IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING BARLEY AND GRITS OR GROATS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Jonson, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING BARLEY AND GRITS OR
GROATS."
Sealed the 21st April 1854, and dated the 14th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Jonson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
February 1854.
I, ARTHUR JONSON, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING BARLEY AND GRITS
OR GROATS" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the means resorted to for
subjecting barley and oats in the preparation of pearl barley and grits or groats
therefrom; and the improvements consist of causing the pipes or passages
through which the heat is conveyed to the oven or drying apparatus to be
surrounded or enclosed in such manner that air may pass through the casing
and from thence into the oven or drying chamber, so as to cause a quick
passage of heated air through the chamber or oven. The interior of the
oven or drying chamber is to be heated by steam or hot water pipes or boxes,
and kept up to such a temperature as to obtain the requisite drying, and yet
not such as to char the grain. The barley.or, oats is carried on endless carriers

page_text: of wire cloth or other suitable material. The barley or oats are first subjected
to the warmth by being moved over the exterior of the oven or chamber, and
the endless wire cloth or carriers are moved slowly through the oven or
chamber, having on them a thin layer of oats or barley, so that when it arrives
out of the oven or chamber it may be properly dried. The barley or oats
when dry are delivered by the apparatus, so that it falls through cool air, and
is thereby quickly reduced in temperature.
The direction of the movement of
the endless carriers is opposite to that at which the ventilation takes place, so
that the grain coming in will be first subjected to the heated air most charged
with vapour.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Arthur Jonson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
JONSON, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Arthur Jonson, Her special licence that I, the said Arthur
Jonson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Arthur Jonson, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PREPARING BARLEY AND GRITS OR GROATS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Arthur Jonson, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Arthur Jonson, 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):-

page_text: This Invention has for its object improvements in the means resorted to for
subjecting barley and oats in the preparation of pearl barley and grits or groats
therefrom; and the improvements consist of causing the pipes or passages
through which the heat is conveyed to the oven or drying apparatus to be
surrounded or enclosed in such manner that air may pass through the casing
and from thence into the oven or drying chamber, so as to cause a quick
passage of heated air through the chamber or oven. The interior of the oven
or drying chamber is to be heated by steam or hot water pipes or boxes, and
kept up to such a temperature as to obtain the requisite drying, and yet not
such as to char the grain. The barley or oats is carried on endless carriers of
wire cloth or other suitable material. The barley or oats are first subjected to
the warmth by being moved over the exterior of the oven or chamber, and
the endless wire cloth or carriers are moved slowly through the oven or
chamber, having on them a thin layer of oats or barley, so that when it
arrives out of the oven or chamber it may be properly dried. The barley or
oats when dry are delivered by the apparatus, so that it falls through cool air,
and is thereby quickly reduced in temperature. The direction of the move-
ment of the endless carriers is opposite to that at which the ventilation takes
place, so that the grain coming in will be first subjected to the heated air most
charged with vapour. Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section
of apparatus suitably arranged for carrying out my Invention. a, a, is a dry-
ing chamber heated by steam pipes b, b, as shown; the heated chamber a, a,
is open at the top to allow of a free escapement of the aqueous vapours arising
from the drying process. The pipes b, b, through which the heat is conveyed to
the drying chamber or oven a, a, are surrounded or enclosed by the casing or
tube c in such manner that air may pass up through the casing or tube c into
the oven or drying chamber a, a, by means of which a swift current of heated
air is caused to pass through the chamber or oven a, a, and I cause the mate-
rials under operation to travel in a reverse direction to that of the current of
heated air. The body of the chamber a, a, is heated by the steam or hot
water pipes or boxes d, d, and kept at a suitable temperature to ensure the
requisite drying without charring the grain. I prefer steam at a pressure of
about 35 lbs. to the inch for the purpose, but this would vary in accordance
with the dimensions of the chamber a. The barley or oats, &c. is carried on
endless bands or aprons e, f, of wire cloth or other suitable material, and is fed
first on to the apron e from the hopper g in a thin layer, and in order to insure
the delivery of a thin and even layer the hopper g is provided with a sliding
door or opening g', the opening or closing of which is controlled by the handle
and screw g. The endless aprons e, f, both travel at a uniform speed of about

page_text: nine feet per half hour, and motion is given to the axes of the rollers around
which the endless aprons are passed either with cords or bands and pullies, or
by a worm and worm wheel from a steam engine, or by any other means which
convenience may suggest. The barley or oats, &c., having travelled along on
the endless band e, fall into the hopper or spout h, which is formed so as to lay
a thin and even layer of the grain upon the endless apron f, which travels in an
opposite direction to the endless apron e. The apron f delivers the grain into
the spout of the cooling apparatus i, the sides of which are formed wire
cloth or other suitable open work, so as to allow of cold air passing through
the falling of the grain down the tortuous passages formed by the arrangement
of the pieces k, k, fixed within the cooling apparatus i.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein described; nor do I claim the mechanical parts
separately; but what I claim is, the combination herein described for preparing
barley and grits or groats.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Jonson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
FRED HARRIS.
ARTHUR JONSON. (L.S.)