Improvements in Grain Drying Apparatus.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 12th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Grain Drying Apparatus.
I, WYNN EDWARD ELLIS, Grain Merchant, 28, Chamber of Commerce Building,
Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, United States of America, 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 to improvements in grain drying apparatus and consists
in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth and pointed
out particularly in the claims.
The objects of the invention are to provide simple and effective means for pass-
ing the hot air blast in opposite directions through a body of wet grain or into
said grain from opposite sides in such manner as to facilitate the operation of
drying; to effect an uniform and even drying of all parts of said grain exposed to
said air blast so as to render a re-handling of the grain unnecessary when it shall
have passed once through the device; and to provide, by a change of the air blast,
for removing all accumulated dust from the drier, obviating the choking or filling
up of the air spaces thereof. These objects are attained by the construction illus-
trated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my improved drier, parts being broken away.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section as on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section as on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the heater, exhaust
fan, and one side of the drier appearing in plan, and a portion of the heater casing
being broken away.
Fig. 4 is an isometrical view of one of the vertically movable slides for con-
trolling the air currents.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail in section showing the passage of the air currents
through the device.
Fig. 6 is an elevation of one end of the drier, the outer casing being removed
and the series of slides being raised in position for cleaning the air passages of
the drier.
Fig. 7 is an enlarged view partly in section showing the parts so arranged as to
cause the pressure ducts to stand horizontally opposite each other so that the two
air currents passing therefrom will meet in the interposed grain space and dis-
charge into the exhaust ducts above and below said pressure ducts.
Referring to the letters of reference, A designates the exterior or inclosing case
which is preferably quadrilateral in form and may be of any suitable height.
Within the exterior case is the drier proper A¹, consisting of a closed rectangular
framework which is divided at its centre transversely by means of an air blast or
pressure chamber B communicating with the exhaust fan B1 through the connect-
ing spout B. The chamber B, as shown in Fig. 3, is divided centrally by a longi-
tudinal V-shaped partition C which separates the pressure chamber into two taper-
ing divisions whose area decreases as said chamber recedes from the point of
entrance of the air blast.
On opposite sides of the casing A are the tapering exhaust chambers D which

page_text: communicate at their rear ends with the open space D¹ crossing the rear of said
casing and communicating with the discharge pipe or stack Du.
As will be seen on referring to Fig. 3, the central pressure chamber B divides
the drier into two opposed independent sections, which sections are supplied with
an air blast from the respective divisions of the pressure chamber.
Crossing transversely the interior of the divisions of said drier, between the
divided pressure chamber and the exhaust chambers D), are the alternate grain and
air spaces E and F respectively. The grain spaces E are closed at their ends but
are open at the top, and provided at the bottom with a slide a which is adapted
to close the opening a¹ through the bottom of the grain spaces through which the
dried grain is discharged, said opening being at the lower end of the inclined strip b
located in the bottom of the grain spaces to facilitate the passage of the grain
therefrom. Located below the openings in the grain spaces is a suitable hopper C¹
of such capacity as to hold the contents of the drier. The air spaces F are not
continuous in that they do not extend in an unbroken space from the top to the
bottom, but instead are divided horizontally by a series of horizontally extending
dividing strips or floors b¹ which divide the air spaces F into a series of independent
horizontal air flues or ducts c which communicate at opposite ends with the air blast
chamber B and the exhaust chamber D.
G designates a series of vertically movable slides which are located at the
opposite ends of said air ducts and are adapted to travel in suitable ways, being
confined in place by the transverse retaining strips d. These slides are provided
with a series of apertures e which are so spaced as to register with each alternate
. air duct, while the blank or solid space e¹ between said apertures is adapted to close
the end of each of said alternate air ducts. These slides are so arranged, as shown
in Fig. 1, as to normally close the opposite ends of each alternate duct, so that
one-half of said ducts communicate at one end with the pressure chamber and the
other half communicate at the opposite end with the exhaust chamber, the ducts
communicating with the pressure chamber being closed at their opposite ends
while the ducts communicating with the exhaust chamber are closed at their ends
adjacent the pressure chamber. These air flues are arranged in horizontal tiers
and alternate in vertical order so that each of the air spaces F is divided into a
series of alternating air flues having alternately opened and closed ends.
The partitions dividing the grain spaces E from the air spaces F arc of wire
screen H or other suitable form of foraminous wall adapted to admit of the passage
of air therethrough but capable of confining the grain and other material to be
dried within the grain spaces E.
By means of the arrangement of the air ducts as above described, it will be seen
that the air spaces are divided vertically into a series of horizontal air flues whose
open ends alternately communicate with the pressure chamber and with the exhaust
chamber, and that the arrangement is such as to form horizontal tiers of these air
ducts which alternate horizontally and between which are the interposed grain
spaces E whereby the blast of air is caused to pass alternately from opposite sides
through the grain space from top to bottom as shown by the arrows in
Figs. 3 and 5. The air ducts whose open ends communicate with the pressure
chamber receive the air blast which passes across the interposed grain spaces from
opposite sides and discharges into the opposed air ducts whose open ends com-
municate with the exhaust chambers into which the air laden with the moisture
from the wet grain through which it has passed is discharged, said moisture laden
air escaping through the stack or flue D¹¹.
In the practice of drying wet grain by confining it in thin layers or divisions
and passing a blast of hot air therethrough from one side to the other, it has been
found that the grain upon the side adjacent to the air blast becomes unduly dried
while the grain upon the exhaust or opposite side is still too wet for commercial
purposes owing to the fact that the moisture driven out of the grain first encoun-
tered by the air current condenses upon the cooler grain on the opposite side as
the air is driven therethrough, whereas the grain upon the discharge side of the

page_text: thin division thereof is still laden with moisture when the grain upon the opposite
side shall have been sufficiently dried, resulting in an uneven drying of the grain
and often necessitating a re-handling thereof to again pass it through the drier
that a more uniform drying may be attained.
In the construction herein shown, the necessity of re-handling is obviated and
at the same time a perfect and uniform drying of the grain is effected by reason
of the alternation of the hot air blast which passes through the grain spaces from
side to side in vertical reciprocal succession. When the grain to be dried is first
placed in the grain spaces, it is swollen with the moisture contained thereby, and
therefore occupies more space than when partially or completely dried. This being
the fact, the grain in the process of drying gradually settles in the grain spaces,
so that a portion thereof through which the hot air is passed in one direction, will,
upon settling to the line of a lower tier of flues, receive an air blast therethrough
from the opposite direction, and so on as it settles or is gradually moved downward
through the grain space, said grain is subject to alternating blasts of hot air which
pass therethrough from opposite sides in reciprocal succession, whereby a most
perfect and uniform drying of the grain is effected, rendering all parts thereof
equally dry and obviating the overdrying of any portion so that when once the
grain is passed through the drier it is ready for commercial use without re-handling.
When the grain in the process of drying shall have been so reduced in bulk that
a point is reached where it will no longer settle, the alternation of the air blast
through any portion of the grain from opposite sides may still be effected through
the medium of the apertured slides G which may be adjusted to open the ends of
the air ducts previously closed and close the ends of those ducts previously opened
and cause a reversal of the air currents through the air ducts and grain spaces as
will be well understood; or said slides may be so arranged as to cause the air
blast ducts to stand horizontally opposite, as shown in Fig. 6, so that the air blasts
will enter the grain space from opposite sides on the same horizontal plane, and,
meeting in the center of said grain space, discharge into the air exhaust ducts
above and below, as clearly shown by the arrows in Fig. 7. Thus it will be seen
that the air may be caused to act simultaneously upon the same body of grain from
opposite sides, driving the moisture therefrom between the opposed air blasts and
drying both sides of the grain with equal facility.
By means of these apertured slides G the air ducts may also be opened at both
ends so that an air blast may be passed directly through said ducts to remove all
accumulated dust.
The walls of the drier rise above the grain and air spaces forming a receptacle
to receive the wet grain from which it is fed into the open upper ends of the grain
spaces, the upper ends of the air spaces being closed by bevelled caps f which pre-
vent the accumulation of the grain thereon. The wet grain is retained in a suit-
able charging bin J above the drier, from which it is directed into the grain spaces
by means of suitable spouts J¹.
The air is heated by being drawn through a heating device I which may be of
any suitable construction and through which the air is drawn by the fan B which
fan forces the heated air into the pressure chamber B.
It will be observed that the area of the pressure chamber is greatest at the point
adjacent the fan, while the area of the exhaust chamber is greatest at the point
remote from the fan, the purpose of which is to equalize as nearly as possible the
air pressure in all the air spaces of the drier. The reduced area of the pressure
chamber remote from the fan tends to keep up the pressure at said remote point,
which condition the large area of the exhaust chamber opposite assists in main-
taining by obviating any back pressure, while the reduced area of the exhaust
chamber offers some resistance to the passage of the air through the drier from the
pressure chamber at a point adjacent the fan.
Grain which has been dried preparatory to grinding must be cooled, for the reason
that in its heated state it is unfit to be passed to the rolls. To effect the cooling
of the grain while in the drier, the case I inclosing the heater is provided on

page_text: opposite sides near the fan with two doors K which are hinged at i to swing
inward, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, so as to entirely cut off the heater from
the fan and at the same time provide an opening through the casing I for the
entrance of cold air so that when said doors are swung inward as described, cold air
only is admitted to the fan, which, in turn, is forced by the fan into the pressure
chamber and through the grain, enabling the grain to be cooled while in the drier
to normal temperature, from which it may then be conveyed to the rolls for grind-
ing or to the storage bins for shipping.
By placing the pressure chamber in the center of the drier and
locating the alternating grain and air spaces on opposite sides thereof,
the air spaces are all brought adjacent to the fan, enabling a more uniform
pressure to be attained at all points in the drier, at the same time forming a com-
pact and convenient device which occupies but a comparatively small area in pro-
portion to its capacity. It is evident, however, instead of placing the pressure
chamber in the centre between the opposite divisions containing the grain and
air spaces forming a double drier, I may construct what I would term a single
drier, in which all of the grain and air spaces will stand in a single row with the
pressure chamber at one end and the exhaust chamber at the other, without depart-
ing from the spirit of my invention.
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 a grain drier, the combination with the inclosing case, the drier located
within said case consisting of two opposed independent divisions, a central pressure
chamber between said divisions, the exhaust chamber on opposite sides of said
divisions, a series of alternating grain and air spaces crossing said divisions of the
drier transversely and separated by a perforated wall, the grain spaces being closed
at their ends and open at the top and having a discharge opening at the bottom, said
air spaces communicating at one end with said pressure chamber and at the opposite
end with said exhaust chambers, and means for supplying a blast of air to said
central pressure chamber, substantially as set forth.
2. In a grain drier, the combination with the inclosing case, the pressure
chamber on one side of said case and the exhaust chamber on the opposite side
thereof, a series of alternating grain and air spaces crossing said case transversely
and separated by a perforated wall, said grain spaces being closed at their ends
and provided with a discharge opening at the bottom, said air spaces being closed
at the top and bottom and communicating at their opposite ends with said pressure
chamber and said exhaust chamber, said pressure chamber being tapering in shape
and of smaller area remote from the entrance of the air blast, said exhaust chamber
being also tapering in shape and of larger area at the discharge end thereof, and
a fan or other means for forcing an air blast into said pressure chamber.
3. In a grain drier, the combination with the air induct and educt chambers, a
series of parallel grain and air spaces arranged alternately and having screens or
perforated walls between them, the grain spaces being closed at their ends and
open at the top and having a discharge opening at the bottom, the air spaces con-
sisting of a series of horizontal ducts communicating at opposite ends with the air
induct and air educt, said air flues or ducts communicating with the grain spaces
through said screens or perforated partitions, a series of vertically movable slides
located at the ends of said air ducts having apertures therein which register with
each alternate air duct or flue to afford communication between the opposite ends
of each alternate air duct and the air induct and educt, respectively, whereby an
air blast is caused to cross the grain spaces from side to side in reciprocal succession.
4. In a grain drier, the combination with a pressure chamber and exhaust
chamber, a series of alternating grain and air spaces extending between said
chambers, said grain spaces being closed at their ends and provided with a dis-
charge opening at the bottom, screens or perforated walls separating said grain and

page_text: air spaces, a series of horizontal strips dividing said air spaces into a series of
horizontal air flues or ducts communicating at opposite ends with the pressure
chamber and with the exhaust chamber, a series of vertical movable slides closing
the end of each vertical series of said air ducts, said slides having apertures which
register with each alternate air duct, as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a grain drier, the combination of an inclosing case, of a series of alternating
grain and air spaces crossing said case transversely and separated by perforated
partitions, a pressure chamber and an exhaust chamber on opposite sides of said
case, said air spaces being divided into a series of horizontal air Hues, half of which
flues are pressure flues and communicate with the pressure chamber, the other half
being exhaust flues which communicate with the exhaust chamber, said pressure
flues arranged horizontally on each side of the grain spaces, so that the blasts
entering from said pressure flues meet in the center of the grain spaces and exhaust
into the exhaust flues immediately above and below said pressure flues.
6. In a grain drier, the combination of a grain space, a series of horizontal air
flues arranged on opposite sides of said grain space and communicating therewith,
said air flues consisting of pressure flues and exhaust flues which alternate
vertically, said pressure flues and said exhaust flues on opposite sides of said grain
space being arranged in the same horizontal plane, a pressure chamber and an
exhaust chamber communicating with the opposite ends of said pressure flues and
said exhaust flues, respectively, to cause the air blasts to meet in the center of
said grain space from opposite sides and escape into said exhaust flues above and
below.
7. In a grain drier, the combination of an inclosing case, of a series of alternat-
ing grain and air spaces crossing said case transversely and separated by per-
forated partitions, a pressure chamber and an exhaust chamber on opposite sides
of said case, the air spaces communicating at opposite ends with said pressure
chamber and air exhaust, respectively, a blast fan communicating with said
pressure chamber, a heater connected with said fan, a casing inclosing said heater
and means for cutting off the heater from the fan and directing cold air there-
through, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
8. In a grain drier, the combination with the air induct and educt, the series of
parallel grain and air spaces arranged alternately and having a screen or perforated
wall between them, the grain spaces being closed at the ends and open at the top
and having a discharge opening at the bottom, the air spaces consisting of a series
of horizontal flues having alternately open and closed ends and communicating
alternately at opposite ends with the air induct and the air educt, said air flues
communicating with the grain spaces through said screen or perforated partition
by which arrangement an air blast is caused to cross the grain space from side
to side in reciprocal succession.
9. In a grain drier, the combination with the inclosing case having the air
induct and air educt, the series of alternating grain and air spaces crossing said
case, said grain spaces being closed at the ends and provided with a discharge at
the bottom, screens or perforated walls separating said grain and air spaces, a series
of horizontal strips dividing said air spaces into a series of horizontal flues alter-
nately communicating at one end with the air induct and alternately com-
municating at the opposite end with the air educt, and communicating with the
grain spaces through said screens or perforated partitions.
10. In a grain drier, the combination with the inclosing case, a series of alternat-
ing grain and air spaces crossing said case transversely and extending vertically
thereof, said grain spaces being closed at their outer ends, open at the top, and
provided with a discharge at the bottom, the screens or perforated partitions divid-
ing said grain and air spaces, said air spaces being divided into a series of inde-
pendent horizontal air flues whose opposite ends are alternately closed forming
alternating air blast and air exhaust flues, the air blast chamber on one side of
said case communicating with and common to all of said blast flues, the air educt
chamber on the opposite side of said case communicating with and common to all

page_text: of said air exhaust flues, whereby the air blast is caused to cross the grain spaces
laterally from the air blast flues to the air exhaust flues in vertical reciprocal suc-
cession.
11. In a grain drier, the combination of the inclosing case, the series of vertical
alternate grain and air spaces divided by perforated walls and crossing said case
transversely, said air spaces being closed at the top and bottom and open at their
opposite ends, said grain spaces being closed at their ends and open at their top
and provided with a discharge opening at the bottom, the induct air chamber on
one side of said case extending from the bottom to the top thereof and common_to
all of said air spaces, the educt air chamber on the opposite side of said case also
extending from the bottom to the top thereof and common to all of said air spaces,
and the series of vertical slides controlling the openings of said air spaces into
said induct and educt chambers respectively.
12. In a grain drier, the combination of the inclosing case, the series of vertical
alternate grain and air spaces divided by perforated walls and crossing said case
transversely, said air spaces being closed at the top and bottom and
open at their opposite ends, said grain spaces being closed at their ends and
open at their top and provided with a discharge opening at the bottom, the
induct air chamber on one side of said case extending from the bottom to the
top thereof and common to all of said air spaces, the educt air chamber on the
opposite side of said case also extending from the bottom to the top thereof and
common to all of said air spaces, and means for controlling the openings of said
air spaces into said induct and educt chambers, respectively, whereby the blast
may be caused to enter at one end of said air spaces, passing through the body
of the interposed grain and out of the opposite end of the succeeding air space into
the educt chamber.
Dated this th 1
1000