Improvements in the Process or Method of Popping or Bursting Barley, Maize, or other Grain.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 1st Aug., 1893-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process or Method of Popping or Bursting
Barley, Maize, or other Grain.
1, JAMES WHITE of 37 Mark Lane in the City of London, Miller and Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My invention relates to the popping or bursting of barley, maize or other grain
and has for object to prevent the grain from becoming burnt as it is liable to do in
the process or method hitherto adopted from contact with the hot air or with direct
products of combustion; also to cause the grain to pop or burst more thoroughly.
My invention consists in applying jets of steam directly to the grain when on the
surface of a hot plate in a heating chamber or when travelling down a perforated
or wire wove cylinder in a hot chamber with either hot air or direct fumes applied
to the grain, or when being otherwise heated for the purpose of being popped or
burst.
Dated this 26th day of November 1892.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process or Method of Popping or Bursting
Barley, Maize, or other Grain.
I, JAMES WHITE of 37 Mark Lane in the City of London, Miller and Merchant,
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:-
My invention relates to the popping or bursting of barley, maize or other grain
and has for object to prevent the grain from becoming burnt as it is liable to do in
the process or method hitherto adopted from contact with the hot air or with direct
products of combustion; also to cause the grain to pop or burst more thoroughly.
My invention consists in applying jets of steam directly to the grain when on the
surface of a hot plate in a heating chamber or when travelling down a perforated
or wire wove cylinder in a hot chamber with either hot air or direct fumes applied
to the grain, or when being otherwise heated for the purpose of being popped or
burst.
e
In the accompanying drawings I show by way of example how my present
invention may be applied when the popping or bursting of the grain is effected by
apparatus constructed as described in my former Specification No. 10,514 of 1892.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section and Figure 2 a transverse section of the apparatus.
a is a hot chamber closed at top and having openings bb near its lower part
communicating with side flues c c which lead to a chimney d. is a longitudinally
grooved plate suspended in the chamber a by means of the rods ff. This plate is
inclined and its inclination can be adjusted by means of the nuts 99 which screw on
the threaded parts of the rods ff. The plate e has a vibrating or jigging motion
imparted to it by means of the rods which are worked by an excentric i on a
shaft k driven by any suitable power. I is a hopper by means of which the grain
to be treated is supplied to the upper part of the plate e. Any suitable feeding or
regulating device such as a revolving wheel with cups or recesses can be fitted in
the hopper. m is a discharge shoot into which the grain falls when it leaves the
lower end of the plate e; this shoot is fitted with a flap or valve n.
ID 27
pp are a series

page_text: of nozzles arranged above the plate e and supplied with hot air from a blast pipe
or duct
which is in communication with an air heating stove or other convenient
source of supply. The nozzles p p are disposed as shown across the plate e at
intervals so as to deliver the hot air directly upon the plate and the grain thereon.
is a steam supply pipe connected to a pipes which extends up both sides and
across the top of the plate e at a somewhat higher level than this plate. The pipe s
is fitted with a series of nozzles t t so disposed, as shown, as to discharge jets of
steam directly upon the grain when on the surface of the plate e. The use of steam
thus applied to the grain prevents it from becoming burnt by the hot air and has
the further advantage of causing it to pop or burst more thoroughly. The arrange-
ment of the steam pipes and nozzles t t can obviously be varied so long as they will
apply the steam jets to the grain when on the plate e.
The application of steam jets according to my method or process when other
forms of apparatus are employed in which grain is heated for the purpose of being
popped or burst will be readily understood. When for instance the apparatus is of
the well known type in which the grain is caused to travel down an inclined
perforated or wire wove cylinder in a hot chamber with either hot air or direct
fumes applied to the grain the steam pipe will preferably be carried longitudinally
through the cylinder and be fitted with nozzles which discharge steam jets upon
the grain as it travels down.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
In the popping or bursting of barley, maize or other grain by direct contact with
hot air or with direct fumes, the application of jets of steam, substantially as and
for the purpose hereinbefore described, directly to the grain when on the surface
of a hot plate or when travelling down a perforated or wire wove cylinder or when
being otherwise heated for the purpose of being popped or burst.
Dated this 29th day of July 1893
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.