IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE GERMINATION OF GRAIN, THE MANUFACTURE OF MALT, AND THE DRYING OF CORN, FRUITS, PEAT, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE GERMINATION OF GRAIN,
THE MANUFACTURE OF MALT, AND THE DRYING OF CORN, FRUITS, PEAT, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES.”—A communication from abroad by Jacob Zböril,
of Vienna, Austria, Iron Merchant.
Sealed the 1st December 1874, and dated the 19th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise
'at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
"oh 'the 19th September 1874.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE-GERMINATION OF
GRAIN, THE Manufacture of Malt, and the DRYING OF CORN, FRUITS, PHAT,
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," (a communication to me from abroad by Jacob
Zböril, of Vienna, Austria, Iron Merchant), to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for the
germination of grain, the manufacture of malt, and the drying of corn,

page_text: fruits, peat, and other substances, and has reference to apparatus con-
structed with compound shelves or stages composed of separate parts
capable of being turned or tilted so that the substances under treatment
may by tilting the parts of the shelves or stages be dropped from the
one shelf or stage on to the next lower one, and so on, such shelves or
stages being arranged within a chamber through which air suitably
heated when required may be caused to ascend for drying or acting
upon the substances under treatment.
According to this Invention each shelf or stage is composed of a
series of troughs or gutter-shaped vessels, one of the lateral parts of
each trough or vessel being made to slightly overlap the lateral edge of
the adjoining trough or vessel so as to form covers, which, while allowing
of the necessary tilting motion and ascent of air prevent any of the
grain or substance under treatment falling between the troughs or
vessels when they are not tilted. These troughs or vessels are provided
with pivots or axles at their respective ends, the centre of gravity of
each trough or vessel when charged being in or near the axis of rotation.
The troughs or vessels of each shaft or stage are arranged opposite to the
spaces between those of the shelf or stage next below, and with their
overlapping lateral parts in the contrary direction to those of such lower
shelf or stage. When used for drying purposes the troughs or vessels
are perforated, but not when intended only for germinating.
The whole of the troughs or vessels composing each shelf are tilted in
one and the same direction, and this direction is in each shelf contrary
to that of the shelf below so as to obviate any excessive accumulation
of grain or substance under treatment at either side of the apparatus.
The tilting may be effected by providing the pivots or axles of the
troughs or vessels with cranks which may be worked through bars or
rods actuated through arms or tappets and by springs, but this arrange-
ment may obviously be modified to suit circumstances so long as a
sudden tilting movement be imparted to the troughs or vessels as
required; the return motion may be a gradual one, the object being to
bodily overturn the contents of the tilted troughs or vessels into the
troughs or vessels of the next lower shelf or stage.
The apparatus may be worked by manual or other power.
The grain or substance to be treated is fed by any suitable means to

page_text: found convenient to use a filling truck divided into as many compart-
ments as there are troughs or vessels in the uppermost shelf or stage,
and arranged to travel over and charge them.
The substances to be germinated or dried having been fed to the upper
shelf or stage will be tilted in due course on to the next lower shelf or
stage, and so on from one to the other at properly regulated intervals
until they finally reach the lowest shelf or stage, from the troughs or
vessels of which the germinating or drying substances are thrown upon
an inclined plane or grate. Below this, damp, warm, or dry air is pro-
duced according to the purposes for which the substances are to be used.
This air in ascending through the spaces in and about the inclined plane
or grate and shelves, or stages, acts upon the grain or substances under
treatment and leaves the apparatus by an opening or chimney provided
for the purpose. The dried or germinated grains or substances are taken
out of the apparatus at the bottom of the inclined plane or grate.
For treating materials like fruit, peat, et cætera, the shelves or stages
may in some cases be inclined so that the troughs or vessels of each row
shall overlap the spaces between those of the next lower row. Separate
deflectors may be arranged to overlap the spaces between the troughs or
vessels.
By the use of apparatus according to this Invention grain and other
substances may be economically and efficiently treated in a small space
with comparatively little labor and without the injury to the health of
those employed which arises in ordinary malt drying kilns and germi-
nating cellars.
The apparatus is also simple in construction and may be made very

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Lloyd Wise, Her
special license that I, the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Lloyd
Wise, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE GERMINATION OF GRAIN, THE
MANUFACTURE OF MALT, AND THE DRYING OF CORN, FRUITS, PEAT, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," (a communication to me from abroad by Jacob Zböril, of
Vienna, Austria, Iron Merchant), upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 William Lloyd Wise, 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 and the Drawings therein referred to
(that is to say) :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for the
germination of grain, the manufacture of malt, and the drying of corn,
fruits, peat, and other substances, and has reference to apparatus con-
structed with compound shelves or stages composed of separate parts
capable of being turned or tilted so that the substances under treatment
may by tilting the parts of the shelves or stages be dropped from the
one shelf or stage on to the next lower one, and so on, such shelves or
stages being arranged within a chamber through which air suitably
heated when required may be caused to ascend for drying or acting upon
the substances under treatment.

page_text: an inclined plane or grate. Below this damp, warm, or dry air is pro-
duced according to the purposes for which the substances are to be used.
This air in ascending through the spaces in and about the inclined plane
or grate, and shelves, or stages, acts upon the grain or substances under
treatment and leaves the apparatus by an opening or chimney provided
for the purpose. The dried or germinated grain or substances are taken
out of the apparatus at the bottom of the inclined plane or grate.
For treating materials like fruit, peat, et cætera, the shelves or stages
may in some cases be inclined so that the troughs or vessels of each row
shall overlap the spaces between those of the next lower row. Separate
deflectors may be arranged to overlap the spaces between the troughs or
vessels.
By the use of apparatus according to this Invention grain and other
substances may be economically and efficiently treated in a small space
with comparatively little labor and without the injury to the health of
those employed which arises in ordinary malt drying kilns and germi-
nating cellars.
The apparatus is also simple in construction and may be made very
portable.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings is a vertical section of a kiln constructed
according to the said Invention; Fig. 2 is a similar section at right
angles to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section.
Within an enclosed space a of rectangular section series of perforated
moveable troughs or vessels 6 are fixed in rows superposed to each other
in such a manner that the troughs or vessels of each row are moveable
round their longitudinal axes 6¹, and by this movement deposit their
contents into the troughs or vessels of the next lower row. The axles
of the troughs or vessels 6 which are perfectly parallel to each other are
moved by cranks 62 from the outside of the working space so that the
troughs or vessels of each row are always tilted over in the same
direction, whereas the troughs or vessels of the different rows alternate
in their tilting motion so as to obviate the accumulation of the drying
or germinating materials on one side of the apparatus. It is clear that
the materials intended to germinate or to dry after having been filled in
the troughs or vessels of the uppermost row will descend by degrees
according to the following rows, being tilted over one after the other.
From the troughs or vessels of the lowest row the germinating or drying

page_text: materials are thrown upon an inclined grate c below which suitable
contrivances produce damp, warm, or dry air according to the purposes
of the apparatus. This air in ascending between and through the
perforated inclined plane or grate c, and the superposed rows of troughs
or vessels 6 acts upon the materials contained in the latter and leaves
the apparatus through an opening or a chimney d provided in the roof
of the apparatus. The dried materials or germinated products are taken
out of the apparatus at the bottom of the inclined grate c.
The dimensions of the troughs or vessels will vary according to the
quantity of material to be treated in the apparatus, but the number of
superposed rows of troughs or vessels employed will depend upon the
time necessary for the completion of the operation (germination or
drying).
The arrangement of the troughs or vessels must be such as to allow
the air and gases to ascend not only through their perforated bottoms 6*
but also between the troughs or vessels so that the worked materials
may be acted upon from all sides. The materials are prevented from
falling through the spaces between the troughs or vessels of each row by
covering the said spaces by angular deflectors c³, as shown in Figs. 1
and 2, or it may be done by causing one of the lateral parts of each
trough or vessel to slightly overlap the lateral edge of the adjoining
trough or vessel, as in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8; or the shelves or stages
may in some cases be inclined so that the troughs or vessels of each row
shall overlap the spaces between those of the next lower row, as in
Figs. 9 and 10. The last named arrangement may be used with
advantage in treating materials like fruit, peat; et cætera, as by this
arrangement the hot air or gases are compelled to pass more over the
surface of the material to be dried than in the horizontal row system,
and thus the drying will be effected more rapidly and a larger quantity
of material may be treated in the same time.
same.
The sectional form of the troughs or vessels used depends upon the
quantity of material to be treated, but in all cases a flat or curved
bottom with one or two rims will be the characteristic feature of the
The axles 6¹ of the troughs or vessels 6 must be fixed in or below
the centre of gravity of the filled troughs or vessels so that the tilting
motion may be as easy and quick as possible, as it is an essential point
especially with materials composed of small grains that the materials

page_text: shall not only be run from one shelf or stage into the next lower, but
that they shall be entirely overturned and fresh surfaces exposed to the
'action of the ascending air. The easy accomplishment of this condition
is one of the great merits of the present Invention.
The uppermost row of troughs or vessels may be filled in the necessary
intervals by different means, but it is preferred to use a filling truck, as
shewn at f, in Figs. 1 and 2. This truck is divided into as many com-
partments as there are gutters in the uppermost row. The length of
the truck corresponds to the breadth of the top row of troughs or vessels.
The partition walls of the truck reach to the shelf or stage so that the
truck may be filled with the materials to be treated without any loss
though the partitions are open at top and bottom. The filled truck fis
then moved along the troughs or vessels of the top row and thus deposits
into them as much of the materials as they will take up. The spaces g
between the troughs or vessels of each row must be larger in the upper
rows, as the ascending air in taking up the moisture of the drying
materials will increase in volume and therefore more space will be
requisite to ensure the uninterrupted ascent of the gaseous products.
An inclined grate c, as shewn, is by preference used to carry out of the
apparatus the treated materials because it allows ample passage room for
the ascending air, but an inclined plane may obviously be substituted.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying it into practical effect, as communicated to me as
aforesaid, I desire to have it understood that I am aware it has been
proposed to construct apparatus for drying or treating grain and manu-
facturing malt with compound shelves or stages composed of separate
parts capable of being turned or tilted, so that the substances under
treatment might by tilting the parts of the shelves or stages be dropped
from the one shelf or stage on to the next lower one, and so on, such
shelves or stages being arranged within a chamber through which air
suitably heated, when required, might be caused to ascend for drying or
acting upon the substances under treatment; I therefore do not lay
claim to that principle of construction, nor do I claim the exclusive use
of the several mechanical parts herein-before described or referred to,
except when the same are used in and for the purposes of the said In-
vention communicated to me as aforesaid, as respects which, what I do
claim is the construction of apparatus for the germination of grain, the
manufacture of malt, and the drying of corn, fruits, peat, and other

page_text: substances, having compound shelves or stages composed of separate
tilting parts, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.