US309574A - Machine for degerm inati ng and scouring wheat - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. E. SERGEANT.

- MACHINE FOR D-EGERMIN-ATING ANDSGOURINQWHEAT. No. 309.574

Patented Dec. 23

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\VELLS ELY SERGEANT, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MACHINE FOR DEGERMINATING AND SCOURING WHEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,57 dated December 23, 188%.

Application filed M arch 1, 1884.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that 1, warns E. Snnenm'r, of Minneapolis, I-Iennepin county, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Degerminating and Scouring W'heat, of which the following is a specification.

lVheat-kernels in their natural condition carry atone end what is commonly known in the art as the germ, and at the opposite end a light fuzzy portion, both of which must be removed before the reduction of the grain, in order that they may be successfully separated therefrom. The body of the kernels is also enveloped in an external jacket, commonly known as the husk or bran, which must i be left as nearly as possible in its Ollgl]1llCOlldit-ion-that is to say, continuous and of full strength and thickness up to the time of the first reduction, in order that it may be loosened thereby in large pieces adapted for ready and successful separation.

It is the purpose of my machine to effectually remove thegerm and fuzzy matters with out reducing the thickness or strength of the bran and without fracturing either the bran or the outer portion of the berry. To this end it relates to a machine composed, essentially, of horizontal disks revolving within a body provided with internal flanges which overlap the edges of the disks, the invention consisting in the construction and combination of the parts, hereinafter specified and claimed in detail.

The machine may be'oonstrueted with a single shaft provided with disks, or with two or more such shafts, so arranged that the disks of one will enter between those of another.

Referring to the accom ianying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of my machine in its preferred form, with two shafts provided with disks, the section being taken on the line a: or of Fig. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 3 y of Fig. 1, the driving-pulleys and belt being represented in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line .2 of Fig. 2. Fig. alis a horizontal section of the machine as constructed with a single shaft and series of disks.

A represents an upright rigid frame provided at its upper and lower ends with bearings to sustain two upright shafts, B and B. The hearings in which the lower ends of the (No model.)

shaft are stepped are adj ustible vertically in a bridgetree or support, D, and sustained by means of hand-screws E, commonly known in the art as tempering screws, by means of which the bearings and shafts may be raised and lowered, as required. In place of the screws other equivalent means may be employed to adjust the shafts vertically.

On each of the shafts I secure at suitable distances apart a series of horizontal disks, F, each of which has its upper surface ribbed, toothed, or otherwise formed to cause an abrasive action on the ends of the grain. disk is provided on the under side \vitha number of peripheral depending studs, a, preferably made of the sectional form represented by dotted lines in Fig. 2-that is to say, with their inner vertical surfaces inclined from the edges toward the center of the disk. The shafts are separated a distance slightly greater than the diameters of the disks, which are so arranged that those of one shaft revolve between the edges of those on the oppositeshaft, asplainly represented.

Within the main frame I secure an upright perforated jacket or casing, G, which follows the outer edges or margins of the disks at a distance ordinarily of about three-fourths of an, inch therefrom. This jacket serves to retard the passage of the grain and to confine the same subject to the action of the disks. Against the inner surface of the perforated jacket, I. secure a series of horizontal flanges or rings, H, the inner edges of which overhang the edges of the disks in the manner represented in Figs. 1 and 2. These rings serve as scouring-surtaces to act upon the ends of the grain, and also as ameans of causing the grain to flow inward and outward in passing from one disk to the next. Around the perforated jacket I arrange a closed body or jackct, I, leaving between the two a space of about one inch, more or less, into which the air is freely admitted through openingsJ at the lower end. This spaceis designed to receive dust and light impurities which may escape through the perforated jacket, and it communicates at the top, through asuitable opening,with a casing containing a suction-fan, K, applied to the upper end of the shaft 13, or otherwise suitably driven.

Grain is introduced into themachine through Each ties are carried upward.

a feed-spout, L, at the top, as represented in Fig. 1, and is delivered through a spout, M, extending downward from the interior, as represented in Fig. 3. The delivery-spout discharges into an air flue or duct, N, the lower end of which is open,while the upper end communicates with the fan case or chamber, as represented in Fig. 3. The upper end of the suctionflue communicates at one side with a top of a hopper or receptacle, 0, closed at the lower end by a gravitating valve, 1?. The upper end of this hopper also communicates by an independent passage, Q, with the atmosphere, this passage being provided with a valve, It, by which it may be wholly or partially closed.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The parts being set in motion, a strong draft is created upward through the space surrounding the perforated jacket, and also through the duct with which the grain-delivery spout connects, as well as through the passage Q from the top of the hopper. The grain, being introduced at the top, encounters the upper surfaces of the top flange and disk. It is carried outward by the motion of the disk in all directions, and passes over the edge of the disk between its upper surface and the under surface of the flange above, and thence downward past the edge of the disk toward the flange and disk neXt below. As the grain passes the periphery of the disk it is acted upon by the depending studs,which have the effect of throwing it toward the center and of equalizing its distribution. Pursuing its downward course the grain travels alternately inward and outward, being thrown inward by the upper surfaces of the flanges, and outward by the upper surfaces of the disks, so as to pass downward beneath the flanges. i

In the double machine, such as above described, the grain is subjected to the action of the disks of the two shafts alternately. Reaching the foot of the machine the grain escapes through the delivery-pipe into the passage or duct,where it meets the ascending air-current, by which the fuzzy matters and light impuri- While it is preferred to construct the ma chine with two shafts, as above described, it may be constructed, as shown in Fig. 4, with a single shaft provided with disks, in which case the body or inclosing jacket is made of cylindrical form, and the internal flanges adapted to encircle the shaft, as shown. In other respects the machine is identical in construction and mode of operation with the first described.

I am aware that machines have been constructed in a great variety of forms with revolving disks and cones with flanges overhanging the disks.

It will be observed that the teeth or ribs are arranged on the disksin oblique or radial lines, or, in other words, their outer ends carried forward. By this arrangement they are caused to assist in retarding the grain until the cleaning action is fully completed.

I am aware that scouring-machines have been constructed in which disks were revolved above annular flanges underlying their outer edges; also, that a shaft has been provided with a series of disks, one above another, encircled by a body having annular flanges which projected inward between the under surface of one disk and the upper surface of the next, and to such construction I lay no broad claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I-claim is 1. In awheat-scouring machine, two vertical shafts, provided with overlapping scouringdisks, incombination with a surrounding case or jacket, and the internal flanges,whereby the grain is caused to pass over the surfaces of all the disks in succession.

2. The combination of the two upright shafts, the scouringdisks mounted thereon, the encircling-jacketin the form of two cylindrical segments, and the segmental flanges attached to the inner surface of the jacket and overlapping the respective disks.

3. The two upright shafts'and their overlapping disks, in combination with the upright perforated jacket encircling the disks, as shown and described, the close body encircling the jacket, and the fan arranged to produceadraft outwardthrough the jacket from all sides, as shown.

4. In a wheat scouring machine, rotary scouring-disks having depending peripheral studs, substantially .such as shown and described, in combination with an encirclingjacket, having flanges extended inward over the edges of the disks, substantially as described and shown. I

5. In a machine-for removing the end portions of the wheat-berry, the combination of a series of horizontal revolving disks, a perforated jacket inclosing the same, flanges extending inward from the jacket and overlapping the edges of the disks, an impervious body surrounding the jacket, a wheat-spout at the base, a hopper, O, at the top; an air passage or conductor connecting saidhopper with the delivery-spout, and an exhaust-fan communicating with the hopper, the air-passage, and the space around the perforated jacket, and arranged to produce an upward draft, as de scribed and shown.

'VVELLS ELY SERGEANT.

Witnesses:

O. H. BENTON, J. N. COOK.

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