IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Evans, of Bryn Allyn, near Gresford,
in the County of Denbigh, Farmer and Miller, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES.'
Sealed the 5th January 1869, and dated the 4th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Evans at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th August 1868.
I, EDWARD EVANS, of Bryn Allyn, near Gresford, in the County of
Denbigh, Farmer and Miller, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR GRINDING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to mills for grinding wheat, grain, and
other materials in which millstones situated in vertical planes are
employed; and my said Invention consists principally in combining
and mounting and driving vertical millstones in the manner herein-
after described.

page_text: In constructing mills according to my Invention I employ three
millstones situated vertically. The middle stone is capable of rotation,
while the other two between which the rotating one works are fixed,
that is, have no rotatory motion; a double mill is thereby formed. The
rotating stone is provided with two grinding surfaces, which are dressed
as usual for grinding corn or other material. Each of the grinding
surfaces of the fixed stones has half its furrows draughted at different
angles from the other half for the purpose of accelerating the discharge
on the ascending half, and retarding it on the descending half. The
rotating stone is driven by means of a pulley on its periphery, around
which a band passes, the said band taking motion from any prime
mover. The outer or fixed stones are hung or mounted in universal
joints or gimbals, the bearings of which are made in moveable frames
which are capable of adjustment by means of screws and hand wheels
working on the framing of the mill for the purpose of regulating the
grinding, and weights are suspended from the lower sides of the said
stones for balancing their grinding surfaces in a vertical position. The
rotating stone is adjusted between the outer ones, and is mounted upon
a horizontal shaft which passes through the eyes of the fixed outer
stones, the said shaft turning in bearings. On the shaft of the rotating
stone, and situated partly within and beyond the eyes of the outer stones,
are two worms, which worms work in casings which receive the grain
from the hoppers. By the rotation of the shaft of the middle stone,
the worms described convey the grain through the casings in the eyes
of the outer stones to the grinding surfaces, in passing between which
it is crushed or ground, the ground matter being conveyed by scopes
affixed to the rotating stone through apertures in annular cases to any
suitable receptacle. By removing one of the outer stones a single mill
may be formed. Where the mill is required to be portable it may be
mounted upon travelling wheels. Instead of driving the rotating
middle stone by means of a band passing over a pulley, on its periphery
the horizontal shaft of the said stone may be prolonged considerably
beyond the outer stones and be made to carry a pulley, to which motion
may be transmitted by a band from any prime mover, and instead of
adjusting the two outer stones by means of screws and hand wheels
for the purpose of regulating the grinding, the said stones may be
adjusted by means of levers, or levers and screws combined.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Evans in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
EVANS, of Bryn Allyn, near Gresford, in the County of Denbigh,
Farmer and Miller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Evans, Her special licence that
I, the said Edward Evans, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Evans, 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, usc, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS
FOR GRINDING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Evans, my 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 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 Evans, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has reference to mills for grinding wheat, grain, and
other materials in which millstones situated in vertical planes are
employed; and my said Invention consists principally in combining
and mounting and driving vertical millstones in the manner herein-
after described.
In constructing mills according to my Invention I employ three mill-

page_text: stones situated vertically. The middle stone is capable of rotation, while
the other two between which the rotating one works are fixed, that is,
have no rotary motion; a double mill is thereby formed. The rotating
stone is provided with two grinding surfaces, which are dressed as usual
for grinding corn or other material. Each of the grinding surfaces of
the fixed stones has half its furrows draughted at different angles from
the other half for the purpose of accelerating the discharge on the
ascending half, and retarding it on the descending half. The rotating
stone is driven by means of a pulley on its periphery, around which a
band passes, the said band taking motion from any prime mover. The
outer or fixed stones are hung or mounted in universal joints or gimbals,
the bearings of which are made capable of sliding longitudinally on
the frame of the mill. Weights are suspended from the lower sides of
the said stones for balancing their grinding surfaces in a vertical position.
The rotating stone is adjusted between the outer ones, and is mounted
upon a horizontal shaft which passes through the eyes of the fixed outer
stones, the said shaft turning in bearings. On the shaft of the rotating
stone, and situated partly within and beyond the eyes of the outer stones,
are two worms, which worms work in casings which receive the grain
from the hoppers. By the rotation of the shaft of the middle stone the
worms described convey the grain through the casings in the eyes of
the outer stones to the grinding surfaces, in passing between which it is
crushed or ground, the ground matter being conveyed by scoops affixed
to the rotating stone through apertures in annular cases to any suitable
eceptacle. By removing one of the outer stones a single mill may be
ormed. Where the mill is required to be portable it may be mounted
upon travelling wheels.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a double mill constructed
according to my Invention: Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same;

page_text: same letters of reference are employed to indicate the same parts in
each Figure of the Drawing.
a is the rotating stone or runner situated and working between the
outer or fixed stones b, b. Each of the grinding faces of the rotating
stone or runner a is dressed in the ordinary way, and each of the
grinding surfaces of the fixed stones b, b, has its furrows dressed and
arranged in the manner shown in Figure 4, that is, one-half of its furrows
are draughted at different angles from the other half, for the purpose of
accelerating the discharge on the ascending half, and retarding it on
the descending half. In Figure 4 a dotted circle marked c is placed
excentrically to the axis of the stone tangential lines, from which circle
are struck to form the backs of the "master" furrows of the said stone.
The rotating stone or runner a is driven by a band passing over a
pulley d on the periphery of the said stone (see Figure 3). The fixed
outer stones b, b, are hung or mounted on the gimbals e, e, by the set
pins, the pivots or centres e², e, of the said gimbals being carried
by the moveable bearings f, f, on either side the frame of the mill, the
said bearings being capable of sliding longitudinally on the bed g of the
mill. Weights are hung from the lower sides of the stones b, b, for
balancing their grinding surfaces in a vertical position; the weights are
not shown in the Drawing. The rotating stone or runner a is mounted
on the horizontal shaft a working in bearings as³ (see Figure 2) on the
frame of the mill. On the said shaft are worms a', a', which pass
through and partly work in the eyes 62 (see Figure 4) of the outer
stones b. The worms a, a', are capable of removal from the shaft a²
for the purpose of dressing the stone a, as herein-after explained. The
outer stones b, b, are adjusted and the grinding regulated by means of
a pair of screws h, h, for cach stone, one screw on either side of the
mill, the said screws passing through the moveable bearings f carrying
the gimbals e; the screws h work in the bearings h², and are capable
only of a rotary motion thercin. The said bearings fhave a hollow or
concave screw made in them forming them into screw boxes. Each
pair of screws h, h, is worked by an end shaft i and hand wheel k,
worms on the said end shaft i taking into worm wheels m on the outer
ends of the said screws h, h. Each pair of screws is thus simultaneously
worked. By turning the hand wheels k the bearings or screw boxes f
are made to move on the screws h, and the outer stones b, b, can thereby
be moved from or advanced against the rotating stone or runner a to
the required extent, and the grinding of the wheat or other matter

page_text: thereby regulated. The mechanism last described for adjusting the
outer stones is also employed for placing the said stones in position
for dressing, as herein-after explained. The wheat, grain, or other matter
to be ground is conveyed by the pipes n, n, from garners to the
revolving feed disks p, from whence it passes to the casings q, through
which on the rotation of the runner a the grain is propelled to the stones
by the worms a', a'. The feed disk p is carried by the shaft r which is
driven by the bevil wheels 8. The shaft of the lower bevil wheel s
receives motion by a band t from the shaft a of the runner a (see
Figure 2). On the runner a are wings or scoops u which project beyond
the flange of the pulley d. Around the stones are cases which receive
the ground matter from the stones, the said ground matter being con-
veyed by the scoops u to apertures in the said cases. On the said cases
are exit spouts through which the ground matter passes, and the hot
air is conveyed from the cases by the pipes x. On the pulley d of the
runner a are flanges y for preventing dust coming in contact with the
belt which drives the runner a. Fans are also fixed to the outside
flanges y for preventing dust.
When the faces of the stones a, b, b, require dressing I place them in
the horizontal position represented in Figure 5, in the manner and by
means of the mechanism which I will now describe. In the. pulley of
the stone or runner a two holes are made, the said holes being in the
direction of a diameter of the said stone and at opposite points. In
these holes bearers or rods are placed; one of these bearers is marked z
in Figure 5. The said bearers z are supported by frames 2, one at each
side of the mill. By means of screws 3 acting on the bearers = the
middle stone or runner a can be raised out of its bearings. The said
runner may now be turned into a horizontal plane on the bearers z,
which form centres for that purpose. Before the middle stone or runner
a or outer stones b, b, can be placed in position for dressing, it is
necessary to remove the feeding arrangements on cither side the mill,
the cases of the stones, and the worms (one or both) from the shaft a²;
by then turning the hand wheels k, k, the screw boxes or bearings f are
made to slide on the frame of the mill to the positions represented in
Figure 5, when the outer stones can be turned on their pivots or centres
e, and placed in a horizontal position for dressing. By next raising the
screws 3 at cither side the mill the runner a may be lifted from its
bearings and turned on the bearers or centres z into a horizontal position,

page_text: as represented in Figure 5. The stone is then ready to receive the tram
staff 4 for dressing or facing it, the said staff being adjusted by the screw 5
bearing on the top of the shaft a² of the stone, as indicated in Figure 5.
After dressing one face of the runner by turning it so as to bring its
opposite face upwards the said opposite face may be similarly dressed.
After the stones a, b, b, have been dressed the parts of the mill are
restored to the respective positions represented in Figures 1 and 2, when
the mill is again ready for work. When the mill is required to be used
as a single mill, one of the outer stones 6 and parts connected with it
are removed. The middle stone or runner may either be made of one
single stone or of two single stones bound together by the iron pulley
which serves to drive the stone, or in any other convenient way. Instead
of driving the middle stone or runner a by means of a band passing
over a pulley on its periphery, the horizonial shaft a² of the said stone
may be prolonged considerably beyond the outer stones and be made to
carry a pulley, to which motion may be transmitted by a band from any
prime mover, and instead of adjusting the two outer stones by means of
screws and hand wheels they may be adjusted by means of levers, or
levers and screws combined.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in mills
for grinding wheat, grain, and other substances in which millstones
situated in vertical planes are employed,-
Firstly. Forming a double mill by the combination of two stationary
stones and a rotating stone or runner situated between them, the said
runner having two grinding surfaces, or forming a single mill by the
combination of one stationary stone and a rotating stone or runner, the
said rotating stone or runner being driven and the parts arranged sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
Secondly. Mounting the stationary stone or stones in gimbals, and
balancing the said stone or stones vertically by means of weights,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.

page_text: Thirdly. Draughting the furrows of the stationary stone or stones at
different angles for the purpose and substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Fourthly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for feeding the
materials to be ground into the mill.
Lastly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for adjusting
the position of the stationary stone or stones, and for placing them in
position for dressing; also the arrangement or combination of parts
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing
for raising and supporting the rotating stone or runner for dressing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Evans, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. BEIM,
Bryn Allyn,
Gresford,
Denbighshire.
EDWARD EVANS. (L.S.)