Improved Delivery or Feed Apparatus and Fittings, Specially for Arresting the Sparks and Preventing the Firing of the Flour Dust or Stive" in Malt, Grist, and Flour Mills.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Feb., 1893-Accepted, 11th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Delivery or Feed Apparatus and Fittings, Specially for
Arresting the Sparks and Preventing the Firing of the Flour
Dust or Stive" in Malt, Grist, and Flour Mills.
"
We, ROBERT GRAHAM ABERCROMBIE, Broad Street Engine Works, Engineer,
and JAMES PARK, Grange Place, Mechanic, both of Alloa, in the County of
Clackmannan, do hereby declare the nature of our invention to be as follows:
This invention has reference to and comprises a new or improved mode, and
means of, or arrangement of apparatus to be applied to malt roller grinding mills
or to flour, grist, husk, and other grinding mills, and to the conduits which receive
the ground material therefrom, for the purpose of, preventing the sparks or fire
from said grinding rollers passing into the elevators or mills by regulating the
quantity of the ground material and its delivery into a box, and retaining a certain
quantity therein for confining the sparks within the small space between this and
the grinding mill and shutting them off from the subsequent delivery conduits or
elevators and thus prevent or minimise the danger of explosions of air charged
dust within the millhouse, which have been of frequent occurence from direct
sparks entering from the grinding mills.
According to one modification or arrangement the nature and novelty of the
improvements consist in fitting a vertical automatic reciprocating counter-weighted
receiver with open receiving end at the top, connected by a flexible sleeve or bag
to the spout conveying the ground material from the roller or grinding mills. The
lower part of this receiver would have a delivery port at its one side, the plate
forming this side being continued past the port and bottom, and have an angled
close bottom which in its lowest position would deliver the ground material in
through an angled shoot or outer delivery ported plate in the wall into the interior
of the mill, or into elevators or other receivers desired, the port of which plate
might have a sunk shutter in the face to regulate the width of the port fitted with
regulating hand screws; while in its highest position, this reciprocating receiver
would be formed to shut off all communication with the said outer delivery duct.
This receiver would be fitted to work in slide guides or roller guides close up to
the angled ported plate, and balanced by chains or wire ropes passed over pulleys
on opposite sides and carrying adjustable weights, or arrangements of weighted
beam lever or levers or springs might be used for the like purpose, so balanced as
always to require the receiver to be about half or quarter full of the material above
the delivery port in its highest position, but as soon as the receiver filled up to
near the top it would more than counterbalance the weights and automatically fall
in line with the outer delivery port and so discharge the material into the mill
until the receiver again emptied to its minimum level and weight when the counter
weights would raise it again above the outer delivery port until it again refilled
and once more descended. In this way no spark or fire from the grinding rollers
or other mills and receiving conveyors could pass through the ground material
always held in the bottom of this close reciprocating delivery receiver. Although
this delivery receiver is described as acting intermittently it would generally act as
a nearly regular delivery apparatus, as the rate of delivery of the ground material
from the rollers into it would adjust the height of the receiver to give the proper
width of delivery ports in the receiver and outer angled ducts for a normal
discharge of the material proportionate to the inflow, and only completely shut off
the communication by the raising of the receiver when the rollers ceased to give a
proper delivery into the apparatus to prevent the sparks passing through it into the
millhouse

page_text: Although this improved delivery or feed box has been described as constructed
to move and slide with a ported flat face working up against a delivery ported face
plate it might be made as a fixed delivery or feed box with an automatic closing
and opening angled valve fitted on the open bottom on one side or one on each side,
and this valve or valves be each counter weighted by levers or springs so as to
act by the weight of the ground material on them, to open when it reached a
certain height and weight in the box, and close as it lowered and lightened and
thus act substantially as in the first arrangement. This arrangement might be.
most applicable as a feeding mechanism for feeding any ground material into mills
or into furnaces or chambers where sparks or gases were desired to be prevented
from passing back through the fed in material.
Dated the 6th Mov 1809
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Delivery or Feed Apparatus and Fittings, Specially for
Arresting the Sparks and Preventing the Firing of the Flour
Dust or Stive" in Malt, Grist, and Flour Mills.
"
We, ROBERT GRAHAM ABERCROMBIE, Broad Street Engine Works, Engineer,
and JAMES PARK, Grange Place, Mechanic, both of Alloa in the County of
Clackmannan, do hereby declare the nature of our invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, that is to say :-
This invention has reference to and comprises a new or improved mode, and
means of, or arrangement of apparatus to be applied to malt roller grinding mills
or to flour, grist, husk, and other grinding mills, and to the conduits which receive
the ground material therefrom, for the purpose of preventing the sparks or fire
from said grinding rollers passing into the elevators or mills, by regulating the
quantity of the ground material and its delivery into a box, and retaining a certain
quantity therein for confining the sparks within the small space between this and
the grinding mill, and shutting them off from the subsequent delivery conduits or
elevators and thus prevent or minimise the danger of explosions of dust charged
air within the millhouse, which have been of frequent occurrence from direct
sparks entering from the grinding mills.
And in order that our said invention and the manner of performing or carrying
the same into effect or practice may be properly understood, we have hereunto
appended three explanatory sheets of drawings in which the same reference letters
are used to indicate correponding parts in all the figures where shown.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 are side and front elevations at right angles to each
other, and
Figure 3 is a plan corresponding to Figure 2, all in accordance with and
illustrative of one arrangement of our improved apparatus in which the vessel
is counterbalanced and actuated by chains or cords and weights passing over
pulleys.
Figure 4 on Sheet 2 is a side elevation of an arrangement of the apparatus
analogous to that shown in Figure 1, but counterbalanced and actuated by lever
arrangements. And
Figure 5 on Sheet 3 shows a modification in which the box is made stationary and
the lower end of the conduit is made movable with valves or shutters, both
counterbalanced and actuated by weighted levers.
Referring first to the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 3 of these drawings:-
The improvements consist in fitting a vertical automatic reciprocating counter-
weighted receiver A with open receiving end at the top, connected by a flexible
sleeve or bag indicated in dotted lines at A¹ in Figures 1 and 2 to the spout conveying

page_text: the ground material from the roller or grinding mills. The lower part of this
receiver A has a delivery port at A³, at its one side, the plate a forming this side
being continued past the port A', and bottom at a', and has an angled close bottom -
at A, which in its lowest position would deliver the ground material in through
an angled shoot or outer delivery port B' in a plate B in the wall, into the interior
of the mill, or into elevators or other receivers desired at B³, the plate B having
outward projecting side flanges or brackets B'; while in its highest position, this
reciprocating receiver A would be formed to shut off all communication with the
said outer delivery duct B'. This receiver A is fitted to work in roller guides b
(or it might be slide guides) the rollers being carried on studs in the flanges B',
close up to the angled ported plate B, and balanced by chains or wire ropes ³
passed over pulleys 6, carried on studs in brackets at the top of the flanges B' on
opposite sides one end of the chains being attached to the sides of the receiver A
by stud brackets 6, and carrying adjustable weights 6' on the other end of the
chains 63, and so balanced as always to require the receiver A to be about half full
of the ground material or material to be ground or treated above its delivery
port A in its highest position; but as soon as the receiver filled up to near the top
it would more than counterbalance the weights and automatically fall in line
with the outer delivery port B' and so discharge the material into the mill at B'
as indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, until the receiver again emptied to its
minimum level and weight when the counter weight 65 would raise it again above
the outer delivery port B until it again refilled and once more descended. In this
way no spark or fire from the grinding rollers or other mills and receiving
conveyors could return through the ground material always held in the bottom of
this close reciprocating delivery receiver A. Although this delivery receiver A
is described as acting intermittently it would generally act as a nearly regular
delivery apparatus, as the rate of delivery of the ground material from the rollers
into it would adjust the height of the receiver to give the proper width of delivery
port A, in the receiver A and B in the outer angled ducts, for a normal discharge
of the material proportionate to the inflow, and only completely shut off the com-
munication by the raising of the receiver when the rollers ceased to give a proper
delivery into the apparatus to prevent the sparks passing through it into the
millhouse.
Referring to Figure 4 Sheet 2, this shows an arrangement in which the receiver A
is carried at top by a hanging frame of bars c, instead of the chains shown in the
former arrangements, attached at top c¹ to one end of a lever c³, c³, fulcrumed to a
fixed rod or other equivalent c, with counterbalanced weights 6 similar to those
shown in the former figures. But when preferred, two levers or a forked lever as
shown dotted in at c², c³, may be employed connected to studs e' on each side of the
receiver A, instead of the single lever shown at top.
Although this improved delivery or feed box A has been described as con-
structed to move and slide with a ported flat face a working up against a delivery
ported face plate B it might, as shown in Figure 5 on Sheet 3 be made as a fixed
delivery or feed box A with an automatic closing and opening angled valve C
fitted on each side and closing against each other in the centre at C', and preferably
hinged and carried on the lower end of the inlet reciprocating duct or pipe C³,
within the closed top of the receiver A, or it might be on the receiver A', or
instead of having two valves one valve C only may be used closing against one side
of the inlet duct C, and the valves or valve be each counter weighted by levers
and weights C, or it might be springs, so as to act by the weight of the ground
material on them to open when it reached a certain height and weight above the
valve C in the delivery duct C³ or in the top of the receiver A, and close as it
lowered and lightened by the weighted levers C" or the raising of the delivery
ducts C, by the counterweighted levers e³, c³, and weights & when the level of the
material fell in it, and thus act substantially as in the first arrangement. In this
arrangement the flexible part A' is shown higher up; and a forked or double '
armed lever c, c, is shown as fulcrumed at c', and counterweighted at 6*, to carry

page_text: the weight of the delivery duct C³, and granular material in it. This arrangement
might be most applicable as a feeding mechanism for feeding any ground material
into mills or into furnaces or chambers where sparks or gases where desired to be
prevented from passing back through the fed in material.
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 :--
First. The construction, or arrangement and combination of the parts of delivery
or feed apparatus fitted with moving delivery valves automatically actuated by the
weight of the granular material, for arresting sparks and preventing the firing of
the flour dust in. malt, grist, and flour mills, substantially as herein described, in
reference to and shown in the accompanying drawings.
Second. In delivery or feed apparatus used in malt, grist, and flour mills, and
the like, the arrangement and use of a counterbalanced moving delivery receiver
and valve automatically actuating itself to deliver the granular material but not
empty it, so as to arrest the sparks and prevent the fire passing through said
delivery apparatus, substantially as herein described in reference to and shown in
the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 2nd February 1893.
W. K. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.