IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING GRASS AND OTHER SEEDS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOHN MADOO, of N° 42 Foyle Street, Londonderry, Ireland, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING GRASS AND OTHER SEEDS" and in what manner the
saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The object of this Invention is to clean grass and other seeds preparatory to their
being made up for sale.
Many kinds of seed, when obtained from the farmer, are mixed with goose-grass,
crowfoot, and other impurities which if not sifted out previous to sowing, cause
weeds and other objectionable matter to spring up in the land which can only be
removed at a considerable expenditure of time and money.
The principal feature consists in the employment of two sieves each having a
quick rising and falling as well as a slight lateral motion imparted to it whereby.
the material is caused to travel from one end to the other by what I term a hopping
motion.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I hereto annex
a sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure 2 a plan view and Figure 3 an end elevation
of my improved machine.
A is the main driving shaft which for convenience may be mounted at one end
in a bracket a fixed to the wall of the room or building in which the machine
is to work, the other end being carried by a bracket b fixed to the rail or frame-
work B.
The shaft A is provided with fast and loose pullies and fly wheel and is cranked
at c.
C and D are rocking shafts mounted in suitable bearings and connected by means
of arms d'and e and rod f, the shaft C being also connected to the crank of the
driving shaft by arm g and rod h. To the shafts C and D are fixed crossheads or
balance levers E. E' E' E' which by means of two sets of rods F. F1 F2 F3 support
the two sieves G and H, the sieve G being composed of wire web and the other of
perforated zinc.
Between the two sieves is placed a zinc plate J mounted in a wood frame and
provided with openings j-K K¹ are two steel springs attached to the sieves and

page_text: to the frame or stationary bar L. It will be noticed that the two springs incline
in opposite directions when the crank c is in the middle of its throw, as shewn in
the drawing.
M is a sieve composed of a sheet of coarse wire web k, a plain zinc plate l, fine
wire web m, and iron or zinc plate n. This sieve is agitated by the usual
mechanism. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
The grass or other seed as it comes from the farmers is first delivered into the
upper part of the sieve M through a hopper provided with an adjustable slide in
the usual manner.
25
The mesh of the wire web k is large enough to allow the seed and very small
impurities to fall upon the zinc plate whilst the coarse weeds, "straws," and other
matter pass over the web onto the floor or shoot. From the plate / the seed and
small matters pass through an opening at q onto the fine wire web m through
which the dust at once falls onto the plate n which is divided midway whilst the
smaller grass seeds and other matters fall into the second compartment from whence
they may be conveyed to elevators by means of a shoot." The grass-seed now
falls into the sieve G. The motion imparted to this sieve is represented as nearly
as possible by dotted lines r and as the velocity of the shaft A is considerable, (say
about 230 revolutions per minute), the seed leaves the wire web of which the sieve
is composed as soon as the limit of the upward motion is reached and projected
forwards with what I call a hopping motion, the course of each seed in its passage
from one end of the sieve to the other being approximately represented by the
diagram Figure 4. During this hopping motion, the seed falls heavy end down-
wards. The seed and other matter being thus violently agitated, the obnoxious
hare grass and other small weeds are got rid of by passing through the wire web
which is of suitable mesh for the purpose onto the zinc plate J, and may be raked
off into bags or shoot. The good seed passes from the sieve G through the delivery
ports onto the zinc plate H which has a motion similar to that of the sieve G in
the contrary direction owing to the difference in the incline of the springs K. K¹
Before one third of the length of the plate has been travelled, the seed will fall
through onto the floor and the goose grass, crow-foot or whatever else remains, will
pass out at the opening t. The seed which falls through the plate H is cleaned,
though it may if desired, be fanned before being made up in bags.
The advantages arising from my Improvements are, that the machinery is well
balanced and consequently requires little, power to work it; the parts subjected to
wear are few and of such a kind that ordinary wear will not affect the working
of the machine.
Moreover it is simple in construction and can be superintended by ordinary
unskilled workmen.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that what I claim is
The construction of machinery or apparatus, consisting of sieves G and H with
rods and levers and springs for operating the same, in manner and for the purpose
substantially as herein shewn and described.
Dthis and da.. of T... 100F