Year: 1886

page_text: I, JULIUS SCHLESINGER, of 59 Mark Lane, in the City of London, Dealer in
Mill-machinery, do hereby declare the nature of this invention a communication
from G. A. Gilbert and Ralph Wilcox both of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This invention relates to conveyors for grain, flour or similar materials.
In such conveyors, as heretofore usually constructed, a rotating screw-blade is
employed for transporting the material from one place to another, which blade
is fixed either upon a central shaft or upon the interior of a hollow cylinder
or tube.
An important feature of the present invention is the employment, in place of
the said screw-blade, of a spiral or helical bar or rod, which is connected at two or
more points with a central shaft, but which, throughout the greater part of its
length, is unattached to the shaft and is at a sufficient distance therefrom to permit
the passage of the grain, flour, or other material between it and the said shaft.
By making the conveyor in this manner, I greatly diminish the friction between
the material and the operative part of the conveyor, and facilitate the operation of
the apparatus.
The spiral or helical rod or bar is made either in one piece or in two or more
lengths or pieces which are united by means of couplings or other suitable devices.
The said rod or bar is preferably round, but it may, if desired, be square, oblong
or of any other suitable shape in transverse section.
I prefer to so construct my conveyor that the said bar or rod will be capable of
yielding in any direction perpendicular to its axis so that there is no liability to
injury or stoppage of the apparatus through the jamming of the material between
the said rod or har and the casing in which it is arranged.
The said invention is conveniently and advantageously carried into practice as
follows, that is to say; A spiral spring is arranged in a suitable casing or trough,
and a central shaft is passed through the said spring and is mounted in bearings in
the said casing or trough and provided with means for rotating it by hand or other

page_text: power. The said spiral spring is secured to the said shaft at each end in any
convenient manner, so that the said spring can yield in any direction at right
angles to the axis of the said shaft and spring. When grain, flour, or similar
material is placed in the said casing or trough at one end thereof and the said shaft
and spring are rotated in the proper direction, the spring, by reason of its spiral or
helical form, feeds or transports the said material to the other end of the said
casing or trough.
The working surface of the said spring is very small and is a considerable
distance from the axis of rotation, therefore the friction between the said rod or
bar and the grain, flour or other material is very slight as compared with that in
conveyors heretofore constructed, and the material can be fed or moved with
considerable velocity by the said spring.
In some instances, I connect the said spiral spring or rod with the shaft, at one
or more intermediate points, by any suitable means,
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Conveyors for Grain, Flour, and similar
Materials.
I JULIUS SCHLESINGER of 59 Mark Lane, in the City of London, Dealer in
mill-machinery, 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 conveyors for grain, flour or similar materials.
Conveyors as heretofore usually constructed are provided with a rotating screw-
blade for transporting the material from one place to another, which blade is fixed
either upon a central shaft or upon the interior of a hollow-cylinder or tube.
Such conveyors possess the disadvantages that they require considerable power
to operate them, and that, when in operation, they tend with some classes of
material, for instance with groats, to triturate the same whereby the quality is
deteriorated.
These disadvantages are due to the large area of the screw-blade which acts upon
the material, so that the latter receives not only a progressive but also a rotative
motion, whereby the particles of material are caused to rub against each other as
well as against the blade.
The chief feature of the present invention is the employment, in place of the said
screw-blade, of a spiral or helical bar or rod, which is connected at two or more
points with the shaft, but which, throughout the greater part of its length, is
unattached to the shaft and is at a sufficient distance therefrom to permit the
passage of the grain, flour or other material between it and the shaft.
By making the conveyor in this manner I greatly diminish the friction between
the material and the operative part of the conveyor, and facilitate the operation of
the apparatus.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a spiral conveyor constructed according to
this invention.
Figure 2 is an end view, and
Figure 3 a side view showing means for connecting the spiral bar or rod to the
central shaft.
Figures 4 and 5. are an end and side elevation respectively illustrating a
modification of my invention.
Figure 6 is a sectional elevation illustrating another modification of the said
invention.
a indicates the walls of a box or casing in which the improved conveyor is
located, which casing may be provided with any desirable number of "cut offs" a¹².
b is a shaft extending the whole length of the said box or casing and suitably
journalled in its ends. c is a pulley by means of which motion is communicated to
the said shaft. d is a bar or rod wound spirally to form a spiral spring, which
may be connected to the revolving shaft 6 in any suitable manner so as to be
rotated therewith,

page_text: As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the connection of the spiral spring to the shaft is
effected at each end by means of an arm e formed integral with a hub f. This arm
extends radially from its hub for a certain distance and is formed at its outer end
with an elbow or extension e¹, the curvature of which corresponds to that of the
spiral spring, as shown in Figure 2. The adjacent end of the spiral spring is
secured to the extremity of the said extension by a hook-shaped clamp g, one end
of which is passed through a perforation in the end of the extension and is rivetted
or upset, as shown at h Figure 3.
In very long conveyors I construct the spiral spring in sections, as shown in
Figure 1, which sections may be connected to the shaft at any desired points. The
sections shown in Figure 1 are connected through the medium of an arm i,
Figures 4 and 5, which is similar to the arms e herein before described, except that
it is provided with two extensions e¹ viz, one for each section. It is to be under-
stood, however, that any other suitable means may be used for the purpose.
When a conveyor is short, the shaft b extending through the whole length of the
conveyor is unnecessary. In this case the spiral spring is attached to short shafts k
at each end of the box or casing, as shown in Figure 6.
As the spiral bar or rod is only secured at its ends it will be obvious that the
conveyor is capable of yielding in any direction perpendicular to its axis, so that
there is no liability to injury or stoppage of the apparatus through the jamming of
the material between the said spiral bar or rod and the casing in which it is
arranged.
As shown in Figure 1 the rod or bar of which the spring is composed is square
but it may, if desired, be round, oblong or of any other suitable shape in transverse
section.
It is obvious that instead of coiling the bar or rod spirally as hereinbefore
described it may, if desired, be wound helically around a prism of octagonal or
other shape, so that when the prism is removed each convolution of the spring will
have a number of angles or corners. Also, instead of making all the convolutions
of the same diameter, as shown in Figure 1, so that the sides of the conveyor are
parallel, the latter may consist of one or more conical portions, that is to say, the
convolutions may gradually increase in diameter from one end to the other of the
spring, or increase and decrease several times during its length.
Although I prefer to form the conveyor of a continuous bar or rod, as herein before
described, I can in some cases construct the conveyor of a number of short rods or
bars arranged helically upon a cylindrical frame having a number of longitudinal
bars.
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
•
First. A conveyor for grain, flour or similar materials wherein a spiral spring
(with or without a central shaft) is enclosed within a box or casing and is arranged
to rotate upon or about its axis, for the purpose specified.
Second. The modification of my invention wherein I employ two or more spiral
springs attached to a central shaft, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of September 1886