IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REDUCING BREAD AND OTHER SUB- STANCES TO CRUMBS OR COARSE PARTICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb
Hancock, of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REDUCING BREAD AND OTHER SUB-
STANCES TO CRUMBS OR COARSE PARTICLES."
[
Sealed the 7th June 1872, and dated the 12th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Lamb
Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 12th December
1871.
We, FREDERICK LAMB HANCOCK and CHARLES LAMB HANCOCK, of,
Dudley, in the County of Worcester, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REDUCING BREAD AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES TO CRUMBS OR COARSE PARTICLES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to the construction and employment of
apparatus for reducing bread, biscuits, salt, spices, sugar, drugs, and
'

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick, Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb
Hancock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th June 1872.
·་
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
LAMB HANCOCK and CHARLES LAMB HANCOCK, of Dudley, in the County
of Worcester, send greeting.
'
A
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles
Lamb Hancock, Her special licence that we, the said Frederick Lamb
Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and
Charles Lamb Hancock, our 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 APPARATUS FOR REDUCING BREAD
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES TO CRUMBS OR COARSE PARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and
Charles Lamb Hancock, our or one of our exécutors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or one of us, our, 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 we, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and
Charles Lamb Hancock, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof.

page_text: These improvements relate to the construction and employment of
apparatus for reducing bread, biscuits, salt, spices, sugar, drugs, and
other articles or compounds of a dry character to small particles or
coarse powder.
According to one construction we arrange a perforated plate in a
cylindrical vessel, the plate being formed with a roughened face from
theredges of the vessel being punched up, the perforations allowing the
particles to fall through after they have been formed by the edges or
serration of the punched or roughened surface. Above the plate upon
which the article to be reduced is placed is a weight (roughened or not
on the under side) to keep it in contact. The punched plate is capable
of rotation by a crank handle and a vertical spindle from the outside of
a temporary or fixed cover, as the case may be. The plate rests upon
a rim in the vessel, and is caused to turn by a square upon the spindle
taking into a corresponding shaped aperture in its centre. The weight
which bears upon the substance being reduced is prevented turning by a
feather taking into a notch. The vessel is preferably provided with a
false bottom, which can be removed with the particles, or it may have
a door through which the particles can be poured out..
1
t
.
This will be understood by reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accom-
panying Drawing, where a is the perforated or punctured, plate, which
fits loosely in the cylindrical vessel or casing b, and rests upon the
ledge c by a ring of wire d upon its under face. At the edge e is a
weight of circular flat form, with a shoulder f, the depth of which
determines the nearness with which it can approach the plate a, its
diameter being such that when it has descended to its lowest point the
_shoulder bears upon the ledge e, and thereby preserves the raised or
-ragged edges of the punctured holes from being injured.
X
. For the sake of clearness we have shewn a face view of the perforated
or punctured plate in Figure 3, but we do not limit ourselves to the
formation of square holes as shewn, as they may be of circular or other

page_text: shape according to the nature of the article to be reduced, the diameters
or sizes of the holes, being of course also determined upon to suit the
article and the degree of fineness to which the substance is to be
reduced..
Across the casing b at its lower part is a strap 9 with an aperture at
about its centre for the reception of the vertical spindle h, so that it rests
upon the strap by an enlargement i of square or other shape, over which
the roughened plate passes and fits to ensure its rotation when the
spindle is turned by the crank handle j in either direction. The
weight e is shown with a projecting hollow central piece k to enable it
to be placed over the spindle after the substance to be reduced is put
upon the punctured plate a, the height of the central piece / serving to
steady the spindle at its upper part, it being further steadied by the
cover l, which fits the rim of the casing b after it is placed over the
spindle and before the handle is in position for turning. In the Drawing
we have shewn the casing as fitting into a dish or tray n, which has
lugs p, p, upon it so that it can be screwed down to, say, a table or to a
dresser in a kitchen, whereby the whole when put together forms one.
article of a fixed character; but this is not essential, as its construction
is very, light and can be readily held fast by one hand while the handle
is being turned by the other. The weight in this instance, as also the
casing, is prevented turning by the feathers q, r, which are embraced by
notches in the weight and casing respectively.
In some cases we form projections upon the under face of the weight,
such as we have shewn in Figure 4, to prevent the substance being
carried round with the punctured plate a without being rolled over, so
to speak, to present fresh surfaces to the rasping action of the plate.
.
31
The dotted lines in Figure 2 represent a method of causing a separate
rotation of the weight e to that of the perforated or punctured plate a,
the rotation of the two being at the same speed but in contrary
directions. They may however travel in the same direction but at
different speeds by fitting the gear to suit, the object being to shift the
position of the substance continuously so as to bring such portion under
the action of the rasper, and thus facilitate the reduction to coarse
particles without fear of the apparatus becoming clogged should the
substance be of a slightly moist character.

page_text: -It will be understood that in lieu of the bottom tray being flat and of
such a nature that-the rasped particles have to be-scooped out, it may
have a door and an inclined false bottom down which the crumbs would
fall towards the door, or the door may be dispensed with and the crumbs
of bread or the fine particles of other substances would roll down into a
bason or cup placed at the outlet to receive them.
According to another construction we make the perforated plate in
the form of a cylinder, and with the rough edges of the punctured boles
on the outside, and we then use a weight in a shoot or hopper to press
upon the substance being reduced, the particles from which would fall
through the perforations into the inside of the cylinder, and from which
they can be afterwards removed.
This construction will be understood by referring to Figures 5 and 6,
where a is the cylinder and 6 the casing of elongated form for supporting
the spindle h, one end of which is first passed through a hole in one end
and into the central part of a pinion 8, so that it receives its motion when
the handle jis turned through the wheel t. The other end of the spindle
is of circular form, and when the cylinder is put in in a slanting position
this round end rests in the hollow of a lug or support. u. The weight
in this instance is guided in its descent by the ribs v, and is prevented'
touching the rasping surfaces by the raised edges of the cylinder.a.
↓
According to another construction the plate with the rough edge
punched holes is of square or rectangular shape, and its movement is
reciprocating in a frame for reducing the substance, a weight being used
above the substance as in the former cases.
This will also be understood by reference to Figure 7, where a is the
perforated or punctured--plate, which is formed to slide in grooves w
when it is moved-to-and-fro-by the handle or knob x to act upon-and-rasp
the substance placed upon it within the walls y, y, of the casing-b,
-and between which the weight è is guided as the substance is reduced.
The lower part of this casing a is furnished with a drawer or tray n.
The degree of fineness to which the bread or other substance-can be
reduced is, as before stated, regulated by the sizes of the perforations in
the plate.

page_text: what manner the same is to be informed, we declare that we claim, the
general construction and employment of apparatus such as herein-before
described and shewn, whether constructed according to the first, the
second, or the third methods or arrangements of parts, for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock, for
myself and on behalf of the said Charles Lamb Hancock, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.