Improvements in Grain Scourers and Cleaners.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Oct., 1890-Accepted, 29th Nov., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Grain Scourers and Cleaners.
I GEORGE WATHEN of 60 Alexandra Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick Draftsman do hereby declare the nature of this invention as communicated
to me from abroad by Arthur Moore of 1 Bray Street Toronto County of York
Province of Ontario Čanada Merchant Miller and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of my improvements is to ensure a more thorough cleansing of the
grain by a more perfect arrangement of the air-legs and chambers by which the
circulation of the air is improved and is caused to act more thoroughly upon the grain
passing through the machine.
Figure 1 is a perspective sectional view of the machine, showing the inlet and
outlet grain spouts with the air-legs acting upon them.
Fig. 2, is a similar view of the machine made at right angles to the view shown
in Fig. 1, the perforated cylinder being removed.
In the drawing, A, represents a perforated cylinder placed within the air-
chamber, B. The top of the cylinder, A, is closed by a cover, C. A conveyor, D,
is fixed to a small perforated pipe or tube, E, connected to the shaft, E', on the top
of which the fan, F, is secured. The chamber, B, communicates with the interior
of the casing of the fan, F, which is made to act as an exhaust fan to draw the
air from the said chamber, B, and discharge it into the blast chamber, G. An
imperforate cylinder, H, is placed within the perforated cylinder, A, and fixed by the
arms, I, to the shaft, E', with which it revolves. Around the outer circumference of
the imperforate cylinder, H, I fix a series of blades, a, shaped to correspond with the
blades of the conveyor, D,-in fact constituting a portion of the said conveyor, D.
The base of the cylinder, H, rests upon the perforated bed-plate, J, which has a
flange b, formed on it to fit inside the cylinder, H, to prevent the heat escaping.
The flange, b, surrounds a hole made in the bed-plate, J, which bed-plate is supported
a little above the bottom, d, of the air-chamber. Air-legs, K, (see Fig. 2,) connect
the space between the bottom, d, and bed-plate, J, and the blast-chamber, G. The
bottom of the cylinder, E, is left open so as to communicate with the interior of
the cylinder, H. When the fan, F, is put in operation it exhausts the air in the
chamber, B, discharging it in the blast-chamber, G, and as this latter chamber is
connected to the bottom of the chamber, B, by the air-legs, K, a constant upward
circulation is produced in the chamber, B; the upward current produced in the said
chamber acts through the perforations in the cylinder, A, carrying through the said
perforations dust and wheat scourings produced by the action of the machine. The
screenings chamber, L, being connected to the air-chamber, B, by the opening, M,
an upward current is produced in the screenings: chamber, L, similar to the current
in the chamber, B. An air-leg, N, provided with a regulating valve, n, communicates,
as shown, with the blast-chamber, G, and with the bottom of the grain-leg, O,.which
grain-leg is connected, as shown, with the screenings chamber, L.; consequently the
air. which is forced down through the air-leg, N, into the bottom of the grain-leg, 0,
presses up the said grain-leg into the screenings chamber, L, from which it finds its
way back into the chamber, B, as before described. In this way a constant upward
current is maintained in the grain-leg, O, and upper part of screenings chamber, L,
as well as in. the air-chamber, B. The grain which enters the machine through the
grain-spout, P, falls upon the valve, Q, spreading over the face of the said valve,
which is set to permit a thin stream of the grain to fall upon the slanting shelf, R
which scatters the grain as it falls to the bottom of the grain-leg, O, which conveys
it, as indicated; into the bottom. of. the perforated cylinder, A. The upward current

page_text: of air already described in the grain-leg, O, carries the dust and other light particles
of foreign matter to the top of the grain-leg, O, where it comes in contact with the
deflecting-plate, S, which projects into the screenings chamber, L, below the bottom
of the opening, so as to cause a slight downward draught at this point in the
chamber, L, directing the screenings towards the bottom of the said chamber, from
which it is withdrawn through the spout, T, the dust passing on upward to the fan, F.
The grain which enters the bottom of the perforated cylinder, A, is immediately
acted upon by the blades, a, which elevate the said grain. The centrifugal force
produced by the revolving of the conveyor, D, holds the grain in substantially the
same thickness all the way around the case up to the top of the conveyor, where it
is discharged out of the spout, U. A valve, V, is placed in the end of the spout, U,
at the point where it opens into the chamber, W, so as to regulate the discharge of
the grain from the spout, U, on the shelf, V', which scatters the grain as it falls into
the said chamber, W, which has an opening at its bottom provided with a regulating
valve, X. An air-passage way, Y, connects at one end with the blast-chamber, G,
and at its other end with the chamber, W, so that a current of air is forced down
through the passage way, Y, into the said chamber, W. A screenings chamber, Z, is
connected to the chamber, W, by an opening located at or near the top of the
said chamber, W, consequently the air which is forced into the chamber, W, passes
into the chamber, Z, and up the said chamber back into the chamber, B, through the
opening, Z. Owing to this arrangement of air passages, the grain falling from the
valve, V, is acted upon by the current of air passing up the chamber, W. The said
current of air, carrying any dust or light foreign matter from the grain, conveys
into the screenings chamber, Z, on entering which it comes in contact with the
deflecting plate, X1, which precipitates the screenings towards the bottom of the
chamber, Z, from which it is removed through the opening made in the bottom of
the said chamber, the dust passing upward to the fan, F, through the opening, Z¹
The deflecting-plate, X1, being carried down the chamber, Z, below the opening in
the said chamber to the chamber, W, causes the downward current of air at this
point, precipitating the screenings as before mentioned.
it
Owing to the thin layer of grain in motion against the wall of the perforated
cylinder, A, the current of air will pass freely through it, carrying away every
particle of dust which may have been released from the grain, leaving little or no
work to be done by the current of air maintained in the discharging chamber, W.
A valve, Y', is placed in the air passage, Y, so that the strength of the blast in the
said air passage may be regulated.
A skirt, G', extends from the base of the fan-casing to a point below the opening
of the air-legs or passage ways leading from the blast-chamber, G, to the interior of
the machine. This skirt effectually protects the openings of the said air-legs or
Fassage ways from the dust which is blown into the blast-chamber by the action of
the fan; the said dust sinks to the bottom of the blast-chamber, from which it is
withdrawn through openings made in the bottom of the blast-chamber for that
purpose.
What I claim as my invention is :-
1. A perforated cylinder closed at one end, the opposite end being open to
communicate with an air-chamber within which the perforated cylinder is placed, a
short imperforate cylinder smaller in diameter than the perforated cylinder being
inserted in the open end of the latter, and fixed to a shaft extending through the
perforated cylinder, and carrying a conveyor, the blades of which are shaped to
extend between the perforated and imperforate cylinders, to the latter of which they
are fixed, in combination with a fan arranged to produce a current of air from the
air-chamber to the blast-chamber, air-legs or passages being arranged to connect the
blast-chamber situated at one end of the air-chamber, with the opposite end of
the said air-chamber, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. A revolving fan situated in a blast-chamber located at the upper end of an air-
chamber, within which a revolving conveyor contained in a perforated cylinder is

page_text: supported on a perforated bed-plate a little above the bottom of the air-chamber, in
combination with air-legs extending from the blast-chamber to a point below the
perforated bed-plate, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. A grain-leg extending from the inlet grain-spout to the interior of the perforated
cylinder, within which the revolving conveyor is situated, the grain-leg being
supplied with air forced from the blast-chamber by the action of the fan, in com-
bination with a screenings chamber having an opening at its upper end to
communicate with the inner air-chamber, and an opening to connect the screenings
chamber with the top of the grain-leg, a deflecting-plate extending over the said
opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. A spout extending from the top end of the perforated cylinder to a chamber
from which the grain is withdrawn, the said chamber being connected by an air-leg
to the blast-chamber, in combination with a screenings chamber connected with the
interior of the air-chamber, and to the top of the chamber from which the grain is
withdrawn, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
5. A blast-chamber into which a fan discharges the air drawn from the interior of
a wheat-cleaning machine, in combination with a skirt extending from the base of the
fan-casing to a point below the opening of the air-legs leading from the blast-chamber
to the interior of the machine, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 20th day of October 1890.
GEORGE WATHEN!