Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Drying Cereals and other like Substances.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 5th May, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Drying Cereals
and other like Substances.
We, JAMES GORDON ALISON, of Marcus Street, Corporation Road, Birkenhead,
in the County of Chester, Engineer, and PETER DUFF, of 18, Radnor Place,
Birkenhead, aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows
-
This invention has reference to apparatus which has for its object the drying or
removal of moisture from cereals, and other like substances.
According to this invention, the apparatus comprises a vessel in which the
materials to be dried or treated are held, while being treated or acted upon;
a bottom of perforated metal, or provided with apertures, on which the material
rests; a coil of piping beneath same through which a heating fluid, say steam, is
passed; an elevator or means within said vessel by which the material at the lower
part of the vessel, or at other parts, is turned over or circulated; and means for
circulating air through the apparatus and material operated upon therein.
According to one form of apparatus under this invention, more particularly
suited for drying malt, (or other cereals), the bottom of the vessel is made tapered
or conical, as is also the perforated or gridded bottom, on which the material rests,
a coil of piping being arranged between these two cones through which the heating
steam or fluid is passed. Within the vessel, say in the centre thereof, the means of
circulating or turning over the material to be treated is provided. This may
consist of a worm, bucket, or other elevator, with a spreader at the top by which
the material is distributed: the spreader may be of the centrifugal type.
Also in the vessel,, above the coned bottom, pipes or a coil of pipe, may be
disposed, through which steam is passed; and this may be connected with the air
circulating engine so as to allow the exhaust steam therefrom to pass through same.
The air circulating machine may consist of an air pump connected with the bottom
of the apparatus and the upper part of same by which the air is caused to pass
through the material and also over the heating surface.
The particles which pass through the gridded or perforated bottom fall onto the
conical bottom, and pass to the lower part thereof, and are removed therefrom
through suitable outlets therein; whilst the material dried may be discharged from
a suitable door or outlet at the bottom of the apparatus, it being charged into the
vessel at the top of the apparatus.
The pump may consist of a vertical arrangement of cylinders (or other suitable
arrangement), which is also adapted by suitable gearing to drive or operate the
means of elevating, circulating, or turning over the material in the vessel.
Dated this 16th day of June 1893.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON, Fels. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicants' Patent Agents.

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Drying Cereals
and other like Substances.
We, JAMES GORDON ALISON of Marcus Street, Corporation Road, Birkenhead,
in the County of Chester, Engineer, aud PETER DUFF, of 18 Radnor Place,
Birkenhead, aforesaid, 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 :-
.
This invention has reference to apparatus which has for its object the drying or
removal of moisture from cereals, and other like substances.
According to this invention, the apparatus comprises a vessel in which the
materials to be dried or treated are held, while being treated or acted upon;
a bottom of perforated metal, or provided with apertures, on which the material
falls; a coil of piping beneath same through which a heating fluid, say steam, is
passed an elevator or means within said vessel by which the material at the lower
part of the vessel, or at other parts, is turned over or circulated; and means for
circulating air through the apparatus and material operated upon therein.
According to one form of apparatus under this invention, more particularly.
suited for drying malt, (or other cereals), the bottom of the vessel is made tapered
or conical, as is also the perforated or gridded bottom, on which the material falls,
a coil of piping being arranged between these two cones through which the
heating steam or fluid is passed. Within the vessel, say in the centre thereof, the
means of circulating or turning over the material to be treated is provided. This
may consist of a worm, bucket, or other elevator, with a spreader at the top by
which the material is distributed: the spreader may be of the centrifugal type.
Also in the vessel, above the coned bottom, pipes or a coil of pipe, may be
disposed, through which steam is passed; and this may be connected with the air
circulating engine so as to allow the exhaust steam therefrom to pass through
same. The air circulating machine may consist of an air pump connected with the
apparatus by which the air is caused to pass through the material and also over
the heating surface.
.
The particles which pass through the gridded or perforated bottom fall onto
the conical bottom, and pass to the lower part thereof, and are removed therefrom
through suitable outlets therein; whilst the material dried may be discharged
from a suitable door or outlet at the bottom of the apparatus, it being charged
into the vessel at the top of the apparatus.
One form of pump may consist of a vertical arrangement of cylinders (or other
suitable arrangement), and it is also adapted by suitable gearing to drive or
operate the means of elevating, circulating, or turning over the material in the
vessel.
Drawings illustrative of this invention are hereto annexed and form part of this
Specification.
In these drawings,
•
: i
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the machine, and
Figure 2 shews, partly in section and partly in outside view, the lower part of
the apparatus.
Figure 3 is a plan of the machine in section, taken at the line A A and B B
Figure 1; and
Figure 4 is a full plan of the apparatus.
Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus there shewn is particularly
designed for drying malt or cereals. The main vessel consists of a cylindrical
upper part a and a conical or tapered lower part b, with an outer casing call
round same, constituting a jacket, between which and the parts a and b a suitable

page_text: .
lagging of a non-conductor of heat is provided. d is the gridded or perforated
bottom lying concentrically within the conical bottom b. e is a coil of piping
with inlet and outlet e and e, through which the heating medium is passed, and
by which the air introduced to the apparatus is heated. f is the worm or elevator
for circulating or turning over the material, and g is a tube in the centre of the
apparatus in which the worm f works, said worm being supported through a shaft f1,
by and in a footstep 2, while is a spreader on the upper end of the shaft f
consisting of radial arms by which the material raised is distributed. The air
circulating apparatus designated i, and the elevating worm f, are both worked by
the same engine, which is mounted on the top of the apparatus and of which is
the cylinder, and the crank shaft. The shaft lies concentrically or is
coincident with that of the worm shaft f¹, it being connected at its lower end to
the boss of the air circulator i, which it drives, and to which boss also the
upper end of the shaft f¹ is fixed. The air circulator i consists of a fan, with
vanes of any suitable construction, the periphery of which rotates within a
chamber at the top of the apparatus in the ordinary way, and discharging the
air by the outlet 3. k are two chambers on the sides of the bottom b of the
apparatus, through which the air admitted to the apparatus is passed, the inlets
of which chamber are controlled by shutters k. By opening these shutters more
or less, more or less air will be admitted to the chambers k, and to the apparatus
in general. is a valve at the bottom of the apparatus, mounted and working on
the spindle, and m is a spout passing through the bottom bin which said valve Z
is arranged and works. Through this spout, the contents of the apparatus is
discharged after it has been dried; whilst n'are spouts on the conical bottom b
by which any small matters or material (as the rootlets or combings from the
grains in the case of malt) which may pass through the openings or meshes of
the bottom d may be discharged from the space between said bottoms d and b.
o and p are upper and lower annular conical diaphragms, the upper one of which is
fixed, and the lower one adapted to be raised and lowered. The upper one is fixed
to the tube g, and an annular space is left between its periphery and the perforated
bottom d; whilst a similar space to this exists between the edge of the lower
diaphragm p and the bottom d. The latter space however will be variable, and
made larger or smaller accordingly as the diaphragm p is raised or lowered.
Both the diaphragms p and o have small openings in them or are perforated to
allow of the passage of air through them upwards; but the upper one o has also
in addition, larger holes to allow some of the material to fall through them onto
the diaphragm below. Holes about an inch in diameter are suitable for this.
The lower diaphragm p is raised and lowered by rods r, one of which is con-
nected to a crank of the crank shaft carried in brackets s supported by the
tube g, whilst the other two are worked from the crank shaft, through the
rods and bell cranks 8, on the outer ends of which said rods are connected,
the crank shaft r itself being operated from outside the machine by the shaft t.
The apparatus illustrated in the drawings is shewn supported partly above and
partly below a floor x, carried by girders you the lower of which the apparatus is
supported by the brackets z.
The material is fed into the apparatus through an aperture u in the top, which
is normally covered by a sliding door u¹.
As regards the regulating of the air supply, by opening more or less the
shutters more or less air is admitted to the chambers k, and that part of the
plate of the bottom b, onto which said chambers k are attached being perforated,
the air admitted thereto is distributed to the space in which the steam heated
coile is disposed, and is heated by such coil, and passes in to the apparatus
through the perforated bottom d in this heated state, and is distributed over said
bottom.
e,
In óperation, assuming the engine 'to be in motion, steam in the pipe coil and
the containing vessel charged with material to be dried, such material is elevated
by the worm from the lower part of the apparatus to the top of the tube g, over

page_text: the upper lip of which it is discharged, it being spread or distributed by the
spreader h revolving with the shaft f¹, having a centrifugal action. The material
then falls through the apparatus towards the bottom thereof, and through the hot
In its descent it falls
air which is being moved upwards, by and into the fan i.
onto the upper annular diaphragm o, and through the larger apertures in which a
part of it will pass, while the rest will flow down same and fall from its periphery
onto the perforated bottom d, down which it will then flow towards the bottom of
the cone; and that part which fell through the upper diaphragm o will have
fallen onto the diaphragm p below, down which it will flow towards its periphery,
and from thence onto the perforated coned bottom d, and then down it. In flowing
or passing down the perforated bottom d, the material is subjected to the hot air
heated by the steam heated coil e which is passing through said bottom; but
previously to this, the material had also been subjected to the current of hot air
which flows continuously up through the upper part of the apparatus, and the
diaphragms p and o, viz. in the opposite direction. As the material falls to the
bottom of the cone d, it is taken up by the bottom of the worm f, and is carried
up thereby through the tube g, and is again distributed by the spreader h, and
subjected to the ascending hot air moved by the fan i as described, and this
operation or treatment is continued until the material is sufficiently dried.
By the operation above described, that is by circulating or turning over the
material to be dried and allowing it to fall through currents of hot air flowing in
the opposite direction as described, and passing over the perforated bottom,
and carrying this on for some time, the whole of the charge will be evenly and
efficiently dried.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. Apparatus for drying cereals or granular materials, wherein the material is
caused to pass over and fall down and over an inclined perforated plate or bottom,
through which heated air is being passed (said air being previously heated by
passing over a heating surface such as specified) whereby said cereals or granular
material is dried, and circulated or turned over and distributed onto the said
perforated bottom; operating substantially as for the purposes set forth.
2. Apparatus for drying cereals, and other like substances, comprising a vessel
with a conical bottom with apertures therein or perforated to allow of the passage
of air therethrough; pipes for containing steam outside said bottom by which air,
previous to its introduction to the apparatus, is heated; a circulating device, as
an elevator, for lifting the material from the bottom to the top; and an air pump
or circulating means by which said heated air is caused to pass in through the
perforated bottom, and up through the apparatus; operating substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
3. Apparatus for drying cereals, and other like substances, comprising a vessel
with a conical bottom with apertures therein or perforated to allow of the passage
of air therethrough; a concentric cone outside same; a coil of pipes for containing
steam, disposed within the annular space between said perforated bottom, and the
outer cone; and chambers outside said cone with regulating means thereon by or
through which said air is supplied and distributed to the space in which the heating
pipes are disposed; a fan at the upper part of the apparatus for moving said
air through the apparatus; and an elevator or conveyor for raising the material
being dried, from the bottom and discharging it at the top; and suitable means
by or through which the apparatus is charged and discharged operating
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
4. In apparatus for drying cereals, and other like substances, comprising a
vessel having an inclined bottom through which heated air is passed into the
apparatus; a fan or motor by which the circulation of air through the apparatus
is effected; an internal circulator or conveyor for conveying the material from

page_text: the bottom to the top of the apparatus; and an inclined internal diaphragm or
diaphragms by which the material is distributed or guided onto the said perforated
bottom; operating substantially as described.
5. The apparatus for drying cereals, and other like substances, comprising the
parts herein specified, arranged, combined and adapted to operate particularly
as set forth with reference to and as shewn in the drawings.
Dated this 15th day of March 1894.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON, Fels. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicants' Patent Agents.