A New or Improved Machine for the Decortication of Wheat.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Left. 27th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 26th Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Machine for the Decortication of Wheat.
We HUGH JAMES SANDERSON and ALEXANDER HENRY REED of Suffolk House
Laurence Pountney Hill London E.C. Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
The machine consists of one or more discs secured to a shaft which is caused to
revolve inside a cylinder or chamber. The disc or discs is or are of solid emery or
coated with emery or other similar sharp material the shaft is arranged by preference
horizontally and is caused to revolve by any convenient means the cylinder or chamber
is of wood wire gauze or other suitable material and may be caused to revolve or
oscillate or vibrate. The whole may be cased in and a blast or exhaust applied for
the removal of the loose bran.
The grain is fed to the machine preferably in a moistened condition and is sub-
jected to the rubbing action of the disc or discs until the bran is removed.
Dated this 26th day of February 1889
HUGH JAMES SANDERSON.
AH REED.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Machine for the Decortication of Wheat.
We, HUGH JAMES SANDERSON, and ALEXANDER HENRY REED of Suffolk House,
Laurence Pountney Hill, London, E.C., Engineers, 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 :-
In this invention which relates to the treatment of grain for the purpose of decorti-
cating it, we employ a machine having one or more but preferably several discs
secured at suitable distances apart upon a shaft and so arranged as to dip into the
grain to any required depth. The distance between the discs may vary with the
coarseness of the material of which the discs are made, or with which they are
covered, the peculiarities of the grain, or the speed of the shaft, but we have obtained
excellent results with discs 30 inches diameter, 3" thick and 31" apart and revolving
at a speed of 450 revolutions per minute.
Different ways may be adopted for the manufacture of the discs, as making them of
solid emery or other sharp material or setting emery in silica or coating centres of
metal or other suitable material with emery, but after exhaustive trial we have
obtained the best results from metal centres coated with emery, or emery and sand,
and cement in the proportions of 36 parts emery, 7 sand, 9 magnesia, and 9 chloride
of magnesia; the sand may however be omitted altogether and emery substituted.
The shaft we find is best placed horizontally in a cylinder or chamber of perforated
steel or other suitable material which cylinder is caused to revolve and the whole
cased in and a blast or exhaust applied if required for the removal of the loose bran
or dust as produced.
The grain is fed to the machine in a moist condition, more or less according to
circumstances or the character of the grain and preferably directly after wetting.
Speaking generally the grain should be well moistened or even wet; that is to say
the bran or outer coating is to be thoroughly wetted but the grain itself must either
not be wetted at all which we prefer, or at all events so little as not to damage the
flour.

page_text: The bran is removed by the attrition of the discs and with little or no damage to
the grain itself.
This excellent result is due to the discs working in wetted grain as we find that if
we work the grain dry the bran becomes broken and dusty and the ends of the grains
are knocked off, as has been the case with the previous abortive attempts to decorticate
grain by the action upon it of roughened surfaces.
For the revolving cylinder we find perforated steel as thin as is consistent with
strength the best material; we have tried thicker steel and the perforations became
stopped up. We have also tried wire gauze but this also became stopped up and we
have found in practice that steel of about 3 of an inch in thickness with perforations
32of an inch in diameter (but the size of the perforations would be varied to suit
the material to be treated or the results required) gives the best and satisfactory
results.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a machine constructed
according to this invention and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same;
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are views of some of the cams detached from the machine and
Fig. 6 is a plan showing diagrammatically the arrangement of such cams upon the
machine.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A are the discs which with suitable distance pieces A³ between them are mounted
on the shaft A¹ and A' are nuts which screw these discs and distance pieces tightly
up against each other and hold them securely on the shaft A¹. If desired the discs A
may be secured to the shaft A' by a feather or other suitable means. The discs are by
preference provided with openings outside the edge of the distance pieces A² so as to
allow of a flow of air from the helices A to the spaces between the discs. A* A³ are
respectively the fast and loose pulleys mounted on the shaft and B are the bearings
in which the said shaft is carried two of these bearings being supported on the end
frames C and C¹ and the other one on the standard B₁ at the outer side of the
pulleys A A'; B¹ C and C¹ being suitably secured to the floor Z.
D is the revolving drum the circular wall d of which is preferably constructed of
perforated sheet steel as before explained. d' are the plates or discs which close in
the ends of the drum D and each of which at its edge is provided with gear teeth d²
and at its centre with a hollow trunnion d³ by which the drum D is supported and
free to rotate in the bearings C³ preferably formed in part with the frames C Cas
0º
shown most clearly in Fig. 2. A are two helices one right and the other left handed
and both working closely in the hollow trunnions d³.
A is a worm or screw cut or otherwise provided on one end of the shaft A' and
gearing with a worm wheel El secured upon the shaft E which is supported in
bracket bearings C³ preferably formed in part with the frame C. The shaft E at one
end is provided with the worm E2 which gears with the worm wheel F and at the
other end with the bevil wheel Es which gears with the bevil wheel G. This wheel G
is secured upon the shaft G' which extends right across the back of the machine as
shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and is supported in bearings formed in the frames C
and the said shaft having secured upon it two wheels or pinions G2 gearing with
the toothed rings d² on the before mentioned end plates d'; the said pinions G² are
represented in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in the diagram Fig. 6 but a portion of one
of them is clearly shown in Fig. 1 where part of the before mentioned bevil wheel G
is broken away for the purpose.
The worm wheel F shown in figs. 1 and in diagram in fig. 6 is secured upon the
short shaft F which is supported in a suitable framing H which also supports one end
of what is herein termed the cam shaft J which extends right across the front of the
machine and may be similarly supported at its other end. On the shaft F¹ is mounted
a wheel F2 gearing with another wheel J¹ mounted on the shaft J both of these
wheels F2 and J¹ being readily removable so as to serve as change wheels for regulating
the rate of rotation of the cam shaft J in relation to that of the drum D. On the
shaft J as illustrated in figure 6 are mounted six cams three marked in the

page_text: drawings K, L and M at each end of the machine that is to say one cam of each
pair operating in conjunction upon similar parts at the respective ends of the machine
to avoid any twisting or straining of the parts and only one of each pair is shown in
the other drawings.
In order that the bran, richer offal and wheat may be directed into their proper
respective receptacles and that the doors D¹ may be open when at the underside of the
drum for discharging the wheat and the doors Q' may be open when the doors D¹
are at the top of the drum and open for re-charging the drum it is necessary that a
certain relation must be maintained between the rotation of the drum D and the
parts operating the said valves and doors, and no matter at what speed the machine
may be operated or how many times it is desired to rotate the drum D between the
operations of the valves and doors this relation must always be maintained, and it is
for this purpose that the change wheels F2 and J¹ are employed and it will be
understood that although only two change wheels are shown in the drawings any
requisite number may be used.
The cam K shown most clearly in fig. 3 raises the lever K₁ which at one end is
pivotted at K2 to the frame as in Fig. 1 and at the other end to the rod K³, and
the cam L shown most clearly in fig. 4 in a similar manner raises the lever L¹
pivotted at L2 and connected at its free end to the rod L³.
M' are
cams spiral on their exterior surfaces and which are secured to the
frames C and C¹ one at each end of the machine and each of which at its interior is
circular and concentric to the drum D and provided with a pivotted point M² between
which and the other end M³ of the cam exists a space M. The point M² forms with
an arm M³ a bell crank lever to which is connected the upper end of the rod M* the
lower end of which is forked or as shown most clearly in Fig. 5 formed with a
slot M² to guide it on the shaft J while also permitting it to be moved longitudinally.
M is the cam by which through the anti-friction roller M or its equivalent the
longitudinal movement is imparted to the rod Me in one direction it being moved in
the other direction back to its normal position by spring or weight.
N is a casing suitably secured below the floor Z and provided with the valves K*
and L the projecting ends of the respective shafts K and L of which have fitted to
them the weighted arms K and L to which are pivotted the lower ends of the
before-mentioned rods K³ and L³. The casing N can be arranged to discharge
the material which it receives either to the right or left of fig. 1. When it falls to the
right it passes to the conveyor N¹ and when to the left either through the then-open
valve K or down the shoot N2 in all cases to be delivered into the receptacles each of
which may be provided for receiving a special grade of the material resulting from
the treatment of the grain in the apparatus. Ŏ fig. 1 is an inclined plate which is
adapted to be vibrated or jogged by any convenient means and preferably the lower
part of which to the right of the partition N³ may be heated by steam, hot water, or
other suitable medium; the said lower part of plate O is not shown on the drawing
but it is to be understood that the partition N³ extends down to within a short distance
of the said plate. If desired the whole of the plate O may be heated. The drum D
is provided with two doors D¹ which in Fig. 1 are represented one in dotted lines and
the other partly in full lines at the place where the casing P is shown broken away.
The casing P closes in the upper part of the machine. The pivot rods D³ of the
doors D' at each end of the drum D project out beyond the face of the end plate d'
and have secured to their projecting ends the arms D³ the free ends of which are
pivotted respectively to the links D* and D at the free and extended end of the latter
of which is provided the head D. The lower ends of D₁ and D³ are pivotted to
opposite sides of a block D' which is provided with a stud D or the like projecting
outwards so as to be operated upon by the adjacent cam M' and which is arranged to
be moved in the guide D' attached to the end plate d' radially outwards by the cam M¹
and radially inwards by the spring D which always tends to push it towards the
end D of the guide D.
Qis a charging hopper which may be secured to the upper part of the casing Pas
shown and which is provided with doors Q which like the doors D¹ are shown in

page_text: fig. 1 one in dotted lines and the other partly in full lines. On the outwardly
projecting ends of the pivot rods Q2 of these doors are fitted the toothed quadrants Q³
which gear with each other and one of which may be provided with the weighted
arm Qand the other with the lever arm Q.
The before described mechanism for operating the doors D¹ and Q₁ at one end of
the drum is duplicated at the other end.
R is a screw conveyor supported preferably directly above the hopper or shoot Q
and the casing R' of which is open at the bottom.
S S¹ is a bent pipe the portion S of which is perforated or provided with jets at s
Fig. 2 and the other portion S¹ may be provided with a stop cock s¹ Fig. 2. S² is a
trough into which falls the water issuing from the perforations or jets s and S³ is a
pipe for conducting such water into the casing R', but the water for wetting the
grain may be introduced in any other desired way.
In the drawings the doors Ď¹ and Q₁ are represented open as though the drum
were receiving from the hopper Q a charge of wetted wheat. Assuming that to be the
starting point of the machine its operation may be described as follows;-
Rotary motion is imparted to the shaft A' through the fast pulley A* so as to drive
the discs A in the direction indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 1 at say 500 revolutions
per minute according to circumstances. This, through the worm A' and
wheels E¹, E, G, (2 and d² will rotate the drum D in the same direction at a very
slow speed say one revolution in one minute. As soon as the stud DB at each end of
the machine is moved over the end M³ of the cam M¹ the spring D⁰ will force the
block D' down to the end D1 of the guide D' and thereby through the links D* and D'
and arms D³ will close the doors D¹.
The support of the head D of the extended link D' also being withdrawn from the
lever arm the weight on the arm Qʻ will, through the toothed quadrants Q³ close
the doors Q this being effected at such a time as will not interfere with the closing
of the doors D¹. The machine will now continue to work with the grain inside the
drum D and the discs A rotating amongst it so that by attrition the said discs will
remove from the wheat the wet bran which will be discharged through the perforated
wall d of the drum D and fall through the casing N past the valve K* and onto the
upper or cool portion of the vibrating plate O and will be jogged down below the lower
edge of the partition N³ onto the heated part of such plate where it will be dried and
by which it will be discharged into any suitable receptacle the valves K* and L* at
this time and for this purpose being in the positions in which they are represented in
full lines in figure 1. The partition N³ prevents the steam given off in the drying
of the bran from passing through the then-open valve K* to the apparatus above.
Other means may however be employed for drying the bran.
It is found that the centrifugal force imparted by the discs A to the bran and air
forces the bran through the perforations in the wall d of the drum D, but if desired
additional air pressure may be introduced.
After the lapse of a predetermined time allowed for the removal of the bran as
provided for by the change wheels F2 J¹ and extent or position of the operating surface
of the cam K the other cam L raises the lever L' and thus through the rod L³ and
arm L® throws over the valve L* from the position in which it is shown in full lines
to that shown in dotted lines that is from right to left of figure 1. At or about this
time the cam K raises the lever K¹ and thus through the rod K' and arm K throws
over the valve K' into the position in which it is represented in dotted lines in Fig. 1
that is to say it causes the said valve to move from left to right in the drawing; this
being to prepare for the subsequent discharge of the wheat down the shoot N2. As
thus adjusted with the valve to the left of the drawing the richer offal at this
time being driven through the perforations of the drum D falls on to the valve L
and is directed by it down to the conveyor N¹ to be discharged by it into any suitable
receptacle.
"
All this time the drum D will have been slowly rotating with the stud Ds at each
end at the inner or concentric side of the cam M¹ but at a predetermined time the
cam M will move the rod M and arm M³ so that the cam point M will be moved

page_text: from the position in which it is shown in full lines to that in which it is shown in
dotted lines so that when next the stud D8 is presented to it, it will travel over the
outer surface of M² on to the external spiral surface of the cam proper, after which
the projection of the cam M will be withdrawn from the roller M³ and allow the.
point M² to be returned to its normal position by the before mentioned spring or
equivalent means. At about this time at which it may have been considered that all
the richer offal will have been removed from the wheat, the operating surface of the
cam L is withdrawn from the lever L' and allows the weight on the arm L' to move
the valve L back into its first position (full lines in fig. 1). Now as the drum D
rotates the stud Da is gradually moved farther outwards from the axis of the drum D
by travelling over the cam M and thus through the block D' arms D³ and links D₁
and D the doors D' are gradually opened and are open when at the underside
of the drum so as to discharge the wheat contained in the said drum into
the casing N when the said wheat will be directed by the valves L' and K* down
to the shoot N by which it may be conducted into any suitable receptacle or into
any desired machine such as a brushing machine for subsequent treatment.
At or
about this stage the cam K may effect the turning over of the valve K* into the position
represented by full lines so as to be ready for directing into its proper course the bran
from the batch of wheat next introduced into the machine. When the doors D' are
directly under the shoot Q they will still be open and the head De having engaged in
passing with the arm Q the doors Q will also be opened and the fresh charge of grain
will be dumped into the drum D. The doors Q' will remain open so long as the head De
is in engagement with the arm Q but upon this engagement ceasing as De travels
onward, the doors Q¹ will close under the influence of the weighted lever Q. Since
the open doors D¹ could not pass while the doors Q' are open it will be understood that
the engagement and disengagement of De and Q and the termination of the cam M'
will be so adjusted that the doors Q¹ will only be opened after the passage of the first
door D' and will be closed before the passage of the second door D¹.
The drum always moving on the apparatus thus proceeds through another cycle of
the operations before described.
During the operation of the machine the discs A tend to form a vacunm in the
drum D by centrifugally driving the air out through the perforated wall d. The
helices A in their rotation cause or allow air to enter the drum to take the place of
the air expelled by the discs A and at the same time prevent the escape of grain
through the hollow trunnions in which they work; this results from the directions or
inclination of the helices A being such as to tend to move anything presented to
them towards the interior of the drum D.
The extent to which the grain may be wetted before being introduced into the
Irum D is adjustable by means of the stop cock s¹ by turning which sufficient water
may be introduced into the pipe S to enable it to escape from one, two or any
number more of the holes or jets s and thus allow it readily to be seen how much
water is being introduced into the conveyor chamber R¹ to be therein mixed with
the wheat; but other means may be employed for wetting the grain.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the charge of wheat is placed bodily into
the druni and retained their until finished when it is dumped bodily, while in other
processes the operation is usually continuous the grain always entering and always
leaving the machine. Another important feature of this invention is that, in the
before described apparatus the bran by being dried on a vibrating plate does not
ball or cake together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be
understood that we are
aware that attempts have been made to decorticate
grain by passing it between roughened surfaces and by the use of discs and cones of
various kinds but these have all failed to attain the results which we have accomplished
by the use of the roughened discs revolving in the wetted grain. We are also aware
that the mere wetting of grain is known in milling operations where it is employed for

page_text: the purpose of toughening the bran to prevent it from being broken by the fluted
rollers and mixed with the flour the color of which would thus become spoiled. We
however wet the grain for a machine where and at a time when the grain itself is not
crushed or broken and for the simple purpose of causing the bran to readily leave
the berry. It will therefore be understood that no claim is here made to the use of
roughened surfaces or discs or to the wetting of grain apart from the decortication
part of the process of milling grain, but we declare that what we claim is ;-
1. The decorticating of grain in an apparatus which subjects it while the bran
only is in a moist or wet condition to contact with rough revolving discs substantially
as described.
2. The combination in an apparatus for preparing wheat for grinding of means.
for damping the grain so as to wet the bran only and rapidly revolving dises for
the purpose of decorticating the grain so damped.
3. The decorticating of grain while in a wet condition by revolving discs
substantially as described.
4. The decortication of grain while in a wet condition by revolving discs composed
of emery or emery and sand and cement in or about the proportions stated substantially
as described.
5. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the decortication
of grain intermittently one charge of grain being removed before another is introduced
substantially as herein described.
6. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the combination
with two pivotted doors D¹ on the rotating drum and arms links and block such
as D3 D4 D and D' of a cam such as M M² the whole constructed and operating
substantially as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
7. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the combination
with the apparatus claimed in the last preceding claiming clause of the mechanism
for operating the hopper doors Q1 consisting essentially of the toothed quadrants Q³
weighted arm Q4 arm Q and link extension and head De the whole constructed
and operating substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
8. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the employment
of change gear for automatically regulating and varying the times of charging and
discharging the apparatus substantially as herein described.
9. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the combination
of cams such as K and L driven at a speed which may be varied to suit requirements
levers such as K' L' rods K³ L³ weighted arms KL and valves such as K'and I working
within a casing such as N for the purpose of automatically separating the products
resulting from the treatment of the grain the whole constructed and operating
substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
10. The combination with a decorticating machine of bran damping and drying
appliances substantially as described.
11. In the apparatus described in the first claiming clause hereof the employment
of helices such as A substantially as and for the purpose herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
12. The arrangement and combination of parts forming the complete decorticating
apparatus substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 24th day of December 1839
19
HUGH JAS. SANDERSON.
A. H. REED.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicants.