IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR SPLITTING OR GRINDING BEANS, PEAS, CORN, AND ALL KINDS OF GRAIN.
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Maas and James Adams, both of White Hart
Yard, Borough of Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Millwrights &
Millstone Makers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR
SPLITTING OR GRINDING BEANS, PEAS, CORN, AND ALL KINDS OF GRAIN.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Maas and James
Adams at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 3rd April 1855.
I, JACOB MAAS, and I, JAMES ADAMS, both of White Hart Yard, Borough
of Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Millwrights and Millstone Makers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MILLS FOR SPLITTING OR GRINDING BEANS, PEAS, CORN, AND ALL KINDS OF GRAIN,"
to be as follows:-
Our improvements in mills for splitting or grinding consist in employing
the periphery of a stone as the one acting surface, the other acting surface
being concave, and adapted to the periphery of the other stone, and held in
such proximity to the periphery of that stone which is the runner as to grind
or split, as may be required, the grain passed between them. The running
stone is circular, as in ordinary; but instead of using the flat side as the
grinding or splitting surface we use the periphery, which is cut for the
the grooves being so arranged as to gather the corn or other grain acted on
more or less towards the middle of its breadth. It is mounted on a horizontal
purpose,

page_text: axis, and driven by strap or in other suitable manner. The stationary stone
or grinding surface embraces about one-third of the periphery of the runner,
and extending from near the upper part to nearly the lowest point of that
stone. The grain is fed in at the highest point, and is carried round between
the grinding surfaces, and escapes, at the bottom in a state of flour or split,
as the case may be.. The matters to be ground are very quickly reduced, and
pass rapidly from between the acting surfaces:
บ
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jacob Maas and James Adams in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JACOB
MAAS and JAMES ADAMS, both of White Hart Yard, Borough of Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, Millwrights and Millstone Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Jacob Maas and James Adams, Her special licence that we, the said Jacob
Maas and James Adams, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Jacob Maas and James Adams, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
o 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 MILLS FOR SPLITTING OR GRINDING BEANS, PEAS,
CORN, AND ALL KINDS OF GRAIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Jacob Maas and James Adams, or one of us, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
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 James Adams, on behalf of myself and
the said Jacob Maas, do hereby declare the nature of our 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

page_text: Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
-
Our improvements in mills for splitting or grinding consist in employing the
periphery of a stone as the one acting surface, the other acting surface being
concave, and adapted to the periphery of the other stone, and held in such
proximity to the periphery of that stone which is the runner as to grind or
split, as may be required, the grain passed between them.
The running
stone is circular, as in ordinary; but instead of using the flat side as the
grinding or splitting surface we use the periphery, which is cut or dressed for
the purpose, the grooves being so arranged as to gather the corn or other
grain acted on more or less towards the middle of its breadth.
It is mounted
on a horizontal axis, and driven by strap or in other suitable manner. The
stationary stone or grinding surface embraces about one-third of the periphery
of the runner, and extending from near the upper part to nearly the lowest
point of that stone. The grain is fed in at the highest point, and is carried
round between the grinding surfaces, and escapes at the bottom in a state of
flour or split, as the case may be. The matters to be ground are very
quickly reduced, and pass rapidly from between the acting surfaces, producing
less tendency to heat than is observed in the ordinary grinding mills.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation of
a splitting mill constructed according to our Invention; Figure 2, an end
view, shewing the periphery grinding surface of the running stone; Figure 3,
an elevation of the opposite end; and Figure 4, a longitudinal vertical section
through the centre of the stones. a, a, a, a, are two side standards or frames,
fitted and held together by suitable stays b, b. The running stone A is mounted
in bearings c, c, fixed on the top of side frame a, a; the runner A is bushed
with a metal bush d, d, securely wedged in the eye of the stone in the ordinary
manner. e is the shaft on which the running stone is keyed; this is fitted
to the bearings c, c, and receives motion through a strap rigger f and strap g
from the steam engine, or other suitable driving power. The stone A is
trimmed or turned true on its shaft, and the periphery dressed or cut to suit
the operation of grinding or splitting intended, of which more particular
mention will be hereafter made. B is the bed or stationary stone; it is fitted
or fixed between two side plates h, h, by means of through bolts i, i, i, i. These
plates h, h, are fitted on the top of side frames, so as to slide towards and
from the running stone A; for this purpose raised surfaces are formed on the
top and inside the frames a, a, which are planed and smoothed for the pur-
pose. The plates h, h, rest on the upper part and fit between the side frames,
as will be best seen in the partial plan and section, Figures 5 and 6, in which

page_text: bearings the bed stone is steadily advanced and held up to the running
stone A. 1,1, is a screw for the purpose of moving the bed stone. This screw is
fitted to and passes through the eye of bevil wheel m, which has a corresponding
thread or worm; the boss of wheel m is sustained in a bearing n carried by
the cross bar p.
In this bearing n the wheel m is free to rotate, but is held
firmly in the same position, so that any rotary motion communicated to the
wheel m causes the screw to move in a longitudinal direction; and the screw
being attached to the side plates h, h, communicates a movement to the bed
stone B. A dovetail piece q is fixed to the end of the screw; this fits into a
dovetailed recess formed in the cross bar ", which is bolted to plates h, h
thereby preventing the screw / turning round, and at the same communicating
any to and fro movement of the screw to the bed stone. s is a second bevil
wheel, gearing into the first; this is mounted on a spindle v, passing through
a boss t cast on the side frame; the spindle vis furnished with a winch
handle, for the purpose of actuating the screw 7 and bed stone B, as
described. If much power is required to move the bed stone, the wheel m
may be enlarged, and a small pinion substituted for the wheels to give
the required leverage. The bed stone B is curved to the form of the periphery
of the running stone, as will be seen in Figure 4; the upper angle being
removed forms a hopper to receive the beans or grain to be operated on, and
conducts it between the cutting surfaces. More or less space is also left
between the cutting surfaces at the upper part to allow the grain to enter
freely between them, which space is gradually contracted, the cutting surfaces
being brought into sufficiently close proximity for splitting or reducing the
grain, as may be required. The beans or other grain to be operated upon are
delivered into the hopper C, and allowed to pass into the conducting shoc D
to the stones; the flow is regulated by a sluice w, according to the capa-
bilities of the machine. In order to render the passage of grain uniform and
regular, the back end of shoe is mounted on standards x, a, on which it is
free to rock, and a shaking motion is given to the shoe D by means of a
three-throw cam or shaker y. The shaker y is mounted on a shaft E, which
receives motion from the main shaft e through the intervention of the riggers
F, F, and endless band G; a block z is fixed on the under part of the spout,
against which the shaker strikes and raises the shoe D.
which the shoe rests, and falls when released by the cam
motion of the wheels F, F, being in unison with the motion of the main
shaft, a continuous rising and falling motion of the shoe is produced by the
rotation of the shaker y, which is attended with a constant spilling of grain
from the shoe D between the grinding surfaces so long as it is allowed to
H is a cross bar on
of the shaker. The

page_text: flow from the sluice w. The shaft E is mounted in bearings carried by the
fixed side plates I, I, which also support the cross bar H. These side plates
enclose the sides of the stones, to which they are in close proximity, and
prevent the beans or other grain being thrown about. A wood cover L is
placed above, which can be removed at pleasure to see the grinding operation.
Cheek plates of wood M, M, of about an inch in thickness, are fixed by thumb
screws 4, 4, on either side plate I, I, to contract the space where the admission
of the grain takes place, and keep the grain more in the middle of the stones
breadth. N is a receiving hopper, to receive the split or ground materials as
they pass from between the grinding surfaces. Figure 7 represents the cutting
face of the bed stone B for splitting, and corresponding with the running
stone A; the serrations 1, 2, 3, are about three-eighths of an inch in width,
and set in a curved direction across the face in order to gather the grain
towards the middle of the stone; lands or spaces of about twice the width of
the grooves or serrations are left between each, while in the running stone
we cut the grooves to form the teeth close together, as seen in Figures 2 and 4.
The cutting or dressing, either for splitting or grinding, will of course depend
in some measure on the kind of grain to be operated on. In splitting, where
the grains are small, the serrations in the cutting faces will necessarily be
smaller than described. Figure 8 represents a side view of a pair of stones
for grinding wheat. In this case the face of the bed stone is extended, and
less space allowed for the entrance of the grain between them.
facc view of the bed stone, and Figure 10 is a face view
running stone. Four or five serrations or furrows only are made in the upper
part of the bed stone face where the grain is taken in and bruised or broken;
the remainder of the face is smooth and placed in close proximity with the
running stone. In this case the furrows are about one and a half inches
wide, and the lands or spaces between about two and a half inches, and cut
in the form represented; they are also inclined from the opposite sides of the
stone towards the middle, as before mentioned. The running stone is cut in
the same manner as for splitting, but very much finer, as seen in Figure 10.
As will be observed, the dressing of the running stone is such that it tends to
gather the grain towards the middle of the breadth of the stone by the
inclined direction of the grooves or cracking 5, 6, which inclined direction is
contrary to the incline direction of the grooves in the bed stone, producing a
cutting action between the two.
Figure 9 is a
of part of the
The running stone is driven at a rate of about one hundred revolutions per
minute. In passing through between the stones very rapidly the flour is not
liable to become heated, and does not occupy more than a few seconds in its

page_text: passage between the grinding surfaces. By means of the screw 1, 1, the
travelling carriage of bed stone B can be readily moved, so as to set the bed
stone B nearer to or further from the running stone, according to the size of
the seed or grain to be split, or fineness of the flour required. By means of this
screw gear also the bed stone may be drawn quite back, and lifted from the
framework a, a, altogether by tackle hooked into the eyes 7, 9, the dovetailed
recess in cross bar r being free to rise from dovetail g.
In grinding wheat, in order to facilitate its reduction, we prefer to bruise
it by means of a pair of rollers previously to introducing it between the
grinding surfaces.
The running stones, when of Derbyshire Peak, can be
made of one piece; but if of French burr, they must be built in pieces with
two cheek plates or centres fixed on the shaft, and with bolts passing from
side to side through the stones, and the whole fitted and cemented together,
and turned & trimmed on the periphery, as described. We prefer, however,
that the bed stone should be in all cases of French burr, which, if obtained of
requisite size, can be of one piece; or it may be built of pieces cemented
together and bolted between the moveable plates h, h; in which case we
make these plates to extend downwards, as represented in dotted lines h¹, h¹,
in Fig. 1.
per-
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
forming the same, we would have it understood that what we claim as our
Invention is, the splitting or grinding beans, peas, wheat, and other kinds of
grain by means of the periphery of a running stone operating in conjunction
with a bed stone, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Adams, on behalf of myself and
of the said Jacob Maas, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the
Third day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
JAMES ADAMS. (L.B.)