fitted on the shaft or spindle that carries
the said plates.
I may provide each machine with one set or two or more sets of plates and rods
on the same shaft. When more than one set is used I place a circular grating,
preferably formed in two halves, between the sets of rods. These gratings are held
in position by the notches or recesses in the periphery of the said plates, or by
other suitable means. In some instances when fine grinding is required and a
D
37

page_text: single set of rods and plates is used, I place one of these gratings on each side of
the same. A grating is also arranged inside the said box or casing.
The discharge aperture or shoot is arranged in or near the periphery of the said
machine or mill, and is provided with a guard or screen to prevent the escape of
any coarse material from the shoot with the finely ground or pulverized material.
The said guard or screen is constructed in the form of a louvre window, that is to
say, of a series of strips, slats, or flat bars of iron, or other suitable material
arranged with their inner edges presented to the said wire rods. Outside of this
louvre screen I arrange other and preferably larger strips or plates in the reverse
direction.
The grain or other material to be pulverized or reduced is admitted into the
said machine or mill at or near the centre, and on one or both sides of the same.
The aforesaid wire rods and plates have a rapid rotation, and thereby dash the
grain or other material against the grating and the periphery of the casing, so that
the pulverized material escapes through the first set of louvres or guard. At the
bottom of the latter is a space, and the coarse particles strike the second set of
louvres, and are thereby directed through the said space back into the interior
of the said box or casing, until they are reduced to a sufficiently fine condition
to be carried up the shoot over a movable partition and down into a settling
chamber.
The blast of air is regulated by means of a valve arranged in the said shoot.
The said settling chamber is formed of wood, canvas, or other suitable material,
and with a series of partitions between which a continuous winding or zig-zag
passage extends from and back into the interior of the said machine. By this
arrangement the air is "baffled" so that the dust is deposited between the
partitions. The air is thus quickly freed from dust and returned into the mill.
The dust deposited in the said winding passage is shaken, and removed from the
same by means of a weight or spring. The said settling chamber may be either
spiral or rectangular, or of any other convenient form.
I provide the said machine with a guard in combination with a feed-roller. By:
means of this guard the feed may be regulated to suit fine or coarse materiala.
The said roller is preferably made smallest in the centre, and is operated by worm
gearing driven by a small pulley on the main shaft or spindle of the machine. In
some instances I may provide louvre screens in the discharge aperture of the said
machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th June
1880.
EDWARD WILSON, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineer. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE REDUCTION, COMMINUTION, OR PULVERIZATION OF
GRAIN OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
:-
My Invention relates to machines for the reduction, comminution, or pulverization
of substances of various kinds, which machines may be very advantageously
employed in the manufacture of flour or meal from wheat or other grain or seed.
The most important novel features of the said Invention are the following, vis. :-
The obtaining of the required percussive action of the machine with less weight of
metal and greater simplicity and economy of construction than heretofore, by the
employment within a suitable box or case of wire rods or thin strips of iron or
steel arranged in radial or nearly radial sets or series around a shaft or spindle
rotating at a very high speed, and thereby effecting the reduction of the grain or
other material. Also the combination with the other parts of the machine of a
peculiarly constructed settling chamber, wherein the reduced, ground, or pulverized
material is collected.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, which I will now
proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a machine constructed according to
the said Invention
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a side view of a grating sometimes used in the said machine, as
hereinafter set forth.
Figure 4 is a plan illustrating the construction of the aforesaid settling
chamber
Figure 5 is a sectional. view shewing a modification of a portion of Figure 1
detached.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
1 construct the said machine with a box or casing A of cast iron or other suitable
material, within and forming a part of which is a circular chamber a; through the
centre of this chamber extends the shaft or spindle b whereon are mounted the
rotating rods c. These rods are very light or slender, and are preferably formed of
Sinall round steel or iron wire, or they may be thin flat strips of iron or steel
arranged with their edges presented in the direction of their motion.
The said machine or mill is provided with a hopper or aperture at a for
admitting the grain or other material to the same at or near the centro or axis of
the rotating rods or bars, as clearly shewn in Figure 2. Or in some cases I may
admit the material at or near the top of the casing.
The said machine is also provided with a suitable discharge aperture or shoot, as
shewn at e.
The inner periphery of the aforesaid circular chamber a is formed with teeth or
serrations a¹, as clearly shewn in Figure 1, to increase the effect of its action upon
the grain or other material in the machine.
For securing the aforesaid light rods or strips c upon the shaft b I employ the
following means, that is to say:-I place on the said shaft the small discs f between
which the inner ends of the said wire rods are fixed, one, two, or more rods being
placed in each space between the said discs or washers. In the disc thus enclosing
the ends of the said rods I form small holes, and the ends of the rods are bent and
inserted in these holes, as shewn at c³, the said rods extending therefrom, as shown.
When all of the rods c are in place, the said plates or discs are forced together with
the rods between them by a screw-nut b' fitted on a screw threaded portion of the

page_text: shaft or spindle b, which carries the said discs, as shewn. I may in some instances
form the discs f with a notched rim to assist in holding the said rods in place.
I may provide each machine with one set or with two or more sets of rods c on
the same shaft, the width of the machine being thus increased to any required
extent. Figure 2 shews six sets or series of these rods or bars. When more than
one set of rods is used, I sometimes place bars or projections on a circular grating g,
Figure 3, preferably formed in two halves, between the sets of rods. These gratings
g are held in position by the notches or recesses in the periphery of the chamber a,
or by other suitable means. In some instances when fine grinding is required and
a single set of rods and plates is used, I place one of these gratings on each side of
A grating may also be arranged inside the said box or casing.
the same.
The discharge aperture e or shoot is arranged in or near the periphery of the
said machine, as shewn in Figure 1; it is provided with a guard or screen to
prevent the escape of any coarse material from the shoot with the finely ground or
pulverized material. The said guard or screen is constructed in the form of a
louvre window, that is to say, of a series of strips, slats, or flat bars e¹ of iron or
other suitable material arranged with their inner edges presented to the said
wire rods. Outside of this louvre screen I arrange other adjustable and pre-
ferably larger strips or plates e inclined in the reverse direction, as shewn in
Figure 5. In this case the inner strips or slats serve to guide the pulverized
material in such a direction as to prevent its flying up between the outer slats.
The grain or other material to be pulverized or reduced is admitted into the said
machine or mill by the aforesaid admission aperture at or near the centre, and on
one or both sides, or at the periphery of the same. By means of a driving belt
applied to the pulley i or by other suitable means the shaft b and wire rods, bars,
or strips c havo a rapid rotation imparted to them, and the said rods thereby dash
the grain or other material aginst the aforesaid grating and the toothed periphery
of the casing, thereby breaking up and pulverizing the same. The pulverized
material escapes through the louvres or guards e². When the machine is provided
with the guards, as in Figure 5, the coaiser particles strike the second or outer set
of louvres e², and are thereby checked and directed back into the interior of the
said box or casing, this action being repeated until they are reduced to a sufficiently
fine condition to be carried away between the outer louvres and down into the
settling chamber. This guard or screen may he constructed without the inner
louvres e¹, as shewn in Figure 1.
The said settling chamber is formed of wood, canvas, or other suitable material,
and with a series of partitions 7' between which a continuous winding or zig zag
passage extends froin and back into the interior of the said machine. By this
arrangement the air is "baffled " so that the dust is deposited between the
partitions. The air is thus quickly freed from dust and returned into the mill
through the return air pipe; the dust deposited in the said winding passage is
shaken and removed from the same by an occasional blow from a weight or spring
suitably arranged and operated for this purpose. The said settling chamber may
be either spiral or rectangular, or of any other convenient form, and of any
required depth. I provide the said machine with a guard in combination with a
feed roller. By means of this guard the feed may be regulated to suit fine or
coarse materials. The said roller is preferably made smallest in the centre, and is
operated by worm-gearing driven by a small pulley on the main shaft or spindle of
the machine.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and shewn how the same may
be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I wish it understood
that I am aware of there having been used in disintegrating or pulverizing
machines series of strong and heavy arms or bars arranged transversely or other-
wise between plates or discs of a diameter approximately equal to that of the
chamber in which they work, but these devices are disadvantageous by reason of
the effects of the centrifugal action of such heavy portions of metal, and render the
entire machine heavier and more costly than necessary, and impair its durability,

page_text: whereas by the use of light rods or strips radiating or extending from their central
shaft, as above described, I obtain the desired results very effectually without any
of such disadvantages, and I claim,-
First. In a machine for the reduction, comminution, or pulverization of grain or
other materials, the employment of one or more radial or nearly radial sets or
series of light wire rods or thin flat strips arranged within a suitable box or casing,
and upon a central shaft or spindle, whereon they are secured in the manner and
by the means above described or by other suitable means, and which rods are
operated and act in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
Second. The combination with the aforesaid series of rotating wire rods or thin
strips of the gratings interposed between or at the sides of the same, and the
louvres or guards in the casing, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Third. The settling chamber constructed as above described and combined with
the said box or casing and series of rods or strips mounted on the shaft or spindle
therein, or with similar apparatus, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Wilson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.