Improvements in the Construction of Dust Collectors or Machines for Separating Dust from Air.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 18th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 22nd Mar., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Dust Collectors or Machines
for Separating Dust from Air.
I, WILLIAM INCE, of Hayle Foundry Steam Mills, Hayle, in the County of
Cornwall, Foreman at the above Steam Flour Mills, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to dust collectors in which no textile material is used, an
endless sectional, travelling non-textile filtering surface being employed for
separating dust from the dust-laden air coming from flour-making, grain-cleaning,
or other kinds of dust making machinery. The object of my invention is to produce
a simple and efficient machine that will not react on the exhaust fans, but allow the
pure air to pass off free, the dust being retained, collected, and delivered by the
machine.
For this purpose the dust collector is constructed in the following manner :-
The apparatus consists of a framework of wood, iron, or other suitable material, and
can be made circular, semi-circular, rectangular, or of any other suitable shape.
The external part of the machine, or shell, covering the filtering area, is made of
wire gauze, or perforated metal. The dust-laden air can be blown into the machine,
in which case the pure air will escape through the perforated shell into the
atmosphere, or the air can be sucked through the apparatus by an auxiliary exhaust
fan. In sucking the air through the collector an additional air-tight covering is
used over the perforated metal shell, and is provided with an air opening connected
to the exhaust fan, from which the pure air is blown into the atmosphere.
The endless sectional travelling filter consists of a series of filter brushes made of
metal or other suitable substance, the sections being hinged together in such a way
as to form a continuous filtering belt.
When the apparatus is circular the belt is mounted on a wheel, or the sections
can be connected to the periphery thereof directly, without being connected to form
an endless belt. Circular motion is transmitted to the shaft of such wheel by any
suitable means, and the brushes are thus caused to move in a circular direction within
the stationary perforated shell.

page_text: When the apparatus is semi-circular or rectangular, or of any other form than
circular, the endless chain carrying the brushes is caused to pass over one or more
chain wheels mounted so as to cause the brushes to travel in the desired path, within
the shell, which is of corresponding form. One or more of the shafts of the chain
wheels are driven in any suitable manner so as to cause the brushes to be drawn
continually at a slow speed over the inner surface of the perforated shell, so that the
dust in the air passing through the apparatus is arrested by such brushes, which
at the same time as they travel along keep the perforations in the shell clear.
For automatically cleaning off the dust from the filtering brushes the following
arrangement is employed :-At the bottom of the machine a dust receiving chamber
is provided of the whole length of the machine, and open at the top.. As the hinged
sectional filters in their movement pass over the opening above described, they
become at once naturally in a hanging position over the opening. At this point a
suitable arrangement is designed to shake the brushes, which consists of a rotary
beater having bearings at each end, and, being operated by the main shaft, when in
motion imparts a rapid rising and falling movement to the section of filter, whereby
all the dust is shaken from the brushes and falls into the cleaning hopper. A screw
conveyor trough is provided at the bottom of the cleaning hopper to discharge the
dust.
The dust-laden air first enters an air chamber at the bottom of the apparatus. On
each side of this chamber deflecting boards are fixed to arrest the heaviest dust
particles before entering the filtering chamber proper. A screw conveyor_trough or
other suitable means can be applied for discharging the dust from such chamber.
The lighter dust particles will deposit on the walls of the brush filter, so that in
practice it is obvious that only purified air can possibly escape through the openings
of the perforated metallic shell or covering.
Dated this 20th day of March 1888

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Dust Collectors or Machines
for Separating Dust from Air.
I, WILLIAM INCE, of Hayle Foundry Steam Mills, Hayle, in the County of
Cornwall, Foreman at the above Steam Flour Mills, 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 :-
My invention relates particularly to dust collectors in which no textile material
is used in their construction, and can be made exclusively of a metallic substance
throughout, thus rendering the machine absolutely fire-proof.
For this purpose an endless sectional travelling filtering medium is employed, and
is enclosed in a perforated metal covering, for separating dust from dust laden air
discharged from all kinds of dust making machinery employed in flour mills and for
other manufacturing purposes. The object of my invention is to produce a simple
and efficient machine that will arrest and collect the finest dust, while at the same
time the air in the apparatus is practically unconfined, and will, therefore, not react
upon the exhaust fans, but allow the the pure air to pass off freely. The dust is
retained, collected and delivered by the machine.
According to my invention the dust collector can be made circular, oblong,
rectangular, or of any other suitable form. The framework of the machine may be of
wood or iron, and the outer covering of wire gauze or perforated metal, inside which
the filtering medium travels at a slow pace, while a suitable knocker is arranged
underneath the filtering sections, so that as they pass in succession over the knocker
all the dust from each section is shaken out into the hopper at the bottom of the
machine, from which it is delivered by a worm conveyor.
The dust laden air can be blown into the machine from the exhaust fan, which
may be attached directly to the machine, or connected thereto from a distance; or the
ir can be caused to pass through the apparatus by suction created by an auxiliary
xhaust fan. When suction is employed to cause the air to pass through the
ollector an additional air-tight covering is used over the perforated metal shell, and
provided with an air opening connected to the fan, from which source the purified
ir is blown into the atmosphere.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now proceed to
escribe the same by the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a transverse section of the machine.
Fig. 2 a longitudinal section of same, and
Fig. 3 a transverse section of an oblong machine.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a complete machine, with exhaust fan attached for
owing air into it.
A is the framework of the machine; B the centre for carrying the filtering
ushes D, and which is mounted upon the driving shaft C ; E is the outer frame

page_text: for supporting the perforated metal cover F, through which the pure air escapes
from the machine. The brushes Dare composed of a suitable base a, and a flexible
part e for arresting and collecting the dust as the air passes through the perforated
cover F, and which flexible part may be made of thin perforated metal or fine
wire gauze, or of any other suitable flexible material arranged so as to form a
continuons and perfect arresting medium e, as shown in the drawings. The
brushes D are mounted on the centre B at such distances from each other in relation
to the length of the flexible parts, that such parts overlap each other and prevent
all possibility of dust escaping with the outgoing air currents. The centres B are
caused to make one revolution about every ten minutes, in the direction of the
arrow g (Fig. 1), and as the filtering brushes D are attached thereto by pivots f, the
brushes are allowed to leave their proper path of travel (that is the space between
the centre B and the cover F), and while passing over the opening of hopper G, to
assume a hanging position, as shown in Fig. 1. Before the brushes fall into a
vertical position they have to pass over the knocker H which is caused to rotate by
the chain wheel I and chain J. The knocker H has a throw of about two inches
from the centre, as shown in Fig. 1, and when in motion imparts a rapid oscillating
movement to the brush filters as they consecutively pass over the same, whereby
all the dust is shaken from them into the hopper G, from whence it is removed by
the worm conveyor k. After the brush filters pass the opening over the hopper G,
it is obvious that they will readily assume their proper path again. The filtering
medium e while in motion serves a twofold purpose; (1) to collect the dust as the
air passes through it; and, (2) also by its motion over the perforations in the outer
casing F, to keep such perforations open and free.
The parts may be actuated in any suitable manner, the following being a suitable
arrangement:
-
The centres B are actuated by the worm L and worm wheel M. The
worm shaft N, receives motion from the chain wheels O and P. The worm con-
veyor kis driven by a cross shaft operated by driving pulley Q.
In operation the air enters at R, and after passing through the filtering medium e,
escapes freely through the perforated covering F.
Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a similar apparatus and operates in the same
manner as the one above described, but which differs in shape and has a much
greater working surface and capacity than that shown in Figs 1 and 2. In this
modified form of machine I use two chain wheels h, h, in addition to the centre B,
in order to make the apparatus deeper and thereby increase its capacity. Instead
of pivotting the brushes D to the centres B as in the previous arrangement, such
brushes are mounted on an endless chain or link belt, which passes over centre B,
and the bottom wheels h, h, all of which are provided with teeth of a pitch corre-
sponding to that of the endless chain or beli. A set of wheels and a corresponding
chain or belt is provided at each end of the apparatus. The base a of each of the
brushes D is pivotted to the chain at each end of the machine, so that the whole of
the brushes form a continuous filtering medium similar to that formed in the
apparatus previously described and shown in Fig. 1. F is the metal cover; the
arrows i represent the course taken by the outgoing currents; arrow g indicates
the direction of travel of the filters; and R the inlet for the dust laden air. When
in motion the action is precisely the same as in the former case, the knocker H cleaning
the filters as they pass over the opening to hopper G, previous to reassuming their
normal position, and the dust shaken from the filters being collected by the worm
conveyor k. As the dust laden air enters the machine the heavier particles naturally
gravitate through the openings, shown by arrows n, between the filtering sections,
and pass into the hopper. The centres B make one revolution about every ten
minutes, which has the effect of bringing all the dust caught to one common point
for deposit. The rising side of the filtering apparatus will always he clean and
ready for use, and the movement of the filtering medium ensures the keeping of
the perforations in the outer casing open, so that the air will escape without obstruc-
tion, and in no case is it possible for the filtering power of the machine to vary or

page_text: diminish, for so long as the perforations are kept open and free. so long will the
apparatus get rid of the injected air as rapidly as it is introduced.
Fig. 4 represents a complete apparatus, with exhaust fan attached blowing
into the collector air which is being drawn by the fan from the machinery that
needs such assistance; such for instance, as purifiers, rolls, or other machines used
in the manufacture of flour, or for other manufacturing purposes. V represents the
exhaust fan; W the main driving pulley and driving belt for operating the collector;
the arrows
indicate the flow of air from the fan; arrow y' shows the inflow of
air to the fan from the machinery. The air escapes from the collector in the direction
of the arrows z.
It is obvious that as the principal feature of my invention is the novel method in
which the dust is completely separated from the air, at the same time that this is
accomplished without creating back pressure upon the exhaust fans, and the air
escapes from the machine without hinderance, while the dust is delivered auto-
matically from the machine, the apparatus may consequently be varied in its
mechanical details and general design, and the system of arrangement modified to
meet all circumstances, without departing from the nature of my invention. For
example, the exhaust fan may be employed or omitted as found necessary; the
filtering medium may be arranged either around the centres as shown in Fig. 1, or
in endless belt form; and, the air to be filtered may be either drawn or blown through
the collector.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved dust collecting apparatus consisting in a series of flexible
filtering brushes or sections connected either to centres or to an endless belt or chain,
such brushes or sections being caused to travel in contact with a covering of per-
forated metal or wire gauze, substantially as specified.
2. The combination with a set of flexible filtering brushes or sections pivotted to
an endless travelling chain or to revolving centres, of a knocker arranged over a
hopper and in the path of travel of such brushes or sections, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
3. The combination of the centres B, and chain wheels h, h, upon which is mounted
an endless link belting forming a continuous carrier for receiving the filtering
brushes or sections D, and of a suitable knocker for shaking the dust from such
rushes or sections as they pass over the cleaning hopper G, substantially as described
nd shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.
4. The employment of filtering brushes arranged to travel in a circular or elliptical
ath in contact with a perforated metal or wire gauze cover, and either with or
vithout an outer closed casing or cover, for the purpose of arresting dust particles
rom dust laden air which is caused to pass through such filtering brushes, the latter
their travel being caused to pass over a suitable knocker for relieving them of dust,
abstantially as specified.
5. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting an apparatus for
parating dust from dust laden air, substantially as described and shown in the
rawings.