IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING OR CLEANING THE SCREENS OR SIEVES OF FLOUR MILLS AND THE LIKE
Year: 1880

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING OR CLEANING THE SCREENS
OR SIEVES OF FLOUR MILLS AND THE LIKE." A communication from abroad
by John Webster Collins, of Chicago, Illinois, United States of America,
Manufacturer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th July 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING
OR CLEANING THE SCREENS OR SIEVES OF FLOUR MILLS AND THE LIKE.
[A communication from abroad by John Webster Collins, of Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America, Manufacturer.]
This Invention relates to apparatus for clearing the screens of flour mills and the
like, and comprises a rotating shaft provided with numerous flexible beaters
distributed thereon throughout its length, the said shaft when in use being
supported in proximity to the screen or bolter, so that when the shaft is rotated the
beaters will be thrown out by centrifugal force and will strike the cloth of the
screen or bolter and thereby dislodge the obstructions from the meshes thereof.
The said Invention also comprises the combination with the said rotating beater
shaft and the bolter or screen of a purifier of mechanism whereby the said shaft is
simultaneously rotated and caused to travel from side to side or from end to end of
the screen.
I will first proceed to describe my improvements as applied to a rotary bolter or
reel. Within any suitable frame for the support of a reel and a beater shaft,
which reel may be either circular or hexagonal, I place a shaft carrying the flexible
beaters and arranged near and parallel to the surface of the reel, so that when the
said shaft is rotated the beaters will strike the cloth of the reel. These beaters
preferably consist of hemp or other material having long tenacious filaments or
fibres, and are so fabricated as to retain the fibres in the structure under use, while

page_text: being at the same time soft and flexible so as to cause no injury to the screen cloth.
The beaters are distributed evenly upon the shaft from end to end thereof, and
are preferably of such a number as to successively strike the entire surface of the
bolter or screen. The beaters may, if desired, be made of hemp twine coiled and
bound in small hanks or bundles of uniform length, say, for example, three inches or
thereabouts. These banks are strung by flexible loops upon a wire or cord, and
may then be applied to the shaft by winding the cord or wire in an open spiral
around the beater shaft and securing the same to the shaft at proper intervals.
Or the beaters may be made with a heading like fringe and wound and secured
around the shaft, as above described.
The beater shaft should be so placed with reference to the bolter that when the
said shaft is at rest the beaters will hang out of contact with the bolter cloth, and
when the shaft is rotated the beaters will be thrown out by centrifugal force and
will strike the cloth.
By reason of the flexible character of the said beaters and of the nature of the
material of which they are made the blows struck by them upon the cloth will be
soft and not calculated to rapidly wear the screen, while sufficient to dislodge any
material that may have accumulated in the meshes of the said screen.
The rotating bolter or reel and the beaters may be rotated in opposite directions,
if preferred, and the relative speed of the shafts may be so adjusted that the
beaters will not produce any drawing or rubbing action injurious to the screen
cloth.
.an
In connection with a purifier having flat screens the beater shafts will be located
beneath the screens. In this application of the beaters it will be necessary to
provide a travelling movement for the beater shaft, since, unlike the rotating bolter,
the screen cloth is stationary. It is also in this case desirable to impart
intermittent motion to the beaters, since their constant action is not required and
may be in a degree injurious to the cloth. I will now proceed to describe the
means for giving an intermittent travelling and simultaneous rotating movement
to the beater shaft.
The inclined screen is provided with a longitudinally vibrating movement in the
usual manner by means of a connexion fixed to the screen frame and embracing an
excentric shaft, the screen being suspended by ordinary flexible hangers. The
beater shaft is arranged parallel to and preferably in the direction of the length of
the screen, and is supported in proper position upon cross-bars of the frame. At
each end the said shaft is provided with a spindle, on which is applied a plate
having an aperture to allow the spindle to turn freely therein. Each of the said
plates serves as an attachment for two of a series of cords. The said cords run one
from each plate to each side of the machine and over corner pulleys. The two
cords which are attached to the upper end of the beater shaft also extend to the
opposite end of the machine outside the casing and then pass over other pulleys
and thence back to two levers. These levers are arranged one on each side of the
machine, and are pivotted to the casing or frame in such manner as to swing parallel
with the side of the machine. To the extremity of the lower and longer arm of
each lever are secured both of those cords which run to the corresponding side of
the machine. By swinging said levers backward and forward so as to draw
alternately upon the cords attached thereto the beater shaft is drawn from one side
to the other of the chamber beneath the screen. The rotating movement of the
beater shaft in its passage from side to side of the machine is imparted to it by
fixed transverse cords fastened at their ends to the opposite sides of the screen
chamber and passing between their ends once around the beater shaft near its
extremities. The said cords are preferably placed above the shaft to cause the
same to, rotate upward on its advanced side whichever way it is travelling. By
this means and by properly predetermining the relative movements of the beater
,shaft the drawing or sliding motion of the beaters upon the surface of the screen
may be lessened or wholly avoided so as to obviate the destructive wearing action
upon the screen characteristic of brushes used for this purpose.

page_text: To practically obviate frictional action of the beaters upon the screen-cloth in
the case of the travelling beater shaft and stationary screen of a purifier the fixed
cords should be passed over pulleys on the beater shaft having a radius equal to the
distance of the shaft axis from the screen.
The necessary alternate swinging movements of the levers is secured by means
of large gear wheels mounted one on each side of the frame and driven by
smaller gear wheels on a fan shaft. The said wheels are each provided with a pin,
which pins are arranged to successively engage short arms of the aforesaid levers
and to thereby. alternately swing the long arms of said levers backward. When
either lever is thus moved by the pin of the adjacent gear wheel the opposite lever
is drawn forward by the connecting cords, and is thus brought back into position
to be itself struck and thrown by the pin of its approximate gear wheel. The
relative size of the said large gear wheels and the gear wheels that drive them will
determine the interval between the travelling movements of the beater shaft.
I do not restrict myself to the devices described for producing the several
movements of the said beater shaft, since other suitable mechanism may be employed
for these purposes.
It will be observed that in the use of the flexible beaters above described the
contact or non-contact of the beaters with the same is not dependent on the change
in position of the beater shaft with reference to the screen, as in the case of a
rotating brush, but results from the changed position of the beaters themselves, as
the same are affected by rotation or rest of the beater shaft.
The effect of the beaters, constructed and applied as described, is plainly to clear
the meshes of the screen by a succession of soft blows, operating to gently vibrate
the screen cloth, radially in the case of the reel and vertically in case of the flat
screens of a purifier, forcing back obstructing granules too large to pass the meshes,
and also dislodging accumulations of finer particles upon the outer or under surface
of the cloth.
It is not essential that the beaters should be flexible throughout their length.
To permit their radial extension when their shaft is rotated it is sufficient if they
be flexibly secured to the shaft so that the central portion of the "hank" will be
comparatively rigid, but the loop very flexible. To secure the gentle action upon
the screen cloth it is desirable that the beaters should be soft at their free ends.

page_text: .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING
OR CLEANING THE SCREENS OR SIEVES OF FLOUR MILLS AND THE: LIKE."
A communication from abroad by John Webster Collins, of Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America; Manufacturer.
This Invention relates to apparatus for clearing the screens of flour mills and the
like, and comprises a rotating shaft provided with numerous flexible beaters
distributed thereon throughout its length, the said shaft when in use being
supported in proximity to the screen or bolter, so that when the shaft is rotated
the beaters will be thrown out by centrifugal force and will strike the cloth of the
screen or bolter and thereby dislodge the obstructions from the meshes thereof.
The said Invention also comprises the combination with the. said rotating beater
shaft and the bolter or screen of a purifier, of mechanism whereby the said shaft is
simultaneously rotated and caused to travel from side to side or from end to end of
the screen.
The said apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which-
Figure 1 is a transverse section representing my improvements applied to a
rotating bolter or reel, the said reel and the beater shaft being at rest.
Figure 2 is a transverse section shewing the beater shaft and a reel in operation.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of a middlings purifier provided with my improve-
ments, and illustrates more particularly the parts of the mechanism by which,
in such a machine, the beater shaft is simultaneously rotated and caused to travel
across the machine beneath the screen.
Figure 4 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the purifier shown in
Figure 3, further illustrating the devices partially shown in that Figure.
Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section of the purifier, still further illustrating
the application of my improvements thereto.
Figure 6 shows the beaters in the position they occupy when in operation beneath
a flat purifier screen.
Figures 7 and 8 illustrate two forms in which the beaters may be constructed.
The beaters and their simplest application are shown more particularly in
Figures 1, 2, and 7. A is a suitable frame for the support of a reel and a beater
shaft;
B is a reel which may be either circular or hexagonal, and C is a shaft
carrying the flexible beaters D, and arranged in proximity to and parallel with the
surface of the reel, so that when the said shaft C is rotated the beaters D will
strike the cloth a of the reel B. These beaters C preferably consist of hemp or
other material having long tenacious filaments or fibres, and are so made as to retain
the fibres in the structure under use, while being at the same time soft and flexible,
so as to cause no injury to the screen cloth. The beaters are distributed evenly
upon the shaft from end to end thereof, and are preferably of such a number as to
successively strike the entire surface of the bolter or screen.
The beaters may, if
desired, be made of hemp twine, coiled and bound in small hanks or bundles of
uniform length, say, for example, 3 inches or thereabouts, and of the form shown
in Figure 7. These hanks are strung by flexible loops s upon a wire or cord b, and
may then be applied to the shaft by winding the cord or wire 6 in an open spiral
around the beater shaft C, and securing the same to the shaft at proper intervals.
Or the beaters may be made with a heading b¹ like a fringe, Figure 8, and be wound
and secured around the shaft, as above described.
The beater shaft C should be so placed with reference to the bolter, that when
the said shaft is at rest the beaters B will hang out of contact with the bolter cloth,

page_text: and when the shaft is rotated the beaters will be thrown out by centrifugal force,
and will strike the cloth, as shown in Figures 2 and 6.
By reason of the flexible character of the said beaters, and of the nature of the
material of which they are made, the blows struck by them upon the cloth will be
soft and not calculated to rapidly wear the screen, while being sufficiently heavy
to dislodge any material that may have accumulated in the meshes of the said
screen.
When the rotating bolter or reel is combined with the beater, as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, they may be rotated in opposite directions if preferred, and the
relative speed of the shafts may be so adjusted that the beaters will not produce
any drawing or rubbing action injurious to the screen cloth.
In connection with purifiers having flat screens, the beater shafts will be located
beneath the screens, as clearly illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6., In this application
of the beaters it will be necessary to provide a travelling movement for the beater
shaft, since, unlike the rotating bolter,, the screen cloth is stationary. It is also
in this case desirable to impart an intermittent motion to the beaters, since
their constant action is not required, and may be in some degree injurious to the
cloth.
In Figures 3, 4, and 5, I have illustrated means for giving an intermittent
travelling and simultaneous rotating movement to the beater shaft.
A represents the frame work and casing of the purifier. The inclined screen B
has a longitudinally vibrating movement imparted to it in the usual manner by
means of the connection n fixed to the screen frame and embracing the excentric
shaft m, the screen being suspended by ordinary flexible hangers h. The beater
shaft C is arranged parallel to and preferably in the direction of the length of the
screen as shown. It is represented in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawing as being
supported in proper position upon the cross bars E of the frame. At each end the
said shaft C is provided with a spindle d on which is applied a plate e, having an
aperture to allow the spindle to turn freely therein. Each of the said plates serves
as an attachment for two of a series of cords c. The said cords run one from each
plate to each side of the machine and over corner pulleys p. The two cords c which
are attached to the upper end of the beater shaft also extend to the opposite end
of the machine outside the casing, and then pass over other pulleys and thence back
to the two levers L. These levers Lare arranged one on each side of the machine, and
are pivoted to the casing or frame at o in such a manner as to swing parallel with the
side of the machine. To the extremity of the lower and longer arm of each lever are
secured both of those cords c which run to the corresponding side of the machine.
By swinging the said levers backward and forward so as to draw alternately upon
the cords attached thereto, the beater shaft is drawn from one side to the other of
the chamber beneath the screen B¹. The rotating movement of the beater shaft C
in its passage from side to side of the machine is imparted to it by fixed transverse
cords c', fastened at their ends to the opposite sides of the screen chamber, and
passing between their ends once around the beater shaft near its extremities. The
said cords are preferably placed above the shaft, as shown, in order to cause the
same to rotate upward on its advancing side which ever way it is travelling. By this
means and by properly predetermining the relative movements of the beater shaft
the drawing or sliding motion of the beaters D upon the surface of the screen may
be lessened or wholly avoided, so as to obviate the destructive wearing action upon
the screen characteristic of brushes used for this purpose.
To practically obviate frictional action of the beaters upon the screen cloth in the
case of the travelling beater shaft, and stationary screen of a purifier, the fixed
cords c' should be passed over pulleys on the beater shaft, having a radius equal to
the distance of the shaft axis from the screen.
The necessary alternate swinging movements of the levers L are secured by means
of the large gear wheels W mounted one on each side of the frame A, and driven by
smaller gear wheels W' on the fan shaft G. The said wheels W are each provided
with a pin i, which pins are arranged to successively engage the short arms of the

page_text: aforesaid levers L, and to-thereby alternately swing the long arms of the said levers
backward. When either lever is thus moved by the pin i of the adjacent gear
wheels W, the opposite lever is drawn forward by the connecting cords c, and is
thus brought back into a position to be itself struck and thrown by the pin of its
adjacent gear wheel W. The relative size of the said large gear wheels W, and the
gear wheels W¹ that drive them, will determine the interval between the travelling
movements of the beater shaft C.
I do not restrict myself to the devices described for producing the several
movements of the said beater shaft, since other suitable mechanism may be
employed for these purposes.
It will be observed that in the use of the flexible beaters above described, the
contact or non-contact of the beaters with the same is not dependent on the change
in position of the beater shaft with reference to the screen, as in the case of a
rotating brush, but results from the changed position of the beaters themselves, as
the same are effected by rotation or rest of the beater shaft.-
The effect of the beaters, constructed and applied as described, is plainly to clear
the meshes of the screen by a succession of soft blows, operating to gently vibrate
the screen cloth radially in the case of the reel, and vertically in the case of the flat
screens of a purifier, forcing back obstructing granules which are too large to pass
through the meshes, and also dislodging accumulations of finer particles upon the
outer or under surface of the cloth.
It is not essential that the beaters should be flexible throughout their length.
To permit of their radial extension when their shaft C is rotated, it is sufficient if
they are flexibly secured to the shaft as shown in Figures 1 and 7, in which the
central portion of the hank will be comparatively rigid, but the loop S very flexible.
To secure the gentle action upon the screen cloth it is desirable that the beaters
should be soft at their free ends. The unconfined free ends of the loops forming
the hanks Figure 7, obviously have this quality.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
First. In combination with the screen or bolter of a purifier or separator, a
rotating shaft provided with flexible or flexibly connected beaters thrown out in a
practically radial direction to the shaft when the latter is rotated, the said shaft and
bolter being so arranged with reference to each other that when the beaters are thrown
out by rotation, as described, they will strike the bolter, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
•
Second. In combination with a bolter or screen, the shaft C provided with beaters
D, flexible or flexibly connected as described, and supported with reference to the
screen or bolter in such a position that the beaters hang clear of the cloth when
the shaft is at rest, but strike the cloth when the said shaft is rotated, substantially
as described.
I
Third. In combination with the flat screen of a purifier, a shaft provided with
beaters, flexible or flexibly connected.to the shaft so as to be thrown outward by
centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated, and to hang from the shaft when the
latter is at rest; and mechanism whereby said shaft is simultaneously rotated on
its axis and moved from side to side of the screen, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.