US1365228A - Hulling-machine - Google Patents

Description

I. DAVIDSON.

HULLING MACHINE.

n APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, IEII I. 1,365 Patented m1111921.

2 SHEETS-SHE T I IIIIIIIIAIDl//l/ mv ss@ J. DAVIDSON.

HULLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2s. 1917.

1,365,228. Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Unirse .s'rr-r'rpgs A PATENT oFFlCE.

JOSEPH DAVIDSON, OLE"4 GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF T .AMERICAN MACHINE & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NORTH f CAROLINA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

HULLING-MACHINE.

Patented J an. 11, 1921.

To all 'w/wmr't may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH DAVIDSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Greenville, county of Greenville,rand State of South Carolina, have invented an Improvement in Hulling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This application is for an improvement in hulling machines of the character set out in Letters Patent No. 1,083,001, granted to me on December 30, 1913, whereby greater efficiency is secured.

The object of my invention is to provide` a construction of seed huller in which the crushing parts are economically constructed and relatively inexpensive to repair when worn; and more particularly the improvements are directed to replaceable stepped breast plates with which the knives of the hulling cylinder cooperate, said breast plates formed of integral chilled castings and having the stepped or flighted knife edges formed thereon in horizontal parallel relation and arranged in a curve approximating the cylindrical path traversed by the knives of the liulling cylinder.

lily object is further to construct the knife portions of the breast in the form of chilled castings to establish fixed relation between the respective knife portions thereof, and detachably secure the said' casting to a breast frame which is adjustable to and from the hulling cylinder and yieldingly held in position to properly perform the hulling function but permit the breast plate to move away from the cylinder in case of the passage of hard foreign substances between the same, tiereby preventing breakage of the cutting devices.

My object is further to support the breast plates aioresaid by a hinged breast support machine when operating` at its greatest capacity.

lVth the above and other objects in view the nature of which will be more fully un-7 derstood from the description hereinafter, the invention consists'in the novel construction of hulling machine as hereinafter more fully described and deinedin the claims.

For the purpose ofillustrating my invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings the embodiment thereof which is at .present preferred by me, since the same 1s in form'to give satisfactory and reliable results, but it is to be understood that the several instrumentalities of which my invention consists, can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and 'organi- Zation of the instrumentalities herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation taken on line mof Fig. 2 and showing the internal construction of a hulling machine embodying my invention; Fig. is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the yielding tension device for holding the breast framke to the hulling cylinder; and Figs. l and 5 are perspective views of the breast plates removed fromr the machine.

2 is the bed or main frame, and 3 is the upper or hopper feed frame, hinged at l to the back of the main frame upon which it rests and to which it is adjustably fastened by bolts The lower front portion of the main frame is extended in horizontal runways or guides 5 upon which the adjustable breast frame 30 is supported. v

yThe main frame is provided at each end with bearings 13, in which is journaledthe cylinder shaft 7, one end of the shaft having a belt pulley 14 by which it is driven. Secured upon the shaft 7 and arranged within the frames 2, 3 and 30 is the cast steel hulling cylinder 6, which is providedr about its circumference with obliquely arranged knives 9. These knives each consist of a rectangular steel bar extending lengthwise of the cylinder and set in grooves 8, wherein they are clamped Vby clamping plates 11 held in clamping relation by screws 12. The clamp` ingl screws 12 apply pressure to the plates 11 setting knife feature, are a safety means to4 prevent the knives flying outward by centrifugal force in case the screws 12 should accidentally become loose. This shoulder and the position of the clamping screws are special features of improvement over the construction embodied in my former Letters Patent No. 1,083,004, aforesaid.

The breast frame 30 comprises two end frames connected by the cross frame 52, and these end frames are further connected by the breast plate support 31 which is a boxshaped casting hinged at its lower part to the end frames by bolts l0 andl having its upper part slotted as at el and adjustably clamped to the end frames by bolts 42. This structure is quite rigid and is made still more so when the breast plates are bolted in place, but, as an entity, is adjustable to and from the hulling cylinder 6. Its approach toward the hulling cylinder is limited by the set bolts 54 extending through the cross frame 52, and this position is normally insured by the spring devices df' at each end of the machine. These springs 17 are arranged about bolts if having adjustable nuts --d and hinged at 45 to the bed or main frame 2 and the said springs press at one end against said nuts of the bolts and their other ends against washers '-lG resting upon lateral slotted lugs -l-G from the ends of the breast frame 30. By this means, the breast frame and its parts are forced toward the hullling cylinder with any desired pressure, and the extent of approach is limited by the set bolts 54k aforesaid. During the adjustment or tramining of the machine, the hand screws 53 may be used to adjust each end of the breast frame until the results are just what are desired and then the set bolts 54: are adjusted and relied upon thereafter; and having no hand wheels these bolts are not liable to be accidentally put out of adjustment, which may be stilll further guarded against by providing them with lock nuts as shown.

The breast plates 33 are formed of chilled iron and are curved in a vertical plane to approximate the curvature traversed by the knives 9 of the hulling cylinder. The curved faces of these plates 33 are provided with iiighted or stepped portions as shown at 34 (Figs. 1 and constituting cutting edges and retaining shoulders to obstruct the passage of the seed and hold them in such position as to make the action or contact of the cylinder knives 9 most efficient. These breast plates also protect the meats of the seeds from injurious reduction, and thereby removes causes of oil absorption from the meats.

By preventing too great a reduction of the seeds they are left in a better condition for separating the meats from the hulls in the subsequent processes; in fact when properly adjusted the huller will deliver a large percentage of whole meats and hull cuttings of relatively large-size, all of which aids in efficient production of oil from the seed in the later operations.

. Referring more particularly to the chilled metal breast plates 33, their outer surfaces are ribbed as at 35. -F ig. d, said ribs having hubs 3G at their middle through which the clamping bolts 3S extend, said ribs, hubs and also the flanged ends and edges, are carefully ground'to a true circle to fit :against the inner circular rib surfaces 32 of the ribs 311 of the breast plate support 31, said inner surfaces 32 being accurately machined and finished, so as to have the cutting edges of the breast plates present a true and uniform cuttingl surface across the entire width and through the full cutting arc of the cylinder knives. It is also important that the cutting edges 34 of the plates have just the proper spacing and depth to prevent mixing of cut and uncut seeds, allowing the cut seeds to pass but holding the uncut seeds,

all of which acts to prevent undue cutting of the meats and hulls. As a secondary result of this proportioning, there is a reduction of power consumption to an absolute minimum. Moreover, the angles of the edges of the knives of the cylinder and the serrations of angular edges 34e of the breast plates, are such as to give just the proper coaction to cut the seed cleanly and without objectionable abrasion or bruising of the meats. The action of the knives is such that those on the cylinder and those on the breast plates tend to automatically force the seed toward the other and yhence insure positive and efficient coperation.

There are two breast plates 33 forming together approximately a 90 degree arc, and these are each clamped in position upon the surfaces 32 of ribs 31a of the support'Bl by a series of bolts 38, having their heads in countersunk lholes 37 in the breast plates (Figs. 1 and 5) and extending through the support and tightened by nuts 39 upon the outside. plate support 31, I :provide a traverse bar 43 bolted in position and preferably providing a slightly tapering throat leading to the breast plates at the top for the more ready entry of the seed.

At the upper edge of the breast i The adjustment of the support 31 and breast plates 83 about the bolts 40 makes il possible to accur'ately adjust the curvature of the breast plate cutting edges to the knives of the vcylinder 6, and this is important as insuring accuracy of adjustment with an inexpensive construction.

Below the hulling cylinder is the dis-A charge throat for the cut seed and this is tted with a fixed curved plate 48 against which thek seed is projected by the cylinder and caused to be deflected downward. The opposite side of the throat is fitted with a fixed flat plate 50 and above this is a hinged plate 49, the upper edge of which is hinged to an angle bar 51 bolted to'l the bottom of the breast plate support 31, and free to swing by gravity lso that-itslower edge rests upon the fixed plate 50. This plate 49 is therefore adjustable, being move able not only with the support 31 in Aits own adjustment, but also with the breast frame 30 when moved back from the cylinder as when replacing the breast plates or providing access to the cylinder. This plate 49 bridges the space between the breast plates 'and the fixed plate 50 to prevent es` cape of the cut seeds.

T he upper frame 3 is kprovided with a hop-A per 16 and a feeding cylinder 17 secured toa rotatable shaft 24; the seed being fed from the hopper through an adjustable throat 19l comprising a hinged gate or wall having a rack 20 which is moved by a pinion 21 on a shaft 22 adapted to be adjusted by hand. Below the feeding cylinder is an inclined plate 18 over which the seeds are fed to approximately the top of the cylinder. I

do not confine myself to this construction of feeding means, although it has been found well adapted to its purpose.

Immediately at the front part of the upper frame 3 are hinged flaps or doors 63, hinged at their upper ends at 64 and having their lower ends extending obliquely over to and` resting upon the upper end of the breast support 31. The-` function of these flaps or doors 63 is to allow any heavy foreign mat'I ters such as pieces of metalor stones to be thrown out of the machine by the revolving cylinder, so as not to pass down between the breast plates and cylinder. vThese doors fall by gravity and will not open by impact of the seed, s0 that the lseed is retained while permitting the ejection of heavier articles. For convenience, the door 63 opens into a compartment or catch box V56 formed in the upper part of the breast frame 30 and `the metal and stones are then collected and removed from time to time by door 58 which is hinged at 59`and latched at 60. The hinges 59 are attached to an angleiir'on corner 57 at the top of the compartment 56, and also hinged to this angle `iron at 62 is atop door 61 by which access can be had fromv above and by which any collection of material may be ascertained.

The breast is held in place by the coil springs 47 as before explained; and should any hard foreign substance get between the breast plates and cylinder knives, the springs yield, allowing the objectional material to pass through without damaging the machine, the breast .being instantly drawn back to its proper position by the springs as soon as the hard 4substance has passed through, thus preventing any undue spillage of seed.

The feeder cylinder shaft 24 may be operated in any suitable manner but preferably by the means shown, which consists of a gear 25 on the. end of the shaft and driven by a pinion`26 which is driven by a band wheel 27. This band wheel is driven from a small band pulley 29 on the huller cylinder shaft 7 `by a band 28. In this way a relatively slow rotation is given to the feeder cylinder 17 ,and as the cylinder has longitudinal ribs upon it which successively pass the gate 19 ofthe throat, itis apparent that the delivery of seed to the hulling cylinder is accomplished in measured quantities, the amount of which may be regulated by adjusting the gate.

The general arrangement of the main parts of the machine is such that all parts are easily gotten at. For example,by re; moving the bolts 15, the hopper and feeder may be swung backward and about hinge 4 to expose top of the hulling cylinder and alsothe flaps or hinged doors 63; and fur thermore, by loosening the nuts 44a the bolts 44 may be swung out sidewiseaway from the lugsI 46 and the breast frame 30 may then be moved back to expose the hulling cylinder and also the breast plates. By removing the nuts 39 the breast plates 33 may be removed when worn and new plates inserted with little labor, and as the parts are interchange able and accurately fit their coacting parts, the insertion of new plates does not require any special new adjustments. n

- In sett-ing the cylinder knives 9, it is only necessary to push them against the milled shoulder or fiange 10 in the cylinder andtighten the clamp screws 12; and in setting the chilled metal breast plates, they kare simply dropped in against the supporting frame 31 and shoulder provided by the angle iron 51 and bolted vin position by the bolts 3S. Practice has shown that the com plete operation of setting both the cylinder knives andbreast plates can be performed in approximately thirty minutes, thereby preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a hulling machine, a hulling cylinder having about its periphery a plurality of parallel longitudinal .V shaped grooves each having one face formed with a rectangular shaped recess adjacent to the longitudinal peripheral edge whereby a longitudinal shoulder is provided, a plurality of longitudinal knives of rectangular cross section respectively fitting the recesses and having their outer corner edge projecting beyond the peripheral surface of the cylinder and said knives held against radial displacement by the shoulders, longitudinal clamping plates fitting the V shaped grooves and overlapping the knives at their inner edges, and screws extending through I the clamping plates and recessed faces and radially inward of the knives for clamping said knives in the recesses.

2. A detachable breast plate for hulling machines, consisting of a curved chilled iron casting having a concave face formed with a plurality of parallel stepped cutting ribs, and means at the back for securing and supporting it in position comprising longitudinal and transverse curved ribs, said ribs surfaced to a true cylindrical curve concen tric to the cutting ribs, and said curved ribs each having a hub portion with a radial bolt hole whereby a plurality of securing bolts may be employed along the longitudinal lengthof the plate in line with the ribs. e

In a hulling` machine, a hulling cylinder, combined with a breast frame adjustable to and from -the hulling cylinder, a breast plate support having a curved surface adjacent to the. cylinder and secured to the breast frame by a transverse hinge, ar-

ranged immediately at one end vertically' considered and adjacent to its curved surface, a curved breast plate having an integral concave cutting surface and convex back secured to the support so as to present the said cutting surface to the cylinder and having a normally fixed relation to the breast plate support, means for adjusting the support about its hinge upon the breast frame to change the position ofthe axis of curvature of the breast plate, and means for adjusting the breast frame to and from the hulling cylinder.

4. In a hulling machine, the combination of a hulling cylinder, a breast frame adjustable to and from the cylinder in a rectilinear line, a breast plate having a curved cutting face coacting with the cylinder, a support for the breast 'plate hinged at its bottom to the breast frame, and means above the hinge for adjusting and securing the support rigidly to the breast frame.

5. In a'hulling machine, the combination of a hulling cylinder, a breast frame adjustable to and from the cylinder in a rectilinear line, a breast plate havin@f a curved cutting face coacting with the cylinder and also having a curved back, a support for the breast plate hinged lat its lbottom to the breast frame and having a curved ribbed face for receiving the curved back of the breast plate and sustaining it, means for detachably securing the breast plate to the support, and means above the hinge for adjusting and securing the support rigidly to the breast frame.

6. In a hulling machine, a hulling cylinder, combined with a breast frame, a breast plate support secured to the breast frame, curved vbreast plates arranged circumferentially end to end about the cylinder and removably secured to the support, means for adjusting the support upon the breast frame to change the position of the common axis of curvature of the breast plates, .means for adjusting the breast frame to and from the hulling cylinder, and a throat at the bottom of the machine comprising two fixed plates `for guiding the cut seed and an adjustable non-flexible plate hinged at its upper end to the breast frame below the breast plates and having its lower .part resting upon and relatively movable upon one of the fixed throat plates.

7. In a hulling machine, a hulli'ng cylinder, combinedvwith a breast frame adjustable to and from the cylinder, :a breast plate support secured kto the breast frame and movable with it and lhaving a concave curved surface next to :the cylinder, abreast plate having its outer face closely fitting the breast plate support, whereby it is accurately positioned upon the support, detachable bolts extending through the breast plate and support for detachably securing them together, means for adjusting the breast frame to and from the cylinder, and an adjustable discharge throat of rigid material hinged to and lmovable with the breast frame.

8. In alrulling machine, the y,combination of ak hulling cylinder, a sliding adjustable breast frame, an adjustable pivoted breast plate support having breast plates secured upon it and hinged at its flower end to the breast frame so lthat its upperend is adjustable, yielding `mea-ns for holding the breast frame and plate up to the operative relation with thecylinder, means to feed seed to the cylinder, a catch box above lthe breast plate support and integral with the breast frame, and hinged flaps `between 4the cylinder and catch boX and having their lower ends resting upon the adjustable upper end of the breast plate support.

9. In a hulling machine, the combination of a base frame, an upper trame hinged to the base frame at the back, a breast frame horizontally adjustable on the base frame, a hulling cylinder in the base frame, feeding devices in the upper frame, breast cutters on the breast frame, positive means for detachably holding the upper frames in close operative fixed relation to the base frame and for permitting the said upper frame to be thrown back, and spring devices between the base frame and breast frame to permit the latter to be moved away from the cylinder, whereby the cutting means may be easily accessible.

10. In. a hulling machine, the combination of a main frame, a hulling cylinder, a breast frame movable to and from the cylinder, spring devices for yieldingly moving the breast frame toward the cylinder, a breast plate support hinged to the breast frame, adjusting means for adjusting the position of the support, a breast plate detachably secured to thewsupport, adjusting hand screws for adjusting the breast frame, its support and plate relatively to the cylinder, and v provided with a plurality of supporting ribs arranged transversely to the cutting ribs and ground accurately to an arc of a circle, and a plurality of bolt apertures extending into the plate along its middle and in alinement with the ribs.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH DAVIDSON.

Witnesses:

W. LINDSAY VVILsoN. L. I-I. CARLISLE.

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