IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING FECULA
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
& Son, of 4, Wellington Street South, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR WASHING FECULA."-A communication from abroad by
Michel Antoine François Thibaud de Ménonville, of Rambervilliers,
Vosges in the Empire of France Potter.
Sealed the 24th August 1860, and dated the 6th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th March 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge & Son, of
4, Wellington Street South, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING FECULA," communicated to me from
abroad by Michel Antoine François Thibaud de Ménonville, of Rambervilliers,.
Vosges, in the Empire of France, Potter, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to expedite the washing of fecula, to lessen
the manual labor, and to obtain very pure products, and its use will enable
one workman to wash and sift in twenty minutes the same quantity that six
workman now take one hour to operate upon in a very imperfect manner.
The washing is to be effected in a wooden cuve, the upper part of which will
support a framing destined to carry the mechanism by which the motion is

page_text: communicated. The washer, properly so called, will be of wood, and made in
two distinct and parallel parts tied together by iron tics, the upper of which is
about four inches square, and on both sides of a vertical shaft enters a jacket
on a hollow shaft, the lower carries at bottom a rake with iron teeth in-
tended to stir about the fecula in the cuve, and rises or falls as the washing
may require. The mechanism which gives to the washer a circular movement
within the cuve is composed of a hollow shaft turning round a vertical one
fixed at the lower end to the bottom of the cave, and at the upper to a piece
of framing. The hollow shaft is supported in a piece placed above for that
purpose, and rises and falls by means of endless screws acting on bolts suitably
placed. The teeth of a treble toothed gearing will command the whole of the
washer, a lesser gearing serves to raise, and a still smaller to lower it, and the
application of these divers movements is obtained by a trigger throwing the
foot of a scrow right and left. Conical cogs transmit motion from the original
motor, and their action upon the motor of the apparatus is also regulated by a
trigger.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, 4, Wellington Street
South, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth 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 William Edward Gedge, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward' Gedge, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING FECULA," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Michel Antoine François Thibaud de Ménonville,
of Rambervilliers, Vosges, in the Empire of France, Potter, upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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 Edward Gedge, 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 :—
L
The object of this Invention is to expedite the washing of fecula, to lessen
the manual labor, and to obtain very pure products, and by its use enable one
workman to wash and sift in twenty minutes as much fecula as six workmen
now take one hour to operate upon, and that in a very imperfect' manner.
The mechanism by which this is effected will be fully understood by référenco
to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings forming part of this Specification,
and to the letters marked on the diagrams serving to denote.parts of apparatus
and similar parts. The washing is effected in a wooden cuve or vat (best seen
at Figure 1, Sheet 1, of the Drawing), the upper: part of which supports a
framing Y, carrying that portion of the mechanism by which motion is com-
municated. The washer L, L', is made of wood and made in two distinct
and parallel parts tied together by iron ties; the upper part of the washer is
about four inches square, and is constructed on both sides of a vertical fixed
shaft A which enters a jacket J on a hollow shaft C. The lower part of the
washer carries a rake with iron teeth, which stir about the fecula in the cuve
or vat, and it (the washer) rises and falls as the washing may require. The
mechanism which gives to the washer a circular movement within the cuve or
vat is composed of a hollow shaft C, turning round a vertical one A fixed at
its lower end on a pivot or socket B at the bottom of the vat or cuve, and its
upper to fixed framework. The hollow shaft C is supported by and in a
piece K placed above for that purpose. The said piece K rises and falls by
means of endless screws M and N; D shews a treble toothed wheel which
dominates the whole washer, its teeth gearing into or with wheel F and
pinion F, and thereby serving to raise and lower the revolving apparatus or
mechanism by the application of a trigger V (see Figure 2), throwing the foot
of the screw M right and left. Conical cog wheels I transmit motion from
the original motor, and their action upon the motor of the washing apparatus
is also regulated by a trigger or handle U.

page_text: my
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to me by
said correspondant Michel Antoine François Thibaud de Ménonville, and
the means by which it is carried into practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein given, or
to the exact proportions of the various parts of the apparatus to each other, as
they may be varied or modified without departing from the principle. of the
Invention so communicated to me as aforesaid; I claim the exclusive use of
the combination of mechanical parts herein described and shewn, forming,
when so combined, improved machinery or apparatus for washing fecula.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
affixed my hand and seal, this First day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JOHN GEDGE,
☐ 11, Wellington St., Strand.
W. E. GEDGE. (L.S.)