Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting Flour and Fibre or "Flume" from Oat Meal.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 1st June, 1889-Accepted, 13th July, 1889
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting Flour and Fibre or
"Flume" from Oat Meal.
I, GEORGE MCGILL of Mid-Calder in the County of Mid-Lothian North Britain
Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to extract from oat meal the flour and more
especially the fibre or "flume" which finished oat meal contains in greater or less
quantities and the apparatus constituting the Invention consists of a casing wherein
is situated a fan to produce a blast or current of air the blast being driven upwards
through a vertical trunk placed above the fan casing and in which trunk there is
an inclined sieve or perforated tray on to which the oat meal to be, treated is fed
from a hopper situated at one side of the trunk. Between the lower part of the
hopper and the sieve. there is provided a casing containing regulating and distributing
apparatus, the regulator consisting of an inclined shelf extending across the casing
and by which the meal is fed from the hopper to a roller having a series of flutes or
corrugations throughout its length. By the rotation of the said roller the meal is
delivered to the distributing apparatus which consists also of an inclined shelf and a
rotating fluted roller the inclination of the shelf being adjustable in order to make
the feed to the distributing roller and thence to the inclined sieve faster or slower as
desired. The meal on being so delivered to the inclined sieve is acted upon by the air
blast passing up through the sieve the effect of which is that the flour and the fibre
"flume
are blown up and out of the meal which then passes downwards through
a delivery shoot or passage whose lower end is fitted with an automatic trap or
shutter which is opened periodically against the pressure of a back balance or spring
by the weight of the purified meal upon it.
or
In the vertical trunk and above the sieve and distributing apparatus there is situated
a separator by which in conjunction with the blast the principal portion of the flour
is freed from the fibre or "flume."
.
The separator consists of an inclined frame which fills up the interior of the trunk
and in which there is a series of conical or V shaped slits these being at right angles
to the inclination of the frame and having one of their edges so bent or curved that
Between
the air blast issuing from the higher slits is directed over the lower ones.
ג:
and parallel to each slit there is a tray or pan furnished with an archimedian screw
which is rotated so as to deliver the "flume or fibre falling into the pan into an
inclined channel also provided with an archimedian screw which directs the material
into another air trunk and thence to a rotating sieve by which any flour remaining
with the "flume" or fibre is finally sifted out.
The separator is so arranged as to be capable of being elevated and depressed to a
greater or less distance above the inclined sieve according to the strength of the air
blast and above the separator the air trunk is contracted the flour with such of the
"flume" as has escaped separation being blown through the contracted orifice into a
vertical trunk of a size arranged to permit the air to expand sufficiently to allow
the materials to settle the said materials passing from the chamber to the rotary
sieves before referred to for final separation of any "flume" remaining with the
flour.
In addition to the hereinbefore described apparatus there is or may be applied to
the pipe or passage through which the air exhausts from the last mentioned vertical
chamber an apparatus for preliminary treatment of the meal with a view to the
partial separation of flour and fibre or "flume" before the meal is fed into the hopper
and to the regulator or distributor.
This additional apparatus consists of a hopper having a regulating roller in its

page_text: lower part from which the meal passes into a chamber containing an adjustable
plate capable of being so inclined according to the strength of the blast as to effect
separation of the meal from the flour and flume" the meal falling on one side of
the plate from whence it is conducted to the main hopper whilst the flour and
"flume" fall on the other side of the plate and pass to the rotating sieves for separa-
tion from each other.
Dated this Third day of September 1888.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting Flour and Fibre or
Flume " from Oat Meal.
1, GEORGE MCGILL of Mid Calder in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
I
This Invention has for its object to extract from oat meal the flour and more
especially the fibre or "flume" which finished oat meal contains in greater or less
quantities and as seen in side elevation at figure 1, in vertical section at figure 2 and
in end elevation at figure 3 of the accompanying drawings the apparatus constituting
the invention consists of a casing a wherein is situated a fan to produce a blast or
current of air the blast being driven upwards through a vertical trunk c placed above
the fan casing and in which there is an inclined sieve or perforated tray d on to which
the oat meal to be treated is fed from a hopper e through a casing situated at one
side of the trunk c. Between the lower part of the hopper e and the sieve d there is
provided in the casing f feed regulating and distributing apparatus consisting of an
inclined board g placed within the hopper and by sliding which outwards or inwards
the meal is fed faster or slower to a roller which is fluted throughout its length.
The roller delivers the meal on to an inclined shelf i extending across the casing
and by which the meal is fed to another fluted or corrugated roller by the rotation
of which the meal is distributed and delivered to a rotating roller k provided circum-
ferentially with a series of buckets extending throughout its length and by which the
meal is delivered to the inclined sieve d. The meal on being so delivered is acted
upon by the air blast passing upwards from the casing a the effect of which is that
the flour and the fibre or "flume" are blown up and out of the meal which then
passes downwards through the opening at into a delivery shoot or passage m. whose
lower end is fitted with an automatic trap or shutter n opened periodically against
the pressure of a back balance n¹ by the weight of the purified meal upon it.
In the vertical trunk c and above the sieve d there is situated a separator by
which in conjunction with the blast the principal portion of the flour is freed from
the fibre or flume."
ני
The separator consists of an inclined frame o which fills up the interior of the
trunk c and in which there is a series of V shaped slits o' these being at right angles
to the inclination of the frame and having one of their edges so bent or curved that
the air blast issuing from the higher slits is directed over the lower ones. Between
and parallel to each slit there is a tray or pan p furnished with an archimedian screw pl
which is rotated so as to deliver the "flume or fibre falling into the pan into an
inclined channel 9 also provided with an archimedian screw which directs the material
through a hopper r into a bag or other receptacle underneath the lower part of the
hopper the material being thereafter passed through an ordinary bolter for the
separation of any flour remaining with the flume. Figure 4 is a plan of the separator
frame o which is so arranged as to be capable of being elevated and depressed to a
greater or less distance above the inclined sieve d according to the strength of the
air blast. Above the separator two openings are made in the sides of the air

page_text: trunk these openings communicating with a casing (illustrated in detailed plan at
figure 5) through which the flour with such of the "flume" as has escaped separation
is blown in the direction of the arrows figure 2 across the path of the meal descending
through the casing the flour returning to the air trunk above the division t¹ from
whence it passes into a centrifugal separator u illustrated in detailed horizontal section
at figure 6 the air escaping through the upper part of the said separator whilst the
flour with any "flume" it may contain passes out at the lower end into a bag or
other receptacle and is thereafter bolted for the final separation of any
The division t¹ has a valve t² to regulate the force of the blast through the
casing t.
flume."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The improved apparatus for treating oat meal for the extraction of flour and
fibre therefrom, arranged and combined substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the appended drawings.
2. In apparatus for the purpose set forth the combination of a blast fan, an air
trunk, an inclined sieve or tray and an adjustable separator in said trunk substantially
as described with reference to the drawings annexed.
3. In apparatus for the purpose set forth the separator o, o¹, p, p', q constructed
substantially as described with reference to figures 1, 2 and 4 of the accompanying
drawings.
4. In apparatus for the purpose set forth the feed regulating and distributing
apparatus provided in the casing and arranged substantially as described with
reference to the appended drawings.
Dated this Thirtieth day of May 1889.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER.
62, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents.