IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND SORTING SEED, GRAIN, AND OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Frederick Stidolph, William
Delf, and George Frederick Stidolph at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 20th July 1876.
THOMAS FREDERICK STIDOLPH, of Woodbridge, in the County of Suffolk, WILLIAM
DELF, of Great Bentley, in the County of Essex, and GEORGE FREDERICK STIDOLPHI,
of Woodbridge, aforesaid. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND
SORTING SEED, GRAIN, AND OTHER MATTERS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for cleaning and
sorting seed, grain, and other matters, and the improvements relate to apparatus
such as is described in the Specification of a former Patent granted to some of us
and another in the year 1875, and numbered 612.
One of our improvements consists in mounting some or all of the inclined shelves
of the apparatus upon pivots, so that the angle at which such shelves are set can
be altered as required.
The pivots are placed at the ends of the shelves either at one edge or in the
centre. Provision may be made for locking the shelves in any position into which
they may be placed. By these means the angle of the shelves can be adjusted to
suit exactly every description of seed, grain, or other matter requiring to be sepa-
rated or cleaned.
We
We also inake provision for simultaneously altering the angle of all or a number
of the shelves either to an equal extent or at a gradually accelerating rate.
prefer that the lower shelves should be capable of adjustment, as above described,
whilst some of the upper ones may be fixed.
Some or all of the shelves may as heretofore be covered with cloth or other
material, or be made of wire in the form of a screen or gauze, or be made of per-
forated metal. Moveable covers of metal, wood, or other material may be adapted
to such shelves, so that the nature of the surface over which the seed or other
matters have to pass may be quickly varied to increase or retard the velocity of
their descent down the inclined series of shelves. We also mount the first shelf or
plate on to which the seeds or matters fall from the hopper in such a way that its
angle can be adjusted separately from the other shelves; by this means the speed
at which the matters commence to travel down the inclined series of shelves can be
varied.
Another improvement consists in constructing the machine with two sets of
inclined shelves, one set above the other set, and both sets fed with seed or other
Price 11

page_text: matter to be sorted or cleaned from one hopper. The dross or lighter matters
falling down through the spaces between the shelves of the upper set or series is in
this case conducted by inclined plates to the sides of the machine; by this means
twice the quantity of work can be done in the same time without materially
increasing the space occupied by the machine or greatly increasing its cost.
In some cases in order more efficiently to dress the seed, grain, or other matters,
we mount two or more sets or series of inclined shelves in a zig-zag manner one
above the other, so that the seed which has passed over one series of shelves may
descend on to the next series, and so on in succession. This arrangement obviates
the necessity of two or more dressings, as is now sometimes required, and also
affords the means of obtaining as many different samples from the same feeding
hopper as there are series of shelves.
The machines may be so constructed that they can readily be taken to pieces for
greater convenience in packing and saving space in transit.