IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING AND CLEANING COFFEE AND OTHER BERRIES OR SEEDS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING AND CLEANING
COFFEE AND OTHER BERRIES OR SEEDS."-A communication from abroad
by William Van Vleek Lidgerwood, a Citizen of the United States,
now Chargé des Affaires at Rio de Janeiro, in the Empire of Brazil.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th August 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING
AND CLEANING COFFEE AND OTHER BERRIES OR SEEDS," to be as follows:-
The coffee berries as gathered often have stones mixed with them which
if allowed to pass through the machinery employed for removing the coffee
hull from the berry injúre and break or quickly wear out the machine.
The present mechanism for hulling coffee is an improvement in machinery
of the general character shown in Letters Patent granted to Robert Porter
Walker, May 15th, 1857, No. 1374, and consists in a shaking screen
introduced in the hopper, having meshes large enough to pass the coffee
[Price 8d3

page_text: berries as they are supplied from a spout, but the screen detains any stones
or other foreign substances larger than the berries, so that they may be
removed and not pass into the machine. The berries fall through the
screen into a hopper and are fed therefrom to the machine gradually by a
revolving screw, the berries passing through a spout to the machine. The
machine itself is composed of a suitable framework enclosed to keep in the
dust, and within is a horizontal shaft carrying a prism of about eight sides
and rotated in one direction, and around said shaft is a cylindrical casing
rotated in the other direction, the coffee berries passing in between the two,
the same as in the said Walker's Patent.
The improvements consist in providing a means for breaking up small
stones when they first enter the machine with the coffee berries. To effect
this the said revolving cylindrical casing is lined at the feeding end with
corrugated metallic plates, and the prism surrounding the shaft at the same
point is made in a series of decreasing polygons or prisms, on the surfaces
of which are bolted chilled cast-iron plates. The stones that may pass
into the machine with the berries are broken up into small pieces by the
centrifugal action and concussion between these metallic surfaces moving
as they do in opposite directions.
The coffee is hulled by the action of metallic plates punched up with
rasping teeth and set in metallic stocks screwed to the flat surfaces of the
revolving prisın beyond where the aforesaid chilled iron plates are bolted,
and the exterior revolving cylinder at the same portion of its length is made of
a wire grating within a skeleton frame of wood or metal, through which grating
dust, fine pieces of stone, grit, and other foreign matter pass into the enclosure
or casing of the machine. Adjustable sheet metal flanges placed slightly
diagonal and attached to the revolving prism are employed to cause the hulls
and coffee to progress regularly through the machine, and when they become
thoroughly separated and the skin of the berry loosened and rubbed off the
mass is delivered from the end of the machine and passed to the fanning mill
which separates the coffee and the hulls. This fanning mill is made with two
revolving fan blowers placed one above the other, and the blasts are passed
from them through a space formed between two enclosing frames. The upper
blast is directed upwards by an inclined board between said frames, and
acts upon the coffee and hulls as they pass down from a hopper in a regular
stream; the hulls are blown away, and any light coffee berries are blown up the
said inclined board and fall over the edge into a receptacle provided for them;
the coffee and any remaining hulls pass away from the lower edge of the said
inclined board upon the top screen of a series of screens that are set in a

page_text: framework closed at the sides and forming a "shoe" that is supported upon
rollers,so that it can be vibrated by a connecting rod to an adjustable crauk
pin at the end of a revolving shaft; the lower one of the aforesaid revolving
blowers throws its blast through the said shoe,and between the shoe and blower
is an adjustable blast board that when raised allows more air to pass through
the lower part of the shoe than the upper, and the reverse, so as to direct
and regulate the blast. The series of screens in the said shoe consists of
two upper screens parallel, but slightly inclined to the back end, so that any
unhulled berries will work off that end into a receptacle, and the pieces of
hulls be blown away; the meshes of these screens are large enough to pass
the coffee berries, and I use one screen with long narrow meshes to pass the
berries flatwise or their narrowest way. Two screens inclined in opposite
directions form the lower ones of the said series of screens in the shoe;
they are formed with finemeshes, and the upper one directs the coffee towards
the back of the shoe and upon the upper part of the bottom screen that is
inclined to throw the coffee to the delivery end in the opposite direction to
the blast that carries away any dust. Under the upper screens in the shoe I
employ small hammers with faces of rubber, leather, or similar material;
they are actuated by a cam and spring and strike upwards against
the under side of the screens to give them a jar that loosens any berries or
pieces that may become wedged in the screens.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, A.D. One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward 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

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HULLING AND CLEANING COFFEE AND
OTHER BERRIES OR SEEDS," (a communication to him from abroad by William
Vau Vleek Lidgerwood, a Citizen of the United States, now Chargé des
Affaires at Rio de Janeiro, in the Empire of Brazil,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instru-
ment 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 iminediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the hulling machinewithpartofthecoverremoved,
Fig. 2 is a section of the hulling cylinder longitudinally; Fig. 3 is a cross
section of the same at the line x, x; and Fig. 4 is a similar cross section at
the line y, y; Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the fanning mill
for separating the hulls and coffee; and Fig. 6 is a cross section of the same
at the line z, z. Similiar marks of reference denote the same parts.
The coffee berries as gathered often have stones mixed with them which
if allowed to pass through the machinery employed for removing the coffee
hull from the berry, injure and break or quickly wear out the machine.
The present mechanism for hulling coffee is an improvement in machinery
of the general character shown in Letters Patent granted in Great Britain
to Robert Porter Walker, May 15, 1857, No. 1374, and consists in a
shaking screen a introduced in the hopper b, having meshes large enough
to pass the coffee berries as they are supplied from a spout, but the screen
detains any stones or other foreign substances larger than the berries, so
that they may be removed and not pass into the machine. The screen is
shaken by a rock shaft and arms receiving motion from the revolving
crank 1. The berries fall through the screen into the hopper b, and are
fed therefrom to the machine gradually by a revolving screw c, the berries
passing through a spout d, to the machine.
The machine itself is composed of a suitable framework e enclosed to keep
in the dust, and within is a horizontal shaft f carrying a prism g of about

page_text: eight sides and rotated in one direction, and around said shaft is a cylindrical
casing / rotated in the other direction, the coffee berries passing in between
the two, the same as in the said Walker Patent.
The improvements consist in producing a means for breaking up small
stones when they first enter the machine with the coffee berries. To effect
this the said revolving cylindrical casing his lined at the feeding end with
corrugated metallic plates i, and the prism surrounding the shaft is made at
the same point in a series of decreasing polygons or prisms on the surface of
which are bolted chilled cast-iron plates . The stones that may pass into
the machinewith the berries are broken up into small pieces by the centrifugal
action and concussion between these metallic surfaces i and k, moving as they
do in opposite directions; these metallic plates also aid in breaking the coffee
hulls. The coffee is hulled by the action of metallic plates punched up with
rasping teeth and set in metallic stocks m secured to the flat surfaces of the
revolving prism g beyond where the aforesaid chilled iron plates / are bolted.
The plates l, see Figs. 8 & 10, are attached to said stocks m (Figs. 4, 8, & 9)
by screws, and have springs under them, so that their outer nds yield to the
mass of berries; both ends of the plates are punched with said rasping teeth,
standing in opposite directions, so that they can be turned end for end when
one set of teeth is worn out, and the exterior revolving cylinder at the same
portion of its length is made of a wire grating a formed of square iron bars
interwoven and attached within a skeleton frame of wood or metal, through
which grating,dust, fine pieces of stone,grit, and other foreign matter pass
the enclosure or casing of the machine. Sheet metal flanges or "flights" o
(Fig. 11) are employed to cause the hulls and coffee to progress regularly
though the machine; these flights are attached to the revolving prism at one
end and at the other to an adjustable bar so that the angle of the flights can
be varied. When the coffee and hulls become thoroughly separated, and the
skin of the berry loosened and rubbed off, the mass is delivered from the end
of the machine and passed to the fanning mill which separates the coffee and
the hulls. The cylinder his stiffened by longitudinal braces h¹ running upon
the outside of the skeleton frame, and these are tightened up by set screws atn¹.
The corrugated plates i may be formed with openings too small to allow the
coffee or berries to pass out, but which will allow the pieces of stone, clay,
sand, and dirt to be sifted out. The screen n is to be formed of square wires
interwoven and formed cylindrical, said square wires making a much stronger
screen than one formed of round wire of the same diameter and opening in
the meshes, and said square wires present sharp angles to aid in the hulling
operation. The fanning mill is made with two revolving fan blowers p & q
sinto

page_text: placed one above the other, and the blasts are passed from them through a
space formed between two enclosing frames 7, 7. The upper blast 2 is
directed upwards by an inclined board s between said frames, and acts upon
the coffee and hulls as they pass down from a hopper s¹ in a regular stream;
the hulls are blown away, and anylight coffee berries are blown up the inclined
board t, and fall over the edge into a receptacle t¹ provided for them; the
coffee and any remaining hulls pass away from the lower edge of said inclined
board t; upon the top screen of a series of screens that are set in a framework
closed at the sides, and forming a "shoe "u that is supported upon rollers u¹,
so that it can be vibrated by a connecting rod v to an adjustable crank pin at
the end of a revolving shaft v'. The lower one of aforesaid revolving blowers
(q) throws its blast through the said "shoe" u, and between the shoe and
blower is an adjustable blast board w, that when raised allows more air to
pass through the lower part of the shoe than the upper, and the reverse, so as
to direct and regulate the blast. The series of screens in said shoe u consist
of two upper screens w¹ and w² parallel, but inclined slightly to the back end,
so that any unhulled berries will work off that end into a receptacle 2, and
the pieces of bulls be blown away. The meshes of these screens w¹ and w
are large enough to pass the coffee berries, and I use one screen w³ with long
narrow meshes to pass the berries flatwise or their narrowest way, as seen in
the detached view Fig. 7. Two screens 3 and 4 inclined in opposite directions
form the lower ones of the said series of screens in the shoe; they are formed
with fine meshes and the upper one 3 directs the coffee towards the back of
the shoe, and upon the upper part of the bottom screen 4 that is inclined to
throw the coffee to the delivery end in the opposite direction to the blast
from 9 that carries away any dust. Under the upper screens in the shoe u I
employ small hammers 5, 5, with faces of rubber,leather, or similar material;
they are attached to a vertical bar 8 that is actuated by a cam 6 and spring 7,
and the hammera 5 strike upwards against the under sides of the screens
w&w to give them a jar that loosens any berries or pieces that may become
wedged in the screen. The cam 6 is to be rotated by suitable means in
Fig. 5, the gears for this purpose are shown by dotted lines. This machinery
is particularly adapted to hulling and cleaning coffee, but may be used for
any other purpose wherever available.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First, the shaking screen a in the hopper 6 to detain stones and foreign
matter larger than the coffee berries, in combination with the hulling
mechanism specified.
Second, I claim the metallic plates i and k, introduced in the hulling prism

page_text: and cylinder, and acting to break up any pieces of stone and aid in hulling
the coffee as specified.
Third, I claim the metallic plates / formed with rasping teeth, and mounted
in the stocks m, in the manner specified.
Fourth, I claim the adjustable flights o fitted and applied as and for the
purposes set forth.
Fifth, I claim the arrangement of the fanning mill with two blowers, the
blasts from which are directed upon the coffee, the hulls, and refuse matter
in the manner specified.
Sixth, I claim forming the vibrating "shoe" u with the screens w¹, w³,
3 & 4, applied as and for the purposes set forth.
Seventh, I claim the screen, shown in Fig. 7, for separating the coffee
from the hulls and unhulled berries.
Eighth, I claim the hammers 5, 5, applied below the screens w¹ & w³, for
the purposes set forth.
Ninth, I claim a screen of square woven wire applied in a hulling machine
for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)