IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Auguste Arnold Buchholz, of Vauxhall, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS." A communication from abroad by Jacob
Lang, of the Ersto Ofen Pester Dampfmuehlen Actien Gesellschaft, Buda Pest,
in the Kingdom of Hungary.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Auguste Arnold
Buchholz at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th April
1880.
JOHN AUGUSTE ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ, of Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS." [A
cominunication from abroad by Jacob Lang, of the Erste Ofen Pester Dampfmuehlen
Actien Gesellschaft, Buda Pest, in the Kingdom of Hungary.]
The object of this Invention is to provide a machine which will clean wheat and
other grain or seeds in an efficient and economical manner. To this end a series of
annular chambers is set up one above the other, the number varying according to
the nature of the work, five chambers being a fair average for wheat cleaning.
Through these chambers the grain to be operated upon is passed successively under
the action of revolving blades or beaters, and it is at the same time submitted to
ascending currents of air, which are delivered by a fan or blower near the base of
the machine, and quickened in their passage by an exhaust fan. The annular
chambers are each composed of a circular plate of cast iron, with a central opening,
which opening is circumscribed by a wall that forms the inner side of the annular
chamber. This wall has a sharp inclination inwards, which inclination virtually
contracts the width of the bottom of the chamber. The outer wall of the chamber
is formed by a cylinder of pierced metal, which is held in place on the circular plate
by a vertical flange projecting from the face of the plate.
A corresponding Bange is formed on the underside of the plate to fit within the
cylinder of the next adjacent chamber. The bottoms of these chambers when placed
one above the other serve as covers for the chambers immediately below them, and
they are secured together by tie rods passing down through all the plates and
through spacing pillars interposed between the plates. The inner walls of these
annular chambers are not equal in depth to the cylinders which form the outer

page_text: walls; a clear space is thus provided for the passage of the arms which carry the
revolving blades or beaters. These arms project radially from a central shaft, on
the opposite ends of which the blower and the exhaust fan are mounted, and they
are each provided at their extremities with a blade or beater, which blades or
beaters sweep over the bottom of the chambers, and serve to propel forward any
grain that they may come in contact with.
In the bottom of each chamber is a discharge opening for the grain. These
openings are so arranged relatively to each other that the grain falling from the
topmost chamber into the one immediately below it will have to traverse nearly
the whole circle of the annular chamber before it meets with the discharge opening,
and so on throughout the series of chambers.
The topmost chamber is closed by a cover which is formed-with-an-opening,-over-
which fits a case for receiving the exhaust fan. This fan case is fitted at its side
with a spout, which may lead off to the open air or to a closed receptacle. A feed
hopper situate above the cover discharges grain in regulated quantities to the top-
most chamber, whence it falls into and is spread over the several chambers below,
and is ultimately discharged from the bottom chamber into a suitable receptacle.
The apparatus above described is enclosed in an air tight casing, up which the
air from the blower passes and finds its way into the several chambers through
their perforated walls. The air then passes over and through the grain while in
motion, and enters the central space formed by the annular chambers, carrying
with it the dust contained in the grain.
it
To facilitate the removal of this dust the exhaust fan is employed, which draws
up
with the ascending column of air and discharges it from the fan-case.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Augusto Arnold Buchholz in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th October 1880.
JOHN AUGUSTE ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ, of Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CLEANING GRAIN AND SEEDS." A com-
munication from abroad by Jacob Lang, of the Erste Ofen Pester Dampfmuchlen
Actien Gesellschaft, Buda Pest, in the Kingdom of Hungary.
The object of this Invention is to provide a machine which will clean wheat and
other grain or seeds in an efficient and economical manner.
To this end a series of
annular scouring chambers is set up one above the other and within an air tight
case communicating at bottom with a blower and at top with an exhaust fan. Tho
number of these annular scouring chambers varies according to the nature of the
work, five chambers being a fair average for wheat cleaning.
Through these chambers the grain to be operated upon is passed successively
under the action of revolving blades or beaters, and it is at the same time submitted
to ascending currents of air delivered from the blower and quickened in their
passago by the exhaust fan.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the
grain cleaning machine, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same taken in the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 1. A, A, A, represent a series of annular souring chambers set one
above the other, and enclosed in a cylindrical casing B; C is a shaft passing up
through central openings in the chambers and carrying radial arms which are fitted
at their extremities with blades or stirrers D that sweep over the bottom of their
respective chambers A for the purpose of scouring the grain supplied thereto.
E is a hopper communicating with the interior of the case B above the topmost
annular chamber, and through it the grain or seed to be cleaned is supplied to the
machine.
At the bottom of the casing B is a compartment B¹, containing the blower F,
which is keyed to the central shaft C.
At the top of the casing B is a compartment B2, containing the exhaust fan G,
which is also keyed to the central shaft C. This shaft rests in a foot-step C³, and
it is supported at its upper end in a bearing C' carried by the casing B.
The annular scouring chambers are cach composed of a circular plate a of cast
iron with a central opening, which opening is circumscribed by a conical wall cast
with the plate, and forming the inner side of the annular chamber.
This inner wall is of conical shape for directing upwards the air curronts which
carry off the dust as fast as it is removed from the grain by the scouring action of
the blades or stirrers D.
The outer wall of the chamber is formed by a cylinder of pierced metal a¹, which
is held in place on the circular plate a by a vertical flange (fitting within it)
projecting from the face of the plate a. A corresponding flange is formed on the
underside of the plate to fit within the cylinder a of the next adjacent
chamber.
The bottoms of these chambers when placed one above the other serve as covers
for the chambers immediately below them, and a special flanged plate is provided
as a cover for the uppermost annular chamber.
The several chambers are secured together by tie rods a passing down through
all the plates and through spacing pillars a³ interposed between the plates. The
inner walls of these annular chambers are not equal in depth to the cylinders which
form the outer walls; a clear space is thus provided for the passage of the arms
which carry the revolving blades D. These blades serve to scour and propel forward
any grain that they may come in contact with when the machine is in action. In
the bottom of each chamber is a discharge opening a¹ for the grain.

page_text: These openings are so arranged relatively to each other that the grain falling
from the topmost chamber into the one immediately below it will have to traverse
nearly the whole circle of the annular chamber in the direction of the arrow (see
Fig. 2) before it meets with the discharge opening a* (shown in dotted lines in the
Drawing), and so on throughout the series of chainbers.
The cover of the topmost chamber A is formed with an opening a³, which underlies
the spout of the hopper E, and though it the corn or seed is supplied to the annular
chambers.
In the exhaust compartment B is a side spout b, which may lead off to the open
air or to a closed receptacle. This compartment, as also the compartment B¹, is in
communication with the interior of the casing B, of which they form a part, and
thus the air taken up by the blower will be free to enter the case and find an exit
by the spout b. The feed hopper E is caused to discharge grain in regulated
quantities into the topmost chamber A, whence it falls into and is-spread-over-the
several chambers below, and is ultimately discharged from the bottom chamber by 1
the spout 6' into a suitable receptacle.
Fitted to the top of the shaft C is a driving pulley H, through which rotary
motion is imparted to the shaft for the purpose of driving the blowing and exhaust
fans and the revolving blades. The air from the blower F passes upwards and
produces in the outer annular chamber B an air pressure which supplies the currents
of air of equal pressure through the perforated walls a to the several scouring
chambers A, where they pass through the grain while it is in motion and unito
with the current of surplus air from the blast fan, which is directed through the
_central space formed by the inner walls of the annular scouring chambers, carrying
with it the dust contained-in-the-grain.._
It is to facilitate the removal of this dust that the exhaust fan-G is-employed,-
which draws it up with the ascending column of air and discharges it from the fan
case through the shute b.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Machinery for
Cleaning Grain and Seeds," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, 1 wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
The arrangement of machinery substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying Drawing, whereby a continuous stream of grain or seeds is submitted
to the scouring action of revolving blades, and the dust thereby produced is imme-
diately removed by currents of air in the manner and for the purposo above set
forth.
In witness whereof, 1, the said John Augusto Arnold Buchholz, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.