IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Journeaux, of Mount Shannon Mills, in the
County of Dublin, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DRYING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Journeaux at
the Office, of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th August 1855.
I, FRANCIS JOURNEAUX, of Mount Shannon Mills, in the County of Dublin,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DRYING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the arrangement of apparatus herein-after described,
whereby the grain is brought in contact with heated air while in continual
motion, the length of time to which it is subjected to the operation being
regulated by a self-acting mode of discharging it from the apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a shaft or chimney, in which is contained a series
of wire cases, so disposed as to admit of heated air passing up in spaces left
between and around them. The heat is supplied to the shaft by means of a
hot-air flue from an ordinary fire-place or furnace. Bars of iron are placed
across the breadth of the cases at suitable distances, causing the grain in the
centre to turn to the sides, thus exposing the grain equally to the heat. The
self-acting means of discharging the grain from the cases are placed at the
lower end of each case, and consist of a set of passages, or ducts leading into a

page_text: central passage or discharge pipe. The said passages or ducts are so arranged
as to cause the grain to pass from the bottom of each case in streams in an
oblique direction from the sides thereof into the central discharge pipe instead
of passing vertically into the same. The diameter of the said oblique passages
or ducts becomes gradually smaller as it approaches the central discharge pipe,
thereby causing an equal motion of the grain through the case. The length of
time during which the grain remains in the case exposed to the heat can be
regulated by the diameter of the discharge passages or ducts, which can be
changed. When the grain is very damp, narrow passages which will discharge
the grain slowly are employed; when the grain requires little drying, wider
passages are substituted. The grain to be dried is fed into a hopper at the
top of each case, and the continual discharge at the bottom keeps the grain in
constant motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Journeaux in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
JOURNEAUX, of Mount Shannon Mills, in the County of Dublin, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Francis Journeaux, Her special license that I, the said Francis Journeaux, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis
Journeaux, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING WHEAT
AND OTHER GRAIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Journeaux, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Journeaux, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Drying Wheat and other Grain"
consists in the arrangement of apparatus herein-after described, whereby the
grain is brought in "contact with heated air while in continual motion, the
length of time to which it is subjected to the operation being regulated by
the mode herein-after described of discharging it from the apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a shaft or chimney, in which is contained a series
of wire cases, so disposed as to admit of heated air passing up in spaces left
between and around them. The heat is supplied to the shaft by means of a hot-
air flue from an ordinary fire-place or furnace. Bars of iron are when necessary
placed across the breadth of the cases at suitable distances, causing the grain
in the centre to turn to the sides, thus exposing the grain equally to the heat.
The regulators for discharging the grain from the cases are placed at the lower
end of each case, and consist of a set of passages or ducts leading into a central
passage or discharge pipe. The said passages or ducts are so arranged as to
cause the grain to pass from the bottom of each case in streams in an oblique
direction from the sides thereof into the central discharge pipe instead of
passing vertically into the same. The diameter of the said oblique passages or
ducts becomes gradually smaller as they are nearer to the central discharge
pipe, thereby causing an equal motion of the grain through the case.
length of time during which the grain remains in the case exposed to the heat
can be regulated by means of the slide in the lower part of the appliance at
the bottom of the case, the grain being drawn off thereby in smaller or greater
quantities, according as it may require more or less drying. The grain to be
dried is fed into a hopper at the top of each case, and the continual discharge
at the bottom keeps the grain in constant motion.
The
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe it more particularly by the aid
of the accompanying Drawing, in which is represented the apparatus above
referred to.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus, shewing one of the wire cases
in side view; Fig. 2 is another vertical section, taken transversely, and shewing
the wire cases in edge view. For the sake of convenience, in these two Figures
the vertical scale of the chimney or flue is shewn at a quarter of an inch
to the foot, the Figures being drawn otherwise to a scale of one half of an inch

page_text: to the foot. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, half size, of one of the wire cases;
and Fig. 4 is a section, on the same scale as Fig. 3, of the appliance at the
bottom of each case for discharging the grain therefrom. In all these several
Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts..
A is the fire-place for generating the heat required; B is the flue leading
therefrom to the chimney or, flue C, in which are fixed a set of wire cases
D, D, which are so arranged as to leave spaces for the passage of heated air
between them. I prefer that these wire cases should be at least twenty-seven
feet long, but I do not confine myself to this length.. E is the appliance fixed
at the bottom of each case, in order to regulate the flow of wheat or other
grain from the case after it has become dried. The cases may be placed
otherwise than vertically, so long as the required flow of the grain through
them is not interfered with. This discharging. apparatus is formed so as to
cause the grain to be all in motion across the full width of the cases during its
descent while undergoing. the process of drying. The apparatus consists (as
will be seen on reference to Fig. 4) of six pipes or passages in communication
with each of the cases D, and leading into a central pipe or passage; but I do
not confine myself to such number of pipes or passages. The diagonal openings
or passages are regulated in diameter, so that the grain may run at an equal
rate through each; for instance, the openings of the first two shorter passages
e are smaller than the next two e², because being nearer to the centre there is
a greater pressure of grain into them, and if the openings of the former were
as large as those of the latter the grain would run more freely through them,
and produce irregularity in the drying of the whole mass thereof. The
diameters of the two passages & are a little greater than those at e', and those
at a little greater than e³. All these diagonal passages lead into the central
vertical passage e', from which the grain is drawn off in quantities regulated
by means of the slide F at the bottom of this central passage. G is a wire
screen, to prevent any large substance from passing into the cases D with the
grain; H is a cowl fixed at the top of the chimney or flue C, in order to
prevent irregularity in the draft; I is a closed iron door, to prevent any air
from passing into the chimney except through the fire-place; K is a damper
for regulating the draft into the chimney; L is the top floor of the grain store
from which the grain is to pass into the cases in order to be dried.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The wheat or other grain to
be heated passes from the floor L through the screen G into the cases D; as
it descends along these cases it is exposed to the action of the heated air con-
tained in the spaces around them in the chimney or flue C, such heated air
passing along the flue B from the fire-place A, the required amount of draft

page_text: being regulated by means of the damper K. The required rate at which
the grain should be made to descend in the cases D is regulated by the
appliances E at the bottom of the same, through the slide at the bottom of
which the grain is drawn off. in greater or less quantities, as the grain under
operation requires less or more drying. By this mode of drawing off the grain
(which is self-acting after the slide F is set), the whole mass thereof is kept in
motion while it is exposed to the action of the heated air.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not mean or
intend to confine myself to the precise forms and arrangements of the parts
represented and described; but I claim as of my Invention, the arrangement
of apparatus by means of which the wheat or other grain is kept in continual
motion while exposed to the action of heated air, and its motion regulated by
the discharging apparatus, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Journeaux, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
HENRY SHAW,
Burgh Quay, Dublin,
Merchant.
FRANCIS JOURNEAUX. (LS.)