Improvements in Threshing Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1893-Accepted, 24th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Threshing Machines.
I, RICHARD KEELING of Walhalla, in the County of Pembina and State of
North Dakota, United States of America, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a separator attachment for threshing machines and has
for its object to provide a device adapted to receive the straw from the threshing
cylinder of the machine, thin out or loosen the straw and fan the latter in such
manner that the chaff will be separated from the straw, thereby permitting the
grain to more readily fall down through the straw and rattle-rake or straw-shaker
of the machine.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar letters and figures of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts in both the views.
Figure 1 is a central vertical section through that portion of the threshing
machine in which the device is located, the device being shewn partly in side
elevation and partly in section, the section being taken practically on the line 1-1
of Figure 2; and
Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken essentially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.
At the rear of the apron or carrier belt 10 which receives the straw from the
threshing cylinder of the machine, a picker 11 is journaled the said picker being
practically three-cornered, as illustrated in Figure 1. Immediately behind the
picker a combined blower and beater A is journaled in the casing B of the machine.
This combined blower and beater consists of two end rings or discs 12 which are
mounted upon a shaft 13 journaled in the casing and provided at its outer end.
with a driving pulley through the medium of which the shaft and the beater
carried thereby are rotated. Between the two discs or rings 12 a series of
longitudinally-arranged plates 14 are located, fitted at their extremities in suitable
grooves produced in the rings or discs and the entire structure is firmly held together
through the medium of rods 15 passed through the discs or rings and provided at
their outer ends with thumb nuts or lock nuts 16 of any approved construction.
The plates 14 are arranged diagonally or tangentially upon the discs or rings,
standing therefore at acute angles to the shaft 13. Behind the combined blower
and beater a rattle-rake or straw-shaker is placed and above the rattle rake at the
rear of the combined beater and blower a divide board 18 is secured to the deck
of the casing. This divide board is V-shaped and is located at the centre of the
deck of the casing with its point in the direction of the beater or blower and
therefore opposite the central portion of the beater or blower, as shown in Figure 2.
Behind the divide board two deflecting plates or boards 19 are placed, these boards
having a rearward inclination and being arranged some distance apart.
In the operation of the device, as the grain passes up the endless belt 10 from
the threshing cylinder the straw is taken up by the picker and is tossed and
thinned out to such an extent that it is delivered in thin layers to the blower and
beater and when the straw is engaged with the blower and beater it is thrown
upward by the blades thereof and the current of air created by the rotation of the
blower will at the same time blow the chaff from the straw and as the divide board
will separate the current of air created by the blower the chaff will be carried
rearward at each side of the divide board through the rear outer end of the

page_text: machine. By this means the straw when it falls upon the shaker or rattle-rake is
comparatively free from chaff and the grain will more readily and more copiously
separate from it and drop from the shaker. Any grains that may be carried along
with the chaff will necessarily fall down upon the shaker.
This invention is exceedingly simple, it is capable of application to any form of
threshing machine, and it is an exceedingly efficient separator as it not only
provides for a quick and ample separation of the grain from the straw but it does
not in any way injure the latter.
The V-shaped divide board 18 is adapted to act as a shield to prevent the waste
of grain and it operates practically in the following manner:-As the loose kernels
of grain are tossed upward and rearward by the beater blades they strike against
the sides of the V-shaped divide board and are deflected to the sides or casing of
the machine and the downward and inward slant of the board directs the grain
to the central portion of the straw-shaker or rattle-rake. The short deflecting
boards 19 placed at the end of the space left between the divide board and the
casing of the machine are intended to deflect or turn any flying kernels of grain
in the direction of the centre of the shaker thereby preventing them from passing
out at the rear end of the machine. A space is left between the deflecting
boards 19 to permit the chaff to pass out of the machine unobstructed travelling
with the current of air produced by means of the fan or beater above the straw.
The beater blades 14 are placed in an inclined position or diagonally between the
heads or rings of the beater, for the purpose of tossing the loose kernels of grain
and heavy wheat stems, or other material heavier than the straw and chaff to the
top or deck of the machine as the said heavy material has a tendency to fall
between the blades 14 when the machine is running slowly, thereby obstructing the
blast of air, there being a continuous current of air passing in at the ends of
the fan or beater and upward between its blades and the current of air is designed
to be at all times sufficiently strong to prevent the straw from winding about the
beater.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. In a separating attachment for threshing machines, a divide board of V-shape
arranged in the rear of a separating device, the divide board being attached to the
deck of the attachment and extending downwardly and inwardly therefrom, as and
for the purpose set forth.
2. In a separating attachment for threshing machines, the combination, with the
carrier belt adapted to convey the straw from the threshing cylinder, of a combined
blower and beater to revolve at the rear of the carrier and a divide board of V-shape
located at the rear of the combined blower and beater, the reduced end of the divide
board facing the blower, as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a separating attachment for threshing machines, the combination, with a
casing and a V-shaped divide board secured to the deck of the casing, of a cylinder
journaled in front of the contracted end of the divide board, said cylinder con-
sisting of heads and a series of blades carried by the heads whereby the cylinder
acts as a fan and as a beater, a picker located in front of the fan or beater and a
belt from the threshing cylinder of the machine to the picker, as and for the purpose
set forth.
4. In a separating attachment for threshing machines, a separating cylinder the
same comprising open heads and blades connecting the heads the spaces between
the blades being open and in communication with the interior of the cylinder, the
blades being arranged also diagonally or tangentially upon the heads, as and for the
purpose set forth.
5. In a separating attachment for threshing machines, the combination, with a
blower, of a divide board located in the rear of the blower and essentially V-shaped,

page_text: the contracted end facing the blower, and a casing surrounding the blower and
divide board, a space being provided between the sides of the casing and the sides
of the divide board, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 23rd day of May 1893.
IV.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.