IMPROVE- MENTS IN CLEANING RICE, AND THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City-of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CLEANING RICE, AND THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Silas Dodson, of San
Francisco, in the State of California, and Alpheus Fobes, of the City and
TT Sentor of Amorian
Sealed the 7th August 1860, and dated the 14th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th March 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANING RICE, AND THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," & communication from abroad by Silas Dodson, of San Francisco,
in the State of California, and Alpheus Fobes, of the City and County of New
York, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of rice-
cleaning mill, and consists in the application and use for that purpose of
detachable and adjustable stone blocks, so shaped that when combined they
will form a hollow stone cylinder, in the interior of which revolves a vertical
drum, having a number of overlapping strips of sheep skin secured vertically
by one edge to the surface of the drum. This drum is also provided with
loose or hinged drags or scrapers, which, by the action of centrifugal force,
tend to fly outwards and scrape the surface of the stone cylinder, thereby

page_text: removing any coagulated matter deposited thereon. As the stone wears away
the blocks are set up by their set screws to the proper guage again. On the
lower edge of the drum one or more vanes or projections are formed, for the
purpose of winnowing off the chaff or light husks which would otherwise
collect in the lower shoot which receives the dressed and cleansed rice. The
rice to be treated enters at the top of the apparatus by a suitable shoot and
hopper, and passes down between the surfaces of the stone cylinder and the
revolving drum. If found desirable a wire gauze cylinder may be used in
lieu of the stone blocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inu Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CLEANING RICE, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," a communication from abroad by Silas Dodson, of San Francisco,
in the State of California, and Alpheus Fobes, of the City and County of
New York, in the United State of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :--
"The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus for cleaning rice, and consists in the application and use for that
purpose of detachable and adjustable stone blocks, so shaped that when
combined they will form a hollow stone cylinder. In the interior of this
cylinder revolves a vertical drum, having a number of overlapping strips of
sheep skin secured vertically by one edge to the surface of the drum; this
drum is also provided with loose or hinged drags or scrapers, which, by the
action of centrifugal force, tend to fly outwards and scrape the surface of the
stone cylinder, thereby removing any coagulated matter deposited thereon..
As the stone wears away the blocks are set up by suitable set screws to tho
proper guage again. On the lower edge of the drum one or more vanes or
projections are formed for the purpose of winnowing off the chaff or light
husks which would otherwise collect in the lower shoot which receives the
dressed and cleansed rice. The rice to be treated enters at the top of the
apparatus by a suitable shoot and hopper, and passes down between the
surfaces of the stone cylinder and the revolving drum. If found desirable, a
wire gauze cylinder may be used in lieu of the stone blocks.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures' on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all
the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents an external view of the improved mill
for cleaning rice; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same; Figure 3 is a
sectional plan of the mill; Figure 4 is a sectional plan of part of the machine,
drawn to an enlarged scale; and Figure 5 is a side view of the metal drags
or scrapers.
A is the base plate of the machine, secured to a suitable foundation B, and
to this plate are secured the four pillars C, C, and C', C', supporting an
annular plate D, on which rests the lower ends of the four stone blocks G.
These blocks are concave on the inside, so that when arranged on the annular
plate D with their corners touching each other, the four blocks combined
inclose a circular space equivalent to the interior of a hollow stone cylinder, as
seen in Figures 3 and 4. Two of the pillars C, C', are carried upwards above.

page_text: the annular plate, and are secured to the cap H. On the under side of this
cap are secured flanges a, and on the top of the annular plate D are similar
Banges a'. All the flanges are furnished with set screws. e, e, the points of
which bear against the outside of the stone blocks G, so that the latter can at
any time be set up by turning the screws both at the top and at the bottom, as
more fully described hereafter. I is a vertical shaft turning at the bottom in
a foot step i on the base plate A, and at the top in the cap H, the shaft being
driven by any suitable system of gearing. To this shaft are secured the upper
and lower cast-iron plates f and f¹ (Figure 2), to which are. attached the
wooden strips.or "lagging" h, having their exterior turned perfectly true, so
as to form the inner cylinder or drum J; the diameter of this drum is such
that a space of an inch or thereabouts shall intervene between it and the
opening formed by the stone blocks. This drum is covered with sheep skin in
the peculiar manner best seen on reference to Figure 4. A series of vertical
strips m, m, of sheep skin or other suitable material, are secured at one edge
only to the drum, the opposite edge which overlaps the adjacent strip being.
loose and at liberty to fly out by the centrifugal force acquired by the velocity.
of the drum. At one or more points in the circumference of the drum are
attached loosely a row of iron or steel rods or scrapers n (Figure 5), part of
which are covered by the sheep skin strips, the other portions projecting from
beneath the edges of the strips, as illustrated in Figure 4. These scrapers
are so loosely connected to the drum that they are at liberty to vibrate
vertically, and to fly out by centrifugal force, thus bearing against the concave
surfaces of the stone blocks, and removing therefrom the coagulated mass.
which is apt to adhere to the surfaces of the stones when partially dried rice is
operated upon. The rice to be cleansed drops from any elevated receptacle
down a shoot on the cap H, and through an opening p in the latter on to the
top of the drum, whence it rolls into the space between the sheep skin covered
sides of the drum and the concave stone blocks. From this space the cleansed
rice falls through the annular opening 2 between the plate D and the lower
end of the drum on to the inclined and circular shoot or chamber K, which is
provided with a spout k to guide the grains of rice to any suitable receptacle.
One, two, or more vaness project from the lower end of the drum into the
chamber K, where, by the speed of the drum, they act as a fan, for the purpose
of preventing the accumulation of chaff in the shoot K. It will be seen that
the four stone blocks are confined to their proper position vertically by the
plate D and the cap H, that they cannot move inwards horizontally on account
of their corners being in contact with each other, and that they are prevented
from moving outwards by the set screws.on the flanges a and al. As there is

page_text: invariably a more dense body of the pellicles or skins of the rice nearer the
lower than the upper portion of the stone cylinder, the surface of the lower
portion of the stone blocks will wear away faster than the upper portions.
When the lower ends have been worn to an extent which renders the cleansing
operations uncertain, the screws e, e, are turned, so that their points are free
from contact with the stones, the upper part H is elevated, the stone blocks
are turned upside down, when the screws e, e, are again tightened, and the
upper plate firmly secured to its place. When the stone blocks are so far
worn that they require setting up both at the top and bottom, they are removed
from their places and the corners are chipped, after which they are replaced
between the plates, and the screws e, e, are tightened until the chipped corners
of the adjacent blocks touch each other.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for cleaning
rice, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the employment of any convenient number of detachable and
adjustable stone blocks G, arranged substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Thirdly, the application and use of a drum with strips of sheep skin or other
suitable material attached, revolving inside of and in combination with a stone
cylinder, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourthly, the application and use of scrapers or drags hung to the drum,
and bearing against the inside of the stone cylinder, in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Fifthly, the application and use of projections on the lower edge of the drum
in combination with the shoot, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September One thousand
eight hundred and sixty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)