IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND DRYING F
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND DRYING
F
A
Sealed the 22nd January 1856, and dated. the 5th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1855.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of. Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND DRYING
FLOUR" to be as follows:
This Invention relates to the application of a draft of cold air over and
around the upper millstone in grist mills, between the curb and the millstone.
This draft it is proposed to create by means of an enclosed fan and flanges on
the inside of the curb, whereby the air is caused to pass around and over the
stone, so as to prevent sweat gathering thereon, and to dry and cool the flour.
The case of the mill is also provided with ventilators, through which the hot
air and moisture escape without carrying away the flour.

page_text: It is a well-known fact that in the grinding of flour considerable heat is
evolved, attended with moisture or sweat. This heat is so considerable that
it is found necessary to cool the flour after it has passed from the burrs by a
separate process in a chamber prepared for the express purpose; but the
moisture or sweat which arises, from the heated floür condenses on the stones
and on the sides of the elevators, through which the flour has to pass on its
way to the cooling chamber... This sweat is not only injurious to the flour
itself, but causes the flour to adhere to the moist surface of the stones and
elevators, thus causing considerable loss and effecting the clogging of the
passages, and it is to obviate at once both these evils that the above-described
contrivance is provided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on'
the 5th May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting."
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her-Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfréd Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the 'said 'Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR. COOLING AND DRYING FLOUR," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that 'I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
21.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed;
and-to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention consists in obtaining a draft of cold air. over. and around the
upper-millstone in grist mills, between the curb and the millstone, by means of
a fan and flanges on the inside of the curb, to serve as a guide for the air, and
cause it to pass around and over the stone, solas to prevent sweat gathering
thereon, and to dry and cool the flour, together. with the use of ventilators
to allow the escape of the hot air and moisture without blowing away the
flour..
....
3.
It is a well-known fact that in the grinding of flour considerable heat is:
evolved, attended with moisture or sweat. This heat is so considerable 'that
it is found necessary to cool the flour after it has passed from the burrs by a'
separate process in a chamber prepared for the express purpose; but the
moisture or sweat which arises.from the heated flour condenses on the stones
and on the sides of the elevators, through which the flour has to pass on its
way to the cooling chamber. This sweat is not jonly injurious to: the flour
itself, but causes the: flour to adhere to the moist surface of the stones 'arid
elevators; thus causing considerable, loss, besides clogging: the: passages: The
present. Invention is designed to obviate, at once both these evils, and thus not
only to improve the quality of the flour, but also to avoid considerable loss and
annoyance.
In the accompanying Drawing; Fig is an elevation of the 'improved appa
ratus, as applied to a single-run of burrs ;; Fig. 2 is a sectional.elevation of the
same; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view; and Fig: 4is: a sectional elevation of the
fan box. is the curbior covering of the upper-millstone; it is cylindrical in
shape, and of such dimensions as to envelope the sides 'and 'upper surface of the
upper stone, leaving a space for the passage of the air all around and over-the
stone; s is a vertical shaft, which is placed on one side of the lower millstone, and.
which is furnished with a fan blower h; This shaft is revolved rapidly by means
of a belt from a pulley on the spindle of the burrs or other part of the machinery.
The fan h-is-enclosed: by ay close cap or covering. m (see Figure 4); and a
channel or pipe g connects the fan box with the interior of the curb a, imme->
diately in front of the passage o, down which the flour: escapes from the stones
into the chest c, from which it is carried by a screw conveyor to the elevator.
A small opening p in the side of the curve at the mouth of the pipe g admits.
the current of air formed by the fan blower. h into. the space between the curb:

page_text: a and the upper millstone.. An annular flange of gum elastic or other suit-
able material is attached to and projects from the under surface of the top
of the curb (see Figures 2 and 3), and touches the surface of the stone around
the eye of the upper millstone to prevent the current of air from passing down
that cavity; and there is also a tangential flange or partition t, which extends
from the circumference of the annular flange r to the side of the curb,, and
thence passes
down the side of the curb, so nearly to the base of the curb as
merely to allow of the passage under it of the scrapers v, v, v, attached to the
circumference of the upper millstone at its base. This flange or partition t
terminates at one side of the opening p (in the curb), which admits the draft
and serves to give direction to the current of air, and causes it to pass, around
and over the stone in a regular course, and operate equally on all parts of the
surface.
The tangential flange t also prevents the current of air from the fan or
blower h from finding its exit through the passage à until it has passed around
the curb and over the stone, by forming a barrier between the mouth of the
pipe g and the passage o, so that the air confined between the tangential flange
t and the sides of the curb and the stone follows the direction of the arrows,
Figure 3, and passes around the sides of the upper stone and over it (outside
of the annular flange r), until it finds its exit in the passage o; and the flour
as it passes from the stones being agitated by the scrapers v, v, v, and carried
round by them at its exit o, is thus exposed continually to the direct action of
the cool air from the fan or blower h, whereby the heat and moisture of the
flour are carried off, and the sweat is prevented from settling upon the surface
of the stone and curve. As the flour falls through the passage o, it is con-
ducted by the pipe k into the chest c; tube or ventilator l, rising from the
pipe k, serves as a vent for the escape of the current of air created by the
fan h, and charged with the heat and moisture derived from the flour.
For the purpose of still further cooling the flour as it passes from the stones,
an additional fan may be added on the fan shaft s, as indicated in the Drawing,
m² being the box for the second fan; and communicating with the chest c;
but I do not claim this as new in itself any further than as respects the peculiar
arrangement and mode of attaching it, and the use of a ventilating tube i
(Figures 1 and 2) to carry off the heated air and moisture, similar to the ven-
tilator already described.
What I claim as the Invention secured to me by the above in part recited
Letters Patent is, applying a draft of cold air over and around the upper mill-
stone in grist mills, between the stone and the curb, to prevent sweating on the
stones and curb, and to cool and dry the flour, by means of the fan h or other

page_text: lower, in combination with the annular and tangential flanges inside the curb,
o serve as a guide for the current of air, in the manner and for the purposes
erein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)