IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING BRAN, POLLARD, AND SHARPS
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ALEXANDER HAMILTON BELL, of the City of New York, in the United States
of America, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth
day of June (One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Alexander Hamilton Bell, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Alexander Hamilton Bell, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Alexander Hamilton Bell, my
exors, adiñiors, 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 expressed,
should and lawfully might nake, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN DRESSING BRAN, POLLARD, AND SHARPS," communicated to me from abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James
Alexander Hamilton Bell, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
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

page_text: 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
James Alexander Hamilton Bell, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a perspective view; Figure 2, a longitudinal or side elevation ;
Figure 3, a view of the upper end of the cylinder, bolt, and case; Figure 4,
n perspective view of cylinder showing part and position of the bolt and case;
Figure 5, a view of bolt and edges of case; Figure 6, a view of the lower end
of the cylinder; Figure 7, a view of the platform and conductors.
Figure 1, the full machine in perspective, the frame of which (A, A) should
be made about two and a half feet wide by four feet long inside, and about
four feet high, and of timber at least four inches square. B represents a
cylindrical case of sheet iron supported on the inside by ribs running length-
wise two inches square; said case to be twenty-two inches in diameter and
thirty-two inches high, enclosed in which (and supported by and attached
to the ribs upon the inside of the case) is a cylindrical bolt made of wire
cloth B³, and perforated sheet iron B', eighteen inches in diameter and
thirty-two inches high. Also, enclosed within said case and within the bolt,
is a revolving cylinder C, sixteen inches in diameter and twenty-nine inches
long, and attached to and driven by the shaft M. At C² is represented the
cover or top to the case (B), through the centre of which is a hole four
inches in diameter, rising through which is the shaft M. At D is shown
the platform on which rests the case, and through the centre of which is
to be a hole D³, similar to that in the top C, through which may pass
the shaft M, also for the free admission of air, being more fully shewn at
Figure 7. At E is shewn a conductor used to convey bran, &c. through the
top to the inner portion of the cylinder for cleaning. At F is shewn a con-
ductor through which is discharged the bran, &c. after cleansing. At G are
shown conductors to convey off the flour, the upper ends of which are connected
with the bottom of the bolt or the spaces E or openings in the bottom D between
the bolt and the case. At H, I, J, K, K, and L, respectively, are shewn a
shaft, pulley, band, pinion, spur wheel, and driving pulley used to drive the
cylinder the required velocity, the band J passing from the pulley I and around
the pulley N attached to the lower end of the shaft m, m, as shewn at
Figure 2.

page_text: Figure 2, at A, A, represents side view of the frame. B, the case sur-
rounding the bolt, cylinder, &c.; C², top of case; D, platform; E, conductor
to feed the machine; F, conductor for bran, &c. after cleaning; G, G, flour
conductor; H, shaft; I, large pulley; J, band; K, K, pinion and spur
wheel; L, driving pulley; M, M, cylinder shaft; N, pulleys.
Figure 3 shows the top view of the cylinder, bolt, and case, with the top
(C², Figure 1) removed. B shews the edge of case; B', the edge of bolt;
C, the upper end of the cylinder; D, D¹, Figure 7, an extension of ribs upon
the outside of the case to admit of bolts to fasten the case (which is made in
sections) together.
Figure 4 shows in perspective the cylinder, made of wood, and parts of one
half of the case and bolt. B, B, the case; B, B, B', the bolt; C, the
cylinder. At D, D2, D3, on the cylinder is represented sections or strips of
teeth projecting outwards about three fourths of an inch from the surface.
The teeth may be made of brads or small cut nails, with the heads removed, and
driven in, or may be made by driving large tacks through strips of leather at
intervals of one fourth of an inch more or less, and nailing the strips of
leather on the cylinder with the points of the tacks projecting. The latter
mode is the best. The sections of teeth should cover about one half of the
surface of the cylinder. E is a similar strip to those at D², constructed in the
same manner, and nailed on the upper end and around the outer edge with
the teeth projecting upward; it may be from two to four inches wide. At
F, F, and upon the surface of the cylinder, is shewn strips or wings of sheet
iron or tin, fastened to the cylinder, with one edge (or both) turned at right
angles with the surface of the cylinder, so as to form wings. They may be
put on at regular or irregular intervals, so as to balance the cylinder, the
upper wings, as at g, to be put on spirally, so as to cause a downward and
spiral motion to the current of air between the cylinder and the bolt, but in
no case must these wings project beyond the end of the teeth.
At Figure 5 is shewn sections of the bolt and case.. B, B, edges of case;
B', B', the upper part of the bolt made of sheet iron thickly perforated with
small holes by indentation with a sharp-pointed punch, and put on with the
rough side next the cylinder, so as the more effectually to scour the bran, &c. ;
13, the lower portion of bolt made of fine wire cloth. At E' is shewn an
opening leading into the escape conductor F (Figures 1, 2, and 7). The
bolt may be made in the manner described, or the entire bolt of either
substance described above, or any other like substances which will cause the
same results.
At Figure 6 is shewn the lower end of cylinder, case, and bolt. B, case;;

page_text: B', bolt; C, cylinder; D'; D, D; D, wings projecting downwards from the
end of the cylinder about one and three fourths of an inch.
At D, Figure 7, is shewn the platform. G', G', ribs for dividing the
annular space between the case and bolt into sections; D³, a hole for the free
admission of air, and through which the shaft of the cylinder is to pass.
E, E, are the segmental spaces or openings in the bottom D, between the
bolt and case.
These spaces should be a segmental mortise cut through the
platform, corresponding in shape and nearly in size with the annular space
through which they pass the flour (after being bolted) into the conductors G,
Figure 1. F, the conductor for the bran after cleaning.
The above-described machine, when put in the required motion (about ċight
hundred revolutions per minute) will (if constructed as above) scour and
separate from bran, shorts, and ship stuff all the remaining particles of flour
which may adhere after bolting. After being put in motion the bran or
shorts or ship stuffs should be fed in through the conductor E, Figure 1;
thence, falling upon the top of the cylinder, is carried by the inward current
of air over the end and down the sides between the cylinder and bolt, when it
is beaten or scoured, so as to remove all the remains of flour, the bran, &c.
continuing in its course (not being permitted to escape through the fine wire
cloth) downward until, by a reversed current of air drawn from the bottom by
the wings on the lower end of the cylinder, it is forced through the conductor
(F, Figure 7, and Figure 1) while the flour passes through the bolt with the
current of air drawn in from the top into the spaces between the bolt and
case, thence passes downwards into the conductors G (Figure 1), thence to
the cooler of the mill, when it is again bolted and fit for use. The perforated
portion of the bolt at B' may be covered on the convex surface with cloth to
prevent the escape of the flour. The vertical parallel strips of iron H on the
cylinder C may be made rough by punching for scouring the bran.
Having thus fully described the construction, arrangement, and operation
of the several parts of the machine, I will now add that I do not claim the
original Invention of a cylinder, nor of a combined punched and reticulated
cylinder, nor of a cylinder covered with strips of punched sheet iron and strips
of leather filled with tacks, nor the arrangement of gearing by which the
machine is propelled. But I do claim the combination and arrangement of
the external upright stationary close cylindrical case B, with the internal
combined punched and reticulated upright stationary scourer and bolt B¹, B,
and revolving cylindrical scourer and blower C, constructed, arranged, and
operated in the manner and for the purposes herein fully set forth, by which
the fine flour that usually adheres to the bran, &c., after being subjected to

page_text: the first bolting operation, is now completely separated from the bran, and
collected in the annular space between the cylindrical bolt and cylindrical
case, from whence it descends through the segmental openings in the hori-
zontal base upon which the said bolt and case rest into conducting spouts as
aforesaid, whilst the bran is blown from the interior of the bolt through a spout
leading through the external case as aforesaid, the meshes of the bolting cloth
being kept open by the pressure of air produced inside the combined cylin-
drical scourer and bolt by the manner in which the oblique and radial and
parallel wings are arranged on the revolving scouring and blowing cylinder,
as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Alexander Hamilton Bell, bave
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty..
JAMES A. H. (L.S.) BELL.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of October, in the
year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid James Alexander Hamilton Bell came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.