IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SORTING POTATOES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abcl of No 28 Southampton Buildings
Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex for an invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SORTING POTATOES " A com-
munication from abroad by Carl Friedrich August Gramke of Stettin in the
German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th April 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in
the county of Middlesex "-IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SORTING POTATOES " [A cominunication from abroad by Carl Friedrich August
Gramke of Stettin in the German Empire.]
According to the present invention a wire screen with meshes of two or more
degrees of fineness is mounted in an inclined position upon a central vertical pivot,
upon which it receives a slight rapid reciprocating notion from an excentric or
crank and connecting rod, worked by a crank handle and suitable gearing. At
the highest end of the screen is situated the feeding hopper having an opening
closed by a slide that can be adjusted by a lever, so as to regulate the quantity
of potatoes passing on to the screen. From the lower side of the screen are
suspended a number of flaps, and beneath these is an endless travelling belt
having projections thereon, which, as they pass along, press the flap upwards
against the under surface of the screen, and thus force out any potatoes that may
have stuck fast in the meshes. To afford the travelling belt the requisite support
for exerting this pressure, it is provided with crossbars, the ends of which slide
along longitudinal bearers on each side of the belt. Beyond the end of the inclined
screen is a tray, which may be supported either in a horizontal or an inclined
position by means of a curved strut with pin holes for adjustment, which tray has
perforations for the escape of dirt, and has formed at its end a series of discharge
openings beneath which are hung sacks to receive the potatoes. These openings
have flaps by which the passage of the potatoes to any one or more of the openings
can be cut off, or by which all the openings can be closed, and the potatoes be

page_text: made to pass over the front edge of the tray, the rim of which is removeable for
this purpose. Beneath the above described screen are two similarly inclined
Screens mounted on horizontal pivots in a frame, which itself is mounted on a
central vertical pivot and receives a to and fro motion from the same eccentric
or crank that works the upper screen. These lower screens have meshes of such
fineness as to allow only the smallest potatoes to pass through, and they have
at their lower ends lateral shoots through which the potatoes accumulated upon
them can be discharged from time to time by tilting up the screens, theso being
maintained in their tilted position by adjustable weights.
In operating with this machine, the potatoes being fed on to the upper screen 1
from the hopper pass partly through the meshes of these on to the lower screens,
and partly on to the front tray, these latter boing the largest ones, while the others
are sorted into as many different sizes as there are different sized meshes in the
screens. On the lower screens the smallest potatoes are again separated from the
sorted potatoes coming from the upper screen.
1

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th October 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in
the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SORTING POTATOES A communication from abroad by Carl Friedrich August
Gramko, of Stettin in the German Empire,
Potato sorting machines, as at present Employed consist simply of wire screens
over which the potatoes are made to pass and to which a shaking motion is
imparted; the potatoes frequently stick in the meshes of such screens, and much
time is lost in effecting their removal
The present invention has for its object to obviate this defect by the construction
of a sorting machine the arrangement of which will be understood on reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which Fig: 1 shews a side view of the machine,
Figs 2 and 5 respectively, the front and back End views, Fig. 3 a longitudinal
section, Fig 4 a plan, Figs 6 and 7, details
A hopper D carried by the framing of the machino has a discharge opening
governed by a slide actuated by a lever i, the position of which is fixed by
means of the toothed segment l. From a pivot a is suspended an inclined frame A,
which at its front end is carried from the hopper D by means of two rods a¹ a¹
To this frame a vibrating motion is imparted round its pivot a by means of the
crank handle B imparting motion to the toothed-wheels C. C. C.--and eccentric b
connected to the frame A by rod b. In the frame A is fixed the screen A', having
meshes of two different degrees of fineness as shewn, the finer meshes being next
the hopper, so that on the potatoes falling from the latter on to the screen, the
smaller ones first pass through the screen while the larges ones which cannot pass
through the fine meshes, escape through the coarser meshes, below, and those that
are too large to pass through these roll down on to the tablo E, to be presently
described For removing any potatoes that may stick in the meshes, the following
arrangement is employed:
=
The screen A has suspended from its underside a number of hinged flaps c which
are pressed upwards against the underside of the screen from time to time by a
lifting device, thereby forcing out any potatoes that have stuck fast and causing
them to roll down to E. The contrivance for lifting the flaps consists of an endless
belt F travelling over rollers G G¹, driven by a crank handle B and so arranged
that the belt is at the same inclination as the screen and situated just below the
lower ends of the flap c; or carries two or more projections d, with inclined faces
which as the belt traverses along, push up the flaps c against the underside of tho
screen as described. In order to allow of these projections exercising the requisite
upward pressure, notwithstanding the flexible nature of the endless band, there
are provided on each side of the latter two fixed rails H H carried by the shafts
of G G', on which slido transverse bars S fixed to the band underneath the
projections, as shown more clearly at Fig 6
Beneath the frame A is a second frame K which is also made to vibrate on a
central pivot by means of the beforementioned gearing BC C. C². b and rod b 2.
This frame K contains two screens K' K' carried therein on pivots : k so that they
can be turned thereon into an inclined position. The screens K¹ K³ have spouts
through which the potatoes are discharged into sacks. For holding the
screens in an inclined position for this purpose, weights L are suspended therefrom
on bars, on which they can be slid to one side by means of cords attached thereto.
-The screens K' K³ may have meshes of different sizes, so as to serve for further
sorting the potatoes, in which in which case the smallest potatoes would fall on to
the floor

page_text: The potatoes that do not pass through the meshes of A¹ are collected on the
table E, which is of box shape with perforated bottom, through which any sand
carried by the potatoes can fall. At the end of the table are openings e, e¹ e² that
can be cut off by vertical flaps ff¹ƒ ƒ³ and through which the potatoes fall into
sacks. If one or more of the flaps are turned down, the potatoes pass over them
to the hole or holes, and the inclined position of the other flaps directs them
towards such hole. If the potatoes are to fall over the front edge of the table on
to the floor, the flaps are all folded down, and the removeable front lodge 9 of the
table is taken out. The table may be adjusted to any desired inclined position by
means of the quadrant strut M, Fig 7 shows one of the flaps c' which is provided
with a plate where it is acted upon by the projection d.
The potatoes being charged into the hopper D pass through the regulated
opening thereof on to the screens, on passing over which they are sorted into
different sizes as described, and they are then made to pass from the lower
screens K¹ K² and from the table E into sacks, while the smallest potatoes fall
on to the floor
--Having-thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same is-to-be- performed. .as.communicated to me by my-foreign-correspondent, I
claim in respect of machinery or apparatus for sorting potatoes :-
First The use of a frame carrying sorting screens, made to oscillate on a
central pivot by a crank or eccentric and connecting rod, substantially as herein
described.
-Second-The-use-in-combination with an oscillating screen such as is referred
to in the preceding claim of two independent screens mounted on pivots-so-as-to-
be capable of being inclined to one side in order to discharge the potatoes therefrom
through a spout.
Third In combination with screens arranged as set forth in the preceding
claim, the use of shiftable weights on their under-side, for the purpose herein
set forth.
Fourth-The use of a discharging table capable of being adjusted to any
desired inclination and having a removeable front side, substantially as herein
described.
Fifth-In a discharging table such as is referred to in the preceding claim, the
provision of discharging opening with vertical hinged flaps for preventing the
potatoes from falling through them
Sixth-The use in combination with the sorting screens, of pivotted flaps on
the underside that can be pressed up against the screen so as to force out any
potatoes that stick in the meshes.
Seventh-The use in combination with screens arranged as set forth in the
preceding claim of a travelling band with projections that are caused to press the
flaps up against the screen.
Eighth-The use in combination with a travelling band such as is referred to
in the preceding claim of lateral guide rails on which cross-bars attached to the
band slide substantially as and for the purposes described.
Ninth -The use of potato sorting machines combined and arranged as herein
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In witness whereof, I the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and scal this twenty sixth day of October in the year of our Lord,
one Thousand Eight hundred and eighty-two