IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANING AND GRINDING CORN OR GRAIN, AND DRESSING MEAL OR FLOUR
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WALTER WESTRUP, of Wapping, in the County of Middlesex, Miller
and Biscuit Baker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the
thirteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Walter Westrup, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege, and authority that I, the said Walter Westrup,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said Walter Westrup, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend within England, Wales, and the
town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesties Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANING AND
GRINDING CORN OR GRAIN, AND DRESSING MEAL OR FLOUR." In which said

page_text: Letters Patent is contained a Proviso, obliging me, the said Walter
Westrup, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and 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, I, the
said Walter Westrup, do hereby declare that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, (that is to say);
My Invention of improvements in cleaning and grinding corn or
grain, and dressing meal or flour, relates in the first place to an
improved construction of apparatus for cleaning and separating corn or
grain from dust and other extraneous matters, such as smut balls, the
seeds of weeds, and broken or defective grains. The wheat or other
grain, in passing through the apparatus, is also cleansed and polished
and freed from the smut and dust which adheres to the beard of the
grain, and which it has hitherto been so difficult to remove.
My second Improvement relates to an improved construction and
arrangement of machinery for grinding corn or grain, and consists in the
first place in making the running stones with conical grinding surfaces
in place of flat ones, as is usually the case. In my improved arrange-
ment the bottom stones are the runners, the upper stones being
stationary, and made in the form of a ring, with inclined inner surfaces,
so as to fit and as it were to surround the bottom stones or runners.
The runners of both pair of grinding stones are mounted one above the
other on the same vertical shaft, and are arranged in such a manner
that the first pairs will break down the corn or grain, and partially
pulverize it; the meal then passes from the first pair of stones into a
kind of short dressing machine, where the fine flour is separated from
the unground meal, which passes between the second pair of stones,

page_text: where it is completely ground. By this means I am enabled to pass
the corn through the mill in much less time than usual, and thereby do
an increased amount of work in a given time. The grinding surfaces
being conical, also facilitate the delivery of the flour therefrom, thereby
preventing it from being spoilt or damaged by heating from friction.
The third part of my Invention relates to an improved construction
of apparatus for dressing meal or flour, or separating the flour from the
bran or offal. The arrangement of parts for effecting the desired
object is very similar in principle of construction to the apparatus
employed for cleaning and polishing the grain, and which forms part of
the first head of my improvements.
Having thus briefly described in a general manner the nature and
object of my Invention, I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the construction and operation of the several parts.
In Sheet I, of the accompanying drawings, I have shewn various
views of the machine or apparatus which forms the first part of my
improvements, viz., the apparatus for cleaning corn or grain. Fig. 1,
represents a longitudinal vertical section of the cleaning apparatus
complete, and the remaining figures represent various views of different
detached parts.
The corn or grain to be operated upon is raised from any receptacle
below by means of the lifting apparatus scen at A, and is deposited in
the inclined spout a, a, down which it passes into the interior of the
large horizontal cylindrical apparatus B. This apparatus is composed
of a perforated cylinder, B, B, mounted on a horizontal shaft b, b, b, b,
by means of the arms c, c, c, c. It will be seen that the perforations
of the cylinder B, B, are of two kinds, and consist of oblong slits and
circular holes through which broken or defective grains, dust, smut
balls, and the small seeds of weeds can pass with facility, but which
will not allow of the passage of sound grains of wheat or corn. The
axlc or shaft b, b, is mounted in suitable bearings, and. at one end is a
pulley or band wheel d, which, when actuated by any prime mover,
communicates rotary motion to the cylinder B. This cylinder B, is
surrounded as shewn in the detached sectional view, Fig. 2, by a
stationary cylinder or casing e, e, which receives all the matters that

page_text: pass through the perforations of the cylinder B. This latter is slightly
inclined, as shewn in the drawing, in order to cause the grain from the
spout a, to pass slowly along from end to end of the cylinder by its own
gravity. On the outer surface of the cylinder B, are longitudinal
ribs ffff extending from end to end of the cylinder; and these
ribs are furnished with a series of inclined wipers g, g, (seen best in the
detached view, Fig. 8,) which, as the cylinder rotates, gradually push
onward towards the delivery spout h, h, the defective grains, seeds, dust,
and other extraneous matters which have passed through the perfora-
tions of the cylinder B. From the spout h, the offal of the cleaning
operation falls into a bin D, from whence it passes down a second
spout i, into a receptacle below. The corn or grain thus separated
from many of the extraneous substances with which they were before
commingled then falls from the end of the cylinder B, on to an endless
travelling belt or cloth j, which conveys it to the hopper or funnel k
of the smut machine, which consists of an upright cylinder C, C,
made of sheet iron, and roughened inside something like a nutmeg,
grater, as seen at C*, in the drawing. The corn from the travel-
ling cloth j, falls on to a conical table or plate l, which is secured
to the vertical shaft m, near its upper end. The surface of this
table or plate 1, is fluted, serrated, or roughened, as shewn in the
drawings, and as the shaft m, is caused to rotate by means of the
gearing below the surface of this plate l, is made to rub against the
undersides of the fixed brushes n, n, which, as the corn or grain falls
on to the table or plate 1, from the hopper, will rub it with considerable
force against the roughened surface of the plate. The corn after this
operation will fall over the edges of the plate l, on to a flat or horizontal
circular table o, of which there are several mounted one above another
on the vertical shaft m. These circular tables o, are made of wood,
but are covered with roughened sheet iron, as shewn in Fig. 4, which
represents a plan view of one of them detached. Vertical fans or
arms p, p, of which there are four between every two tables o, o, are
secured to the upright shaft m, m, and are covered with roughened
sheet iron similar to the tables o. Immediately below the edges of
each of the tables o, and inside the cylinder C, is a wooden ring or

page_text: annular rib q, also covered with roughened sheet iron. It will now be
seen that the corn or grain upon entering the machine is first operated
upon by the brushes n, n, which rub it smartly against the rough surface
of the conical plate l, from which it falls on to the rough surface of the
first table o, from whence it is thrown by the centrifugal force produced
by the rapid rotation of the shaft m, against the rough sides of the
cylinder C. The grain then falls between the periphery of the table o,
and the inclined edge of the ring or annular rib q, where it is again
rubbed, and when it escapes therefrom it will be struck by the vertical
fans p, and be again thrown against the roughened surface of the
cylinder C, or it will fall on to the second table o, and will pass between
the periphery of this and the inclined edge of the second ring q, to be
again rubbed, and so on, until it reaches the bottom or stationary floor
of the machine, from whence it is swept by the rotary brushes n*, down
a spout h, into a chamber, where it is operated upon by a powerful
current of air produced by the fan or blower r, whereby all the dust
and offal that has been removed from the corn during the operations
just described is blown away and conducted by a pipe, either into the
open air or elsewhere. The clean grain will then fall on to an inclined
sieve or perforated plate B, through which the smaller grains will pass,
while the larger and perfect grains will slide down the pipe A*, and fall
into a suitable receptacle below. I would here observe that in practice I
have sometimes found it desirable to pass the corn through a cylinder
similar to that shewn at C, in order to break the smut balls, and partially
cleanse the corn before passing it into the perforated cylinder B. In
order, however, to avoid complexity I have not thought it necessary to
shew this in the drawings, as it will be easily understood that after
passing the corn through such a machine it can be raised by the lifting
apparatus A, to the spout a, of the perforated cylinder B, as already
mentioned.
In Sheet II. I have shewn my improved arrangement of apparatus
for grinding corn or grain. Fig. 5, represents a vertical section taken
through the middle of the machine, and in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 6, which
is a plan or partial sectional view of the same, taken in the line 3, 4, of

page_text: Fig. 5. Fig. 7, is a sectional plan view of the machine, taken in the
line 5, 6, of Fig. 5:
In my improved arrangement I employ two pairs of stones: the
lower stones E, E, are the runners, and are fixed, one above the other,
on a hollow vertical shaft F, which turns in bearings made in the frame-
work. The grinding surface of the stones E, is conical or inclined,
and lateral holes are made in the stones from the eye to the grinding
surface, as shewn in Fig. 5, and also in the sectional plan view, Fig. 8,
for the purpose of admitting air to the grinding surface, in order to keep
it cool. To facilitate this operation, the driving shaft F, is made hollow,
and is supplied with air by a pipe from above, the air being admitted
to the eye of the stone by means of lateral holes, communicating with
the interior of the shaft. The top stones G, G, are stationary, and are
of an annular shape, their grinding surfaces being inclined to corre-
spond with the conical surface of the runner or bottom stone. For the
convenience of adjustment, the upper stones are mounted in annular
frames 8, 8, which are, by means of projecting pieces 1, 1, 1, (sec Fi-
gures 6, 7, and 9,) supported upon a stationary ledge 2, 2, 2, which is
secured to the framing. The mode of mounting and adjusting the top
stone will be best understood by referring to the detached view, Fig. 9,
which represents in elevation the parts in immediate connexion with
the stones. It will be seen, upon referring to this figure, that the
parts of the ledge 2, 2, 2, upon which the projecting pieces 1, 1, 1, of
the annular frames s, s, rest are inclined, so that by merely turning
the frames, s, slightly round horizontally the stone may be adjusted to
the surface of the runner with the greatest nicety. In order to effect
this adjustment, a small toothed rack t, is made on the outside or peri-
phery of the annular frame s, s, and this rack gears into an endless
screw u, (Figures 5, 6, and 7,) on one end of which is mounted a bevel
pinion or mitre wheel, which is driven by a similar pinion on the upper
end of a vertical shaft v, which is actuated by means of a similar pair of
mitre wheels and the hand-wheel w. The operation mode of mounting
and adjustment of the lower pair of stones is precisely similar to the
upper, and, therefore, require no separate description.

page_text: The apparatus is fed with corn to be ground by the pipe H, and the
feed is regulated by a sliding pipe or tube a, which encloses the bottom
of the feed pipe, and may be moved up and down by a lever y, the
opposite extremity of which is jointed to a long rod z, which is screwed
at the lower end, and is furnished with a hand wheel and thumb screw,
whereby the rod, may be raised or lowered, and the feed regulated at
pleasure by bringing the lower edge of the sliding tube x, nearer to or
further from the circular plate 3, in the feed box. The amount of feed
having been properly adjusted by the means just described the corn
will pass down the pipe a, into the feed box, and from thence down the
pipe 4, into the box 5, immediately above the eye of the upper stone.
From this box 5, the corn will pass between the grinding surfaces of
the stones G, and E, and will be broken down and partially pulverized.
The meal will quickly find its way out from between the stones, and
will fall down on to the conical inclined surface 6, 6, from whence
it will pass into a wire cylinder I, I, in which work a number of
brushes 7, 7, similar to the brushes of a dressing machine. These
brushes 7, 7, being mounted on the main shaft F, of course rotate with
it, and as the meal falls into the cylinder they will brush the already
pulverized flour through the fine meshes of the wire, and allow it to
fall down the inclined surface 8, 8, into a chamber J, below, as seen
best in the detached view, Fig. 9, leaving the partially ground meal to
fall down the inclined surface 9, 9, from whence it will pass between
the second pair of stones (as seen in Fig. 5.) By this second operation
the meal will have become completely ground or "softened down," and
when it escapes from the second pair of stones it will fall into the
chamber J, into which the flour from the previous grinding operation
has already fallen.
I would here observe that the object of separating the flour from the
meal after the first grinding operation, is, that the flour already pro-
duced should not be allowed uselessly to pass through the second pair
of stones, and thereby clog them up, increase the labour, and spoil the
quality of the flour by submitting it to an unnecessary amount of
friction.
At the bottom of the chamber J, is a table K, which, being mounted

page_text: on the vertical driving shaft, of course rotates with it, and as the meal
falls on to this revolving table K, it is by the rotation of the latter
brought against the arm 10 (see Fig. 9, and detached plan view
Fig. 10) which sweeps it into the spout 11, from whence it falls into the
spout 11, from whence it falls into a bin or receptacle below. To the
under side of the revolving table K, are attached a number of sweeps
or curved arms (shewn by dots in Fig. 10), whereby any meal that may
get under the table may be swept out into the spout 11, as the table K,
rotates. It is almost unnecessary to state that the principal working
parts are enclosed by a casing N, made of canvas, for the purpose
of preventing the flour from being blown about. Motion is communi-
cated to the working parts by means of the bevil gearing shewn at
L, L, in Fig. 5, and which is actuated by any prime mover.
For some purposes, such as for breaking down barley and other soft
grain, I sometimes employ only one pair of stones; and I would here
observe, that although I have shewn and described the bottom stone as
being the runner, yet I do not intend to confine myself to this arrange-
ment, as considerable advantage may be obtained even if the top stone
is made the runner and the lower stone remains stationary. I, how-
ever, prefer the arrangement shewn as being the most convenient for
general purposes.
In Sheet III. I have shewn the third part of my Invention, which
relates to machinery for dressing meal or flour.
My improvements are applicable to that description of dressing
machinery in which the cylinder is placed vertically, or nearly so.
Fig. 11, is a horizontal section, and Fig. 12, a vertical section of a
dressing machine constructed according to my improvements, which
consist simply in the employment of a series of circular tables o, o, o,
which are mounted in the vertical shaft m, between the sets of brushes.
The meal is fed into the machine at top and falls on to the first
table o, from which it is thrown by centrifugal force against the wire
gauze or silk sides of the cylinder C, through which the fine flour is
forced by the brushes p. Such portion of the meal as escapes the
action of the first set of brushes falls over the edge of the first table o,
on to the inclined edge of the ring 7, which shoots it on to the second

page_text: table o, when the second set of brushes operate upon it, and so on
during the whole series, until all the flour is separated from the meal
and forced through the meshes of the cylinder C, leaving nothing but
bran or offal inside at the bottom of the cylinder.
It has been said that the meal, in its passage through the machine,
falls over the edge of one table o, on to the inclined ring q, and from
thence on to the next table, or that immediately below. In practice,
however, this is not exactly correct; as when the machine is driven at
a proper speed, the brushes will rotate so fast that they will catch a
considerable portion of the meal before it has time to reach the second
table. A great objection to the vertical machines as at present con-
structed, is the very great speed at which they are obliged to be
driven, thereby occasioning a loss of power. Another objection is
the liability of a quantity of the meal passing through the machine
undressed, should the speed be suddenly slackened from any cause.
Both these inconveniences are obviated by my improvement, as there
is no occasion to drive the machine at a greater speed than the ordinary
meal
oblique cylinders are driven, because there is no danger of any
getting through the machine undressed, as it cannot pass the first
table even if the machine were to stop altogether.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the machine is enclosed in an
outer casing M, M, and the fine flour that is passed through the gauze
or silk is conveyed away in the ordinary or any other convenient
manner, and the offal from the interior of the cylinder is swept down a
pipe or passage *, by means of the rotating brushes n".
Having now described my several improvements, and the operation of
the various parts, I would observe in conclusion, that although I have
described the best means with which I am at present acquainted for
carrying the same into effect, yet I do not by any means intend to con-
fine myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts herein
shewn and described, as they may doubtless be varied without departing
from the nature and object of my improvements; but that which I con-
sider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is
First, as relates to machinery or apparatus for cleaning corn or grain.

page_text: The use of a perforated cylinder, such as that shewn at B, B, Figures 1,
and 8, for the purpose of separating the perfect corn or grain from
the seeds of weeds, dust, smut balls, and other extraneous matters,
I also claim the apparatus for cleaning corn or grain, shewn at C, C*,
Fig. 1, in so far as regards the employment of a series of horizontal
tables or plates, mounted one above another upon a vertical shaft, which
is furnished with radial blades or fans, and revolves within an upright
cylinder provided with annular ribs, which project from the inner side
of the cylinder, just beneath the edge of each horizontal table, so that
when the corn is fed in at the top of the machine it will fall on to the
first horizontal table, from which it will be thrown by centrifugal force
against the side of the cylinder, and after being rubbed between the
edge of the table and the inclined edge of the first annular rib, it will
fall on to the second table, from which it will in like manner be thrown
against the side of the cylinder, and so on until the corn reaches the
bottom of the cylinder; and after being subjected to the action of a fan
or blower, for the purpose of blowing away and removing the dust and
other impuritics, the corn will be ultimately delivered into a suitable
receptacle in a clean state.
In reference to machinery for grinding corn or grain, I claim,
secondly, the use of French Buhr mill stones, formed with conical or
inclined grinding surfaces as above described, that is, with the runner
or lower stone made in the shape of a frustrum of a cone, the upper
stone being stationary, and made in the form of a ring with an inclined
grinding surface, to correspond with the conical surface of the runner.
I also claim the general arrangement and combination of parts
herein described, and shewn in Sheet II., particularly the use of two
or more pairs of mill stones, with conical or inclined grinding surfaces,
the runner of each pair being mounted on the same vertical shaft, and
arranged in such a manner that when the meal escapes from the first
pair of stones, it may be subjected to a dressing operation, for the
purpose of separating the already formed flour from the unground
meal, as above described, leaving the unground meal, when freed from
the flour, to pass through the second pair of stones, to complete the
grinding operation.

page_text: Thirdly, in reference to machinery for dressing meal or flour, I claim
the use of the horizontal circular tables o, o, and the annular ribs q.
In witness whercof, I, the said Walter Westrup, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
Thirdly, in reference to machinery for dressing meal or flour, I claim
the use of the horizontal circular tables o, o, and the annular ribs q.
In witness whercof, I, the said Walter Westrup, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty
WALTER WESTRUP. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the Twenty-fourth day of
July in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Walter Westrup came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the specification aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained, and
specified in form above written, and also the specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the statutes made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-fourth day of July in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.