IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SIFTING OR SORTING CEREALS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR SIFTING OR SORTING CEREALS."-A communication from abroad by
Louis Béréziat, junior, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris,
France. Miller.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th April 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge. and Son, of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in, the County of. Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR SIFTING OR SORTING CEREALS," (a communication to me from
abroad by Louis Béréziat, junior, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries,
Paris, France, Miller,) to be-as follows:-
This improved sifting or sorting apparatus consists of three trays or shelves

page_text: united by two diagonal cross, pieces suspended to four springs, and is kept in
agitation by means of a connecting rod. It is provided with a ventilator or air
trap for blowing off the light bodies during the fall of the grain. This ventilator
by means of two openings throws on one side the siftings received by the
double bottoms hereafter mentioned. The first tray or shelf of this improved
sorting apparatus is of sheet iron, cut or perforated so as to permit the small
grain to escape on to a double bottom of plain sheet iron. The second tray
or shelf is inclined in inverse direction to the first; it is also of sheet iron,
with larger cuts, and it has also a double bottom like the first. The third
tray or shelf is inclined in inverse direction to the second, and parallel to the
first; it is also of sheet iron, and cut with round and elongated holes larger
than the preceding. The siftings of this last shelf fall on to the floor. Thus
the corn which escapes from a hopper slides successively on each of the three
inclined trays or shelves, and leaves the apparatus freed from bad and small
grain. The bodies larger than the corn are stopped, and slide on a small
grating, which forms bottom to the spout of the hopper to be thrown behind
the sorting apparatus. A piece fixed to the first shelf or tray agitates the
spout of the hopper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wel-
lington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Gedge, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Gedge, my 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

page_text: t
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SIPTING OR SORTING CEREALS," .(â
communication to me from abroad by Louis Béréziat, junior, of No. 15,
Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Miller,) upon the. condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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 William Edward Gedge, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawing, forming part of this Specification, and to the figures and letters
of reference placed thereon, 1 indicating the hopper which receives the grain
to be sifted; D, screw intended to keep the end of the spout of the hopper
suspended at M; 2, fan or ventilator, blowing away the light bodies during
the fall of the grain; 3, first tray of the sifter, made of sheet iron, cut out so
as to permit the small seeds to escape on to a double bottom of sheet iron
without cuts or holes; 4, second tray, inclined in an opposite direction to the
first, also of sheet iron, but with larger cuts or holes, and furnished with a
double bottom like the first; A, A, openings, throwing aside the siftings
received by the double bottoms; 5, third tray, inclined in a direction opposed
to that of the second, and parallel to that of the first tray, also of sheet iron,
and cut with round and elongated holes, larger than the preceding. The
siftings of this last tray fall on the floor, so that the corn which escapes
from the hopper slides successively on each of the three inclined trays, and
comes out at the bottom freed from bad seeds and small grain. This improved
sifter, which consists of three trays tied by two diagonal cross pieces suspended
to four springs, is set in motion by the connecting rod K. O, horizontal shaft,
provided with a crank to set in motion the fan and the sifter by small toothed
gearing B. The bodies larger than the corn are retained, and slide on the
small grating which serves as bottom to the spout of the hopper to be thrown
out at the back of the instrument. S, point, fixed on the first tray, and acting
on the spout of the hopper, which it keeps in motion, thereby causing the
grain to fall into the apparatus.

page_text: The principal advantages of this improved sifting or sorting apparatus
are,-
Firstly, quick working, say at the rate of 220 gallons an hour. I
Secondly, cheapness of construction, say about four pounds sterling.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
W. E. GEDGE. (L.S.)