CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN CLEANING AND FLOUR DRESSING MACHINES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BRYAN
MILLINGTON, of Brant Broughton, in the County of Lincoln, and of the firm
of Millington and Sons, of Newark-upon-Trent, in the County of Nottingham,
Millers, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Bryan Millington, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, 'the said Bryan
Millington, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Bryan Millington, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN CLEANING AND FLOUR DRESSING
MACHINES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Bryan Millington, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, the said
Bryan Millington, hereby declare that the nature of the said, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to. the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the said Drawings represent a corn-cleaning machine
constructed according to my said improvements, Figure 1 being a transverse
section of the same on the line a, b; Figure 2, a longitudinal section on the line
c, d; and Figure 3, a transverse section on the line e; f. A is a hopper to
receive the corn to be cleaned, and from which it descends into the conductor D
through the aperture b. E, a gage for adjusting the size of the aperture b to
the quantity intended to be passed through E¹, E', openings through which
the corn passes from D into a conical screen K. F, driving drum. G, maiu
shaft or spindle of the screen. H, H, radial arms, which are attached to the
spindle G, and carry the brushes, which are formed of. longitudinal bars a, a,
of wood or iron, and filled with wire in the same manner as common brushes
made of hair or fibre, or the wires may be inserted into leather or other
suitable substance and then mounted upon the bars. K, frame of the conical
screen. L, opening from the screen into a small receiving hopper P. M is
a pulley on the main shaft, from which the fan-blower R is driven by a band.
passing over the pulley N. O, the spindle of the fan-blower. Q, a slide
formed with a rack and pinion, by which the size of the passage out of the
samall hopper is regulated. T, corn spout. W, a box containing the conical
screen. X, X, bearings for main shaft. Y, glass spy-hole, through which
the small hopper gage at the bottom may be inspected, and Z, Z, flanges to
carry the screen. The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:--The corn
or grain to be. cleaned is put into the hopper A, from which it descends
through the aperture 6 into the conductor D, whence it falls into the conical
screen through the openings E, E, where the revolution of the brushes I, I,
disengages the smut and dirt which may be adhering to or intermixed with
the grain. I consider a good speed for the brushes to be about eight hun-
dred revolutions per minute. The smut and dirt fall. through the wove wire
covering of the screen into the spout V, while the grain gradually finds its
way down the incline of the cone into the receiving hopper P, from whence
it descends in front of the fan-blower, being, during its descent, thoroughly
cleaned from any dust or other light substance that may still be intermixed

page_text: with it, and, finally, it falls through the spout T, while the extraneous
matters separated by the fan are discharged through the spout U.
The machine which I have just described is partly applicable for dressing
flour, but when employed for this purpose I dispense with the fan-blower,
and prefer placing the case in an upright position, but it may be laid
horizontally, or at angle if required.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of a flour dressing machine constructed
according to my said improvements. A, A, is the wire-gauze case, which is
made of a conical form, like the screen of the corn-cleaning machine before
described. B, B, are the brushes, which are of the common sort used in
flour dressing machines, but placed upon the arms at such an angle with the
main shaft C as shall correspond to the sides of the conical case. D is the
lower bearing or step of the shaft, which is capable of being raised or lowered
at pleasure by means of the screws E, E, and which of course raises or lowers
the shaft and brushes along with it. By this arrangement the brushes may
be brought closer to or further from the wire-gauze covering of the case, even
while the machine is in motion, thus enabling them to be so placed in relation
to each other that they shall produce the most effective dressing of the flour.
F is the upper bearing and G the hopper, into which the meal to be dressed
is placed, and H a spout, through which the meal is fed into the case A:
I is the feeder, which is composed of one or more pins K, K, inserted into the
upper end of the spindle or shaft C. The continuous revolution of those pins
keeps an uniform flow of the meal from the hopper, unattended with the
noise produced by the feeders now in general use, for which reason I have
called them "silent feeders." The dressed flour as it issues through the wire-
gauze covering of the case A is collected in the same manner as from the
tables now combined with flour dressing machines with cylindrical cases.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is as
follows:-
First, I claim the corn cleaning machine before described, in the peculiar
construction, arrangement, and disposition of parts of which the same consists,
that is to say, in so far as regards the making of the wire-gauze or perforated
metal case of the shape of the frustum of a cone; the employment of wire
brushes made as described; the placing of the receiving hopper R at the
outlet of the frustum of the conical screen, with the gage to regulate the
quantity of corn allowed to pass in front of the blower, and the spy-hole by
which the said gage is inspected
Second, I claim generally the making of the wire-gauze or perforated

page_text: metal screen of flour dressing machines in the shape of a frustum of a cone,
and the means of regulating the distance between the sides of the screen and
the brushes, both as before described. And,
Third, I claim the silent feeder, as before described.