AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BRAN DUSTER
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BRAN DUSTER."
-A communication from abroad by George Clark, Peter Elting, George
Marsh, and Alfred Marsh, of Cincinnati, in the State of Ohio, and
United States of America.
Sealed the 5th September 1861, and dated the 4th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th April 1861.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BRAN DUSTER,'
to be as follows:-
In that class of machines known as "bran dusters," the chief difficulty
has been the thorough cleaning of the flour from the bran without cutting up
the latter so fine that it will escape with the flour, a contingency due to 'a too
rigid scouring operation. In order to avoid this, and at the same time
thoroughly to separate the flour from the bran, it is now proposed to employ
an arrangement of machinery containing stationary brushes and revolving disc

page_text: screens (one or more) in connection with a fan, whereby the bran while being
acted upon by the brushes is discharged out from the screen or screens, so that
it will not be unduly acted upon, and still a thorough separation of the flour
and bran will be effected.
The machine is constructed as follows:-Fixed to a central shaft is a rotary
disc screen, formed with tangential arms, and fitting in an air-tight case, the
joint being packed to allow of free rotation without the admission of air.
Below the disc are tangential wings, for creating by their rotation a partial
vacuum within the case. Above the screen is mounted a fixed brush, composed
of tangentially arranged groups of bristles. An adjustable frame is applied to
the brush, with bars arranged so as to confine the bristles between them, and
thus regulate their degree of elasticity. Surrounding the shaft is a central
tube, down which the bran is discharged on to the revolving screen from a
spout above. This spout is conical at the part where it joins the tube, and at
its upper part it is fitted with a conical basin, the bottom of which is open to
.preserve a communication with the lower part of the spout. Below the basin
the central shaft is fitted with a fan, and at the top of the spout is a wheel,
also keyed to the central shaft, and having inclined spokes. A conical hopper
is set concentrically above this spout, for supplying the bran to the machine.
This, hopper at its lower end is fitted with a flange, between which and the
rounded boss of the wheel, just below it, there is, a space sufficient for the
escape and discharge of all large foreign substances from the bran. The bran
passes down the conical basin and central tube, and falls on to the screen,
which, by its rotation, carries the bran under the action of the fixed brushes.
As the flour is scoured from the bran it is drawn into the air-tight box below
the screen, and discharged through a lateral spout, while the bran is discharged
over the edge of the screen. If thought desirable, the machine may be made
double-acting. When this is the case, the bran is collected as it falls into a
conical hopper, and submitted to a second series of brushes and rotary screen,
arranged as above explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for. Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent 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 "AN IM-
PROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BRAN DUSTER," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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) :-
..
:-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, is to obtain a simple and efficient machine for thoroughly separating
flour from bran; so that all the flour contained in a given quantity of wheat
may be obtained, none being allowed to escape with the bran.
In machines of this class, which are commonly known as "bran dusters,"
the chief difficulty has been the thorough cleaning of the flour from the bran
without cutting up the latter so fine that it will escape with the flour, a con-
tingency due to a too rigid scouring operation. In order to avoid this, and at
the same time thoroughly to separate the flour from the bran, it is now
proposed to employ an arrangement of machinery containing stationary
brushes and revolving disc screens (one or more) in connection with a rotating
fan, whereby the bran while being acted upon by the fixed brushes is dis-
charged out from the screen or screens, so that it will not be unduly acted
upon, and still a thorough separation of the flour and bran will be effected.
. In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved
bran duster; Fig. 2, a partial vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan

page_text: view, one half of the top cover of the outer case being removed to shew the
interior construction of the apparatus; Figures 4 represent in plan and edge
views the brush frame detached; Figures 5 shew in plan and edge views one
of the brushes with which the brush frame is fitted; Figures 6 represent in
plan and edge views an adjustable frame employed for regulating the stiffness
of the brushes; Fig. 7 is a detached plan view of the wire cloth frame, the
same being shewn as partially covered with cloth; Figures 8 shew in plan and
edge views the hopper guard detached; and Figures 9 shew in plan and edge
views the construction of fan applied to the apparatus for distributing the
meal as it is fed from the hopper. Similar letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts in the several Figures.
I should here remark, that the apparatus is shewn as constructed for sub-
jecting the bran to a double sifting process, but it may be convenient in the
first instance to describe the apparatus as adapted only to the single operation.
A represents an upright frame, in which a central vertical shaft B is mounted.
The lower end of this shaft is stepped on a bridge tree C, which is rendered
adjustable by a pendent screw rod a and nut b, as shewn clearly in Fig. 2.
On the shaft B is keyed a circular frame D, which may be described as being
formed of a rim c, hub d, and tangential arms e, as shewn clearly in Fig. 7.
This frame is covered with wire cloth f, and to the under side of the frame D
tangential blades or wings g. (Fig. 2) are attached, to form a kind of fan.
The blades or wings of this frame rotate in a circular box h, which is per-
manently attached to the main frame A by means of arms or brackets i, i. In
the periphery of the frame D there is fitted a packing j, which enables the fan
head to produce by its rotation a suction through the meshes of the screen,
and also prevents the escape of flour from the box h. To the brackets i, i,
there is also attached a circular frame E, which is constructed similarly to the
frame D, to wit, a centre rim * connected to a rim k by radial arms 1, as
shewn clearly in Figures 4. The arms project below the rim j* and ring k,
and are recessed or grooved at each side to receive the backs of wedge-shaped
brushes F; the bristles m being secured in the backs n in the usual or in any
proper way. The brushes F when secured in the frame E are not in close
contact, spaces o being allowed between them somewhat similar in form and
arrangement to the arms 1, 1, of the frames D and E. G is a frame somewhat
similar in construction to the frames D, E. It has a rim p connected by
tangential arms q to a centre ring r (see Figures 6). The rim p of the
frame G is attached by screw rods s to the arms t of the frame E, and the frame
has a concentric position with the two frames D, E. The bristles n of the
brushes F pass through the spaces between the arms q of the frame G. This

page_text: frame G may be raised or lowered by turning the nuts u of the screw rods s,
whereby the arms q of the frame will be raised and lowered in the spaces o
between the brushes F. The frames D, E, and G, and fan box h, are enclosed
in a cylindrical case II, which is secured within the frame A, and the box h is
provided with a spout v, for discharging the flour extracted from the bran.
This spout projects through the side of case H. The lower part of the case is
made of a conical form, and provided with a discharge passage wat its bottom,
as shewn in Fig. 2. I is a tube, which is fitted centrally in the frames E, G,
as shewn clearly in Fig. 2; and J is a spout, which is placed centrally on the
case I in line with the tube I. The lower part of the spout J is of an
inverted conical form, and within it on the shaft B there is placed a small
fan K, having oblique or inclined wings a¹ (see Figures 9.) In the upper
part of the spout J there is placed a conical bason 6, the lower part of which
communicates with the spout J directly above the fan K, and near the upper
end of the spout there is keyed on the shaft B a wheel L, having slightly
inclined spokes c³, as shown clearly in Figures 2 and 8.
Above the spout J
is a conical hopper M, which is attached to the upper part of the frame A, and
has a flaring flange d' at its bottom, which flange is concentric with the hub e¹
of the wheel L, which hub has an oval upper surface, as shown clearly in
Fig. 2, a space f' being allowed between the flange d' and the hub e'.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The shaft B being rotated by
any convenient
power, the bran to bo operated upon is poured into the
hopper M, whence it passes down between the flange d at the lower end of
the hopper and the face of the hub e' of the wheel L which rotates with the
shaft B. The spokes c¹ of the wheel L by their rotation throw out all large
foreign substances from the bran, and the latter passes down the conical
basin b', and through the tube I, and falls on the centre of the wire cloth f.
As the fan K rotates with the shaft B, it produces a suction in the spout J;
and draws down the bran, ensuring a proper and even feed or supply thereof
to the screen f, which also rotates with the shaft B. The bran as the screen f
rotates is forced under the brushes F, whereby the flour is brushed or scraped
therefrom, the bran working out during the revolution of the screen along the
spaces o to the periphery of the screen. The brushes F and the ribs c upon
which the screen cloth rests being set oblique to the radii in opposite directions,
act in a manner similar to the dress of a millstone, to distribute equally and
act upon the bran, and gradually forward it outward to the place of discharge.
The flour as it is scoured from the bran is drawn by the suction of the
wings through the screen f into the box h, while the cleaned bran passes off
the edge of the screen, and is discharged through the opening win the case H.
9

page_text: The bristles of the brushes F may be rendered more or less rigid by adjusting
the frame G higher or lower through the medium of the screws and nuts s, u
By the adjustment of the frame G and the screen f, the bran may be subjected
to a greater or less rubbing or brushing action, as may be desired; the screen f
may be adjusted at any time during the operation of the machine by simply
turning the nut 6 on the pendent rod a, which will have the effect of raising
or lowering the bridge tree C, and thereby giving a vertical motion to the
shaft B on which the screen is mounted, and bringing the screen closer to or
removing it further from the brushes. If necessary, the bran discharged at w
may pass through a second and similar operation, an arrangement of the
stationary brushes and screen being placed below, and arranged precisely the
same as the ones previously described. This duplicate arrangement is shewn
in the sectional view, Fig. 2, and as the operation of the parts will be identical
with those just described, no further explanation will be requisite.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Bran Duster," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the
arrangement of apparatus above described, whereby the separation of flour
from bran may be efficiently and economically effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
hand and seal, the Fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFAtt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A.. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)