IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING GRAIN, RICE, OR SEEDS, OR BOLTING FLOUR, AND SEPARATING PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION Purifying MIDDLINGS MADE THEREFROM
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Bryant Childs, of 16, Mark Lane,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CLEANING GRAIN, RICE, OR SEEDS, OR BOLTING FLOUR, AND SEPARATING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Bryant
Childs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th April 1874.
I; AUGUSTUS BRYANT CHILDS, of 16, Mark Lane, London, do hereby
declare the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CLEANING GRAIN, RICE, OR SEEDS, OR BOLTING FLOUR, AND SEPARATING
and Purifying MIDDLINGS MADE THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
The improvement consists in constructing, arranging, and working
the parts of the machine in such a manner that it may be employed
for cleaning grain, rice, or sced; or used for analagous purposes, such as
bolting flour, and separating and purifying middlings.

page_text: One of the principle features of the improvement for effecting this is
the kind of motion given to the screen frame or frames, consisting of a
vertical or upward and downward or concussive. movement through the
space of one quarter to an inch more or less as may be required; and
consequently a similar motion is imparted to the material made to pass
over the screen frame for cleaning, separating, or purifying it, as the
case may be. Owing to the kind of motion imparted to the screen
frame the material passing over it is continually bounded off of the
surface of the screen into the air, thereby causing the material partly to
clean itself by the motion imparted to it, and in the meantime permit a
free passage of the exhaust or blast to pass up through and among the
material or grain and separate and carry off the liberated particles of
dust, dirt, and other foreign matter from it intended to be removed by
the air; and also causes the meshes of the screen or bolting cloth to
keep clean by the vertical jarring motion imparted to it, without the use
of brushes or other means usually employed for that purpose.
The general structure of the machine is substantially the same when
used for any one of the purposes before described; all the change
required is the use of finer or coarser screening or bolting cloth suited
for the purpose of cleaning grain, rice, seeds, bolting flour, or separating
and purifying middlings, as the case may be.
The following is a description of the structure and working of the
machine when used for separating and purifying middlings. The word
middlings when used in the description is understood to mean grain,
rice, or seeds, or flour, which may be cleaned or bolted and separated
into various grades by the machine, similar to the mode of treating the
middlings as herein-after described.
The main part of this machine is composed of a mane chamber, eight
to nine feet long and three to four feet wide, more or less, and of
suitable depth, and usually placed at an angle lengthwise to cause the
material being treated to pass through the machine, and mounted on a
frame when in position for working. This main chamber is divided into
three or more approximated air-tight compartments, and furnished with
dust deflectors and receptacles for catching portions of the material for
reatreating if required, and dust and other useless matter separated from
the middlings by the exhaust. Each of these compartments is made to
communicate with a main regulating exhaust or air chamber furnished

page_text: with a self-acting regulating valve for governing the pressure or
intensity of the exhaust. This air chamber is usually situated on the
main chamber or top of the machine.
The communication between the compartments and air chambers are
made by means of self-acting or adjustable hinged valves for regulating
the pressure or intensity of the exhaust or blast drawn or forced through
each or any of the separate air compartments without changing or inter-
fering with the intensity of the oxhaust in any of the other compartments.
The exhaust fan is usually attached to the lower end of the machine,
and communicates with the several compartments in the main
chamber by means of the main regulating air chamber and valves before
described.
The lower part of the main chamber and directly under the compart-
ments into which it is divided is provided with a bolting or screen frame.
This frame has a short and quick upward or vertical and downward
concussive or jarring motion from a quarter to one inch in extent
imparted to it by suitable mechanism herein-after described. The top of
the screen frame is usually constructed so as to form a scries of inclined
screen steps or shelves, and placed in position so one of the said steps
will come opposite to one of the compartments in the main chamber.
Each shelf on the frame is covered with a screen or bolting cloth of
suitable fineness, the top shelf being provided with the finest, which first
receives the material to be treated, and increasing in coarsness to the
lower shelf, as may be required. The bolting cloth is stretched and
secured over these shelves by means of rolls. One edge of the cloth is
attached to the side of the frame, and the roll carrying it is attached to
the opposite side of the frame, and made to revolve in suitable bearings.
One end of these rolls are provided with a ratchet wheel and catch or
paul for holding it in position after stretching the cloth.
The under part of the bolting frame is provided with suitable hoppers
or receptacels, one communicating with cach shelf, to receive and
separate the various grades of middlings or material obtained from the
impurities.
The middlings is fed to the machine by means of a feed roll working
in a hopper placed at the upper end of the machine for evenly and
regularly distributing it over the screen or bolting cloth.

page_text: The bottom of each hopper is provided with a hinged door or valve
held closed by a spring or weight until sufficient weight of middlings or
material collects in the hoppers to open them. The object of this is to
prevent the suction of air through the middlings after being separated
and purified.
The air admitted to the under side of the screen if required for passing
up through the screen or bolting cloth enters through adjustable or self-
opening and regulating valves placed in the side or sides of the hoppers.
One or more of these valves may be used for each hopper, if found
necessary, or instead of the air being taken in from below the screen
through the valves in the hopper, as before mentioned, it may be
admitted above the screens in any suitable manner, and passed among
the middlings for exhausting the impurities therefrom.
The screen frame is also provided with a valve at the junction of the
screen steps or shelves, on which the bolting cloth is stretched for the
purpose of permitting a current of air being drawn through the body
of middlings as it falls from shelf to shelf to assist in purifying
them.
The kind of shaking motion imparted to the bolting frame of the
machine, as before stated, is an important feature in the improvement,
and is most essential for its effective working.
The bolting frame, as before described, is placed at the bottom of the
main chamber in an inclined position to cause the material to pass
through the machine, and is secured to its place sidewise by the main
frame of the machine, and is prevented from slipping out or down from
its position end wise by a spring connecting rod of wood or metal attached
to the main frame of the machine and to the lower end of the bolting
frame. The bolting frame thus constructed and arranged with tho
machine is left free to move up and down from one quarter to one inch
in extent, but not side or endwise. The extent of the vertical motion
imparted to the screen frame may be regulated by elevating or lowering
the resting pieces on which the frame falls by any known means.
The vertical shaking or jarring concussive motion imparted to the
bolting frame is efected in one way by a series of cam teeth formed
around the circumference of the two metal wheels mounted on the shaft,
which are attached to the framework of the machine directly under the
lower end of the bolting frame in a position so the wheels come under

page_text: the sides of the bolting frame, one on each side of the machine. These
cam wheels are made to revolve, and the cam teeth on their circum.
ference act on metal pins or projections attached at or near the end and
to the bottom of the bolting frame, and thereby lift the lower end of the
frame directly up and permit it to fall back to its resting position by the
cam teeth suddenly liberating themselves from the metal pins. In the
meantime the upper or other end of the bolting frame is lifted by the
same cam wheels simultaneously acting on two levers suspended in the
centre of their length, one on each side of the machine. One end of
each of the levers are placed under the cam wheels, one under cach
wheel, which are furnished with metal pins for the cam teeth to act on,
similar to those before described, and attached to the end of the bolting
frame. The cam teeth are distributed on the wheels so they simulta-
neously act on the end of the bolting frame and levers at the same time,
and thereby cause a simultaneous lifting and falling of both ends of
the frame.
Instead of useing the two levers, as described, both ends of the
machine may be furnished with cam wheels, and coupled together by
connecting rods or shafting and gear wheels, and arranged so as
to act on and lift and fall each end of the bolting frame at the same
time, or any other known means or mechanism may be employed
for giving the required vertical jarring motion to the frame. The
vertical jarring motion thus imparted to the bolting frame or screen
keeps the screen clean for the free passage of the purified middlings, and
causes the middlings upon the screens to be kept in constant motion by
being tossed up in the air, which permits the exhaust to take hold of
and remove the dust and foreign matters from the middlings or material
being treated.
The power
for driving the exhaust fan may be taken from any suitable
prime mover; and the feed roll and cam wheels may be worked by power
taken from the fan shaft through the medium of belts and a counter-
shaft attached to any suitable part of the frame of the machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters, Patent,
filed by the said Augustus Bryant Childs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th September 1874.
: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
BRYANT CHILDS, of 16, Mark Lano, London, send greeting.
•
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Augustus Bryant Childs,
Her special licence, that I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Augustus Bryant Childs, 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 of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING
GRAIN, RICE, OR SEEDS, OR BOLTING FLOUR, AND SEPARATING AND PURIFYING
MIDDLINGS MADE THEREFROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, 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.

page_text: One of the principal features of the improvement for effecting this is the
kind of motion given to the screen frame or frames consisting of a vertical
jarring or concussive movement through the space of one quarter to an
inch, more or less, as may be required, and consequently a similar motion
3 is imparted to the material made to pass over the screen frame for
cleaning, separating, or purifying it, as the case may be. Owing to the
kind of motion imparted to the screen frame the material passing over
it continually bounds off the surface of the screen into the air, thereby
causing the material partly to clean itself by the motion imparted to it,
and in the meantime permit a free passage of the exhaust or blast to pass
up through or among the material or grain and separate and carry off
the liberated particles of dust, dirt, and other light foreign matter from
it intended to be removed by the exhaust, and also causes the meshes
of the screen or bolting cloth to keep clean by the vertical jarring
3 motion imparted to it without the use of brushes or other means usually
employed for that purpose. The general structure of the machine is
substantially the same when used for any one of the purposes before
described; all the change required is finer or coaser screening or bolting
cloth suited for the purpose of cleaning grain, rice, seeds, bolting flour,
or separating and purifying middlings, as the case may be.
. The following is a description of the structure and working of the
machine when used for separating and purifying middlings: →
The main part of the machine is composed of a main chamber eight
to nine feet long, and three to four feet wide, more or less, and of
suitable depth, and usually placed at an angle lengthwise to cause the
material being treated to pass through the machine, and it is mounted
on a frame when in position for working. This main chamber is made
to communicate with a main regulating, exhaust, or air chamber
furnished with a self-acting regulating valve for governing the pressure
or intensity of the exhaust; the said air chamber is usually situated on
the main chamber or top of the machine.
The communication between the main chamber of the machine and
the air chamber is made by means of self acting or adjustable hinged
valves for regulating the pressure or intensity of the exhaust. The
exhaust fan is usually attached to the lower end of the machine and
communicates with the main chamber by means of the regulating air
chamber and valve before described.'

page_text: The lower part of the main chamber is provided with a bolting or
screen frame. This frame has a short and quick upward or vertical and
downward concussive or jarring motion from a quarter to one inch in
extent imparted to it by suitable mechanism herein-after described.
The top of the frame is usually constructed so as to form a series of t
inclined screens, steps, or shelves; each shelf on the frame is covered
with a screen or bolting cloth of suitable fineness, the top shelf being
provided with the finest which first receives the material to be treated
and increasing in coarseness to the lower shelf as may be required.
The under side of the bolting frame is provided with suitable hoppers:
or receptacles to receive and separate the various grades of middlings or
material obtained from the impuritios.
The middlings is fed to the machine by means of a feed roll working
in a hopper placed at the upper end of the machine for evenly and
regularly distributing it over the whole surface of the screen or bolting
cloth; air is admitted to the under side of the screen for passing up
through the screen or bolting cloth.
The screen frame is also provided with pierced metal plates at the
junction of the screen steps or shelves on which the bolting cloth is
stretched for the purpose of admitting a current of air being drawn
through the body of middlings as it falls from shelf to shelf to assist in
purifying them.
The kind of shaking motion imparted to the bolting frame of the
machine, as before stated, is an important feature in the improvement
and is most essential for its efficient working.
The bolting frame as before described is placed at the bottom of the
main chamber in an inclined position to cause the material to pass
through the machine as it is being treated, and is secured to its place
sidewise by the main frame of the machine, and is prevented from
slipping out or down from its position endwise by a spring connecting
rod of wood or metal attached to the main frame of the machine, and to
the lower end of the bolting frame; the bolting frame thus constructed
and arranged with the machine is lef free to move up and down from
one-quarter to one inch in extent, but not side or endwise, the extent of
the vertical motion imparted to the screen frame may be regulated by
elevating or lowering the resting pieces on which the frame falls by any
known means,

page_text: The vertical sliaking or jarring concussive motion imparted to the
bolting frame is effected in one way by a series of cam teeth formed
around the circumference of two metal wheels mounted on a shaft,
which are attached to the framework of the machine directly under
the lower end of the bolting frame, in a position so the wheels come
under the sides of the bolting frame one on each side of the machine;
these cam wheels are made to revolve and the cam teeth on their
circumference act on metal pins or projections attached at or near tho
end and to the bottom of the bolting frame, and thereby lift the lower
end of the frame directly up and permit it to fall back to its resting
position by the cam teeth suddenly liberating themselves from the
metal pins; in the meantime the upper or other end of the bolting
frame is lifted by the same cam wheels simultaneously acting on two
levers suspended in the centre of their length, one on each side of the
machine, and placed on the inside of the main frame of the machine;
one end of the levers are placed under the cam wheels, one under each
wheel, which are furnished with metal pins for the cam to act on, similar
to those before described, and attached to the end of the bolting frame;
the cam teeth are distributed on the wheels so they simultaneously act
on the end of the bolting frame and levers at the same time, and
thereby cause a simultaneous lifting and falling of both ends of the
frame.
Instead of using the two levers as described both ends of the machine
may be furnished with cam wheels and coupled together by connecting
rods, or shafting and gear wheels, and arranged so as to act on and lift
cach end of the bolting frame at the same time, or any other known
means or mechanism may be employed for giving the required vertical
jarring motion to the frame. The vertical jarring motion thus imparted
to the bolting frame or screen keeps the screen clean for the free passage
of the purified middlings, and causes the middlings upon the screens to
be kept in constant motion by being tossed up in the air, which permits
the exhaust to take hold of and remove the dust and foreign matters
from the middlings or material being treated.
The power for driving the exhaust fan may be taken from any
suitable prime mover, and the feed roll and cam wheels may be worked
by power taken from the fan shaft through the medium of belts
and a countershaft attached to any suitable part of the frame of the
machine,

page_text: In order to give a fuller understanding of the said Invention I will
now refer to the accompanying Drawings hereunto annexed forming
part of this Specification by the figures and letters of reference marked
thereon;
similar letters of reference refer to like parts of the machine.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is
a partial transverse section of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan of cams,
gear, and shafting for imparting motion to the screen frame without the
use of levers as before described.
A, A, is the main chamber placed in an inclined position, and sup-
ported by the framing Y, Y, as represented. B, B, is the screen frame
made to fit up into the lower part of the main chamber A, A. The
screen frame is provided with four screen boards C, C, C, C, covered with
suitable bolting silk, and arranged in steps as represented in Fig. 1.
D, D, is the main air chamber provided with a regulating hinged valve g,
which opens and closes for communication with the external air, to
increase or diminish the intensity of the exhaust as may be required.
The air chamber D is made to communicate with the main chamber A, A,
by hinged valves d, d, d, d, attached to the top and inside of the main
chamber in number and position as may be required for the work to be
done. E is the exhaust fan, in this case attached to the lower end of
the main chamber of the machine, and is intended to be driven by power
taken from any suitable source through the medium of a belt (not repre-
sented). The fan draws or exhausts the air from the machine through
the valves d, d, d, d, and main air chamber D, as denoted by the arrows
marked thereon.
The machine is supplied with air drawn in at the bottom and sides
of the hopper L', L. The sides of the hopper are connected with
the screen frame B, B, by pieces of canvas M, M, through which
air is drawn to the under part of the frame for passing up through
the silks or bolting cloth attached to the screen boards C, C, C, O, air is
also made to pass from the under side of the screen frame through
pierced metal plates k attached to the frame B at the junction of the
screen board C. The air thus entering the main chamber A is made to
pass through the middlings as it falls from screen to screen board C to
assist in purifying it. Air is also made to enter the machine through a
regulating valve J placed at the upper end of the machine for passing
through the middings as it falls from the feed roll to assist in purifying

page_text: it, as represented in Fig. 1. The deflecting board m is arranged to the
screen frame B for deflecting the middlings on to the upper part of the
screen before the exhaust acts on them.
The middlings to be treated is first placed on the hopper f, and from
thence fed to the machine by the feed roll a. The feed is regulated by
an adjustable valve or gate placed in connection with the roll a, and
worked and regulated by a ratchet and pinion, as represented in Fig. 1..
Power for working the feed roll a and cam wheels h, h, for jarring the
bolting frame B is taken from the fan shaft E through the medium of a
belt, which is made to work a countershaft F, as represented. The
arrangement of belts for working the feed roll and cam wheels h, h, are
fully represented in Fig. 1, and may be understood without further
description.
The lever G, G, for vertically working or jarring the screen
frame B, B, are placed on each side of the machine, and on the inside
of the frame Y, Y, and are suspended by pins V at the centre of their
length. The upper ends of the lever G are made to lift the upper
end of the screen frame B, B, while the lower end of the screen frame
at the same time is lifted by the action of the cam wheels h, h, in the
following manner :—The cam wheels in this case are furnished with six
cam or eccentric teeth or surfaces on their edges, or any other even
number more or less may be employed. Two of these cam surfaces are
made to engage with and lift the lower end of the screen frame B, and
force down the lower end of the lever G at the same time, and by thus
forcing down the lower end of the levers, which are made to act on the
upper end of the screen frame, both the lower and the upper end of the
screen frame is lifted and made to fall at the same time, and thereby
obtain a verticall jarring motion of the screen frame.
For the purposes
and advantages before stated wearing surfaces of wood or metal are
attached to the screen frame and lever where they come in contact with
the cam wheels for the purpose of engaging and disengaging the wheel
with the. frame and levers simultaneously or at the same time; these
wearing surfaces are renewed when required through wear or other
causes.
The extent of motion given to the screen frame B, B, is regulated by
the adjusting bolts and nuts q, q, which are made to elevate or lower
the resting pieces at each end of the machine on which the screen
:

page_text: frame B, B, is made to fall. Instead of using the arrangements of
levers G, G, as described for working the screen frame B, B, the same
vertical jarring or shaking motion. may be imparted to the frame by two
sets of cam wheels R, R, as represented in Fig. 3, and partly shown in
Fig. 1, which are made to act on the under side of the frame at suitable
points and bodly lift it up and let it fall on its resting pieces at each
end of the frame, and thereby impart to the frame the requisite vertical
jarring motion. The cam wheels R, R, in this plan are attached to the
shaft O and S. The shaft O receives it motion by a belt (not repre-
sented) working over the pulley Q, and the other shaft S provided with
two cam wheels R, R, is placed near the upper end of the machine, and
receives its motion through mitre gear wheels P, P, placed on the ends
of the shaft O and S, and transmitting shaft W, as represented. The
two shafts O and S are geared together so as to make the same number
of revolutions in a given time, and the cam surfaces on the wheels R, R,
on each of the shafts are adjusted so as to lift each end of the screen
frame at the same time, and consequently causes each end of the frame
to fall at the same time, and thereby impart a regular vertical jarring
motion to all parts of the screen frame simultaneously. The shafts O, S,
and W will be provided with suitable bearings of any known form to
revolve in. X, X, is a spring connecting rod attached to the lower end
of the bolting frame B, B, and main frame of the machine, to hold the
bolting frame to its place longitudinally.
The following is a description of the action of the machine while in
operation: The fan E is set in motion and by it the other parts of the
machine are worked, as before described. The middlings are placed in
the hopper and regularly fed into the machine over the silks by the
feed roll a which descends on and passes over the series of silks or screen
boards C, C, C, C, attached to the main screen frame B. The finest of
the middlings are separated and purified as they pass over the two first
screen boards at the upper end of the screen frame and fall into tho
hopper L', while the remaining or coarser portion of the middlings are
separated and purified as they are made to pass over the two lower silks
or boards and fall into the second hopper L. The refuse from the
screen frame is discharged at the tale of the machine, as represented
in Fig. 1.
hafawn stated the machine
sunnlind with ain 1...

page_text: canvas M, M, also at the valve J, and is drawn or exhausted up through
the silks while the screen frame is being vertically shaken or jarred for
advantages and purposes herein-before mentioned; and the fluff, dust,
and other light foreign matters exhausted from the middlings is drawn
through the valve d, d, d, d, into the main air chamber D, and from
thence exhausted by the fan into the open air or suitable receptacles.
The arrows marked on the Drawings show the direction of the ingress
and egress of the air into and from the machine.
The dimensions and general arrangement of the parts of the machine
may be made and varied to suit the work it is required to do without
departing from the principle of its action or result to be produced.
Having now described the structure of my Invention and manner of
working the same,—
First. What I claim as my improvement is the vertical jarring,
shaking, or concussive motion or motions imparted to the screen frame
in the manner represented and described, or by any other known
mechanical means that can be made to produce similar motion or
motions of the screen frame, for the purposes herein-before mentioned.
I also claim the structure and arrangement of the parts of the
machine, as represented by the accompanying Drawings, when furnished
with an exhaust or regulating air chamber D, D, and self-governing
valve g as represented, for the purposes herein-before specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Bryant Childs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of September, in
the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.