AN IMPROVED SIFTING APPARATUS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Thomas Parlour at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th August 1878.
JOSEPH THOMAS PARLOUR, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America,
now of 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Shipwright. "AN IMPROVED SIFTING
APPARATUS."*
This Invention relates to an improved sifting apparatus for sifting ashes, coal,
flour, seed, mould, and other materials or substances, and is designed to provide an
apparatus for this purpose, which will be very compact and portable in form,
convenient for handling, and of small cost in construction.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I construct a round box or cylinder
of sheet iron or other suitable metal or material, one end of which is provided with
a perforated plate, or with wire gauze, through which the finer portions of the
substance being sifted will pass into a suitable receptacle below the same,
The said plate or gauze may be made detachable from the cylinder, in order
that different ones may be used in the same cylinder, according to the material to
be sifted, or to the degree of fineness required.
The said cylinder is provided at the upper portion thereof with a cover or lid,
which may be made entirely removable, or may be attached to the cylinder by
means of a hinge.
Around the outer circumference of the said cylinder, near the lower part of the
latter I place a flange, which may be of cast iron or other metal. This flange
projects at right angles from the circumference of the cylinder, and extends
completely around the same, thus providing means for supporting the cylinder
upon the receptacle below. At the upper part of this flange there are teeth
projecting upwards, the said teeth being continued completely around the cylinder.
The lower part of the said cylinder fits into the upper part of the said receptacle,
which is designed to receive the sifted material, and upon the outside circumference
of this receptacle I provide a bracket or projection, on which are provided two gear
wheels, designed to furnish means whereby the said cylinder may be rotated. One
of these gear wheels is of small diameter, and engages with the teeth on the
.

page_text: aforesaid flange, and the other gear wheel is of greater diameter, and has extending
from it a spindle, to which is attached a handle, by which the last-named gear
wheel is rotated, or the handle may be attached directly to the wheel itself. This
wheel gearing with the small wheel causes the latter to rotate, and the small wheel
gearing with the teeth on the flange causes the rotation of the cylinder.
The object of having one of the said wheels of greater diameter than the other is
that the required speed may be imparted to the cylinder to effect the sifting of the
matters contained therein, and by varying the relative diameter of these two wheels
any desired speed may be given to the cylinder.
I provide upon the upper part of the receptacle ears or lugs, so constructed that
they will form guides for the flange of the cylinder, and prevent the cylinder from
coming out of the receptacle when revolving. These ears may be furnished with
clips and screws to provide for taking the cylinder out, when required.
I provide the cylinder and receptacle with suitable handles, so that they may be
conveniently lifted and, tilted, and the receptacle is furnished with a mouth or lip,
Bo that the sifted material may be readily discharged therefrom.
In order to dispense with the necessity of constructing a special receptacle for
the sifted matters, and to enable; me to. use the herein-described sifter with an
ordinary pail or other article as the receptacle, I modify the construction as
follows, that is to say :-I construct the cylinder with a flange, as above described,
but I also provide a ring separate from the said. cylinder. This ring is so con-
structed that the lower part of the cylinder below the flange thereon fits into the
said ring, the flange on the cylinder coming against and resting upon a corresponding
flange on the upper part of the ring.
:
The lower part of the ring is designed to fit into the top of the pail or other
article used as a receptacle, and the cylinder thus rests upon the ring, the latter
being supported by the pail or other receptacle. The object of this ring is to
provide a support for the gear wheels above described, so that the sifting apparatus
may be complete, only requiring to be placed in the top of the article, which is to
serve as 'the receptacle for the sifted matters.
In order to securely attach the apparatus to the pail or other article I provide
projecting ears or lugs which extend downward, and these ears or lugs being
provided with set screws the rings may be temporarily fastened to the said
receptacle, and may readily be removed therefrom when required.
,. The cinders, flour, or other material to be sifted are placed inside the cylinder at
the top, and the cover being then closed the operator has only to turn the handle,
driving the large gear wheel a few times, when the sifting will have been effected
in a perfect manner. The sifted portion falls into the receptacle, the larger portions
reinaining in the cylinder; the latter may then be readily detached from the
receptacle, and the contents of both may be discharged as desired.
Instead of using the toothed flange as above described I may in some instances
employ an endless chain with toothed wheels to operate the same; or I may rotate
the cylinder by means of a handle at the top thereof to be operated by the person
using the apparatus without the aid of any gearing, in which case I provide a
spindle in the centre of the Bifter projecting through the cover, and through a
supporting piece or frame above the same, the latter being attached to the receptacle
or ring. This vertical spindle may also be connected with gear wheels at the top,
one of which is to be rotated by the operator, and motion will thus be given to the
cylinder.