US1590723A - Seed selecting and cleaning machine - Google Patents

Description

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Patented .lune 29, 1926.

011310 B'NSE, 0F IESPEEIIQ'G-HASEN, NER NIEEERMARSBERG, GER-MANY, ASSIG-NOR raient ortica,

SEED SELECTING ll) CLEANNG MACHXNE.

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Application filedV April li/.ty' invention relates to an improved mag c chine or so-called t1-leur for cleaning seeds by selectingand sep'mating` therefrom4 foreign bodies or particles, particularly Weed-seeds. 1

Generally speaking, machines of the kind, as hitherto employed, mainly comprise aV rotary drum-having small pockets in its inner peripheral surface for picking; up and lifting seed-grains of smaller size (Weed-seeds) from a charcge of seed supplied to the drum in order to be freed from Weed-seeds, and which constantlyremains in the bottom part of the rotating` drum, Whilst the Weed-seeds lifted up by the said pockets are dropped into a stationarycollecting trough orsimilar vessel provided Within the drum over the Whole of the length thereof.

T he said pockets are of a size to allow the Weed-seed grains to snugly fit andv remain therein for approlzimatelyvthe Whole of the ascending movement of the pockets, but to not allow the useful seed grains which are of a larger size, to embed therein. If, however, the useful seed grains are so shaped or sized as to be. yet received by the pocl'zet once in a while, the thus captured seed- `grains will project tlierefroinand soon drop bacltinto the charge Without ever ascending so far as to drop into the above mentioned trough. y

The efficiency of a machine of the stated type obviously depends upon its running speed. In the machines as hitherto con structed or suggested the rotary speed is limited by the charge being imparted an upv and down goingl or fluctiuiting movement as soon as a certain velocity is reached. This fluctuation of the charge Within the rotating` ydrum exercises an unfavourable influence on the selecting operation for the follou'finp,` reasons:

At any excessive speed the centrifugal force acts to press the charge firmly towards the inner face of the drum so as to cause the former to stick thereto and to run therewith instead of uninterruptedly falling bacl as at a low speed. In consequence' thereof'the.

pockets fail to Work until the circumferential speed is reduced, say to at least' 0.4i 1n. per second only.

pockets when they reach the horizontal cen- At this speed the selected' weed-seed `grains already drop out of the' 192.3, Serial' No. 632%;543, andi-n Germany March 7, 1923'.

trai plane of the drum, that isv to say, at a levelf where' it is very difficult to ,gat-her them forsepara'tion from the useful seed grains. The' Object' of my invention is to provide means by which the eitlciencyof lthe ma# chine Will be* greatly enhanced owing to the fact that the selectingjdrum can be given a running speed? highly in excess of the peripheral velocity possible in machines of the class/hitherto devised, e. g., a drum of a diameter of 600 Inni. may be given as pee riplieral velocity of about 1.6m. per second. To this end I provide, according. to my invention, retaining, braking or stoppingl members' in the d-ruln mounted longitudinally therein and. acting to prevent the charge from going' up 'andv down" ori fluctuating, so that higher speeds can be utilized Without inducing y the selecting' action of the pockets'. iron@ rails, orlbarsor rolleraretain the' charge ors'eed mass so-` that it slides upon'vtlie inner pocket' surfacev of the driuin;

lfaving;v thus setL forthin generali the prin-A ciple' upon vvhi'ehf my` invention `depends and having' pointedy to the particular improvements and advantages effected over the'p'rior art shall now" particularly describe one simple'. ein'bodin'ientv thereof which I. have* shown-'1 infl the ,accompanying drawings for the purpose"ofmo're fully disclosing my in-y vention; but itfis to be, understood that the da'ivin'gs illustrate" only one' of the numermachine;

Figure l is aperspective vieu7 of the] ref: taining 'or braking` members, y Figure 5y shows one of the. supporting`- bearings' of the drum,

Figure 6 is.' a crosssectional Vvievv of' a These members, for instance -dat the selecting action of the pockets 2 which portion of the wall of the drum with a retaining member and Figure 7 illustrates the arrangements of the pockets on the inner side of a portion of the wall of the drum.

The inner face of the cylindrical wall of the open-ended drum 1 is provided with the usual pockets 2, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. Mounted on the two ends of the drum are rings 4 and 5 made of cast-iron and interconnected by means of bolts or rods 3' and nuts. The ring 4 is shaped to form a running tread 6 of wedge-shape and the ring 5 is shown to have a similar running tread 7 of cylindrical circumference. The tread 6 is supported by wheels 8 having a peripheral groove 82 of corresponding wedge-shaped cross-section for the tread to engage therein so that the drum will be prevented from axial displacement. The supporting wheels 9 of the tread 7 are of cylindrical shape to conform to the tread but it goes without saying that both the tread 7 and the wheels 9 may also be given a wedge-shaped orangular cross-section, if desired.

The lower wheels 8 land 9 are keyed to a longitudinally extending shaft 81 duly supported at its ends in bearings carried by the cross-beams 10 and 11, whilst the upper wheels 8 and 9 are keyed to asimilar shaft 1 2 supported in bearings carried by the yvertical beam 111. Keyed to the shaft 12 is a' pulley 13 for a belt to bedriven by any suitable power engine not shown, so that the .i upper wheels8 and 9 are the driving members of the drum, whereas the lower wheels 8 and 9 are mere supportingand guiding members.

rIhe drum is supplied with `a charge of seed, preferably continuously, at the one end where a feeding funnel 14 is provided for the purpose as indicated by dotted vlines in Figure 2. The ring 5 is cast integral with a wide annular flange 51 extending in the vertical end plane of the drum for the purpose of preventing the fed in seed from falling out at this end of the drum.

In the lower portion ofthe drum -1 a screw-conveyor 15 is provided. Said conveyor extends throughA the whole :of the length of the'drum with its shaft projecting through the open ends of the latter so as to be supported in suitable bearings carried by the two cross-beams 16 and 17 of the machine frame. The conveyor 15 acts to slowly move the charge or seed from the one end of the drum where the feedingk funnel 14 continuously replenishes, `towards the other end, where an outlet-funnel 18 is provided to receive the purified seed. On the way from the feeding funnel 14 to the discharge-funnel .18 the seed is subjected to uninterruptedly pick out the weed-seed grains (of smaller size) owing to the continnous rotation of the drum, as will be readily understood on inspection of Figur-es 6 and 7. The picked-out grains are taken along by the drum up to a certain height or point where they fall out of the pockets into a stationary trough 19. A screw-conveyor 20 is provided in the latter for the purpose of driving the selected Weel-'seed grains towards an outlet-pipe 21 connected with the trough at the delivery end of the drum and acting to forward the grains into a collecting vessel or the like. The two screw-conveyors 15 and 20 are driven by the main shaft 12 through the agency of pulleys 121, 122, 151, 201 and belts and 31 respectively.

According to my invention longitudinal bars, boards or plates, made of suitable material such as sheet-iron or the like, are inserted in the drum at a place near the ascending side of and preferably parallel to the wall of the rotating drum, as will bereadily understood from rFigure 1. In the embodiment shownfour such plates 211, 22,23 and 24 are provided, but I wish to have it understood that the number of plates is ynot essential, it being obvious to those versed in the art that more or less boards or plates or rails may be provided to ensure the' de,- sired effect, just in accordance with the particular construction of the machine and the" kind of seeds to be treated. Further I desireto emphasize that the ,boards or plates 211, 22, 23, 24 may constitute or represent any desired or suitable form and that all or any of the stated constructional elements may be given a cross-sectional shape of any' desired or suitable contour. Furthermore I wish to point to the modifications within the scope of my invention according Vto' which the retaining, braking or stopping members may comprise, instead of simple and immovable plates, boards or bars and other suitably arranged and formed e1ements capable of preventing the charge from rising with the drum.

The retaining plates 211,22, 23 and 24 in the embodiment shown extend withinV the drum over the whole of the length of the latter andare connected and supported at theirl ends by two vertical members 25 and 26 with which they form a structure in the shape of `a grate, that can be inserted into the drum as a whole, as will be vreadily understood from Figure 4 showing one end portion of the said structure. The said vertical members or plates 25, 26 are equipped with flanges or laps 28 bent olf at right angles to aord a means for the connection with an angle-bar 27 extending longitudinally and parallel to the retaining plates in the drum. The said laps 28 are riveted or detachably connected with the bar 27 firmly attached to the cross-beams 16 and 17 of the frame of the machine. As illustratedin the drawings the collecting trough 19 is sup- 1,5 aegee ported at its two ends vby `the .uppermost cross-beams of the frame, but the vertical 'end-plates 25, 26 may be shaped and disposed to serve as a means for supporting the said trough 19, if required or desired.

The horizontally arranged plates .211, 22, 23 and 24: act to retain the ascending seed in a manner -that the lowermost `layerof seed grains immediately in touchwith the wall of the rotating drum will lbe constantlykept in a sliding movement with relation .to the drinn wall. Inthis way a proper selecting operation will be ensured, since the smaller seed grains (weed-seed) thus get more readily access to the pockets and the larger seed grains (useful seed) incidentally received the pockets and projecting therefrom owing to their larger size, are tilted and thrown Yout again ofi' the pockets vby the charge or layer of seed constantly moving in opposition, that is to say, in a direction opposed'to the rotary movement of the drum, so that the pockets will be accessible again to the smaller weed-seed grains which snugly iit therein so as to be taken along up to the point of dropping into the trough 19.

The uppermost retaining plate 211 is bent down at an angle to form a guiding face 212 for the seed grains that have been elevated above and over the plate 2l1 properly speaking. that is the inclined and upwards eX- tending portion thereof. The said guiding face 212 acts to return the elevated seed grains to the bottom of the drum as will be clearly seen on inspection of Figure 1. In this manner the seed grainswill be properly stirred and mixed and turned over and over again, so that the charge fed into the drum will, on its way from the inlet 14 to the outlet 18, bring all of its layers or strata into immediate Contact with the wall of the drum, whereby all of the weed-seed grains are caught by the pockets 2 and carried oft' into the collecting trough 19 at a comparatively high running speed of the drum. Obviously the lower plates 22, 23 and 24C likewise act to turn over and return the seed to the bottom of the drum by causing the elevated grains to fall off over the inner marginal edges of the plates.

lt is to be noted that the known Screwconveyor 15 usually located within the drum at the lowest part thereof cannot act and is not intended to act as a retaining and returning member, for the reason that the seed does not accumulate in the vicinity of the said conveyor and the latter cannot cause the seed to slide on the essentially horizontal portion or bottom of the inner face of the drum, nor even contribute to impart to the seed cr charge a sliding movement as hereinbefore explained with respect to the described retaining or braking members.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that simple and eiiicient means are herein .provided for .accomplishing the objects of my invention, but while the elements shown and describedare well adapted to serve the purposes for .which they are intended, it will beunderstood that the invention is not limited tothe ,precise construct-ion set forth, but includes .within .its Vpurview such changes as may he made within rthe scope of the appended claims.

'pVfhat I claim is:

1. A seed selecting and cleaning machine, comprising a drum` pockets on' the inner face of the wall of the drum, means for imparting rotary motion to the drum, a 4conveyorl within the drum, and means lying within the charge to be'selected and retaining the charge so that the whole charge .slides soY upon .the inner .poclteted surface of the drum 4 and ystrikes off the projecting grains from the pockets, and permits of the immediate filling .of the pockets with small undesirable grains. j v

2. A seed selectingand cleaning machine, comprising a drum, pockets on the inner face of the wall of the drum, means for imparting rotary motion to the drum, a conveyor within the drum, meansv for actuating said conveyor, and a. stationary retaining and returning plate located in the drum and eX- tending longitudinally therein in the vicinity of and parallel to the ascending side of the wall of the said drum,`essentially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A seed selecting and cleaning machine, comprising a drum, pockets on the inner face of the wall of the drum, means for impart` ing rotary motion to the drum, a conveyor within the drum, means for actuating said conveyor, and a. stationary retaining` and returning structurecomposed of a plurality of bars arranged below one another in the peripheral direction of the drum longitudinally disposed in the drum near and parallel to the ascending side of the wall thereof, essentially as and for the purpose set forth.

t. A seed selecting and cleaning machine, comprising a drum, pockets on the inner surface of the wall of said drum, means for imparting rotary motion to the drum, a conveyor within the drum, means for actuating said conveyor, and a stationary withholding and returning member composed of stationary side members and al series of bars of suitable profile rigidly connected between said side members to form a grate-like structure, essentially as and for the purpose set forth. Y

5. A seed selecting and cleaning machine, comprising a drum, pockets on the inner face of the wall of the drum, means for irnparting rotary motion to the drum, a conveyor within the drum, means` for actuating said conveyor, and stationary means for retaining and returning to the bottom of the drum thoseparts of the seed or charge tendico, Y

force, substantially as described.

6. A seed selecting and cleaning machine,

fr comprising a drum, pockets on the innerv face of the Wall of said drum, means for imparting rotary motion to the drum, a conveyor Within the drum, means for actuating Said conveyor, andV stationary members hav-k lfl ing parts for retaining and returning tothe bottom of the drum those parts of the feed or charge tending to be taken along by the Wall of the drum through the action of centrifugal force, substantially as described.'

7 A seed selecting and cleaningmachine, comprising a support, a drum rotatably mounted therein, pockets on the inner face of the Wall or Said drum, a etationarytrough p located in the'top of the drum beneath the e" inner face of vthe Wall thereof, a conveyor operating in said trough, a feed conveyor operably mounted in the lower pant of the drum, means l:tor actuating saidl conveyors` and means for retaining and returning `to the bottoni of ythe drum those parts of thel connected' with the support anda plurality of longitudinally disposed bars arranged behind one another in the peripheral connection of the drum and connected between said side members forming a grateelike structure, substantiallyv as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In an arrangement as claimed in claim 7, Wherein'a guide continues at an inclination Jfrom the upper bar and acts as a return for elevated seed grains to vthe bottom of the drum.

In testimony whereof Ithave aiitixed my signature.

orro BUNsn.

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