IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HULLING OR HUSKING AND CLEANING COFFEE, RICE, OR OTHER GRAIN."
Year: 1880

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Edwards, of the Firm of Edwards and Co.,
Patent Agents and Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HULLING OR HUSKING AND CLEANING
COFFEE, RICE, OR OTHER GRAIN." A communication from abroad by
Antonio Francisco dos Santos Marau, of Oporto, in the Kingdom of Portugal.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Edwards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th May 1880.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HULLING OR
HUSKING AND CLEANING COFFEE, RICE, OR OTHER GRAIN." [A communication
from abroad by Antonio Francisco dos Santos Marau, of Oporto, in the Kingdom
of Portugal.]
This Invention has for its object more especially the removal of the husks from
coffee, but it may also be applied to removing in the same way the husks and
cleaning rice or paddy or other grain.
I take a bar or cleaning device circular in cross section, but oval or more or less
pear shaped in side view, preferably hollow, and of sufficiently strong material,
such as iron or steel, and having a longitudinal axis formed upon or fitted in it,
which axis is arranged horizontally or at any desired angle in suitable bearings, 60
that it can be made to revolve by steam or other power at any desired speed.
Outside this device I arrange and fix a casing of metal or other sufficiently strong
material corresponding in shape with the interior device, but so adjusted as to leave
a space between the two, which space preferably decreases gradually in width as it
approaches one end of the apparatus. The outer casing is hinged longitudinally
along one of its sides, and is provided with fastenings upon the other side, so that
the upper part can be readily and quickly opened and turned back in order to have
access to the interior, or reclosed and fastened when desired. The outer casing
described is preferably in the form of open framework or has openings formed in it,
Price 6d1

page_text: and is filled up with suitably curved sheets of wire gauze or perforated plates by
which air has access to its interior. The inner revolving device is provided over
its surface with a sufficient number of teeth or projections, and at the end at which
the space between it and the casing is narrowest, such space communicates with a
discharge opening or passage, preferably provided, with an adjustable valve or
regulator, through which the coffee or other material operated upon is discharged
and escapes from the machine.
At the other end the casing is, made more or less cylindrical or curved beyond
the end of the revolving device, and has attached to or formed upon it above a
hopper from which the coffee or other material is fed into the apparatus; and the
revolving axis or the end of the revolving device under this hopper is provided with
an endless screw, or a sufficient number of helically shaped blades which revolve
with it, and tend to force the coffee or grain into and along the space between the
internal revolving device and the external casing.
The outer end of the curved or cylindrical casing containing the screw is closed,
and is provided with or is adjacent to one of the bearings in which the shaft
revolves, and an adjusting screw provided which takes the end thrust of the
revolving shaft, and by which the position of the revolving device can be adjusted
end ways, so as to regulate and fix the size of the space between the latter and the
external case.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The hopper being filled with tho
coffee or other grain to be operated upon, and the shaft with the revolving device
fixed upon it being set in motion, the endless screw feeds the coffee forward
gradually between the latter and the external case, and the teeth upon the former
remove the husks as the coffee travels forward, their action increasing as the space
in which the latter travels decreases, until the husks are entirely removed, and are
discharged together with the cleaned coffee berries at the end of the machine.
Instead of projections or teeth I sometimes coat the revolving oval device with
cement, abrasive or containing mixed with it a sufficient quantity of emery or
other abrasive material.
The central revolving shaft may be provided with a fly wheel and fast and loose
pullies, or other apparatus by which it can be readily set in revolution and stopped
as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edmund Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
November 1880.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HULLING OR
HUSKING AND CLEANING COFFEE, RICE, OR OTHER GRAIN." A communication
from abroad by Antonio Francisco dos Santos Marau, of Oporto, in the Kingdom
of Portugal.
This Invention has for its object more especially the removal of the husks from
coffee berries, but it may also be applied in the same way to removing the husks
from and cleaning rice or paddy and other grain.

page_text: In order to put the Invention in operation I take a bar or device by the action
of which the process of husking and cleaning is effected, circular in cross section,
and oval or more or less pear-shaped in side view, preferably hollow, and of
sufficiently strong material, such as iron or steel, or partly of iron and partly of
steel, and having a longitudinal axis formed upon or fitted in it, which axis is
arranged in suitable bearings horizontally or at any desired angle, so that it can
be made to revolve at any desired speed by steam, hand, or other convenient
power.
I arrange and fix outside the revolving device just described a casing of metal or
other sufficiently strong material, corresponding approximately in its interior shape
with that of the revolving apparatus, but so adjusted as to leave a space between
the two, which space preferably decreases gradually from one end to the other of
the apparatus. I make a part of the outer casing moveable and hinged longi-
tudinally to the remainder, and I provide fastenings by which it can readily be
fixed and held firmly when closed or released, and opened when desired in order to
give access to the interior. The outer casing or a part of it is preferably made in
the form of an open framework or has openings through it, and is filled up with
suitably curved sheets of perforated metal or wirework through which air can pass
into the interior. The outer surface of the inner revolving bar or device described
is provided with a sufficient number of teeth or projections, preferably gradually
decreasing in size from one end to the other of the apparatus, and at the end at
which the space between itself and the outer casing is narrowest a discharge
chamber or passage is formed with which such space communicates, the passage
being preferably provided with an adjustable regulator or slide, through which the
coffee or other material operated upon is discharged' and escapes from the machine
when finished. At the other end of the apparatus the outer casing is continued
beyond the end of the revolving device, more or less cylindrical or curved, and has
formed upon or attached to its upper side a hopper through which the coffee or
other material to be treated is fed into the machine, and the revolving axis has
fixed upon it an endless screw, or a sufficient number of helically shaped blades
which revolve with it, and tend to force the coffee or grain into and along the
gradually decreasing space between the internal revolving device and the external
casing.
The outer end of the casing which fits round the endless screw as described is
closed, and is provided with or is adjacent to one of the bearings in which the
shaft revolves, and an adjustable screw is provided which takes the end thrust of
the revolving shaft, and by which the position of the internal revolving bar or
device can be adjusted in relation to the external casing within which it works.
The accompanying Drawing is in illustration of the Invention. Figure 1 is a side
view of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a transverse section partly through the feeding
hopper, and partly through the discharge chamber and passage; Figure 3 is a
separate view in longitudinal section of the revolving bar or device, and the endless
screw, and Figure 4 represents a method which may be adopted for readily opening,
closing, and fastening the moveable part of the outer casing. The same letters of
reference indicate the same parts in the different Figures. a is the shaft revolving
in the bearings b and c fixed upon the frame d of the machine, and having fixed
upon it the oval hollow bar or device e.. The outer casing f is carried by the
standards g, gl, its interior surface being arranged so that a space is left between
it and the surface of e, the space gradually decreasing in width, and eventually
communicating with the chamber and the discharge passage l, which is provided
with an adjustable regulating slide m. The oval surface of e is provided with
teeth or studs i, as shown in Figure 3, the size of which gradually decreases as
the space between itself and the casing flessens. At n is shewn an adjustable
screw and wheels by which the exact position of the shaft a can be adjusted, and
o, o, are fast and loose pullies by which the shaft can be made to revolve at
any desired speed. A part of the outer casing f, which is fitted with wire gauze
or perforated plates, is provided with a hinged door, which when closed is held
•

page_text: and fixed in its place by fastenings p, p¹, shewn on a larger scale at Figure 4,
,, being adjustable screws by which the moveable part s, Figure 4, is fixed;
t is an endless screw fixed upon the shaft a and revolving inside the part of
the casing f, which is provided with a hopper w through which the coffee or other
grain is fed to the machine. In Figure 3 the revolving bar e is shewn composed
of separate plates screwed to centres which are keyed upon the bar a.
The action of the apparatus is as follows: -The hopper w being supplied with
the coffee or other grain to be operated upon, and the shaft a with the oval
appliance e and endless screw t being set in motion, the screw t feeds the coffee
gradually forward between the bar e and the casing f, whilst the teeth i upon the
former removes the husks and cleans the coffee as the latter travels forward,
their action continuing as the space through which the coffee passes decreases,
until the husks are entirely removed and are discharged together with the cleaned
coffee berries into the chamber h, and thence from the discharge passage through
the adjustable regulating slide m. A fly wheel is shewn upon the shaft a at a. Air
being admitted into the apparatus through the perforated plates or wire gauze in
the outer casing, the coffee or other material is not injured during the process.
Instead of the teeth or projections & the revolving oval device e may be coated
with cement, abrasive or containing mixed with it a sufficient quantity of emery or
other abrasive material.
Apparatus constructed according to this Invention is very simple, cheap, and
effective, and is easily operated, adjusted, and cleaned when required.
Having now described the Invention and the manner in which it is to be
performed, I claim,―
The oval device, having its surface provided with teeth or abrasive material,
revolving within an outer casing of corresponding shape, substantially as described
and shewn.
Also, the combination with the revolving oval device and outer casing of the
endless screw or helical blades, and the hopper by which the material to be
operated upon is fed into and forced through the machine, substantially as described
and shewn.
Also, the combination with the revolving oval device and outer casing of the
discharge chamber and passage, and adjustable-slide, substantially as described and
shewn.
Also, in combination with the revolving shaft and oval device and outer casing
of the adjustable screw by which their relative positions may be adjusted and
fixed.
Also, the hinged doors and fastenings and perforated plates in the outer casing,
substantially as and for the purpose described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Edwards, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this 20th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1880.
EDMIND TOWARDS
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