US1930890A - Revolving screen cotton cleaner and separator - Google Patents

Description

OCL 17, 1933- J WALLACE 1,930,890

REVOLVING SCREEN COTTON CLEANER AND SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 3. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l IIQffr y J "4:11am? Oct. 17, 1933. J. WALLACE 1,930,890

REVOLVING SCREEN COTTON CLEANER AND SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jeff/g I! u allace Patented Oct. 17, 1933 UNITED STATES The invention is an improvement upon the Revolving screen cotton separator disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 512,363, filed January 30, 1931; and this application is a continuation-in-part of the said co-pending application.

The invention forming the subject matter of this application is a cotton cleaner and separator designed to separate cotton from air in a pneumatic conveyor for feeding seed cotton from a wagon or storage bin to a distributor or cleaner.

The common object of the present invention and that disclosed in the said co-pending application, is to provide a separator adapted to discharge a thick or thin bat of cotton from the separator to a cleaner or distributor, and in which the discharged bat will be of substantially uniform thickness throughout the width of the drum.

In addition to this common object, the present invention contemplates a preliminary separation of leaf trash, sand and dirt from the seed cotton passing through the separator, by arranging the apparatus so as to provide a dead air space in which leaf trash, sand and dirt drop ofi the screen by gravity to be removed by a conveyor from the dead air space through which the periphery of the revolving drum moves in the operation of the apparatus. This separation or cleaning has the eiiect of keeping the revolving drum screen clean,

' so that the efficiency of the screen drum is considerably enhanced by the removal of the fine hair lint which mats and weaves and, ordinarily, close the holes of the screen and reduce the efiiciency of the separator.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision in the separator casing'of a gravity actuated valve to replace the flexible textile valve of the aforesaid co-pending application; and, in which the gravity actuated valve is made of sheet iron material shaped to increase the efficiency of the valve and to provide for a greatly increased life of the valve mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds:

Inthe drawings: I

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a separator forming a practical embodiment of this invention;

Figure 2'is a front elevation of the separator shown in Figure 1, parts thereof being broken away and shown in section to illustrate details of construction; and

PATENT OFFICE" REVOLVING SCREEN COTTON CLEANER AND SEPARATOR Jeffrey John Wallace, Amite, La., assignor to Gullett Gin Company, Amite, La.

Application February 3, 1932. Serial No. 590,729

8 Claims. (Cl. Iii--75) Figure 3 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1. 7

As shown in the drawings, the invention comprises a main casing 1 which is substantially cylindrical throughout its length. End walls 2 and 3 of the casing 1 are provided with bearings 4 and 5 in' which is journaled a shaft 6. A foraminous drum 7 is secured concentrically to the shaft 6 by the spider elements 8.

The casing 1 has its end walls 2 and 3provi ded with apertures 9 and 10 to form passages for the discharge of air from the interioriof the drum into pipes 11 and 12 which are suitably connected to any suction pipe (not shown) or to any other means for drawing air from the cylinder through said pipes 11 and 12.

The present invention is not concerned in'any way with the details of construction of the suction apparatua'as this apparatus is old and well known in this particular art. All the present invention is concerned with in this respect is to provide some means for applying a suction through the pipes 11 and 12 to the foraminous drum so that this suction will cause seed cotton which may be fed to the casing 1 to pass through the feed pipe 14 against the periphery of the aforesaid drum. 1

The drum 7 is mounted eccentrically of the casing 1, as shown in Figure 1, and the feed pipe 14, secured to the casing 1, communicates with an aperture 15 in the said casing for the purpose of admitting seed cotton into the space between the casing and theperiphery of the drum 7. It will be apparent from the drawings that air is sucked through pipe 14 and. aperture 15 into the sepae' rator and through the apertures 16 in the periphery of the drum, and is discharged from the interior of the drum throughthe openings 9 and 10 and the pipes 11 and 12 which lead to the suction apparatus. g I

In order to direct the seed cotton onto the drum, a b aille plate'l'l extends partly across the space between the casing 1 and the drum 7; and the space between the inner edge of the bafile plate 17 and the drum 7 is occupied by a strip 18 of flexible material bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the bafile plate 17. The distance between the inner wall of the casing 1 andthe drum '7 increases gradually from the entranee'of the discharge end thereof. Adjacent the discharge end 19 of the separator, there is mounted a shaft 20 on which is keyed a dofier ro1ler 21 provided with radial paddles 22, each of which has a strip 230: flexible material'bolted or other wise suitably secured toa radial face thereof.

. the discharge outlet 19.

. inous drum "7. To remove this leaf trash, sand terminates adjacent to the periphery of the.

drum near its lowermost point. To close the space between the end 25 of the baflie. plate 24, this end has a strip 26 of flexible material secured thereto. The strip 26 must be of sufiicient stiffness and flexibility to insure that the free edge thereof contacts with the periphery of the drum 7, and not only acts as a wiper but also serves to form an air tight connection between the periphery of the drum and the battle plate 24. The baffle plate 24 is, of course, shaped so as to present an arcuate surface 27 against which the flexible strip 23 of the doffer roller may wipe in order to prevent backward suction of air through The part of the casing 1 lying between the baffle plates 17 and 24 forms a dead air space 28 in which there are no air currents, although this space is connected with the suction openings 9 and 10 through the perforations 16 in drum 7.

In the actual practice of this invention, it has been found that where air is prevented from entering the dead air space 28 an amazing amount of leaf trash, sand and dirt falls from the foramand dirt, the lower part of the dead air space has an endless conveyor 29 revolubly mounted therein on a bearing 30 formed in a casing 30 extending from the end wall 3, and on a bearing 31 of a casing 32 extending from wall 2.

journaled in bearings B and B formed in the opposite end walls of said casing C. The roller R always has two of its flexible elements F in wiping contact with the walls W and W to seal the discharge outlet D of easing C.

When the endless conveyor is properly constructed and mounted in the air space 28, it sets of suggesting one of the forms of the invention which may be practiced inremoving this waste matter. The expression dead air space refers to a space in which the air is not subject to agitation. Since this space 28 is constructed so that no air can enter it from the outside, itis obvious that no current of air can be set up in said space. It is therefore a space in which the material drawn thereinto by the drum is thrown oif freely by centrifugal force and falls by gravity to the conveyor at the lower part of the chamber.

To co-operate with the baffle plate 24 and prevent backward suction of air through the discharge aperture 19, the interior of the casing 1 is provided near its upper end with an angle iron 34 which is bolted through the casing 1 to one leaf 35 of a hinge, the other leaf 36 which has a valve plate 37 suitably secured thereto and extending into close swinging contact at its opposite ends with the end walls 2 and 3.

The lower end of the valve plate 37 is shaped and reinforced to form an arcuate member 38 which forms a wiping surface for the flexible strips 23 of the doifer roller 21. The plate 37 is hinged at a point in the upper part of the casing 1 o that the weight of its lower arcuate end 38 swings the end by gravity into constant yielding wiping contact with the strips 23 of the dofiing roller. In order to limit the inward swing of the plate 33 against the dofling roller and strip 23, each end wall of the casing 1 is provided with an angle iron stop 39 adapted to contact with the valve plate 37 and limit its inward swing about the hinge plate.

The valve plate construction just described not only makes a substantially air tight comiection with the casing 1 but also serves to form an air tight closure for the spaces between the paddles inc 22 of the doffer roller 21. At the same time, it will swing away from the doffer roller to permit bats of different thicknesses to pass'readily from the surface of the drum '7 and .over the doffer roller 21 to the discharge outlet 19.

As in my prior invention, the discharge of the seed cotton continuously in a relatively thin bat, distributed along the entire length of the separator drum, avoids the possibility of choking the separator. It also presents the cotton in better shape for operation by thecleaner than is possible where the cotton is discharged from completely filled or choked dofier rollers. It will, of course, be understood that the dcffer roller will be provided with paddles spaced apart so that at least two of the blades of the doffer roller are in wiping contact with the curved portion of the part 27 of the bafile plate 24 and the curvedpart 38 of the valve plate 37, so as always to insure an effective air seal for the discharge conduit.

As shown in Figure 2, the shaft 20 has a driving pulley 39 fixed thereto to be rotated by a drive belt 40 connected to any suitable source of power. The shaft6 is driven in the same direction to the direction of shaft 20 by a V-belt and sheaves of suitable size, and at a peripheral rate of rotation slightly less than that of the doffer roller, in order its ifs

to insure proper wiping action of the dofferroller on the periphery of the drum '7. The conveyor worm 29 may be driven by sprockets and chain gearing from shaft 20 or by any suitable driving connection to any rotating part of the apparatus. It is shown herein as connected-by chain and sprocket to be driven by the doffer roller 21; and similar chain and sprocket mechanism M' may be used to rotate theshaft of roller R by the shaft of the conveyor 29.

While I have described my invention as embodied in concrete form and as operating in a specific manner in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, it should-be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications thereof will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A cotton separator comprising a casing having a feed. inlet and a discharge outlet, a foraminous driun journaled in said casing between said inlet and outlet, means for exhausting air from the upper half of said drum, means adjacent said inlet and outlet to prevent admission of air to the space enclosed by said casing adjacent the lower part of the drum included between the inlet and outlet, mechanism operable in said air space to withdraw waste matter therefrom, a dofling roller journaled in said casing at the outlet end thereof and provided with flexible blades in constant wiped contact with said drum and the outlet part of the second named means, and a valve pivotally mounted in said casing and held by gravity in constant wiped contact with at least two of the flexible blades of said roller.

2. In a cotton separator, a substantially cylindrical casing, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing, and partitions in said casing extending into contact with the periphery of said drum for dividing the easing into chambers one of which is subjected to air suction and the other of which is closed to provide an unobstructed dead air space chamber to permit waste matter adhering to the drum to fall by gravity into said space, and mechanism operable in the dead air space chamber for removing the waste matter therefrom.

3. In a cotton separator, a casing having a feed inlet and a discharge outlet, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing between the inlet and outlet, means for sucking air from the said drum, partitions in said casing extending into contact with the lower part of said drum to form therewith an unobstructed dead air space chamber, and valve mechanism forming an air tight closure for said outlet, and conveyor mechanism operable in said space to remove waste matter therefrom.

4. In a cotton separator, a casing having a feed inlet and a discharge outlet, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing between the inlet and outlet, partitions extending from said casing at the inlet and outlet ends thereof into wiping contact with the drum and dividing the casing into two chambers, one of which is subject to air suction and the other of which is closed to provide an unobstructed dead air space wherein matter falls by gravity from the drum as it passes through said air space, and conveyor mechanism in said air space chamber for removing material from said space.

5. In a cotton separator, a casing having a feed inlet and a discharge outlet, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing between the inlet and outlet, partitions extending from said casing at the inlet and outlet ends thereof into wiping contact with the drum and dividing the casing into two chambers, one of which is subject to air suction and the other of which is closed to provide an unobstructed dead air space wherein matter falls by gravity from the drum as it passes through said air space, a screw conveyor rotatable in said air space about an axis parallel to the axis of said drum for moving material to an outlet formed in said air space chamber, said air space chamber outlet having arcuate side walls, and means rotatable in said outlet and in contact with said side walls for removing material delivered to said outlet by said conveyor.

6. In a cotton separator, a substantially cylindrical casing, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing, and partitions in said casing extending into contact with the periphery of said drum for dividing the casing into chambers one of which is subjected to air suction and the other of which provides an unobstructed dead air space to permit waste matter adhering to the drum to fall by gravity into said space.

7. In a cotton separator, a substantially cylindrical casing having a cotton feed inlet and discharge outlet, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing, partitions extending from said casing at the inlet and outlet ends thereof into wiping contact with said drum and dividing the easing into two chambers one of which is subject to air suction and the other of which is closed to provide an unobstructed dead air space to permit waste matter adhering to the drum to fall by gravity as the drum passes through said air space, and means at the discharge end of said casing to co-operate with said drum and the partitions at the outlet end forming a yielding air tight closure for said discharge outlet.

8. In a cotton separator, a substantially cylindrical casing having a cotton feed inlet and discharge outlet, a foraminous drum journaled in said casing, partitions extending from said casing at the inlet and outlet ends thereof into wiping contact with said drum and dividing the casing I:

into two chambers one of which is subject to air suction and the other of which provides an unobstructed dead air space to permit Waste matter adhering to the drum to fall by gravity as the drum passes through said air space, and I.

valve mechanism at the discharge outlet of said casing to form a yielding air tight closure for said outlet.

JEFFREY JOHN .WALLACE.

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