IMPROVEMENTS IN SMUTTER AND SEPARATOR MACHINES FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bleckly Dell, of No. 26, Mark Lane, in the City
of London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMUTTER AND SEPARATOR
MACHINES FOR TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS." A communication
from abroad by Joseph Silas Leas and Swan Hanson, both of Moline, Illinois,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bleckly Dell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th August 1880.
WILLIAM BLECKLY DELL, of No. 26, Mark Lane, in the City of London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SMUTTER AND SEPARATOR MACHINES FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER CEREALS." [A communication from abroad by Joseph Silas Leas and
Swan Hanson, both of Moline, Illinois, in the United States of America.]
In smutter and separator machines for treating wheat and other cereals so as to
clear the grain of smut and dust and polish its surface, a number of vertical bars or
rods constituting a cage are made to revolve rapidly within a perforated casing,
while the grain descends the narrow annular space between those bars and the
casing, and a current of air is at the same time made to pass up another annular
space between the perforated casing and an external casing, so as to clear off the
smut and dust which is driven by centrifugal force through the perforations of the
inner casing.
The object of the present Invention is to provide means for more effectually
cleaning and polishing the grain as it passes through machines of this kind.
For this purpose a number of the vertical revolving bars or rods are dispensed
with, and in their place there are provided brushes that extend the whole length of
the cage. There may be two, three, or more of these vertical brushes spaced uniformly
round the cage. They are made so that they can be slid radially outwards or
inwards without opening the casing of the machine, and for this purpose there are
provided at each end of the cage discs having on them eccentric or cam shaped
segments which take into notches at the ends of the brushes. These discs being
turned simultaneously in the one direction or the other by suitable gearing, the
several brushes are simultaneously protruded or retracted. Thus the space between
them and the perforated casing, through which space the grain has to descend, can
be varied as desired; and as the brushes become worn they can be protruded so as
to maintain the distance suitable for the grain treated.

page_text: "
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Bleckly Dell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
February 1881.
WILLIAM BLECKLY DELL, of No. 26, Mark Lane, in the City of London.
IMPROVEMENTS IN SMUTTER AND SEPARATOR MACHINES FOR TREATING WHEAT
AND OTHER CEREALS." A communication from abroad by Joseph Silas Leas and
Swan Hanson, both of Moline, Illinois, in the United States of America.
In smutter and separator machines for treating wheat and other cereals so as to
clear the grain of smut and dust and polish its surface, a number of vertical bars or
rods constituting a cage are made to revolve rapidly within a perforated casing,
while the grain descends the narrow annular space between these bars and the
casing, and a current of air is at the same time made to pass up another annular
space between the perforated casing and an external casing, so as to clear off the
smut and dust which is driven by centrifugal force through the perforations of the
inner casing.
The object of the present Invention is to provide means for more effectually
cleaning and polishing the grain as it passes through machines of this kind.
For this purpose, a number of the vertical revolving bars or rods are dispensed with,
and in their place there are provided brushes that extend the whole length of the
cage. There may be two, three, or more of these vertical brushes spaced uniformly
round the cage. They are made so that they can be slid radially outwards or
inwards without opening the casing of the machine, and for this purpose there are
provided at each end of the cage discs, having on them eccentric or cam shaped
segments, which take into notches at the ends of the brushes. These discs, being
turned simultaneously in the one direction or the other by suitable gearing, the
several brushes are simultaneously protruded or retracted.
Thus the space
between them and the perforated casing, through which space the grain has to
descend, can be varied as desired; and as the brushes become worn they can be
protruded so as to maintain the distance suitable for the grain treated.

page_text: The outer casing or cylinder H is made of sheet metal, and the upper ends of
both casings or cylinders are held by a plate J secured to the frame.
To the shaft C within the cylinder I are secured two heads K, K, between which,
at proper intervals, are secured metal strips h, h, dividing the outer circumference
into alternate large and small spaces. In each of the smaller spaces is placed a
brush L, and in each of the larger spaces is placed a series of vertical rods i, i.
Each series of these rods is placed upon the arc of a circle eccentric to a circle,
having the shaft C as a centre; or in other words these rods in each series form an
inclined rod-beater, by which the wheat is carried up an incline to the face of the
adjacent brush.
The brushes L are on their inner sides at both ends provided with hooked
arms m, which engage with grooved eccentrics M, M, placed loosely on the
shaft C, and held from moving up and down thereon by means of collars n fastened
to the shaft by set-screws.
The eccentrics M, M, are placed close to the inner sides of the heads K, K, of the
revolving scourer, and the hooked arms m pass in between them, as shewn. Each
eccentric is provided with a raised flange p having a series of cogs as shown, which
gear with a pinion s on an upright shaft N, which has its journal-bearings in the
heads K, K, and passes through slots x in the eccentrics M, M. The shaft N also
passes through a disc O, attached to the shaft C below the top plate I¹ of the inner
perforated cylinder I, and the shaft N extends still farther up and passes through
a cross-head P secured on the shaft C, the shaft being fastened in the said cross-head
by a set-screw t. By loosening this set-screw and applying a wrench to the upper
end of the shaft N, the said shaft may be turned, which by means of the gears 8, p,
rotates the eccentrics M, M, thereby adjusting the brushes L, L, out or in, according
as the power may be applied either to the right or left.
The slots in the eccentrics M, M, are covered by means of loose plates winterposed
between the said eccentrics and the collars n.
R represents the fan-case containing the fan S secured on the shaft C. In the
side of the fan-case is a door or slide T which is to be opened to gain access to the
set-screw t and upper end of the shaft N.
The machine is provided with the usual separating-trunk W, the same as in
other brush-scourers of this class.
The operation is the same as is usual in this kind of machines. The interior
Scourer being rotated, the grain as it is fed in through the hopper A' is thrown by
centrifugal force to the inside of the perforated casing and acted upon by the
beaters and brushes, after which it falls to the bottom and is carried out through
the spout, the fan in the meantime carrying off all dust and dirt. A spout leads
from the hopper through both casings and allows the grain to fall on to the top
plate of the revolving cylinder.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, I
claim,―
Constructing the revolving beaters of smutter and separator machines of a series
of vertical bars or rods alternating with brush surfaces, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bleckly Dell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our Lord One