AN IMPROVED RUBBING OR SCOURING SURFACE AND MACHINE FOR HULLING OR DECORTICATING, CLEANING, AND POLISHING GRAIN OR SEED, AND DRYING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAME.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Brasier, of New Cross, in the County of
'Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED RUBBING OR
SCOURING SURFACE AND MACHINE FOR HULLING OR DECORTICATING, CLEANING,
AND POLISHING GRAIN OR SEED, AND DRYING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN
CONNECTION WITH THE SAME.
Sealed the 4th August 1871, and dated the 21st February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Brasier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1871.
I, EDWARD BRASIER, of New Cross, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “An Improved
RUBBING OR SCOURING SURFACE AND MACHINE FOR HULLING OR DECORTICATING,
CLEANING, AND POLISHING GRAIN OR SEED, AND DRYING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN
CONNECTION WITH THE SAME," to be as follows :—
My said Invention is designed to afford the means for hulling, cleaning,
and polishing wheat, rice, and other grains, seeds, or berries more

page_text: effectually with less injury to the grain or seed, and more economically
than has heretofore been practicable.
The first part of the said Invention relates to the scouring, rubbing, or
polishing surfaces which may be used in the machine herein-after
described or in other machines for the same purpose. These improved
scouring or rubbing surfaces consist of cards similar to those employed
for carding cotton, wool, and other fibrous materials, which cards are
formed by the insertion of small wire staples into a back of leather,
india-rubber, metal, or other suitable material in such a manner as to
present a brush like surface. I form one of such surfaces upon the
interior of the outer case or box of any grain hulling, cleaning, and
scouring machine, and another upon the periphery of the inner drum or
cylinder of the said machine. Or I may arrange the two surfaces formed
of these wire cards to operate together in any other convenient manner
to act upon the grain or seed passed between them.
I prefer however to construct a machine and apply my improved
scouring or rubbing surfaces to the same as follows:-The outer case or
cylinder is formed of a number of rings or hoops of iron or other suitable
metal. Between these rings I place blocks of wood or other material
cach forming a segment of a circle, and on whose inner periphery are
secured strips of the wire card to form the scouring, rubbing, or polishing
surface of the case or cylinder. These strips may be extended con-
tinuously around the cylinder in the spaces between the rings, but I
prefer to apply them in short pieces, and to place between these pieces
strips of india-rubber, leather, or metal which should be even or nearly
so with the top of the wire feeth to support the said teeth. The aforesaid
wood blocks are made adjustable and kept to their work with an clastic
pressure derived from springs at the back or outside of the said blocks.
The said springs are coiled around rods projecting from the blocks and
pass through longitudinal bars which extend from end to end of the
machine outside the blocks. The blocks are thus supported and guided,
and by means of nuts on the ends of the rods outside the longitudinal
bars they are moved in and out and the card surfaces adjusted to suit
different kinds or qualities of grain. The grain is fed through a hopper
at the top of the machine, and the end of each of the said blocks which
first meets the grain as it comes from the hopper is curved or rounded
so that a portion of the grain collects in front of it, such grain being
retained in this position for a short space of time, and thus subjected to

page_text: an additional scouring or rubbing action. The bottom part of the case
is provided with perforated metal or wire gauze to allow the bran, dirt,
and dust to escape from the machine and be carried away by an
exhausting fan or other suitable means. Inside the aforesaid case is a
rotating drum or cylinder which may be made of wood, metal, or other
suitable material, and which is arranged to rotate upon a horizontal shaft
extending through the outer case and supported to turn freely in suitable
bearings at the end of the machine. Strips of the wire card are fastened
on the periphery of the said drum corresponding in position with those
on the blocks of the outer case. The drum is of such diameter that a
slight space is left between the surface of the cards of the drum and case,
which space may be increased or diminished by the adjustment of the
blocks as herein-before described. The hopper is placed on one end of
the outer case or cylinder. I prefer that the wire card or scouring
surfaces should be rather coarse at the end where the hopper is arranged,
and should gradually become finer throughout the machine to the other
end of the same. At a portion of their diameter the rings are inclined
so that each of the spaces between the rings instead of extending in one
plane around the case is made to communicate with the next space, and
thus there is a continuous passage for the grain or seed from the hopper
to the outlet aperture which is at the opposite end of the case to the

page_text: are provided with small round projections which turn over and agitate
the grain or seed as it passes through the apparatus, and thereby more
thoroughly expose it to the drying action of the same. Portions of the
periphery of the case are provided with wire gauze or perforated metal to
permit the escape of the steam and moist air from the grain or seed into
a chamber surrounding the apparatus from which it may be exhausted
by a suitable fan. The central vertical shaft of the apparatus is sup-
ported in a step which may be raised or lowered by wedges or otherwise
to adjust the surfaces of the rotating chambers to those of the outer
cuse.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Brasier in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, T, EDWARD
BRASIER, of New Cross, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Brasier, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Brasier, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Brasier, my executors, adminis-
trators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED RUBSING OR
SCOURING SURFACE AND MACHINE FOR HULLING OR DECORTICATING, Cleaning, and
POLISHING GRAIN OR SEED, AND DRYING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION WITH
THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Brasier, ny executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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

page_text: 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 Edward Brasier, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification :—
My said Invention is designed to afford the means for decorticating or
hulling, cleaning, and polishing wheat, rice, and other grains, seed, or
berries more effectually with less injury to the grain or seed and more
economically than has heretofore been practicable.
The first part of the said Invention relates to the scouring, rubbing,
or polishing surfaces which may be used in the machine herein-after
described, or in other machines for the same purpose. These improved
scouring or rubbing surfaces consist of cards similar to those employed
for carding cotton, wool and other fibrous materials, which cards are
formed by the insertion of small wire staples into a back of leather,
india-rubber, metal, or other suitable materials in such a manner as to
present a brush like surface. I form one of such surfaces upon the
interior of the outer case or box of any grain hulling, cleaning, and
Scouring machine, and another upon the periphery of the inner drum or
cylinder of the said machine. Or I may arrange the two surfaces
formed of these wire cards to operate together in any other convenient
manner to act upon the grain or seed passed between them.
I prefer, however, to construct a machine and apply my improved
scouring or rubbing surfaces to the same as herein-after described.
In connection with the said machine when the wheat or other grain or
seed to be cleaned or otherwise treated is damp I use an apparatus for
drying the same.
This machine and apparatus are clearly illustrated in the Drawings
which I will now proceed to describe.

page_text: Invention which relates to drying the grain or seed previous to its
admission to the scouring surfaces. Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in
section of the said apparatus. Like letters indicate the same parts
throughout the Drawings.
The outer case or cylinder «, Figures 1, 2, and 3, is formed of a
number of rings or hoops a' of iron or other suitable metal. Between
these rings I place blocks a² of wood or other material, each forming a
segment of a circle, and on the inner periphery of these blocks I secure
strips of the wire card to form the scouring, rubbing, or polishing
surface of the case or cylinder a. These strips may be extended con-
tinuously around the cylinder in the spaces between the rings a', but I
prefer to apply them in short lengths with iron clips c at each end as
shown in Figure 8, and I may place between these lengths strips of
india-rubber, leather, or metal which should be even or nearly so with
the surface of the wire card to support its teeth. The aforesaid wood
blocks are made adjustable and kept to their work with an clastic
pressure derived from springs d at the back or outside of the said
blocks, that is to say, the outer ends of these springs rest against pieces d'
on the ends of the screw bolts d², and by turning these bolts the tension
of the said springs is increased or diminished. Or the springs may be
coiled around rods projecting from the blocks a³ and passing through
Jongitudinal bars arranged to extend from end to end of the machine
outside the blocks a", the said rods being provided with screw nuts, by
turuing which the pressure on the springs will be regulated. The said
blocks are thus supported and guided as they are moved in or out, and
the card surface is adjusted to suit different kinds or qualities of grain.
The grain enters the machine through a hopper e on the top of the
case a, and that end of each block which lies nearest the hopper is curved
or rounded, as shown in Figure 3, so that a portion of the grain collects
in front of it, such portion being retained in this position for a short
space of time, and being thus subjected to a prolonged scouring or
rubbing action. The said blocks a³ are also provided on the outside with
strips a of india-rubber secured to metal bars a which rest on the
rings a¹ as clearly shewn in Figure 2. These india-rubber strips tend
continually to pull the blocks outward against the pressure of the
spring d; the bottom part of the case a is provided.with perforated metal
or wire gauze as shewn at a³ to allow the bran, dirt, and dust to escape

page_text: from the machine and be carried away by an exhausting fan or other
suitable means. Inside the aforesaid case is the rotating drum or
cylinder which may be made of wood, metal, or other suitable material
and is arranged to rotate upon a horizontal shaft 9 extending through
the outer case a and supported to turn freely in suitable bearings h, at
the ends of the machine; strips i of the wire card are fastened on the
periphery of the said drum facing those on the blocks a² of the outer
case a. The drum f is of such diameter that a slight space is left
between the surface of the cards of the drum and case as shewn in
Figure 3, which space may be increased or diminished by the adjustment
of the blocks a as hercin-before described. The hopper e is placed on
one end of the outer case or cylinder as shown. This hopper is prefer-
ably provided with an agitator or feeder e¹ driven by a belt e from the
shaft g. I prefer that the wire card or scouring surfaces should be rather
coarse at the end where the hopper is arranged and should gradually
become finer throughout the machine to the other end thereof.
In Figure 1 I have shown the metal rings a' without the blocks and
other parts of the case a, and the drum in its proper position within
the said rings. It will be seen that these rings a' are so inclined or
bent at the part 1 that the spaces between them through which the
grain or other substance passes instead of extending in one plane
around the case, each separate from the other, are made to communicate
one with another so that there is a continuous passage for the grain,
seed, or other substance from the hopper e to the outlet aperture kat
the opposite end of the case a.
The drying apparatus shown in Figures 4 and 5 is constructed with a
fixed case which has a series of chambers with inclined surfaces
inside the case. · In the centre of the case I place a hollow vertical
shaft m which also carries a series of chambers m³ inclined to correspond
with the configuration of the outer chambers. The diameter of the.
inner chambers is such that a space n is left all round the apparatus
between the inner and outer chambers A, m³, through which space the
wheat or other grain or seed to be dried passes from the funnel o at the
top of the apparatus to the delivery aperture o' which should be arranged
above the hopper e, Figures 1, 2, and 3. Steam or hot air is admitted
into the chambers of the fixed case through a suitable pipe 9 and
allowed to escape through the exhaust pipe 7'. Steam or hot air is also

page_text: admitted into the inner chambers m' through the inlet passages m², m³,
of the shaft m, and it escapes through the exhaust passages m³, m³, by
which it is conducted downward to the lower end of the said shaft
whence it passes away through the aperture. The shaft m is extended
upward and geared in connection with a suitable driving shaft which t
imparts to it the required rotatory motion. The rubbing surfaces of the
inner and outer chambers l', m³, are provided with projections a which
turn over and agitate the grain or sced as it passes through the apparatus
and thereby more thoroughly expose it to the drying action of the
heated chambers. Portions of the periphery of the case are provided
with wire gauze or perforated metal to permit the escape of the steam
and moist air from the grain or sced into a chamber within the cylinder a
surrounding the apparatus from which it may be exhausted by a suitable
fan. The central vertical shaft m of the apparatus is supported in a
step which may be raised or lowered by wedges or otherwise to adjust:
the surfaces of the rotating chambers to those of the fixed case l.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and
shown how the same may be conveniently and advantageously carried
into practice I claim,-
First. Surfaces for decorticating or hulling, scouring, cleaning, and
polishing grain or seed formed of strips, sheets, or pieces of wire card
arranged together in such a manner that the grain or seed passing
between them is acted on by the card teeth as herein specified.
Second. A machine for decorticating or hulling, scouring, cleaning,
and polishing grain or seed which has an outer case or cylinder con-
structed with a series of rings enclosing spaces that form a continuous
passage throughout the machine wherein the grain or seed is subjected
to the action of the scouring or rubbing surfaces from the hopper to the
delivery aperture as herein set forth.
Third. Constructing the said outer case or cylinder with adjustable
spring segments as herein specified for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. A machine for decorticating, cleaning, and polishing grain or
seed which has an inner drum. provided with surfaces of wire card and
arranged to rotate within an outer case or cylinder also provided with
surfaces of wire card, which machine is so constructed that the grain or

page_text: seed admitted into the same is subjected to the action of the said card
surfaces in the manner herein specified.
Fifth. The drying apparatus constructed as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Brasier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
נגנד ממ סודנרמד
נוגרד ממ ס וננד
TRIO CRIT ATTAA_TTT