IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR DRYING WOOL, CORN, GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Giles, of Manchester, Engineer, and Thomas
Sturgeon, of Burley, near Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR DRYING WOOL, CORN,
GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 3rd May 1867, and dated the 8th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Giles and Thomas
Sturgeon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 8th November 1866.
We, ALFRED GILES, of Manchester, Engineer, and THOMAS STURGEON, of
Burley, near Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR DRYING
WOOL, CORN, GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The first part of our Invention may be described as follows:-An upright
cylindrical chamber. formed of plates of cast or sheet iron or other suitable
material is divided into a number of horizontal divisions by circular plates of
perforated zinc, wire, network, or other suitable material; each of these plates
has a piece cut out from it in a radial direction, or so as to reach from the
circumference to near the centre and to form an opening into the next division.
These plates are so placed that the openings shall not come one immediately
over the other, but that each opening may be so much to one side of the
opening in the plate above it that the wool in falling from the upper plate will

page_text: have to be carried almost entirely round the plate upon which it falls before it
reaches the opening in that plate.. A vertical central shaft carries arms which
may be parallel to the diameter of the cylindrical chamber, or set obliquely, and
these arms are either plain or they may be blades furnished with teeth or prongs
so as to form rakes, or they may be brushes. There is a set of these arms to
each plate, and a continuous circular motion is imparted to the shaft and by
means of ordinary driving gear. The wool or other material to be dried is fed
on to the top plate by means of a hopper or endless apron and falls imme-
diately beside the hole or opening in that plate; it is then carried round that
plate by the arms or rakes or brushes, and when it comes to the opening it
drops through on to the next plate, it is again carried round by the second set
of arms, and reaching the opening falls on to the third plate, and so on through
the machine until it falls from the machine in a dried state into any suitable
receptacle. Instead of a continuous motion a backward and forward motion
may be imparted to the shaft and rakes by means of a crank or excentric, and
a cam or crank on the driving shaft may be arranged to raise the central
vertical shaft and arms' during the back stroke so as to raise the shaft' and
arms off the wool or other material. Heated air is driven into the chamber
by any of the well-known contrivances for that purpose, and thus effects the
drying of the wool or other material as it passes through the machine. Instead
of the shaft and arms being so arranged as to be raised from the plates in the
return stroke by a cam on the driving shaft the arms or rakes themselves may
be so arranged that by coming in contact with cams in the return stroke
they are raised up off the plates, but act rigidly against the wool or other
material in the forward stroke.
:
In the second place, instead of making the drying chamber of a cylindrical
form we make it of a square or oblong form divided into horizontal divisions
by plates which are a little shorter than the chamber, but just fit it in width,
and these plates are fixed thus :-The topmost-plate is fixed with its end close
to one end of the chamber, and being shorter than the chamber'it of course
does not reach to the other end, but leaves an opening there. The next plate
is fixed with the end which comes underneath this opening close up to the
end of the drying chamber, so that it leaves an opening at the other end of
the machine. The third plate is fixed like the first, having it's opening at the
same end of the machine as the opening of the first plate. The fourth plate
like the second, and so on to any number of plates. On each side of the
machine is an endless chain which passes. over pulleys or chain wheels fixed
on cross shafts at each end of the machine: These cross shafts being driven
by suitable gearing the endless chains pass through the machine in a zig-zag

page_text: direction through the spaces between the plates; at certain distances along
these chains are fixed bars, blades, rakes, or brushes, so as to stretch across the
machine from one chain to the other, and these arms may be attached to tho
chains in such a manner that they turn by their own, weight as the chains to
which they are attached reach each end of the machine, so that they are
always in the proper position for raking the wool; or instead of the arms or
rakes turning by their own weight they may be caused, to, turn.by a cam, and
may be kept in their proper position by having projections on them which
pass through guides at each side of the machine. The wool is fed on to that
end of the top plate which is fitted close to the end of the machine, and is
carried by the rakes or bars or brushes on the chains to the other end of the
machine, where it falls through the opening on to the second plate; here it
is carried back again by the second fold of the zig-zag chain with the bars or
rakes attached thereto, and which of course travels in the reverse direction to
the first one until it falls, through the opening of the second plate, when it
falls through on to the third plate, and so on through the machine, being dried
in its passage by the hot air which is driven in. Instead of the ziz-zag endless
chains frames, may be used carrying the cross, bars, rakes, or brushes, there
being a separate frame to each plate; to these frames a backward and forward
motion is given by means of cams or cranks on cross shafts suitably connected
with the frames and driven by suitable gearing; and these cams or cranks are
so arranged as to give a lifting action to the frames in the back stroke, so as
raise the rakes, armis, or brushes off the wool or other material. Instead of
the cranks or cams being fixed on cross shafts they may be on a vertical shaft
or shafts at one or cach end of the machine, and instead of the frames being
lifted in the back stroke the plates may be lowered during the back stroke,
the frames themselves moving only horizontally. The bars, rakes, or brushes
in this case may also be attached to the frames by a. hinge joint, and may be
so arranged that by coming in contact with cams in the return stroke they
are raised up off the plates, but act rigidly against the wool or other material
in the forward stroke.
:
The next part of our improvements consists in making the drying chamber
in the form of a cylindrical tube, within which is fixed a shaft which is con-
centric with the tube, and on this shaft. is fixed a continuous blade or vane
forming a kind of screw, which, when revolved by means of suitable gearing,
causes the material which is being dried to travel from one end of the tube to
the other end. The wool or other material is fed in by means of an ordinary
hopper or feed apron. One or more tubes may be used, and where more than
one is used we prefer to arrange them side by side, the-one-passing the wool

page_text: or other material into the other, through which it is carried in the reversed
direction, and so on backwards and forwards through any number of tubes
until at last it is delivered out of the machine in a dried state.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Giles and Thomas Sturgeon in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALFRED
GILES, of Manchester, Engineer, and THOMAS STURGEON, of Burley, near
Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Alfred Giles and Thomas Sturgeon, Her special licence
that we, the said Alfred Giles and Thomas Sturgeon, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Alfred Giles and Thomas
Sturgeon, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR DRYING WOOL, CORN, GRAIN, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Alfred Giles and
Thomas Sturgeon, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and -cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Alfred Giles and Thomas Sturgeon,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The first part of our Invention may be described as follows:-An upright
cylindrical chamber formed of plates of cast or sheet iron, or other suitable
material is divided into a number of horizontal divisions by circular plates of

page_text: perforated zinc, wire network, or other suitable material. Each of these
plates has a piece cut out from it in a radial direction, or so as to reach from
the circumference to near the centre, and to form an opening into the next
division; these plates are so placed that the openings shall not come onė
immediately over the other, but that each opening may be so much to one
side of the opening in the plate above it that the wool in falling from the
upper plate will have to be carried almost entirely round the plate upon which
it falls before it reaches the opening in that plate. A vertical central shaft
carries arms which may be parallel to the diameter of the cylindrical chamber,
or set obliquely, and these arms are either plain, or they may be blades
furnished with teeth or prongs so as to form rakes, or they may be brushes.
There is a set of these arms to each plate, and a continuous circular motion is
imparted to the shaft by means of ordinary driving gear. The wool or other
material to be dried is fed on to the top plate by means of a hopper or endless
apron, and falls immediately beside the hole or opening in that plate. It is
then carried round that plate by the arms or rakes, or brushes, and when it
comes to the opening it drops through on to the next plate. It is again
carried round by the second set of arms, and reaching the opening falls on to
the third plate, and so on through the machine until it falls from the machiné
in a dried state into any suitable receptacle. Instead of a continuous motion
a backward and forward motion may be imparted to the shaft and rakes bý
means of a crank or excentric, and a cain or crank on the driving shaft may
be arranged to raise the central vertical shaft and arms during the back
stroke so as to raise the shaft and arms off the wool or other material. Heated
air is driven into the chamber by any of the well-known contrivances for that
purpose, and thus effects the drying of the wool or other material as it passes
through the, machine.
In order that our Invention may be more, clearly understood, we have
annexed a Drawing shewing the best mode we are at present acquainted with
for putting our Invention into practice.
:
Fig. 1 is a sectional plan, and Fig. 2 a sectional elevation of a machine
made according to the first part of our Invention.
A is the cylindrical chamber; B, the central vertical shaft; C, C, C, are
the arms or rakes; and D, D, D, are the perforated plates. The first of
these plates is fixed with its opening as shown by the black lines E, E. The
next one is fixed with its opening as shewn by the lines F; F, and the third
one with its opening as shewn by the lines G, G, and so on throughout the
machine. A continuous motion may be imparted to the central shaft B by
means of a bevil wheel fixed on the end of shaft B, and driven by another

page_text: bevil wheel on the end of a horizontal shaft, which is driven by a pulley; or
a to-and-fro motion may be imparted to the shaft B and arms C by means of
the arrangement shewn in Fig. 3, where A is, the cylindrical chamber; B, is
the driving shaft to which is fixed the lever C. The lever C is furnished-with
a slot, in which works the crank piu D on the disc E; this disc and the crank
pin are driven by means of the pulleys F on the shaft G, and the bevil wheels H.
The shaft and arms may be lifted during the back stroke by a cam on a shaft
driven by a belt. from the driving shaft. A cam of this kind is shown at I,
Fig. 2.
In Fig: 4 is shewn a similar arrangement for imparting a to-and-fro motion
to the shaft and arms, and also a lifting action in the back stroke. A is the
central shaft; B, the slot lever; C, the crank pin in the disc D, which is
driven by means of the pair of bevil wheels E; F is the driving shaft, on
which is the lifting cam G; H is a friction roller; I is the driving pulley.
In the second place, instead of making the drying chamber of a cylindrica!
form we make it of a square or oblong form, divided into horizontal divisions
by plates which are a little shorter than the chamber, but just fit it in width,
and these plates are fixed thus:-The topmost plate is fixed with its end
close to one end of the chamber, and being shorter than the chamber it of
course does not reach to the other end, but leaves an opening there. The s
next plate is fixed with the end which comes underneath this opening close
up to the end of the drying chamber, so that it leaves an opening at the other
end of the machine. The third plate is fixed like the first, having its opening
at the same end of the machine as the opening of the first plate. The fourth
plate like the second, and so on to any number of plates. On each side of
the machine is an endless chain which passes over pulleys or chain wheels
fixed on cross shafts at each end of the machine; these cross shafts being
driven by suitable gearing the endless chains pass through the machine in a
zig-zag direction through the spaces between the plates. At certain distances
along these chains are fixed bars, blades, rakes, or brushes so as to stretch
.across the machine from one chain to the other, and these arms may be
attached to the chains in such a manner that they turn by their own weight,
as the chains; to which they are attached reach each end of the machine, so
that they are always in the proper position for raking the wool, and they may
be furnished with projections working through guides, or they may be made
double, so that whichever way the chain turns they will be in the proper
position for raking the wool or other material. The wool is fed on to that
end of the top plate which is fitted close to the end of the machine, and is
carried by the rakes, or bars, or brushes on the chains to the other end of the

page_text: machine, where it falls through the opening on to the second plate; here it
is carried back again by the second fold of the zig-zag chain with the bars or
rakes attached thereto, and which of course travels in the reverse direction to
the first one until it falls through the opening of the second plate, when it
falls through on to the third plate, and so on through the machine, being
dried in its passage by the hot air which is driven in.
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a machine of this kind.
A is the driving pulley; B, B, B, are the driving wheels which are
arranged with loose intermediates in such a way as to drive all the shafts
C, C, C, and the chain pulleys D, D, D, in the same direction. The lines
E, E, E, represent the endless chains which travel in the direction indicated
by the arrows; F¹, F, F³, &c. are the perforated plates; G is a hopper,
through which the material to be dried is fed into the machine. The material
being fed in through the hopper G falls on the plate F, and is drawn along
the plate by the rakes on the chain E, E, in the direction of the arrow; it
then falls through the opening at H on to the plate F³, and being carried
back along this plate falls through the opening I on to the plate F³; it is
again carried forward and falls through the opening K on to the plate F, and
so on through the machine until it is finally delivered at L in a dried state,
having been dried in its passage through the machine.
In Fig. 6 is shewn an enlarged view of the chain, chain wheel, and rakes,
and in Fig. 7 is shewn a rake arranged to be attached to the chain by a hinge
joint, so that it turns by its own weight when the chain passes round the
pulley. The arm A is to run in a guide to keep the rake in its proper position
while raking the wool.
In witness whereof, we, the said Alfred Giles and Thomas Sturgeon,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Sixth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.