Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Oats.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 28th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Oats.
A communication to me from abroad by BLAISE CARRERE, of Pau, in the Republic
of France, Engineer.
1, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
This invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for cleaning the oats
used for the food of horses and other animals.
Hitherto oats have been cleaned. by means of fans, worked by manual power
driving a handle having on its axis a large toothed wheel which gears with a
smaller one below, the axle of the latter carrying the blades of the fan and also
driving a connecting rod outside the machine, the other end of which operates
a sieve suspended by hooks. This sieve makes a stroke of only about two centi-
mêtres at the end opposite the handle, and practically nothing at the other end, the
shortness of its movement preventing the oats from passing through the wire
gauze on account of the obstruction offered by the presence of foreign matters
such as stones, and the cleaned oats produced do not amount to more than about
ten sacks of fifty kilogrammes a day. The greatest defect of this machine how-
ever consists in letting the oats fall to the ground amongst the dust and dirt
thrown out by the fan, so that it is almost useless to use such a machine for
cleaning oats.
In the improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present invention, a
hopper at the upper part is supplied with the oats to be cleaned from an inclined
plane arranged above.
As it passes from the hopper it is exposed to the current of air from a fan which
is driven in the same way as in the machine above described. Upon the end of the
fan axle a pulley is fixed, preferably of wood and about eighteen centimêtres
diameter and two centimêtres thick, which drives by means of a cord or band a
similar pulley upon a transverse shaft at the other end of the apparatus. This last
described shaft is provided with a crank or excentric which actuates a connecting rod
the other end of which is jointed to the front end of a horizontal sieve. This sieve
is carried by vertical supports upon each side, the lower ends of which are pivotted
to the frame of the apparatus and their upper ends to the sides of the sieve. The
latter is therefore made to vibrate longitudinally, instead of transversely as in the
ordinary machine, and it takes a stroke of about eight centimêtres. Below the sieve
is arranged a metal trough which receives the oats which fall from the sieve, whilst
the dust and other light matters are discharged and the heavier ones remain in the
sieve from which they can be removed when necessary.
The oats falling from the sieve into the trough pass down a lateral shoot from
the latter, and are discharged into a receptacle which is placed to receive them. Or
a sack may be attached to the mouth of the shoot in any convenient way to receive
the oats.
By the improved arrangement described the movement of the sieve in a longitu-
dinal direction is more rapid and has a much longer stroke, so that a sack may be
filled in a minute and a half, or forty sacks an hour, which would give for a day of
ten hours four hundred sacks, or forty times that of the ordinary system, whilst the
oats are thoroughly cleaned which is not the case where the latter is used.
Dated this 25th day of March 1891.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Oats.
A communication to me from BLAISE CARRERE, of Pau, in the Republic of France
Engineer.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying drawing, that is to say :—
This invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for cleaning the oats
used for the food of horses and other animals.
Hitherto oats have been cleaned by means of fans worked by manual power
driving a handle having on its axis a large toothed wheel which gears with a smaller
one below, the axle of the latter carrying the blades of the fan and also driving a
connecting rod outside the machine the other end of which operates a sieve suspended
by hooks.
This sieve makes a stroke of only about two centimetres at the end opposite the
handle and practically nothing at the other end, the shortness of its movement
preventing the oats from passing through the wire gauze on account of the obstruc-
tion offered by the presence of foreign matters such as stones, and the cleaned oats
do not amount to more than about ten sacks of fifty kilogrammes a day. The
greatest defect of this machine however consists in letting the oats fall to the
ground amongst the dust and dirt thrown out by the fan, so that it is almost useless
to use such a machine for cleaning oats.
In the improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present invention I use
the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 is an elevation of the right side of the machine,
Figure 2 is an elevation of the left side shewing the interior of the drum,
Figure 3 is a similar outside elevation,
Figure 4 is a transverse section,
Figure 5 a section of the box into which the corn is delivered, and
Figure 6 a section of the sieve, and
Figure a plan of the sieve.
A is a hopper at the upper part which is supplied with the oats to be cleaned
from an inclined plane or sack holder B above. As it passes from the hopper it is
exposed to the current of air from a fan C upon the axle of which is a pinion D
which is driven by a toothed wheel E operated by a handle F. Upon the other end
of the fan axle a pulley G is fixed which drives by means of a cord or band Pa
similar pulley H upon a transverse shaft I at the other end of the apparatus. This
last described shaft is provided with a crank or excentric K which actuates a con-
necting rod L the other end of which is jointed to the front end of a horizontal
sieve J. This sieve J is carried by vertical supports O upon each side, the lower
ends of which are pivotted to the frame X of the apparatus and their upper ends to
the sides of the sieve. The latter is therefore made to vibrate longitudinally, and
also to move up and down for a short distance. Below the sieve is arranged a metal
trough M which receives the oats which fall from the sieve, whilst the dust and
other light matters are discharged and the heavier ones remain in the sieve from
which they can be removed when necessary, by hand or with a scoop..
The oats falling from the sieve J into the trough M pass down a lateral shoot
from the latter and are discharged into a receptacle N which is placed to receive
them. Or a sack may be attached to the mouth of the shoot in any convenient
way to receive the oats, a space in the floor being made for it.
By the improved arrangement described the movement of the sieve in a longitu-
dinal direction is more rapid and has a much longer stroke so that a sack may be

page_text: filled in a minute and a half, or forty sacks an hour, which would give for a day of
ten hours four hundred sacks, or forty times that of the ordinary system, whilst the
oats are thoroughly cleaned which is not the case where the latter is used.
-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In the apparatus for cleaning oats, the combination of the fan with the gear
for driving it, substantially as described and shewn.
2. In combination with the fan, the shaft and crank or excentric, and connecting
rod, actuating the sieve, substantially in the manner described and shewn.
3. The sieve, having a movement backward and forward, in combination with the
jointed supports by which it also receives an up and down movement, substantially
as described and shewn.
4. The combination of a sieve having backward and forward and up and down
movements, with a trough below substantially as described and shewn.
5. The combination with the trough, of the receptacle below, substantially as
described and shewn.
Dated this 27th day of December 1801
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.