Improvements in Mills for Hulling and Cracking Maize or Indian Corn for the Production of Hominy."
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan., 1893-Accepted, 18th Mar., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mills for Hulling and Cracking Maize or Indian
Corn for the Production of Hominy."
I, ODEON HORACE TITUS, of Wilmington, in the County of Newcastle, State
of Delaware, United States of America, Miller, do hereby declare the nature of
the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a mill for treating maize or indian corn, for the purpose
of removing therefrom the hulls and germs and cracking the grains, the product
being what is known as "hominy," and the object of my invention is to so construct
such a mill as to provide for the rapid and complete cracking of the grains of corn
and the thorough removal of the husks and germs so that the hominy grains
delivered from the mill will be in perfect condition.
This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to
the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1, is a vertical sectional view of a hominy mill constructed in accordance
with my invention.
Fig. 2, is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 1, 2, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3, is a plan view of the disk at the base of the cylinder.
Fig. 4, is an enlarged perspective view of the grinding cylinder with some of
the blades of the same removed.
Fig. 5, is a face view, on an enlarged scale, of part of one of the grinding
concaves.
Fig. 6, is a perspective view illustrating a modification in the construction of
the grinding cylinder; and-
Figs. 7 and 8, are detached views of angle bars such as are used to form the
surface of the cylinder.
In Fig. 1, A, represents a fixed upright frame having suitable bearings a, in
which is mounted an upright shaft B, which passes through the top and bottom
portions D, D', of the shell of the mill and carries the grinding cylinder F, the
lower portion of the shaft being provided with a pulley B', for the reception of
the belt whereby it is driven.
The shell of the mill comprises, in the present instance, four concaves or
segments G, G¹, and H, H', the segments H, H', comprising panels of perforated
sheet metal, wire gauze or the like and the segments G, G₁, being provided, on
their inner faces, with facets x, each of these facets, in the preferred form, being
in the shape of half of a pyramid laid on its side, the centre line of one hori-
zontal row of these facets being midway between the centre lines of the
adjoining rows so that the apices of one vertical row of facets occupy positions
at the points of junction of the bases of the facets of the row in advance, the
points of the pyramid being in the direction from which the grain under the
action of the ribbed cylinder F, approaches the concave, so that each facet
serves to act upon the grain of corn to split the same into halves and, owing to
the disposition of the facets, a grain which escapes one facet is directed thereby
onto the point of a facet of the succeeding vertical row to be split thereby, in
other words there is in advance of the point of each facet a pocket or recess
into which a grain of corn can enter so as to be carried forward squarely
onto the facet, the central ridge or fin of which acts with a wedge-like or
splitting-effect upon the grain, owing to the fact that it is in a plane at right
angles to the longitudinal line of the cylinder, and hence directly in the path of
the grains carried forward by said cylinder.
The cylinder F, is provided with ribs or teeth abrupt on the front faces and

page_text: inclined on the back, these ribs or teeth serving to carry the grains of corn
around within the shell of the mill and to press or throw them against the
faceted faces of the concaves G, G', and against the perforated concaves H,
and H', the effect of which is not only to split the grains of corn into halves
but also to rub from them the enveloping husk or cuticle and to separate the
germs, a large proportion of the meal and fine hulls resulting from this treatment
escaping through the perforations of the concaves H, and H.
The ribs of the cylinder F, are inclined from top to bottom, the pitch being
rearward so that the tendency of the cylinder is to feed the grain downward
within the mill, and immediately beneath the ribbed cylinder F, is a disk H²,
secured to and rotating with the shaft B, said disk being furrowed both on its
upper and lower faces so that the disk can be used in connection with a shaft
running either to the right or to the left, the disk being reversed to change it from a
right hand run to a left hand run. The function of the furrows is to throw
outward any grains which may find their way between the disk and the bottom
of the mill casing, the furrows on the underside of the disk being disposed in
respect to the direction of rotation as shown in Fig. 3.
The disc H', has also, around the periphery of the same, a series of projecting
ribs b, which tend to throw the grain outwards towards a discharge valve or
flap d, which closes an opening f, in the lower portion of the faceted concave G',
this flap being acted upon by a spring g, the tension of which can be regulated
by a thumb nut gl so that when the pressure of the grains within the mill exceeds
the pressure of the spring the flap will yield and permit the grains to escape
into the hopper J, and after delivery from the latter, they are subjected to a
winnowing operation in order to separate from the hominy the fine meal, grits
and germs which have not been delivered through the perforated concaves H, H¹,
of the mill casing.
The cylinder may consist of a hollow or solid cylinder having its surface
provided with the desired teeth or ribs, but, as the production of a cylinder of
this character with the desired hardened surface would be an expensive operation,
I prefer to build up the cylinder by securing a series of angle bars i, of hardened
steel to a series of rings or disks m, suitably notched in their peripheries for the
reception of said angle bars, which are so constructed that the abrupt portion
of one bar overlaps the inclined portion of the succeeding bar around the entire
cylinder and thus provides, at comparative slight expense, a cylinder presenting
hardened ribs or teeth having the desired pitch from top to bottom of the cylinder.
The cylinder may, however, be built up of a series of rings m', placed one
above another upon the shaft B, and properly secured to said shaft, these rings
being likewise notched at their peripheries and provided with a hardened casing
of short angle bars i¹, as shown, for instance, in Fig. 6.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A hominy mill in which a rotating cylinder is combined with a shell having
concaves with facets each representing a section of a pyramid and having one
bevelled face and one abrupt face, substantially as specified.
2. A hominy mill in which a ribbed and rotating cylinder is combined with a
shell having concaves with facets each representing a section of a pyramid and
having one bevelled face and one abrupt face, the apex of the bevelled face of
the facet, being towards the advancing ribs of the cylinder, substantially as
specified.
3. A hominy mill in which a rotating cylinder is combined with a shell or
casing having concaves provided with vertical and horizontal rows of pyramidal
facets staggered or offset in respect to each other, substantially as described.
4. A hominy mill in which a rotating cylinder is combined with a shell or
casing having concaves, with facets each representing a section of a pyramid the

page_text: central ridge or fin of the bevelled front face of the facet being in a plane at
right angles to the longitudinal line of the cylinder substantially as specified.
5. A hominy mill in which an outer casing having concaves provided with
pyramidal facets is combined with a rotating cylinder having ribs or teeth abrupt
on the forward faces and inclined on the rear faces, the abrupt faces of the teeth
moving towards the apices or points of the facets of the concaves, substantially as
specified.
6. The within described cylinder for a hominy mill, the same consisting of a body
portion having secured thereupon bars presenting successive faces at reverse angles,
said bars abutting against each other so as to form a continuous ribbed working
surface for the cylinder substantially as specified.
7. The within described cylinder for hominy mills, the same consisting of a body
portion having secured thereupon angle bars each having an abrupt portion, and an
inclined portion, the abrupt portion of each bar overlapping the inclined portion of
the succeeding bar substantially as specified.
8. The within described cylinder for hominy mills, the same consisting of a
skeleton or hollow body composed of a series of notched rings or disks and bars
secured to said notched rings or disks, and presenting successive faces at reverse
angles, said bars abutting against each other so as to form a continuous ribbed
working surface for the cylinder, substantially as specified.
9. The combination of the shell of the mill having a yielding delivery flap at the
lower portion with the cylinder having at the bottom a disk with projecting
peripheral ribs or vanes, substantially as specified.
10. The combination of the shell of the mill with the cylinder having at the
bottom a disk furrowed on the under surface so as to throw outward any grains
which may gain access thereto substantially as specified.
11. The combination of the shell of the mill with the cylinder having at the
bottom a disk furrowed upon both its upper and lower surfaces, the furrows of one
surface being in a reverse direction to those of the other surface, substantially as
specified.
Dated this 28th day of December 1900
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.