Improvements in Middlings Purifiers.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date-of-Application, 13th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification, Left; 27th May, 1892-Accepted, 30th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by EDWIN BURR WHITMORE, of the Village of
Three Rivers, in' the County of St. Joseph, State of Michigan, United States
of America, Manufacturer.].
Improvements in Middlings Purifiers.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention-to be as follows:-
This invention-relates to new and useful improvements in middlings-purifiers and
the invention consists in the peculiar construction of the cant-boards for spreading
the material, so that the air blast may more effectually cleanse it. The said
invention also consists in the peculiar construction of an air purifying device
whereby the same may-be used over and over without discharging it into the room
with the floating dust, thus rendering the product of the machine more pure and
wholesome.
The construction of the cant boards is substantially as follows:
These are secured beneath the hopper upon a vibrating shoe in two. oblique
series separated vertically and laterally, one series in advance of the other, the
forward series being provided with a middlings arrester extending downwardly
therefrom at right angles, crossing the lower end of the first series, so that the
material in falling from the-hopper will be deflected from the first series against
the middlings arresters deflecting it at right angles to the first path upon the next
lowest cant-board and soon to the bottom, suitable pockets being provided for
taking the material.ofwarious grades.
The chaff and dust is carried by the fan into a chamber having two series of
slats arranged one on each side thereof and a direction board. for dividing the iair
blast into substantially equal proportions toward said slats, all so arranged that the
dust will strike these slats in the passage of the air and be collected, whereby.the
air is purified and may be used, over again without discharging the accumulated
dust into the room.
I also provide suitable means for regulating the quantity of air passing through
the middlings.
'
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Middlings Purifiers.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
5 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 :-
My.invention relates to a..middlings-purifier for cereals; and its object is to
produce a machine which can be easily worked, is economical in saving time and
space, and will use the same air over and over without discharging it into the room
and taking it up again with floating dust, thus rendering the product of the
machine more pure and wholesome.

page_text: To these ends my invention consists in certain features of novelty to be herein-
after described, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.
In order that my invention may be fully understood, I will now proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which—
Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof on a small scale..
Fig: 8 is an end elevation.
Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on line IV IV, Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line V V, Figs. 2, 3, and 4.
Fig. 6 is a detail view of the fan and the dust pocket and spout.
Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views showing the arrangement of the adjustable slats.
a a indicate opposite sides of the casing of the machine, A A¹ the ends of which
end A is curved, and B B' the top, of which part B¹ is lower than part B.
6 is the hopper below which is an adjustable cut-off 6' for regulating the amount
of material falling out of the hopper. Below the hopper and cut-off is a vibrating
shoe C, supported by spring-bars c on the inner side of the casing which hold it in
position and permit it to vibrate longitudinally of the casing. Arranged in oblique
series are inclined cant-boards D, which slightly overlap, leaving spaces d. Pro-
jecting downwardly from the upper edges of the cant boards D, at right angles
thereto, are strips or middlings arresters d'. Another oblique series of inclined
slightly overlapping cant-boards E, separated by spaces e are arranged behind the
series of cant-boards D in such position as that the middlings-arresters d¹ will
extend towards the midwidth of the boards E under them.
F is a shaft journaled transversely of the casing in boxes fand is provided with
an eccentric F¹, that turns within an eccentric ring f', carried at one end of rod F
which passes through the casing and is connected at its other end with shoe C,
whereby it is vibrated by the revolution of the shaft F.
G is a spout to discharge purified middlings, and G¹ a spout to discharge second
middlings, and G³ a spout to discharge tailings. The spout. G is situated directly
under the shoe C, and spouts G' and G' are alongside thereof, and all project in
inclined position to the outside of the casing. The wall between the spouts. G¹
and Gis prolonged upwardly. In front of the shoe C is arranged a shield-
board g' inclined away from the shoe and extending from the top part B¹ of the
casing. At the top of and to one side of the casing is a rotary exhaust-fan H for
causing the air to circulate in a continuous current through the machine.
Communicating with the opening H' at the side of the fan is a dust-pocket ½, open
at top, from which a spout h¹ leads to the outside of the casing.
I is a vacuum dust-chamber below the mouth of the fan.
On one end of the fan-shaft E' is a main drive-pulley.J, which may be driven.
from any suitable or convenient source of power. On the other end of the shaft H'
is a belt-pulley, over which and over a belt-pulley K passes a belt k, said pulley
being located at one end of a transverse shaft K, journaled, in boxes K' at the
lower end of the machine. Meshing bevel gear-wheels, fixed, respectively, on
shaft K and shaft M, rotate the latter and a spiral conveyer m or other suitable
device mounted thereon. The conveyer m works in a trough N, extending longi-
tudinally of the bottom of the casing.
Communicating at its upper end with dust-chamber I and at its lower end with
conveyer m is a spout O at one side of the machine.
Located on the end of fan-shaft H' contiguous to the pulley jis another pulley P,
over which and over pulley p at one end of the shaft Fa. belt Q passes, so as to
rotate the latter.
r is a valve for closing a hand-hole at one side of the machine, for affording
access to valve i, which closes an opening in the transverse partition R at the side
of the mouth of the fan. The mouth of the fan opens into a curved channel S, at
the front and back of which are two curved series of adjustable slats &³, respec-
tively, which form said channel between them. At the front side of the lower end-
of this channel is a vertical partition t arranged transversely of the casing.
S

page_text: Above the spiral conveyer m is a horizontal series of slats u. These slate:
operate similar to the folding slats of a window shutter, and each series is operated
by a rod U, connected with the crank on a rock-shaft V, Fig. 7. At one end of
said shaft is an arm W, which is perforated for the passage of a pin w, which
engages one of a series of holes to in the casing and holds the slats to desired'
position.
X is a V-shaped divider-board arranged at the inner end of channel S, just in-
front of the mouth of the fan.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
The middlings are fed through the hopper and fall onto the shoe, first falling
against the upper cant-board E and the upper middlings-arrester d', then upon the
next cant board E below to permit the middlings to be thoroughly aerated, and so
on down to the purified-middlings-discharge spout G, the arresters d preventing
the heavier middlings from being thrown onto the cant-boards D. As the
middlings pass through the intervals between the cant boards, the air-currents.
(indicated by arrows 1 1) carry away and separate the dust and fluff from the
middlings. The dust-laden air currents after passing through the cant boards are
deflected by the shield-boards g' in the direction of arrow 2 and strike the extended
wall g, causing the heavier particles to fall into spout G. The air currents then
pass upwardly in the direction of arrow 3 and strike against the inclined partition Y,
causing the heavier particles to fall into the spout G. As the air passes onto.
the fan through its side opening H', as indicated by arrow 4, it must turn back
over the edge of the dust pocket h, causing the heavier particles to fall thereinto..
As the air passes out of the mouth of the fan, as indicated by arrow 5, the current
is divided by the V-shaped divider-board X passing in two currents, respectively,.
above and below it as indicated by the arrows 6 and 7. The lower current is
forced against the dust-arresters s, the heavier particles of the dust-laden air-
falling through between the slats into the vacuum chamber I and through the
spouts to conveyer m. The upper current is thrown against the outer wall of
the dust-channel S, causing it to pass behind dust-arresters s', the heavier particles
falling through the expansion-chamber Z directly into conveyer m, and said current
expanding in the chamber Z and passing upward through between the slats, as
shown by arrows 8 8. The air-current now passes up over the partition t back to
the vibrating shoe, in the direction indicated by arrows 9, 10, and 11, and proceeds
as before.
The air-regulating valve i is used to regulate the draft through the middlings
as it passes over the cant-boards of the vibrating shoe. This is accomplished by
opening said valve, when some of the dust-laden air passes direct from behind
partition t to the fan.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven--
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is:
1. In a middlings-purifier, a vibrating shoe provided with two oblique series of
spaced inclined cant-boards, one series being in advance of the other, and the
boards of which series are provided at their upper edges with middlings-arresters
extending downwardly at right angles thereto and located directly opposite and
also at right angles to the boards of the rear series, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
2. In a middlings-purifier, a vibrating shoe, a fan, a dust-chamber, a conveyer,
a spout leading from the dust-chamber to the conveyer, and two series of slats
arranged one on each side of an air channel leading from the fan, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a middlings-purifier, a vibrating shoe, a fan an air channel leading from
the fan, a divider in front of the mouth of the fan, and a series of dust arresters.
on each side of the channel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a middlings-purifier, the combination of the cant boards, a fan adapted to

page_text: draw the air therethrough and deliver it into a dust schamber and a damper
fore-connecting the adust chamber with the suction of the fan, substantially-as
described.
5: In aumiddlings-purifier, the combination of the separating devices, a fan
having a suction-channel-connecting with the separating chamber, and a discharge
connecting into a dust chamber, and a damper controlling a connection from the
discharge side of the fan to its suction, substantially as described.
6. In a middlings purifier, the combination with the separating devices, a channel
leading from and returning thereto, a fan in said channel-adapted-to-circulate the
air, and a damper -controlling.a short circuit including the-fan-and. excluding the
separating.device, substantially as described.
.Dated this 27th day of May 1892.
HASELTINE; LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agants for the. Applicant.