Improvements in Cotton-seed Delinters.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 22nd July, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cotton-seed Delinters.
I, Hugh Louis Fox of No. 516 Spruce Street St. Louis, Missouri, United
States of America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The improvement under consideration has for its object to thoroughly separate
the lint and seed, and to discharge the seed substantially denuded and unbroken in
one direction and the lint free from seed particles in another direction, and all at a
rate sufficiently rapid to render the operation a profitable one, and to that end the
improvement relates mainly to the means immediately used in separating the lint
from the seed. It also has reference to the general arrangement of the mechanism,
and to certain details of construction, all substantially as hereinafter set forth
and claimed, aided by the annexed drawing, making part of this Specification, in
which
Figure 1 is a plan of the improved mechanism in its most desirable form:
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, the casing which contains the brush and
the coacting abrading-disk, as well as a portion of the seed-supply passage, being in
section:
Figure 3 a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1:
Figure 4 a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Figure 5, which, in turn, is a
horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Figure 3:
Figure 6 a detail, upon an enlarged scale, being a section of a portion of
the brush and also the disk upon the line 6-6 of Figure 7, which is a view,
also upon an enlarged scale, of a portion of the disk, the view being from the
rear or outlet side thereof.
The same letters of reference denote the same parts.
A represents a suitable frame for the working parts of the machine. B represents
a brush suitable for rasping cotton-seed, or for feeding cotton-seed against
a rasp or abrading surface. Its bristles b, are preferably steel wires attached
to a suitable back b, which, in turn, is held in a head, 62, substantially as
shown. C represents an abrading, perforated part which coacts with the
brush, and, with the brush, constituting the mechanism immediately employed in
removing the lint from the seed. The brush is a revolving one, and the part C is
also adapted to rotate, although the parts, B, C, might be adapted to move
reciprocatingly with reference to each other and the improvement thereby in a
measure carried out. In its present form the part C is in effect a revolving disk
having projections, c, extending in the direction of the brush, and openings c', the
projections, in conjunction with the brush teeth, serving as scrapers, knives or points
to remove the lint from the seed, and the openings, cl, providing outlets through
which the lint after being separated from the seed, is withdrawn. That is the seed
to be delinted is introduced between the brush and the disk, and the lint is
separated from the seed by being in the first place cut from the seed by means of
the coacting brush-teeth and disk-projection, and in the second place by being
removed from between the brush and the disk immediately after being detached
from the seed. For a leading feature of the improvement is withdrawing the lint
from out of the field in which the brush-teeth and the opposing abrading-disk coact
as soon as possible after it (the lint) has been separated from the seed, and not
allowing the separated lint to be carried around and around between the brush and
surface, or to remain in, and more or less close, the outlet in the disk. The
improvement is more effectively carried out by causing the two parts, the brush and
DOJ

page_text: the disk to revolve in opposite directions, as thereby the seed is more effectively
worked between the brush and disk, and the openings in the disk, which constitute
the outlets through which the lint is discharged, are better kept open.
To these
ends the brush. is attached to one shaft D, and the disk is attached to another
shaft E, and these shafts are independently journalled in the machine and adapted
to be rotated at different rates and in opposite directions. For this purpose the
shaft B is journaled in the bearings d, d, and is provided with the pulley d¹, and
the shaft E is journalled in the bearings e, e, and is provided with the pulley e¹, and
by means of belts (not shown) leading to the pulleys d, e, respectively, and in
different directions respectively, the pulleys are driven in different directions, as
indicated respectively by the arrows, d², c², and the brush and disk accordingly
rotated, as indicated by the arrows 62, 2. The disk-projections also point suitably,
as shown substantially, to coact with the brush. The rates at which the brush and
disk respectively rotate is a matter of importance, as I have discovered that the
parts in question to obtain the best result, should not be rotated at the same speed,
but the brush should be rotated faster than is the disk.
By means of the screw e³, working through a bearing e, and against the end of
the shaft E, that shaft can be adjusted to hold the disk nearer to, or farther from
the opposing brush, as may, in practice be desired.
The seed to be treated is delivered between the brush and disk preferably by
introducing the seed through an annular opening, c³, at the center of the brush,
and a desirable arrangement therefore is as follows: F represents a trough
arranged at a suitable height, and containing a feeding screw, f, whose shaft, f,
is journalled in the ends of the trough, and which is furnished with a pulley f2.
The feed-screw is conveniently rotated by means of a belt, not shown, which leads
from a pulley d³, upon the shaft D to the pulley 2, and the seed, having been
delivered into the trough, is fed thence through a suitable passage, f³, and through
an opening, g, in the casing, G, which contains the brush and disk, and, after
entering the casing, the seed passes through the opening e³, in the brush and thence
finds its way to and between the brush and the disk. The joint between the side
of the casing and the brush is suitably closed by means of the flanges, gl and 64,
upon the casing and brush respectively, and which lap upon each other substan-
tially as shown in Figure 5. The casing, G, is constructed to enclose the brush
and disk, and also a chamber, H, at the rear, or outlet side of the disk. The most
desirable form for the disk projection, c, is the one shown, namely, a knife-like edge
extended in a radial direction upon the disk and being the edge of a lip which
overhangs the opening e', and which serves to support a cutting or rasping edge in
position to coact with the brush teeth, and as a deflector to direct the lint to
the opening c, substantially as shown. The described openings and projections
extend throughout the disk, c', which constitutes the body or principal part
of the abrading device, and they are readily formed by striking up portions
of the disk, which is usually of sheet-steel, the edge of the struck up portion
forming the rasp or knife, and the hole made by striking up the metal
being the lint outlet. There is an outlet, 92, in the casing opposite the
space between the brush and disk for the discharge of the denuded seed, and
another opening g³ may be formed in the lower part of the casing through which
dirt collecting in the chamber H can be discharged. The joint between the rim co,
of the disk and the shell of the casing is suitably closed by means of the flange or
packing ring g. Any other suitable means may be employed to prevent the air
from being drawn to an undesirable extent, between the periphery of the disk and
the shell of the casing. I represents a flue leading from the chamber H to a
chamber. J. This last named chamber contains a fan, K, attached to a shaft, k,
and rotated preferably by means of a belt, not shown, leading to a pulley k',
attached to the shaft k. The flue I is for delivering the lint from the chamber H,
and the fan K is a suitable air-moving device for drawing the air and lint through
the disk into the chamber H and thence into the chamber J whence, through a
sintable “outlet, i, thèrefrom, the lint is discharged all as indicated by the arrows a

page_text: The flue, I is turned and the shaft and the fan arranged as shown to bring the
shaft k parallel with the shafts D, E, and thus facilitate the application of the
driving power to all parts of the machine. The disk, C, is, in practice, made in
sections, c, which are secured to a frame c, as shown. The back of the brush
may also be in sections which are bound upon the head by means of the hoop 65.
A certain amount of dirt and foreign matter is liable in practice to pass with the
lint into the chamber H. This chamber not only serves as a passage for the lint
but also as a dust-settling chamber, and quite a portion if not all of the dirt carried
into it, by reason of its gravity, falls to the bottom of the chamber, and it may be
withdrawn therefrom through any suitable outlet such as shown at g³. This
outlet is adapted to be closed saving when it is desired to withdraw the dirt
from the chamber. To more thoroughly separate the dirt from the lint a beating
device may be employed, such for instance as shown at L, Figure 5, but not shown
elsewhere. This device may be any revolving wheel having means such as the
paddles, 1, for striking the lint and shaking the dirt therefrom.
In the present
instance the beater is shown secured to the hub of the disk C. But it may be
otherwise constructed and operated to accomplish the desired purpose. If desired
another beater, M, may be, and for an analogous purpose, arranged at some point
in the lint discharge flue in the vicinity of the fan K. In the present instance this
last named beater is shown secured to the fan-shaft k.
In operation the seed to be delinted is fed at a suitable rate through the brush
to be received between the brush and disk. The lint is removed by the brush
teeth and the disk-projections jointly acting upon the seed, and the denuded seed is
discharged through the outlet g³, and the lint is drawn through the openings c¹,
into the chamber H. The fan K exerts sufficient force to draw the lint from
between the brush and disk and, via the chamber H and flue I, into the fan-chamber
and ultimately, to discharge it through the outlet j, to any desirable point. The
motion of the fan is facilitated, and the lint more effectively discharged in the
direction mentioned by reason of the described rotation of the disk. Such rotation
operates not only to agitate the particles of the lint and to facilitate their transit
through the disk openings, but also to bring all portions of the disk equally into
position for the suction of the fan to act most favorably thereupon. The inlet, i,
to the flue I is, as seen, at one side of the chamber H, and, by reason of the
revolution of the disk all parts thereof are successively carried into the most direct
line between the brush and the inlet i, and there is no tendency to clog in any
part of the disk. The brush may be rotated at a sufficiently rapid rate to cut the
lint from the seed, and the disk must also be rotated and in the opposite direction
to that of the brush, but at a slower rate. In practice the brush may be run from
five to six hundred revolutions in a minute, and the disk from 180 to 200.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. In a cotton-seed delinter, the combination of a revolving brush, an opposing
perforated disk, revolving slower than the brush in an opposite direction, and an
air-exhausting device, said brush and disk being adapted for jointly effecting the
separation of the lint from the seed, and said air-exhausting device withdrawing
the detached lint through the disk, substantially as described.
2. In a cotton-seed delinter, the combination of a revolving brush, an opposing
perforated disk, revolving slower than the brush, and an air-exhausting device,
said brush and disk being adapted for jointly effecting the separation of the lint
from the seed, and said air-exhausting device withdrawing the detached lint through
the disk, substantially as described.
3. The combination of the trough for receiving the lint bearing seed, the casing,
the passage leading from the said trough to the said casing, the revolving brush
having the central opening, the opposing perforated disk, revolving slower than the
brush and in an opposite direction, the chamber within the casing in the rear of the

page_text: disk, the air-exhausting device, and the flue connecting said chamber and device,
said casing having an outlet for the denuded seed, substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of April 1803
J. E. EVANS-JACKSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.