IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN SILOS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Pieper, of Dresden and Berlin, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN SILOS." A communication from August Nagel and
Reinhold Kaemp, of Hamburg, Germany.
Sealed the 24th May 1878, and dated the 29th November 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Pieper at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th November 1877.
CARL PIEPER, of Dresden and Berlin. " IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN SILOS." A
communication from August Nagel and Reinhold Kaemp, of Hamburg, Germany.
This Invention relates to certain improvements in corn silos for the purpose of
rendering them fireproof, of making them independent of buildings as regards
their construction and stability, and of causing their contents to descend regularly
when corn is drawn off at the bottom.
These silos are made of iron plates and circular in shape, so that they form
cylinders of any suitable diameter and height; they may be composed of sections
having suitable flanges, and bolted together. The bottoms of the cylinders have the
shape of an inverted cone with an opening in the centre for drawing off the corn,
and this cone is, by preference, formed in the masonry work constituting the
foundation of the silo.
For the purpose of turning and airing, the stored corn elevators and creepers,
actuated by any motive power, are required as usual.
These silos may be erected independently of or combined with a building, or
they may be placed singly or in series under suitable roofings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Carl Pieper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th May
1878.
CARL PIEPER, of Dresden and Berlin. IMPROVEMENTS IN CORN SILOS." A
communication from August Nagel and Reinhold Kaemp, of Hamburg, Germany.
This Invention relates to certain improvements in corn silos for the purpose of
rendering them fireproof, of making them independent of buildings as regards their
construction and stability, and of causing their contents to descend regularly when
corn is drawn off at the bottom.
According to the usual practice, corn is either stored on the different floors of a
building or in receptacles called silos, consisting of square boxes of wood, which may
extend through the whole building from the cellar to the roof, and which are
provided with a funnel-shaped bottom.
In the first method of storage a comparatively very large structure is required
for a given quantity of corn, and the turning of the same can barely be done other-
wise than by manual labour. This method is consequently expensive in both
respects.
The storage in square wooden silos provided with elevators and creepers for turning
or translocating the corn is a far less expensive method than the former, especially
in localities where the price of building ground is high. Moreover, the cost of
putting the corn into store, and of filling it into bags for removal, is considerably
less.
In a third method of storage recently introduced in America an arrangement for
translocating the corn is applied, consisting of broad bands or straps actuated by
machinery, and running either horizontally or slightly ascending or descending.
All these methods, although they may be practical in certain cases, have the dis-
advantage that they require large and expensive buildings, and that the stored
corn is in a high degree exposed to danger from fire.
The silos formning the subject matter of the present Invention are free from these
disadvantages; they do not require the erection of massive buildings; they afford
an efficient protection (against the destruction) of the corn by fire; and, besides,
they present all the advantages of other modes of storage.
These silos are made of iron plates and circular in shape, so that they form
cylinders of any suitable diameter and height; they may be composed of sections
having suitable flanges, and bolted together. The bottoms of the cylinders have
the shape of an inverted cone with an opening in the centre for drawing off the
corn, and this cone is, by preference, forming the masonry work constituting the
foundation of the silo.
For the purpose of turning and airing, the stored corn elevators and creepers,
actuated by any motive power, are required as usual.
These silos may be erected independently of or combined with a building, or
they may be placed singly or in series under suitable roofings.
On the annexed Sheet of Drawings,――
Fig. 1 is the sectional elevation of a cylindrical silo of the described kind. The
iron cylinder A rests on the foundation B, which is or may be constructed, as
represented, for the purpose of conveniently arranging the tubes D, the lower part
of elevator E and creepers where applied. The conical bottom C is, by preference,
built of brickwork and cement into the lower part of the cylinder. In the centre
of this bottom an iron funnel is fixed, which may be closed or opened by a slide or
otherwise. The entire bottom may, however, be made of iron. If the corn con-
tained in the cylinder is to be turned and aired it is allowed to run into the elevator
E, which lifts and returns it into the cylinder at the top; also, the corn which has
arrived for storage is raised by the same elevator. The cylinder may be covered by
a suitable roof.

page_text: Fig. 2 shows a vertical section; and Fig. 2a, the plan of a group of eight cylinders
having a roof in common, and arranged in a square, the interior free space of the
group being used for the arrangement of elevators, and also, if desired, for stairs
and galleries. The cylinders, however, may be arranged in any other manner, and
any number of them may be combined.
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation; and Fig. 3ª, a plan of a series of the described
silos in combination with a building.
This arrangement would prove especially valuable for mills, where the room for
storage is insufficient, as the silos are easily accessible, and as there is every facility
for combining with them the apparatuses for lifting, discharging, and turning the
corn.
If two or more silos are combined, the elevators and creepers may be so arranged
that the corn can be drawn off from one cylinder and discharged either into the
same or any other one of the series.
It barely requires to be mentioned that these silos may also be erected within
any building.
The advantages of the described corn silos consist in the comparative safety of
their contents against danger from fire; in their stability, which allows them to be
erected independently of buildings; and, finally, in the regularity with which the
entire mass of corn descends when the slide at the bottom is opened, there being
no corners or stays, &c., apt to cause an irregularity. Moreover, the iron plates, out
of which the cylinders are to be made, may be comparatively thin, even for a large
diameter and considerable height; and, finally, the cost of construction of the silos,
as well as the cost of the ground space which they occupy, is low in proportion to
their contents.
Having thus described the nature and the object of the said improvements in
corn silos, and the manner in which they may be carried out in practice, I declare
that I claim as new and essential features of the same,-
1. A corn silo of cylindrical shape, constructed of iron with a conical bottom,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. The arrangement of a number of the described cylindrical iron silos under a
common roofing, as set forth, and for the purpose stated.
3. The combination with one or more of the described cylindrical iron silos, of
elevators and creepers, as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carl Pieper, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-eight.
CARL PIEPER. (L.S.)