US145693A - Improvement in machines for hulling rice - Google Patents

Description

H. B. STEVENS.

` A Machines for Hulling Rice. No.145,693.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. STEVENS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE L. SQUIER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR HULLING RICE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 145,693, dated December 16, 1873; application filed July 2, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. STEVENS, of the city of Bualo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented an Improved Machine for Hulling Rice, Coffee, and other seeds and grains, of which the following is a specification:

As my improved machine is more especially designed for hulling rice, I will describe my machine as applied to this purpose.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine that can be easily operated by handpower when required, by which the hulling process can be easily and rapidly carried on without heating or breaking the grains or injuring the enamel. For this purpose I found wood, or wood and rubber combined, to be the materials best adapted for the purpose. The invention relates to the use and application of wood, or wood and rubber combined, for the hulling-sin-faces, also, to an improved method of dressing` the rubbing-surfaces to permit a reciprocating rotary motion beinggiven to the runner, and also to an improved construction of parts by which the runner and its shaft can be readily removed without detaching the pinion mounted on the latter.

'In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a central vertical section of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation; Fig. 3, a plan Fig. 4, a face view of one of the rubbingsurfaces; Fig. 5, a detached sectional view in line of chord a* w.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in each of the figures.

A represents three posts or uprights, and

.A' A cross-pieces connecting the same, and

forming .the triangular frame of the machine. B is the runner of the huller, mounted on the shaft O, the lower end of which has its bearing in a step, o. D is a horizontal drivingshaft, provided with bevel-gear wheel e, en-

- gaging with bevel-pinion f on shaft O. g is a lever or arm attached to the outer end of the driving-shaft, by which the machine can be operated by hand. H is the stationary hulling block or disk, arranged above the runner, and

held in place and against rotary motion by studs or pins i in the upper end of the posts, which fit loosely in holes formed in the lugs or ears h of the block H. The upper bearing j of the shaft of the runner is formed in the cross-bar of the eye of the block H. 7c is a set-screw, screwing into the top of the bearing j, by means of which the weight of the block H, when of large size, may be partially supported. This screw is made hollo\v,`for the purpose of conveying oil to the spindle O. L is the curve or case of the runner, and Ll is the bottom thereof, provided with an opening, l. To the under side of the runner is attached one or more wings, m, for sweeping the grain from the case into the discharge-opening n. o is the discharge-spout, arranged to slide in ways p p onthe under side of the bottom L', the end of the hopper being slotted to receive the shaft, as shown in' Figs. l and 2. The block H, being held in place simply by the pins c', can bereadily lifted off when desired. By withdrawing th'e discharge-spout the runner and its shaft can be readily removed without detaching the pinion, the opening l in the bottom of the case being made sufficiently large for the purpose.

The runner B and block H may be formed entirely of wood, or of wood with strips or blocks of rubber arranged in recesses in the faces thereof but for the purpose of cheapening the manufacture of the huller, increasing its durability, facilitating repairs, and preventing the hulling-blocks from checking or splitting in tropical countries, I provide metallic frames b and h', divided by radial arms u u into sections or pockets, in which the separate blocks of wood or rubber S S are tted, the surfaces of which project slightly beyond the casting, with their edges beveled oif, as shown at s1 s1, Figs. 4 and 5, these divisionbars a u, between the adjacent edges or sides of the blocks, forming, in connection with the beveled sides of the blocks S, radial grooves in the hulling-faces.

As the sectional blocks S become worn, they can be raised or brought forward by placing strips of metal, wood, or other material between them and the ledges of the frame on which they rest 5 or set-screws may be arranged in these ledges to adjust the blocks outward. These sections of blocks S may all be composed of wood, or one or more of these blocks may be made of rubber, as shown at el, Fig. 4; or

strips s2 s2 may be arranged along the radial sides of the blocks, or blocks s3 s3 may be fitted in holes or recesses in the blocks S, as also shown in Fig. 4; or the rubber may be arranged in any other suitable way, so that the rubbingsurfaces shall be composed of wood and rubber combined.

The blocks or hullers are made a little concave in the center to assist in feeding, and the grooves are preferably made deeper at the center of the block than at the circumference. The upper block H rests with its whole weight upon the runner, and is permitted by the guide-pins i' to rise and fall freely, to accommodate itself to the quantity of grain passing through the mill, or to any unevenncss in the face of the runner.

Vith small hullers, the block H can be supplied with weights, to insure the requisite pressure upon the grain, while in large machines the pressure can be reduced by the setscrew k, as above described.

The grain to be hulled is fed into the eye of the upper stone through a hopper, IV, whence it passes between the contiguous surfaces of the runner and block H, where it is subjected to a rubbing action thereof until it escapes at their periphery into the case L, from whence it is swept, by the wing m, through the opening Z in the bottom thereof through the spout, and conducted from the machine by the discharge-spout o. I prefer the end of the grain of the wood as a rubbing-surface for the huller on account of its greater durability and efficiency. I havemade therubbing-surfaees plane or ungrooved and found them to operate reason ably well; and I have also dressed them after the manner of millstones, and given the runner a continued rotary motion when thus dressed and when undressed, but have found, from repeated experiments, that the best results can be attained by dressing the hulling-surfaces in the manner shown in the drawings, and imparting to the runner a reciprocating rotary motion, which can be readily effected in a hand Vmachine by simply oscillating the lever g. The

radial grooves in the hulling-surfaces assist in feeding the grain, and serve to roll over or change the position of the grain as the motion of the runner is reversed. They also form spaces in which the separation of the hulls from the kernels is facilitated.

In machines of small size I prefer to combine rubber and wood in forming the hulling-surfaces, as the rubber, by its greater adherence to the hulls of the grain, facilitates the rolling and reversal of the position of the grain and the separation of the husks therefrom. In machines of larger size thc wood alone performs the required work in a satisfactory manner, and the rubber in such machines may be dispensed with by those who desire to avoid the greater expense resulting from its use. I have also used the upper block as a runner, and have experimented by revolving the runner at a high speed and at a low speed, and find that the best results are attained by using Mates he lower disk as the runner and imparting to it a comparatively slow motion, whether that motion be a continuous rotary one or a recip rocating rotary motion. The latter motion gives to the grain a zigzag motion as it passes through the mill, turning and rolling it in all directions, thus eeetually breaking the hulls and detaching them from the grain.

Motion may be communicated to the runner in various ways; the simplest and cheapest way is to attach a handle to the runner, but I prefer to drive the block by gearing, as above described. The two gear-wheels having an unequal number of cogs, the hulling-blocks, if inclined to wear unevenly, can have the relative position of the wearing surfaces changed, so as to equalize the wear thereof, by rotating the runner continuously for one or more revolutions.

My improved huller, in addition to its cheapness, simplicity of construction, du ability, and facility with which it can be repaired and operated by hand or other power, performs its work of hulling with rapidity, the surface of the wood and rubber being of sufficient hardness to rub oft' the hull without materially grinding or injuring the enamel or breaking the grain, as is the case when iron or stone is employed for the hulling-surfaces.

That I claim as my invention is i l. A hulling-mill in which the hulling or rubbing surfaces are composed of wood, arranged so that the end of the grain thereby will form the rubbing or hulling surfaces, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. Ahulling-mill in which one or both of the rubbing-surfaces are composed of wood, with strips or blocks of rubber arranged therein to facilitate the rolling or changing of the post tion ofthe kernel, as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a hullingmill, the combination of the metallic frame b', formed with a series of radial pockets for the reception of removable wooden or rubber blocks, substantially as shown and described.

4. A hulling-mill in which the rubbing-surfaces of the runner are dressed with radial grooves, both sides of which are equally inclined, for the purpose of permitting a reciprocating rotary motion being given to the runner, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with the stationary hulling-block H, of the runner B, having a reciprocatin g rotary motion, whereby a reversed and twisting movement is imparted to the grain, thus changing the presentment of the grain to t-he hullin g-surfaces, substantially as described.

6. The bottom L of the case, provided with openingl and removable discharge-spout o, to permit of the removal of the runner without detaching the bevel-wheel, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

HENRY B. STEVENS.

Wtnesses:

JN0. J. BoNNnR, EDWARD ViLHnLM.

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