IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Alfred Gibbs, of Gillwell Park, Sewardstone,
near Woodford, in the County of Essex, Esquire, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING."
Sealed the 15th August 1876, and dated the 30th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Alfred Gibbs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th March 1876.
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS, of Gillwell Park, Sewardstone, near Woodford, in the
County of Essex, Esquire. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
DRYING."
My Invention relates to former Inventions described in the Specifications of
Letters Patent, No. 314, granted to me and Alfred Borwick, and bearing date the
31st January 1872, and in the Specification of Letters Patent, No. 50, granted to
me, and bearing date the 3rd January 1874.
My present Invention consists, firstly, in constructing a compound blast and
exhaust fan, with a furnace in the lower part of each of the side chambers, which
furnaces are independent of one another, or combining such fan with a divided
furnace, each half of which is separate from the other half, and has its own firing
hole. One half of the said furnace communicates with one of the side chambers of
the fan, and the other half communicates with the other side chamber, each chamber
being furnished with a valve, by means of which the communication between the
said chamber and its furnace can be cut off or regulated as required.
The foregoing arrangements admit of the hot blast being drawn from the furnaces
in the side chambers, or from either of them (when the fan is constructed with
furnaces in its side chambers) or from either half or both halves of the furnace when
a double furnace is used, so that the said furnaces or halves can be used either
together or alternately, and a hot blast of more uniform temperature is thus
obtained. This part of my Invention is applicable not only to my drying apparatus
but also to other apparatus to which it is desirable to supply a blast of heated air at
as uniform a temperature as possible.
My Invention consists further of improvements in the drying machinery and
apparatus described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 50, A.D. 1874, with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings filed with that Specification.

page_text: These improvements are as follows:-Instead of introducing the hot blast into that
part of the air duct which is at the discharge end of the drying trough I introduce
the said blast into that part of the said duct which is at the feed end of the said
trough, and instead of placing the blast apparatus (which may be either of the kind
herein-before described or of the ordinary kind) in a line with the axis of the said
trough, I place the said apparatus at one side of the said trough and connect the
fan to the air duct by means of an overhead pipe passing from the upper part of
the fan casing to the said trough. By these means the hot blast is delivered at its
greatest heat and with the greatest force at that part of the trough which is
occupied by the grass or other substance, which, having just been fed into the
machine, is in its wettest condition, and the hot blast apparatus is out of the work-
man's way.
My Invention further consists in arranging a fan or several fans above the air
duct and drying trough. When two or more fans are so arranged I use a stove, pre-
ferably of the kind described with reference to Figures 22, 23, and 24 of my
aforesaid Specification, which stove I place at one side of the said trough, and with
which I so connect the fans that the fan or fans at or near the feed end shall draw
the air and gaseous products of combustion from the fuel chamber of the stove, and
the fan or fans at or near the discharge end shall draw air from the casing and
through the pipes of the said stove. In order, when necessary, to lower the tem-
perature of the air passing to the fans I provide the connecting pipes or flues with
valves, by which cold air may be admitted.
According to another arrangement, I fix in the space the oscillating floor
and the air duct pipes similar to those used in locomotive boilers, and pass through
the said pipes either the products of combustion from a boiler furnace or steam. In
this case ordinary unwarined air from the external atmosphere is forced through the
air duct by an ordinary fan or by ordinary fans and becomes heated by contact
with the heated pipes in the said air duct.
For some purposes it is desirable to give freer vent to the hot air as it passes from
the air duct into the trough. For this purpose I make in the air duct (either in
addition to or in lieu of the slits represented in the Drawings referred to) a series of
openings somewhat resembling the gills of a fish, which I term "gills." I make the
said gills by piercing the metal of the air duct with L shaped slits and bending out-
wards the portion of the metal lying in the angle of the said slits.
These gills
may open either towards the feed end or the discharge end of the trough.
In some cases I dispense with the tappets and tappet shaft, shown in the said
Drawings, and substitute a series of ropes, chains, or springs, or ropes or chains com-
bined with springs, and attach the upper ends of the said ropes, chains, or springs
to the upper ends of the tines represented in the said Drawings, and attach the
lower ends of the said ropes, chains, or springs to brackets on the sides of the trough
in such a manner that when the revolution of the crank shaft brings the points of the
tines to their lowest positions in the trough the said ropes, chains, or springs pull
the upper ends of the tines downwards, and thus cause the lower ends to lift their
charge and thrust it forward on to the air duct. The brackets are by preference
hinged to the sides of the trough so as to be capable of adjustment at different
angles in a horizontal plane, the object being to adjust the ropes, chains, or springs
to such angles relatively to the tines as to pull them into an oblique position, and so
cause them to propel as well as lift the charge in the trough, the said tines being
mounted loosely on their cranks to allow of the necessary play. When this arrange-
ment is used the trough and its floors may be made fixtures, the adjustment of the
former to different angles and the reciprocatory motion of the latter being in some
cases rendered unnecessary by the propelling action of the tines.
Instead of the aforesaid brackets two shafts may be affixed to the trough, one at
each side thereof, and the ropes, chains, or springs may be attached to hooks on the
said shafts. In some cases I aflix to the tines teeth, forks, or hoes in order the more
effectually to operate upon the substance to be dried.
My improvements consist further in applying to the said aforesaid machinery

page_text: mechanism for scraping or clearing the exterior of the air duct, the said mechanism
being constructed as follows:-A series of levers is mounted on a horizontal longi-
tudinal shaft above the air duct or on two horizontal longitudinal shafts, ono shaft
at each side of the machine so as to have oscillatory motion in a vertical plane on
such shaft or shafts, there being one of these levers to each of the tines. To the
arms of these levers rods are jointed, the lower ends of which rods carry forks or
scrapers which bear against the exterior of the said air duct. The said levers are
raised by the tines at each side of the machine which as they successively rise come
into alternate contact with cross pieces or forks affixed or jointed to the respective ends
of the said arins, and are thus cleared of the fibrous matter which they may have
taken up and also depress the forks or scrapers.
The forks or scrapers aforesaid may be so arranged as to have an oblique motion
simultaneously with the rising and falling motion described. This may be done by
simply bending the said scrapers in an oblique direction or by causing them to work
in oblique guides. If the substance to be dried be of such a nature as to be apt to
hang or cling in between the mouth of the air duct and the oscillating floor two
rods instead of one may be jointed to each lever, and so arranged relatively to the
nir duct that one shall actuate a scraper or pusher in between the air duct and
the floor, and the other shall actuate the scrapers which clear the exterior of the air
duct.
In both of the arrangements herein-before described the upward movement of
the tines is sufficient to actuate the levers, but if desired they may be worked
independently of the tines by any suitable mechanism, such for instance as a
rocking bar. Where desirable, a jogging or vibratory motion may be imparted to
the tines and to the outer scrapers aforesaid by means of cams or tappets on a
revolving shaft or by other suitable mechanism.
Instead of the bell-crank levers and the scrapers aforesaid, rods, chains, or cords
may be mounted or stretched longitudinally in such positions relatively to the
tines as to constitute stops which prevent the lower ends of the said tines from
being overbalanced by the pull of the chains or springs aforesaid, and also clear
the said tines from any part of the charge which they may have lifted out of the
trough.
My Invention further consists in effecting the adjustment of the angles of tho
aforesaid trough and of drying cylinders and other similar drying apparatus when
mounted on wheels by means of screws carried by the axles of the said wheels,
instead of by separate screw jacks, such axles being cranked and the screws
working through screw boxes affixed to the vertical parts of the said axles.
My Invention consists further in modifying the construction of the cylinders
described in my said Specification, No. 50, A.D. 1874, with reference to Figures 13
and 14 of the Drawings filed therewith by substituting longitudinal bars for the
wire net there represented, in order to allow of a freer passage of air.
My Invention consists further in affixing to the insides of drying cylinders
furnished with shelves as described in my aforesaid Specificaton with reference to
Figure 18 of the Drawings filed therewith, archimedian screws, the blades of which
are of greater depth than the shelves which the screws thus divide into a series of
compartments with oblique sides. By this means the grain or other charge is both
lifted up and propelled along through the cylinder by the revolution thereof
irrespective of any angle at which it may be set.
My Invention relates further to the revolving drying cylinders with stationary
air ducts, described in the Specification of the Letters Patent, No. 314, granted to
me in conjunction with Alfred Borwick and bearing date 31 January, A.D. 1872,
and in ny aforesaid Specification, No. 50, A.D. 187+, and consists in fixing above
such air ducts bent deflecting plates or saddle shaped guards so as to prevent
any portion of the charge from lodging on the air duct, and becoming scorched
thereby.
My Invention further consists of the improvements herein after described in
machinery and apparatus for dry ing grain, hops, and other agricultural products.
·

page_text: I construct the drying cylinders of a skeleton frame of wood or of angle iron, and
cover such frame either with coarse canvas, or with wire cloth, or with the horse-
hair cloth used in hop oasts; or an ordinary rotatory screen, such as is commonly
used for cleaning corn may be readily converted into a corn drier, also according to
my Invention, by fixing longitudinal shelves between the blades of its screw, and
substituting my air duct for the axle with which such screens are usually furnished,
the said air duct being connected to a hot blast fan. The machine thus constructed
both cleans and dries the grain.
For drying hops I apply to ordinary hop oasts a battery of drying cylinders,
constructed as herein-before last described, in lieu of the hair cloth floors ordinarily
used in the said oasts; and instead of forcing hot air through the air ducts by means
of fans communicating with air heating surfaces I draw hot air from the furnaces
already existing in the lower part of the hop oast into the cylinders through the
hair cloth with which they are covered. To create the necessary draught for this
purpose I connect to the larger end of each air duct an upright pipo of sufficient
length. The moisture from the hops is thus drawn into the air ducts, and escapes
therefrom through the vertical pipes. Jets of steam may be passed through the
said pipes to accelerate the action of the apparatus, if desirable, or a compound
exhaust fan may be used instead of the vertical pipe. The hops being kept in slow
motion by the revolution of the cylinder, a much higher temperature may be used
in the furnace without danger of scorching the said hops, and the vapour evolved is
removed as soon as it is formed. The drying process is thus expedited, and the
hops thus dried are much brighter than those dried in the ordinary manner, besides
being preserved from the damage caused by being shovelled and turned on the
floor, because they are merely fed in at one end of the cylinder and caused to
pass through it by the action of the screw and the revolution of the said
cylinder.
My Invention further consists in combining the crank shaft and tines herein-
before referred to with a revolving drying cylinder and its air duct. I prefer to
leave the cylinder open at both ends, and I propel the substance to be dried through
the said cylinder by the adjustment of the said cylinder at the required angle, or by
the oblique action of the said tines, or by both. The crank shaft carrying the tines
is mounted in bearings outside the cylinder, and may be driven by gearing from the
shaft which drives the said cylinder.
My Invention consists, further, in combining a jogging floor of the kind described
in my aforesaid Specification, No. 50, A.D. 1874, with reference to Figure 23 of the
Drawings filed therewith, with tines carried by endless chains or bands passing over
pulleys, by which tines the charge is carried from end to end of the said floor,
which is mounted over and forms the cover of a chamber supplied with hot air by
a fan and stove, which air having no other exit passes out through the openings in the
said floor and through the substance to be dried, which substance is kept in constant
motion by the joint action of the floor and the tines.
The arrangement herein-before last described may be modified by affixing the
tines' points downwards to bars mounted a short distance above the jogging floor
on cranks, which give the said bars a compound to-and-fro and up-and-down
motion. The said tines are thus caused to dip into the charge and propel it a
short distance along the floor, and then to rise out of the said charge ready for the
next stroke.
My Invention consists, further, of the improved apparatus herein-after described
for drying hay and other fibrous matters. The said apparatus consists of a wide
shaft (preferably square in cross section) in the angles of which are fixed air ducts,
in which are formed apertures through which hot air is forced by means of a fan or
of several fans communicating with a furnace or furnaces. At intervals, on any
two opposite sides of the shaft, tines are mounted on fulcra, so as to be capable of
moving freely up and down in lateral slots or openings in the sides of the shaft
through which the said tines pass. These lines of times are so placed that tho
charge of wet hay or other substance, when fed in at the upper end of the shaft,

page_text: shall first fall by gravity on to the uppermost line of tines down which it slides,
and shall thence slide downwards froni line to line till it reaches the bottom of the
shaft, whence it passes out through a valve or opening. When the charge contains
but a smal per-centage of moisture this arrangement is sufficient to dry it in its
passage down the shaft, but when the dampness of the charge requires it, it may be
shaken out by the said tines during its passage, for which purpose they are mounted
on cranked shafts and actuated by chains or tappets, as licrcin-before described with
reference to other hay drying machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Alfred Gibbs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
September 1876.
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS, of Gillwell Park, Sewardstone, near Woodford; in the
County of Essex, Esquire. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
DRYING."
My Invention relates to former Inventions described in the Specification of
Letters Patent, No. 314, granted to me and Alfred Borwick, and bearing date the
31st January 1872, and in the Specification of Letters Patent, No. 50, granted to
me, and bearing date the 3rd January 1874.
My present Invention consists, firstly, in constructing a compound blast and
exhaust fan with a furnace in the lower part of each of the side chambers, which
furnaces are independent of one another, or combining such fan with a divided
furnace, each half of which is separate from the other half, and has its own firing
hole. One half of the said furnace communicates with one of the side chambers of
the fan, and the other half communicates with the other side chamber; each
chamber being furnished with a valve, by means of which the communication
between the said chamber and its furnace can be cut off or regulated as required.
The foregoing arrangements admit of the hot blast being drawn from the furnaces
in the side chambers or from either of them (when the fan is constructed with
furnaces in its side chambers), or from either half, or from both halves of the
furnace when a double furnace is used, so that the said furnaces or. halves can be
used either together or alternately; a blast of more uniform temperature being thus
obtained. This part of my Invention is applicable not only to my drying apparatus,
but also to other apparatus to which it is desirable to supply a blast of heated air
at as uniform a temperature as possible, also where a wide range of temperature is
required.
My Invention consists further of improvements in the drying machinery and
apparatus described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 50, A.D. 1874, with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, of the Drawings filed with that Specification.
These improvements are as follows:-Instead of introducing the hot blast into that
part of the air duct which is at the discharge end of the drying trough, I introduce
the said blast into that part of the said duct which is at the feed end of the said
trough, and instead of placing the blast apparatus (which may be either of the kind
herein-before described or of the ordinary kind) in a line with the axis of the said
trough I place the said apparatus at one side of the said trough, and connect the fan
to the air duct by means of an overhead pipe passing from the upper part of the
fan to the said trough. By these incans the hot blast is delivered at its greatest
heat and with the greatest force at that part of the trough which is occupied by the
grass or other substance, which having just been fed into the machine is in its
wettest condition, and the hot blast apparatus is out of the workman's way.
In some cases I dispense with the tappets and tappet shafts. shown in Figures 1
and 2 of the said Drawings, and substitute a series of ropes, chains, or springs, or
ropes or chains combiued with springs, and attach the upper ends of the said ropes,
chains, or springs to the upper ends of the tines represented in the said Drawings,

page_text: and I attach the lower ends of the said ropes, chains, or springs, to bars sliding in
or on brackets aflixed to the outer sides of the trough in such a manner that when
the revolution of the crank shaft brings the points of the tines to their lowest
positions in the trough, the said ropes, chains, or springs pull the upper ends of the
tines downwards, and thus cause the lower ends to lift their charge and thrust it
forward on to the air duct. In some cases I affix to the tines teeth, forks, or hoes,
in order the more effectually to operate upon the substance to be dried, and I
mount above the said trough levers carrying forks with which the tines engage as
they rise, and by which they are cleared of the fibrous matter which they may have
taken up.
.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation of the feed end of the
said drying apparatus showing the application thereto of the improved fan herein-
before described; and Figure 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the said
apparatus.
cc7
The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in both Figures.
A is the compound blast and exhaust fan of the construction herein-before
described; a¹ is one of the side chambers in which the furnaces are formed; a² is a
rigger keyed on the shaft a³, through which motion is communicated to the fan;
a' is a pinion keyed to the said shaft a³, which pinion gears with a wheel as affixed
to a shaft a which works in bearings a supported by a frame as bolted to the side
chamber a¹ of the fan. The bearings a are capable of being fixed at various
distances from the shaft a³ so as to admit of pinions of different sizes being mounted
on the said shaft, whereby the relative speeds of the fan and of the drying apparatus
may be varied. a is a chain wheel aflixed to the shaft a, from which motion is
communicated to the drying apparatus as follows-a is a chain passing over the
wheel a and over a chain wheel b'keyed on the crank shaft B of the said drying
apparatus; b is another chain wheel keyed on the said shaft B; and 3 is a chain
by which the said wheel b is geared with a chain wheel c¹ keyed on the crank
shaft C on the opposite side of the said apparatus; 6 is one of two grooved wheels
over which the chain passes. The shafts B and C work in bearings carried by
the frame H of the apparatus, as described in my aforesaid Specification, No. 50,
A.D. 1874, and the wheels b work on a pin 65 carried by an adjustable block
supported by the said frame, and capable of being raised and lowered, and fixed at
different heights, whereby the tension of the chain 3 may be varied according to
circumstances. D is the air duct supported above the reciprocatory floor or
trough E, and d is an air trunk which forms the cominunication between the said
air duct and the fan A. The said trunk is made in parts bolted together, as at d²,
so as to allow of the fan being separated from the drying apparatus when they
have to be transported. The fan and drying apparatus may however be per-
manently connected, and so mounted on their wheels as to be capable of trans-
portation together as one machine. F, F, are the tines jointed to the cranks of the
shafts B and C, the upper ends of which tines are attached by ropes ¹¹, to the
bars or shafts G, G, which are carried by the brackets g', y', affixed to the framing H;
I, I, are forks carried by levers i, i¹, jointed at one end to rods, supported by
the framing H; &,, are other rods also supported by the said framing, on which
rods the free ends of the levers rest.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Motion being communicated to the
rigger a from an agricultural engine or other source of motive power, the fan is
caused to revolve, and the hot air drawn through the furnaces in its side chambers
is driven into the air duct, whence the said air passes through the space between
the air duct and the reciprocatory floor or trough into the hay or other substance
to be dried, which is placed therein by hand and tossed about and moved towards
the discharge end of the apparatus and discharged therefrom by the tines F, F. The
positions to which the said tines are brought by the combined action of the crank
shaft on which they are mounted, and the ropes or chains by which they are
attached to the sliding bar are illustrated in Figure 2, which is a side elevation of
a portion of the apparatus. By this Figure it will be seen that as the lower ends of

page_text: the tines are raised by the revolution of the crank shaft they are also pulled into an
oblique position and so caused to propel as well as lift the charge in the trough, the
said tines being mounted loosely on their cranks to allow of the necessary play.
By sliding the bars G, G, in one or other direction the angles of the ropes or chains
may be varied, the amount of propulsion given by the tines to the matter under
treatment being thereby increased or diminished. When the tines F, F, are rising
the lower ends engage with the forks I, I, which rise with the said tines and
remain engaged with them until they are by the motion of the crank shafts
withdrawn from under the said forks which then fall into their normal positions.
By this action the tines are at each stroke cleared of any fibrous matter which
would otherwise remain on them.
Chains, or springs, or chains and springs, or ropes and springs, may be used
instead of ropes for attaching the tines F to the bars G. When I use springs in
conjunction with ropes or chains I prefer to arrange them as illustrated in
Figure 3, in which Figure f is the spring attached at one end to the tine F and
at the other end to the rope f¹, so as to leave a loop or slack f³ in the rope between
the two ends of the spring. The object of this arrangement is to prevent or lessen
noise in working.
The propulsion of the hay through the apparatus may be effected either wholly
by the action of the tines, or by their action conjointly with the vibratory floor,
or by inclining the apparatus at a suitable angle, or by all these means combined.
According to another arrangement instead of forcing hot air into and through
the air duct, as herein-before described, I fix in the said air duct pipes and pass
through them either the products of combustion from a boiler, furnace, or steam,
and I force into the air duct unwarmed air from the external atmosphere, which air
becomes heated by contact with the heated pipes in the said air duct.
Figure is a longitudinal section of a portion of an air duct; and Figure 5 is a
transverse section of the same, showing the arrangement of the aforesaid pipes
therein. The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in both
Figures; A, A, are the pipes which at one end communicate with a furnace or
steam boiler, and are expanded at the other end in the end plate a' of the said air
duct, outside of which a box a is formed into which the steam or products of com-
bustion passes or pass from the pipes A, A, and 3 is a pipe by which the said steam
or products is or are conveyed away and allowed to escape.
My Invention further consists in arranging a fan or several fans above the air
duct and drying trough, and connecting it or them with a suitable stove so that
the said fan or fans may draw heated air therefrom. When two or more fans are
so arranged I prefer to use a stove of the kind described with reference to
Figures 22, 23, and 24, of the Drawing accompanying my aforesaid Specification,
which stove I place at one side of the said trough and with which I so connect the
fans by means of suitable pipes or flues that the fan or fans at or near the feed
end shall draw the air and gaseous products of combustion from the fuel chamber
of the stove, and the fan or fans at or near the discharge end shall draw air from
the casing and through the pipes of the said stove and deliver it into the air duct.
When necessary to lower the temperature of the air passing to the fans I provide
the connecting pipes or flues with valves by which cold air may be admitted.
My Invention consists further in affixing to the insides of drying cylinders or
cases, furnished with shelves and air ducts, as described in my aforesaid Specifi-
cation with reference to Figures 17 and 18 of the Drawings, filed therewith,
archimedian screws, the blades of which are of greater depth than the shelves, the
spaces between which are divided by the screws into a series of compartments with
oblique sides. By this means the grain or other charge is both lifted up and
propelled through the cylinder by the revolution thereof irrespective of any anglo
at which it may be set.
My Invention consists furthur in combining with revolving drying cylinders or
cases, having stationary air ducts (such as those described in the Specification of
Letters Patent, No. 314, A.D. 1872, and No. 50, A.D. 1874) bent deflecting plates

page_text: or guards, or shields, so as to prevent any portion of the charge from lodging on
the air duct and becoming scorched thereby.
Figure of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation partly in section,
and Figure 7 in an end elevation of a drying cylinder or case to which the afore-
said improvements are applied. Figure 8 is a plan of the driving gear of the said
apparatus.
The same letters and figures of reference indicate like parts in each of the said
Figures 6, 7, and 8.
A is a case, on the outside of which are affixed rings or bands a², a', having ribs
a², a², formed on them, which ribs rest on grooved rollers b¹, b, mounted on shafts
62, 63, carried by the frame B, which may be supported on tressels, as shown, or in
any other suitable manner.
is a bevil toothed wheel aflixed to the shaft b;
65, 65, are speed pulleys, and is bevil toothed pinion mounted on a shaft be
carried by brackets 63, 68, formed on or affixed to the frame B. is an axle on
which wheels are put when the apparatus has to be removed. C is the driving
shaft which works in bearings e¹, c, and to which are aflixed a rigger c², a fly
wheel c³, and speed pulleys ct, c. c is a band by which motion is communicated
from the driving shaft C through the shaft bo to the shaft 3, the revolution of
which causes the case A to revolve. a, a, are the shelves in the interior of the
case A, and a is the screw. D is the air duct, and d¹ is the deflecting plate or
shield affixed above the said air duct. E is the fan, which is constructed above a
furnace (preferably of either of the kinds described in my aforesaid Specification,
No. 50, A.D. 1874), whence hot air is drawn and driven through the air duct into
the cylinder. The fan is driven by a band el, which passes over the fly wheel c³,
and over a pulley e on tlie shaft of the said fan. F is a hopper, consisting of a
box, in which are two inclined plates f¹, f. The plate fis capable of being
slidden so as to increase or decrease the space between it and the plate ff is a
screw which passes through a slot in the plate f, and by which the said plate may
be secured after being adjusted. f' is a spindle which passes through the said box
below the plates f, f, on which spindle at that part which is inside the said box
a drum f carrying vanes f, f, is mounted. That part of the shaft which
projects from the side of the box carries a land pully f7, over which, and over a
pulley on the fan shaft, a band f3 passes. By this means the shaft ft is caused to
revolve when the apparatus is in action, and the matter to be treated is thus fed
into the case A, the speed at which the said matter passes being regulated by fixing
the plate ffarther from or nearer to the plate f¹, and by varying the speed at
which the shaft f is caused to revolve.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-The driving shaft C being set in
motion the case is caused to revolve, and hot air is forced into it by the fan E, the
grain or other matter to be treated being fed into the hopper F passes into the case
A, as herein-before described, and is at cach revolution of the said case carried
upward by the shelves ³, a³, and allowed to fall, until, by the action of the screw
a the said matter has been carried to the discharge end of the case A, whence it
falls, the speed at which the said case revolves being regulated so that the said
matter shall be completely dried by the time it reaches the discharge end. By this
arrangement of the screw and shelves a³ the matter under treatment is pro-
pelled through the case by the revolution thereof, thus obviating the necessity for
inclining the said case.
My Invention further consists in modifying the apparatus herein-before last
described and illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying Drawings, by
constructing the said cylinders or cases of a skeleton frame of wood or of angle
iron, and covering such frame either with coarse canvas or with wire cloth, or with
the horse-hair cloth used in hop oasts; or an ordinary rotatory screen, such as is
commonly used for cleaning corn, may be readily converted into a corn drier
according to my Invention by fixing longitudinal shelves between the blades of its
screw and substituting my air duct (i.c., an air duct having a longitudinal slit with
lips) for the axle with which such screens are usually furnished, the said air duct

page_text: being connected to a hot blast fan. The machine thus constructed both cleans and
dries the grain.
For drying hops I apply to ordinary hop oasts a battery of drying cylinders
constructed as herein-before last described, in lieu of the hair cloth floors ordinarily
used in the said oasts, and instead of forcing hot.air through the air ducts by means
of fans communicating with air heating furnaces, I draw hot air from the furnaces
already existing in the lower part of the hop oast into the cylinders through the
hair cloth with which they are covered. To create the necessary draught for this
purpose I connect to the larger end of each air duct an upright pipe of sufficient
length. The moisture from the hops is thus drawn into the air ducts, and escapes
therefrom through the vertical pipes. Jets of steam may be passed through the said
pipes to accelerate the action of the apparatus if desirable; or a compound blast
and exhaust fan may be used instead of the vertical pipes. This arrangement is
illustrated in Figure 9, in which Figure a battery of three of the said drying
cylinders or cases is shown, the said cases being arranged side by side and supported
on rollers b', ', so as to be capable of revolving freely, the said rollers being.
mounted on shafts B, B, supported by the walls of the building (not shown) in
which the cases are placed. In order to show clearly the construction of the said
cases, one of them is shown in transverse section, the others being in end elevation;
al, a, are bars of angle iron, the parts a, a, of which form the longitudinal shelves.
The said bars are connected to rings a³ on which ribs at are formed, which ribs rest
on the grooved rollers b', '; as is the permeable covering; and a is the screw;
C is the air duct; and c¹ is the guard or deflecting plate affixed thereto; D, D, are
the flues which respectively lead from the air ducts to the shaft of the oast house.
The ends of the cases are closed by plates A, A, affixed to the air ducts C, and
partly supported by the shafts B, B. In each of the plates A' is an aperture
covered by a hinged flap a', through which apertures the hops are fed into the
cylinders or cases; as, as, are other hinged flaps which cover apertures in the plates
A, A, through which apertures the hops when dried pass from the cases.
The hops may either be fed into the cases by hand or by buckets carried by
endless chains, or by creepers, or by any other suitable apparatus, and the hops
falling from the cases may be received on creepers and be removed by them from
the oast house. The cases are caused to revolve by means of any suitable gearing,
the motion being preferably communicated to the shafts B, B, which may project
through the wall of the building.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-The hops or other matters being fed
into the cases through the apertures in the end plate A¹ are turned over, lifted up,
and kept in motion by the revolution of the said cases, and are caused to pass
through them, and when dried are ejected therefrom by the action of the screws.
The vapour evolved is removed as soon as it is formed by the current of heated air
drawn from the furnaces through the said cases into the air ducts C, C, and through
the discharge flues D, D. The hops being kept in motion a much higher tem-
perature than usual may he used in the furnaces without danger of scorching the
said hops. The drying process is thus expedited, and the hops thus dried are mucli
brighter than those dried in the ordinary manner, besides being preserved from the
damage caused by being shovelled and turned on the floor.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the precise details described, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention, but I claim as my said Invention,-
Firstly. Constructing a compound blast and exhaust fan with a separate furnace
in the lower part of each of the side chambers essentially as herein-before
described.
Secondly. The combination with a compound blast and exhaust fan of a divided
furnace, the two parts of which are separate and communicate each with one of the
side chambers of the fan, the said chambers being furnished with valves essentially
as herein-before described.

page_text: Thirdly. The improvements in the hay drying apparatus illustrated in Figures 1,
2, 3, and 4, of the Drawings filed with the Specification of my Patent, No. 50, A.D.,
1874, that is to say, combining with the said apparatus a fan (preferably of the
construction herein-before described), and so connecting them that the heated air
shall be driven into the air duct at the feed end of the apparatus, and substituting
for the tappets described in the aforesaid Specification ropes, chains, or springs, or
ropes and springs, or chains and springs, so attached to the tines and to an
adjustable bar or its equivalent that the said tines shall be caused to lift and propel
the hay towards the discharge end of the apparatus, essentially as herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly. Modifying the arrangement of the said drying apparatus by mounting
a fan or several fans above the air duct, and connecting such fan or fans with a
stove, essentially as herein-before described.
Fifthly. Combining an archimedian serew with a drying cylinder or case furnished
with shelves and my air duct, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated
with reference to Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying Drawings.
Sixthly. The modification herein-before described with reference to Figure 9 of
the accompanying Drawings of the apparatus referred to in my fifth claim, that is
to say, constructing the cylinder or case by forming a frame of wood or of angle
iron, and covering it with a permeable fabric, the said case being combined with
the archimedian screw, longitudinal shelves, and air duct, through which air duct
air is drawn, essentially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
W. T. WHITEMAN,
7, Staple Inn,
London.
W. A. GIBBS. (L.S.)