IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MALTING
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR MALTING." A communication from abroad by Mr. Jules
Alphonse Saladin, of Paris, France.
ſealed the 28th August 1877, and dated the 24th March 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th March 1877.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of Middle-
"IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MALTING." A communication
from abroad by Mr. Jules Alphonse Saladin, of Paris, France.
sex.
This is an Invention communicated to me by Mr. Jules Alphonse Saladin; its
object is the malting of grain, such as barley for brewing, and other kinds of
grain.
According to this Invention, the grain is caused to germinate in thick layers
(say 1 metre = 3 ft., 3 ins., and more) and is ventilated and turned by mechanical
means so as to effect a great saving in labour over old processes, while at the same
time regularly producing a good malt all the year through.
The means and appliances adopted include the steeping vat or vessel, the ger-
mination chamber, ventilation by cool damp air, turning apparatus, and a method
of transferring the grain from one appliance to another.
The desired quantity of grain may be shot into the steeping vessel (herein-after
referred to as vessel No. 1), which has a perforated false bottom; the grain may thus
form a layer 1 metre (3 ft., 3 ins.) or more in thickness.
The water for steeping is allowed to run in through a cock fixed above and is
run off by another cock situate below so that it may be renewed as usual. After
sufficient time has elapsed, when the grain is well steeped, the water is run off for
the last time, and a valve is opened so that a fan or ventilator shall cause circulation
of air which consequently passes over the layer of steeped grain and enables ger-
mination to commence.
The sorting may also be effected by introducing, first, water, then air, in suc-
cessive periods of alternate wetting and drying.

page_text: II necessary, the steeping vessel may be furnished win burung app
as a rule, this is not requisite.
The germination of the grain constitutes a second period of the process, necessitating
the use of appliances for turning, either manual or mechanical, in order to allow the
grain to swell and sprout without forming lumps, while, at the same time, being 5
subject to the action of the air.
It is preferred to conduct this operation in another vessel called the germination
chamber.
It is evident that, in arranging appliances for turning the malt in vessel No. 1,
it is possible to carry on in succession the two operations of ventilation and 1
germination; but it is deemed a more practical arrangement, as well as one that
considerably economises space, to have two vessels, one placed over the other, and
in this case it is sufficient to allow the grain when steeped and ventilated to run
into the second vessel by opening a door in the bottom of the upper vessel (No. 1).
The steeped and ventilated grain accumulates in the second or lower chamber in 1
a layer more than a metre (3 ft., 3 ins.) thick, the surface of which has to be levelled;
it rests on a perforated iron bottom like that of the vessel No. 1.
The ventilation is effected by opening a valve which allows the surrounding air
to pass through the layer of grain, and finally to return to the fan or ventilator.
The grain may be removed at once, though not necessarily so, until about four hours 2
after being placed in the chamber. This removal may be effected by any suitable
means, but it is preferred to accomplish it mechanically by means herein-after
described.
The germination chamber is provided at the bottom with a trap door, similar to
that of vessel No. 1, for emptying the grain into the receptacles underneath the
discharge passage.
The air which is caused to pass through the grain is made damp and cold by
causing it to pass through a vessel, chamber, or space filled with a spongy mass
kept constantly wet by cold water falling in abundance on the upper portion.
The substances composing the spongy inass must be such as are not acted upon a
by water, or they must be rendered inputrescible; the essential point is to multiply
the points of contact between the descending water and the ascending air without
necessitating excessive pressure of blast.
It will be preferable to use water at a temperature of, 10° centigrade, and even
lower, so as to reduce the air which passes into the saturating chamber to a tem-
perature not exceeding 12° centigrade.
The vessels Nos. 1 and 2, and the saturating chamber may be all arranged within
a general chamber which may be constructed of masonry, and the same air may
be kept circulating within this chamber so as to be used over and over again..
It will be understood that any kind of suitable appliance may be used instead of
a fan for promoting the circulation of the air, provided that the air, which becomes
heated by contact with the grain and is forced through the saturation chamber to
be cooled, be drawn through the vessels Nos. 1 and 2.
A ventilator and a saturating appliance may be employed for several series of
vessels and chainbers arranged in the same building, or one for each vessel and
chamber of the series.
When the grain has germinated and its radicles and plumule have sprouted, and
when the time has arrived for arresting the germination, the ventilation is suspended
by closing the valve and opening the trap door to allow the green malt to fall
into a small truck in a discharge passage which has no communication with the
vessels and chambers, so that the removal of the malt may cause no loss of damp
cool air.
In lieu of the truck, an endless band of cloth or a bucket chain or other appliance
may be used for transferring the green malt in as direct a manner as possible to the
kiln.
'Sometimes the process of steeping is carried on in a vessel wherein a partial
vacuum is formed. To this end a vessel may be used, made of plate iron capable of

page_text: holding the charge of grain it may be desired to steep, and of standing the external
pressure of the atmosphere; by means of this apparatus steeping may be effected in
vacuuo much more quickly than by employing the vessel No. 1, herein-before
referred to, which requires a period of from fifty to eighty hours, if not more.
In the arrangement for steeping in vacuuo the grain is introduced through a
suitable aperture into the vessel, the water either in its natural state or previously
boiled, enters under pressure at the bottom of the vessel, so as to move the grain
and drive away the air surrounding it; the steeping of the grain lasts from three to
six hours, and when the moisture has penetrated the grain and commences to soften
it the grain feeding aperturo is closed by a cover suitably secured, and air is
exhausted from the vessel. A vacuum is thus formed, the degree of which is
indicated by a vacuum gauge; and when this is found to be sufficient the whole
arrangement is left undisturbed for a period varying with the nature of the grain
of from one to six hours, caro being takon to maintain an uniform vacuum. Air is
then allowed to enter slowly by a cock; the steeping water is allowed to run off*
and the grain may be at once emptied into the couching chamber by a trap door.
The vacuum is sufficient to draw off the air from the grain, pernitting the water to
take its place by penetrating the grain and thoroughly steeping it, this being
accomplished much more quickly than in the ordinary manner.
I now proceed to describe the mechanical means by the aid of which the grain
may be turned; it will be readily understood that several arrangements may be
adopted for this purpose.
In one arrangement a single vertical rotating scrow is caused to travel within the
germination chamber in such a course at to act successively upon different portions
of the body of grain.
Two horizontal edges of the said chamber are made straight, and form parallel
rails whereon a carriage travels, either by means of shoes or rollers. This carriage,
arranged at right angles to the length of the chamber, is guided by pullies placed at
its ends, and over which pass chains or ropes for keeping it straight. The screw is
carried by the lower portion of a shaft, and is immersed in the grain, so as in turning
to constantly raise it. The screw shaft may be solid or hollow, for introducing into
the bottom of the layer any liquid or gas. The screw may be made hollow, or of
curved or spiral tubes, and pierced with holes for introducing gas or liquid.
The screw shaft works in guides of the carriage, and follows it in its course
throughout; the lower end of the screw just clears the bottom of the chamber. A
continuous motion in one direction is given to the screw through ropes and pulleys
from a driving shaft. The upper end of the screw shaft carries a pinion, the teeth
of which engage in a rack which is arranged above the chamber or otherwise.
This rack has two grooves, and describes sinuosities. The upper part of the pinion
engages in one of the grooves and traverses it from one end to the other on one
side, and then returns in the same manner on the other side. The pinion travelling
in the longitudinal rack as it advances draws the carriage along with it as well as
the screw; at the end of the chamber the rack is turned laterally; the pinion
traverses it and causes the screw to move transversely at the end of the chamber.
Then after a short travel in this direction the rack again takes the longitudinal
direction, and so on, until the screw has traversed the whole surface of the chamber,
turning the grain throughout its passage, and completely and continually disaggre-
gating the mass of grain in order to enable the air the better to pass through it. In
its longitudinal travel the truck is kept upright and parallel by means of chain or
rope guides. In its transverse travel the screw shaft is kept upright by a small
shaft with two pinions which engage in racks fixed to the frames of the carriage
itself. To the lower end of the screw is fixed a small brush, sufficiently heavy, of
epicycloidal form, and having sufficient play in the joints to accommodate itself to
the surface of the bottom. The chamber is provided with curved plates or pieces,
so as to leave no corners in which the grain can escape the operation of the screw.
With some modifications, this screw malt turner may be applied to ordinary
malting houses and kilns. To this end rails are fixed at each side to the wall of the

page_text: chamber or building, or to small walls; on these rails run the wheels of the carriage
which carries the whole apparatus.
The bearing of the screw shaft slides in grooves of the horizontal frames of the
carriage. Motion is transmitted by a rope arrangement.
A cross shaft connects the pinion running in the upper rack on one side with
that on the other side of the carriage, and on this shaft are wheels having endless
chains over them, and under similar wheels on the axis of the lower rack pinions,
so as to ensure the parallel working of the carriage in a longitudinal direction.
A wind box is placed on the screw shaft, which is pierced with holes for allowing
the liquids or gases it may be desired to introduce under the layer of grain to pass
from the said box into the interior of the shaft, which is hollow and open at the
bottom. There is a short pipe, to which is attached an india-rubber tube, forming
the connection between the fan and the wind box. By means of this appliance,
which is applicable to all ordinary malt houses, as well as to malt kilns, the grain
may be turned without hand labour, and any liquid or gas desired may be intro-
duced under the mass of grain.
In a modified arrangement the number of screws necessary for occupying the
width of the chamber are placed side by side and in a straight line; these screws
are arranged on a carriage similar to that first described above.
The screws are similarly driven by a rope which passes round the grooved pulleys,
which are keyed on each of the screw shafts, and transmits the motion to them; the
carriage receives a reciprocal motion along the chamber by means of ropes or chain
guides. This motion is obtained by the action of a pulley fixed on one screw shaft
which drives by rope or belt a second pulley, which carries a hollow shaft or sleeve
carrying two mitre wheels, which gear alternately with with another mitre wheel,
on the shaft of which is keyed a pinion actuating a toothed wheel above it.
The last-mentioned wheel is keyed on a transverse shaft arranged on the upper
part of the carriage. The said transverse shaft in its rotation turns two wheels
which work along chains and force the carriage to advance.
An arrangement is provided for reversing the motion of the carriage at the end of
its travel by means of a tappet striking a catch which sustains a counterweight,
and so overturns the catch, whereupon the weight draws down one end of a lever,
the other end of which rises and lifts a bar attached to the carriage. This bar has
a forked clutch acting on the hollow shaft or sleeve of the mitre wheels heroin-before
described. The motion being reversed the carriage returns and the lower portion
of the tappet raises the lever which hooks on to the catch, so as to be ready to act
on the next return of the carriage. When the carriage has reached the other end of
its travel it repels another catch which releases a lever; the latter by its reversed
motion replaces the forked clutch in its original position, and the direction of the
motion being again reversed the carriage starts again as at first, and so on.
prevent the bar from being deranged on the journey its ond rests on a spring with
rounded notches, which keeps it in its proper position.
To
The reciprocal motion may also be given by another arrangement designed for
the purpose.
A pulley keyed on a screw shaft drives another pulley loose on another screw
shaft. On the hollow shaft of the latter pulley is keyed a pinion which gears with
a toothed wheel keyed on a nearly vertical shaft. Keyed on the upper end of the
last-mentioned shaft is a pinion which engages in a rack, traversing it from one
end to the other, to return on the other side, and draws along with it the carriage,
thus giving it a reciprocal motion. In this arrangement I retain the transverse
shaft with its two wheels in order that the two sides of the carriage may run
together. This parallel or upright movement of the carriage is also ensured by two
racks, in which gear pinions keyed on two vertical shafts; these two vertical shafts
arranged on the two sides of the carriage are connected by a horizontal transverse
shaft by means of bevel gear, or the two vertical shafts may be connected by an
endless chain passing over two pinions keyed on these shafts.

page_text: In one arrangement the chamber contains several horizontal screws with the
thread running in a common direction or in contrary directions.
Another turning apparatus is constructed with small arms of round or oval
section, the main axis forming an angle with the horizon, and arranged radially
round the axis for its whole length.
In another arrangement prolongations of the carriage frame pass down at the
sides nearly to the bottom of the chamber, and inclined projections or socks (shares)
of wood or metal are fixed to the said prolongations.
In another arrangement horizontal plates carried by the internal prolongations of
the carriage frame are made moveable round their axis, forming shutters, and are
connected together by bars which keep them in their inclined position, these plates
turning on their axes when the direction of the carriage's travel changes.
The reversing motion may be transmitted to the bar by means of a lever having a
roller, which travels on an undulated surface.
In another arrangement for turning, vertical rods are fixed to the carriage, and
depend into the chamber containing the grain.
In another arrangement endless chains or wheels carry plates; the travel of
the chains is reversed by well-known means at each change of direction of the
carriage.
Sometimes a chamber with a grate-liko bottom is used, on which are arranged
several superposed sieves made of metallic cloth or coarse netting, the meshes
varying with the size of the grain. For turning the grain placed on the sieves, it is
sufficient to remove the latter in succession, either by hand or otherwise, at such
intervals of time as may be deemed expedient.
Instead of sieves, cord or small chains may be arranged and removed in the same
way, whereby they are caused to traverse the mass of grain which they raise and
move.
Another modification of grain turner is constructed with a horizontal shaft
having teeth or projecting arms revolving along the edges of the chamber; two
pinions keyed on the shaft cause it to advance by engaging in racks; the motion of
the pinions is reversed for causing the shaft to travel in the contrary direction.
In another arrangement a vertical cylindrical chamber contains a shaft carrying
radial arms arranged in stages, the upper surfaces of which arms are at a certain
angle to the horizon. Slight shocks may be given to the shaft in order to facilitate
the entrance of the arms into the mass of grain.
In another modification an annular chamber has a central vertical shaft, moved by
gearing, and surrounded by the path of the carriage, which travels on the edges of
the annular chamber and is capable of turning round the shaft through the action of
other shafts, and their pinions engaging in circular racks.
The carriage is provided with a single travelling screw like that first herein-before
described, or several screws may be used, which are made to revolve by mitre wheel
gearing. The screw nearest the central shaft should revolve more slowly than that
which is near the outer circumference of the chamber.
The grain may also be turned by enclosing it in moveable chambers of square,
hexagonal or other form, made of plate, iron, or wood. These chambers are carried
by shafts and have false bottoms consisting of perforated wrought-iron plate, on to
which the grain is charged.
The ventilation is effected by causing the air to pass into trunnions, which are
hollow and communicate with the chamber of the fan.
The charging or discharging may be effected by turning the chambers with their
apertures either to the top or the bottom. A screw is used to tighten up the
ventilation joint near the bearing.
An arrangement of five germination chambers, similar to that first herein-before
described, may be surmounted by their cisterns, and form a complete maltery for
continuous working. A single carriage running on rollers suitably arranged carries
five screws connected by the frames. The two outside screws alone carry pinions
travelling in the rack guides; thus causing the carriage to travel backwards and

page_text: forwards in a longitudinal direction, and causing the screws to advance in a
transverse direction. The intermediate screws have no pinions, but are connected
to the other screws by pullies and frames, whereby they receive the motions of
rotation and travel. This whole arrangement works like a single machine by
means of one or two driving ropes, and there is no necessity for guide chains or
racks on the two sides of each chamber, but only on the outside of the whole
combination.
forwards in a longitudinal direction, and causing the screws to advance in a
transverse direction. The intermediate screws have no pinions, but are connected
to the other screws by pullies and frames, whereby they receive the motions of
rotation and travel. This whole arrangement works like a single machine by
means of one or two driving ropes, and there is no necessity for guide chains or
racks on the two sides of each chamber, but only on the outside of the whole
combination.
Instead of connecting the screws of the five chambers in a single motion they
may be coupled in pairs or in threcs.
Instead of five chambers only, many more may be combined, according to the
space and power available.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
September 1877.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of Middle-
"IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MALTING." A communication
from abroad by Mr. Jules Alphonse Saladin, of Paris, France.
sex.
The object of this Invention is the malting of grain, such as barley for brewing,
and other kinds of grain.
According to this Invention the grain is caused to germinate in very thick layers
(say one metre 3 feet, 3 ins., or more) and is ventilated and turned or stirred by
mechanical means so as to effect a great saving in manual labour over the old
process, while at the same time producing with great regularity, and throughout the
whole year, a malt of superior quality.
The means and apparatus adopted include the steeping vat or vessel, the germi-
nation chamber, ventilation by cool damp air, turning or stirring apparatus, and a
method of transferring the grain from one appliance to the other
The form of the apparatus shewn is suitable to malt from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds
of barley, and in the Drawings similar letters designate similar parts.
Figs. 1 and 2 represent respectively in longitudinal and transverse sections the
improved combination and arrangement of apparatus employed to producethe
malting of grains in accordance with this Invention.
The barley is brought from the granary in the ordinary manner into the steeping
vat 1 in suitable quantity to form a layer of one metre or more in thickness. Water
to soak it is brought from above through a pipe p controlled by a cock, and it is
removed from below through the pipe p¹ to change and renew the water as usual.
After a suitable time has elapsed, the grain being well soaked, the water is drawn
for the last time; the valve V is then opened so that the exhaust fan 2 may draw
through its eye the air which, proceeding in the direction of the arrows marked in
the Drawings, passes through the whole thickness of the layer of soaked grain and
allows it to germinate.
Air and water may be admitted successively so as to produce alternate dampening
and drying.
A turning or stirring apparatus may be placed and used in the steeping vessel,
but in general it is not needed, as at that early period of the operation vegetation
is not sufficiently active to necessitate its use. As before mentioned, in the vat 1
the grain is soaked with water and aerated by the air exhausted and drawn
through the perforations of the sheet-iron bottom upon which the grain rests.
The germination of the grain constitutes a second period of the process, neces-
sitating the use of appliances for turning or stirring, either manual or mechanical,
in order to allow the grain to swell and start its spouts without becoming agglo-
merated or entangled while subjected to currents of air.

page_text: It is preferred to conduct this operation in another vessel 3, which I call the
germination chamber.
It is evident that if stirring appliances for turning the malt were arranged in the
vessel 1, the two operations, viz., aerated, steeping, or soaking and germination
could be accomplished in succession, but my foreign correspondent has found it
more practical and saving in room to have two vessels located one above the other,
as.shewn in the Drawings, and in this case it is only necessary to let the grain that
has been steeped or soaked and aerated, run down into the vessel 3 by opening a
trap door X, placed in the centre of the bottom of the upper vessel 1. This vessel 1
is shewn as made of sheet iron, but it could as well be made of wood, stone, or
other suitable material; it is stationary and can rest either upon columns or cross
beams; it is shewn as rectangular, but it may be made cylindrical.
The small holes in the perforated bottom are generally made round, of about
one-eighth of an inch in diameter, but they can be larger if larger grains are to be
operated upon.
As shewn in the Drawings, the trap door X is composed of two shutters of
perforated sheet iron r, r², sustained by two small columns 8, 8, resting upon the
registor R. To let the grain fall through the openings, the register R is drawn back
by means of a pinion t, operating upon a rack, and the shutters r, r³, being without
support, revolve around their hinges and fall to the position marked in dotted lines,
Fig. 2, and the grain passes through the opening.
The soaked and aerated grain is gathered in the vessel 3 in a layer of more than
one meter, the top of which is then levelled, and as it rests upon a sheet-iron
botton, perforated in the same manner as that of the vessel 1, the grain is nerated
by opening the valve W, allowing the atmospheric air to pass through the grain
from top to the bottom, then through the perforated bottom y to the exhaust fan,
through the passage indicated by the arrow in the Drawing.
The grain can be stirred as soon as placed in the vessel, but it is not really
necessary to begin until about four hours after it has been placed there.
The stirring operation may be effected in any desired manner, but it is preferred
to do it mechanically.
The vessel 3 is indicated as made of sheet iron, but it can be made of cast-iron,
wood, stone, or any desired material; it is provided with a trap door Y like tho
trap X of the vessel 1, to allow the grain to be emptied in receivers placed under it
in the passage 4.
The air I cause to pass through the grain is damp and cool, and it is so obtained
by forcing the air that has been drawn through the vessels 1 and 3 into a chamber
or reservoir 5, filled with a spongy mass kept constantly wet by allowing cold water
to fall in abundance from a pipe 6.
The reservoir, in which the air forced by the fan is cooled and dampened, may be
made of any material, and of any form and size desirable, and the spongy mass
may be composed of pebbles, coke, broken bricks, and similar materials; it may
also be made of sponge, cork cuttings, peat, tan, bark of different kinds, fibrous
material, or cloth of any kind, wire gauze, leather, hair, horn, cuttings or clippings
or flocks; also moss, straw, and shavings.
It is necessary that these materials should be prepared so as not to deteriorate in
contact with water.
The main object is to present a large surface of contact between the falling water
and the ascending air without requiring too much pressure to impel it.
The water used should indicate 10° centigrade, and even less, so as to cool down
the air passing through the saturating chamber 5 to a temperature not exceeding
12° centigrade. It is the same air that circulates through the whole room, indicated
as masonry in the Drawing; and it will be understood that any kind of fan blower
will answer in place of the one shewn at 2, so long as the air exhausted through
the vessels 1 and 3 is the same that has been heated by contact with the grain and

page_text: forced to cool it through the saturating chamber 5; but this air can also be passed
through the grain, and through the saturator upwardly from bottom to top, or
laterally, or even horizontally.
Ono exhaust fan and one saturator may be used for a series of vessels or tanks
placed in the same room, or one may be used for each vessel and tank of the
series.
When the grain has sprouted and thrown out its roots, and when the time has
come to arrest the germination, then the exhaust or aeration is stopped by closing
the valve W and opening the trap door Y, so as to let the green malt fall into a
sinull truck 7 placed in the passage 4, that has no communication with the room
containing the vessels and tanks, so that the issue of the green malt shall cause no
loss of the air prepared as above described.
The small trucks may be replaced by an endless belt, with or without buckets,
or in any other manner, so as to carry the green malt as promptly as possible to
the malt kiln.
I have shewn in Fig. 3 a modified vessel A. of sheet iron, large enough to hold
the charge of grain it is intended to steep or soak, and capable of supporting the
external atmospheric pressure.
With this apparatus I can steep or soak grain in vacuo much more rapidly
than when I use the vessel 1 (Figs. 1 and 2), which requires always from fifty to
eighty-four hours time, and even more.
In the apparatus shewn in Fig. 3, the grain is introduced through the opening B.
Ordinary water, or water that has been previously boiled or purified, is introduced
under heavy pressure through the bottom of the apparatus at T, thus stirring the
grain and expelling the air that surrounds it. It will take from three to six hours
to steep the grain, and when the moisture has penetrated it and begins to soften
the grain, the opening B is closed by a plate being bolted down, and the internal
air is exhausted by means of a pump P, operated by hand or mechanically. The
vacuum is indicated by the gauge M, and when it is sufficient, the whole is allowed
to rest for one to six hours, according to the nature of the grain, care being taken
that the vacuum be maintained by means of the air pump. Air is then admitted
slowly through the cock R, and the water in which the grain has been steeping is
withdrawn through the pipe S, and the grain can be immediately withdrawn into
the germinating chamber through the trap door X. The vacuum is sufficient to
remove all the air from the grain, and to replace it by water, which thus penetrates
and steeps or soaks it more completely and more readily than by the ordinary
process.
Figs. 1 and 2 indicate the arrangement of a turning or stirring apparatus with a
single vertical helix or screw E which is carried successively to every portion of the
vessel 3, following the dotted lines indicated on a reduced scale, and in plan view in
Fig. 4. The two horizontal edges B, B, of the vessel 3 are planed smooth to form two
rails parallel to the perforated sheet-iron bottom. Upon these rails the carriage c, c,
slides, either by means of shoes or rollers b, b, Fig. 5. This carriage being placed
perpendicularly to the length of the vessel is guided by the pulleys D, D, D, D,
placed at each extremity, and upon which the chains or cords d, d, d, d, Fig. 5, pass
to retain perfect parallelism in all positions. A helix or screw E, carried by the
lower portion of the axle E¹ is buried in the grain, and while revolving clevates it
constantly. This helix can be made of sheet iron, tin, copper, zinc, brass, etc; or
cast iron, cast zinc, and even wood, according to circumstances.
The axle can be solid or it can be hollow to convey to the bottom of the grain
any kind of liquid or gas. The helix may be made hollow out of pipes bent spirally
and perforated, so as to allow of the introduction into the mass of grain, of either a
liquid or a gas, as may be desired.
The shaft E¹ of the helix is supported in grooved bearings C₁, C¹ of the carriage C,
and follows it in every direction. The lower end of the helix extends to within a
quarter of an inch or thereabout of the perforated bottoin, so as not to touch it,
་

page_text: A pulley E operated by the belt e is rotated from the pulley F, so that the helix is
rotated continuously in the same direction. The upper end of the shaft E¹ of
the helix carries a pinion g, which gears with a rack G located above the vessel
3, or attached to the vessel (1) above. This rack G, with its two ways g¹, g¹¹,
follows a sinuous path, as shewn in Fig. 4. The upper part of the pinion is
engaged in one of the paths, and follows it from one end to the other, and then
returns in the same way through the other side. The pinion g in revolving follows
the longitudinal rack, Fig. 4, and draws along with it the carriage and the screw.
At the end of the chamber the rack G takes a lateral direction to G¹, the pinion
following it advances the helix transversely near the end of the box, then after a
short run about equal in length to the diameter of the helix, the rack takes again
the longitudinal direction G, and continues in the same manner until the screw
has passed over the whole surface of the chamber, stirring the grain everywhere
upon its passage without leaving any unmoved, thus dividing and continuously
stirring the mass of grain to permit air to circulate through it. "While following the
longitudinal tracks the carriage is kept vertical and parallel by means of chains or
belts d, d, and while following the transverse tracks, the shaft of the helix is kept
vertical by a small shaft H, the two pinions H' and H" of which mesh with the
two racks h and h¹, attached to the cross pieces of the carriage itself, the shaft H
being carried by the supports C, C', of the helix, which supports can slido along the
cross pieces of the carriage C. As the helix is not permitted to touch the perforated
bottom, and as the grain lying upon the bottom cannot be reached by the screw, to
the bottom of the screw is attached a small but rather heavy brush B, shewn in
Figs. 6 and 7, in elevation and plan, having the forin of an epicycloid, and hinged
loosely enough to allow it to follow all over the surface of the bottom, and by virtue of
its eccentric form throws the grain not reached by the helix into heaps, which are then
reached and acted upon by the screw. As the screw is cylindrical and cannot get at
the corners of the chamber, the corners are fitted so as to make them correspondingly
cylindrical, as at a¹, a¹, Fig. 4, and also at a", a"; the filling consisting of shoot
iron, cast-iron, wood, cement, etc., is formed so that every grain is stirred by the
screw.
The pitch of the screw should be short enough to raise the grain gently without
any shock or heavy pressure. The edge of the screw should be blunt, and thick
enough not to bruise the sprouts of the grain. To facilitate its introduction into the
nass, the edge may be indented or corrugated, as shewn in Figs. 6 and 7. The
speed of revolution of the screw, its diameter, and pitch should be regulated according
to the mode, the force, and the speed that it is desired to employ in stirring the
different kinds of grains that may be inalted. The periphery of the scrow may be
continuous or divided, so that each portion forms an inclined plane in the direction
of the spiral.
The stirring of the grain may be effected continuously or alternately, with periods
of rest, according to the kinds of grain and progress of the germination, and as may
be judged best by experience.
A number of stirring screws may be attached to the carriage, so as to occupy the
whole width of the vessel or chamber, in which case it will only be necessary for
the carriage to proceed forward and backward whilst the screws are rotating.
Having thus described the said Invention,. and the manner in which the same is
or may be carried into effect, as communicated to me as aforesaid, I hereby declare
that what I claim as secured to me by the Letters Patent hereinbefore in part
recited, is,-
1. The general arrangement, herein shewn and described, of steeping and germina-
ting vessels and discharge passage, for operating as set forth.
2. The process of malting, substantially as herein shewn and described, the same
being divided into two operations, which are effected in separate vessels placed one
above the other.
3. The combination with the malting apparatus, as described, of mechanical
stirrers, operating substantially as shewn and set forth.

page_text: 4. In the process of malting, herein described, agitating the mass of grain while
subjected to a blast of cold and moist air.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.