AN IMPROVED MODE OF HULLING AND CLEANING RICE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Wilson Ager, of Rohrsburg, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America, for the Invention of. "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
HULLING AND CLEANING RICE."
Sealed the 24th July 1857, and dated the 28th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Wilson Ager at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1857.
I, WILSON AGER, of Rohrsburg, State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF HULLING AND CLEANING RICE," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is the removal of the husk from the paddy or
rough rice & the cleaning of the grain ready for use.
The nature of the Invention consists, first, in effecting the hulling by a shell
and burr rotating in opposite directions, and so dressed that the grain shall be
turned at right angles to the axis of the said shell & burr on coming between
them, and each grain receive a longitudinal pressure sufficient to remove, the
husk.
:.And, second,; in the passing of the rice & husk, after separation, between a
shell and burr rotating, in opposite. directions, and so dressed that the husk

page_text: shall act upon and remove the inner coating of the grain & the germ be
separated from the grain.
The grain to be cleaned is fed into the machine from a hopper placed on
top of the shell at one end. "The portion of the burr immediately under the
hopper has a spiral flange, which passes the grain on to the hulling portion of
the burr. This portion is cylindrical, and has a dress consisting of a system
of indentations, having their greatest depth at the base; and-reaching the
surface at the point. The hulling portion of the shell: has the same dress in
inverse order.
Upon the hulling portion of the cylinder is a double series of deflecting
blocks, arranged spirally, and having for their object to turn the grain across
the axis of the burr, and cause one end of the kernel to enter the cavities in
the burr, & the other end the cavities in the shell, so as to receive the end.
pressure required to separate the paddy.
After passing the hulling portion, the grain and husks come to a second
-spiral-flange,-which-passes-it-on-to-the-cleaning-portion-of-the-burr-and-shell.
This portion is dressed with teeth of various lengths, inclined to the axis of the
burr, and arranged so that the series on the shell shall cross that on the burr
when the parts are in position; here the rice and husk pack together as the
shell and burr rotate in opposite directions, the rough surface of the husk
rubbing upon the grain and acting as a file to remove the inner coating. The
cleaned rice and husk are then forced out through an opening in the shell and
may be separated in the usual manner. During, the rubbing of the rice and
husk the end of the grain will be brought into contact with the edge of
some one of the cavities, which will separate the germ from the grain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Wilson Ager in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,. WILSON
AGER, of Rohrsburg, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our. Lord
One thousand- eight hundred and fifty-seven, in-the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said Wilson Ager, Her special licence that I, the said Wilson Ager, or my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,, the said Wilson
Ager, or my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agreo
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 "AN IMPROVED MODE
OP HULLING AND CLEANING RICE," upon the condition (amongst others) that. I,
the said Wilson Ager, or 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 Wilson Ager, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described. and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a top view of the machine; Figure 2 is a vertical section on line
X, X; Figure 3 is an elevation of driving wheel end of machine; Figure 4 is
an elevation of the opposite end, showing pinions for rotating the burr;
Figure 5 is a view of the burr removed from the shell; Figure 6 is a view of
the interior of the shell. The same part is denoted by the same letter in alb
the Figures.
The object of my Invention is the removal of the husk from the paddy or
rough rice and the cleaning of the grain ready for use. Before describing
the means I employ to effect that ond, I will refer briefly to the structure of
the grain to be operated upon. The husk of the paddy is attached to the
grain at one extremity only, and can readily be separated therefrom by pres-
sure in direction of the length of the grain; in fact this is the easiest way to
effect the separation. After the removal of the husk the grain is found to be
covered with a coating, which can readily be removed by rubbing upon some
rough substance. The removal of this coating and the separation of the
germ constitute the cleansing of the grain. Upon examining the husk it will
be found that its outer surface is roughened, somewhat like a file,, which
property avail myself of in the cleaning process, as will be herein-after
set forth.,
The nature of my Invention consists in effecting the bulling by a shell and

page_text: "
burr rotating: in opposite directions, and so dressed and constructed that the
grain shall be turned at right angles to the axis of the said shell and burr-on
coming between them, and each grain be made to receive, a pressure in direc-
tion of its length sufficient to separate the husk.
And further,
my
Invention consists in the passing of the rice and husk'
between a shell and burr rotating in opposite directions, and so dressed that
the husk shall act upon and remove the inner coating before-mentioned, and
the
germ be also separated from the grain during the cleaning operation, the
details of construction and operation being as herein-after set forth:
In the Drawing, S is the shell, supported by hollow shafts a, a', in bearings
b, b', and rotated in direction of arrow 1 by power applied to wheel A secured
on hollow shaft a'; B is the burr, having spindles c, c', at its extremities,
passing through hollow shafts a, a', and rotated in direction of arrow 2, by
reason of cog-wheel connection d, d', between shafts a¹ and f, and pinion
connection e, e, between shaft f and spindle c; the hollow shaft a; a', are
upon heads 9, 9, secured in the ends of the concave.s, as shewn in Figure 2.
The shell S is encased in bands h, h' at its extremities, as shewn in Figs. 1.and 2.
'On band ' is the feed hopper i, communicating with the surface of the burr by
openings in the shell (Figs: 2 & 6); Band h¹ has a discharge pipe k, outlets
in the shell, permitting the passage of the grain. These bands are secured
to the supports D, D', by screws S₁, and the shell rotates freely within them.
The burr Bis formed with a spiral flange l, occupying the portion beneath
the band h', for conveying the paddy to the hulling portion of the machine.
This hulling portion is cylindrical, and is represented in Fig. 5 by the part of
the burr between y and z. Its surface has a dress, consisting of a system of
indentations n, having their greatest depth at the base and reaching the surface
at the point. The hulling portion of the shell shewn between y¹ and ¹,
Figure 6, has the same. dress arranged in inverse order; this dress is shown
at X and X', where X represents a portion of the hulling shell of full size,
and X' a portion of shell and burr of full size, revolving in opposite directions,
as indicated by the arrows 3 and 4, and shewing the reverse position of the
indentations. Upon the hulling cylinder is the double series of deflecting
blocks .m arranged spirally, as shewn in Fig. 5, the action of which will
be herein-after set forth. From Z to Z of the burr B is a
spiral flange o,
which conveys the grain and husk to the cleaning portion of the machine.
The burr & concave of this part have the cross section shewn at Y, and the
dress shewn at Y', the cavities p being so arranged on the shell and burr 'as
that the two series shall cross when the parts are in position: The cavities
shown at Y are of full size.

page_text: 0
The operation of cleaning and hulling is as follows: The paddy is fed by
hopperi as shell and; búrr are :rotated in opposite-directions; indicated 'by
arrows 1 and 2. On passing through the openings of the shell the rice
encounters the spiral flange l, and is conveyed by it to the
space
between thie
hulling portions of the shell and burr. The paddy on entering this space will
encounter some one of the deflecting blocks m, which will turn the grain
across the axis of the burr, and in so doing cause one end of the grain to enter
a cavity n in the shell as the other is caught by one of the cavities n in the "
burr, as shewn at X¹. The rotation of shell and burr, as shewn by arrows,
causes a pressure in direction of the length of the grain, effecting the separation
of the husk, as before stated.
The grain and husk then pass onward to the spiral flange o, which conveys
them to the cleaner; there the rice and husk pack together as the shell &
burr rotate in the opposite directions, shewn by arrows at Y, the rough surface
of the husk rubbing upon the grain, and acting as a file, to remove the coating
therefrom. The eccentricity of the operating surfaces of this portion of the
machine causes the greatest packing when ridges are opposite each other,
and when the ridges pass to the position shewn at Y the increase of space
causes the mixture of grain and husk to be changed in relative position,
whereby other portions of the grain are submitted to the action of 'the husk.
Therefore, since the shell and burr rotate with considerable rapidity, there is a
continual change of position of the substances passing between them, causing
the grain to be thoroughly operated upon, and the coating entirely removed
during the transit of the mixture from Z to Z. The cleaned rice and husk
are then forced out through passage ', after which the husk may be separated
from the grain in any suitable manner.
During the rubbing of the rice and husk the end of the grain will be
brought into contact with the edge of some one of the cavities p, which will
'cause the germ to separate from the grain.
Having now described my Invention, and mode of operation, what I claim
under the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st, removing the rice husk by pressure in direction of the length of the
grain, effected by the action of shell and burr dressed & operating substantially
as set forth.
2d, utilizing the rice husk, substantially as specified, for cleaning the grain
after the removal of the husk therefrom.
3d; the combination, substantially as specified, of the hulling & cleaning
mechanism, whereby both operations are effected continuously, as described.

page_text: 4th, the cavities, substantially as specified, in the cleaning portion of the
shell and burr for the separation of the germ from the grain.
In witness whereof, I, the said Wilson Ager, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, on this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILSON AGER. (L.S.)