Improvements in Grain Cleaning and Scalping Machines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 28th May, 1895-Accepted, 20th July, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Grain Cleaning and Scalping Machines.
I, JOHN ROBERT GILES, of No. 56 Park Place, in the City of New York,
United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 :-
The invention relates to machines adapted to clean and to remove the coating or
hull from grains of wheat, buckwheat, corn or other cereals or granular substances.
It has for its object to render possible the production of a finer grade of flour
meal or the like than has heretofore been produced, by removing the coating from
the grain before it is crushed and thereby preventing the intermingling of bran
with the flour, meal or other final product to be produced. Another object of the
invention is to reduce the cost of producing the flour or meal by making it
unnecessary to employ the usual bolting devices heretofore necessary to separate
the bran from the crushed cereal, and also to render it unnecessary to employ the.
usual smut machines for cleaning the cereal grains before crushing then, these
objects of these machines being effectually accomplished by the invention. The
invention has also for its object to enhance the value of any cereal or grain
proposed to be used as a food product by cleaning and polishing the same.
invention consists of a machine comprising a central drum mounted in a closely
fitting casing between the opposing surfaces of which the grain is operated upon
by the rotation of the drum or the casing or both. It also consists of the adjustable
bearings for supporting the rotatable drum.
In the drawings, in which like letters designate similar parts,
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a machine embodying the invention ;
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;
The
Figure 3 is a plan view of the upper side of the bottom plate of the casing ;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the lower side of the bottom plate of the drum, and
Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the bottom plate of the
drum showing a detail.
Referring now more particularly to the various features of the invention as shown
in the drawings, A is a casing circular in cross section, the inner surface of which
is provided with imperforate slabs B of some suitable material having an abrading
surface such as milling stone. I preferably make these slabs of French or natural
burr block stone or sand stone.
Between some or all of these slabs are openings closed by perforated or reticulated
plates C, preferably made of wire netting. The top of the casing is closed by a
plate D through which a grain shute E discharges, and the bottom plate Fis
Within the
provided with openings a, and its upper side with a circular trough b.
casing A is mounted a drum G whose surface is provided with one or more portions
of a yielding abrading substance H, which come close up to the inner surface of
the casing. have found that stiff bristles of wood set into the periphery of the
drum so as to form a brush, as shown in the drawings, are best adapted for our
purpose. I preferably employ a series of these brushes and provide openings I
between them in the wall of the drum for the escape of air, as will be hereinafter
explained. Instead of several brushes, of course one continuous brush might be
used with air openings suitably arranged between the bristles of the brush. The
drum, as shown in the drawings, is mounted on a rotatable shaft J passing through

page_text: the drum and casing, and supported at its lower end by a bearing c, and at a point
above the casing by a collar d on a yoke K mounted on the top of the casing.
This shaft carries a suitable driving wheel K¹ by which the shaft and drum are
rotated. The bottom plate L of the drum is provided on its lower side with a
circular trough fadapted to fit closely inside the trough 6 of the bottom plate F,
and the trough is provided with openings y having bonnets g'. An air fan M
is connected with the troughs b and f so as to deliver a current of air within the
troughs which, when the drum is rotated, is deflected by the bonnets gl up through
the openings g inside the drum, and passes out its side openings I and through the
screens C in the side of the casing A to the outer air. The troughs 6 and f form
a coupling between the exterior and the interior of the drum. This current of air
serves to carry off the dust or other impurities taken from the grain and also to
keep the grain cool, and thus prevents the heat due to friction on the grain from
burning the grain. A receptacle N is provided beneath the bottom plate F to
catch the grain after it is scalped. The drum is designed to rotate very rapidly,
and in order to reduce friction the lower end of the shaft J is turned to a conical
point where it rests in the bearing c. A collar dis preferably fixed on the shaft
above the casing and is supported on anti-friction balls resting on a flange of a
sleeve d which surrounds the shaft and is held from turning by the collar d of the
yoke K. This provides two supporting bearings for the shaft, and distributes the
weight of the shaft and drum otherwise carried by the bearing c. These supporting
bearings are arranged preferably one on each side of the drum and one on each
side of the centre of gravity of the shaft and drum, as shown, with the weight of
the shaft and drum distributed between them. The drum and shaft by this
arrangement are not only held free from lateral oscillation during rotation but may
be rotated at'a much higher speed with less expenditure of power than if only
one lower bearing c were used. In some cases we may suspend the entire weight
of the rotating body from the upper bearing, employing the lower bearing simply
to prevent lateral oscillation. Again, these bearings may be arranged on one side
of the drum if desired; but it is preferable that in any case they be arranged one
on each side of the centre of gravity of the rotating body. Of course more than
two bearings could be employed if found convenient and desirable.
The operation of the machine when it is used to scalp or cut off the hull or
coating of grain is as follows:-The grain is delivered through the shute E upon
the top of the rapidly revolving drum, and is carried by centrifugal force to the
sides of the casing. It is then caught by the brushes and whirled round' between
them and the abrading surfaces B of the casing, and the hull is scraped off. The
current of. air from the fan as it passes through the openings I of the drum out
througli the screens' C, carries with it the bran and also whatever dust or other
impurities may be mingled with the grain, and also keeps the grain cool. The
grain gradually works it's way to the bottom of the casing, and, having been freed
from its hull, passes through the openings a into the receptacle N. It will be
noticed that when the machine is operated and the annular space between the drum
and casing is filled with grain, this grain forms a thin moving annular wall and
that the current of air from the fan is directed across this wall and in its passage
is therefore able to carry off in the most effective manner both those impurities
that were originally mingled with the grain, and also those impurities that are cut
or scraped off the grain by the operation of the machine. This forcing of a current
of air through a coupling connecting the drum and casing and across the wall of
grain consider very important.
In order that the machine may be adapted to operate upon grain of different
sizes, or may cut more or less deeply into the hull of grain of any given size, we
make the casing and drum conical in shape, as shown in the drawings, and provide
means fór adjusting them relatively whereby the space between the drum and
casing inay be regulated. The means I have shown for the purpose comprises &
lever O pivoted at'o on the yoke K, and engaging at one end the sleeve on the
shaft. The other end of the lever O has a screw P and nut p for adjusting it.

page_text: The bearing c for the lower end of the shaft is also adjustable by means of the
crew c¹.
Our machine may also be employed to polish granular substances without taking
ff the coating of the grains. It is often thus desirable to polish rice, coffee etc.
In using our machine for this purpose it would be preferable to have the abrading
urfaces B of some fine smooth grained material so as not to unduly cut the grains
of the substance being polished.
Other means than those shown may of course be employed for relatively
adjusting the drum and casing, and instead of adjusting the drum the casing may
be adjusted.
Various changes could be made in the arrangement of the parts of the machine
by any one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.
For example, the shaft J might be driven from below the casing; the grain shute
might deliver grain through the side instead of through the top of the casing, and
the devices for supplying and directing the air currents could be variously modified.
Moreover, while I have shown the casing as stationary and the drum as rotating
alone, and prefer this arrangement, it is of course to be understood that I include
within the scope of the invention a casing mounted to rotate about a stationary
drum or a casing mounted to rotate in one direction and a drum mounted to rotate
in the opposite direction. In all of these arrangements the drum and casing are
relatively rotatable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. In a grain cleaning and scalping machine, the combination with a casing
provided on its inner side with one or more suitable abrading surfaces and with one
or more screened openings adjacent to the abrading surfaces, of a hollow drum
mounted within the casing and provided with one or more abrading surfaces
approaching the abrading surfaces of the casing, and also provided with one or
more openings adjacent to the said abrading surfaces, whereby an annular space is
enclosed between the casing and drum, said space being provided with suitable
inlet and outlet openings for the grain, the end plates of the drum and casing
having on their opposite sides registering troughs communicating with the interior
of the drum, and means for forcing a current of air from the exterior to the interior
of the drum and across the said annular space, the drum and casing being relatively
rotatable, substantially as set forth.
2. In a grain cleaning and scalping machine, the combination with a stationary
conical casing provided with screened openings around its sides, and slabs of milling
stone on the inner side of the casing adjacent to the screened openings, of an
O adjustable driving shaft having one or more Eupporting bearings, a conical drum
mounted on the shaft within the casing and provided with brushes on its outer side
approaching the inner side of the casing, and provided with openings between the
brushes, the end plates of the drum and casing having on their opposite sides
registering troughs communicating with the interior of the drum, and a fan
5 communicating with the troughs, the casing being provided with suitable inlet and
outlet openings for the grain, substantially as set forth.
3. In a grain cleaning and scalping machine, the combination of a conical
stationary outer casing provided with an abrading surface or surfaces, a conical
rotatable drum mounted on a substantially vertical axis within the casing and
50 provided with an abrading surface for the grain, the axis of the said drum being
supported by a plurality of vertical bearings one above the other, each of which is
vertically adjustable, one of the bearings comprising a suitably supported vertically
adjustable sleeve provided with a flange carrying ball bearings, substantially as set
55
forth.
4. In a grain cleaning and scalping machine, the combination of a conical
stationary outer casing provided with an abrading surface or surfaces, a conical

page_text: rotatable drum mounted on a substantially vertical axis within the casing and
provided with an abrading surface for the grain, the drum being adjustable to and
from the casing by means of a vertically adjustable bearing comprising a suitably
supported vertically adjustable sleeve provided with a flange carrying ball bearings
upon which the spindle of the drum is rotatably sustained, substantially as set
forth.
5. In a grain cleaning and scalping machine, the combination of a conical
stationary outer casing provided with an abrading surface or surfaces of stone, a
conical rotatable drum mounted on a substantially vertical axis within the casing
and provided with a brush or brushes, a yoke K supported by the casing and
provided with a sleeve d² having a flange carrying ball bearings, the axis of the
drum-passing through the sleeve and rotatably supported by the ball bearings, and
means for adjusting the sleeve whereby the drum and casing may be relatively
adjusted, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 28th day of May 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.