Improvements in Separators or Graders applicable for Separating Grain and for other Purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1898
Improvements in Separators or Graders applicable for Separating
Grain and for other Purposes.
I, ALBERT ROE PENPRASE, a citizen of the United States, residing at No. 608,
West First Street, Duluth, in the County of St. Louis, State of Minnesota, United
States of America, Gentleman, 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:-
My invention relates to separators and, more particularly to that class of
separators which are adapted to separate grain.
The objects of my invention are, first, to secure compactness and to subject the
material being treated to as many sieving operations as possible in such compacted
space, and second, to thoroughly separate the material into three compartments
in the novel manner, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.
The invention consists of certain novel constructions, combinations and arrange-
ments of parts, all of which will be hereinafter particularly described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1, represents a vertical section of my improved separator.
Fig. 2, represents a vertical section of the same, extending from front to rear
of the separator, at right angles to the plane of the section in Fig. 1 and
Fig. 3, represents a horizontal cross section of the device.
A in the drawings represents a casing, B, inner diverging screens; B¹ outer con-
verging screens, C inner converging floors, C¹ outer diverging floors, and E a feed
hopper.
The casing A is preferably of a generally rectangular shape, and provided
with a door A¹ upon its front side, through which access may be had to the interior
of the separator, for the purpose of cleaning the same or rectifying any difficulty.
which may occur therein.
The feed hopper E is situated at the top of the separator, the lower discharging
end of the said hopper extending into the separator. The discharge of said hopper
is adapted to be regulated by the jaws e e pivoted to the walls of the hopper, and
adapted when swung toward each other to partially or entirely close the lower end
of the hopper. Pivotally mounted in the separator is a lever el which is operatively
connected at one end with each jaw e by a short link ea. The other end of the
lever e¹ extends outside the casing A and is connected to an operating rod e³. The
rode is movably held in place by guides upon the side of the separator
and is provided with a handle at its lower end. An upward movement of the rod e
causes the end of the lever el connected to the pivoted or toggle links to move
downwardly which causes the said links and the pivoted jaws e to which the links
are pivoted, to move toward each other and come together at the lower end of the
feed hopper and close the same. A downward pull upon the rod e³ causes a reverse
movement of the pivoted lever, links and jaws and separates the jaws for the
passage of material into the separator. It will be seen from the above description
that the discharge of the hopper may be regulated by moving the operating rod e

page_text: up or down, thereby opening or closing the jaws ee to a greater or less extent
according to the amount of grain it it desired to admit to the separator.
Just below the feed hopper E are arranged oppositely diverging coarse wire
screens B² preferably formed simply of parallel wires which, while they allow the
grain to drop through, collect straw or any large trash and convey it to either side
where it may drop into the dust or dirt compartment. The grain drops through
the screens B2 and falls upon the uppermost pair of inner diverging screens B B
which meet in the middle of the separator. Connected to the lower ends of the
upper pair of inner diverging screens is a pair of inner converging floors which de
not meet at their lower ends but form a central passage for the descent of dust.
To the lower ends of the floors C are connected another pair of diverging screens ]
and to the lower ends of these screens are connected another pair of converging
floors C and this construction and arrangement is carried out to the extent desired.
Outside of the inwardly converging floors C and a suitable distance away from the
same, to form a passage for the descent of the grain, a pair of converging screens B'
are arranged and to the lower ends of these screens, diverging floors C₁ are con-
nected which are parallel with the inner diverging screens B and this arrangement
is continued to the extent desired. By this construction, the sieves and floors can
be very compactly arranged and a large amount of sieving surface secured and at
the same time the dust is discharged centrally through the casing as well as at the
sides thereof; each sieve is constructed so as to prevent dust from re-entering
the grain, and two zigzag passages are secured.
The upper ends of the outer converging screens B₁ and the lower ends of the
coarse diverging screens B2 are connected by vertical screens as shown in the
drawings.
About midway the height of the separator, and between two of the oppositely
inclined dust floors C, is an inclined floor c, which is adapted to catch all the dust
or foreign substances dropping down the central passageway, and direct them
through an opening f in the rear wall of the casing A into the compartment F.
The passage ways on each side of the separator are also in communication with said
compartment F, by means of openings f¹ f¹ in the sides of the casing A, the dust
straw and foreign substances dropping down said passage ways, being directed
through said openings fl fi by the dust floors C C which are just opposite the same,
the said floors being extended to meet the sides of the casing A for this purpose.
Below this point in the separator the grain is further screened and separated
into two grades, the best grade being deposited by the last pair of oppositely
inclined screens B¹ B¹ into an inclined trough b, which extends through the front
of the casing A and delivers the clear grain into any desired receptacle. The rest
of the grain and screenings pass, a part down the sides of the casing into a com-
partment A2 in the lower end of the separator and a part into the same receptacle
through an opening formed at the rear of the casing A between the last pair of
dust floors C and an inclined floor c¹ similar to the floor c, being secured in place
between the said dust floors to more effectually secure a proper discharge of the
said grain. The floor of this compartment A2 preferably converges toward the
center, at which point is an aperture or door, adapted to be closed by a slide a.
The contents of the compartment A2 may be discharged into any suitable receptacle
by pulling out the slide a.
"It will be observed that the series of screens and floors form on each side a zig-
zag passage way for the grain, each screen being adapted to deliver its contents
to the next oppositely inclined screen below, and the dust floors being adapted
to catch the screenings from each screen and convey them to a proper place and
prevent dust from falling on to the screen below.
The screens are preferably arranged at right angles to each other, for by this
arrangement, I am enabled to pass the grain over a great number of screens in a
small space, and the angle gives a sufficient incline to make the grain fall easily.
While I have described my invention as adapted to the separation of grain, I
do not wish to limit myself to that use, for it is apparent from the above description

page_text: that my device may be used for separating ore, coal and crushed rock or similar
material, without departing from the spirit of my invention.
It will be apparent that the material to be separated will be delivered in three
different grades; that discharged into the compartment F being one; that dis-
charged into the compartment A3 being another, and that discharged through
the trough b, being the third.
The screens below the openings leading into the compartment A³ are preferably
of a larger mesh than the screens above and they may be graded, to suit the
separation desired.
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. In a separator and grader, the combination with a suitable casing, of two
inner diverging screens two inner converging floors connecting the said inner
screens, two outer converging screens parallel with the said converging floors,
two outer diverging floors connecting the said outer converging screens and parallel
with the inner diverging screens, the inner floors and screens being so arranged
as to discharge particles of dirt or waste material through a space centrally between
them into a suitable receptacle, and the outer diverging floors to discharge waste
material at the sides of the casing, the arrangement of the inner and outer floors
also preventing the dust from re-entering the grain and also forming with the
screens two zigzag passages for the descent of the grain, and an inclined floor
located at a suitable point in the central dust chute for conducting the dust to the
dust compartment, the said dust compartment also connecting with the side dust
passages or chutes, one set of the outer diverging floors being extended to meet
the sides of the outer casing to form a screenings compartment below the same
and prevent the further descent of the dust into said compartment and also direct
the dust in the side passages to the dust compartment, the mesh of the screens
below the said extended divergent dust floors in the side dust passages being larger
than the mesh of the screens above said floors, and forming a grain grader which
permits small grain or screenings to pass through the large mesh, the construction
and arrangement being such that the dust is conveyed to one compartment, screen-
ings to another compartment, and good grain to a third compartment, substantially
as described.
2. In a separator and grader, the combination with a suitable casing, of two
inner diverging screens, two inner converging floors connecting the said inner
screens, two outer converging screens parallel with the said converging floors,
two outer diverging floors connecting the said outer converging screens and parallel
with the inner diverging screens, the inner floors and screens being so arranged as
to discharge particles of dirt or waste material through a space centrally between
them into a suitable receptacle, and the outer diverging floors to discharge waste
material at the sides of the casing, the arrangement of the inner and outer floors
also preventing the dust from re-entering the grain, and also forming with the
screens two zigzag passages for the descent of the grain, a centrally arranged
inclined floor located at a suitable point in the central dust chute for conducting
the dust to the dust compartment, the said dust compartment also connecting
with the side dust passages or chutes, one set of the outer diverging floors being
extended to meet the sides of the outer casing to form a screenings compartment
below the same and prevent the further descent of the dust into said compartment
and also to direct the dust in the side passages to the dust compartment, the
mesh of the screens below the extended dust floors in the side dust passages being
larger than the mesh of similarly arranged screens above the inclined dust floors
in the side dust passages, so as to permit the small grain or screenings to pass
through the large mesh of said screens, and another centrally arranged floor located
below the first mentioned centrally arranged floor in the line of the central dust
passages for conducting the centrally discharged screenings into the screenings

page_text: compartment, the construction and arrangement being such that the dust is con-
veyed to one compartment, screenings to another compartment, and good grain
to a third compartment, substantially as described.
3. In a separator, the combination with a suitable casing, of a feed hopper, a
feed regulating device attached to said hopper, comprising two jaws e e pivote. to
the walls of the hopper at the lower end of the same, links pivoted to said jaws,
a lever pivoted in the casing and secured at one end to said links and an ope at-
ing rod arranged outside the casing and connected to the other end of the lever
for operating the same to partially or entirely close or open the lower end of the
hopper, a series of inner diverging screens and a series of inner converging floors
connecting said screens, a series of outer converging floors parallel with the inner
diverging screens, the inner floors and screens being so arranged as to discharge
particles of dirt or waste material through a space centrally between them into
a suitable receptacle, and the outer diverging floors to discharge waste material
at the sides of the casing, the arrangement of the inner and outer floors also pre-
venting the dust from re-entering the grain and also forming with the screens two
zigzag passages for the descent of the grain, substantially as described.
4. A separator and grader comprising an outer casing provided with a dust com-
partment, a screenings compartment, and a good grain compartment, the dust
compartment being arranged exteriorly of said casing and surrounding the same
on three sides, two sets of zigzagly and parallelly arranged screens and floors
arranged in the casing as described, forming a central dust passage and side
dust passages, and a downwardly inclined floor arranged in the central dust
passage for conducting the dust into the dust compartment, one set
of diverging floors below the said centrally arranged floor being extended to
the sides of the casing and forming a screenings compartment below them and
preventing the descent of the dust into said screenings compartment, the large
grain passing into a separate compartment, substantially as described.
5. In a separator the combination with a suitable casing, of a feed hopper, and
a feed regulating device attached to said hopper, comprising two jaws pivoted to
the walls of the hopper, links pivoted to said jaws, a lever pivoted in the casing
and secured at one end to said links, and an operating rod arranged outside the
casing and connected to the other end of the lever for operating the same to
partially or entirely close or open the lower end of the hopper, whereby the supply
of grain to the separator can be uniformly regulated, and increased. and diminished
as desired, substantially as described.
Dated this 8th day of Santamhan 1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.