Improvements in Purifying and Dusting Feathers.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Purifying and Dusting Feathers.
We, WILLIAM JOHN FRASER and THOMAS CASSIENET PALMER, both of
98, Commercial Road, in the County of London, Engineers, 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 the purifying and dusting of feathers.
Hitherto the purifying and dusting of feathers has been performed in two
operations, that is to say, the feathers are first purified by enclosing a quantity of
them in a jacketted vessel subjected to external heat and at the same time knocking
them about by beaters which are attached to a central shaft or drum; and, after
such treatment, the feathers are taken from the purifying machine and allowed to
cool and then passed through a second process in a separate machine for the purpose
of removing the dust.
Now we have discovered that a much better purification can be effected by the
admission of large volumes of fresh air by preference heated through the purifying
chamber, which air, as it passes out of the purifier, carries away the dust with it,
thereby obviating the necessity for separately dusting the feathers after the
purification.
In carrying out our invention we provide in one part of the walls of the purifying
chamber a series of perforations, or we make an outlet covered by gauze or per-
forated metal, and outside this perforated portion we place a dust-tight box. We
also provide means for causing a current of air to pass through the purifying
chamber, and in order to prevent the perforations from becoming choked with
feathers we arrange brushes to pass over the perforations.
The air drawn from the purifying chamber is delivered into a dust depositing
chamber which is provided internally with a series of baffles in such a manner that,
as the air is passed through the said chamber, the dust carried thereby will be
deposited, the air finally escaping from the dust depositing chamber through
suitable outlet.
A
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a feather purifying apparatus having a
portion of its wall perforated according to our invention and arranged in conjunction
with a dust-tight box and a fan.
Figure 2 is a central longitudinal section through such purifying apparatus.
Figure 3 is a view shewing the general arrangement of our invention in conjunction
with the dust depositing chamber.
a indicates the wall of the ordinary purifying chamber which is provided with
the heating jackets b, having pipes for the admission of steam and the escape of
the water of condensation, the feather inlet pipe e and the arms d, d carrying the
beaters in the usual manner.
e indicates our dust-tight box which, as shewn, is placed beneath the apparatus
so as to form a stand or support for the same and which communicates with the
interior of the purifying chamber through the series of perforations f, f.
g indicates a suction fan which we advantageously employ for causing a current
of air to pass through the purifying chamber, the suction end of which fan is in
communication with the dust. box e whilst the discharge end thereof communicates
through a pipe with the dust depositing chamber j. k, k are the series of baffles
arranged in the chamber j and having openings in the top and bottom alternately,
so that the current of air passing through the said chamber will flow in the direction

page_text: of the arrows. is the pipe or flue through which the air freed from the dust is
allowed to escape into the atmosphere.
m, m indicate the brushes which, as the beaters revolve, are arranged to sweep
the perforations. These brushes which may be made of wire or of other suitable
material are shewn in the drawings as attached to the heaters and they are arranged
upon the same in such a manner that the brushes upon one beater sweep one part
of the series of perforations and those upon the other beaters other parts of the said
series of perforations. Instead, however, of connecting the brushes to the beaters,
as shewn, they may be attached to separate arms.
n is the door or opening through which the feathers are discharged after
purification, and o, Figure 3, is a chamber for receiving the same.
With the apparatus hereinbefore described it is obvious that during the working
of the apparatus the fan causes a current of air to pass through the purifying
chamber, the air entering, say, through a sliding door in the wall of the purifying
chamber, and that such air laden with dust will pass through the perforations f
into the dust box e whence it will pass through the fan and the pipe i to the dust
depositing chamber. If it is desired to separate the down from the feathers this
can be effected by making the perforations, of such size that the down will pass
there:hrough with the dust. In the chamber j, owing to the arrangement of the
battles, the dust and down (if any) will be deposited, the heavier portions being
deposited in the first division into which the air enters, whilst the lighter portions
will be deposited in the succeeding divisions; the air finally escaping through the
pipe practically free from dust.
In addition to the advantage of dispensing with one operation our invention has
the further advantage that down, which is an article of relatively high commercial
value, may be separated from the feathers and collected, instead of remaining
mixed with the feathers as was the case when the feathers were dusted separately
as hitherto.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. The improvement in the purification of feathers consisting in passing a current
of pure air through the purifying chamber, whereby the dust and down are removed
therefrom, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
2. The combination with a feather purifying apparatus adapted to have a
current of air drawn therethrough, of a chamber through which such air is passed
and in which the dust and down carried thereby are deposited, substantially as
. described.
3. The combination of a feather purifying machine, of an air-tight chamber
communicating with the purifying chamber through a series of perforations, a
fan or other apparatus for inducing a current of air, and brushes for preventing
the perforations from becoming choked, substantially as, and for the purpose,
described.
4. The combination with a feather purifying apparatus, of a dust collector con-
structed substantially in the manner hereinbefore described.
5. Apparatus for purifying and dusting feathers constructed and arranged sub-
stantially in the manner herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the 18th day of Navambar 1801
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.