AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Auguste Arnold Buchholz, of Vauxhall, in tho
County of Surrey, Engineer, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN PREPARATORY
TO GRINDING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jolin Auguste Arnold.
Buchholz at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th February
1882.
JOHN AUGUSTE ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ of Vauxhall in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER GRAIN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING."
The object of this Invention is to loosen the natural cohesion which exists
between the cuticle (pericarpium) of the grain and its flour forming body, the
gluten and starch cells, while toughening the cuticle, or bran.
This is carried into effect by altering the hygrometric condition of the bran, and
simultaneously subjecting it to a powerful scouring and winnowing process which
will remove nearly the whole of the bran and leave what remains in a better
condition to resist the action of any grinding mechanism than was possible by the
mcans hitherto employed.
It is a common practice to steam, wet, or wash wheat in order to mellow and
wash off muddy matter with which it may happen to be soiled. It is also well
known that this process has the effect of toughening the bran.
By the practice generally resorted to the wheat or other grain is surcharged
with moisture, a portion of which is sure to penetrate into the starch. But in
traversing the bran the water absorbs some of the colouring matter there stored,
and this it communicates to the starch as soon as it has soaked through the last
branny integument.
Again in grinding where there is always rubbed off its surface a certain
quantity of branny powder, which determines the quality of the finished flour, this
being commercially valuable in proportion as it contains little of that noxious
matter.
I account for this fact by the action of the water used in making up the dough

page_text: for bread which extracts the colouring matter from the branny powder contained
in the flour, and communicates it to the whole mass of starch.
Thus excessive damping will discolour the starch before it is reduced to flour,
while it depends on the grinding operations how much colouring matter is ground
in with the true flour, which becomes discoloured by it so soon as dough making
commences.
It follows that the miller should on the one side select such machines to effect
the grinding as will be least likely to abrade the branny surface, and on the other
seek to toughen the branny surface of the wheat against the action of the
grinding machinery, but without discolouring the flour.
When grinding dry wheats, the bran being then very brittle, much bran powder
is formed in the grinding however carefully this operation may be conducted, or
with however perfect machinery. To counteract this the bran has occasionally
been rendered less brittle by steaming, wetting, or washing, but with the
disadvantages above mentioned.
Now I have observed that when artificial moistening is so managed as not to
penetrate beyond the last internal integument, the tension of the cuticle over the
body of gluten and starch cells is so powerfully modified that its organic cohesion
with the latter appears to be ruptured, so that but a slight rubbing will suffice to
peel it off without injury or loss, while the germ also is released intact. But if
artificial moisture is once allowed to invade the gluten and starch cells, not only
are they irretrievably discoloured and damaged but their cohesion with the
adjoining bran layer is strengthened, and in effect the advantage of toughening the
bran by moisture is in great part neutralized.
Now my Invention consists in the use of means which secure the advantages
gained by artificially damping wheat, and permits the regulation and graduation
of the damping process so as to avoid any injury being done. This I propose to
effect by introducing the artificial moisture during the processes of scouring or
screening the wheat.
In carrying out this operation I use, by preference, the wheat-cleaning machine
for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing date the 9th day of April 1880
No. 1463; fitting into each scouring compartiment (which overlie the one the other
and are contained in a vertical air tight case) rings of perforated pipes for
discharging therein jets of steam or water as required.
These rings are situate, the one in the upper angle of the compartment at the
inner periphery thereof with jets striking downwards, and another in the lower
angle of the inner periphery of the compartment with jets striking upwards.
As
The supply of steam and water indifferently to these pipes is regulated by
suitable cocks, and the like arrangement is provided for each compartment.
the beaters of this machine rotate they will drive the descending grain forward,
and submit it to an even wetting from the pipes, air meanwhile passing upwards
through the compartments and carrying off any matters that may be detaclied from
the grains of corn.
By this means the moisture imparted to the grain' may be regulated with
the greatest nicety, so much only being required as can be well absorbed by the
bran.
In lieu of the arrangement of wheat cleaning machine above referred to, I may
use one slightly modified, consisting of a series of inverted cones set one above
another, and each containing within it a cone of smaller size. The cones will be
made of steel bars laced together by flattened wire and they will present friction
surfaces to the grain which is passed between them. Jets of steam or water from
annular pipes will be discharged into the spaces between the cones for the
purpose of damping the grain while undergoing as above explained the cleaning
action.
The inner cones will serve the purpose of the rotary beaters of the first arrange-
ment, they being mounted on a central shaft and driven rapidly so as to carry up
the grain fed in at the bottom of the several compartments and discharge it over

page_text: the upper ends of the outer cones. Thus the corn fed to the first compartment or
space contained between the uppermost pair of cones will be subjected to friction
between the cone surfaces as it rises to the upper edge of the cones; it will then
fall down a shute to the bottom of the next compartment and rising through this
compartment will be delivered to the bottom of the next and so on until the series
of scourings is complete.
This series of cones is mounted in an air tight case to which a blast of air is
conveyed from a blower, as in the first arrangement, for the purpose of entering.
the compartments and carrying from the machine the dust and other matters
removed from the grain by friction of contact with the fixed and rotary cones.
The supply of steam or water being adjustable by valves, the damping may be
effected with the greatest nicety thereby ensuring the toughening of the bran
without dissolving the gluten, and providing for the facile separation of the bran
from the flour producing portion of the wheat.
Or I may use for this purpose the cleaning apparatus described in the specification
of my patent dated October 24th 1876, No. 4119 wherein cylinders constructed of
steel blades and operating like the cones above described are used.
Pipes for admitting steam and water will be provided as already explained to
moisten the grain while under treatment; and the arrangement of the air currents
will be similar to that already described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Auguste Arnold Buchholz in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th August 1882.
se
JOHN AUGUSTE ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ of Vauxhall in the County of Surrey
Engineer. AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER GRAIN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING."
The object of this Invention is to loosen the natural cohesion which exists
between the cuticle (pericarpium) of the grain and its flour-forming body, the
gluten and starch cells, while toughening the cuticle or bran.
This is carried into effect by altering the hygrometric condition of the bran and
simultaneously subjecting it to a powerful scouring and winnowing process which
will remove nearly the whole of the bran and leave what remains in a better
condition to resist the action of any grinding mechanism than was possible by the
means hitherto employed.
It is a common practice to steam, wet, or wash wheat, in order to mellow and
wash off muddy matter with which it may happen to be soiled. It is also well
known that this process has the effect of toughening the bran.
By the practice generally resorted to the wheat or other grain is surcharged
with moisture a portion of which is sure to penetrate into the starch. But in
traversing the bran the water absorbs some of the colouring matter therein stored
and this it communicates to the starch as soon as it has soaked through the last
-branny_integument.
Again in grinding wheat-there is always rubbed off its surface a certain quantity
of branny powder which determines the quality of-the-finished flour this being
commercially valuable in proportion as it contains little of that noxious matter.
I account for this fact by the action of the water used in making up the dough
for bread which extracts the colouring matter from the branny powder contained
in the flour and communicates it to the whole mass of starch.
Thus excessive damping will discolour the starch before it is reduced to flour
while it depends on the grinding operations how much colouring matter is ground
in with the true flour which becomes discolored by it so soon as dough making
commences.
It follows that the miller should on the one side select such machines to effect
the grinding as will be least likely to abrade the branny surface and on the other,
seek to toughen the branny surface of the wheat against the action of the grinding
machinery but without discolouring the flour.
When grinding dry wheats the bran being then very brittle much bran powder
is formed in the grinding, however carefully this operation may be conducted or
with however perfect machinery. To counteract this the bran has occasionally
been rendered less brittle by steaming, wetting, or washing but with the disadvan-
tages above mentioned.
Now I have observed that when artificial moistening is so managed as not to
penetrate beyond the last internal integument the tension of the cuticle over the
body of gluten and starch cells is so powerfully modified that its organic cohesion
with the latter appears to be ruptured, so that but a slight rubbing will suffice to
peel it off without injury or loss while the germ also is released intact. But if
artificial moisture is once allowed to invade the gluten and starch cells not only
are they irretrevably discoloured and damaged but their cohesion with the
adjoining bran layer is strengthened, and in effect the advantage of toughening the
bran by moisture is in great part neutralized.

page_text: Now my Invention consists in the use of means which secure the advantages
gained by artificially damping wheat and permit the regulation and graduation of
the damping process so as to avoid any injury being done.-This I propose to
effect by introducing the artificial moisture during the process of scouring and
screening the wheat.
In carrying out this operation I use, by preference, the wheat cleaning machine
for which I obtained Letters patent bearing date the ninth day of April One
thousand eight hundred and eighty No. 1463, fitting into each scouring compart-
ment (which overlie the one the other and are contained in a vertical air-tight case)
rings of perforated pipes for discharging therein jets of steam or water as required.
In Sheet I of the accompanying Drawings I have shewn in several views this
wheat cleaning machine with my present improvements applied thereto. Fig: 1 is
an external elevation of the machine, Fig: 2 is a vertical section taken through
the centre of the machine and Fig: 3 is a horizontal section taken in the line 1, 2
of Fig: 2.
A is an air-tight case surrounding a vertical cylinder B of perforated metal or
similar material. This cylinder is fitted internally with scouring chambers C, C, C,
through which the grain to be treated passes, it being supplied to the uppermost
chamber from a hopper D and swept down from chamber to chamber through
openings in the floor thereof by rotary beaters E carried by radial arms keyed to a
central rotating shaft F.
The grain leaves the machine by the shute G, it having been cleared of dust and
other extraneous matters by the aid of a blower H and an exhaust fan H'.
II' are a series of annular pipes for supplying moisture to the descending grain.
These annular pipes or rings are situate, the one in the upper angle of the
compartment at the inner periphery thereof with jets striking downwards and
another in the lower angle of the inner periphery of the compartment with jets
striking upwards, and the like arrangement is provided for each compartment.
The supply of steam and water to these pipes is regulated by suitable cocks / k¹
in the supply pipes K K¹; see Fig: 1-As the beaters of this inachine rotato, they
will drive the descending grain forward, and submit it to an even wetting from the
pipes, I, the openings for the descending grain being surrounded by loop pipes 1*
which serve with the pipes I of which they form a part to wet the stream of grain
on all sides as it falls from one chamber to the next.
While the descending jets of water and the ascending jets of steam are playing
upon the grain, air from the blower H passes upwards in the way indicated by the
arrows, through the chambers and carries of any matters that may be detached
from the grains of corn.
The arrangement of the supply pipes and cocks in connection therewith is some-
what peculiar, the object being to afford the means of supplying either water or
steam to all the rings of pipes I I¹ to suit the varied requirements of the grain to
be treated thus jets of water and steam conjointly may be directed onto the grain
as already explained, or in the case of moist grain, ascending and descending jets of
steam will suffice for toughening the bran.
Again in the case of very dry grain, ascending and descending jets of water may
be directed onto the descending grain.
The vertical pipes K K' are brought into connection the one with a water tank
and the other with a steam boiler by branch pipes, and at the junction of these
branches with the vertical pipes, cocks are provided for cutting off the supply.
Above these cocks is a cross pipe K which connects the pipes K and K¹ together,
and this cross pipe is fitted with a cock for cutting off the connection between
the two vertical pipes.
The pipe K connects by short branches with the annular pipes I and the pipe K'
connects in a similar manner with the annular pipes I'. The small branches from
the vertical pipes are fitted with cocks i i' respectively, by turning which commu-
nication is opened with the pipes K or K' as the case may be, or communication is
cut off therefrom.

page_text: Supposing now it is intended to supply ascending jets of steam and descending
jets of water to the grain under treatment, the cock ³ is closed, and all the other
cocks are opened. If however steam is required to be supplied alone to the
pipes I l¹ the cock k is closed and the cock k² is opened. Again if water only is to
be supplied the steam cock ¹ is closed and the water supply cock k is opened the
water will then not only find its way up the pipe K to the annular pipes I but also
up the pipe K¹ to the annular pipes I' and similarly when the water is cut off and
steam is supplied, the pipe K will for the time being supply steam to the annular
pipes I.
It will also be understood that the cocks provide a ready means for regulating
the amount of water or steam delivered to the machine.
By the use of this arrangement the moisture imparted to the grain may be regu-
lated with the greatest nicety, so much only being required as can be well absorbed
by the outer cuticle or bran.
In lieu of the arrangement of wheat cleaning machine above referred to, I may
use one slightly modified consisting of a series of inverted cones set one above
another, and each containing within it a cone of smaller size.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings Fig: 4 shows this arrangement of wheat cleaning
machine in vertical section where A is the outer case, B. B. B are three fixed cones
and C. C. C are three rotating cones carried by a central rotary shaft D. These
pairs of inner and outer cones act as rubbing surfaces and form reticulated annular
chambers which are closed at bottom by means of shallow troughs E made fast to
the case A. These chambers underlie the one the other and are intended to receivo
in succession the grain to be operated upon.
The grain is supplied from a hopper F and it is delivered from the machine by a
shute G.
H is a blower for throwing a blast of air into the machine, and H' is a fan situate
above the machine for drawing out any dust and floating particles that may have
been separated from the grain.
This machine is provided like that just describod with annular steam and water
pipes II supplied with water and steam by an-arrangement of pipes and cocks
similar to that shown at Fig: 1.-The cones B and C. are each made of steel-bars
laced together by flattened wire so as to present suitable friction surfaces to the
grain which is passed between them. The grain delivered from the hopper F passes
down a flattened tube to the trough-shaped bottom of the uppermost annular
chamber and a similar tube f¹ connects the top of this chamber with the annular
trough of the second chamber. A third flattened tube f² connects the top of the
second annular chamber with the trough-shaped bottom of the third annular
chamber with which also the shute G is in communication.
The rotary cones C dip into but are clear of their respective troughs, and they
stand sufficiently high above their respective outer cones B to prevent the grain
when rising as will be presently explained from falling over the edge of the
rotary cones into the blower at the bottom of the case A.
The inuer cones serve the purpose of the rotary beaters of the first arrangement
and they are driven rapidly so as to carry up the grain fed in at the bottom of the
several compartments and discharge it over the upper ends of the outer cones.
Thus the corn fed to the first annular chamber will be subjected to friction between
the cone surfaces as it rises to the upper edge of the cones; it will then fall down
the tube f' to the bottom of the next annular chamber and rising through this
space will be discharged into the tube f² to the bottom of the next annular chamber
where the scouring of the grain will be completed.
It will be understood that, as in the first arrangement, a blast of air will be
conveyed from the blower H to the chambers for carrying off from the machine
the dust and other matters removed from the grain by friction of contact with the
xed and rotary cones, and that the damping of the grain by means of the steam
and water pipes will be effected as before explained to ensure the toughening of the
bran without dissolving the gluten thereby providing for the facile separation of

page_text: the bran from the flour-producing portion of the wheat. In lieu of the above
described machines I may use for the purposes of this Invention the cleaning appa-
ratus described in the Specification of my Patent dated October twenty-fourth One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, No. 4119, wherein cylinders constructed of
steel blades and operating like the cones above described are used.
This machine is shewn in vertical section at Fig: 5 as fitted with pipes for
discharging jets of steam and water onto the grain under treatment.
In this machine there is one rotary cone and one fixed cone only. The grain
travels upwards as in the last described machine and accumulating above the
rotary cone overflows into a delivery shute leading from the upper end of the
fixed cone.
Air is drawn into the machine by means of an exhaust fan H through side
openings in the case and through the centre of the cover for drawing off the dirt
and other matters abraded from the grain which is moistened as before by annular
pipes I. I' situate within the chamber formed by the fixed and rotating cones.
The mode of regulating the supply of steam and water to the grain will be the
same as that described with reference to Fig: 1.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An improved mode of
and apparatus for treating wheat and other grain preparatory to grinding" and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim —
First: The mode above described for treating, in a wheat cleaning machine, wheat
and other grain for the purpose of toughening the bran or outer skin without
discolouring the starch or gluten.
Secondly: The application to wheat cleaning machines of the apparatus above
described for discharging into the grain while.undergoing the cleaning process, jets
of water and steam in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
Thirdly The arrangement of wheat cleaning machine as described with reference
to Fig: 4 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof I the said John Auguste Arnold Buchholz have hereunto
set my hand and seal the third day of August in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
J. A. ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ. (L.S.)