IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING OR. CLEANING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND SEEDS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Gardner, of Oldner Farm, Chipping Norton,.
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING OR.
CLEANING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND SEEDS."
Sealed the 12th January 1856, and dated the 12th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Gardner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
October 1855.
I, HENRY GARDNER, of Oldner Farm, Chipping Norton, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING
OR CLEANING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND SEEDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object a peculiar combination of apparatus for
dressing or cleaning wheat, grain, and seeds. For this purpose the wheat,
grain, or seeds which require dressing or cleaning, are to be caused to drop in
a shower or divided state from a winnowing machine or otherwise on to an
endless web of woven fabric or other suitable material, which is caused to move
continuously in an inclined position, by which the lighter and refuse matters.
will be carried by the web in one direction, whilst the good wheat, grain, or
1

page_text: seeds will by their weight descend in an opposite direction, and be thus
separated in a dressed or cleaned state. In order to ensure the separating of
the lighter and refuse matters from the web, a brush, comb, or instrument is
applied to remove such matters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Gardner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GARDNER, of Oldner Farm, Chipping Norton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, 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 Henry Gardner, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Gardner,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Gardner, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
DRESSSING OR CLEANING WHEAT, GRAIN, AND SEEDS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Gardner, 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 Henry Gardner, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be-particularly described. and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object a peculiar combination of apparatus for
dressing or cleaning wheat, grain, and seeds. For this purpose the wheat,
grain, or seeds which require dressing or cleaning are to be caused to drop in
a shower or divided state from a winnowing machine or otherwise on to an
endless web of woven fabric or other suitable material, which is caused to move

page_text: continuously in an inclined position, by which the lighter and refuse matters
will be carried by the web in one direction, whilst the good wheat, grain, or
seeds will by their weight descend in an opposite direction, and be thus.
separated in a dressed or cleaned state. In order to ensure the separation of
the lighter and refuse matters from the web, a brush, comb, or instrument is
applied to remove such matters.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows,a longitudinal section of a winnowing machine having my
Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 shows a section of a blower having my
Invention applied thereto; Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show various views of the
form of apparatus I prefer for carrying the endless web or surface of woven
fabric, though other arrangements may be resorted to, so long as an endless
web or surface of woven fabric is continuously moved in the machine employed
for dressing and cleansing wheat, grain, and seeds in such manner that the
lighter and refuse matters will be carried by the web in one direction, whilst
the good wheat, grain, or seeds will by their weight descend in an opposite
direction, in a like manner to that which results from the working of the
apparatus shown.
a, a, is an endless web of woven fabric, and I prefer to use a rough blanket-
woven fabric, though other fabric may be used. This endless fabric is placed
at such an inclination that the good wheat, grain, or seeds will descend; and
in order to insure these gravitating effects taking place, the frame of the fabric
a is to be made capable of being varied in its angle of inclination to suit
different qualities and descriptions of grains. The frame b, b, which carries the
fabric a, a, has two rollers c, c, over which the endless fabric is stretched,
the bearings of one of the rollers being made capable of adjustment by screws.
d, d. In order to cause the fabric to be distended and kept out laterally, there
are cords sewed in at the edges, and the edges move within grooves on the two
side framings. For this purpose parts b', b', of the frame b, b, are moveable, in
order to admit of the thickened edges of the fabric being placed in the grooves
at the sides of the frame b. The endless fabric is constantly moved in the
direction of the arrows shown in Figures 1 and 2. The wheat, grain, or seed
falls on to the upper surface of the fabric a, a, from sieves or from a hopper.
The currents of air forced in the direction indicated by the arrows in
Figures 1 and 2, separate the chaff, and any light grain, seed, or matter which
may fall on the fabric a, will, for want of sufficient gravity, move up with the

page_text: fabric, whilst the good wheat, grain, or. seed will descend down the inclined
surface of the fabric, and all adhering grain, seed, or other substances. carried
forward by the surface of the fabric: will be scraped off by the fixed blade or
scraper. e, e. Motion is communicated to the endless fabric by giving motion
to one of the rollers c by the axis c', which is screwed into one end of the
roller.
...Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have. it understood that what I claim is, the
application of an endless fabric in combination with suitable machinery for
dressing or cleansing wheat, grain, or seeds, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Gardner, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CHARLES JENNINGS,
Chipping Norton.
HENRY GARDNER. (L.S.)