IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE CHOKING OF THE FEED TO MACHINES FOR TREATING OR REDUCING FINE MATERIALS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, RICHARD SMITH, Flour Mill, Stoke on Trent, in the county of Stafford,
Miller, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR PREVENTING THE CHOKING OF THE FEED TO MACHINES FOR TREATING OR
REDUCING FINE MATERIALS" and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
The object of my invention is to prevent the choking of the feed to machines
for treating or reducing fine materials. It is especially applicable to the feed
mechanism of machines for reducing middlings, but it may also be applied to other
machines for treating fine materials in which the feed is regulated by means of a
roller rotating beneath an aperture in a hopper containing the supply, the area of
such opening being regulated by a gate or slide if desired.
In this form of feed mechanism when applied to machines for treating fine
materials it is necessary that the feed opening should be of comparatively small
area in order to secure a uniform and gradual feed, and consequently any fluff or
coarse material is unable to pass through the orifice and the feed frequently becomes
choked on this account.
In order to avoid this I employ a plate suitably supported in front of the feed
orifice in the direction of rotation of the feed roller, so that one edge is caused to
bear upon the periphery of such roller, whereby the material passing through the
feed opening is caused to travel along such plate and be delivered at the opposite
edge thereof. The employment of this plate enables the feed gate or slide to be
raised to a greater extent than usual, thereby increasing the area of the feed
opening in the hopper and allowing the passage of fluff or coarse material there-
through, so that this material cannot lodge in the feed opening and so choke the
feed. The increased friction of the material to be treated in its passage over the
plate will compensate for the increased area of the feed opening in the hopper, and
so prevent the delivery being too rapid, and by adjustably mounting the plate in
its supports so that the angle of the surface of such plate over which the material
travels, to the tangent of its line of contact with the roller, may be varied, the
delivery or feed may be regulated as desired.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which
Fig. 1 is an end view of a feed mechanism with my improved apparatus applied
thereto, and

page_text: A is the hopper containing the material to be treated; B the gate or slide for
regulating the area of the feed opening C in the bottom of the hopper A; and D
the feed roller rotating beneath such opening.
In front of the feed opening C a plate E is arranged with one edge in frictional
contact with the periphery of the feed roller D (so as to allow the latter to revolve
freely), whereby the feed is directed along the upper surface of such plate and
delivered at the opposite edge thereof. In the drawing the upper surface of the
plate E is shown flat but it may be curved if desired, and its outer edge may be
serrated.
said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
The combination with a feed mechanism for effecting a regular delivery of fine
materials, consisting of a hopper with a feed opening beneath which a roller is caused
to rotate, of a plate arranged in front of the feed opening in the direction of
rotation of the feed roller, one edge of such plate being caused to bear upon the
periphery of the feed roller without impeding its rotation, whereby the feed is
directed along the upper surface of such plate and delivered at the opposite edge
thereof, all substantially as and for the purpose described.