William Burnham Woods

“ The use of purifiers on middlings to take out the fluffy particles, the use of rolls to comminute middlings, the use of bolthing-cloths to separate the bran and germs from the flour, and the use of stones to regrind middlings, all long antedate the patent of the appellant. ”

“ We are to inquire whether the defense relied on in this case, that the invention claimed as his own by the appellant had been described in a printed publication before his invention thereof, had been made out.
By section 24 of the act of 1870 it was provided that any person who had invented any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter not known or used by others in this country, 'and not patented or described in any printed publication in this or any foreign country before his invention or discovery thereof,' might obtain a patent therefor. ”

“ The berry is thereby divided into two longitudinal halves, of which many still cohere at the back, thus resembling an open book.
'In case the rolls are closer together, then, with soft wheat, a flattening takes place, and the middlings obtained therefrom are very clean or free from bran. Hard wheat is much more considerably reduced, and a proper breaking is effected. * * * Rolls with smooth surfaces operate more by compression; those with fluted surfaces more in a cracking or breaking manner. ”

“ The upper two pairs of rolls crush and triturate the middlings to the utmost degree; therefore, it remains for the last lower pair of rolls to shake up the flour.
'This product, thus finely ground, is now transferred to the cylinder bolt for separating the flour. The bran-like surplus is carried with the bolts to a stone mill, to be completely ground out. ”