Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Seeds from Raisins and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Dec., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 24th Aug, 1897-Accepted, 16th Oct., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Seeds from Raisins and
the like.
I, JOHN WILSON BROWN Jr. of Frank Street, near Green Street, Germantown in
the City and County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania; one of the United
States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my
Invention to be as follows:--
My Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for removing seeds from
raisins and the like for which Letters Patent No. 6783 were granted to Frank Howard
Chase dated April 2nd 1895.
The object of my invention is to cheapen the manufacture of the machine and to
so construct it that it can be dismembered for cleansing and put together again without
the liability of the parts not registering. A further object of the invention is to
provide means for adjusting the presser roll towards and from the seeding roll.
In machines of this class which are mainly for domestic use the parts must be so
arranged that the machine can be dismantled for cleansing and put together without
having to readjust the parts. The great difficulty, heretofore experienced with
apparatus of this type has been that they must be set absolutely correct, otherwise
they will not operate properly, consequently although such apparatus have performed
the work satisfactorily at first as they must be constantly cleansed, the parts in time
do not register and the machine has to be discarded.
The head of the device is connected to a clamp preferably by a curved neck. This
clamp can be constructed in the ordinary manner and be adapted to be secured to a
table, shelf, or other fixture. The head is arranged to overhang the table so that a
bowl or other vessel can be placed thereunder to receive the fruit after seeding.
The head has a hopper, a side plate, a curved back plate and a flanged spout which
spout is an integral part of the head.
The seeding roll and the presser roll are mounted on the head, the seeding roll is
adapted to a stud permanently fixed to the head, the stud preferably projecting from
the side plate which is thickened so as to form a rigid support. The stud can be
secured to the head either by casting the head around it or by rivetting it to the
head after it is in proper position. It must bear a fixed relation to the inner edge of
the spout so that when the seeding roll is slipped onto the stud its relation to the
spout will be fixed, so that no matter how carelessly the device is taken apart and put
together it is impossible to assemble them out of line.. This is accomplished
therefore by making the spout, spindle and head a unit.
The roller is supported throughout its length by the stud which is rigidly fixed to
the frame and overcomes the objectionable overhanging feature found in other
seeders; and the stud being permanently fixed to the side plate overcomes a great
difficulty in such apparatus as heretofore inade, where the rotating shaft was
journalled in a side bearing making the structure weak, and allowing the shaft to
have an uneven and wobbling motion after the least wear upon the bearing.

page_text: The lower portion of the hopper is shaped to conform to the seeding and presser
rolls and the back plate of the casing is curved to conform to the seeding roll.
The seeding roll is made up of a series of blades which alternate with washers
mounted on a sleeve and this sleeve has a head at one end and is screw threaded at
the opposite end. The handle in the present instance is in the form of a nut
having a screw thread adapted to the thread on the sleeve, so that on screwing up
the handle the blades will be confined between the head of the sleeve and the
handle.
The blades are preferably serrated somewhat similar to saw teeth, so that they
will puncture the raisin, and they are so spaced that the fruit alone will enter the
spaces between the blades, while the seeds are held on the periphery.
Loosely hung between the blades are doffers, each of which has a projection
extending beyond the periphery of the seeding roll and into the space between the
back plate and the rear end of the spout; these doffers are for the purpose of
extracting the fruit from between the blades after the seeds have been scraped off
the face of the roll by the rear edge of the spout.
The seeding roll is loose on the spindle and is preven td from moving longitudinally
thereon by a cotter or other suitable fastening. The inner end of the spout is
preferably turned up to form a comparatively sharp edge to act as a scraper so that it
will more readily remove the seeds from the periphery of the roll.
The presser roll is directly in front of the seeding roll and is preferably made of
rubber or other elastic material. This presser roll can be adjusted in respect to the
seeding roll so that as the raisins or the like pass between the two rolls the fruit of
the raisin will be forced into the spaces between the blades, while the seeds will be
embedded more or less into the yielding surface of the presser roll. The presser
roll consists of a flanged spool and a rubber sleeve and is mounted on the spindle
adapted to the arms of a pivotted lever hung to the casing. This lever has another
arm which is provided with a set screw which bears against the hopper by means of
this screw. The presser roll can be adjusted towards and from the seeding roll; this
adjusting lever can be modified without departing from the main feature of the
invention, which feature is to provide an accurate means for adjusting the presser
roll and to fix the roll in the adjusted position.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
The presser roll is adjusted in respect to the seeding roll as described above, so
that as the raisins or the like which are inserted in the hopper, are drawn between the
rolls by the turning of the seeding roll the fruit of the raisins will pass into the spaces
between the blades of the seeding roll, while the seeds will remain on the surface and
as the seeding roll revolves the seeds will be scraped off by the inner edge of the
spout and be directed into a suitable receptacle, while the fruit will pass the spout
and will be discharged by the doffers into a receptacle under the machine.
To cleanse the machine after use all that is necessary is to withdraw the cotter
and remove the seeding roll with the handle from the fixed spindle and cleanse the
roll; the other parts of the machine can be readily wiped off.
After the roll is cleansed it can be again placed on the spindle and the cotter
returned to its proper place and the machine will be in accurate working order, as
the relative position of the spindle and hopper is fixed. In some instances the
machine may be cleansed without removing the seeding roll.
The presser roll may be mounted on a stud secured to the side of the head by a
wing-nut, the stud has a sleeve adapted to a slot in the frame so that upon loosening
the wing-nut the roll can be moved towards and from the seeding roll.
Dated this 7th day of December 1896.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Seeds from Raisins and
the like.
I, JOHN WILSON BROWN, Junior, of Frank Street, near Green Street, Germantown,
in the City and County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, one of the United
States of America, Mechanical 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 :-
My Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for removing seeds from raisins
and the like, for which Letters Patent No. 6,783, were granted to Frank Howard
Chase on the second day of April 1895.
The object of my invention is to cheapen the manufacture of the machine and to
so construct it that it can be dismembered for cleansing and put together again
without the liability of the parts not registering. A further object of the invention
is to provide means for adjusting the presser roll towards and from the seeding
roll.
In machines of this class, which are mainly for domestic use, the parts must be so
arranged that the machine can be dismantled for cleansing and put together without
having to readjust the parts. The great difficulty heretofore experienced with
apparatus of this type has been that they must be set absolutely correct, otherwise
they will not operate properly, consequently although such apparatus have performed
the work satisfactorily at first, as they must be constantly cleansed, the parts in time
do not register, and the machine has to be discarded.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved raisin seeder;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the head with the detachable parts removed;
Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 4;
Fig. 4 is a view looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 3:
Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6, Fig. 3, with the seeding roll removed;
Fig. 7 is a view of the seeding roll detached;
Fig. 8 is a detached sectional view of the presser roll; and
Figs. 9 and 10 are views of a modification.
A is the head of the device connected to a clamp A¹ in the present instance by a
curved neck A2, this clamp is constructed in the ordinary manner and is adapted
to be secured to a table, shelf, or other fixture. The head A is arranged to overhang
the table so that a bowl or other vessel can be placed thereunder to receive the
pulp or fruit of the raisins.
a is the hopper, a' the side plate and a² a curved back plate; extending from the
side plate a is a spout a³ having flanges at at each side, this spout is an integral
part of the cast head A.
B is the seeding roll and D is the presser roll, the seeding roll B is made as shewn
in Fig. 7 and is adapted to a stud A permanently fixed to the head A, the stud in
the present instance projects from the side plate a¹ which is thickened so as to
form a rigid support for the stud. The stud can be secured to the head either by
casting the head around it or by rivetting it to the head after it is in proper position;
the central line x of the stud must bear a fixed relation to the inner edge of the
spout a³, Fig. 6, so that when the seeding roll is slipped onto the stud its relation to
the spout will be fixed, so that no matter how carelessly the device is taken apart and
put together it is impossible to assemble them out of line. This is accomplished
therefore by making the spout, spindle and head, a unit, as shewn clearly in
Ki

page_text: It will be seen that the roller is supported throughout its length by the stud
which is rigidly fixed to the frame and overcomes the objectionable overhanging
feature found in other seeders; and the stud being permanently fixed to the side
plate overcomes a great difficulty in such apparatus, as heretofore made, where the
rotating shaft was journalled in a side bearing making the structure weak, and
allowing the shaft to have an uneven and wobbling motion, after the least wear apon
the bearing.
The lower portion of the hopper a is shaped to conform to the rolls B and D and
the back plate a of the casing is curved to conform to the roll B.
The seeding roll B is made up of a series of plates blades or discs 6 which alternate
with washers b¹ mounted on the sleeve b², this sleeve has a head 63 at one end and is
screw threaded at the opposite end, the handle B1 in the present instance is in the
form of a nut having a screw thread adapted to the thread on the sleeve b2 so that
on screwing up the handle the plates or blades 6 are confined between the head 63 of
the sleeve and the handle.
The plates or blades à are preferably serrated as shewn in the drawings, somewhat
similar to saw teeth, so that they will puncture the raisins, and they are so spaced
that the pulp or fruit alone will enter the spaces between the blades while the seeds
are held on the periphery.
Loosely hung between the blades are doffers e each of which has a projection o
extending beyond the periphery of the roll B and into the space between the curved
back plate 2 and the rear end of the spout 3; these doffers are for the purpose of
removing the pulp or fruit from between the blades after the seeds have been scraped
off the face of the roll by the rear edge of the spout a³.
The roll B is loose on the spindle A and is prevented from moving longitudinally
thereon by a cotter as or other suitable fastening.
The inner end of the spout a is preferably turned up as shewn in Fig. 3, to form
a comparatively sharp edge to act as a scraper so that it will more readily remove the
seeds from the periphery of the roll B.
between
Directly in front of the roll B is the presser roll D, preferably made of rubber or
other elastic material, and so adjusted in respect to the seeding roll B that as the raisin
passes between the two rolls the pulp of the raisin will be forced into the spaces 1
the blades while the seeds will be embedded more or less into the yielding surface
of the roll D. This roll is made as shewn in Fig. 8 of a spool d preferably having
flanges at each end and over this spool d is passed a rubber sleeve d, preferably
recessed at each end to receive the flanges d' of the spool. The spool is mounted
on a spindle E which has a head e at one end and screw thread at the opposite
end, the spindle is adapted to the arms e' of a lever E hung at e to a bearing a',
shewn as being formed on the face of the hopper a. This lever E¹ has au arin e
projecting beyond the pivot e2 and adapted to this arm is a set screw e which bears
against the hopper, by means of this set screw the roll D can be adjusted towards and
from the seeding roll B. This adjustment lever can be modified without departing
from the main feature of the invention, which feature is to provide an accurate
means of adjusting the presser roll and to fix the roll in the adjusted position.
The operation of the machine is as follows:
The roll D is adjusted in respect to the roll B as above described, so that as the
raisins, which are inserted in the hopper, are drawn between the rolls by the turning
of the roll B in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, the pulp or fruit of the raisins will
pass into the space between the blades of the roll B, while the seeds will remain on the
surface, and as the roll B revolves the seeds will be scraped off by the edge of the
spout and be directed into a suitable receptacle, while the pulp or fruit will pass
the spout and will be discharged by the doffers into a receptacle placed in position to
receive it.
To cleanse the machine after use all that is necessary is to draw the cotter as and
remove the roll B with the handle B¹ from the fixed spindle A3 and cleanse this
roll; the other parts of the machine can be readily wiped off; after the roll is cleansed
it can be again placed on the spindle and the cotter returned to its proper place and

page_text: the machine will be in accurate working order, as the relative position of the spindle
and hopper is fixed. In some instances the machine may be cleansed without
removing the roll B.
In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shewn the roll D of yielding material mounted on a stud f
secured to the side of the head by a wing nut f, the stud has a sleeve 2 adapted to
a slot in the said side of the head so that upon loosening the wing nut the roll D can
be moved towards or from the roll B.
1
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1. As a new article of manufacture the frame of a raisin seeder, having the
discharge spout formed integral therewith and having a spindle fixed thereto for the
reception of the seeding wheel, the spindle and spout being rigid in respect to each
other so that when the machine is dismembered for cleansing the relation of the
spout to the spindle cannot be altered, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. As a new article of manufacture a head of a raisin seeder, consisting of an
integral structure, having a hopper, with side plate and discharge spout for the seeds,
cast integral therewith, and open at one side for the removal of the seeding roll, and
having a permanent stud upon which the seeding roll is mounted, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
3. In an apparatus for removing seeds from raisins and the like, the combination
of the head, the seeding roll and spout, an elastic presser roll mounted above the
spont, and means for positively adjusting the presser roll with respect to the seeding
roll, and for locking it in its adjusted position, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
4. The hereinbefore described apparatus consisting of a casing having an upwardly
extending hopper provided with bearings for seeding and presser rolls, a seeding roll
mounted in the bearings at the bottom of the hopper, a presser roll mounted in its
bearings in front of the seeding roll, the said casing having a discharge spout
extending downwardly therefrom below the rolls, the inner edge of said spout being
turned up and extending close to the surface of the seeding roll to form a scraping
edge, substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
5. The hereinbefore described apparatus for removing seeds from raisins and the
like the said apparatus consisting of a casing comprising an overhanging arm A'
having a hopper extending upwardly therefrom, a downwardly extending discharge
spout having its inner edge turned up to form a scraping edge, a seeding roll
mounted in bearings at the bottom of the hopper and rotating close to the scraping
edge of the spout, and a presser roll mounted in front of the seeding roll, substantially
as and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
6. The hereinbefore described apparatus for removing seeds from raisins and the
like the said apparatus consisting of a casing having an upwardly extending hopper,
the lower portion of the said hopper being shaped to conform to the seeding and
presser rolls and provided with a downwardly extending spout, the inner edge of
which forms a scraping edge; a seeding roll mounted in the said hopper, close to
the said scraping edge; doffers carried by the shaft of the said seeding roll and
extending through an opening in the casing formed by the inner edge of the spout
bottom and the lower portion of the back section of the casing, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
7. The combination in a raisin seeder, of the casing having a hopper and spout; a
presser of yielding material; a stud projecting from the frame; a sleeve carried
thereby and confined longitudinally thereon; toothed plates blades or discs and
washers mounted on the sleeve; a handled nut screwed onto the sleeve and adapted
to confine the discs thereto, with loose rings c between the discs, and having
projections c adapted to rest against the back portion of the frame and discharge the
raisin pulp from the machine, substantially as hereinbefore described.

page_text: .8. The combination in a raisin seeder, of the casing; a stud projecting therefrom;
a sleeve mounted on the said stud having a head at one end, and screw threaded at
the opposite end; a series of discs and rings alternately arranged upon the said
sleeve; a handled nut adapted to the screw threaded portion of the sleeve, and
acting to clamp the discs and rings to the sleeve, substantially as herein before
described.
9. The combination in a raisin seeder, of the main fraune having the feed hopper
thereon; the seeding roll mounted on the said frame below the hopper; a frame
pivoted to the hopper above the seeding roll, and carrying in its lower end a presser
roll' of yielding material in front of the seeding roll; and a lug extending upwardly
from said frame, and provided with a set screw bearing against the side of the hopper,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
10. The combination in a raisin seeder, of the main frame having the feed hopper
.therein; the seeding roll mounted on said frame below the hopper; a yoked frame
carrying a presser roll, and pivoted to the main frame above the seeding roll; a lug
extending upwardly from the said frame, and a set screw carried by the said lug and
bearing against the outwardly flaring side of the hopper, substantially as herein before
described.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.