IMPROVEMENTS IN MALTING AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Walker, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Distiller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MALTING AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1862.
I, ROBERT WALKER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Distiller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MALTING AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has for object the conducting of the operations concerned
in malting or making malt in a more simple and economical manner than
hitherto, and in practising it the grain being untrampled on during the process
is more cleanly made and sounder and purer in quality.
The improved apparatus consists, according to one modification, of a
cylindrical vessel divided into separate compartments and formed with sides
made of a permeable material. An external close or impermeable casing is
provided which can be applied or removed as required, and the vessel is
mounted so that it can be turned by gearing contrived so that the motion
imparted can be varied or modified in any desirable way. Provision is made
for applying heat to the vessel either directly or by means of heated air for
example, and for this purpose the vessel may be enclosed in a chamber so
that the air current or the amount and proportions of other gases (which it

page_text: is in contemplation in some cases to apply) may be easily regulated and
controlled. In the case of several vessels being employed, the process may be
arranged so as to be at different stages in different vessels or in different sets
of vessels at the same time whereby considerable economy will be obtained.
In practising the malting process by means of the improved apparatus (in
which it is entirely accomplished) the grain is introduced into the several
compartments of the vessel and the close casing being fitted on, water is added
for the steeping process, being drained off again after the grain is sufficiently
saturated. The grain then remains undisturbed as long as is required by law
for the couching process. The close casing is taken off when it is con-
sidered desirable, and after the couching period the germination is allowed
to proceed, the vessel being turned at intervals or as may be found desirable
in order that the whole of the grain may be properly turned over. Finally
when the germination has proceeded the necessary length, heat is applied to
dry the grain and thus complete the process.
The details of the process may be modified in various ways; thus oxygen or
other gas or gaseous mixture may be applied to the grain during the germina-
ting stage, or subsequently, or the gases envolved from the grain may be
retained, the enclosing of the vessel in a chamber facilitating such treatment
and its nice regulation.
The details of the apparatus are also susceptible of various modifications.
Thus, for example, the vessel may be of a square, polygonal, or other con-
venient form, and instead of being arranged to turn completely round, it may be
arranged to move through a limited angle only.
by filling or partially filling the vessel and close
may be saturated by sprinkling water upon it, in
may be dispensed with.
Instead of steeping the grain
casing with water, the grain
which case the close casing
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Walker, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WALKER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Distiller,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Walker, Her special licence, that I, the said Robert Walker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Walker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MALTING AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Walker, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Walker, do hereby declare tho
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for object the conducting of the operations con-
cerned in malting or making malt in a more simple and economical manner
than hitherto, and in practising it the grain being untrampled on during the
process is more cleanly made and sounder and purer in quality.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing a
modification of the improved apparatus to which a portion of iny said Invention
relates.
An
The improved apparatus consists of a cylindrical vessel divided into separate
compartments, and formed with sides made of a permeable material.
external close or impermeable casing may be provided, to be applied or
removed as required. The cylindrical vessel is mounted so that it can be
turned by gearing, and so that the motion imparted can be varied or modified'
in any desirable way. Provision is made for applying heat to the vessel either
directly, or by means of heated air, for example, and for this purpose the
vessel may be enclosed in a chamber, so that the air current, or the amount
and proportions of other gases (which it is in contemplation in some cases to
apply,), may be easily regulated and controlled.. In the case of several

page_text: vessels being employed, the process may be arranged so as to be at different
stages in different vessels, or in different sets of vessels at the same time,
whereby considerable economy will be obtained. c.
A conveniently applicable and practically successful modification of the
improved malting apparatus just described in general terms is represented in
the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 being a side elevation thereof, partly in
vertical section, whilst Figure 2 is a corresponding transverse vertical section.
The same reference letters are used to mark the same parts in both Figures.
The apparatus is represented as fitted up in a building constructed specially
to receive it, such building consisting of side walls A, end walls B, and
roof C, the last with ventilator D for the escape of the vapours arising from
the grain. At a distance of about three feet within the end walls B there are
built two walls E to serve as pedestals for plummer blocks F, which receive
the end journals of the shaft G of the cylindrical malting vessel H. To form
this vessel there are fixed upon the shaft G two circular end dises I, each
cast in two pieces for convenience of attachment, and bolted together upon
the shaft by means of external flanges. For lightness these end dises I are
cast as open frames, but the openings are covered with wire cloth or other
permeable material, as shown in Figure 2. The cylindrical sides of the
vessel consist of longitudinal tie rods J, extending between and connecting the
two end discs I, and crossed at intervals by rings K, through which the tie
rods J pass, the rings K being spaced or kept apart by tubes upon the rods J.
This cylindrical framework is lined with wire cloth, as shown in Figure 1.
In this example the interior of the cylindrical vessel is divided into three
compartments by partitions L, consisting of angle-iron bars attached radially
to flanges formed for them on the central shaft G, and covered with two plies
of wire cloth, which enclose between them a narrow space, thus rendering the
partitions hollow. The outer ends of the radiating angle-iron bars are fixed
to longitudinal bars M, fixed by hook bolts to the rings K. In the parts of
the end dises I, which are at the ends of the hollow portions L, there are
openings which admit of air entering or vapour leaving the interiors of these
.partitions, and the sides of the partitions being of wire cloth, or such like
permeable material, air has, consequently access to the grain which may
happen to be in contact with any partition; or the vapour from the grain
may pass into the partition and out at the ends of partitions, as well as
through the permeable circumferential and end walls of the compartments.
Where a sufficient draught or current exists through or across the cylinder H,
the partitions need not be made hollow or double, a single sheet of wire
cloth or other permeable material being sufficient to form cach partition.

page_text: :
Access is obtained to the compartments for filling and emptying the grain by
means of a door N, provided in the centre of the circumferential part of each
compartment. To facilitate the excise supervision, the three doors may be
secured by means of a chain passed round the cylinder, and connected with
the latch or bolt of each, and itself secured by means of a single lock or
fastening. For the purpose of turning the cylinder H round, its end discs I
are formed with teeth completely round them, and there gear therewith
pinions fast on a shaft P, running parallel to the cylinder, and carried in
bearings in small frames fixed upon the tops of the pedestal walls E. On
each end of the shaft P there is a spur wheel Q (indicated by a red line in
Figure 2,) with which there gears a pinion R on a second shaft fitted with a
crank handle S, by which it can be actuated. Ratchet wheels T, with pawls,
are provided to fix the gearing and the cylinder in any required position.
This driving gear is suitable for the application of manual labour, but where
water power or steam power is obtainable the gearing may be modified to
suit it.
According to another modification the brickwork may be arched over so
as to enclose the malting cylinder H somewhat closely, suitable doors or
apertures being formed in such brickwork for filling and discharging, and for
the passage of the draught or air current up through the cylinder. Two or
more cylinders enclosed in this way may be arranged side by side in one
external building, and a single ventilator in the roof of such building will
serve for the escape of the vapours from all the cylinders.
In practising the malting process by means of the improved apparatus, in
which it is entirely accomplished, the grain, according to one modification, is
introduced into the several compartments of the vessel, and a close casing
being fitted on, water is added for the steeping process, being drained off
again after the grain is sufficiently saturated. According to another modifi-
cation, instead of steeping the grain by filling or partially filling the vessel
and close casing with water, the grain may be saturated by sprinkling water
upon it; and I may here remark that, having found the sprinkling process
to answer satisfactorily, I dispense with a close casing, such as is referred
to, and have consequently not shown it in the Drawings. The grain having
been steeped or sprinkled then remains undisturbed as long as is required by
law for the couching process. The close casing is taken off when it is con-
sidered desirable, and, after the couching period, the germination is allowed to
proceed, the vessel being turned at intervals, or as may be found desirable, in
order that the whole of the grain may be properly turned over. Finally,
when the germination has proceeded the necessary length; heat is applied to

page_text: dry the grain, and thus complete the process. The heat may be applied by
means of a furnace placed immediately beneath the cylinder H, and extending
from end to end thereof; and charcoal, peat, or other fuel may be used, as
presently practised, and accordingly as the malt is for brewing or for dis-
tilling. Or heated air may be used for the drying process, the air being
heated by any convenient means, such as are at present in use, and being
admitted by a passage or flue into the space V beneath the cylinder H. The
heated air passes through the permeable sides and partitions into and through
the compartments containing the grain, and the vapour arising from the
grain passes outwards and upwards through the permeable sides and partitions,
and finally escapes by the ventilators D.
The details of the process may be modified in various ways; thus, oxygen
or other gas or gaseous mixture may be applied to the grain during the
germinating stage, or subsequently; or the gases evolved from the grain may
be retained, the enclosing of the vessel in a chamber facilitating such
treatment and its nice regulation.
The details of the apparatus are also susceptible of various modifications;
thus, for example, the vessel may be of a square, polygonal, or other con-
vénient form, and, instead of being arranged to turn completely round, it may
be arranged to move through a limited angle only.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original' and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the making of malt in the
improved manner herein-before described, and by means of improved apparatus
substantially such as is herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT WALKER. (L.S.)