Improvements in Machines for Cleaning, Husking, and similarly treating Cereals.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 21st Nov., 1891-Accepted, 20th Feb.,
1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cleaning, Husking, and similarly
treating Cereals.
1, STEFAN STEINMETZ, Milling Engineer, of 14, Hauptstrasse Leipzig-Gohlis,
Germany, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
Instead of the usual revolving discs, the grinding or abrading faces of which run
parallel to each other, I employ a disc with conically inclined working surfaces,
each disc having a pair of symmetrically inclined surfaces, so that its cross section or
thickness decreases from the axis towards the circumferences.
The machine chiefly comprises two sets of conical discs mounted on two horizontal
axles at a distance less than the diameter of cach disc, so that in an end view of
the machine, the two sets of discs seem to intersect each other, one disc of one set
being always placed between two adjoining discs of the other set.
In the hollow space between the two symmetrically inclined abrading or polishing
surfaces of each disc I place a number of scoops or blades, which blades are mounted
on pins or studs extending from the right half to the left half of the disc parallel to
the axis of the same, at a short distance from its circumference.
Each blade forms an angle to the axis of the discs, and preferably also to its
radius, so as to sweep the material lying on the bottom of the casing or jacket.
axially forward. The jacket or casing surrounds and follows the lower half of the
discs at a short distance from their circumferences and has many perforations for
the access of air. The said blades or scoops therefore serve to clear the perforations
from the grain which lies on the bottom of the jacket, so as to provide a free
passage for the air, into the casing.
The annular space between the conical abrading or working faces of two con-
tiguous discs of the same set is provided at the top with a loose wedge-shaped block
adapted to exert on the said working surfaces a pressure, which can be regulated
by means of a weight or a spring, and which blocks may also have grinding or
abrading faces like the discs. Each block is suspended from a horizontal lever
mounted on an axle parallel to the axis of the discs, and extending through the
casing, where it carries a regulating lever with an adjustable weight or spring.
The two axles of the said blocks and regulating levers may be supported and guided
in a central guide block fixed above the middle of the casing in the interior of
the same and serving at the same time to guide and distribute the grain and
the air.
These pressure blocks may also be used in machines, where the grinding faces of
the discs are parallel and plane instead of conical. Instead of having two sets of
discs mounted on two parallel axles, I may employ only one set mounted on the
same axle.
The air and chaff are sucked off by a fan communicating with the upper part
of the casing, while the grain thrown up by the discs is again guided between
the working surfaces by the slanting sides of the central guide block mentioned
above.
' נח
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1001
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cleaning, Husking, and similarly
treating Cereals.
I, STEFAN STEINMETZ, Milling Engineer, of 14, Hauptstrasse, Leipzig,
Gerinany, do hereby declare the nature of my 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 that class of machines for husking and polishing cereals,
in which the axes of the grinding or abrading discs are horizontal.
The improvements have for their object, to ensure, that the grain will take a
much longer passage through the machine, than is usually the case in such
machines, that it will come into intimate contact with every disc, and that during
this operation it will be completely exposed to the air current drawn through the
machine.
In the following description, reference will be made to the accompanying
drawings, of which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a machine embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section along line R-R of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section along line T-T of Fig. 1.
Figs. 4 to 6 represent details of the husking appliance.
Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section of a machine in which the abrading discs
are arranged in duplicate, or in two sets.
Fig. 8 is a horizontal section along line U-U of Fig. 7.
Figs. 9 to 11 represent details of construction as will be hereafter described.
Fig. 12 is a vertical section of a machine with two sets of abrading discs.
Fig. 13 is a plan of the same, partly in section.
Fig. 14 is half end elevation and half vertical section of such a machine.
Fig. 15 is a horizontal section corresponding to Fig. 14.
Fig. 16 is a detail view on a larger scale, showing a portion of the circumference
of an abrading disc, with front view of intermediate blades.
Fig. 17 shows the same part of the circumference in side view.
Fig. 18 shows the same part of the circumference in plan.
According to my method of operation, the grain supplied to the machine at one
end is seized by annular dises, which (acting in conjunction with stationary con-
tact faces situated close to the sides of the discs) throw the grain up, and are
assisted in this effect by the air current conducted through the machine and by the
blades or scoops inserted between the sides of the discs at their circumference, so
that the entire quantity which has been thus projected upward, may be dispersed,
exposed to the air current, and guided by adjustable surfaces which serve partly to
prevent the grain from flying further upward, and partly to receive and guide off
the grain, when it falls down again, the grain thus treated being then delivered to
the next disc or one of the following discs which act anew upon the grain.
Consequently, the grain fed into the machine is acted upon by all the discs,
before it reaches the discharge opening, and owing to its dispersion whenever it is
projected upward, the individual grains come into intimate contact with the air
which is drawn through the machine.
Only under these conditions, that is to say, by forcing the grain to take a pre-
scribed course, and simultaneously producing an intimate contact of the grain-with
the air sucked through the machine, is it possible, to husk, dry and polish in the
same machine or in the same.operation, grain which has been purposely moistened
before being fed into the machine; and this without using any other artificial
means, than mechanically propelled air.
The grain is supplied to the machine at one end and conducted towards the discs A

page_text: mounted on a shaft a and provided at their circumference with intermediate
blades. In machines with a single row of discs, as represented by Figs. 1 to 3,
husking blocks or abutment pieces B (shown in detail by Figs. 4 to 6) are inserted,
which blocks, in addition to their abrading action, press the grains against the
surfaces of the revolving discs, and thereby assist the latter to project the grains
upward.
The blocks B are composed of sheets (or surfaces) d shaped like the annular
working parts of the discs A, between which the blocks are suspended (as shown by
Fig. 3).
At the front edges (according to the direction of motion of the discs) the sheets d
are connected with each other by a hinge joint, and at their rear ends they are pro-
vided with a wedge-shaped core upon which acts a block operated by a weighted
lever C in such a manner, as to press the sheets d against the faces of the discs
with a pressure adjustable according to the effort to be exerted on the grains passing
between the discs.
After the grains have been lifted by this appliance, and by the air current pro-
duced by the fan E and the circumferential blades of the discs A, they drop upon
an inclined shoot D, which may be fixed or adjustable and which is provided with
inclined lugs in such a manner, that the grain thrown from one zone or face of the
discs upon the upper part of the shoot, is delivered at its lower end upon the next
or upon one of the next following zones (Figs. 1 and 3) and lifted above the axis of
the disc, in order to drop upon the back side of the discs.
The upper part of the machine contains flaps or damper plates c shown by Fig. 2,
which allow the chaff or other light particles to pass upward, but prevent the heavier
particles from flying too high.
The grain fed into the machine is thus obliged to travel between all the discs
from one end of the axle to the other, and is thereby treated most thoroughly.
In machines with two rows of abrading discs, Figs. 7 and 8, the counter plates B
may be omitted, if the discs are circular and arranged to interlace, as shown by
Fig. 8, and turned towards each other as shown in Fig. 7 by arrows.
In this case, the guide plates D are secured to the casing, as shown by Figs. 7
and 8, and above the same are placed a row of adjustable plates (Figs. 7 to 9) upon
which drops the grain, after having been thrown up above the axles.
By thus giving to the plates h an inclined position, and causing them to deliver
upon the next or one of the following feeders or inlets D, it is possible, to conduct
the grain from one row of discs A-A to the other A-A, and thus to accelerate
the passage of the grain through all the discs.
The discharge of the grain treated as described takes place through an opening
covered by a Hap K, shown in detail by Figs. 10 and 11. The said discharge
opening is situated laterally in the rear wall (that is the wall opposite to the feed
opening), as shown by Figs. 7 and 8, and it closes the discharge opening by the
adjustable pressure of weighted levers, until the machine is in full operation, after
which the Hap recedes from the discharge opening and allows the finished product
(that is the grain ready for being crushed in the grinding mill) to escape from the
machine.
To produce this effect, several smaller flaps & are applied at various angles to K,
between the latter and the discs, as indicated by Fig. 10.
When the machine
begins to work, the said flaps k catch the grain ascending with the air, but the
pressure of the latter is not sufficient to overcome the turning effort of the weighted
lever until the machine is in full operation, after which the grain flying against
the flaps will not only keep the flap open, but will also pass out through the
discharge opening which had been closed by the same.
the con-
If it is not required, to treat the grain in such a thorough manner,
struction of the machine may be simplified in the manner shown by Figs. 12 to 15.
This machine contains again discs provided with abrading faces which are
symmetrically inclined from the centre towards the circumference, so that a cross

page_text: section of the disc is wedge-shaped, decreasing towards the circumference, as shown
by Figs. 13 and 15.
This arrangement has for its object, to increase the surface of contact between
the discs and the mass of grain lying on the floor of the casing, and also to treat the
said mass of grain more thoroughly.
The discs used in my machine, have the novel feature, that at their circumference,
the space between the two sides or faces is armed with blades or scoops F, which
serve to remove the grains from their zone of rotation, and thereby to provide free
access for the air which ascends through the perforated mantel surrounding the
lower half of the discs. They also produce a suction on the air and thereby
serve to force it through the mass of grain, and owing to their position they
serve to propel the mass of grain through the machine, that is to say, along its
bottom.
This arrangement therefore offers the advantage, that the grain and the discs are
cooled, and the former is thoroughly relieved of waste and impurities, so that the
only work left for the fan O is to draw off the chaff and impurities. For this effect,
it is immaterial, whether the discs supported by the axles work in the interior of a
casing alone, or whether several rows of discs A and A¹ mounted on shafts a and a¹
in alternation are working together in the interior of a casing.
In order to complete the treatment of the grain, blocks L corresponding, as
regards the shape of their cross section, with the open space between the faces of
the discs, are applied at the upper half of the same.
These blocks are fixed to
levers which are mounted on shaft m supported by a crossbeam H. The said shafts
extend through the casing and are provided with balance levers n, which exert on
the blocks an adjustable pressure by means of weights J, (Figs. 12 and 13)
or springs N, (Figs. 14 and 15) whereby the said blocks are pressed against the
discs.
The grain thrown up by the revolving discs is guided down by the cross beam H
and repeatedly treated between the blocks L and the discs, which treatment may
be regulated by varying the pressure of the blocks upon the discs, while tlie
chaff is sucked off by the fan in the direction of the arrows and y, Figs. 12
and 14.
As the blocks L adjust themselves according to the pressure exerted by the
weight J, the treatment of the grain is independent of the quantity fed into the
machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare, that what
I claim is-
1. The method or means of husking, drying, and polishing previously moistened
cereals, in the same machine, without artificial drying agents except mechanically
propelled air, which consists in completely exposing the cereals to the air current
by conducting them over the axle of the abrading discs, and subsequently
treating them by the consecutive abrading discs substantially as described and
illustrated.
2. The method or means of treating cereals as specified above, which consists in
the use of flat or lenticular abrading discs arranged in a row A¹ to 6, Figs. 1 to 3,
or in two rows A1 and A2 Figs. 7, 8 and 12 to 15, and in delivering the grain
thrown up, consecutively to the abrading discs, by means of inclined guide
plates D and h, and regulating the discharge of the product by a weighted
multiple flap (K, A) adapted to allow the grain to escape only after the machine
has been set in full operation, substantially as described and illustrated.
3. In apparatus adapted to perform the process above, a row or rows of discs,
each of which comprises a pair of plates or surfaces / converging symmetrically
towards the circumference, and provided at the circumference with blades F secured
between the said plates, substantially as described.

page_text: 4. In apparatus adapted to perform the process specified above, pressure blocks L
suspended between the discs by means of levers and axles m and adapted to exert
on the grain any desired pressure, by means of levers n fixed to the said axles, and
the application of this device in the case of flat discs, substantially as described and
illustrated.
Dated 01
Navambon 1001