де LIHT UT Cotton-seed and for like Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 21st Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 20th Apr., 1889.
де LIHT UT
Cotton-seed and for like Purposes.
Improvements in Machines for Removing
HUR
1, MIDDLETON CRAWFORD of the Cotton Exchange Buildings New York City
United States of America, Millwright now temporarily resident in England do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements on my former patent No. 2830
of 1887. They are as follows:-
First. I have found that the cotton seed is apt to arch in a sloping hopper. I, there-
fore, form my hopper with all its sides vertical or even slightly undercut instead of
sloping downward to the orifice.
Second. In place of a mero opening I place in the orifice a fluted, grooved or
pitted feed roll or revolving feed mechanism by which the feed is regularly
discharged into the conical apparatus. The feed roll is driven by means of worm
gearing and belt or other mechanism from the main shaft.
Third. In place of mere cards which are liable to wear out rather quickly 1 uso
strong brushes of much thicker steel wire. The much greater length of these wires
give sufficient elasticity. These bunches are placed near. together at the top but
wider apart in the lower parts of the cone. They are also placed closer to the
corundum or emery face at the bottom than they are at the top.
In order to keep the bunches or brushes of wire from being pressed through the
sieves forming the back of the brush as it were, a further backing is fixed inside.
Fourth. In place of a simple aspirator as in my previous patent I cause the
cotton seed to fall on a sieve and bring the draught to the lower side of the sieve
so that as the cotton seed travels over and through the sieve to the exit, it is well
winnowed and freed from dust by the draught.
The sieve can be shaken up in any ordinary way but I prefer to do it by means of
It could
a crank and connecting rod on a vertical shaft driven from the main shaft.
however, if desired, be driven by an eccentric from the main shaft. It is preferabl
supported by chains from above.
2
די
1000

page_text: Cotton Seed and for like Purposes.
I, MIDDLETON CRAWFORD of the Cotton Exchange Buildings, New York City,
United States of America, Millwright 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 mainly to machines for cleaning cotton seed, by mechanical
means, from the lint or fluffy matter surrounding and adhering to the same..
The object of the invention is the construction of a more perfect machine for, the
above purpose, the said machine embodying various improvements upon the machine
set forth in my former Patent No. 2830 of 1887. These improvements which have
been made quite recently, and are now brought before the public for the first time,
consist mainly and briefly of the following arrangements or combinations.
First The feed hopper is formed with all its sides vertical or even slightly
undercut instead of sloping downwards to the feed orifice, as I have found that in a
hopper of the latter kind the cotton seed is apt to arch.
-
Second-Instead of a mere opening for the feed orifice I place in the said orifice
a fluted, grooved or pitted feed roll or revolving: feed mechanism, by which the 'feed
is regularly discharged into the apparatus.
Third In place of forming the revolving cone surface of mere wire cards which
are liable to wear out rather quickly, and break off through want of elasticity I
use strong brushes of much thicker steel wire. The much greater length of these
wires gives them sufficient elasticity. These bunches are placed near together at
the top, but wider apart in the lower parts of the cone. They are also placed closer
to the abrasive surface at the bottom of the outer cone than they are to the surface
at the top thereof.
Fourth-In place of employing a single fan or aspirator as in my previous
Patent, I cause the cotton seed to fall on a sieve and bring the draught to the
lower side of the sieve so that, as the cotton seed travels over and through the sieve
to the exit, it is well winnowed, and freed from dust by the draught.
The main idea of subjecting cotton seed to abrasive action for the above purpose
is old, and well known, but until my inventions it has, I believe never been success-
fully adopted. In fact the only previous methods of removing the lint from the
cotton seed' that have, tas far as I am aware, hitherto been successful in practice,
have been the submitting of the cotton seed to the action of very corrosive fluids,
such as strong, acids or alkalies, which destroy the lint, or else, the imechanical action
of cracking and removing the hard shell together with the lint.
The chemical process is objectionable, for the reason that a portion of the acid is

page_text: retained by the seed, injuring the oil and rendering the oilcake unfit for food, and
for the further reason that the destruction of the gorn by the acid in a considerable
portion of the seed, renders it unfit for planting. The mechanical process is
objectionable because it is exceedingly wasteful, since it renders the shell and lint
worthless, except for fuel.
A machine constructed according to my inventions, removes and preserves all the
lint, which. forms a valuable paper-stock, and it, at the same time, delivers the
seed thoroughly cleaned, uninjured, and in perfect condition, either for planting or
for conversion into oil and oil-cake.
The invention may be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,
which set forth the machine in its perfected form, only those parts or combinations
being claimed, however, which are not embraced by my Patent Specification No. 2830
of 1887.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of the machine.
Figure 2 is a plan view of a little more than one half of the top of the machine.
Figure 3 is a plan view of one half of the top of the conc..
Figure 4 is an underside view of a part of the bottom of the cone.
Figure 5 is a plan view of the lever for effecting the vertical adjustment of the cone,
the cone shaft and the guide for the socket-piece in which the said shaft is stepped,
being in section.
Figure 6 is a view showing two of the sections forming the emery or other
abrasive surface or lining of the casing,
Figure 7 shows a section of the feeling roll.
Figure 8 is a plan of the upper bearing of cone shaft.
In these views:
A reprosents an exterior frame of any kind, serving as a support for the operative
parts. In this.frame there is mounted a fixed conical outer casing B, which may be
conveniently constructed of a metal top-plate b, bottom plato b', and wooden staves a
secured to the said plates b, 61, in any convenient, manner, but preferably by means
of bolts permitting the independent removal of the staves. F is a hopper made with
vertical or even slightly undercut sides and ends, as it is found that with sloping
hoppers, the seed is apt to arch, and will not descend into the feed orifice. Fis
a feed roller with deep flutes for regulating the feed. This is shown in section in
Figure 7, and is preferably driven by worm gearing F³, and strap F³, from the
main shaft D. The inner concave face of the casing B is covered with an abrasive
material, preferably coarse emery, and in order to provide an abrading surface c,
that will be durable and conveniently applied to the casing B, the following arrange-
ment is, by preference, adopted.
Sections of the form seen in Figure 6, are procured, made from emery or
corundum, mixed with binding substances, to form a body, and baked or burned
somewhat in the manner of bricks. A very suitable compound of this description is
well known in the trade as "Norton's Emery."
These sections c¹, of the lining for the casing B, are made of. the proper width,
length, and taper, so that when fitted together, they will cover completely the inner
face of the casing. They can be secured to the wooden shell of the casing by screws
or bolts, small holes being formed in the sections during their manufacture to receive
the said screws or bolts, but any other suitable fastening devices may be employed.
It is found desirable to make these sections of such size and form, with relation to
the wooden staves a of the casing, that the inner surfaces of each stave shall be
completely and exactly covered by a vertical band of the sections, the casing being
in fact made up of a series of independent staves, each lined with the emery
sections.
The staves being separately movable, and each of the emery sections being
independently fastened to the stave, it is evident that any part of the emery lining
when worn may be repaired at any time, at slight expense and with but little trouble.
1.
"

page_text: The burned or baked emery sections, which it is found best to use for this lining, are,
however, so hard and durable that they very seldom require renewal: They aro
much harder than ordinary grinding materials, and are therefore preferable to any
other material for this purpose, but the intense heat to which they are subjected in
their manufacture, renders it difficult to make them in large plates, or to form them
originally with a backing of wood or metal. It is therefore deemed best to form them in
small plates or bricks provided with means for attaching them to a shell'in substan-
tially the manner herein before described and illustrated.
Within the casing, and concentric with it is a cone C, which is fixed on a shaft D.
This shaft has an upper bearing d rendered laterally adjustable by means of set
screws d, Figure 8, in a metal cross bar e at the top of the frame, and another
bearing in the bottom plate of the casing B. It may slide longitudinally in these
bearings, and is stepped at its lower end. In the lower end of the shaft, is a steel
pin, which fits in a socket in a socket piece g, and this socket piece rests in a
socket guide h. In the opposite. faces or sides of the piece 7 are formed recesses,
which are engaged by studs i, i, Figures 1 and 5, on a lever E, the end of which
rests on the base piece A' of the frame as at j, while a screw k, through the other
end of the lever, serves to raise or lower that end, and thus adjusts the cone C, and
its shaft, vertically. This construction is seen in plan in Figure 5, the small figure
below showing the socket piece g, in elevation.
The body of the cone C. consists of top and bottom plates 1, preferably of metal,
and staves m m preferably of wood, secured to plates, in any desired manner,
but, preferably, by means of bolts or screws. If desirable, other intermediate, plates
similar to may be provided. The staves m m are provided with a series of
bunches of stout steel wires n, much closer together at the top than towards the
bottom, as shown. The wires preferably project 3 to 4 inches beyond the outer
surface of the wooden staves m m, and they may be formed of flat steel wire
about to wide by thick. A backing m! of wood or other material
assists in holding the brush wires firmly in place and prevents, them being thrust in
end wise.
.
As the upper part of the cone C will have to deal with the seed,.which is still
fully covered with the lint or fibre, and just as it comes from the gin or "linter," it
is preferable to make. this portion of the brush surface of stiffer or coarser wire
than that on the lower part of the cone. The stiffer portion of the brush surface
usually extends down about 9 or 16 inches on a full size machine, having a cone
4 feet in height and the remaining space, below this, is usually divided into three
equal parts, varying in stiffness and fineness of the wire, the lower section being the
finest and most supple, the next above a little coarser and stiffer, and the next above
that, a little coarser still.
с
1 t
The bunches of wire near the top are preferably so dense or close together as to
form a continuous brush surface which prevents the admission of seed between the
wires, though this is not absolutely essential. The space between the brush surface
of the cone, and the grinding face c of the casing, may, of course, be varied by the
vertical adjustment of the shaft D and cone C; but it should never (at its upper
portion) be less than the greatest length of the seed on which it is to operate.
The space preferably narrows as the bottom of the cone is approached. The ends
of a seed can only be acted on, either by the cone or casing, when the axis of the
seed is approximately radial, and sufficient space should therefore be allowed (at least at
the upper part of the cone) for an end over end rotation of the seed, as it passes in
aspiral path downwards from, the top of the machine..
The top plate is provided with a series of rigid radial ribs or arms 1', which serve
to separate the cotton seeds as they fall from the hopper F, and prevent them from
passing to the cleaning surfaces in wads or balls. ⚫
.
The outer surface of the brush cone C is adjusted concentrically to the cone B, by
the set screws d', and as regards height, by the lever E, as already explained. By
means of the latter, wear can also be taken up.
1

page_text: The seed and the detached lint after issuing from the annular cleaning or seed
space, fall on to the bottom plate 6 of the casing, and are swept around by radial
plates oo on the bottom plate of the cone, to the outlet p, where the seed, lint and
lust fall down the small lip on to the sieve S. This sieve is suspended on
chains or supension rods s¹, and is shaken by connecting rod S, and crank shaft S.
This shaft may be run from main shaft D by means of belting S, or in place of
this, the sieve or connecting rod S2 could be run direct from an eccentric on shaft D
above the fan G. The lint or fibre, after falling from the lip f' is separated from
the seed by a fan or blower G on the shaft D, which sends a current of air through
the sieve along the shute, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1. This current
or blast of air sends the lint into a continuation of shute 3, and it may pass thence
into a room or lint chamber of any suitable construction or form. The lip f' is
designed to prevent the seed from falling into the fan casing.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
t
The hopper F being filled with cotton seed, the seed is.. fed gradually into the
machine through the feed orifice in the top plate b of the casing, and falls on the
top plate of the revolving cone. The radial bars or arms of the top plate, which
may properly be called beaters, strike the falling seed, break up the balls or wads,
which may be formed or are tending to form through the adhesive nature of the
lint on the seeds, and throw the separated seeds evenly and regularly outward to
As the seed drops downward into this
the space between the cone and casing A.
space, it is subjected to the combined action of the rapidly rotating and elastic brush
surface of the cone, and the stationary and rigid grinding surface of the casing.
The distance between the surfaces of the cone and casing being sufficient (at all
events at the top of the cone) for the axis of each seed to assume a radial position,
the seed passes in a spiral path downward and around the cone, and in its course,
presents its entire surface to the action of one or other of the cleaning surfaces
Between which it passes. The ends of the seeds, while they are undoubtedly to some
extent acted upon by the grinding surface of the casing, are principally cleaned by
the brush surface of the cone, and the sides of the seed on the other hand are
operated upon almost wholly by the grinding surface of the casing.
1
In the course of the experiments leading to the construction of this machine,
various facings have been tested for both the cone and casing, and it has been found
that the combination of a cone covered with a brush surface, as described, and a
casing lined with an even surface of emery or other grinding material, gives the best
results. On running the cotton seed through a machine having an abrasive cone,
and a non-abrasive shell, it is found that the ends of the seed were freed from lint,
while the sides were practically unaffected by the action of the machine, and on
testing various abrasive facings for the cone and casing respectively, it was found
that while an unyielding surface, such as emery, was best for the casing, a slightly
yielding or elastic surface such as that of a wire brush, was preferable for the cone..
The wire forming the brush, may have. any form of cross section, and may be
The form
-placed at any desired angle with reference to the surface of the cone.
thus far found the most satisfactory is that of the flat wire aforesaid, but this is not
essential, as they may be of ordinary round wire. The grinding surface of the
casing may be formed of any compound of emery, corundum, sand, ground glass,
or its equivalent, but the burned or baked sections of "Norton's Emery" form it is
considered, the most durable and satisfactory lining all others that have been, tried
wearing out very quickly.
The form of cone and casing shown herein, is one which has been found to give
the most satisfactory results in the course of many experiments. The axis, of the
cone being vertical, and the cone having but slight taper, gravity alone tends to
carry the seed downward at a speed nearly sufficient for the operation of the
machine. The slight increase in diameter of the cone, from top to bottom, causes
the centrifugal force to aid the downward course of gravity, and to increase the
speed of motion of the seed from the top toward the bottom of the, cleaning space.

page_text: i
While it is not desired or intended to limit the shape of the machine to the exact
form of cone shown in the drawing, "it is considered essential that the taper of the
cone should be so slight that the wall of the casing will offer a considerable
resistance to the centrifugal force with which the seed is thrown outward from the
cone The cone and casing might be made so flat (that is, they might approximate
so closely to the form of two co-acting discs) that the centrifugal force would tend to
throw the seed directly from the apex to the base of the cone, or in other words, from
the top to the bottom of the seed cleaning space.
+
!
The increase of diameter in the cone, from top to bottom, has the effect of
producing a downward current of air between the cone and casing, when the cone is
rotated, and this current assists materially in carring the lint through the machine.
The specific gravity of the lint is so slight that this effect in a machine of this
particular class is very important. It is of course important that the seed be not.fed too
fast, or the machine will become choked. The regulation of the feed depends of course
upon the size of the machine, and the speed of rotation given to the cone.
In practice, no difficulty has been found in this respect, as it is. only necessary to
1. begin with a sparing feed, and increase it gradually, until the maximum for good work
is reached.
↑ The cone may be driven by means of a belt, passing about a pulley (as. at J),
rigidly fastened to the cone shaft D, or by any other suitable means As the machine.
is to be operated at a high speed, the belt and pulley form the smoothest and most
satisfactory means of rotating the cone, but any other mechanical equivalent of this
means, may, of course, be substituted.
The sieve is of a mesh a little larger than the diameter of the full sized cleaned
*** cotton seed: This varies with different varieties of seeds:
Although the above machine has been described and is intended for the cleaning of
2. cotton seed; yet it may also be found applicable for other similar purposes, and I do
not therefore wish it to be understood that the scope of the invention. is limited solely
to its application to the cleaning of cotton seed.
..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1
1. In a machine for cleaning cotton seed. or the like havingian, outer casing lined
with abrading material and an inner concentric rotatable brush cone,..a brush surface.
for the outer periphery of said cone, .consisting of a series. of bundles. of stout but
flexible steel wires, decreasing in stiffness and. density, and preferably in their
distance from the abrading, surface of. the casing, as the larger or exitiend of the
cone is approached, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.c
.
2. In a macbine such as herein described, a conical or cylindrical rotatable brush;
consisting essentially of two or more circular plates of different diameters mounted
upon a central shaft, a series of longitudinal staves m m preferably: of wood, secured
to the peripheries of said plates and provided over their entire surface with a series
of approximately radial holes, a corresponding series of bundles of stout.but flexible
wires n'n, such asi described, fixed in said holes and projecting to a suitable distanco
therefrom;and a backing, mor its equivalent for preventing end movement, in' said
wires, substantially as described.
3. In a machine such as herein set forth, the combination of a. vertical feed hopper
having parallel or slightly undercut sides, and of a fluted, grooved, or, pitted feed
roll located in the exit orifice of said hopper, substantially as and for the purposes
'set forth..
1.
14: In a machines such as herein. described the combination of a shaking, sieve
adapted to receive and let through the seed as it is discharged from the cleaning
space; and of a fan or its equivalent driven from the machine shaft, and so located as
to send a current of air upwards through the said sieve so as to separate and carry.off,
the loosened lint and dust from the seed, substantially as set forth...

page_text: 5. In a cotton seed cleaning machine the combination of a hard abrasive cylinder
or cone with an internal rotary brush, the acting surface of which is composed of
long, stout, radial, elastic, hard, metallic wires instead of a surface composed of
cards similar to those employed in carding cotton, by which means a yielding
springy surface is formed not liable to wear out quickly or to have the individual
wires breaking off at the base, and yet one eminently calculated to throw off the seed
with force against the abrasive surface.