Year: 1885

page_text: I, RICHARD SMITH, Flour Mill, Stoke on Trent, in the County of Stafford, Miller,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists essentially in a novel arrangement of driving gear for
roller mills, and is applicable to two pairs of rolls to be driven simultaneously
from the same shaft, and each pair doing its work in unison with the other pair.
The rolls are preferably placed vertically one above the other, with a space left
between the bottom roll of the top pair and the top roll of the bottom pair.
To facilitate description I will hereafter designate the four rolls by the
numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, according to their respective positions, 1 being the top roll
and 2 the bottom roll of the top pair, while 3 and 4 are the top and bottom rolls
respectively of the bottom pair.
The shafts of rolls 1 and 4 each bear a pulley on each end. A belt or strap
passing over a pulley on the driving shaft is carried down to the pulley on one end
of the shaft of roll 4, passes under it and then back over the top of same to the
under side of the pulley on the same end of the shaft of roll 1, passes over the
latter and down and under a supplementary pulley placed at one side of
the machine, and then up again to the pulley on the driving shaft. A similar
belt or strap from a second pulley on the driving shaft passes round the pulleys on
the other end of the shafts of rolls 1 and 4, and also round a supplementary
pulley, in the same manner as in the arrangement above described with respect to
the opposite end of these rolls. It will thus be seen that the driving power is
applied to the two ends of rolls 1 and 4 by separate straps or belts, and drives these
rolls simultaneously at the required speed in opposite directions.
For the purpose of driving roll 2 in the opposite direction to roll 1, and roll 3
in the opposite direction to roll 4, the following arrangement of wheel gearing is
employed. One end of the shaft of roll 1 carries a toothed wheel gearing with a
wheel capable of turning loosely on the shaft of roll 2, and having attached to or
made in one with it a second wheel or pinion gearing with a wheel secured to the
shaft of roll 3, which latter is thus driven from roll 1 so as to rotate in the opposite
direction to roll 4. The roll 2 is similarly driven from roll 4, that is to say, a
wheel on the shaft of the latter gears with a wheel turning loosely on the shaft of
roll 3, and having attached to or made in one with it a second wheel or pinion
gearing with a wheel secured to the shaft of roll 2. By suitably proportioning the
gearing the rolls 2 and 8 may be driven at any required speed.

page_text: The bearings of the rolls 2 and
are fixed, and for the purpose of relieving the
same from pressure, the shafts of these rolls carry an antifriction wheel at each end,
the wheels on one shaft running in contact with those on the other shaft. The
bearings of the rolls 1 and 4 are made adjustable so as to regulate the distance
between the rolls 1 and 2 of the top pair, and the rolls 3 and 4 of the bottom pair
respectively. This is effected by arranging a screw at each end to act on the
bearings of rolls 1 and 4 respectively.
Although I have described my improved arrangement of driving two pairs of
rolls as applied to four rolls placed vertically one above the other, it will be readily
understood that the same arrangement is equally applicable when the four rolls are
arranged horizontally side by side or diagonally.
This 20th Jan of Cantor 100K
I. RICHARD SMITH, Flour Mill, Stoke on Trent, in the County of Stafford,
Miller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My invention consists essentially in a novel arrangement of driving gear for
roller mills, and is applicable to two pairs of rolls to be driven simultaneously
from the same shaft, and each pair doing its work in unison with the other pair.
The rolls can be placed either vertically one above the other, horizontally side
by side, or diagonally, a space being left between the adjacent rolls of the two
different pairs.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a plan view, and
Fig. 3 an end elevation of my improved roller mill, with the rolls arranged side
by side.
The four rolls are numbered respectively 1, 2, 3 and 4. The shaft A of roll 1
bears a pulley B near each end, and the shaft C of roll 4 bears a pulley D near
each end.
A belt or strap E passes from a pulley E on the driving shaft F, round
the pulley D on one end of the shaft C of roll 4, then back and round the pulley B
on the same end of the shaft A of roll 1, and down and around a supplementary
pulley G placed at one side of the machine, then back again to pulley E on driving
shaft F. *A similar belt or strap from a second pulley on the driving shaft passes

page_text: round the pulleys on the other end of the shafts A and C of rolls 1 and 4, and also
round another supplementary pulley. G in the same. manner as in the arrangement
above described with respect to the opposite end of these rolls. It will thus be
seen that the driving power is applied to the two ends of rolls 1 and by separate
straps or belts, and drives these rolls simultaneously at the required speed in
opposite directions.
For the purpose of driving roll 2 in the opposite direction to roll 1, and roll 3
in the opposite direction to roll 4, the following arrangement of wheel gearing is
preferably employed. One end of the shaft A of roll 1° carries a toothed wheel H
gearing with a wheel I capable of turning loosely on the shaft J of roll 2, and
having attached to or made in one with it a second wheel or pinion K gearing with
a wheel L secured to the shaft M of roll 3, which latter is thus driven from roll 1
so as to rotate in the opposite direction to roll 4. The roll 2 is similarly driven
from roll 4, that is to say, a wheel N on the shaft C of the latter gears with a
wheel O turning loosely on the shaft M of roll 3, and having attached to or made
in one with it a second wheel or pinion P gearing with a wheel Q secured to the
shaft J of roll 2. By suitably proportioning the gearing the rolls 2 and 3 may be
driven at any required speed.
If desired the roll 2 may be driven directly by gearing from roll 1, and roll 3
may be driven directly from roll 4, by providing suitable toothed wheels on the
respective shafts, and causing the wheels on rolls 1 and 2 to gear together, and the
wheels on rolls 3 and 4 to gear together, but I prefer however to employ the
improved arrangement of gearing above described for driving the rolls 2 and 3.
For the purpose of relieving the bearings of the rolls from pressure, the shaft J
of roll 2 carries a friction wheel R on each end, and the shaft M of roll 3 carries a
similar friction wheel S on each end, the wheels on one shaft being in frictional
contact with those on the other shaft. Either roll 2 or roll 3 is capable of moving.
relatively to the other roll, a suitable mode of effecting this being shown in Fig. 1,
where roll 3 is carried by a lever T pivotted to the frame of the machine.
The rolls 1 and 4 are capable of being moved relatively to rolls 2 and 3, so as to
regulate the distance between the rolls 1 and 2 and the rolls 3 and 4 respectively.
A suitable mode of effecting this is shown in the drawings, where roll 1 is carried
by a lever U pivotted to the frame, and a screw V actuated by a hand wheel moves
roll 1 towards or away from roll 2 as required. The roll 4 is similarly carried by a
pivotted lever W and is adjusted by means of a screw V¹ bearing against the lever T
carrying roll 3.
The lever T carrying roll 3 might be pivotted to the frame at the same point as
lever W carrying roll 4, if desired; or instead of carrying roll 3 by lever T,
the bearings of either this roll, or those of roll 2, or both, may be mounted in a
slide, so that either one of the two rolls will be capable of moving in the frame
towards the other.
The supplementary pulleys G are each mounted so as to be capable of varying
the tension of the straps or belts E¹, and consequently regulating the pressure
exerted by the rolls on the grain, as may be desired.
For this purpose each pulley G may be carried by one arm of an L-shaped
lever X pivotted to the frame, the other arm of such lever being weighted to
produce the required degree of tension. Another method of effecting this object
consists in mounting the bearings of each pulley G to slide in the frame, and
providing a screw adjustment for each, for the purpose of shifting the pulleys in
the slides as required; or springs may be arranged to act on the bearings of each
pulley and so effect the desired object.
By a suitable adjustment of the tension of the belts or straps E¹, to suit the
pressure requisite to crush the material passing between the rolls, the bearings of
the rolls will be relieved from pressure.
A hopper Y delivers the feed to a smaller hopper Y₁ beneath, for each pair of
rolls, as shown in dotted lines in the drawing, but if desired the hopper Y may
deliver the feed directly to each pair of rolls.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The improved roller mill constructed and operating substantially as described
and shown.
2. In roller mills, the improved arrangement for driving the outer rolls of two
pairs of rolls simultaneously from the same shaft, each pair of rolls doing its work
in unison with the other pair, such arrangement consisting in causing a driving
belt or strap to pass round a pulley on the shaft of the outer roll of one pair of
rolls, then round a pulley on the shaft of the outer roll of the other pair of rolls,
and finally over a supplementary pulley and back to the pulley on the driving shaft,
the two outer rolls being supported so as to be capable of moving towards each
other, all substantially as described and shown.
3. In roller mills, the combination with the arrangement for driving the outer
rolls of two pairs of rolls described in the preceding claim, of the means for relieving
the bearings of the rolls from pressure, consisting in supporting the outer rolls so
as to be capable of moving towards each other and to be each adjusted in relation
to the other roll of each pair, while the shafts of the inner rolls are provided with
friction wheels in contact with each other and upon which the pressure exerted by
the driving belt or strap is brought to bear, all substantially as described and
shown.
4. In roller mills, the combination with the arrangement for driving the outer
rolls of two pairs of rolls described in claim 2, of the means for regulating the
tension of the driving belt or strap, consisting in the use of a supplementary pulley
mounted and operating substantially as described.
5. In roller mills, the improved arrangement of gearing for driving the inner
rolls of two pairs of rolls working in unison, the inner roll of one pair being driven
by the outer roll of the other pair, substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 25th day of June 1886.