A New or Improved Feeder for Flour, Meal, or similar Substances.
Year: 1899

page_text: A New or Improved Feeder for Flour, Meal, or similar Substances.
I, JOHN MCDONELL, of 23, Upper Cecil Street, Limerick, Ireland, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows;-
This invention has for its object the feeding, or measuring out continuously,
of flour, meal, &c. for the purpose of mixing.
It is composed of a suitable hopper, or receptacle, in which is placed the mate-
rial to be mixed away, or fed in and a revolving roller of suitable construction
to work in sume.
As the roller revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow-see drawing—
it draws around with it a portion of the material stored in the hopper, until it
becomes coated, or charged, with a circumferential layer of this material.
This effect is due to friction between the surface of the roller and the material
in contact with it. To increase the frictional contact, or grip, the roller is pro-
vided with a number of grooves circumferentially sunk in its periphery. These
grooves also assist in, or simplify, the setting of the machine to the desired rate
of feed.
As the charged roller is revolving, one or a number of scrapers is applied to
remove from one or more grooves the desired quantity of the material, and dis-
charge it through the opening shewn at C in the easing. The empty grooves
are replenished automatically, and continuously, as the roller passes under the
material in the hopper.
The roller is carried in suitable bearings, and is driven by pulley & strap, or
otherwise from any convenient revolving shaft.
On the accompanying drawing A indicates the hopper, B the roller, the
outlet, D the scrapers. E the discharge spout for the material. The direction in
which the roller revolves is shewn by the arrow,
A New or Improved Feeder for Flour, Meal, or similar Substances.
I, JOHN MCDONELL, of 23, Upper Cecil Street, Limerick, Ireland, Mechanical
Engineer, 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;
-
My invention relates to apparatus for delivering flour, meal or similar sub-
stances from a hopper or other container into a tub or other vessel or receptacle

page_text: or conveyer for receiving it, the object of my invention being to provide an appa-
ratus of this class which will deliver the substance continuously and at a uniform
and measured rate of speed.
According to my invention I arrange a delivery roller to rotate in a trough
at the bottom of the hopper the said roller being provided with grooves or other-
wise so constructed that as the roller rotates it will become coated with a layer
of the material to be discharged.
In connection with this roller outside the hopper I arrange a scraper the posi-
tion of which is adjustable relatively with the roller so that it may be set to
remove more or less of the layer adhering to the roller as the latter rotates, the
portion so removed falling into a suitable channel and thence passing to the ves-
sel or machine for receiving it.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :—
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of apparatus constructed according to my
invention; and
Figure 2 is a sectional front elevation of the same.
a is the hopper or casing for containing the flour, meal or similar substance
to be discharged and is the roller mounted in the bottom of the same, the said
roller being carried in suitable bearings in the sides of the hopper and adapted
to be driven by a belt and pulley fiom a shaft, or by any other suitable means.
It will be noticed that the bottom of the hopper is inclined at one part and
at the other part, which is adjacent to the periphery of the roller is made curved
to form a trough its surface being practically concentric with the surface of the
roller. The inclined bottom is provided so that as the said roller is rotated in
the direction of the arrow, Figure 1, the material as it drops down in the hopper
will be gradually compressed between the said inclined bottom c, and the surface
of the said roller forming a coating thereon, and then carried round with the
roller, to an opening d in the casing.
e is the scraper arranged in conjunction with the said opening d and mounted
on a slide f so that it can be projected more or less into the path of the layer of
material upon the surface of the roller b, whereby as the said roller rotates, more
or less of the said layer will be pared off and drop through the shoot or passage
into the vessel placed to receive it. As shewn in the drawing the adjustment of
the scraper is effected by means of a disc h having a handle and a cam rib j
upon it the said disc being mounted upon a spindle k. The slide f carries two
pins which engage with the rib in such a manner that when the said disc h
is turned more or less in either direction the said slide f, and consequently the
scraper c which it carries, will be raised or lowered as desired. is a nut for
clamping the disc when adjusted.
As herein before stated the surface of the roller is preferably grooved or other-
wise roughened so that the material will adhere thereto. In the drawing I have
represented the roller & as being composed of a series of sections having between
them discs, which project beyond the surface of the roller so as to form a series
of grooves m, m, these roller sections and dises being clamped between suitable
end plates by means of bolts n, n. The scraper which operates in conjunction
with this roller is formed with a series of prongs or teeth o, o which project be-
tween the plates or discs so that the said scraper constitutes a kind of comb as
will be clearly understood by reference to Figure 2. is a strip of iron or the
like fixed in the bottom c so as to be in contact with the periphery of the discs /
and thus determine the loaded diameter of the roller b. is a concave plate
arranged above the roller so as to project just within the hopper a, the said
plate serving to prevent the escape of flour or the like at this point. is a plate,
the upper end of which rests against the roller and tends to smooth the flour or
the like and prevent it falling out of the grooves m.
is a cover which is placed over the top of the shoot g and encloses the scra
per e for preventing as far as possible the escape or inlet of dust.

page_text: In the drawing all the scrapers are represented as being arranged to be operated
simultaneously but, if desired, the scraper may be made in sections separated
from one another and capable of independent adjustment. It will be understood
that, in the operation of the apparatus, as the roller revolves after being scraped,
a fresh quantity of material will be pressed on to its surface so as to make up for
that which is remoyed, whereby a continuous and uniform discharge of material
from the hopper can be obtained.
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:-
1. In apparatus for feeding flour, meal or similar substances, the combination
of a roller arranged in the bottom of a hopper, adjacent to an opening in the
same, in such a manner that as the said roller rotates it takes up the material to
be delivered, and of a scraper so placed that as this material is brought outside
the hopper through the said opening it will be removed from the roller by the
said scraper substantially as described.
2. In apparatus for feeding flour, meal or similar substances, the combination
with a hopper for containing the substances to be fed, of a grooved roller mounted
at the bottom of the said hopper and a scraper arranged to co-operate with the
said roller and made adjustable relatively therewith in such a manner that as the
roller rotates the part within the hopper will receive a coating of the material
to be discharged whilst the coating upon the part of the roller adjacent to the
scraper is being removed, substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved apparatus, for feeding flour, meal
or similar substances, constructed and arranged substantially in the manner here-
inbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Tatal A
1
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.