CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATORS OR WINNOWING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis Joseph Drechsler at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th January 1874.
I, FRANCIS JOSEPH DRECHSLER, of Camden Town, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
**CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATORS OR WINNOWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
-
The Invention relates to that class of agricultural implements known
as the separator or winnowing machine, and which is employed for
separating from corn or other seed chaff and extraneous matters, and the
Invention is designed for the purpose of expediting and more thoroughly
effecting such separating or winnowing process.
The arrangement of parts forming the subject of these improvements
may be thus described.
This
The first part of this Invention relates to the hopper, through and by
which the seed to be dressed is first passed into the machine.
hopper is supplied with two bottom adjustable leaves or flaps, one of
which is adjusted from the outside, enabling thereby the orifice through

page_text: which the seed passes on to the screens to be increased or diminished.
The other adjustable leaf is supplied with a comb or projecting prongs,
which cover its whole surface, the distance of which with respect to the
leaf it covers is adjustable. Both the prongs and the leaf receive
through their connection with the driving shaft a vibratory motion.
which the seed passes on to the screens to be increased or diminished.
The other adjustable leaf is supplied with a comb or projecting prongs,
which cover its whole surface, the distance of which with respect to the
leaf it covers is adjustable. Both the prongs and the leaf receive
through their connection with the driving shaft a vibratory motion.
The construction and employment of such leaves or flaps prevents
choking of the hopper, and also facilitates the passage of the seed
through the same on to the screens.
In some cases a supplementary screen of narrow dimensions may be
employed placed in a slanting position immediately below the hopper,
and which communicates direct with tubes that convey a portion of the
coarser particles away from the machine.
Secondly, the Invention relates to the motion given to the screens
employed for separating the seed, and which hitherto has been obtained
by knocking the frame of the screen or giving it a rapid to-and-fro
motion. In lieu of this I place transversely or otherwise over a portion
of the surface of their meshes between the frames a lath or length of
wood or other suitable material, which may have a square, round, or
other section. The screens being inclined these laths or lengths of wood
are retained in position on the surface of the meshes of their respective
screws by cord or other flexible or rigid attachments to the upper or
more elevated portion of the framing of such screens. Immediately over
each of these laths a straight or bent finger or strip of metal is placed, -
which projects from either side of a shaft or bar, which receives a
tremulous motion, and transmits the same in a series of taps to the laths
of wood bearing on the surface of the meshes. These screens are so
arranged that the first one upon which the seed falls has a considerable.
inclination, and the second is nearly level, thus the seed when falling.
from the hopper on to the first screen is effectually exposed to the blast
of the blower by the motion given to the meshes during its descent to
the second screen, thereby enabling the lighter particles of chaff to be
blown away, and at the same time the meshes by reason of the tapping
on the laths bearing on their surface are kept well open and so allow
the heavier particles of extraneous matter not blown away to pass
through into a receptacle suitably placed to receive them clear and apart
from the dressed seed. The seed passes from this first screen on to the
next screen, which has only a slight dip or inclination, and which is also

page_text: acted upon in a manner similar to the first one, and through the meshes
of which the seed only passes, and the larger particles of extraneous
matter at this time are passed from the surface of this screen into a
separate receptacle.
Thirdly, I provide the external portion of the machine with an
indicator, which is acted upon by revolving fans secured to a shaft, and
which are driven by the blast from the blower. By the aid of this
indicator the speed of the blower can be regulated in accordance with
the class of seed passing through the machine, for instance, if in dressing
corn a maximum speed of 2000 revolutions per minute is required, any
number below that will be at once indicated and so form a medium that
enables the operator to keep up the speed to the number of revolutions
required.