AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLOUR
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Oflice for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
TREATING FLOUR"-A communication from abroad by John Lange,
of Neumühlen, near Kiel, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 22nd May 1869, and dated the 5th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th December 1868.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
TREATING FLOUR," to be as follows:-
The object of the apparatus which forms the subject of this Invention
is to fit the flour as it comes from the millstones for being immediately
dressed through silk. For this purpose it is necessary to extract the
moisture from the flour, and at the same time to reduce the temperature
of the flour to that of the air in the mill. To this end a vertical channel
[Price 8d.]

page_text: case.
is provided, down which the flour is discharged, and in which in falling
it meets with an upward current of dry air produced by a rotary exhaust
fan or any suitable blower. The moisture in the flour will be taken up
by the air and carried off from the mill. At the upper end of the
vertical channel is mounted in a suitable horizontal case an archimedean
screw to which the flour to be discharged down the channel is delivered
by a suitable bucket chain or other elevator. The screw case is fitted
with a shute which delivers the flour in a continuous stream from the
The vertical channel is fitted with a single or it may be a double
series of inclines, so arranged as to guide the flour in a zig-zag course
from the top to the bottom of the channel, and thereby to expose it in a
thin broad stream to the action of the ascending current. The bottom
of the channel is contracted, and the flour is thereby discharged into the
case of a second archimedean screw, along which by the rotation of the
screw it will be passed to the elevator before-mentioned, which will
raise the flour to its former height to be again discharged through the
vertical channel, and so on until the drying and cooling are effected.
To prevent the escape and consequently the loss of fine particles
of flour with the air à peculiar construction of filtering apparatus is
provided. This consists of a strained woollen cloth arranged in upright
zig-zags and placed above the vertical channel so as to close its upper
end. This cloth is strained over horizontal bars, and between the zig-
zags are elastic beaters which are operated through a crank lever, and
are caused at, say, every half hour to beat the cloth and throw off the
accumulations of flour so as to keep the pores of the filter open. Near
the lower end of the vertical channel are valves or shutters for admitting
air thereto.
The great advantage of using this apparatus is that the flour after
leaving the apparatus is dry, and will in consequence yield a larger per-
centage of fine flour in dressing than usual, the bran will be clearer of
flour, and the flour will keep a long time coming dry into the sack. It is
also very advantageous where soft and moist wheat is to be ground,
which at present cannot be dressed directly after leaving the stones as
it closes the silk of the dressing machines. An incidental advantage is
that the moisture being drawn out within a very short time it has no
time to spoil the starch in the flour, and therefore the colour as well
as the quality of the flour is greatly improved by the apparatus.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, iny executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLOUR," being a communication to
me from John Lange, of Neumühlen, near Kiel, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 shid Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of this Invention is to fit the flour as it comes from the
millstones for being immediately dressed through silk. For this purpose
it is necessary to extract from the flour the moisture which it contains,

page_text: and at the same time to reduce the temperature of the flour to that of
the air in the mill. To attain this end a novel arrangement of apparatus
is employed in which the flour is discharged down an air channel, where
it is met by an upward current of air, as has heretofore been proposed,
but by this apparatus the flour is effectually prevented from escaping
into the mill or obstructing the escape of the air and moisture.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional
elevation of the improved apparatus; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical
section of the same taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a
transverse sectional plan taken in the line 3, 4. of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shews
a modification of a portion of the apparatus.
A, A, is a vertical channel down which the flour is discharged, and in
which in falling it meets with an upward current of dry air produced by a
rotary exhaust fan B; or any suitable blower may be used in place of the
exhaust fan. At the upper end of the vertical channel is mounted in a
suitable horizontal case C an archimedean screw D to which the flour is
brought as it leaves the millstones by means of endless chains of buckets
or other suitable elevators.
the whole breadth of the channel A, which shute delivers the flour in a
continuous stream from the case. The vertical channel is fitted withi
a series of inclines a, a, a, so arranged as to guide the flour in a zig-zag
course from the top to the bottom of the channel, and thereby to expose
it in a thin broad stream to the action of the ascending current. The
bottom of the channel is contracted, and the flour on reaching the
bottom is thereby guided into the case C* of a second archimedean
screw D*, along which by the rotation of the screw it will be passed to
an elevator E. By means of this elevator the flour may be raised to any
desired height for supplying it to the dressing machines, or if required
it may be again discharged through the vertical air channel to complete
the drying and cooling of the flour.
The screw case is fitted with a shute Cof
To prevent the escape and consequently the loss of fine particles of
flour with the air a peculiar construction of filtering apparatus is pro-
vided. This consists of a strained woollen cloth arranged in upright
zig-zags and placed above the vertical channel so as to close its upper
end. F, F, is the woollen cloth which is strained over transverse
horizontal bars G and G¹ set parallel to each other and at equal
distances apart. The lower bars G. are fixed, but the upper bars G' are
attached to longitudinal bars G which are suspended by screwed rods

page_text: and nuts made fast to timbers above. Between the zig-zags but
externally to the cloth are placed beaters H, H, formed of skeleton
frames which are attached to and operated by horizontal bars H'; con-
nected to one end of these bars E' is a spring H, and to the other end
a crank lever H³, from which depends a rod or cord for working it. By
depressing this cord the lever is rocked, and the bars H' together with the
beaters are drawn forward, the spring or springs H yielding to allow of
this movement. When the cord is let go the springs will suddenly draw
back the rods H and beaters, thereby causing the latter to strike or agitate
the cloth. While the apparatus is at work this action will require to
be repeated, say, every half hour to throw off the accumulations of flour
from the cloth and so to keep the pores of the filter open. The edges
of the zig-zag cloth are covered by a second cloth F strained over the
same at right angles thereto and made secure at its edges.
Thus a
rectangular porous chamber is formed open to the air channel A and
with cloth partitions in it, between the folds of which the beaters H are
placed. This porous chamber is itself enclosed in a close casing I, which
communicates at its upper end with the case of the exhaust fan. Near
the lower end of the vertical channel A are valves or shutters K, K, for
admitting air thereto. These shutters must be closed just prior to and
during the time the beaters are kept in action, which need not be con-
tinued for more than two or three seconds. The discharge of the flour
by the screw D into the shute C is regulated by means of an adjustable
board &, the raising or lowering of which will determine the thickness
of the stream of flour that shall be delivered out of the shute on to the
inclines a, a.
When applying the apparatus to large mills it will be desirable to
modify the arrangement of the air channel by introducing therein a
double set or series of inclines a, a', as shewn at Fig. 4. To admit of
this the capacity of the channel must be enlarged. In this instance
the supply of flour is split into two streams by falling on the edge of a
board 6 which directs equal quantities on to the first inclines a, a¹.
Air is admitted into the channel A by a double set of valves or
shutters K, K; as the flour falls in two streams its surface will be
largely extended and the admission of an ample current of dry air will
enable the drying operation to be greatly expedited. As the flour
reaches the bottom of the air channel the two streams are united, and
entering the case in which the screw D* is situate it is carried forward

page_text: to the elevator, which will carry the now dried flour to the necessary
height for discharging it into the dressing machines.
The great advantage of using the above-described apparatus is that
the flour after leaving the apparatus is dry, and will in consequence
yield a larger per-centage of fine flour in dressing than usual, the bran
will be clearer of flour, and the flour will from coming dry into the sack
keep a long time. It is also very advantageous where soft and moist
wheat is to be ground, which at present cannot be dressed directly after
leaving the stones as it closes the silk of the dressing machines. An
incidental advantage is that the moisture being drawn out within a very
short time from theur leaving the stones it has no time to spoil the
starch in the flour, and therefore the color as well as the quality of the
flour is greatly improved by the apparatus.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved
Apparatus for Treating Flour." 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, the arrangement of apparatus above
described, whereby a stream or streams of flour may be submitted to
the action of currents of air without the loss or dispersion of the flour in
the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine..
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V, NEWTON. (L.S.)