IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES APPLICABLE FOR BOLTING FLOUR DUSTING OR FINISHING BRAN OR SHORTS SCALPING THE FINER BREAKS FROM ROLLS OR OTHER LIKE WORK
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emile Fiechter of Liverpool in the county of Lancaster
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES APPLICABLE
FOR BOLTING FLOUR DUSTING OR FINISHING BRAN OR SHORTS SCALPING THE
FINER BREAKS FROM ROLLS OR OTHER LIKE WORK a communication to him
from Louis B. Fiechter a resident of Menneapolis in the state of Minnesota
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emile Fiechter at the Office*
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th October 1883.
EMILE FIECHTER of Liverpool in the county of Lancaster "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES APPLICABLE FOR BOLTING FLOUR DUSTING OR FINISHING.
BRAN OR SHORTS SCALPING THE FINER BREAKS FROM ROLLS OR. OTHER LIKE
WORK"-a communication to me from Louis B. Fiechter a resident of Mi[e]nneapolis
in the State of Minnesota.
The general arrangement of this machine is as follows. Inside a revolving reel.
the beaters revolve, a brush outside the reel is arranged so that it can be caused to
act on the reel or be drawn from it at pleasure. The reel is divided into rings of
different degrees of fineness and the material falling through the reel enters a
worm in a trough with slides or ports at intervals leading into a second trough
below which is also provided with a worm so that the material from any part of
the length of the reel can be separated from the remaining part. A simple
arrangement of chain gearing at each end drives the entire mechanism. The
material is fed by a hopper into the reel from an archimedean screw along the top
of the machine.
Going more into detail I prefer a ten sided polygon to any other form of reel
I make the ribs of piping preferably half inch lined or packed with a soft cloth and
braced centrally by an adjustable ring; and the silk cloth having no ticking over
riba, rests perfectly free and prevents the soft flour accumulating between the ribs
ID 11

page_text: and cloth, so common in all other centrifugal reels. Moreover, the cloth is thus
enabled to vibrate and the elasticity thus obtained materially prevents the meshes
from becoming clogged. In round centrifugals the coarse material to be separated,
instead of being thrown back upon the beaters is being carried round and round,
rubbing against the cloth until it finally leaves the reel, which as a matter of
course will wear out the best of silk in a very short time, even without the
additional friction on the outside of the cloth by a continual brushing. In some
machines I prefer to give motion to both ends of the reel simultaneously and thus
avoid twist and strain on the bars and ribs of the cylinder.
The two reel heads connected with piping for ribs, are of cast iron, and are
supported by trunnions on the iron head and tail bridge-trees. As the discharge
of the tail of the reel is regulated by the pitch of the cylinder, a mechanism is
provided which allows an instantaneous adjustment of the pitch of the cylinder
while the machine is in operation. This adjustability is necessary because with
changes of weather as well as variable conditions in the wheat, the bolting is
effected, and material from tough wheat especially, is liable to tail over a coarse
cloth even in centrifugals. The beaters of most centrifugals have as much as from
eight to ten inches spiral pitch to the entire length of the beaters. In the present
invention the beaters are in almost a parallel position with the ribs of the cylinder,
in any event three inches is all the pitch I prefer to allow to the full length of the
beaters.
The beaters of my proposed machine are divided into small blades which, being
bent alternately backward and forward and perforated, act by their quick rotation
so as to gather the flour or meal against their forward faces and such of the flour
or meal as is forced through the opening given by the divided blades is disintegrated
or separated, from any adhering substances and bran, by contact with the edges of
the blades and holes, as the meal passes through the beaters; while that portion of
the flour or meal which passes between the forwardly bent blades will strike
against the backwardly bent blades and be violently thrown outward and against
the cloth of the cylinder and will be bolted, the same particles of meal may be
acted upon many times before complete separation takes place, and all the flour
and fine middlings are forced through their respective meshes of silk or wire. By
this ingenious construction of beaters the wind and blast created by their velocity
are greatly overcome, and in this respect the "Fir" differs from all others in that
it does not blow the material through the meshes of the cloth. To increase the
utility of the beaters I perforate all the blades facing in one direction with holes
so that the air can pass through. This is an extremely valuable part of the
invention. With these beaters the centrifugal force alone produces the desired
effect of detaching and separating the material which if soft or greasy, is of the
greatest importance for free bolting and clean tailings. These beaters are supported
at the two ends only by the best Norway wrought iron or equivalent tough metal
and have adjustable or reversible spokes, three fourths of an inch in diameter set
in hubs and braced by a wrought iron ring which permits adjustment of beaters
according to requirements. Cast iron beater spiders will break; the vibration of
the beaters through their great velocity and the weight they carry, being too
powerful; and also the slightest flaw in casting will play havoc with the machine.
In the improved machines I prefer for numbers 2 and 3 sizes to support the
beaters centrally by a kind of a tension wheel or annulus formed of two concentric
hoops a short distance apart with the bolts for attaching the beater rods passing
through them and firmly bracing them together. This device avoids the necessity
of having a support on the beater shaft at all; hence the shaft is perfectly free in
the centre and therefore does not sag through central weight and strain. This
fact allows me to make machines longer and larger than would be practicable
without this device.
The communicator used to have, like others, much trouble to obtain a correct
balance of the beaters, as the wood beaters as well as iron beaters, vary
considerably in specific weight. But now he places iron balls on three given points

page_text: on the beater spider spokes, which balls, being adjustable, permit instantaneous
balancing of the beaters by simply shifting the balls outward or inward as the case
may be.
In this machine annular and adjustable internal discs check the draught along
and in close proximity to the beater shaft. Close and practical observation has
shown that this central air current, although to some extent necessary, is liable to
carry too much fine stock toward the tail of the reel. By having these discs
placed at proper points this waste is avoided and the material cannot escape except
by coming in contact with the blades and cloth successively, to retain the material
long enough within the limits of the respective numbers of cloth through which
separation is required. This is effected by having the discs placed immediately
opposite the seam connecting the various textures of cloth. Sufficient space is
allowed between the inner edges of the blades and the periphery of the disc to
permit the light specks or lighter particles to travel towards the tail, along with
the current of air kept outward of shaft.
A feed conveyor is placed the entire length of the machine to enable the miller
to place the machine without further expense of elevator, conveyors and spouts.
The dressing cylinder cannot fill, as it receives feed in proportion to the speed of
the conveyor.
A simple arrangement of brush is placed the entire length of the cloth, which
can be thrown off or on at pleasure. This is done by a small lever on the outside
of the machine so that the windows need not be opened, thus preventing dust and
waste.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Emile Fiechter in the Patent Office on the 15th April 1884.
EMILE FIECHTER of Liverpool in the county of Lancaster “IMPROVEMENTS IN
CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES APPLICABLE FOR BOLTING FLOUR, DUSTING OR FINISHING
BRAN OR SHORTS, SCALPING THE FINER BREAKS FROM ROLLS OR OTHER LIKE
WORK." A communication from Louis B. Fiechter a resident of Minneapolis in
the State of Minnesota
This invention is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings in which
Fig 1 is a general view of the machine with part removed
Fig 2 a view of beaters
Fig 3 section of beater
Fig 4 strengthening ring and
Fig 5 beater balance device.
A A are the bars of a revolving wheel in the drawing of which the silk is
removed so as to show the interior. C a brush on eccentric bearing or capable of
being partially rotated in its bearings by handle D outside, so that it can be
brought against the reel or taken off at pleasure. The reel is divided into rings of
different degrees of fineness and the material falling through the reel enters a
worm in a trough E with slides or ports F F at intervals leading into a second
trough G below, which is also provided with a worm so that the material from any
part of the length of the reel can be separated from the remaining part. A simple
arrangement of chain gearing H at each end drives the entire mechanism. The
material is fed by a hopper into the reel from an archimedean screw I along the
top of the machine.
Going more into detail I prefer a ten sided polygon to any other form of reel.
I make the ribs A of piping preferably half inch lined or covered with a soft
cloth, and braced centrally by an adjustable ring J hereafter described, and the
silk cloth having no ticking over rits rests perfectly free and prevents the soft
flour accumulating between the ribs and cloth so common in all other centrifugal
reels. Moreover the cloth is thus enabled to vibrate and the elasticity thus
obtained materially prevents the meshes from becoming clogged. In round
centrifugals the coarse material to be separated instead of being thrown back upon
the beaters is being carried round and round rubbing against the cloth until it
finally leaves the reel. This as a matter of course will wear out the best of silk
in a very short time, even without the additional friction on the outside of the
cloth by a continual brushing. In some machines I prefer to give motion to both
ends of the reel simultaneously, and thus avoid twist and strain on the bars and
ribs of the cylinder.
The two reel heads J J connected with piping for ribs are of cast iron and are
supported by trunnions on the iron head and tail bridge-trees. As the discharge
of the tail of the reel is regulated by the inclination or "pitch" of the cylinder, a
screw (not particularly illustrated as the device is well known) is provided which
allows an instantaneous adjustment of the pitch of the cylinder while the machine
is in operation. This adjustability is necessary because with changes of weather as
well as variable conditions in the wheat the bolting is effected, and material from
tough wheat especially is liable to tail over a coarse cloth even in centrifugals.
The beaters of most centrifugals have as much as from eight to ten inches spiral
pitch to the entire length of the beaters. In the present invention the beaters are
in almost a parallel position with the ribs of the cylinder, in any event three
inches is all the pitch I prefer to allow to the full length of the beaters.

page_text: The beaters L L of my proposed machine are divided into small blades, which
being bent alternately backward and forward and perforated act by their quick
rotation so as to gather the flour or meal against their forward faces, and such of
the flour or meal as is forced through the opening given by the divided blades is
disintegrated or separated from any adhering substances and bran by contact with
the edges of the blades and holes as the meal passes through the beaters; while
that portion of the flour or meal which passes between the forwardly bent blades
will strike against the backwardly bent blades and be violently thrown outward
and against the cloth of the cylinder and will be bolted. The same particles of
meal may be acted upon many times before complete separation takes place, and all
the flour and fine middlings are forced through their respective meshes of silk or
wire. To increase the utility of the beaters I perforate all the blades facing in one
direction with holes M so that the air can pass through. This is an extremely
valuable part of the invention. By this ingenious construction of beaters the wind
and blast created by their velocity are greatly overcome, and in this respect the
"Fir" differs from all others in that it does not blow the material through the
meshes of the cloth. With these beaters the centrifugal force alone produces the
desired effect of detaching and separating the soft or greasy material and is of
the greatest importance for free bolting and clean tailings. These beaters are
supported at the two ends only by the best Norway wrought iron or equivalent
tough metal heads N N, and have spokes three fourths of an inch in diameter set
in hubs and braced by a wrought iron ring. Cast iron beater spiders will break
the vibration of the beaters through their great velocity, and the weight they carry
being too powerful and also the slightest flaw in casting will play havoc with the
machine.
In the improved machines I prefer for numbers two and three sizes to support
the beaters centrally by a kind of tension wheel or annulus Fig 4 formed of two
concentric hoops a short distance apart with the bolts for attaching the beater rods
passing through them and firmly bracing them together. This device avoids
the necessity of having a support on the beater shaft at all, hence the shaft is
perfectly free in the centre and therefore does not sag through central weight and
strain. This fact allows me to make machines longer and larger than would be
practicable without this device.
The communicator used to have like others much trouble to obtain a correct
balance of the beaters, as the wood beaters as well as iron beaters vary considerably
in specific weight. But now he places iron balls P Fig 5 on three given points
on the beater spider spokes, which balls being adjustable permit instantaneous
balancing of the beaters by simply shifting the balls outward or inward as the
case may be.
In this machine annular and adjustable internal discs Q check the draught along
and in close proximity to the beater shaft. Close and practical observation has
shown that this central air current although to some extent necessary is liable to
carry too much fine stock toward the tail of the reel. By having these discs
placed at proper points this waste is avoided, and the material cannot escape except
by coming in contact with the blades and cloth successively. I thus retain the
material long enough within the limits of the respective numbers of cloth through
which separation is required. This is effected by having the discs placed
immediately opposite the seam connecting the various textures of cloth. Sufficient
space is allowed between the inner edges of the blades and the periphery of the
disc to permit the light specks or lighter particles to travel towards the tail along
with the current of air kept outward of shaft.
A feed conveyer I is placed the entire length of the machine to enable the miller
to place the machine without further expense of elevator, conveyors, and spouts.
The dressing cylinder cannot fill, as it receives feed in proportion to the speed of
the conveyer.
I have however, in my latest machine in order to prevent any chance of choking
the reel, used a second feed worm in the spout at Q and driven this by a driving

page_text: chain from the reel. This is not shown in the drawing having been hit upon after
the completion of the drawing, but is a simple archimedean screw with axis parallel
to that of the reel.
Having now described my invention and the best mode known to me of carrying
it into effect, I wish it to be understood that I make no claim for beaters, reels,
archimedean screws, or brushes; in the abstract, as all these have been used and for
the purposes described prior to this application, but that what I claim as new and
to be secured under the letters patent is :-
The manufacture and use of centrifugal machines applicable for bolting flour,
dusting or finishing bran or shorts, scalpling the finer breaks from rolls or other
like work, arranged and constructed substantially as herein described, and also the
following parts taken separately substantially as and for the purposes described :-
(a) The tension wheel described in Fig 4.
(b) The counterbalancing of the beaters by adjustable balls or weights P arranged
on three points on the spider
(c) The internal draft checking discs Q.
In witness whereof I the said Emile Fiechter have hereunto set my hand and
seal this twelfth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and eighty four.