IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SORTING OR SEPARATING SEEDS OR GRAIN
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Karl Hermann Sander, of Zweinaundorf, near the City
of Leipzig, in the Kingdom of Saxe, Germany, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SORTING OR SEPARATING SEEDS OR
GRAIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Karl Hermann Sander at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd August 1881.
KARL HERMANN SANDER, of Zweinaundorf, near the City of Leipzig, in the
Kingdom of Saxe, Germany. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SORTING OR
SEPARATING SEEDS OR GRAIN.
"
My Invention relates more particularly to a construction of machinery for
sorting or separating grain or seeds, for which I have obtained Letters Patent,
No. 654, dated 17th February 1881. In this apparatus the seed was subjected to
the action of a laterally inclined travelling web receiving a slow continuous longi-
tudinal motion and a quick lateral to and fro motion, whereby the seed or grain
delivered on to it was sorted out as it passed across it transversely to be delivered
at the lower edge.
According to one of the present improvements the sorted seed is subjected to a
further sorting or separating action by a shaking apparatus of the following
construction:-The seed delivered either from the receiving hoppers of the travelling
web, or from the revolving screening cylinder when this is used, passes into a
shallow pan tapering in width towards the one end which is rounded and closed
the wider end being open, which pan is attached to a pivotted arm holding it in a
position slightly inclined in a direction from the wide open end towards the
narrower closed end. The supporting arm is suspended by a spring rod from the
top of the machine, and it is also connected by a lateral rod to a rocking lever,
whose upper end is acted on by a cam on the driving shaft of the machine so as to
impart to the pan a rapid transverse to and fro motion. The closed end of the pan
is provided with an opening formed in a vertically adjustable slide, so that the
opening can be adjusted higher or lower, and when no screening cylinder is used
[Price 6d.]

page_text: the part of the bottom surface of the pan next the closed end is formed with a
screening surface which is made removeable so as to be able to use screens of
varying fineness. On imparting a rapid transverse motion to the pan and thereby
causing it to vibrate through the arc of a circle whose radius corresponds to the
length of the pivotted arm the denser seed delivered on to it is caused by centri-
fugal action to pass towards the extreme or closed end of the pan, where it issues
through the beforementioned regulated opening; by this motion of the denser seed
it forces the lighter seed towards the opposite open end of the pan, where it flows
over the edge into a receptacle. Lastly, the smaller seed and sand are caused by
the shaking motion to descend beneath the larger seed, and to fall through the
screening surface in the bottom of the pan into another receptacle. When the
seed has been previously screened by a screening cylinder the last described
arrangement need not be employed.
According to another improvement instead of imparting to the travelling web a
lateral to and fro motion, it is subjected to light blows from rapidly reciprocating
hammers, whereby it receives the required vibrating motion. For this purpose the
hammer arms are either pivotted on rods carried by the framing, or they are fixed
at their ends and formed so as to have a spring action, the hammers being alter-
nately raised and allowed to fall by means of revolving cams on a spindle driven
by chain gear or otherwise from the driving shaft of the machine. The hammers
are arranged so that they can be readily placed in position or removed in order to
regulate the extent of the shaking action imparted by them to the travelling web
according to the description of seed or grain treated. With this arrangement two
or more travelling webs with their hammers may be mounted one above the other
in the framing, which is by preference connected at one side by hinges to the base
of the machine, the other side being capable of being raised or lowered so as to
adjust the lateral inclination of the travelling webs, for which purpose it either
has segmental toothed racks on its underside gearing with pinions on a shaft on
the framing rotated by hand, or it is provided with screws or other known
appliances by which the raising and lowering can be effected.
When two or more travelling webs are employed they may be fed from a single
hopper having two or more spouts, the openings of which are governed by slides.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Karl Hermann Sander in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd February 1882.
KARL HERMANN SANDER, of Zweinaundorf, near the City of Leipzig, in the
Kingdom of Saxe, Germany. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SORTING OR
SEPARATING SEEDS OR GRAIN."
My Invention relates more particularly to a construction of machinery for sorting
or separating grain or seeds, for which I have obtained Letters Patent, No. 654,
dated 17th February 1881. In this apparatus the seed was subjected to the action
of a laterally inclined travelling web, receiving a slow continuous longitudinal
motion and a quick lateral to and fro motion, whereby the seed or grain delivered
on to it was sorted out as it passed across it transversely to be delivered at the
lower edge.
According to one of the present improvements, the sorted seed is subjected to a
further sorting or separating action by a shaking apparatus of the following con-
struction:-The seed delivered either from the receiving hoppers of the travelling
web, or from the revolving screening cylinder when this is used, passes into a
shallow pan tapering in width towards the one end which is rounded and closed,
the wider end being open, which pan is attached to a pivotted arm holding it in a
position slightly inclined in a direction from the wide open end towards the narrower
closed end. The supporting arm is suspended by a spring rod from the top of the
machine, and it is also connected by a lateral rod to a rocking lever whose upper
end is acted on by a cam on the driving shaft of the machine, so as to impart to
the pan a rapid transverse to and fro motion. The closed end of the pan is provided
with an opening formed in a vertically adjustable alide, so that the opening can be
adjusted higher or lower, and when no screening cylinder is used the part of the
bottom surface of the pan next the closed end is formed with a screening surface
which is made removeable so as to be able to use screens of varying fineness. On
imparting a rapid transverse motion to the pan and thereby causing it to vibrate
through the arc of a circle, whose radius corresponds to the length of the pivotted
arm; the denser seed delivered on to it is caused by centrifugal action to pass
towards the extreme or closed end of the pan, where it issues through the before
mentioned regulated opening; by this motion of the denser seed it forces the
lighter seed towards the opposite open end of the pan, where it flows over the edge
into a receptacle. Lastly, the smaller seed and sand are caused by the shaking
motion to descend beneath the larger seed and to fall through the screening surface
in the bottom of the pan into another receptacle. When the seed has been previously
screened by a screening cylinder, the last described arrangement need not be
employed.
According to another improvement, instead of imparting to the travelling web a
lateral to and fro motion it is subjected to light blows from rapidly reciprocating
hammers, whereby it receives the required vibrating motion. For this purpose the
hammer arms are either pivotted on rods carried by the framing, or they are fixed
at their ends and formed so as to have a spring action, the hammers being alternately
raised and allowed to fall by means of revolving cams on a spindle driven by chain
gear or otherwise from the driving shaft of the machine. The hammers are arranged
so that they can be readily placed in position or removed in order to regulate the
extent of the shaking action imparted by them to the travelling web according to
the description of seed or grain treated. With this arrangement two or more
travelling webs with their hammers may be mounted one above the other in the
framing, which is by preference connected at one side by hinges to the base of the

page_text: machine, the other side being capable of being raised or lowered so as to adjust the
lateral inclination of the travelling webs, for which purpose it either has segmental
toothed racks on its underside gearing with pinions on a shaft on the framing
rotated by hand, or it is provided with screws or other known appliances by which
the raising and lowering can be effected.
When two or more travelling webs are employed they may be fed from a
single hopper having two or more spouts, the openings of which are governed by
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shows a side elevation, Fig. 2 an end view, and Fig. 3 a plan of the before
described improved apparatus. G, G¹, are the two endless webs stretched over
rollers E, F, E, F, and made to travel slowly in the direction of the arrows, the
framing B in which the rollers are mounted being connected on the one side by
hinges at a to the framing A, while at the other side it is supported by curved
racks b gearing with pinions Z on a shaft C³, so that by rotating the latter the
framing and travelling webs can be tilted up to any desired angle. In place of
the toothed rack, screw or lever mechanism may be employed. The supports D, D¹,
for the rollers E, F, E, F, of which two are adjustable for stretching the webs
more or less, also carry the bearings e, e, for spindles f. f', of the hammer
arms h, h. The hammer mechanism H, H³, consists of the hammer arms h, h¹, and
the hammers K, K', which are made as light as possible; they are provided with
lugs n, n, that are acted on by the revolving tappets 1, 1, on shafts i, i, so as to he
alternately raised and allowed to fall, thus imparting a light blow each time to the
webs G, G¹, after which they are immediately raised again. The arrangement of
this mechanism will be readily understood on reference to the enlarged view
at Fig. 4. The arms h, h', might also be formed as flat springs h³, being in that
case fixed to a transverse bar ƒ³, as at Fig. 5, instead of to a spindle. The
hammers K, K¹, can be readily removed if a less number are required. The lower
shafts i, i¹, are driven by bands or chains from one of the shafts E, F, and the
upper shafts i, i, are driven from the lower ones by means of cords as shewn.
The direction of motion is shewn by the arrows. The hopper T is either fixed on
a support A', Figs. 1 and 2, and the supply tubes r, r, of which r leads to the
web G and r¹ to G¹ can be extended or shortened according as the inclination of
the web is varied, or the hopper may be fixed on the frame B so as to move up
and down with the webs, in which case the supply tubes would not require
adjustment. The supply of seed to the tubes is regulated by slides v, v. "The
screening cylinder S, shewn in dotted lines, is arranged in the same manner as
described in the before mentioned previous Patent for separating or sorting the
seeds passing from the lower ends of the webs G, G¹. In addition to this screening
cylinder, or in lieu thereof, may be used a shaking apparatus, such as is shown in
dotted lines at B', Figs. 1 and 2, and also in full lines at Figs. 6, 7, and 8, which
shew its application to the form of machine described in the former Patent.
Figs. 9 to 13 shew enlarged details of this apparatus. This apparatus is intended
more particularly for the separation from the clover passing from division II. of
the screen of other seed of the same size, such as bird seed, mustard seed, and the
like.
In order to separate these the seed passes through the hopper c¹¹ into the
shaking apparatus B₁ moved in the direction of the arrows, which can in this case
be constructed without the screen 8, because the sand and silk seed have already
been removed in division I of the screening cylinder. The clover seed being the
heaviest tends to move towards d by its centrifugal force, while the specifically
lighter seed is forced by the heavier, in consequence of the form and motion of the
apparatus, towards e', where it can be taken off. If the screening cylinder is not
used the shaking apparatus may be made to perform the above described operation
alone. In that case however it must be provided with a screens having different
sized holes, according to the different sized seeds to be treated, for which purpose it

page_text: must be removeable. The small seeds on being shaken sink below (not between)
the larger, and pass through the screen, whereby it is possible to cause not only
sand, which is heavier than clover, but also silk sced, which is the most dangerous
in clover, to fall through the screen. The escape of the good clover seed from the
shaking apparatus takes place continuously through the opening K in its front side.
This opening K must be adjusted higher or lower according to the size, weight, and
quantity of the seed, for which purpose it is formed in a slide K¹, Fig. 14, that can
be adjusted by a screw in the guides e, e. The inclination of the shaking apparatus
is as a rule 5°, but which can be altered, according to the nature of the seed, by
means of the adjusting screw C. The shaking apparatus, which is suspended from
a spring f, is actuated from the axis C by means of the cam g acting on the lever h,
which imparts a shaking, motion to the apparatus by a rod i. The spring falways
draws the apparatus back into its original position. The apparatus may be of wood
or zinc.
The screening cylinder A is also driven from the axis C by the gut pulley m,
and is enclosed by a casing E, the lower part of which is formed into the
hoppers c, c. Fig. 7 shews the application of the shaking apparatus without the
screening cylinder.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim in respect of grain separating or sorting machinery,-
First. The arrangement of the frame B carrying the travelling webs so as to turn
on hinges a on one side, and to be raised and lowered by racks and pinions or
equivalent mechanism on the other side, substantially as herein described.
Second. The use for imparting a vibrating motion to the travelling webs of
reciprocating hammers K, K³, carried by arms h, h', and receiving an up and down
motion by means of tappets or cams 7, 1, of such a form as to raise the hammers
from the web the moment the blow is given.
Third. The use of two or more travelling webs arranged one above the other in
combination with two sets of hammer mechanisms H, H³, and hopper T, with two
supply pipes 7, 1, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The construction and arrangement of the shaking apparatus B¹, and its
combination with the sorting or separating machine for more effectually sorting the
seeds, substantially as herein described.
Fifth. The construction and mode of operating of the pan of the shaking
machine, and the use thereof with or without a screen, also the use of the changeable
screen 8 and the escape opening k adjustable by means of a slide, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Karl Hermann Sander, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and nighter tw