IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FROM SEPARATING DUST FROM AIR CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR USE IN FLOUR MILLS
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co. Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the
nature of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FROM SEPARATING
DUST FROM AIR CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR USE IN FLOUR MILLS" and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This Invention relates to that class of machines which are employed in flour
mills for separating the dust from the air which has passed through middlings
purifiers, grain separators or other machines in which an air current is employed
for separating materials of different gravities.
In dust catchers as ordinarily constructed the separation of the dust from the
air is effected either by sifting or straining the air through filter cloths, or by
discharging the dust-laden air into large rooms in which it is permitted to come to
a state of comparative rest, whereby the dust is permitted to drop out of the air.
The first mentioned system requires complicated machinery to render it effective
in a continuous operation, and the last mentioned system is objectionable because
the dust-rooms occupy much valuable space in a mill.
The object of this Invention is to produce a machine which is simple in
construction, small and compact, and which requires no moving parts for its
operation. To these ends the said Invention comprises a machine in which the
dust is separated from the air by the dust particles being permitted to continue
their motion by their own momentum and to enter a chamber or space provided
for their reception while the air is deflected and finally discharged freed from the
dust, as hereinafter fully set forth.
In the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a dust-collector constructed according to this

page_text: Figure 3 is a horizontal section drawn to an enlarged scale, of a portion of the
machine.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section illustrating a modified construction of the
machine.
Figure 5 is a vertical cross section on the line y, y, Figure 4.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A indicates the air-spout through which the dust-laden air enters the machine,
and which is connected with the spout through which the air. is discharged from
the middlings purifier, grain separator, or other machine.
B indicates a spiral air passage forming a continuation of the spout A and
having its outer vertical wall b constructed of perforated metal, wire gauze or other
similar perforated material, while its inner wall c is constructed of wood, sheet
metal or other imperforate material.
The inner end of the spiral air-passage B connects with a spout D through
which the air is discharged from the machine after the dust has been separated
from the air,
E indicates a spiral dead air chamber, arranged on the outer side of the air
passage B and bounded on the inner side by the perforated wall' and on its outer
side by a tight wall e. Upright boards. or partitions fare arranged in the dead
air chamber E between the perforated wall b and the outer tight wall e to break
the continuity of the air chamber and prevent the air from flowing through the
same along the outer wall e.
G indicates the tight top plate of the machine covering the air passage B and
dead air chamber E, and provided at the centre with an opening g with which the
discharge spout D connects.
h indicates the bottom plate of the air passage B., This plate is preferably made
of perforated metal, except at the centre of the machine where the air passing
over it is almost completely freed from the dust and where it may b be made
imperforate.
J
I I indicate horizontal pieces which support the spiral walls b and e, and K
indicates a hopper or other suitable receptacle arranged underneath the dead air
chamber E for the reception of the material which passes into the said chamber.
The hopper K is tightly connected with the circumferential wall'e of the dead air
chamber and provided with a discharge spout L which is trapped by a weighted
valve l, a conveyor, or some other suitable contrivance so as to; prevent air currents
from passing through the hopper.
The. air entering the spiral passage B through the spout A is continually
deflected out of its course by the outer perforated spiral wall b of the passage B.
The dust particles tend, by their momentum, to persist in their onward movement,
and those of the particles which arrive opposite a perforation in the wall-b, pass
through the perforation into the dead air chamber E and drop by gravity into the
hopper K below. The air particles do not enter the dead air chamber because of
the resistance offered by the air contained in said chamber. This separation of the
dust particles from the air is continued throughout the spiral air-passage B, and
the latter is made of sufficient length to cause a complete separation of the dust
from the air, and the latter is discharged through the spout D in a pure condition.
The perforations in the wall' are preferably made in the form of upright slots
having their rear edges bent inwardly as represented in Figure 3, to facilitate the
entrance of the dust particles into the dead air chamber. Any dust particles
which settle upon the bottom plate 7 of the air-passage B are moved along by the
air current until they reach a perforation when they drop into the hopper K, The
construction represented in Figures 1 and 3 renders the machine very compact, but
if preferred an air passage may be arranged in zig-zag form as represented in
Figures 4 and 5.
In the last mentioned construction the air passage B is bounded by perforated
plates m forming its outer curved walls, which deflect the air current out of its

page_text: course, and each side of the air passage is provided with a dead air chamber D, both
of which discharge the dust into the hopper K below.
The vertical perforated wall b keeps itself free from dust without the aid of any
cleaning device.
The dust collector is preferably so arranged with reference to the middlings
purifier, grain separator or other machine with which it is connected that the fan
which causes the air current in the machine drives the dust-laden air through the
dust collector.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim
in apparatus for separating dust from air-
First. The combination of a bent or curved air-passage constructed with a
perforated wall which deflects the dust-laden air out of its course, and a dead air
chamber which receives the dust particles which are driven through the said
perforated wall by their momentum while the air passes off through said passage
in another direction, substantially as described.
Second. The combination with a spiral passage having an outer perforated wall,
of a spiral dead air chamber arranged on the outer side of said perforated wall,
substantially as described.
Third. The combination with a bent or curved air passage constructed with a
perforated wall which deflects the dust-laden air out of its course, a dead air
chamber arranged on the outer side of said perforated wall, and partitions arranged
in the said dead air chamber whereby its continuity is broken, substantially, as set
forth.
Fourth. The combination with a bent or curved air passage constructed with a
perforated outer wall which deflects the dust-laden air out of its course, and
with a perforated bottom, of a dead air chamber arranged on the outer side of
the said perforated wall and below the said perforated bottom, substantially as
described.
Fifth. The combination with the spiral air passage B having an outer perforated
wall b, inlet spout A, and discharge spout D, of the spiral dead air chamber E open
at the bottom, and a receiver K arranged below the said chamber E, substantially
as set forth.
Sixth. The combination with the spiral air passage B having an outer perforated
wall b, inlet spout A, and discharge spout D, of the spiral dead air chamber E
provided with partitions f and receiving hopper K, substantially as described.
Dated this 26th day of April 1884.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.
For the Applicant.