Improvements in or relating to Dressing or Bolting Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1892-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Dressing or Bolting Machines.
A communication by WILLIAM DICKSON GRAY, of Milwaukee, in the County of
Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, United States of America, Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Man-
chester both in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to that class of flour dressers or bolts in which a centri-
fugal reel is combined with a central drum and intermediate longitudinal buckets or
blades separated at their outer edges from the cloth so that they act to lift the
material on the upgoing side of the reel and permit it to flow downward over the
bolting-cloth for the purpose of bringing into action a large portion of the bolting
surface.
The object of the present invention is to increase the capacity and give greater
uniformity in the bolting action of these machines, and to this end it consists
essentially in combining, with a reel having longitudinal lifting blades or buckets
therein, obliquely arranged blades located between the buckets or lifter blades.
As the improved reel may be mounted and operated in machines which are in
other respects of ordinary construction, it has been deemed sufficient to represent
the reel alone herein.
In the accompanying drawings:-
:-
Figure 1 represents a cross section of the reel on the line 1-1 of Figure 2.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal central cross section of the same on the line 3-3 of
Figure 1.
The reel-frame, as represented, consists of two annular spiders or heads A and B,
fixed on a central shaft C, and connected by longitudinal rods D which are extended
through them and secured by nuts. E represents the bolting-cloth, extending from
one end of the reel to the other and attached at its extremities to wooden hoops d,
encircling the respective heads A. B. This cloth is sustained, as usual, at inter-
mediate points in its length by thin internal hoops F, sustained by blocks & mounted
on and sustained by the longitudinal rods D. These blocks serve also to support a
series of longitudinal lifting blades or buckets H, bolted thereto. These blades are
preferably made of sheet metal of angular form in cross section as shown in the
drawings, with their outer edges slightly separated from the bolting-cloth, but they
may be of any suitable form, provided they are adapted to lift and spread the material
on the upgoing side of the reel. I represents the central drum mounted within the
reel and sustained from the central shaft or otherwise supported. It is preferably
made of imperforate material, and enclosed at one or both ends. In applying the
present invention, a series of short spiral or obliquely arranged blades K is intro-
duced between the drum and the bolting-cloth. These blades lie between the lifter
blades or buckets, with their outer edges separated from the bolting-cloth and their
inner edges preferably, but not necessarily, separated from the drum. They may
be sustained in position in any suitable manner, but the preferred construction is to
rivet or bolt their ends to the longitudinal lifting buckets H, as represented in the
drawings. It is found that the best results are obtained when these spiral blades
are made of comparatively short length and arranged in discontinuous order, s0
that, instead of standing in a continuous spiral line or series, they are separated
from each other, or arranged in broken ranks, as plainly represented in Figure 2.

page_text: They are preferably made of angular form in cross section like the lifting buckets,
in order that they may act the more effectively and assist in lifting the material and
urging the same endwise through the reel. They are so arranged that they present,
on the upgoing side of the reel, an inclination downward toward the' tail end, so that
as they act with lifting effect on the material they tend also to carry the latter
toward the tail.
In practice it is found that this series of intermediate blades, used in connection
with the lifting buckets or blades, acts efficiently in spreading the material
repeatedly over the cloth, and over an increased portion of the cloth, so that the
bolting capacity of the reel is increased, and also that they serve to carry the
material longitudinally through the reel at a greater speed than is practicable in
their absence. The best results are obtained when the central drum I is employed,
but it is to be understood that this is not a necessary feature of the combination,
and that the intermediate blades are of advantage when used in connection with
the lifting blades H and the reel. It is also to be understood that the existence of
a space between the drum and the inner edges of the blades H and K is not an
essential requirement.
The blades K are found to act to the best advantage when constructed, as shown
in the drawings, to approach the bolting-cloth more closely at their middle than at
their ends, but the distance between their outer edges and the cloth may be uniform
throughout their length.
In order to increase the capacity and efficiency of the reel, it is preferred to
terminate the internal drum at a short distance from the head of the reel, and to
project the lifting blades H beyond the end of the drum toward the head of the
reel, and to give these extended or overhanging ends an inclination forward in the
direction of rotation, so that, as they pick the material up from the bottom of
the reel, they tend to carry it tailward into the annular space between the drum
and the bolting-cloth. While a reel of true cylindrical form has been described
and illustrated, it is to be understood that reels of slightly tapered or conical form
to facilitate the delivery of the material end wise without inclining the axis will fall
within the scope of this invention: conical and cylindrical reels being well known
equivalents in the present state of the art. The reel may be provided with a
uniform bolting-cloth from end to end, or with cloth graded in fineness from one
end to the other, as commonly practised in the art, according to the character of
the material to be treated and the extent to which it is to be separated or
graded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
:-
1. The combination substantially as described of a bolting-reel, longitudinal
lifting buckets or blades therein, and obliquely arranged blades between the lifting
buckets.
2. A cylindrical reel containing a series of lifting buckets or blades in lines
substantially parallel with its axis, and with a second series of blades lying at a
greater angle to the axis.
3. A cylindrical reel in combination with longitudinal lifting blades H, their outer
edges separated from the bolting-cloth, and blades K arranged at a greater angle
to the axis of the reel, and also separated at their outer edges from the bolting-
cloth.
4. A cylindrical reel and an internal drum, in combination with lifting buckets
or blades H, having their edges separated from the bolting-cloth and from the
drum, and the intermediate blades K also separated from the cloth and the
drum.
5. In combination with the cylindrical reel, the internal obliquely arranged
blades K, separated from the bolting-cloth, the distance between them varying at
different points in the length of the blades.

page_text: 6. In combination with a cylindrical reel and longitudinal lifting buckets or
blades H therein, the intermediate blades K fixed to and carried by the
blades H.
7. In a flour-bolt, the combination of a reel, internal lifting-blades or buckets
from which the material gradually escapes on the upgoing side of the reel, and a
secondary series of blades arranged at a sharp inclination to the axis of the reel
and in position to receive and longitudinally distribute the material falling from the
first named blades.
8. In combination with a reel and internal lifting-blades or buckets extending
lengthwise thereon, intermediate obliquely arranged blades of angular cross section
separated at their outer edges from the bolting surface.
Dated this 29th day of November 1892.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.