IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES."-A communication from abroad by Peter Clopper Schuyler,
of New York City, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th April 1863, and dated the 1st November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the combination of a series of sieves or grated
platforms arranged one above another, and inclined in opposite directions within
a tower or shaft and an elevating apparatus, which may be of any ordinary and
well known construction, by which the grain or other substance to be dried is
carried up to the top of the tower or shaft to be deposited on the uppermost
screen, or platform, or series. The sieves or platforms have imparted to them.
a shaking motion by which the grain or other substance is caused to be
distributed over and to run down the sieves or platforms from each to the one

page_text: below it while upward currents of air, generally heated, are caused to circulate
in the tower or shaft and through the sieves or platforms, and to absorb the
moisture and carry it off at the top of the tower or shaft. From the lowest
sieve or platform the grain or other substance is delivered into a suitable
receptacle, from whence it may be carried away to bins or other places, or if
not properly dried may be taken and carried up again to the top of the tower
or shaft to have the process repeated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I; the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIN AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-

page_text: This Invention consists in the combination of a series of sieves or grated
platforms arranged one above another, and inclined in opposite directions
within a tower or shaft and an elevating apparatus, by which the grain or
other substance to be dried is carried up to the top of the tower or shaft to be
deposited on the uppermost screen or platform or sieve. The sieves or plat-
forms have imparted to them a shaking motion, by which the grain or other
substance is caused to be distributed over and to run down the sieves or
platforms from each to the one below it, while upward currents of air generally
heated, are caused to circulate in the tower or shaft and through the sieves or
platforms, and 'to absorb the moisture and carry it off at the top of the tower
or shaft. From the lowest sieve or platform the grain or other substance is
delivered into a suitable receptacle, from whence it may be carried away to
bins or other places, or if not properly dried may be taken and carried up again
to the top of the tower or shaft to have the process repeated.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of the
apparatus; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with the elevator casing
shown in section; Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same at right angles to
Fig. 1 in the plane indicated by the line x, x, in the latter Figure; Fig. 4 is
a horizontal section of the same in the line y, y, of Fig. 1.
a,
A is the tower or shaft, which is made of brick or other material, and of such
height as may, by practice, be found necessary according to the substance to
be dried; the proper height for drying grain being about fifty feet; B, B, are
the sieves or grated platforms, having their openings of such size that the grain
or other substance to be dried will not pass through them. These sieves or
platforms are severally hung at one of their ends on a pivot p at the middle
of their width, and at the other end are suspended by chains which are
capable of being wound on pulleys P, P, on the shaft C, for the purpose of
altering their angles of inclination, the shaft C being operated by means of
toothed wheels D, E, (Fig. 2), and a cord or chain Q connected with a
pulley R, which is fast on the wheel D and a pulley S on the shaft C. The
pivots p, p, are fitted to bearings in bars q, q, which extend across the tower
or shaft, and the pivots permit the sieves or platforms to be vibrated sideways
(in a similar manner to the "shoe" of a grist mill), for the purpose of shaking
down the grain or other substance, and distributing it over their upper
surfaces by means of the damsels F, F', upon the two upright shafts G, G',
which are operated by the horizontal shaft H and the bevil gears I, 1. The
inclination of the screens or platforms which, as may be understood by
reference to Fig. 1, is in opposite directions, may be about five inches to the
foot for grain which is not very damp, and which requires the minimum

page_text: amount of time for its passage from the top to the bottom of the shaft to be
dried; but for grain which is more damp, or which is wet, the inclination of:
the sieves or platforms should be lessened by raising their outer ends, and the
grain is then retained longer upon them, as it is shaken down and is caused
to fall over the lower end of one sieve or platform on to the upper part of the
In a.
one next below it by their vibration produced by the damsels F, F¹.
steam flour mill, or other place where a steam boiler is used, the smoke stack:
or chimney K of the boiler, made of sheet iron, may pass up through and
close to one side of the tower or shaft A for the purpose of heating the.
interior, and causing an upward circulation of air from the bottom thereof.
through the sieves or platforms, and through a hood L or louvre board ven-
tilator at the top of the tower or shaft, such air being heated in its upward
passage, and thereby caused to absorb the moisture from the grain or other
substance. Instead of running the chimney stack up through the tower or
shaft, air may be forced by a blower through a suitable heating apparatus,
and thence into the lower part of and upward through the tower, or shaft.:
M is an endless chain elevator for raising the grain or other substance to be:
dried to the top of the tower or shaft to be deposited through the spoutf
upon the upper one of the series of platforms B; N is a similar elevator to
elevate the dried grain that has passed down through the tower or shaft,
and off from the lower sieve or platform up to the top of the stack to be.
deposited in bins or other places for shipment or storage; O is a door in the
side of the shaft or tower to permit a person to enter and examine and, if
necessary, to adjust or repair its internal arrangements. If required, the
arrangement of platforms, shown in the Drawings, may be made to operate.
as a kiln for kiln-drying grain, for the purpose of using it for making malt
liquors, by first elevating the platforms to or nearly to a level, and introducing.
at the bottom of a tower or shaft a highly heated current of air, and then.
after the contents of the several platforms have been properly heated and
dried, depressing the ends of the platforms, which are suspended by the chains
sufficiently to empty the lowest platform, and to pass the contents of each of
the upper ones on to that beneath it. Instead of chains a, a, for suspending
the lower ends of the sieves or platforms and adjusting the elevation thereof,
upright rods operated by racks and pinions may be employed.
The advantages of this improvement are believed to be that a given quantity
of wet or damp grain or other substance may by its use be dried in less time
and at less expense than by any arrangement at present used for the purpose,
and that the apparatus can be constructed at less expense and to occupy.less
room than any of the apparatus heretofore used for the purpose..

page_text: Having now described this Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Drying
Grain and other Substances," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid, the combi-
nation of the series of sieves or platforms B, B, and the elevator M, or its
equivalent, for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
0
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)