Improvements in the Mode and Apparatus for Cleaning and Purifying, with or without Elevating, Grain, Seeds, Flour, Middlings, and other Granular Material.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 17th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 29th Apr., 1899.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Mode and Apparatus for Cleaning and Purifying,
with or without Elevating, Grain, Seeds, Flour, Middlings, and
other Granular Material.
I, WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE, of 12. Dale Street, Sowerby Bridge, in the County of
York, Milling Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:
This invention is based on the principle of producing a violent rubbing action
of the particles against each other and against outside surfaces, and thus losing
the dust or dirt adhering to it, and passing through currents of air which will
draw off the dust.
The invention is also applicable for use with elevators from ship-board as the
same currents of air which clean the wheat draw up the dust from the air of the
hold and thus enable the stevedore's men to work with much greater comfort.
in the hold. It may even be used as a pneumatic elevator drawing up the grain
from the hold through telescopic, swivelling, or flexible pipes, and in some cases
I may fix a telescopic shutter like a regulator to the elevator bottom to regulate
the in-going air current and prevent the dust from rising up and expanding in
the hold.
The invention consists essentially first in using the current of air formed by
means of a fan. The grain and air enter a cylindrical or prismatic chamber
tangentially as in an ordinary tornado. Immediately below this chamber is a
hopper preferably square and at the bottom of this hopper are a series of air
admission holes round one or more spouts. In the centre of the top of the cylin-
drical chamber is the dusty air exhaust and on this is placed the fan already
mentioned. The fan carries the dusty air either to the outside of the building
or to a tornado or other dust collector. If it carries the air at once to the out-
side of the building I use a ventilator on the roof pointing upwards in such
manner that the dust is blown upwards instead of blown downwards on to the
roof and thus it is carried away and is not seen. The grain however entering
with the air in some instances the dusty air from the hold of the ship flies round
the cylindrical chamber and passes into the hopper. The grain separates from
the vortical current and passes down the corners of the hopper, the vortical
current turns round and rises up through the hole in the centre to the fan.
This hole in the centre may be guarded by a depending cylinder cone or prism
so that the air has to enter below a deep lip. The grain dashing about and roll-
ing over on itself in the sides of the hopper is greatly rubbed and all dirt rubbed
off it and as it passes the openings near the bottom a vertical current of air
passing upward through it from these openings carries off the dust in a vertically
upward direction to the fan. The grain however purified in this way sometimes
falls on sieving apparatus and is graded or otherwise after which it passes down
the spout to an aspirator where it is still further aspirated and the chaff and dust
from the aspirator enter an enlargement where there is a second small hopper

page_text: for collecting the broken grain chaff etcetera. The air from this enlargement or
dead chamber passes to the entrance where the grain enters the hopper and thus
is again used as a vortical current. As in many instances other work has to be
done in the same chamber where the grain is purified when this machine is not
used for grain purifying one of the sides of the hopper which are all inter-
changeable can be opened like a valve and thus air can be drawn by the fan
from the dusty room. When bulky materials such as chaff are under treatment
I may insert a conical or other Archimedian screw in the hopper to rotate and
prevent the stuff arching. The spout or spouts at the bottom of the hopper are
formed with flap valves at their end with leather sides like bellows. These flap
valves are weighted and therefore only open when a sufficient weight of grain is
above and owing to their leather sides the only opening is at the bottom out of
which the grain is pouring consequently no air is allowed to pass up the spout
into the vortical chamber. I sometimes fix an inner perforated hopper inside
the ordinary hopper. In this case part of the dust is driven through the per-
forations and is discharged at the bottom by a suitable opening.
In some cases I allow the fan shaft to pass right through the hopper and on
this shaft I fix beaters or brushes and the screw aforesaid to facilitate the air
cleaning and polishing the materials.
One large exhaust fan can also be connected with a series of these apparatuses.
This apparatus can be adapted for cleaning middlings and the like and be used
in middlings purifiers and like machinery.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Mode and Apparatus for Cleaning and Purifying,
with or without Elevating, Grain, Seeds, Flour, Middlings, and
other Granular Material.
I, WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE, of 12. Dale Street, Sowerby Bridge, in the County of
York, Milling Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
In my Patent, No. 4548 of 1898 I showed an apparatus and process for separat-
ing dust from hay and the like. Since filing the Provisional of that Patent, I
have discovered that with very slight modification the apparatus is also admirable
for cleaning and separating from dust, grain and other like materials.
The invention is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which,
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a plan of my apparatus.
In these A is the inlet for grain, or grain and air which is preferably pro-
vided with a regulating valve, This grain can be brought direct from an eleva-
tor in a ship's hold and the inlet and parts connected therewith can be arranged
so that there is a strong current of air into the elevator with the grain and even
in some instances such a strong current as to itself elevate the grain to the
required amount. The grain with its accompanying air passes into a preferably
eight sided chamber B and from there into a four sided hopper C. Here they
meet a vortex and an upward current of air, and by the vortex are dashed against
the sides of the eight sided chamber B and the four sided hopper C, and are

page_text: driven round at great speed. They pass out into the two or more spouts D which
have air openings regulated as already described in my previous specification
by slides or valves at E. F F are weighted doors similar to those described in
my previous specification, which allow the grain as it accumulates to fall on
the sieve G. The coarse tailings escape at their lower end H and the finer
grain falls on to the sieve I, while sand and other material fall on to the bottom
through the second sieve. (With very dirty grain I sometimes sieve it also
before passing it into the vortex chamber to get rid of the coarser impurities.)
The grain however passes to aspirator K which is open at the bottom and which
consequently has a strong upward current which blows upwards any light
material which may pass with the grain. The current of air is however not
strong enough to stop, but only impede the downward passage of the grain, and
the grain escapes at the bottom purified. The chaff and other like material how-
ever pasing up K enters the larger chamber L, at the bottom of which is another
regulated opening for air M and a weighted valve door N. Here there is much
less force so that the heavier chaff and light grain or screenings can fall to the
bottom of this chamber and be from time to time let out by the valve N. The
air from this chamber passes up to the opening P, which is guarded by the
valve R. The latter regulates the amount of admission, and thus the force of the
current enters at M, and at the bottom of the spout K through which it enters
tangentially into the vortex chamber B. Here it meets the grain falling down
the inlet and carries it forward forming a vortex in chambers B & C. The
constant rubbing round and striking sides in this vortex separates it from any
dust or dirt which may stick to it. The lighter dust which has been brought
up through the opening P and has been rubbed off the grain is carried up by
the central current of the vortex to the tangential air and dust outlet Q from
whence it is carried to a tornado or other dust collector or is passed at once up
through the roof through a pipe or ventilator pointing upwards so that it shall
be blown upwards rather than downwards. In using my apparatus on ship-
board with a pneumatic elevator the pipes are made telescopic, swivelling, or
flexible, and in some cases a telescopic shutter like a regulator is attached to the
elevator bottom so as to regulate the incoming air current. This incoming air
current carries the dust from the hold away and thus greatly benefits the steve-
dore's men.
The object of having the hopper square is to give a greater resist-
ance to the vortex and also to have quiescent corners down which the grain can
slip to the bottom. As in many instances other work has to be done in the
same chamber where the grain is purified when this machine is not required for
grain purifying, one of the sides of the hopper which are all interchangeable,
can be opened like a valve and thus air can be drawn by the fan of this machine
from the dusty room. When bulky materials such as chaff are under treatment
I prefer to insert a conical or other Archimedian screw in the hopper to rotate
and prevent the stuff from lodging. This however is well described in my pre-
vious Patent, but I find for grain cleaning it is not required. The flap valves
herein shown are provided with leather on their sides like bellows. These are
weighted so as to only open when sufficient weight of grain is above them in
the manner very wellknown to millers, and owing to their leather sides no
matter how wide they are opened the only opening is at the bottom. The air
thus forms a practically direct upward current into the vortical chamber. The
fan which sucks the dust out is not shown in the drawings and is of varied power
to suit the work. I may frequently have one fan to work several of these
machines. This apparatus can be adopted for cleaning all kinds of seeds, mid-
dlings, and even ores or minerals of various kinds.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;-
1
MANDAratus cat forth in Potant No 4548 of 1898

page_text: whereby it is adapted to the cleaning of grain middlings and the like substan-
tially as herein described and shown and in particular (a) the combination of the
vortical chamber with a sieving device below, also (b) the combination of the two
with an aspirator, (c) the arrangement of an octagonal or polygonal top and a
square hopper as described and (d) the application of a vortical apparatus sub-
stantially as described to grain elevators whereby the chaff and dust are carried
up from the ship and are separated from the grain and if desirable graded into
two or more grades substantially as described.
1000
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.