IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING OR DRESSING AND SORTING GRAIN OR SEED
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th September 1880. A communi-
cation from abroad by Carl August Friedrich Grainke, of Stettin, Germany.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANING
OR DRESSING AND SORTING GRAIN OR SEED." [A comunication from abroad by
Carl August Friedrich Gramke, of Stettin, Germany.]
This Invention relates to machinery for cleaning or dressing and sorting all kinds
of grain or seed, such as corn, coffee, peas, lentils, and the like, which machinery
being adjustable in certain of its parts can be used for grain of the most varied
character.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a frame made of wooden
bars with a match-board covering, or the said frame may be made of iron. It forms
a casing for that part of the machinery which performs the dressing of the grain.
In the upper part of this casing there is fixed a vertical cylinder constructed
of perforated sheet iron or of wood; on the inside this cylinder is provided
with a brush or with wire gauze, as the nature of the grain to be cleaned may
require. The cylinder aforesaid is open at both ends, and in it revolves a
cylindrical brush keyed upon a vertical shaft. This revolving brush may be
made of bristles drawn into wood, or of wire, pissava-grass, or any other suitable
material. The brush shaft is supported in a step upon a crossbeam situated below
the cylinder herein before mentioned, and on its upper end the said brush shaft is
guided in suitable bearings. The said shaft is driven by means of conical or other
suitable gearing from a horizontal shaft provided in the lower part of the frame
aforesaid, which horizontal shaft in turn receives motion from the main or driving
shaft. The brush-shaft may however be driven by belts instead of by a shaft, in
which case the belts run on pulleys mounted on the lower end of the vertical shaft,
and on the main or driving shaft. The main shaft is rotated either by band, by
means of a fly-wheel, or in any other suitable manner.
The main or driving shaft carries three pulleys, besides those which may be
required for working the brush-shaft, one of which will actuate a ventilator
hereinafter specified, ono will actuate a reciprocating sieve or screen, and the third
serves for rotating the sorting-cylinder, all of which will be hereinafter more fully
described.

page_text: The said vertical cylinder, which is provided with the aforesaid interior
revolving brush is fed from the top by means of a centrifugal feeder of well known
construction. The hopper may be made of cast iron or sheet iron, and is firmly
fixed on the frame of the apparatus or machine by means of screws in such a
manner that it may, together with the bearing in which the brush shaft runs,
be easily taken off and refitted for changing the vertical cylinder and revolving
brush as may be desired. The said hopper contains in its interior a cone-shaped
ring either fixed to the frame of the machine or attached to the said hopper itself,
and an annular space is thus provided, through which the grain in the hopper is
fed between the brush and cylinder. A disc or plate for the purpose hereinafter
to be set forth is fixed on the brush-shaft and revolves with it. At a short
distance above this disc or plate is the opening of a centrifugal feeder, which is
attached to another hopper above the first named hopper by means of a screw-
thread in such manner as to make it adjustable. This hopper is mounted upon the
frame of the apparatus by means of curved supports, and serves for the introduction
or feeding in of the grain or seed which is to be cleaned. For the retention of the
coarser impurities, such as stones, pieces of wood, and the like, a wide-moshed
sieve is introduced into the upper hopper.
By adjusting the centrifugal feeder, that is to say, raising or lowering it, the feed
to the brush can be regulated as convenience may dictate..
A truncated cone-shaped hopper of sheet-iron, fitted with supports, may be
mounted upon-the-frame, and as_a_regulator therein I provide in the interior a
-cone-shaped oval lid guided by the sides of the hopper. By means-of-a-set-screw,-
which passes into the hopper as well as into the-said-lid,-the-latter may be lowered
or raised at will, so that the desirable quantity of grain may be provided for the
brush of the machine. From the said oval lid the grain or seeds run off evenly,
and the brush is evenly fed, and this application dispenses with a separate
centrifugal feeder, whilst the feed-guide above described would always be necessary.
At the lower opening of the vertical cylinder, herein before described, is placed a
reciprocating screen of the usual kind, upon which the brushed grain or sced falls,
and in so doing the grain or sced passes a current of air coming from a tuyére
connected with a blower conveniently arranged and of any suitable construction;
by means of an exit pipe suitably arranged the current of air coming from the
tuyere aforesaid carries the dust brushed from the grain into the open air, or into
a properly constructed dust-chamber.
The grain falling through the sieve or screen, as set forth, being freed from dust,
falls into a collecting box or receptacle which is set at an incline. From this
collector it is conveyed into a sorting cylinder, forming part of this Invention,
which is constructed as follows, that is to say :-This sorting-cylinder is composed
of round and flat staves. The flat staves are free to revolve, so that the opening
between them and the round staves may be varied at will within certain limits.
Upon the flat staves and at their fore end a small toothed wheel is fixed, and the
wheels upon the stave ends, arranged in a circle, are enclosed by a ring made of
iron-plate and provided with teeth on its inside, so as to form an inside wheel,
which gears with the small toothed wheels aforesaid. It is evident that if this
ring or hoop is caused to make a partial rotation the slots or openings between
cach pair of staves (one flat one and one round one) are widened or made narrow.
The ring, encircling the toothed wheels upon the stave-ends, is guided by, or slides
in, two angle-iron-rings, and on the outside of the said inner ring or hoop a few
teeth are provided, into which teeth an endless screw takes; this endless screw is
mounted in bearings upon one of the guide-rings which guide the inner ring or
hoop. Now when this endless screw is turned by means of a crank fitted to its
square end, the inner ring is caused to revolve, and consequently all the flat staves
are set in motion.
The whole of the sorting cylinder is in the interior fitted with a number of
cross-pieces firmly connected with the round staves, and in these cross-pieces the
flat staves turn or rotate in suitable bearings, so that the requisite strength is

page_text: imparted to the cylinder by these cross pieces. The cylinder is also fixed to a shaft
by means of the said cross pieces, the shaft being free to revolve in its bearings
upon a suitable frame. By a more or less open setting of the slits between the
flat staves and the round ones, the sorting of the grain is effected according to size,
as the grains which are too small for the setting adopted simply drop out. Instead
of setting the flat staves by means of toothed wheels, as herein before described, the
following construction may also be used, that is to say-Upon each of the flat
staves a small crank or lever is fixed by means of a screw, and these levers are
made with a slot. A ring or hoop, guided between angle-iron-rings in the manner
herein before described, is fitted with studs, which take into the slots in the said
levers; and if the ring or hoop is made to revolve or rotate, the cranks are forced
to follow it under a certain angle, whereby the flat staves are set. The ring or
hoop is made to rotate by an endless screw in the manner above set forth. Instend
of cutting a slot, a stud may lead outward upon the crank. In the latter case the
ring is provided with oval holes in which said studs are guided, and when this ring
is rotated, as above stated, the flat staves are by this further modification rotated,
and are set as required.
A modification of the brush is constructed as follows, that is to say:―The brush
is made cone-shaped and provided with a casing of sheet metal, wire, or wood, of
a corresponding shape. The step or lower bearing for the brush-shaft is mounted
upon and free to move up and down with a lever, so that the brush may be raised
or lowered within certain limits by means of a hand-wheel and spindle provided
for the purpose; the space between the brush and casing will be enlarged or
diminished by lowering or raising the brush together with the brush-shaft in the
manner specified. The cylindrical brush hereinbefore mentioned may also be so
constructed as to have a variable diameter for the purpose of narrowing or
widening the space within it and the casing. To this end I construct this brush
as follows, that is to say -Discs of suitable size and material are firmly attached
to the vertical brush-shaft, either by keys or otherwise, so as to revolve with the
said shaft. Upon these discs pins are provided upon which the parts of which this
brush is composed are free to move in the direction of the radii of the brush.
The parts whereof this brush consists I make as follows, that is to say :-
I take strips or luths of wood into which the bristles are drawn; these laths are
at their ends tipped with iron plates properly made for the purpose. The said
plates or tips have holes in them, and by means of these holes the laths are guided
upon the pins or studs hereinbefore mentioned. The plates or tips of the laths
constituting the periphery or body of the brush are made with shoulder-pieces,
and are always pressed against the discs which form the ends of the brush,
preferably by coiled springs provided upon the pins or studs upon which the
laths are guided as above set forth.
Toothed wheels are mounted and free to revolve upon the bosses of the end discs ;
said wheels are connected with each other by vertical coupling rods, so that they
are mado to revolve simultaneously. For the sake of greater security these
coupling rods are further connected with each other in the centre by a disc. One
of the coupling rods passes through one of the end discs, and can be attached to it
by means of a thumb-screw provided for the purpose, whereby the toothed wheels
above referred to are forced to revolve simultaneously with the end-discs of the
brush.
The thumbscrew may be placed either on the top or on the bottom, but I prefer
to mount it on the top of the brush, for the reason that the cone-shaped lid of the
feed cone or hopper which regulates the flow of the grain as stated, is so arranged
that it can easily be lifted out, and thereby the whole interior of the machine is
open to inspection from the top.
The teeth of the wheels, which aro mounted upon the bosses of the end discs
as described, correspond with the shoulder pieces upon the tips or plates of the
described laths composing the brush-body, so that when the toothed wheels revolve
the brush-laths referred to are pressed from each other, or when the wheels rotate

page_text: in the contrary direction the said laths are carried back by the pressure of the
coiled springs provided for the purpose, as set forth, whereby the diameter of the
brush may be varied within certain limits, as and for the purpose hereinbefore
specified. The vertical brush shaft passes through a reciprocating sieve or screen
previously herein mentioned, which is in the place where such shaft passes provided
with a long hole or slot; the said shaft also passes through the collecting box or
case above mentioned, and is there provided with discs or bushes of any suitable
material, preferably felt, to prevent any grain passing along said shaft. When a
horizontal shaft is used for actuating the brush, it passes laterally through the
tuyère of the ventilator or blower, and is fitted with bushes or discs of elastic
material, as explained with reference to the vertical shaft.
The framework for the adjustable cylinder forms a structure by itself, but is
fitted to the framework of the sorting apparatus, and both frames may be attached
to each other by screws or clamps so as to allow of a combined working of the
two, nevertheless either the dressing machine or the sorting apparatus may be
worked independently.
If the cylinder is to be worked alone, that is to say, without the dressing
apparatus, a hopper is provided on the top of the said cylinder from which a bent
-tube-conducts the grain_into_the_cylinder.
On the upper part of the shaft a crank is keyed or screwed fast, and the cylinder
is caused to revolve by means of the said crank.
On the frame-at-the-upper-part-of-the-cylinder simple clamps are fixed upon the
-latter, into which studs of the hopper fit, and the hopper is thereby held upon thie-
cylinder, or it may be so held by any other means convenient-for-the-purpose.-