Improvements in or relating to Separating and Sorting Machines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 5th July, 1895-Accepted, 4th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Separating and Sorting Machines.
I, FRIEDRICH SPANNUTT, Engineer, of Brühl near Cologne, in the Province of
Rhineland and Kingdom of Prussia, 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:-
The machine can be used for three different purposes, firstly grain or different
kinds of seeds can be freed of weeds by it, secondly the grain is sorted according
to its size, and thirdly different kinds of grain may be separated from each other.
The sifter is represented in the annexed drawing viz. in Figs. 1 and 2 in simple
and in Figs. 3 and 4 in compound form. Fig. 1 is a side-view with partial
longitudinal section through the simple apparatus, Fig. 2 the front view of same;
Fig. 3 is a side view with partial longitudinal section through the combined
apparatus, Fig. 4 the front view of same.
The arrangement of the simple apparatus according to Figs. 1 and 2 is as
follows.
A funnel a serves for the reception of the grain in an uncleaned or mixed state,
a shaking-sieve b receives the stuff falling out of a and lets it fall into the funnel.c
from which it arrives at the conical pitted cylinder d. The latter, in case of grain
mixed with weeds reaching it, raises in its rotation and lets them fall into the
trough e, in which a straight conveyor frotates. The latter conveys the weeds into
the open air at g; the cleaned grain leaves the cylinder d by the opening h
and runs out at i.
In case the grain is to be sorted according to its size, the sieves k are put into
position, over which the grain is conveyed in order thus to be sorted according to
size. These sieves may have meshes of different width.
In the third case, in which the grain is to be sorted, a slide g arranged in the
trough e is opened and all the grain, which was thrown into the trough, goes out of
it again and is conveyed to the sieves, which then carry out a sorting of all the
kinds of grain present. Besides this it is also possible, to sort the refuse later
on by itself, it being possible in this machine for weeds or seeds and grain of every
kind firstly to be treated each by themselves and in the other case all together.
Furthermore a sorting may be made independently of the perforation of the
machine, which in kinds of grain of various size is of especial importance.
While the above-described sifting-machine, which is represented in Figs. 1 and 2
of the drawing possesses within the sieves surrounding it a simple, conical cylinder,
in the combined machine shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing a combination of
several cylinders (two or three, or more if necessary) is arranged and in such a
manner, that one cylinder always lays itself before the others.
The cylinders are firmly connected with each other and have only one trough,
which is provided with a slide for each cylinder and is formed according to the
shape of the cylinder. This trough on its part is traversed by a single conveyor.
The manner of working of this machine is essentially the same as in the simple
apparatus, its efficiency however much greater. While the one cylinder of the
simple apparatus can only separate two different kinds of corn, let us say rye and
wheat, or barley and oats, it is possible by means of the improvement consisting of
the combined cylinders, when only two cylinders are used, to clean all the four
kinds of grain and also to sort them, or to separate meslin such as barley
and oats from each other, a special sorting of each kind of grain by itself being also
possible.

page_text: The manner of working of the machine is as follows:
The corn, that is to be treated, after having again passed the funnel a and the
shaking-sieve 6 is brought through the funnel c into the conical cylinder d, which
contains in its interior pressed cells of a larger size.
The larger grained kind of corn slides past the cells, passes out of the cylinder
by the openings h and falls on to the sieves k, where it is sorted into different parts
according to the size of the single grains. The seeds of the weeds and the smaller
grains of corn are raised from the cells of the cylinder and carried to the trough e,
where they are carried by a conveyor f to the front outlet. The small grain raised
by the cylinder may thus be allowed to run out at the outlet without further
treatment. But if is desired to specially clean it from weed seeds, one opens the
slide g and then the corn that was before brought into the trough, will fall out
through the opening in the trough at and enter into the second cylinder d₁.
This cylinder, which has a smaller perforation than the first-named cylinder d,
raises the smaller seeds of the weeds and throws them again into the trough e,
which carries the seeds through the conveyor to the outlet 91.
The slide g is adjusted by the handle. The cleaned wheat glides again over
the cylinder cells and passes out at h, in order then to pass over the sieve k₁. The
largest sort of the last-named grain passes out by the outlets i. If the mixture of
corn still remaining in the trough is to be also carried over the sieves, the slide 9 is
opened and all the corn leaves the trough and is carried to the sieves.
If three cylinders or more are employed, the same process will be repeated at the
end of the second cylinder as has been described at the end of the first cylinder.
The same would also take place at the end of the third cylinder if more than three
were employed, etc.
It goes without saying, that the first cylinder has the greatest width of cells,
which must get smaller and smaller in the following cylinders.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
(1.) A grain cleaning and sorting machine with a separating cylinder lying
inside the sorting cylinder thereby distinguished, that the weed trough has at its
ends an opening capable of being closed by a slide g, through which the contents
fall into sorting cylinder, when the machine is only to be used for sorting and not
for separating the seeds of the weeds.
(2.) A form of the machine as distinguished in Claim 1. which instead of a
single separating cylinder with trough and conveyor, inside the sorting cylinder
shows two or more separating cylinders, lying the one in front of the other with a
single trough and conveyor running the whole length, in which case however the
trough e has in several places openings capable of being closed, through which the
contents of the trough fall into the different separating cylinders or iuto the sorting
cylinder, when the machine is to be used for cleaning and sorting several kinds of
grain, or only for sorting different kinds of grains.
Dated this 28th day of June 1895.
For FRIEDRICH SPANNUTT,
Bernhard Brockhues.