A New Improved Machine or Apparatus for Turning, Stirring, and Carrying Malt.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New Improved Machine or Apparatus for Turning, Stirring, and
Carrying Malt.
I, JOSEPH SENIOR, of Rosa Works, Wakefield, in the County of York, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
: -
This invention relates to a new or improved apparatus for turning, stirring
and carrying grain during the malting process.
For this purpose I erect an overhead tramway above the malting floor adapted
to support a carriage to which a pendant pillar is attached. This pillar is of
telescopic or equivalent construction so that its length can be readily adjusted,
and rack teeth are formed in the inner portion adapted to engage a pinion
carried by a bracket on the outer portion. A worm wheel is connected to this
pinion and a worm and hand wheel or winch handle is provided to turn the worm
when it is desired to adjust the length of the pillar. The bracket carrying said
pinion may be hinged to the pillar so that the pinion can be readily disengaged
from the rack if it is required to turn the lower part of the pillar in relation to
the upper part, or the rack teeth may extend more or less round the pillar to
allow this. Tubular arms branch horizontally from opposite sides of the lower
portion of said pillar and these arms support a suitable framing carrying a
turning plate or platform below. Pendant Tee pieces are fixed in said arms
in which shafts are journalled carrying plates or discs fitting recesses in said
turning platform and the upper faces of these discs are provided with blades
or vanes to engage the grain.
Motion is preferably imparted to the disc shafts by bevel gear from a shaft
or shafts mounted in said arms and this shaft or shafts is or are driven by a
vertical shaft preferably mounted in said pillar. This vertical shaft is made in
two pieces and one slides telescopically within the other, to permit of the above
mentioned adjustment of the length of the pillar; they are however keyed
together so that the one drives the other. The tubular arms are fixed to the
bottom of the pillar in such a way that they can be turned therein to adjust the
angle of the turning platform and discs, and along the front edge of this
platform I provide a number of thin spring fingers or keys the thin front edges
of which in practice bear upon the malting floor and give and take with any
inequalities in the floor. These fingers may be made of wood partly enfolded
in sheet metal with an eye or recess at the back between the sheet metal and
the end of the wood by which they may be mounted upon a flat bar supported
by the said framing in front of the platform, an internal spring to bear upon said
bar is fixed inside each finger in a recess cut in the wood.
The vertical shaft is preferably driven by an electric motor mounted in a
carriage on the tramway coupled to the pillar carriage. The electricity may be
conducted to the motor by a cable on the "trolley system or in any other
convenient way.
Chain and sprocket gearing is preferably employed to transmit
motion from the motor shaft to the said vertical shaft."

page_text: To move the apparatus along a grooved pulley connected to a spur wheel
may be loosely mounted on the top of the vertical shaft above the carriage and
a wire or other suitable rope is coiled once or more round this pulley and each
end is secured to a fixed object a suitable distance away outside the limits of
travel. Two friction or other suitable clutches are provided on the carriage and
controlled by a lever whereby one or the other of two pinions engaging said
spur wheel may be brought into gear with the vertical shaft and be driven
thereby to drive the carriage. One of said pinions moves the carriage forwards
and the other backwards. . The first pinion shaft may be driven by a worm wheel
(when its clutch is in gear) engaging a worm on a short counter-shaft driven by
bevel gear from the vertical shaft. As it is desirable for the apparatus to move
backwards more quickly than forwards, when it is acting upon the grain, the
second pinion shaft may be driven by bevel wheels instead of a worm and
worm wheel.
In operation the turning platform is adjusted to a suitable angle and the
spring fingers are brought to bear lightly upon the floor then the apparatus
is moved slowly forwards and the fingers and platform scoop up the grain to
within reach of the revolving blades or vanes which throw it off on to the floor
behind. Or if it is desired to convey the grain away suitably arranged sheeting
suspended from an overhead trolley or trolleys may be provided to receive it.
After travelling the full length of the tramway and turning all the grain
within reach provision may be made for running the carriages on to other
tramways enabling it to traverse the whole floor. And means may be provided
to enable the complete apparatus to be lifted from one floor to another.
A seat for the attendant is preferably provided projecting from the pillar or
other part of the machine and conveniently situated in relation to the clutch
lever, the mechanism for adjusting the height the levers or their equivalent for
altering the angle and of the turning discs in relation to the floor.
Dated this 2nd day of Sentember 1898.
A New Improved Machine or Apparatus for Turning. Stirring and
Carrying Malt.
I, JOSEPH SENIOR, of Rosa Works, Wakefield, in the County of York, Engineer,
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:-
-
This invention relates to a new or improved apparatus for turning, stirring
and carrying grain during the malting process.
To fully describe my invention reference is made to the accompanying sheets
of drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the figures.
Figure 1, represents a front elevation partly in section of my improved
machine.
Figure 2, is a side view partly in section, and
Figure 3, is a plan view of the same.
The wheels A of the carriage A2 run upon the over-head rails B, B supported
upon hangers B2, B32 secured above. A portion of the near rail in Figure 2 is
shown broken away and the carriage is shown in section. An electric motor C

page_text: attached to the carriage C³ and running upon the same rails as and coupled to
the carriage A2 by the coupling C³, is provided to drive the machine. The power
from the dynamo is conveyed by the sprocket wheel C on the motor shaft C
and the chain C to the sprocket wheel 1 fixed on the vertical driving shaft D
of the machine. The shaft 12 carries a bevel wheel D³ fixed to it which engages
the bevel wheels E and F respectively fixed upon the shafts E and F mounted
in bearings A3 and A formed in the carriage A2. The shaft 2 has a bevel
wheel E3 on its outer end engaging the wheel E on the vertical shaft E mounted
in bearings E6 also formed in the carriage A² A spur wheel E7 is fixed on the
top of the shaft E which engages the wheel G loosely mounted on the top of
the shaft 12 which latter projects through a top bearing A5 in the carriage A³.
The grooved pulley G2 is also loosely mounted upon said shaft and is fixed to
and driven by the wheel G. A wire rope G³ fixed at each end is coiled round the
pulley G consequently when the pulley is rotated by the above described
mechanism the machine is moved along in one direction or the other according to
the direction of rotation. The wheel E is loosely mounted on the shaft E³
and is driven by the sliding clutch Es on such shaft. The lever E is provided
to throw the clutch in and out of gear with the wheel as required. When
this clutch is out of gear the machine can be traversed at a slower speed by means
of the worm F3 on the end of the shaft F2 engaging the worm wheel F on the
vertical shaft F5 mounted in bearings in the carriage and the shaft F5 has a
spur wheel F6 fixed on its upper end engaging the wheel G. The worm wheel F¹
is loosely mounted upon its shaft F and a sliding clutch F7 is provided on the
shaft to connect and disconnect it with the wheel.
The driving shaft 12 revolves in bearings formed in the hollow pendant
column H secured to the underside of the carriage A2. The lower end
H2 of this column slides telescopically within the upper part and its position
therein is adjusted by the hand wheel J mounted upon the stud J2 fixed in H.
The hand wheel carries a pinion 33 engaging the wheel J on the shaft J5 mounted
in bearings J6 in H, and a pinion J on J engages the rack teeth Js formed
upon H. The shaft D2 is in two co-axial pieces connected together within the
column by a sliding coupling or any equivalent device adapted to permit of the
adjustment of the lower part H2 of the column without disturbing its relation
with the lower end of the shaft.
Tubular arms K, K, branch out on each side from sockets K in the bottom of
the column H2 and the arms are stayed or supported by the tie rods K2 which
pass through the quadrant pieces K³ and have their ends K secured to the
flanges K on K. A horizontal shaft L extends through and is supported by
the arms and this shaft is driven by its bevel wheel L engaging the bevel
wheel D fixed to the bottom of the shaft 12. A number of inclined hollow
projections K7 branch downwards from the arms K and each of the projections
contains and supports a shaft M carrying a disc M² on their projecting lower
ends. On the upper faces of these discs radial blades or vanes M are fixed
and the ends of these blades preferably project a little way beyond the peripheries
of these discs. These vanes are only shown on one disc in Figure 3. The shafts M
are driven by their bevel wheels M engaging the bevel wheels LA on the shaft L.
Immediately beneath the discs M a metal plate N is supported from the arms K
by the curved end supports N and the side stays N³. Along the front of the plate
a number of spring keys or fingers O are mounted side by side. When the machine
is in operation the bevelled front edges 02 of these fingers rest upon the malting
floor and their springy nature enables them to give to in-equalities of the floor.
Figure 4, is a cross section on a larger scale of one of the fingers 0 and a
portion of the plate N. The fingers 0 are hinged or pivoted on the rod 03 fixed
in the lugs N5 on the front of the plate N. An arm 04 is provided on the
underside of each finger O, and adjacent to each arm a spring 05 is fixed by one
end to the underside of the plate N and the other end bears against the underside

page_text: of the arm 0+ thus tending to press the front edge 02 of the finger downwards
against the floor when in operation.
A seat S is provided for the attendant.
As the machine travels in the direction of the arrow Figure 2 the fingers 0
scoop up the malt P and the revolving vanes throw it off or discharge it behind.
In this way the machine travels from end to end of the floor and at each end
it may pass from the rails B to a pair of parallel rails on either side to deal with
malt previously out of reach.
The inclination of the plate N and the proximity of the fingers 0 to the
floor is adjusted by turning the arms K in the sockets K by the hand levers T.
To carry the grain or malt I may employ a canvas or other suitable carrier as
shown by the broken lines in Figure 2. This carrier is suspended by the
rods R to the carriage R2 coupled by the coupling R³ to the carriage A2. The
carrier is provided with a canvas side R5 on each side and a back R6 but it is
open to the back of the plate N at the front so that the grain can be thrown
into it by the revolving vanes.
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 what
I claim is:-
1. A machine for treating grain in the manner specified consisting of an
elevated travelling carriage having suspended therefrom a device for scooping
up the grain and rotary vanes or their equivalent for delivering it, substantially
as herein shown and described.
2. The combination with the carriage A² of the pendant telescopic column
having means of adjustment, the internal driving shaft, the horizontal shaft
driven thereby and supported in horizontal arms, and the vane shafts and
revolving vanes, substantially as herein shown and described.
3. The combination with the revolving vanes suspended from an over-head
carriage of the plate N and spring fingers O, substantially as herein shown and
described.
4. The combination with the grain turning machine, of the grain carrying
device carried with it and adapted to be loaded thereby, substantially as herein
shown and described.
5. The combination with the grain turning machine of the means for travers-
ing it to and fro, substantially as herein shown and described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
6. A grain turning machine constructed, arranged and operating substantially
as herein shown and described.
1000
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Patent Agents, Bradford.