IMPROVEMENTS IN MIDDLINGS PURIFIERS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of 33, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MIDDLINGS
PURIFIERS." A communication from abroad by Kingsland Smith, of the City
of St. Paul, in the State of Minnesota, United States of America, Manufacturer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Griffith Brewer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th July 1881.
EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of 33, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MIDDLINGS PURIFIERS." (A communication from abroad by
Kingsland Smith, of the City of St. Paul, in the State of Minnesota, United States
of America, Manufacturer.)
An electrified surface is made use of that attracts the particles of bran, and these
are removed from such surface, the flour is not attracted, and the inertia of the
material as it falls is availed of to separate the middlings and bran to a certain
extent, allowing the bran to fall near to the electrified surface and the middlings
to be more remote.
The middlings are put into a hopper and fed from the same by a revolving
roller at the bottom, and a slide is made use of to regulate the thickness of the
layer of middlings that passes out and falls from the roller through the air upon an
incline or cant board that partially arrests the velocity, and the material rebounds
against the cant boards and then slides off and falls; the bran being lightest is not
as much affected by the inertia as the meal or particles of flour, hence these
particles of bran fall nearly vertically, and the meal or flour receives a momentum
as it slides down the cant board that causes it to fall farther off than the bran.
The electrified surface is as close to the line in which the bran falls as convenient,
and the electric action causes such particles of bran to be caught upon such surface
and moved with it.
The electrified surfaces are either rollers or an endless belt, preferably of
vulcanite.

page_text: These cant boards are to be of very smooth material, so that the middlings will
slide freely.
There are cushions that act to develop the electric condition of the surfaces of
the rollers or belt, and there are scrapers to remove the bran from the surface.
These scrapers are preferably made with yielding edges so as to conform to the
surfaces of the rollers, and for that purpose they may be composed of numerous
sections acted upon by springs or weights.
When the belt is used the cushions will be on the backs of the cant boards,
and a trough at an inclination above each cushion will remove the bran laterally.
It is important that the vertical frames or standards that support the axes of the
rollers be adjustable with accuracy, so as to bring the electrified rollers nearer to
or farther from the falling strata of middlings, so that by moving the long ends
of the levers the standards and rollers can be accurately adjusted, and a clamp
screw at the end of each lever passing into a slot in the frame secures the parts in
position.
The cushions are adjustable to vary their pressure against the electrified roller;
this
may be done by a cross shaft beneath the cushion having eccentrics or cams to
act against the cushions.
The shaft is turned by a hand wheel at the end.
The scrapers are also made adjustable, so as to bear with greater or less pressure
upon the roller.

page_text: "
3 is a detached view of the adjustable lever for the scrapers.
The middlings are put into a hopper a, and fed from the same by a revolving
roller 6 at the bottom, and c is a slide to regulate the thickness of the layer of
middlings that passes out and falls from the roller b through the air upon an,
incline or cant board d that partially arrests the velocity, and the material
rebounds against the cant boards e, and then slides off and falls; the bran being
lightest is not as much affected by the inertia as the meal or particles of flour,
hence these particles of bran fall nearly vertically, and the meal or flour receives a
momentum as it slides down the cant board e that causes it to fall farther off than
the bran.
.
The electrified surface h is as close to the line in which the bran falls as con-
venient, and the electric action causes such particles of bran to be caught upon such
surface and moved with it.
In Fig. 1, the electrified surfaces are shown as rollers h of vulcanite or similar
material, and in Fig. 2 a belt h of vulcanite takes the place of the rollers.
There may be two or more pairs of cant boards; two pairs are shown in Figs. 1
and 2. These cant boards are to be of very smooth material, so that the middlings
will slide freely.
The cushions that act to develope the electric condition of the surfaces of the
rollers or belt h are represented at i, and the scrapers at remove the bran from
the surface. These scrapers are preferably made with yielding edges, so as to
conform to the surfaces of the rollers, and for that purpose they may be composed
of numerous sections acted upon by springs or weights.
When the belt is used the cushions i will be on the backs of the cant boards e,
and a trough 8 at an inclination above each cushion will remove the bran laterally.
The arrows indicate the directions in which the parts move.
It is important that the vertical frames or standards m¹ that support the axes
of the rollers be adjustable with accuracy, so as to bring the electrified rollers
nearer to or farther from the falling strata of middlings; for effecting this the
levers m are made use of that are pivoted at 3 to the side frames of the machine,
and connected at their shorter ends by links n with the vertical standards m³, so
that by moving the long ends of the levers the standards and rollers can be
accurately adjusted, and a clamp screw at the end of each lever passing into a
slot in the frame secures the parts in position.
The cushions are adjustable to vary their pressure against the electrified
roller; this may be done by a cross shaft 4 beneath the cushion, having eccentrics

page_text: or cams to act against the cushions. The shaft is turned by a hand wheel at the
end.
The scrapers are also made adjustable, so as to bear with greater or less
pressure upon the roller, and for this purpose the lower edge of each scraper
should be pivoted, and to one of the pivots a lever 7 is applied. The spring S
acts against the lever 7, and the pressure of the spring is adjusted as required.
The screw 18 with a washer or head serves to regulate the tension of this
spring. The bran that is removed from the electrified surface by the action of
the scrapers is received into the troughs o, and may be conveyed to any suitable
bin.
What is claimed is,---
First. The method herein specified of separating bran from middlings, consisting.
in causing the middlings to fall in a thin strata, attracting the bran to an electrified
surface, moving in proximity to the falling strata of middlings, and removing the
bran from such electrified surface, substantially as specified.
Second. A revolving roller, a cushion, and a scraper to remove the bran from
the electrified surface, in combination with means for supplying a thin stream of
middlings so as to fall vertically near the electrified surface; substantially as
specified.
Third. In a middlings purifier the combination with revolving electrified rollers
of a frame supporting the axes of the rollers, and mechanism for moving the frame
and rollers laterally to adjust the same, and means for supplying a thin vertical
strata of falling middlings, substantially as specified.
Fourth. The combination with the revolving roller in a middlings purifier of a
cushion against which the roller revolves, means for adjusting the cushion to.
regulate its pressure, a scraper to remove the bran, and a spring to press upon the
scraper, substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.