CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND DRESSING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ZACHARIAH
PARKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Zachariah Parkes, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Zachariah Parkes, my exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Zachariah Parkes, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GRINDING
AND DRESSING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, that I, the said Zachariah Parkes, shall cause a particular
lescription of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Zachariah Parkes, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to that class of mill's denominated domestic mills, and
consists, first, of an improved arrangement of the parts of a mill and dressing
apparatus; and, secondly, in constructing a domestic mill, by combining a
mill of that kind commonly called a "steel inill" with a dressing apparatus.
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing represents a side elevation of a mill
in which both my improvements are combined; Figure 2 represents a longi-
tudinal section of the same; and Figure 3, a front elevation. It consists of a
mill of the kind commonly called a steel mill, by which the wheat or other
grain is reduced to powder, and a dressing apparatus, by which the varicus
products of the grain are separated.
a, a, is the case of the mill, and is made of iron, and hardened by the process
commonly known by the name of "case-hardening;" its internal surface is
toothed. b is a conical-shaped piece of iron, the surface of which is also
toothed, and liardened by the process commonly known by the name of "case-
hardening." This conical-shaped piece is attached to the axle c, c, which is
supported by and works in bearings at d, d, and e, as shewn in the Drawing.
On the end of the axlo ca fly wheelf is fixed, which is worked by the handle g.
his the hopper, into which the wheat or other grain to be ground is placed; and
i is a slide, by which the aperture through which the grain passes is enlarged
or contracted; is a conductor for conveying the meal or grain, after it has
been reduced to powder, to the dressing apparatus, which is situated under the
mill, and which I will now describe.
It consists of a hollow cylinder m, made of wire gauze, supported by the
iron framework ; it is fixed, as shewn in the Drawing, in an inclined position.
The wire gauze is in three pieces, of ucarly equal sizes, and is of different
degrees of fineness; the divisions in the wire gauzo aro immediately over
the partitions a, a, e, in the drawer o. ris an axle, situated in the axis of the
cylinder m; its upper end is supported by and works in the bearings, and its
lower end is supported by and works in the bearing t. The lower end of the
axle is prolonged beyond the bearing t, and carries the grooved pulley u, which
is connected to the fly wheel by the band 4. The axis r carries three
brushes (two of which only are represented in the Drawing, and are marked
,,) of a length nearly equal to that of the cylinder m. The brushes
are placed at points equidistant from each other, and at such distances
from the axis that they press lightly upon the wire guaze constituting the
cylinder m. o is a drawer, divided into four compartments by the partitions

page_text: ,,
;,, is a framing of cast iron, on which the mill is supported, and to
which the dressing apparatus is affixed by the screws 1, 1, (Figure 1); 2 is a
slide for closing the passago w when the mill is not being used; 3 is the
sliding top of the case containing the dressing apparatus; 5 is the back of the
same case, and may also be removed, as shown in the Drawing..
Having described the construction of the mill and dressing apparatus,
I will proceed to explain their action. The wheat or other grain to be ground
is placed in the hopper h, from whence it falls into the mill through the aper-
ture k, the size of which is regulated by the slide i, so as to admit more or less
of the grain, according as more or less power is applied at the handle,
9: When
the mill is put into motion the grain is crushed to powder between the toothel.
surface of the revolving cone b and the inner toothed surface of the case a..
The grain thus reduced to powder passes out of the mill at. the conductor Z,
and falls through the passage w, and over the inclined surface w³, into the
dressing apparatus m; the revolving brushes carry the powder over the wire
gauze, and the smallest particles fall through its meshes into the compartment
y of the drawer o, and constitute (in the case of wheat) fine flour. By the
inclination of the cylinder m, and the revolution of the brushes therein, the
powder during its motion over the wire gauze is slowly carried towards the
lower end of the cylinder. The meshes of the wire gauze over the compart-
ment y' of the drawer o are larger than those of the wire gauze over the
compartment y, and a coarser powder consequently falls through it into the
compartment y', (which in case wheat is being ground constitutes seconds
flour.) The pollard or "sharps" falls through the meshes of the wire gauze
over the compartment y" into that compartment, as the meshes of that portion
of the wire gauze aro wider than those of any other portion, but sufficiently
narrow to prevent the bran passing through. The bran escapes at the end of
the cylinder, and falls into the compartment y" of the drawer o.
Having now describe the nature of my Invention of certain improvements
in apparatus for grinding and dressing wheat and other grain, I wish it to be
understood that I do not claim as of my Invention the several parts of the
mill and dressing apparatus herein-before described separately considered, as
such separate parts are or may be in common use already; but I claim as of
my Invention,
First, the construction of a domestic mill, by the combination of a mill of
the kind commonly called a "steel mill " with a dressing apparatus, as hercin-
before described.
And, secondly, the general arrangement of the parts of a domestic mill, as
herein-before described, whether such mill consist of a steel mill combingl

page_text: with a dressing apparatus, or of any other kind of mill combined with a
dressing apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Zachariah Parkes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
ZACHARIAD (L.s.) PARKES.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Zachariah Parkes camo before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also tho Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
xo ICי דגןנר