Improvements in Washing or Conditioning Machines for Wheat or other Grain.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Dec., 1898-Accepted, 27th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Washing or Conditioning Machines for Wheat or
other Grain.
I, JAMES MCDANIEL, of 410 Ninth Street South, in the City of Minneapolis,
County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, United States of America, Miller, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for improvements in wheat washing
machines, 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 improvements in machines designed for washing wheat
or other grain, for the purpose of removing smut and light material therefrom;
and, at the same time, creating a current of air through the machine in a direction
opposite to that in which the grain travels, for the purpose of drying the wheat or
other grain being operated upon.
In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification ;
Fig. 1 is a plan view of my machine.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on line x-x of Fig. 1, with the water
separator shown in side elevation.
Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view of the water separator and hopper.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the valve mechanism of the water
separator.
Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line y-y of Fig. 2.
Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line - of Fig. 5 showing the discharge
passages from the fan casing.
Fig. 7 is a detail of the wiper.
In the drawings, 2 represents the frame of the machine, which is of any
suitable construction. Supported upon this frame is a water tight casing 3 provided
with a water outlet 5, a grain outlet 6, and a partition 7. The upper edge of the
of V-form, as shown at 8, to form a close joint with a ring 9
partition is prevolving spiders hereinafter referred to, to prevent the water used
carried by the
in washing the grain from passing out of the casing through the spout 6. A feeding
and washing cylinder 10 extends from the casing 3 with an opening 11 at one end, said
opening being preferably smaller than the diameter of the main part of the cylinder,
so as to retard the discharge of the grain from the cylinder. The oposite end of the
cylinder is closed and a feed pipe 12 conveys the water and grain into said
feeding and washing cylinder. The interior of the cylinder 10 is preferably
provided at suitable intervals with raised surfaces 13 constituting what may be
termed baffles, which resist the rotary movement of the grain and water as the
same are thrown in a circular direction in the cylinder by feeding beaters composed
of spirally arranged bars or strips 14 secured to spiders 15, said spiders being
mounted upon the main shaft 16 which has bearings in the frame 2 at the
points 17, 18 and 19. The shaft 16 is preferably provided with the driving
pulley 20 which may be located at any convenient point.
I also arrange upon the shaft 16 three spiders 21, each having a series of arms
which extend radially from said shaft. Arranged upon said spiders are a series of
bars 22, each having secured thereon a series of spirally arranged wings or
flights 23, and to prevent the clogging of the straining drum, I provide flexible

page_text: wipers consisting of short arms 24 pivoted to the bars 22 and provided with rubbing
or wiping surfaces 25 of metal, rubber or other suitable material.
The main shaft 16 carries also two spiders 26 and 27, loosely mounted upon
said shaft and having secured to them a conical or tapering perforated straining
drum 28. The spider 27 carries the ring or anonlus 9, which has a V-shaped
periphery that forms a'close joint with the edge of the partition 7. The spider 27
also has a sleeve 29 which passes through the bearing 18 aud is provided with a
gear wheel 30 meshing with a gear wheel 31 mounted on a countershaft 32, said
countershaft being supported in bearings 33, also preferably mounted upon the
main frame 2. The shaft 32 is also provided with the gear wheel 34 preferably
slightly larger in diameter than the gear wheel 31, and the gear wheel 34 meshes
with a gear wheel 35 secured to the main shaft 16, the wheel 35 being preferably
somewhat smaller than the gear wheel 30. By this means when the shaft 16 is
driven the feeding beaters 14 are revolved at the speed of the shaft, as are also the
spiral flights that are arranged within the straining drum, while the straining drum
is revolved at a slightly lower speed. Thus the spirally arranged flights and the
straining drum travel at a differential speed though in the same direction. The
effect of this operation is to convey the grain to the drum.at the proper speed and
without injury.
I also provide means for securing a preliminary washing and separation of the
wheat from the foreign matter that may be mixed therewith. For this purpose I
pass the grain through what I term a water separator. This separator is mounted
upon the washing drum 10, and consists of a conical vessel 36, provided with an
opening 37 at its lower end, at which point I arrange within it a conical cut-off or
valve 38, cut away at the point 39 to correspond with the opening 37 in the
bottom of the vessel 36. The valve 38 is carried by a rod 40 operated by a
handle 41 which when placed against a stóp 42 brings the openings 39 and 37
opposite each other so that the grain in the conical vessel may be discharged.
When the handle 41 is adjusted against the stop 42 the opening in the bottom
of the vessel 36 is closed.
Around the upper part of the vessel 36 I arrange a water tank 44, and supply
water thereto through a cock-controlled pipe 45. I also provide this tank with
a faucet 46 below which is a drip pipe 47 discharging into an overflow pipe 48.
The overflow pipe 48 extends into the conical vessel 36 and has its open end in
the upper part of said vessel, and all light foreign matter floating on the surface
of the water within the vessel will be carried off through the pipe.
A hopper 49 is arranged above the conical vessel 36 and is provided with a
cut-off 50 to control the admission of the grain, and said hopper is provided with
a feed spout 51 which extends through the tank 44 and into the vessel 36.
opening 52 in the spout 51 is controlled by a sliding cat-off 53, provided with an
operating screw 54, said opening 52 being arranged below the level of the upper
end of the pipe 48.
The wheat or other grain to be washed is fed into the hopper 49 and passes from
said hopper to the spout 51 into the vessel 36. Water passes into the tank 44
through the pipe 45 and passes into the interior vessel 36 through the opening 52
in the spout 51.' There is therefore, a constant inflow of water from the tank 44
into the interior vessel through the opening 52 and the lower end of the spout 51,
and out of the interior vessel through the pipe 48. This current is just sufficient
to prevent the wheat or other grain from dropping down through the opening 52,
while all substances heavier than the grain, such as small stones or sand, drop
out through the opening 52 and collect in the tank from which they may be readily
removed, while the very light material, such as the smut balls, are floated off from
the grain and pass out through the pipe 48. By means, therefore, of the water
separator, I first separate from the grain all foreign matter that is heavier than
'the grain, aud then separate from it the foreign matter that is light enough to float
upon the water.
As the grain is fed into the washing cylinder it is operated upon by the spirally

page_text: arranged beaters 14 in connection with the stationary ribs or baffles 13, and by
means thereof the grain is thoroughly washed in the cylinder and is then passed
into the rotating straining drum 28, where the water is drained off therefrom and
the grain is constantly fed through this drum by means of the spirally arranged
flights rotating at a higher rate of speed than the straining drum. The grain is
held against the surface of the drum by centrifugal force, and by means of the
flights and the wipers the grain is evenly and regularly fed to the drum and
discharged at its larger end into the pipe 6.
In some instances I prefer to provide in connection with the straining drum,
means for drying the wheat as it is passed through said drum. For this purpose,
I mount on the spider 26 a fan, consisting of a rim 55 secured to said spider and
having projections 56 to which are attached the fan blades 57, so that said fau
revolves with the spider 26. A fan casing 58 is arranged about the fan, as shown
in Figs. 2 and 5, the eye or opening 59 through which air is drawn into the fan,
casing being somewhat larger than the straining drum at the point where the fan
casing is located. When this fan is in operation it creates an ingoing current of
air up through the grain discharge opening 6 and through the descending body of
grain, and into and more or less through the perforated straining drum, said air
current moving from the larger to the smaller end of said drum. This air current
also passes over the partition 7, which, as seen in Fig. 5, extends to about the level
of the center of the shaft 16. The air current passing over this partition is drawn.
rapidly around the outside of the perforated drum and into the eye 59 in the fan
casing. The discharge of air from the casing is indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, in
which 60 and 61 represent the discharge passages of the fan casing, said passages
being formed by walls 62 and 63, and the part 64 of the casing of the machine.
This air current necessarily takes up more or less moisture and the water thus
drawn into the casing passes out mainly through the passage 60 and collects in the
vessel 65 while the air discharged from the fan passes out through the passage 60
and out of the casing through the opening 66, any water that passes into the
passage 61 passing also into the receptacle 65. From the receptacle 65 the water
is discharged through a pipe 67 into the lower part 68 of the casing of the machine.
This part of the casing I term the sewer of the machine, and from it water is
discharged as before stated through the pipe 5.
It will be seen that by this means an inward draft of air is provided against the
discharge of the grain, and thus the grain that has passed so far out of the
machine as to be free from the water is quite thoroughly dried by this incoming
air current.
It will be understood, however, that I may, if preferred, omit the preliminary
water separator, in which case the grain will be fed directly into the washing
cylinder 10, and I may also omit the fan attachment for drying the grain.
I prefer, however, to use both of these devices as a part of the machine for washing
the grain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;
1. A grain washing machine, comprising a washing cylinder, provided with a
series of stationary ribs or baffles upon its inner surface, a shaft passing throngh
said cylinder and provided with a series of spirally arranged beaters, and means
for rotating said shaft.
2. A grain washing machine, comprising a stationary washing cylinder, provided
with a series of ribs or baffles, a rotating shaft passing through said cylinder, and
provided with a series of spirally arranged beaters, a conical straining drum into
which the grain passes from said washing cylinder, and a series of spirally arranged
flights or conveyors arranged within said straining drum.
3. The combination, with the wheat washing cylinder and the spirally arranged
beaters arranged therein, of the straining drum into which the grain and water

page_text: pass from said washing cylinder,.means. for rotating said drum, rotating flights or
conveyors arranged within said: drum, and means for rotating said flights or
conveyors at a higher speed than that of said drum.
4. The combination, with the enclosing casing, and the washing cylinder, of the
straining drum, and the fan arranged to create a current of air through and around
said drum, for the purpose set forth.
5. The combination, with the straining drum, of the wipers 25 arranged within
said drum.
6. The combination, with the washing cylinder, of the preliminary water
separator provided with the overflow pipe having an open end arranged within
said separator.
7. The combination, with the vessel 36, of the hopper provided with the spout
extending into said vessel, a tank surrounding the upper part of said vessel, an
opening in the spout of said hopper within said tank, and an overflow pipe having
its upper end arranged within the upper part of said vessel.
Dated this 21st day of December 1896.
H. D FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.