Improvements in Warehouse Separators and other Grain Cleaning Machines, also applicable to Dressing, Grading, and Purifying Ground Meals and such like substances.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 15th Oct.. 1896-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Warehouse Separators and other Grain Cleaning
Machines, also applicable to Dressing, Grading, and Purifying
Ground Meals and such like substances.
I WILLIAM WALTER WILLIS of Duncombe Burrell Street Ipswich in the
County of Suffolk Miller do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of machinery used in grain
stores or warehouses for eliminating foreign substances such as stones, sticks straw,
and string from all kinds of grain also dust, dirt and small seeds or other substances
smaller than the grain being treated.
The apparatus is specially constructed to work in conjunction with machines
such as are described in my prior Patent Specification No. 3955 of 1893 also in
application for Patent No. 18292 of 1895. But it is also applicable to other type's
of grain cleaning machines (such as blow into dust collectors or stive rooms)
whereby I obtain a much better separation from such machines and a greatly
increased capacity.
My present invention consists of an enclosed chamber provided with a suitable
feed hopper and discharging outlets, and a frame for recieving a sieve or series of
sieves. The said sieve frame is vibrated to and fro by an eccentric or it may be
given a rotary motion. And in some cases I use revolving screens or reels instead
of the abovementioned sieves. But I prefer for the purpose of carrying my
invention into effect to use a sieve or sieves as above described.
The apparatus is attached too and used in combination with, the beforementioned
patented machines, and by means of which combination I am enabled to produce a
machine capable of dressing, grading, and purifying the dirtiest samples of grain
at one operation in a machine entirely self contained without the use of dust
chambers or stive rooms and their concomitant risks.
The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows. The grain, such as
wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, and other such substances to be treated in the
machine, is feed in an even stream upon the uppermost sieve which separates stones,
sticks, straws, strings, and other large substances which are passed away out of the
machine through suitable openings; the grain passing through the said uppermost
sieve is recieved upon one or more sieves which further separate larger substances
than the grain being treated and the lowermost sieve or sieves are constructed for
dressing away dust, dirt, small seeds and other such substances smaller than the
grain; the said substances are all conveyed automatically to the outside of
machine through suitable openings.
The grain now practicaily free from dust is delivered into the feed hopper
of the purifying machine proper (described in the beforementioned patent specifi-
cations) where it passes through concentrated currents of air which separate any
remaining dust together with chaff, short straws, weevilled and other light grains,
and so forth; after which it is passed over other sieves for grading purposes
or otherwise as desired, and finally it is subjected to an upward aspirating current
of air as it leaves the machine.
The machine as herein described is specially constructed for large warehouses
and grain silo's for treating all kinds of grain and cereals imported especially such

page_text: as Indian, Egyptian, Persian, Russian and other sorts containing a large percentage
of impurities.
It is also intended for brewers and malsters use for cleaning Canadian, Smyrna,
and other foreign barleys.
I also sometimes use the combined dressing and purifying apparatus above
described for the purpose of dressing, grading and purifying all kinds of meal or
ground material and other such substances.
Dated this 7th day of January 1896.
WILLIAM WALTER WILLIS,
Applicant.
Improvements in Warehouse Separators and other Grain Cleaning
Machines, also applicable to Dressing, Grading, and Purifying
Ground Meals and such like substances.
I WILLIAM WALTER WILLIS of Duncombe Burrell Street Ipswich in the
County of Suffolk Miller 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 improvements in that class of machinery used in grain
stores or warehouses for eliminating foreign substances such as stones, sticks,
straw and string from all kinds of grain, also dust, dirt and small seeds or other
substances smaller than the grain being treated.
The apparatus is specially constructed to work in conjunction with machines
such as are described in my prior Patent Specifications No. 3955 of 1893 also
No. 18,292 of 1895 but it is also applicable to other types of grain cleaning
machines (such as discharge dust laden air from their fans into dust collectors or
stive rooms) whereby 1 obtain a much better separation from such machines and a
greatly increased capacity.
My present invention consists of an enclosed chamber or casing provided with a
suitable feed hopper and discharging outlets, and a frame for recieving a sieve or
series of sieves; the said frame or casing is vibrated to and fro by an eccentric
or it may be given a rotary motion, and in some cases I use revolving screens or
reels instead of the above mentioned sieves, but I prefer for the purpose of
carrying my invention into effect to use a sieve or sieves as above described.
The apparatus is attached to, and used in combination with the beforementioned
patented machines and by means of which combination I am enabled to produce a
machine capable of dressing, grading and purifying the dirtiest samples of grain at
one operation in a machine entirely self contained without the use of dust chambers
or stive rooms and their concomitant risks.
The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows. The grain, such as wheat,
barley, oats, peas, beans and other such substances to be treated in the machine is
fed in an even stream upon the uppermost sieve which separates stones, sticks
straw, strings and other such substances which are passed away out of the machine
through suitable openings. The grain passing through the said uppermost sieve is
recieved upon one or more sieves which further separate larger substances than the
grain being treated and the lowermost sieve or sieves are constructed for dressing
away dust, dirt, small seeds and other such substances smaller than the grain being
treated. The said substances are all conveyed automatically to the outside of
machine through suitable openings.
The grain now practically free from dust is delivered into the feed hopper of the
purifying machine proper (described in the beforementioned patent specifications)

page_text: where it passes through concentrated currents of air which separate any remaining
dust together with chaff short straws, weevilled and other light grains and so forth
after which it is passed over other sieves for grading purposes or otherwise
as desired and finally it is subjected to an upward aspirating current of air as it
leaves the machine.
The machine as herein described is specially constructed for large warehouses
and grain silo's for treating all kinds of grain and cereals imported especially such
as Indian, Egyptian, Persian, Russian and other sorts containing a large percentage
of impurities. It is also intended for brewers and malsters use for cleaning
Canadian, Smyrna, and other foreign barleys.
I also sometimes use the combined dressing and purifying apparatus above
described for the purpose of dressing, grading, and purifying all kinds of meal or
ground material and other such substances.
I will now proceed to describe an apparatus constructed according to my invention
in which rotary or oscillating, and also vibrating sieves are used in combination
with exhaust or aspirating air currents, in an enclosed or self contained machine.
Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a machine,
for dressing purifying and grading wheat, barley, or other grain, in which A is the
outer framework and casing, A' the rotary or oscillating sieve frame or casing,
B a sieve for separating large substances, B¹ sieve for dressing away dust, sand
and small seeds, C discharge trough for large substances, C¹ spout through which
grain passes from dresser to hopper of aspirator and purifier said hopper is
provided with balanced feed gate (which regulates and delivers the grain in an
even stream to the gravity division hoppers where the grain is separated according
to its specific gravity by a current or currents of air exhausted through the
apparatus by the fan D. The light grain, such as broken and hollow kernels also
short straws and chaff separated by the air currents are deposited according to the
gravity and size of the particles into the division hoppers D* the separations being
assisted by means of the adjustable valves and deflectors E. Ex.
The heavy grain falling from the regulating hopper beforementioned passes
through a shoot F and is recieved upon a vibrating sieve frame G. into which are
fitted one or more sieves G* for grading the grain into two or more sizes as the
case may require (in some cases I may also pass a current or currents of air
through these sieves) the grain passing over the ends of the grading sieves is
discharged into au aspirator H passing through an upward current of air exhausted
through the aspirating channels by the fan, the said aspirating air currents further
lift out any light or unsound kernels (that may have escaped the preceeding sieves
and air currents) from the sound and purified grain which now drops into the
conveyor I. to be conveyed outside the machine.
The light grains separated by the aspirating air currents are deposited in the
expansion hopper H*.
The materials or substances deposited in the division hoppers, and the expansion
hopper are recieved into the troughs at the bottom of the said hoppers attached
thereto by a flexible air tight connection the said troughs are vibrated by means
of a suitable connection from the sieve frame so that the materials deposited
therein are made to travel to the discharge outlets on the outside of the machine
the said outlets J Fig. 2 are provided with suitable valves to prevent the passage
of air. The thin grain sifting through the grading sieve is caught upon a tray J¹
and discharged out of the machine by the trough J. Any dust that may escape
the beforementioned rotary dresser is caught up by the air currents and deposited
in the du t hoppers J* arranged on either side of the fan casing, any fine dust that
may pass through the fan is discharged into the dust collecting chamber K,
where the air is filtered and freed from dust by the brushes L. fully described in
my prior Patent No. 18,292 of 1895.
Referring to the drawings Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal and transverse sections
of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention, in which I use revolving
reels or screens for separating the foreign substances contained in the grain.

page_text: Referring to Figure 3 A is the outer framework and casing, A' a revolving
reel or screen covered with wire (or perforated metal) with coarse mesh for
separating the large substances previously enumerated, B is a reel clothed with
fine meshes or perforations for dressing out dust, sand, and small seeds and such
like substances smaller than the grain being treated, C is the discharge for large
substances, C discharge for dust and sand, C' discharge for small seeds or thin
grain and such like substances E' collecting hopper under large substance separator
E conveyor for collecting grain and discharging same into shoot F feeding dresser
reel or fine substance separator. The grain (now freed from dust and all foreign
substances) passes out of fine substance separator and is fed through a hopper fitted
with a regulating feed gate G. thence falling in an even stream into an aspirator H.
where it is subjected to an upward current of air exhausted through the aspirator
channels by the fan or fans D.
The light grain and chaff separated by the aspirating air current or currents
are deposited in the expansion hoppers H from which they are discharged from
time to time by pressing open the valves J. at the bottom of the said hoppers.
The purified grain is discharged through the hopper or shoot I. which is also
fitted with valves to prevent the passage of air. The dust laden air from the fan
or fans is blown through the air trunks I into the dust collecting chamber K.
and proceeds as described in my prior Patent No. 18,292 of 1895.
Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal and transverse vertical sections respectively of
a machine constructed in accordance with my invention for treating grain, or
ground materials, or meals such as for instance the broken grain from a granulating
mill or machine in a modern flour mill where it is desirable that the fine material
should be quickly separated from the coarser particles such as the semolina and
broken particles of wheat, and that these latter substances should be aspirated
and purified by currents of air before proceeding to the next stage in the
manufacturing process.
Referring to the drawings Figs. 5 and 6. A is the outer framework and casing,
A a rotary or oscillating sieve frame or casing, B a sieve for scalping off the
broken wheat particles B'a fine sieve for separating the flour and middlings from
the large sensolina; the flour and middlings may be passed out of the machine and
further treated on other machines as is well understood by millers (but in soine
cases I prefer to add other sieves to the rotary dresser above mentioned for the
purpose of dressing out the flour, when I also provide a sieve see Fig. 1 G. G
through which air currents are exhausted for the purpose of purifying the
middlings tailing over the aforesaid flour sieves in one and the same machine).
The broken wheat particles and semolina passing over the ends of the sieves pass
through spouts C, into hoppers provided with balanced feed gates C* arranged on
either side of the machine the aspirator or purifier portion of the machine being in
this case divided into two or more longitudinal sections in which the separated
semolina and broken wheat particles, are separately aspirated and purified.
The broken wheat falling from the hopper passes through a current of air exhausted
through the apparatus by the fan D. the air current divides the particles according
to their specific gravity into two, three, or more division hoppers D* as desired,
the separated wheat particles may be sent to the succeeding breaks or to offal or
bran sack, according to their respective value as is well understood by millers.
The semolina passing from the regulating hopper beforementioned is also subjected
to an aspirating current of air as it falls to the division hoppers the said air
current divides the semolina into two or more grades as desired and deposits them
in the division hoppers Dx from which they are discharged automatically to the
outside of machine.
The dust laden air passing through the fan is discharged into a dust collecting
chamber fitted with dust arrestors, depositing dead air spaces, cleaning, and
discharging apparatus for the collected dust, substantially as described and set
forth in my prior Patents No. 3955 of 1893 and No. 18,292 of 1895.
It will be obvious that I may sometimes combine in one machine sieves of the

page_text: vibrating or rotating type, with one or more revolving reels or screens, with
enclosed air currents and dust collecting devices substantially as herein described
and set forth in the drawings.
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 :-
Claim 1. In machines for cleaning all kinds of grain, or cereals, and cercal
products, the use of vibrating, rotary or oscillating sieves, revolving reels or
screens, or a combination of sieves and revolving reels or screens, for the purpose
of separating large substances such as sticks, straw, and stones, also small seeds,
dirt, and dust, whereby the grain is practically freed from dust and foreign
substances, before being subjected to the action of purifying air currents
substantially as described and illustrated in the drawings.
Claim 2. In machines of the kinds described for cleaning dressing and purifying
all kinds of grain, and cereals, or cereal products, the parts mentioned in Claim 1,
used in combination with enclosed air currents through which the grain is made to
pass, the separating and collecting hoppers, and the devices for collecting and
discharging the separated materials or substances, substantially as described in my
prior Patents No. 3955 of 1893, and No. 18,292 of 1895, and herein further
described and illustrated by the drawings annexed Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.
Claim 3. In machines of the kind described for dressing, grading and purifying
grain, ground material or meals, the rotary or oscillating sieves (for separating the
large and small materials or substances,) used in combination with, the purifying
apparatus through which the broken wheat or other granular particles are made to
pass through a current or currents of air, the said air currents being enclosed and
self coutained within the machine casing whereby I am enabled to despense with
separate dust collectors, or dust chambers substantially as described, and set forth
in Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.
Claim 4. In machines of the kind described the system herein set forth for
dressing, grading and purifying grain, or ground materials, or meals, whether I use
vibrating sieves, rotary or oscillating sieves, revolving reels or screens, or a
combination of sieves and reels for separating the foreign matter or substances,
I combine them with a purifying apparatus in which the air currents are enclosed
and self contained substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 8th day of October 1896.
WILLIAM WALTER WILLIS.