IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING FLOUR, PURIFYING MIDDLINGS, AND CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert William Thompson, of Wolverhampton,
in the County of Stafford, Miller, and Charles Lampitt, of
Warwick, Millwright, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING FLOUR, PURIFYING MIDDLINGS,
AND CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN."
Sealed the 28th January 1876, and dated the 20th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert William
Thompson and Charles Lampitt at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th August 1875.
We, ROBERT WILLIAM THOMPSON, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Miller, and CHARLES LAMPITT, of Warwick, Millwright,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING FLOUR, PURIFYING MIDDLINGS, AND
CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the combinations and arrangements of the
parts of machinery herein-after described for dressing flour, purifying

page_text: middlings, and cleaning and separating grain, whereby the said
machinery is made more efficient in use and less liable to derangement
than the machinery or apparatus for like purposes as ordinarily
constructed.
Instead of constructing the revolving screen or reel with a shaft or
axis running through and supporting the reel by the ends of the said
shaft or axis we construct the said reel in the following manner:- -We
form the framework of the reel by means of three or more rings of wood
or iron connected together by six or eight bars of wood. Upon the
skeleton reel thus formed the silk covering is fixed.
The reel is supported and made to rotate in the following manner:
Two parallel shafts situated on the same level and working in bearings
at their ends, or at their ends and middle, carry bearing rollers. The
said bearing rollers are situated at the same distance apart as the rings
of the reel. The reel is supported upon the rollers on the shafts
described, each ring resting upon two of the said rollers. Rotatory
motion being given to the shafts, or to one of them, the reel supported
on the rollers of the said shafts is made to rotate, and the dressing of
the flour in the reel is thereby effected.
By constructing and supporting the reel in the manner described it is
made more rigid and more lasting than reels of the ordinary construction.
The shafts carrying the reel may be supported at their middles in such
a way that they may be made to take a position more or less inclined
to the horizon, and thus cause the meal to be delivered more or less
rapidly through the silk covering of the recl.
The feeding of the meal into the machine is effected by means of a
tubular feeder extending through a portion or the whole length of the
reel, and suspended in the axis of the reel by means of radial connecting
rods. The tubular feeder is provided internally with a screw, and as
the feeder rotates with the reel the screw carries the meal forward.
The said tubular feeder is provided with openings in different parts of
its length. These openings can be closed at pleasure by means of
slides. By closing all the openings the meal is delivered from the end
of the tubular feeder, and by uncovering the opening at any particular
part of the feeder the meal may be delivered into the reel at that point.
By this arrangement the reel is fitted to dress the meal from one or any
number of pairs of stones.

page_text: In order to preserve the proper position of the reel on the supporting
rollers the inner end of the reel is supported by one or more bearing
rolls.
A stationary or revolving brush may be fixed in the case of the
apparatus for the purpose of acting on the silk externally and keeping
it clean. This brush being supported by a lever can be brought into
or thrown out of use at the option of the miller.
For dressing middlings one or more tubes pass through the interior
of the reel, the middlings are delivered in the end of the recl. A current
of air is drawn through the tube or tubes by fans or other exhausting
apparatus. The particles of bran and brown stuff are thereby removed.
The light dust passes through the silk at the head of the reel, and the
semolina is separated into different degrees of fineness by the different
portions of the silk.
In cleaning and separating grain we cover the recl with wire gauze
or perforated metal in place of silk. The grain is delivered into the
recl at the upper end, the seeds, dirt, and refuse matters pass. through
the meshes or perforations. A fixed pipe having a slot or perforations
on its under side passes through the whole length of the reel and at the
lower side. By fans or other apparatus an exhaustion is produced in
the pipe, and the grain by the rotation of the reel being brought into
contact with the pipe, light corns or other light impurities are drawn
into the tube and delivered where required. The wheat is thereby left
quite clean and free from oats and other lighter grain.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert William Thompson and Charles Lampitt
in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 12th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, ROBERT
WILLIAM THOMPSON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
0 Miller, and CHARLES LAMPITT, of Warwick, Millwright, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors;-
give and grant unto us, the said Robert William Thompson and
Charles Lampitt, Her special license that we, the said Robert William
Thompson and Charles Lampitt, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert William Thompson and
. Charles Lampitt, our 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING FLOUR,
PURIFYING MIDDLINGS, AND CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert William Thompson
and Charles Lampitt, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, 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 monthis next and immediately, after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Lampitt, on behalf of
myself and the said Robert William Thompson, 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, that is to say :-
1
Our Invention consists of the combinations and arrangements of the
parts of machinery herein-after described for dressing flour, purifying
middlings, and cleaning and separating grain, whereby the said
machinery is made more efficient in use and less liable to derangement
than the machinery or apparatus for like purposes as ordinarily con-
structed.
Instead of constructing the revolving screen or reel with a shaft or
axis running through and supporting the reel by the ends of the said
shaft or axis we construct the said reel in the following manner:-We
form the framework of the reel by means of three or more rings of wood
or iron connected together by six or eight bars of wood. Upon the
skeleton reel thus formed the silk covering is fixed.

page_text: The reel is supported and made to rotate in the following manner :—
Two parallel shafts situated on the same level and working in bearings
at their ends, or at their ends and middle, carry bearing rollers. The
said bearing rollers are situated at the same distance apart as the rings
of the reel. The reel is supported upon the rollers on the shafts
described, each ring resting upon two of the said rollers. Rotary motion
being given to the shafts or to one of them the reel supported on the
rollers of the said shafts is made to rotate, and the dressing of the flour
in the reel is therehe affected
'
The reel is supported and made to rotate in the following manner :—
Two parallel shafts situated on the same level and working in bearings
at their ends, or at their ends and middle, carry bearing rollers. The
said bearing rollers are situated at the same distance apart as the rings
of the reel. The reel is supported upon the rollers on the shafts
described, each ring resting upon two of the said rollers. Rotary motion
being given to the shafts or to one of them the reel supported on the
rollers of the said shafts is made to rotate, and the dressing of the flour
in the reel is thereby effected.
By constructing and supporting the reel in the manner described
it is made more rigid and more lasting than reels of the ordinary
construction.
The shafts carrying the reel may be supported at their middles in such
a way that they may be made to take a position more or less inclined to
the horizon, and thus cause the meal to be delivered more or less rapidly
through the silk covering of the reel.
The feeding of the meal into the machine is effected by means of a
tubular feeder extending through a portion or the whole length of the
reel, and suspended in the axis of the reel by means of radial connecting
rods. The tubular feeder is provided internally with a screw, and as the
feeder rotates with the reel the screw carries the meal forward. The
said tubular feeder is provided with openings at different parts of its
length. These openings can be closed at pleasure by means of slides.
By closing all the openings the meal is delivered from the end of the
tubular feeder, and by uncovering the opening at any particular part
of the feeder the meal may be delivered into the recl at that part. By
this arrangement the reel is fitted to dress the meal from one or any
number of pairs of stones.
In order to preserve the proper position of the reel on the supporting
rollers. the inner end of the reel is supported by one or more bearing
rolls.
For dressing middlings one or more tubes pass through the interior of
the reel; the middlings are delivered in the end of the reel. A current
of air is drawn through the tube or tubes by fans or other exhausting

page_text: semolina is separated into different degrees of fineness by the different
portions of the silk.
In cleaning and separating grain we cover the reel with wire gauze or
perforated metal in place of silk; the grain is delivered into the reel at
the upper end; the seeds, dirt, and refuse matters pass through the
meshes or perforations. A fixed pipe having a slot or perforations on
its under side passes through the whole length of the reel and at the
lower side. By fans or other apparatus an exhaustion is produced in
the pipe, and the grain by the rotation of the reel being brought into
contact with the pipe, light corns or other light impurities are, drawn into
the tube and delivered where required. The wheat is thereby left quite
clean and free from oats and other lighter grain.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation machinery or apparatus for
dressing flour, the parts of which are constructed according to our
Invention; Figure 2 represents an end elevation of the same; and
Figure 3 represents a cross section of the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures. 1, 2,
and 3.
a is the inclined rotating screen or reel composed of three (or more)
rings of wood or iron 6 connected together by the longitudinal bars c, c
(see Figure 3). Upon this skeleton reel the silk covering is fixed in
the usual manner. d, d, are two parallel inclined shafts running from
end to end of the apparatus. These parallel shafts are situated on the
same level, and work in bearings at their ends and middle. One of the
end bearings is represented in Figure 2, and marked e. On each of the
said shafts d, d, are three rollers f,ff, opposite the rings b, b, b, of the
reel a. Upon the said rollers f, f, f, the reel a is supported, each
ring 6 resting upon two of the rollers f, f, and working against the
flanges of the said rollers, as seen in Figures 2 and 3. Rotary motion is
given to the shafts d, d, by a band passing over the driving pulley g on
the end of one of them; or each of the said shafts d, d, may be driven
in the same direction by independent driving bands.
The rollers f,f,f, besides serving to support the reel also constitute in
conjunction with the rings b, b, b, frictional gearing for rotating the said

page_text: reel. On the rotation of the said rollers f,f,f, by means of one or both
of the shafts d, d, the motion of the said rollers is transmitted frictionally
to the said rings b, b, b, and the said reel is made to rotate, and the
dressing of the flour in the reel is thereby effected.
The two shafts d, d, may be supported at their ends and middle in
adjustable bearings, so that they may be made to take a position more
or less inclined to the horizon, and thus cause the meal to be delivered
more or less rapidly through the silk covering of the reel.
k is the tubular feeder extending through a portion of the reel, but
the said feeder may extend through the whole length of the recl. This
feeder is supported in the axis of the reel by rods, and the meal to be
dressed is supplied to the feeder by the spout i. The said tubular
feeder is provided internally with a screw ², which partakes of the
rotatory motion of the reel, so that as the reel revolves the meal fed
to the tubular feeder / is carried forward by the screw ². In the said
tubular feeder k openings are made at different parts, which openings
may be opened and closed at pleasure by means of slides worked by
rods from the end or ends of the reel. By closing all the openings in
the tubular feeder the meal is delivered from the end of the feeder, and
by uncovering the opening at any particular part of the feeder the meal
may be delivered into the reel at that part. The meal can thus be delivered
into any particular part of the reel at the option of the miller. Z is the
hopper of the dressing machine, and m is the endless screw for dis-
charging the flour, sharps, and bran through the exit spouts p, p. The
endless screw is driven by a band passing over the pulley p².
Instead of supporting the reel in an inclined position as represented.
the said reel may be supported horizontally and be worked in the manner
described with respect to an inclined reel. When a horizontal reel is
used, well-known mechanism is combined with the reel for gradually
carrying the meal delivered into the reel from the feeding end to the
opposite end of the recl.
Figure 4 represents in side elevation and Figure 5 in end elevation an
apparatus for purifying middlings constructed according to our Invention.
q, q, is the inclined reel or screen covered with silk and supported and
worked by the shafts and rollers d, f, in the manner herein-before
described with respect to the reel of the flour-dressing apparatus.
Within the rotating reel q is a fixed tube provided on one side with

page_text: longitudinal slits or openings s, s.
tubes 2, 3, and horizontal tube
exhausting apparatus. By the action of the fan- a current of air is
drawn through the tubes 1, 2, 3, as indicated by the arrows, and is
delivered by the pipe or tube 7 in connection with the case of the
fan,
The tube is connected by the end
with the case of a fan or other
The middlings to be dressed or purified are delivered into the highest
end of the recl q. By the rotation of the reel q and fan u the particles
of bran and brown stuff are drawn from the reel through the slits or
openings s, s, into the tube r, and from thence are delivered into the
delivery pipe r*. The said bran and brown stuff are thereby removed.
The light dust passes through the silk at the head of the reel, and the
semolina is separated into different degrees of fineness by the different
portions of the silk of the reel.
Instead of a single tube with slits or openings as represented, two or
more such tubes in combination with a fan or other exhausting apparatus
may be used with the reel.
For cleaning and separating grain we use an apparatus similar to that
represented in Figures 4 and 5, excepting that we cover the reel with
wire gauze or perforated metal in place of silk. In using the apparatus
for this purpose the grain is delivered into the reel at the upper end, and
the seeds, dust, and refuse matters pass through the meshes or per-
foration of the reel, while the light corns or other light impurities are
drawn into the fixed tuber and delivered by the tube or delivery pipe r
where required. The wheat is thereby left quite clean and free from
oats and other lighter grain,
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention of improvements in
machinery or apparatus for dressing flour, purifying middlings, and
cleaning and separating grain,-
First. The construction and arrangement of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accom-
panying Drawing for supporting and working the revolving screens or

page_text: reels of machinery or apparatus for dressing flour, purifying middlings,
and cleaning and separating grain; that is to say, supporting the screen
or recl by means of rollers carried by parallel shafts in place of the
ordinary central shaft, the said rollers not only supporting the screen or
reel, but giving the required rotatory motion thereto, substantially as
described and illustrated; also the arrangement or combination of the
central tubular feeder and screw with openings and slides for delivering
the meal into any required part of the reel or screen, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. Constructing the framework of revolving screens or reels
of two or more rings connected together by bars, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly. The arrangement herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 4 and 5 for removing the particles of bran and brown stuff in
dressing or purifying middlings, and also for removing the light grain
or seeds in cleaning and separating grain, that is to say, the combination
with the revolving screen or reel of the apparatus of one or more fixed
tubes provided with slits or openings, through which a current of air
is drawn by a fan or other exhausting apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Laimpitt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES LAMPITT. (L.S.).