IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND TREATING GRAIN, AND IN DRESSING TLOND AND IN MACHINERY FOR THESE PURPOSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wallworth, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, British Gum Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND TREATING GRAIN, AND IN DRESSING
TLOND AND IN MACHINERY FOR THESE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 13th February 1855, and dated the 16th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wallworth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th August 1854.
I, THOMAS WALLWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, British Gum Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND TREATING GRAIN, AND IN
DRESSING FLOUR, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THESE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The grain is taken in a dry state, and, while passing through an inclined
cylinder of wire work or perforated plate, is acted upon by straight edges or
blades, which are fixed at an angle to a radial line on an axis whichi is made
to revolve rapidly. These blades or edges loosen the dirt and impurities, by
causing a friction or attrition of the grains against each other and the edges
and wire cylinder, and the dirt and impurities thus loosened are separated from
the grain (passing through the meshes or perforations of the cylinder) by
gravity, assisted by a current outwards, produced by the contrifugal action of

page_text: the revolving blades or straight edges, while chaff and other like particles
which will not pass through the meshes or perforations of the cylinder are
expelled and separated from the grain by a current produced by a centrifugal
fan, through which the grain is made to pass on leaving the cylinder, and
descending to the sack or other receptacle, or to another similarly arranged
cylinder of wire work or perforated plate, to be there further acted upon and
moistened by a jet or a number of jets of water, to prepare it for the operation
of grinding. This latter cylinder may have its meshes or perforations of
different sizes to assort the grain according to size as it passes along the
cylinder. I propose to use cylinders with blades or straight edges, arranged
similar to those above described for purifying and treating grain, for the purpose
of dressing flour; and to produce a strong current of air outwards to expel the
flour from the bran, I propose to make the axis carrying the blades hollow,
and to admit air at that point, or otherwise make the central or axial part
of the drum form, and mount the blades or edges on the face of it. Should
this not produce a sufficiently strong current to expel the flour, an auxiliary
fan may be employed. In this part of my Invention my object is to arrange
the axle carrying the blades or straight edges so as to combine the action of a
contrifugal fan with that of an agitator or distributor.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wallworth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WALLWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, British
Gum Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Wallworth, Her especial license that I, the said Thomas
Wallworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Thomas Wallworth, 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND TREATING GRAIN; AND IN DRESSING FLOUR, AND
IN MACHINERY POR THESE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Thomas Wallworth, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal; should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what inanner 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 Thomas Wallworth, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 and accompanying Drawing (that to say) :-
The first part of my Invention relates to an improved mode of purifying and
treating grain. The grain to be operated upon is taken in a dry state, and
while passing through an inclined cylinder of wire work or perforated plate is
acted upon by straight edges or blades, which are fixed at an angle to a radial
line on an axis, which is made to revolve' rapidly. These blades or edges
loosen the dirt and impurities, by causing a friction or attrition of the grains
against each other and the straight edges and wire cylinder, and the dirt and
impurities thus loosened are separated from the grain (passing through the
meshes or perforations of the cylinder) by gravity, assisted by a current of air
outwards produced by the centrifugal action of the revolving blades or straight
edges," while chaff and other light particles which will not pass through the
meshes or perforations of the cylinder are expelled and separated from the
grain by a current produced by a centrifugal fan or blowing apparatus, which
the grain is made to pass through on leaving the cylinder, and descending to
the sick or other receptacle, or to another similarly arranged cylinder of wire
work or perforated plate, to be there further acted upon and moistened.(if
the grain requires softening) by a jet or a number of jets of water, to prepare
it for the operation of grinding. The second cylinder may have its meshes or
perforations of different sizes to assort the grain according to size as it passes
along the cylinder. For the purpose of more clearly shewing the manner in
which I carry my Invention into effect, I have annexed hereto one Sheet of
Drawing. Figs. 1 and 8 shew a longitudinal sectional view of a machine
constructed and arranged according to my Invention for purifying grain;
Fig. 2, a transverse section on the line A, B, Fig 1, shewing also section of
fan; Fig. 4, an end view of the shaft or of the "spiders" or arms, on which
the straight edges or blades are fixed; Fig. 5, an edge view of one of the
spiders; Fig. 6, end view of a spider; and Fig. -7, length view; the two
..

page_text: latter Figures exhibiting a mode of securing the straight edges to the arms, so
that their edges may be adjusted to the sides of the cylinders without removing
the shaft from the cylinder. The same letters and Figures of reference will be
repeated on the same or corresponding parts in each Figure of the Drawing.
Grain may be most conveniently operated upon when the machinery is arranged
in three rooms, one over the other; the upper floor for the grain to be operated
upon, the second floor for the first cylinder (Fig. 1), the second cylinder
(Fig. 3) being attached to the under side of the second floor or in the lower
room. This is the manner in which the machinery shewn in the Drawing is
arranged, A being the second floor. a is a portion of the "hopper," down
which the grain to be operated upon descends from the upper floor to the
upper end of the first wiro cylinder; b is the outside iron framing of the
machine, to which is secured the ring cylinder c; these rings are made in the
interior perfectly cylindrical, so that when the wire sieve c' is attached to their
inside it forms a true cylinder. The sizes of the meshes of the sieve will
depend upon the size of the grain to be operated upon. d is the shaft, on
which the arms or spiders (d') are keyed, which carry the straight edges or
blades e; it revolves in two bearings d, d, attached to cross bars secured to the
outside end framing b, and its gravitating end pressure is resisted by a "collar"
d'in one case, but in the other case (Fig. 3) by end of shaft working in a foot-
step bearing. The straight edges or blades e arc attached to the arms of the
"spiders" d' at an angle to a line radiating from the axis of the shaft of about
60 degrees, being parallel to the shaft (d) lengthways. Fig. 4 shews the
manner in which the blades e are secured to the armis d', d being screws
fixed in the arms, by which means the edges of the blades or straight
edges (e) are adjusted to the required distance from the face of the sieve c',
which will depend upon the size of the grain to be operated upon. Figs. 6
and 7, as before stated, shew a method by which the blades or straight
edges may bo adjusted without disturbing the shaft. The blades or straight
edges e in this case are formed with slots e' in them, in a direction oblique
to the edge, for every bolt by which they are secured to the arms, and the
back edges of the blades are also cut at the same angles as the slots, to
bear against corresponding incline planes e², formed on the arms d. With this
arrangement, when the blades are moved endways their edges will approach or
retire from the face of the sieve. Those bolts securing the blades to the middle
spiders (d) are screwed up so as to leave the blades just free to be moved end-
ways, but the bolts at each end of the blades (which can be readily got at)
may be screwed tight when the blades are adjusted to keep them in their places.
The shaft d is revolved in the direction pointed by the arrows (Figs. 4 and 6)

page_text: from the driving power employed by a strap which passes round the fast and
loose driving pulleys d, at a velocity according to the nature of the grain
operated upon, varying from three to six hundred revolutions per minute, the
most favorable speed being ascertained by trial. The passage of the grain
from the hopper to the cylinder may be regulated by the usual means (a slide),
and when operated upon within the cylinder, the dust and other impurities will
pass through the sieve, and will be collected by the hopper-formed sides b
under the cylinder, so as to pass out through the floor (A) into a sack or other
receptacle, the framing being enclosed at the sides to prevent it from falling
into the room. The grain, chaff, and other particles which will not pass
through the meshes of the cylindrical sieve will pass out of the end of it,
and drop down a channel 6, passing through a current of air produced by the
fan D, which is revolved by a band from the pulley d', on the shaft d (sce
Fig. 1), by which current the chaff and other light particles will be carried
into a chaff box or receptacle E, placed at one side, and the grain may descend
into a sack or other receptacle in the room below, or be conducted to a second
sieve cylinder, fixed in a frame secured to the under side of the floor A. The
pipe or spout g conducting the grain from one cylinder to the other may
have a
wire sieve on its bottom side, to allow any other small particles of dirt still
remaining to be separated from the grain falling down a spout or pipe g, the
grain remaining on the sieve and passing into the second sieve cylinder, which
together with the other parts are of the same construction and arrangement as
the first (Fig. 1); and as the same letters and figures are repeated on Fig. 3
as are used on corresponding parts in Fig. 1, I need not add any further
description. The shaft d, Fig. 3, is revolved by a belt i, passing round a pulley
on it, and a corresponding pulley on end of shaft d, Fig. 1. As the grain passes
down the sieve cylinder it is moistened by water from a tap k (if it requires
softening to prepare it for grinding), the waste water being conveyed away by
the pipe . It may be found advisable where the grain requires a large amount
of moisture to form the lower end of the cylinder of tin or copper plate, with-
out perforations, to prevent the water from being thrown off by the centrifugal
action of the blades. The grain when fully acted upon leaves the cylinder, and
descends into a sack or other receptacle down the spout h.
The second part of my Invention relates to "dressing" ground grain, or
separating the flour from the bran; for which purpose I apply a portion of
the combination of mechanism already described for purifying and treating
grain to prepare it for grinding, making suitable modifications to adapt it to
the purpose. I only require a portion of the mechanism shewn in Fig. 1 (as
I dispense with the fan D), using a finer sieve for the cylinder (about equal to

page_text: that now commonly used in ordinary machinery for separating the flour from
bran), and a shaft, d, mounting about as many blades as are shewn in Fig. 6.
The casing which encloses the cylinder is divided by partitions into as many
portions as there are qualities.required, as in the ordinary. dressing machines
(as shewn by dotted lines), so that each quality of flour as it passes through
the sieve falls down separate spouts into sacks or other, receptacles, and the
bran passes out of the bottom of the cylinder down the pipe or spout 6. I find
for dressing flour that the mechanism is. most effective when the shaft d is
driven at a velocity of about five hundred and fifty revolutions per minute, at
which speed the blades produce by centrifugal action a current of air sufficient
to expel the flour through the cylindrical sieve without auxiliary means. The
blades are set as near the surface of the sieve as possible without touching.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the mode
in which it may be carried into effect, and I claim as new, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, and as my Invention,
Firstly, the mode and arrangement and combination of mechanism used,
and herein described as the first part of my Invention, for purifying and
treating grain to prepare it for grinding.
Secondly, I claim the peculiar adaptation and arrangement of straight
edges or blades on a revolving axis in combination with an inclined perforated
or sieve cylinder for purifying or treating grain, as herein-before explained in
describing the first part of my Invention.
Thirdly, and lastly, I claim the arrangement and combination of mechanism
herein-before described as the second part of my Invention, and its mode of
action for dressing ground grain or separating flour from "bran."
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wallworth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
THOMAS WALLWORTH.
(L.S.).