IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN OR SEEDS FROM SMUT OR OTHER INJURIOUS MATTERS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of'
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of January, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and"
such others as I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully.
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, an Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING WHEAT AND OTHER
GRAIN OR SEEDS FROM SMUT OR OTHER INJURIOUS MATTERS," being a communica-
tion from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said William Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of

page_text: the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
This improved machinery for cleaning wheat, grain, or seeds from smut or
other injurious matters, consists of an external cylindrical chamber, within
which a peculiar form of fan or beater is made to revolve for the purpose of
agitating the corn, grain, or seed as it passes through the machine, and also
producing a very rapid current of air, by which the smut or other impurities
are effectually removed. The construction and form of the machine will be
seen in the accompanying Drawing, both in its complete state and in detail.
The body of the machine is of a cylindrical form, standing in a vertical position
upon suitable legs. It consists of an outer cylinder, which is stationary, and
within it a second cylinder, constituting a fan, is made to revolve.rapidly. Into,
the space between these two cylinders the grain to be cleaned is fed through a
suitable, tube, formed for that purpose, and which enters through the. side. of
the outer cylinder near the upper end., As the grain descends towards the,
lower part of the machine it is forcibly beaten by a number of strips or beaters.
of metal fixed round the periphery of the inner cylinder, which is put into
very rapid rotary action, thereby forcibly benting off the smut balls, white caps,,
and other deleterious substances of a texture softer than the grain; the rapid
rotation of the inner cylinder also producing a strong current of air, which, is
made to pass upwards between the two cylinders with a degree. of force suf-
ficient, to carry off, through openings in the upper part of the machine, all such
light, matters as, have been separated from the grain, whilst the grain itself, by
its, superior weight, gradually descends and passes out through an opening in
the bottom of the apparatus.
Fig. 1, in the accompanying Drawing, is a perspective view of the complete
machine. Fig. 2. is a vertical section of the same taken, through its axis..
Fig. 3. is a section of a part of the outer or stationary cylinder, shewing
the arrangement of the longitudinal and oblique ridges formed within it,

page_text: and with which its whole interior surface is indented. Fig. 4 is à represen-
tation in perspective of the interior or revolving cylinder, carrying the strips,
ribs, wings, or vanes by which the wheat, grain, or seed is beaten and a current
of air produced for cleaning the grain from all the light deletŕious matters.
In each of these Figures, where the same parts are represented, they are
designated by the same letters of reference. The machine is proposed to bó
generally made of cast-iron, but the wings and beaters are sometimes of wrought
or plate iron, and attached to the periphery of the cylinder. The general
arrangement of the parts of the machine is best shewn in the vertical section
Fig. 2. In this, and in the other Figures A, A, is the outer cylinder, which
may be thirty-four inches in length and sixteen inches in its interior diameter.
The lower part of the cylinder is contracted, as shewn at A', A', and assumes
a funnel form for a depth of about three inches, terminating at A³ in an open
bottom, of about ten inches in diameter, through which the cleaned grain falls
to the floor, and the current of wind passes up into the machine, the current
being rendered much more effective by this contraction at bottom. An inverted'
bridge a, a, sustains the step of the shaft of the inner cylinder. The legs b, b, b,
which support the machine, are made fast to the flanch B, B, which may ex-
tend out four inches from the body of the cylinder. A similar flanch c, c,
extends also from the upper end of this cylinder, between which and the cap
plate D; D, the smut, chaff, and other light substances are blown out. Froni
the cap plate D; D, legs c, c, c, extend, which bear upon the flanch C, C, and
these legs are secured by screw nuts holding the flanges C and D sécurely'
together at a parallel distance of about two inches and a half. F, F, is the
inner cylinder, which is made to revolve on the shaft E, E. This cylinder
is sometimes formed of wood, and covered with sheet iron, but it is preferred'
and most readily made of cast-iron, having the wings and beaters cast with
the pieces of which its periphery is composed. These pieces may be made
in stave like strips of the length of the cylinder, and may be put together
by screwing them on to discs of wood G, G, the shaft E, E, being square
where it passes through these discs of wood, and being firmly keyed or other-'
wise fixed thereto. The inner cylinder, is about thirty-one inches in length,
and thirteen inches in diameter, and it rises about two inches and a half above
the top of the outer cylinder. Sixteen, or any other desired number of beaters
d, d, d, extend out radially from this cylinder, passing along it from its lower
nearly to its upper end, where they are expanded into vanes or wings, which
occupy and revolve within the space between the flanch C and the cap plate D.
These benters consist of thin plates, which may be an inch and a quarter in width;'

page_text: and when the cylinder F is inserted within the cylinder A, the edges of the beaters
. should stand at the distance of about half an inch from the internal surface of the
cylinder; at their lower ends they extend straight up, vertically parallel to the
axis of the cylinder, but towards their upper parts they take oblique directions;
. these oblique portions, marked d', d', may be eight inches, more or less, in length,
and may proceed from the straight part either spirally or in right lines; at
their terminations they form angles of from twelve to twenty degrees with a
vertical line; it has been found advantageous to let these oblique portions of
the beaters increase in breadth gradually from their junctions with the vertical
parts, so that at the upper end of the cylinder A they shall all. as nearly touch
the interior of A as may be, allowing room for them to revolve freely. The
wings or vanes e, e, e, consist of elongations of the beaters projecting out from
them, so as nearly to fill the space between the flanch C and the cap plate D,
as shewn in Figures 1 and 2; the rapid revolution of the cylinder F, to
which the beaters are attached, these wings.expel the air from the upper part
of the machine, and consequently, by producing a partial vacuum within the
cylinder A, create a strong draft upwards through it, so as effect the object of
discharging the smut, chaff, and other light substances, as above stated. Under
the lower end of the revolving cylinder there are usually placed four vanes f,f,
which aid in producing the upward draft; the machine will, however, act well
without this addition. The interior of the cylinders A is cut into ridges, as
shewn in the section, Fig. 3; these ridges run vertically up from the lower end
of the cylinder to within eight or ten inches of its upper end, where they take
an oblique direction, as shewn in the Drawing; this oblique direction they main-
tain to their termination above; they may by their inclination form an angle
of about twelve degrees with a vertical line; a section across these ridges
would present a form something like that of the teeth of a saw as they rise at
unequal angles from their base, and it has been found to produce the best
effect when the grain is made to strike against those sides of the ridges which
are most acute. The obliquity of these ridges and also of the beaters towards
the upper end of the machine is essential to its proper action, as the grain is
thereby beaten downwards, whilst a large portion of it would otherwise be
blown out with the smut, &c. The grain to be cleaned is to be placed in a
hopper, from which it is fed to the machine through a tube H, which opens
into the space between the two cylinders at the distance of about seven or eight
inches from the upper end of the outer cylinder; the inner cylinder is made to
revolve with a velocity of six hundred turns or more in a minute. The lower
end or gudgeon of the shaft E, E, has its step in the enlargement I of the

page_text: inverted arch or bridge a, a, its lower end bearing upon a steel screw h, by
means of which the height of the cylinder may be accurately adjusted;, the
part of the step I constitutes an oil cup, and this has on it a cover j, having a
rim which embraces the oil cup; over this cover there is a leather collar k; by
means of this arrangement the gudgeon is kept constantly oiled, and the entrance
of dust is effectually prevented. The upper end of the revolving cylinder is
supported by and turns upon a hollow cylindrical steel bolt 1, the upper end
of which is held firmly in the bridge piece J, J, the opening m, by which it is
confined in the bridge, having been bored out so as to coincide exactly with the
axes of the shaft E, E; the gudgeon or bolt 1, 1, being hollow, allows oil to be
poured through it into the space or receptacle n in the upper part of the shaft E.
K is a pulley or rigger affixed to the head of the revolving cylinder for the
purpose of driving it by a strap; a collar of leather p surrounds the bolt / below
the bridge J, J.
It will be manifest that the particular dimensions and proportions of the
respective parts of this machine may be varied, whilst the principle of its
construction and action will remain unchanged, but. it has been ascertained by
careful experiment that the foregoing proportions produce a very perfectly
operating machine; the degree of contraction of the lower portion of the outer
cylinder, the number of beaters, and of wings on the inner cylinder, and the
form and proportion of the ridges on the outer cylinder, may be changed to
some extent, but their general arrangement and action are important, as they
all concur in accomplishing the end in view,-the perfect cleaning of the grain
by the beating process, and by the production of such an upward current of
air as shall carry all the foreign matters lighter than the grain itself out at the
top, and still permit the grain to fall to the bottom of the machine.
The construction and operation of the machine having been fully described,
I now proceed to point out the particular features of novelty which I claim
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, viz*:-
Firstly, the manner of producing a strong upward current of air by the
contraction of the lower end of the outer or fixed cylinder, and the wings or
vanes at the upper end of the revolving cylinder.
Secondly, I claim, in combination with the foregoing, the peculiar form and
direction of the riges made within the outer cylinder, and surrounding the
inner cylinder, with peculiar beaters capable of throwing the grain against
the said ridges, such benters consisting of flat radial strips of metal, which
extend vertically along the lower portion of the cylinder, but are inclined
towards their upper ends.

page_text: And, thirdly, I claim the adaptation of the stationary bolt or hollow
gudgeon 1, 1, as connected with the receptacle for containing oil in the manner
arranged and connected with the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty one.