IMPROVEMENTS IN A MACHINE FOR DUSTING BRAND, OR SEPARATING THE FLOUR FROM THE BRAND AFTER IT HAS UNDERGONE THE USUAL PROCESS OF BOLTING, AND ALSO POR CLEANING CRACKED WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of 9, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN A MACHINE FOR DUSTING BRAND, OR SEPARATING THE FLOUR
FROM THE BRAND AFTER IT HAS UNDERGONE THE USUAL PROCESS OF BOLTING,
AND ALSO POR CLEANING CRACKED WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN." -A commu-
nication from abroad by William Huntley and Alpheus Babcock,
of Silver Creek, State of New York, United States North America.
Sealed the 21st January 1870, and dated the 12th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th November 1869.
I, MARTIN BENSON, of 9, Southampton Buildings, Ohancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN A MACHINE FOR DUSTING BRAND, OR SEPARATING THE
FLOUR FROM THE BRAND AFTER IT HAS UNDERGONE THE USUAL PROCESS OF BOLTING,
AND ALSO FOR CLEANING CRACKED WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to what is known as "brand duster" for
separating the flour from the brand after it has undergone the usual

page_text: air.
The machine is composed of an outer casing and provided with re-
volving brushes attached to a vertical spindle, these bushes are made to
act on the interior of a cylinder of wire cloth placed between the outer
casing and revolving brushes by preference. When the machine is in
operation the spindle is is in a vertical position. The brush spindle will
be driven by a belt from its lower end, or if desired may be worked from
the upper end. The brushes will be so attached to the spindle that
they can be adjusted to the cylinder of wire cloth to increase or diminish
their rubbing or brushing force. This may be effected by bringing the
brushes to arms attached to the spindle capable of drawing in or throwing
the brushes from the spindle, or the brushes may be attached to the
spindle so that their outer surfaces will form a conical-shaped cylinder,
and the cylinder of wire cloth made of a corresponding form; at the same
time the spindle at its lower or upper end will be provided with any
suitable mechanism for raising or lowering the spindle, and thereby
increasing or diminishing the rubbing force of the brushes against the
interior of the cylinder of wire cloth. The brand is passed into the
machine at the top, and is driven by the action of the brushes and
current of air against the cylinder of wire cloth, and thereby separates
the flour from it, which passes through and to the outside of the cylinder
of wire cloth and falls into the lower part of the machine, from whence
it is discharged through a suitable spout by means of a disk attached
to the brush spindle under the cylinder of wire cloth. This disc will be
provided with a scraper for discharging the flour from the machine by
conducting it to the discharging spout, in the meantime the brushed
brand falls to the lower end of the brushes and is discharged from
the machine through a spout prepared for the purpose by the action
of the lower ends of the brushes or arms to which they are attached.
The cylinder of wire cloth is not made to revolve, but is constructed so
that it can be turned by hand when the machine is in action. To examine
the condition of the cloth there will be attached to the machine what
is known as a "shoe" to throw off dough balls or any foreign substance
that would likely injure the wire cloth.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Martin Benson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
BENSON, of 9, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Martin Benson, Her special licence
that I, the said Martin Benson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, is the said Martin Benson, my executors, adminis,
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 A MACHINE FOR DUSTING
BRAND, OR SEPARATING THE FLOUR PROM THE BRAND AFTER IT HAS UNDERGONE
THE USUAL PROCESS OF BOLTING, AND ALSO FOR CLEANING CRACKED WHEAT AND OTHER
GRAIN," a communication to me from abroad by William Huntley and
Alpheus Babcock, of Silver Creek, State of New York, United States
North America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Martin Benson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Martin Benson do, hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
These improvements relate more particularly to that class of machines
denominated bran dusters or dressing machines that are employed after
the usual bolting process has been exhausted to separate from the bran

page_text: which connect the top and bottom of the machine to engage at any
point therein, so that by slightly loosening the nuts at their lower ends
the covers can be turned, thereby enabling the relative position of the
feed hopper and discharging spouts to be arranged in such a manner as
to most conveniently connect with and adapt themselves to the con-
veying and elevating spouts and other features of the particular mill in
which the machine is employed.
Sixth. In horizontally dividing the outer casing above the discharge
spouts so as to permit the upper and main portion to be removed without
disturbing the connections with the discharge spout.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. I. is a central vertical section of
the improved machine; Fig. II. is a horizontal- section in lino X, X;
Fig. III. is a similar section in line Y, Y; Fig. IV. is an enlarged
vertical section of the upper portion of the machine slewing the manner
of adjusting the brushes; Fig. V. is a detailed horizontal section in line
Y, Y, of the shaft and brushes also enlarged; Fig. VI. is a horizontal
section of the shaft E and adjusting collar P. Like letters of referenco
designate like parts in each of the Figures.
A, A', represent the outer casing; B, the top or cover; and C the
annular bottom; D, is the wire cloth cylinder, D' the bottom thereof; E,
the brush shaft, and F the brushes attached thereto; G, is the feed spout,
H, the deflecting disc; I, the flour discharging disc; J, the flour; and K the
bran discharging spouts. The machine is supported on suitable legs L so
as to leave space below the driving pulley M, and a bridge tree N which
supports the brush shaft in a suitable step 1. The casing is made tight
and is horizontally divided into two sections, as indicated at a, Fig. I.,
the upper portion A being formed in segments a, a, Fig. II., so as to
be easily removed without disturbing the lower portion A', with which
the flour and bran spouts connect. This feature is a matter of great
convenience as it enables access to be had to the bolting cylinder without
detaching the connections with the flour and bran spouts. O represents
the tie rods formed with hooked heads; o and of the grooves in the edgo
of the cover in which the hooks o engage, as shown in Fig. I., the rods
being provided at their lower ends with nuts o' by which the parts are
clamped together in the usual manner. It is evident that the groove o
in the cover enables the rods to be connected therewith at any point.
In arranging our improved machine in a mill the body is arranged so

page_text: as to enable the connections to be most conveniently made with the
flour and bran discharging spouts; the nuts o³ are then slightly loosened,
which permits the cover to be arranged to make the easiest connection
with the feed spout without removing the tie rods, the hooks at their
upper end sliding in the groove in the cover as the latter is being
adjusted. The bolting cylinder D is constructed in any usual and suit-
able manner, as shewn in the Drawings. It consists of a top and bottom
ring d with vertical ribs d' connecting the two, to the inner side of
which the wire cloth d' is attached. An iron ring d³ also surrounds the
cylinder, as shewn in Fig. I., for a purpose hereafter to be explained.
The bottom D', on the outer edge of which the cylinder rests, is sup-
ported on cross pieces d', which fit in rests formed in the upper edge of
the lower portion A' of the casing, as shewn in Fig. II. A collar d'
closely fitting the shaft E is screwed to the under side of the bottom to
prevent the passage of the bran around the shaft. The spout. K conducts
. the bran from the bottom D' outside of the machine. P, P', represent
two sets of radial arms extending from collars rigidly screwed to the
brush shaft. The ends of these arms are forked to receive the brush
stock, which are secured in the lower set by means of a bolt passing
through the stock and slots in the forks of the arms and fastened by a
nut which permits the outward adjustment of the brushes as they
become worn.
The brush stocks are not fastened in the forks of the
upper set P¹, which serve merely as guides to secure the stocks against
lateral movement, as shewn in Figs. I. and II. A third set of arms,
represented by P, P, which are rigidly fastened at their outer ends to the
brush stocks, while their inner ends loosely fit in a groove in the peri-
phery of a collar P' keyed to the shaft E so as to be radially adjustable;
P2 and P3 are two discs of unequal size fitting loosely on the shaft E,
the smaller one above and the larger one below the collar P'. These discs
are connected near their edges by bolts P* which pass loosely through
holes in the arms P and discs P³, and assume by reason of the unequal
size of the discs a conical arrangement around the shaft and an inclined
position with reference to the brush stocks, so that the raising or lowering
of the discs will cause the rods by reason of this inclination to force out
or in the adjusting arms P. This vertical adjustment we accomplish in
the following manner:-The smaller disc P is furnished with a sleeve
Ps, which surrounds and extends to the top or a little above the top of
the shaft, and has fitted thereon a sleeve bearing P, which is retained
between a shoulder P" on the sleeve P³ at its lower end, and a collar or

page_text: cap P fastened by a set screw on the upper end of the sleeve P³ and
resting on the top of the sleeve bearing P. This sleeve bearing is pro-
vided with an external thread so as to screw and adjust in an internally
threaded thimble P' rigidly secured in the top plate of the machine. . By
turning the screw sleeve P* it is evident that the disc P and inclined
rods will be moved up and down accordingly and the brushes adjusted as
may be required.
The parts being put together as described and the brush shaft set in
motion the centrifugal action of the brushes operating through the con-
nections of the arm P and inclined rods will be sufficient to cause the
shoulder P of the sleeve P³ to press upward against the lower end of
the sleeve bearing P with considerable force, thereby generating a
corresponding amount of friction at that part. To counterbalance this
lifting motion we arrange a spiral spring 7 around the shaft between the
collar P¹ and lower disc P³ so as to cause it to press downward on the
disc P³ with a force equal to that operating to move it. If desired a
similar set of adjusting arms, rods, and discs may be employed to adjust
the ends of the brushes, the two devices being connected by rods so as
to cause both to adjust together. The flour discharging disc I may be
constructed, as shewn, with a cast disc i and hub, to which the wooden
portion is secured à set screw i passing through the hub and fastening
the disc to the shaft; are radial wings attached to the under side of
the disc which gradually diminish in thickness until they terminate,
which they (preferably) do before reaching the eye in the bottom of the
casing. The upper surface of the annular bottom C is bevelled off so as
to conform with the taper of the wings, which are arranged to just clear
the surface thereof as they revolve. These wings sweep around the
bottom of the case as the disc revolves and prevents the flour from col-
lecting between the disc and bottom and impeding the action of the
machine. His the deflecting disc keyed to the shaft above the blowing
cylinder on which the material from the spout G is fed and discharged
by centrifugal action at its periphery against the wire cloth at the top
of the cylinder. To prevent the flour from adhering and collecting on
the wire cloth of the cylinder we employ a spring hammer R inter-
mittently actuated by a crank pin r of a bevel wheel 7', which gearing
with a similar wheel S on the end of the shaft 8' is operated by a belt S'
which connects the brush shaft with a wheel S³ on its opposite end. A
concussion belt t loosely fits in a bearing hole formed in the outer case,
and is arranged with its inner end in contact with the wings d³ of the

page_text: bolting cylinder, while the hammer R intermittently strikes the outer
end, which slightly projects beyond the casing on the outside, jarring the
cylinder and detaching the, flour that would otherwise adhere thereto.
What I claim as the Invention is,―
First. The flour-discharging disc attached to the brush shaft and
arranged between the bolt cylinder and annular bottom of the casing,
substantially as herein-before set forth.
Second. The radial ribs attached to the under side of the flour-
discharging disc, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set
forth.
Third. The inclined rods P' combined with the radial arms P, P, and
brush stock supported and adjusted by means of the disc, sleeve, and
collars P³, P³, P³, and screw sleeve P, or their equivalents, substantially
as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
Fourth. The arrangement of a spiral spring 9, disc P³, and collars P¹
to counterbalance the lifting action of the brushes, substantially as
herein-before set forth.
Fifth. The combination of the groove O' in the edge of the cover with
the hooked-headed, tie rods O, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before set forth.
Sixth. The horizontal divided outer case A, A, as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
MARTIN RENSON Gol