Decorticating, or Grinding Grain or other Materials.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 27th July, 1887
Specification Accepted, 29th Nov., 1887
Decorticating, or Grinding Grain or other Materials.
I, FRIEDRICH WEGMANN, of Zurich, Switzerland, Manufacturer and Engineer
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:-
The shelling of corn, that is to say, the process by which the outside husk is taken off
in order to expose the grain of meal has to this day been found a long and difficult
operation, moreover the resulting product is irregular and accompanied with fragments
involving loss of meal.
When for this purpose the corn is rolled over the roughened inner surfaces of
borizontal drums and at the same time exposed to the rubbing action of grain against
grain, the removal of the husk is effected in the most regular manner yet attained till
now but only to a very slight degree. Owing to the small specific gravity of the
grain of corn there is an absence of the requisite pressure upon the working or rubbing
surface to produce the necessary energetic assailing action on its husk. Bodies of
greater specific gravity are by such treatment operated upon to better effect, as their
own weight renders them subject to a more incisive action resulting from their
own friction against one another and against the inner surface of the drum.
On increasing the revolving speed of the drum, the corn tends, in proportion to
the speed employed, to cling with greater pressure to the inner surface of the
drum but all rubbing and rolling motion of grain against grain and against the
inner surface of the drum is suspended and therefore no useful work is obtained.
The corn, then forms a compact mass held together under the action of the centri-
fugal force and is pressed against the circumference of the drum, but in an inert
condition with regard to the inner surface of the drum.
It seemed to me feasible to impart into this mass centrifugally moved and thereby
placed under considerable pressure, such a motion (displacement, rolling) as to he
turned to use for the performance of work. It is this consideration which has guided
me in my invention and led me to the desired result.
I have combined the rolling and rubbing action of the rotating drum with the
centrifugal motion producing or rather increasing the pressure, and by this means I

page_text: am enabled to operate on the corn in the rotating drum under such pressure artificially
produced to any degree and thereby to husk the corn to any desired extent.
For this purpose the drum with its contents is caused to rotate on its own axis and
at the same time to swing round in the opposite direction on a second axis excentric
to the first, so that the corn, in proportion to the peripheric speed employed, presses
itself against that part of the inner surface of the drum which is farthest from the
swinging axis and under the influence of the pressure to be regulated at will and under
the revolving in the opposite direction of the drum on its own axis, the corn is subjected
to a continual displacement upon the inner surface producing a scouring and husking
action on the corn in consequence partly of the friction on the roughened surface, partly
of the rubbing of grain against grain.
The machine constructed according to this invention consists of the drums A (Figures 1
and 2) designed for the reception of the corn. These are so placed and arranged that,
under the action of a fixed centre wheel m and the intermediate wheels n and o or, as
shown at Figure 6, by means of a wheel with inside teeth or by any other suitable
device they receive a twofold motion, namely, a motion of rotation on their own axles C
and again a rotary motion with greater circumferential speed in the opposite direction
on a second axis m parallel yet excentric to C. In this planet like motion two or
more or only one drum can be arranged as shown in Figures 3 to 5. Instead of the
drums being arranged symetrically and parallel round the same axis of rotation, they
can be placed one behind the other as sketched at Figure 7, whereby the axis of
rotation and the axis of the drum are, so to speak, moved in an undulating manner
together. The hollow drums can be made cylindrical, polygonal, spherical, or of any
suitable shape. The working of the machine can be made continuous or intermittent
by any well known mechanical means and the corn may either be introduced by
means of cups or buckets as indicated by letter c in Figures 1 and 2 or through a
hollow axle and discharged in a similar manner.
The means of introducing the corn or other materials through hollow axles is
represented in Figure 8 of the annexed drawings.
The drums A A by means of their hollow axles are attached loosely to the casting D
fixed on the shaft m. Next to the casting D and fixed upon the shaft m is a hollow
receptacle E which is connected with the hollow axles of the drums A by the
flange E¹ on one side, and by E2 with the hopper or receiver F on the other side.
The material put in through F goes into the hollow receptacle E and in consequence
of the rotary motion of E spreads itself against its inner periphery and is drawn into
the drums A by means of the spirals g which are fixed in the hollow axles C. The
drums are partially provided with perforated plates or with metal gauze to provide an
exit for the rubbed off parts.
In such centrifugally revolving drums the corn can be completely skinned' and
gradually reduced and rounded off, so that by this means grain of any description,
rice and the like is not only cleaned and shelled (peeled) ready for grinding up or
made into pearl barley, but may even, proceeding by layers from the outside to the
inside, be completely reduced to meal. For this purpose the condition of the inner
surface of the drum must be roughed or grating like, that is to say, composed of some
rough material such as porcelain, earthenware, emery, stone etc, or of metal, either
punched, corrugated, cut up in file pattern or formed of angular projections. On
providing the inner surface with sharp edged pins or wart like projections, a dis-
membering action will be produced, reducing the grain to middlings.
The same as grain, other materials can in such revolving drums be operated on
their surface, polished, rounded off, such as small shot, needles, beads, buttons, etc.
The work may be carried out dry or with the aid of liquids. The drums can be
arranged on vertical the same as on horizontal axles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method, by means of which corn and other materials are operated upon,
cleaned, husked, ground, seoured, polished etc.: whereby the corn or other material is

page_text: placed in a drum (cylinder, ball &c.) which is subjected to two motions in different
directions, one of which by revolving the drum on its own axis, rolls, rules, scours
and turns the corn over, whilst the other, swinging round the drum and its contents
excentrically and centrifugally, lays the corn under pressure against that part of
the inner surface of the druin which is farthest from the axis of rotation as above
explained.
2. For the purpose of carrying out the method in claim 1, an apparatus consisting
of drums A which, like planets, revolve on their own axles Ċ while at the same time
they are swinging round in an opposite direction on a second axle m which is
excentric to the said axle C, as described and shown.
3. For the purpose of carrying out the method in claim 1, any arrangement of one
or more planet like rotating hollow drums, referred to in claim 2, aside of another,
behind one another, or above one another, and on vertical or horizontal rotary axles,
in which materials of all sorts, dry or wet, would be capable of being operated upon,
as above set forth.