Improvements in Malting Houses.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 2nd May, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Malting Houses.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM MAX KARSTEN of Derwent Villa, Mayes Road,
Wood Green, London, N. Composer of Music, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention (which invention has been communicated to me from abroad by
Erich Kasten of Mannheim, Germany, Civil Engineer) and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
.
My invention relates to improvements in malting houses and has for its object to
subject the barley to such a treatment that will bring it into the most favorable
conditions for germination.
This treatment consists in feeding the barley at one end of the malting house
into suitable hoppers which convey the same upon beds or floors upon which it
forms couches and is allowed to rest for a perical of say about 12 hours until it com-
mences to swell when it is moved further along the bed by a truck actuated by
means of suitable gear and a fresh supply is eat by the hoppers. This is also
moved on after a similar lapse of time, the
ortion having been previously
shifted and so on until the beds are fully loaded en by that time, that is to say
after about 9 days, the first mass of grain fed it converted by germination or
growth into green malt which is withdrawn, being ready for brewing purposes.
The feeding or loading of grain being tiius roceeded at recurring intervals of
about 12 hours, the treatment of the same can thus be continuously carried on.
To successfully carry out the above mentioned germinating process, it is necessary
that the grain should be continuously subjected to the action of air and moist
in a finely divided state and that the carbonic acid should likewise be continuo.
removed therefrom. For this purpose I form according to my invention the als
or floors of perforated sheet metal, while a series of air channels or chambers are
built under these beds being in communication with a main channel provided with a
fan or air pump which continuously exhausts the air and with it the carbonic acid
from the beds while at the same time cooling the grain laying thereon.
A suitable shaft or ventilator allows for the constant supply of fresh air from the
outside, this air traversing a spray or shower of water and becoming thereby
impregnated with moisture while it is subsequently heated or cooled according to
the season of the year.
In the accompanying drawings
Figs. 1 and 2 Sheet 1 show respectively a sectional elevation and a sectional
plan of a malting house constructed according to my invention.
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Sheet 2 show respectively a central vertical section a
longitudinal section, a plan, and a side view of my improved truck and sledge for
shifting in the manner hereinbefore referred to, the grain during the germination
stage.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 Sheet 1a a are the hoppers conveying with the aid
of the pipes the grain to the beds or floors B B formed of perforated sheet iron
and under which are arranged the air channels c c &c. communicating by means of
the channels dd. ... &c. with the main channel E shown in dotted lines in
Fig. 2 the circulation of air through the said channels being controlled by a suit-
able valve or damper. A is the germinating chamber wherein the channel D
conveys the air saturated with moisture and C is the shaft or ventilator. The
device for producing a spray or shower wherewith to saturate the air, and the fan
or air pump, are of ordinary construction and need neither description nor illus-
tration as they form no part of my invention. R R are the rails arranged along

page_text: the side walls of the beds B and upon which the truck T travels for the purpose of
shifting the layers of grain supplied by the hoppers a a and at the same time of
loosening the same. The construction of this truck is fully illustrated in Sheet 2.
Motion is imparted thereto by the endless ropes a* a* Fig. 4 Sheet 2 passing over
the driving pulleys t t¹ and moving in contrary directions upon their pulleys b
which impart a rotary motion to the shaft e¹ and thence to the driving shaft S of
the elevator P by means of the chain wheels d¹ and e and of the chain. The
elevator moves in the direction shown by the arrow (Fig. 2 Sheet 2) and operates
in a casing or receptacle g made of sheet metal and angle or Tiron in such a
manner that its buckets & slide upon the inclined plane of the casing and thus
convey the germinating material from the lower to the upper end of the elevator
where it is discharged as clearly shown in Fig: 2 Sheet 2. The casing is so
constructed and. fixed to the truck T that the lower end of the inclined
plane slides along the floor or bed while the sides of the casing slide along the
sides of the said beds B, so that the material is fed forward by means of the
truck T in the direction shown by the arrowri Fig. 2 Sheet 2. The casing is
carried by the driving shaft S of the elevator and is likewise suspended by chains
passing over the drums K K Figs. 2 and 3 mounted on the shaft upon which is
likewise keyed a sprocket wheel m gearing with another similar wheel n by means
of a chain, the shaft of the latter wheel being provided with a crank handle o
whereby the box or casing g and the elevator P may be raised and lowered. The
slow motion of the truck is carried out by means of the shaft e¹ with the aid of the
sprocket wheels p and q driven by a chain which transmits motion from the shaft c¹
to the shaft r while the latter communicates motion to the shaft t2 by means of the
bevel wheels s¹ sl, loosely mounted thereon and provided with a coupling sleeve
formed upon the inner sides of their respective hubs.
The sleeves are capable of gearing alternately with a central coupling piece u
which can be shifted laterally upon the shaft t3 with the aid of a key in order to set
either of the two wheels s si in motion and hence to rotate the said shaft t2 in one
direction or in the other. The latter shaft carries a worm v at its outer extremity
which gears with the worm wheel w mounted on the shaft a of the truck the latter
shaft carrying at each end a toothed wheely. The latter gear with two rack rods
fixed along the side walls of the beds or floors B, so that when the shaft a turns in
either sense,
the truck is propelled in a corresponding direction. To stop the
elevator the chain wheel mounted on the shaft c¹ is furnished with a friction
coupling, a¹.
The truck operates as follows. The elevator and its casing having been pre-
viously raised the truck is moved over the last division of the bed B which is
cleared out for drying purposes and is consequently empty. The handle o being
now turned the elevator P and casing g are lowered the friction coupling a¹ is set
in gear and the coupling piece is caused to gear with one of the wheels s¹ so that
the truck is propelled over the bed while the elevator and casing proceed upon the
saine conveying the germinating material from one part of the bed to the other.
When the truck has reached the end of this bed the lever of the coupling piece
strikes against a stop pin and the truck is stopped. The friction coupling a¹ being
now thrown out of gear the elevator is stopped and raised again with its casing,
and the coupling piece u is engaged with the coupling sleeve of the other wheel s¹
so that the truck is brought back to its starting position, when the lever of the
coupling piece u is brought again against the stop pin above mentioned and the
truck is stopped to start again in a similar manner.
U
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. The improved malting house wherein the barley is allowed to germinate on
suitable beds or floors under successive mechanical displacements and is brought
1

page_text: impregnated therein with moisture and circulating through suitable channels for
the purpose of cooling the germinating grain and removing the carbonic acid there-
from substantially as and for the purpose described and shewn in Figs. 1 and 2
Sheet 1 of the accompanying drawings.
2. In the malting house above claimed the arrangement and construction of a
truck carrying an elevator operating in a suitable receptacle which slides along the
walls of the beds aforesaid for the purpose of shifting the germinating grain
substantially as and for the purpose described and shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Sheet 2 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 17th day of February 1891.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents for Applicant.