IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN, SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Benson, of Four Stones, near Hexham, in
the County of Northumberland, Coal Owner and Lime Burner, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN, SEEDS,
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 14th April 1857, and dated the 25th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
October 1856.
I, WILLIAM BENSON, of Four Stones, near Hexham, in the County of
Northumberland, Coal Owner and Lime Burner, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN,
SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus for imparting a gentle heat or drying action to grain, seeds, and
other substances, but more particularly applicable to vegetable substances.
According to this Invention, the heat or drying action is derived from steam,
which is made to pass into a case or chamber of any desirable form, upon the
surface of which chamber, or inside the same, if it be of a cylindrical form,
the substance to be dried is placed.
According to one modification, the substance to be dried is made to pass

page_text: slowly along a channel or conduit by the aid of band rakes, or any suitable
arrangement of mechanism, and this channel is heated by a current of steam,
which is made to pass along a steam passage immediately beneath the channel,
the floor or bottom of such channel forming the roof or top of the steam
passage. The steam is allowed to escape after passing through the heating
chamber or passage.
According to another arrangement, a cylindrical apparatus may be employed
surrounded by a steam jacket, the substance to be dried being placed inside the
cylinder, and made to pass over its internal surface by imparting a rotatory
or partial rotatory motion to the drying cylinder; or a hollow cone may be used
with steam inside it, the grain being dried by contact with the outer surface.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Benson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th April 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BENSON, of Four Stones, near Hexham, in the County of Northumberland,
Coal Owner and Lime Burnier, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Benson, Her special license that I, the said William Benson, my exc-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Benson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 APPARATUS FOR DRYING
GRAIN, SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Benson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 William Benson, do hereby declare

page_text: 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say -
My said Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrange-
ments of apparatus for imparting a gentle heat or drying action to grain,
seeds, and other similar substances, but more particularly applicable to
vegetable substances.
According to this Invention, the heat or drying action is derived from steam,
which is made to pass into a case or chamber of any desirable form, upon the
surface of which chamber, or inside the same, if it be of a cylindrical form, the
substance to be dried is placed.
According to one modification, the substance to be dried is made to pass
slowly along a channel or conduit by the aid of hand rakes, or any suitable
arrangement of mechanism, and this channel is heated by a current of steam,.
which is made to pass along a steam passage immediately beneath the channel,
the floor or bottom of such channel forming the roof or top of the steam
passage. The steam is allowed to escape after passing through the heating
chamber or passage.
According to another arrangement, a cylindrical apparatus may be employed
surrounded by a steam jacket, the substance to be dried being placed inside
the cylinder, and made to pass over its internal surface by imparting a rotatory
or partial rotatory motion to the drying cylinder; or a hollow cone may be
used with steam inside it, the grain being dried by contact with the outer
surface.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of one modification
of my drying apparatus; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; and Figure 3 is a
detail transverse section of one of the drying cylinders, taken through the
arms or spokes thereof. The dryer A, which is cylindrical, is composed of
sheet iron, which I prefer to be galvanized, and is surrounded or inclosed by a
steam jacket B of the same material, the whole being slightly inclined, so as
to admit of the free passage of the grain or other material to be dried there:
through. This cylindrical dryer is supported at each extremity by a hollow axle C

page_text: and arms D, D, of cast iron, a spur wheel E being keyed on to the axle and
gearing into the corresponding spur wheel E' (Figure 2) of a second dryer A',
similar to the first. In this way any desired number of dryers may be geared
together, a rotatory motion being communicated thereto by the pinion F on the
driving shaft G. At the lower end of the cylinders the axles work in steam-
tight stuffing boxes H, whilst at the upper end the axle is made to protrude
through the wall 1 of the building containing the apparatus, in order to allow
the steam which enters by the pipes K to escape freely into the atmosphere
after it has heated the dryer, by passing along the axle and hollow arms D
through the steam jacket B.
For the purpose of economy, I propose in all cases where a high-pressure
steam engine is used on the premises to employ the wasto steam therefrom,
or the steam may be brought by the pipes K from a boiler or other con-
venient source and pass through or between the steam jacket and drying
cylinder to the atmosphere by the hollow axle at the upper end of the cylinder.
One or more small cocks L are placed at the lower end of the steam jacket
for the purpose of drawing off the water of condensation when requisite. The
grain or other similar substanco to be dried is fed into the hopper or funnel
mouth M, and descends therefrom into the spout N, which conducts it into
the interior of the drying cylinder. As this cylinder is kept constantly slowly
revolving, it follows that the grain will be well agitated or turned, and will
pass regularly over the heated internal surface or sides of the cylinder, whence
it discharges itself at the lower end perfectly dried and ready for storing.
Figure 4 of the Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of
another modification of drying apparatus, wherein the apparatus itself, in place
of being moveable, as in the first-described arrangement, is stationary, the
grain or other similar substances being kept agitated by means of rakes
worked either by hand or by power.
Figure 5 is a plan of the same; and Figures 6 and 7 are transverse sectional
details of the drying troughs, taken respectively along the lines 1, 2, and 3, 4,
in Figure 4. A, A', are two inclined troughs, the one placed above the other,
and so disposed that the substance to be dried first enters the upper end of the
trough A, being supplied thereto from the hopper or funnel mouth B; it then
passes along this trough, and is discharged at the lower end into the under trough
A', which is inclined back again in an opposite direction, so as to economise
Ерасо. From this 2nd trough the grain or other similar substances may either
enter, be discharged, as shewn, or it may be allowed to enter a third trough ;
nny number of troughs, from one upwards, being used, according to the nature

page_text: of the substances to be treated, and the time required for effectually drying the
same. These troughs are each formed with a double bottom, as is clearly shewn
in the sectional details, Figures 6 and 7, and the necessary drying heat is
derived from steam, as in the first-mentioned arrangement, which is allowed
to enter and pass along the double bottoms, thereby heating the floors of the
troughs. The steam first enters by the pipes C, C, and after passing along the
double bottom of the trough A' it enters the lateral passages D, D, (Figure 6),
and passes along the double bottom of the upper trough A, whence it finally
escapes by the waste pipes E. F, F, are small pipes, fitted with stop-cocks
for drawing off the water of condensation from the lower ends of the troughs.
A rake or stirrer G is placed in each trough, and the two rakes are con-
nected to the extremities of the vertical vibrating lever II, working on a fixed
centre at I, and actuated either by the hand lever K, or by any convenient
arrangement of self-acting mechanism. L, L, are guide rods, fitted to the
rakes, and working or sliding through guide holes in the sides of the troughs.
If found desirable, the cylindrical apparatus herein-before described may
be placed horizontally, with a spiral thread or blade inside the cylinders for
the purpose of traversing the grain along; or a conical or cylindrical surface
may be used, placed vertically, and fitted with spiral troughs or passages
round the external or internal surface thereof, along which the grain may be
traversed in any convenient manner; or the troughs, herein-before described,
may be made in one continuous unbroken length, and placed horizontally, with
rakes or other convenient apparatus for passing the grain along and keeping
it agitated or stirred.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my said Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the system or mode of drying grain, seeds, and other similar sub-
stances by the aid of heat derived from the exhaust or waste steam of a high-
pressure engine, or from steam derived from any other economical source,
which steam is made to pass into a case or chamber of any desirable form,
upon the inner or outer surface of which case or chamber the substance to be
dried is placed & traversed.

page_text: Second, the peculiar constructions and arrangements of apparatus for drying
grain, seeds, and other substances, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Benson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
W BENSON. (L.S.)