IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR SEPARATING CORN AND OTHER GRAIN.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Parker, of East Markham, near Tuxford,.
in the County of Nottingham, Agricultural Mechanist, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR SEPARATING CORN AND OTHER GRAIN.
Sealed the 3rd September 1857, and dated the 20th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Parker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th Marchi
1857.
I, JOHN PARKER, of East Markham, near Tuxford, in the County of
Nottingham, Agricultural Mechanist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR SEPARATING CORN AND OTHER
GRAIN AND SEEDS FROM DUST, CHAFF, AND OTHER MATTERS," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist in combining a screen, blower, and separator in
one machine. The corn or seed to be cleaned falls from a hopper, in the
bottom of which there is a slide to regulate the supply to the machine; a
blower is so placed that as the corn or other seed falls from the hopper
the dust is blown out of the machine on to the floor; the inferior corn is blown
against a board fitted in slots on each side of the machine, falls down into a
spout, thence to the floor; the best corn drops on to an endless flannel belt,
and is carried to a screen, down which it falls on to the floor or into a suitable
receptacle; the dust or "herriff" sticks to the flannel, and being carried against
a scraper is scraped off into a drawer. There are several slide boards, one of
which prevents the corn when blown out from rebounding on to the flannel
and being carried back to the best corn; and the boards are shifted in slots

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Parker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PARKER, of East Markham, near Tuxford, in the County of Nottingham,
Agricultural Mechanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Ifer
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Parker, Her special licence, that I, the said John Parker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Parker, 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
APPARATUSES FOR SEPARATING CORN AND OTHER GRAIN AND SEEDS FROM DUST,
CHAFF, AND OTHER MATTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Parker, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Parker, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The improvements consist in combining a screen, blower, and separator in
one machine. The corn or seed to be cleaned falls from a hopper, in the
bottom of which there is a slide to regulate the supply to the machine; a
blower is so placed that as the corn or other s eed falls from the hopper the

page_text: dust is blown out of the machine on to the floor; the inferior corn is blown
against a board fitted in slots on each side of the machine, falls down into a
spout, thence to the floor; the best corn drops on to an endless flannel belt,
and is carried to a screen, down which it falls on to the floor or into a suitable
receptacle; the dust or "herriff" sticks to tho flannel, and being carried
against a scraper is scraped off into a drawer. There are several side boards,
one of which prevents the light corn when blown out from rebounding on to
the flannel and being carried back to the best corn; and the boards are shifted
in slots made to receive them, according to the quality of sample corn to be
produced. By shifting or changing the boards the machine may be used
simply as a corn blower.
The Drawings hereunto annexed shew the manner in which I carry my
Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 is an end view of a winnow-
ing machine and apparatus for separating chaff, dust, and herriff from corn or
other grain, or from seeds.
A is the framework, to which the brasses or bearings are fixed in which the
journals of the fan shaft B revolve. C, C, are the fans fixed on the arms E;
these arms are secured in the bosses E' fixed on the shaft B and enclosed in
the drum D. F is a circular ring fixed at or near the extremity of the fans;
this ring serves to keep the fans more secure, and likewise to serve the purpose
of a fly wheel; motion is communicated to the machine in the ordinary
manner, by means of a winch handle G and the spur wheel H, which gears
into the spur pinion I fixed on the fan shaft. J is a pulley fixed on the
opposite end of the fan shaft B to that on which the pinion I is fixed; this
pulley gives motion to a second pulley K through the belt L. The pulley K
is fixed on the end of a shaft M which projects through the side of the
machine. In the interior of the machine on the shaft M a roller N is fixed,
which has a woollen travelling cloth O, the whole width of the interior
of the machine, passed over it, and over a second roller P, the journals
of which turn in suitable bearings in the side of the machine. The arrows
show the direction in which the moveable part of the machine travels. Qis
a scraper, placed beneath the travelling cloth in such a position that its edge
may act upon the cloth. R is the hopper, which has a sliding shut S fitted to
it; this shut is regulated by a thumb-nut T and screw T' to any necessary
amount of feed. When the corn or other grain or seeds to be acted upon falls
from the hopper, it is acted on by a current of air from the fans, when the
chaff, dust, &c. is blown out. The best or heaviest corn or other grain or
seeds then fall on to the travelling cloth O, and is carried in the direction

page_text: of the arrow U and precipitated over the roller N into the upper end of the
sieve or screen V, down which it slides to the floor. The sieve or screen V may
be made to vibrate or not. Any sand or other small and heavy extraneous
matters will fall through the screen on to the floor. The herriff or other matters
which fall on and stick to the woollen travelling cloth O is taken off by the
scraper Q, and falls into a drawer W or other receptacle. The light or inferior
corn or other grain or seeds is blown over the board a, b, Figure 3, which is in
two portions hinged together and placed in the grooves or recesses a, b, Figure
1. This board prevents that portion of the lighter corn or other grain or seeds
(which rebounds off the board c, d, Figure 4, which is placed in the groove c, d,
Figure 1) from falling on to the travelling cloth, which would carry it back-
wards among the heaviest or superior corn or other grain or seeds. The
lighter or inferior portion of the corn or other grain or seeds after sliding down
the board c, d, passes out at the spout e to the floor. If it is required to allow
the lighter portion to fall on the floor without passing through the spout e, the
board c, d, is drawn out off the groove c, d, and placed in the groove f. The
board g, Figure 5, is placed in the groove 9 when a superior sample is required;
and in the groove h when an inferior sample is wanted. X is a roller, the journals
of which turn in suitable bearings placed or fixed in the sides of the machine;
this roller rests on and is turned by the roller N and travelling cloth O. The
roller X may be taken out, and the board j, Figure 6, placed in the groove j¹
when the machine is used as a blower only.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvements
in apparatuses for separating corn and other grain or seeds from dust, chaff, or
other matters, as herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Parker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Agent,
Nottingham.
JOHN PARKER. (L.S.)