US310315A - Cotton-cleaner - Google Patents

Description

{No-Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l. J. RALSTON. COTTON CLEANER Patented Jan. 6,1885.

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J. RALSTON. COTTON CLEANER.

No. 310.3115'. y Patented Jan. 6. 1885.

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.R. Nm NA E SL LG AN Rm -ml TUO 110.310,315. Patented Jan.6-, 1885.

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J. RALSTON.

COTTON CLEANER. 110.310,316. Patented Jan. 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH RALSTON, OF BRENHAM, TEXAS.

COTTON-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,315, dated January 6, 1885.

Application filed June 1, 1883. (Xo model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosErH RALs'roN, of Brenham, county of Vashington, and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Cleaners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has relation to machines employed for cleaning cotton such as are usually known under the name of cotton-cleaners.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine wherein the cotton may be thoroughly and effectually cleaned without damage to the staple or fiber of the material being operated upon, wherein the several parts are simple and durable iu construction, easily accessible for repairs or for replacement when desired, requiring a minimum of power for operating, the said machine being especially adapted for improving and cleaning seed-cotton on the plantation, dispensing with hand-picking,and saving a great amount of labor and time, and freeing the cotton from all hulls, rotten bolls, nails, sand, dust, leaf trash, &c., doing the work more thoroughly and expeditiously than can be done by hand.

To accomplish all of this my improvements involve certain novel and useful peculiarities of construction, relative arrangements or combi nations of parts,and principles of operation, all of which willbeherein first fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, I have shown a machine or apparatus constructed and arranged for operation in accordance with my invention and involving the principles thereof.

Figure l is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a like view from the opposite side. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the location and arrangement of the saws, the roller M, the stripping-roller, and the eccentric-rod applied for lthe purpose of operating one of the wire screens in a manner peculiar to this invention. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the roller M detached from the other parts. Fig. 6 is afront elevation, and Fig. 7 an end View, of

what I call the cocklc-burr rollenf the same to be employed in place of roller K. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a friction-clutch of well-known construction 5 and Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section.

In all these figures like letters of reference, wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts.

The feeding portion of the machine is provided with sides and end, and the bottom thereof is made of an endless apron or belt, B, composed of slats revolving on pulleys mounted upon suitable shafts, the shaft l under the drum A having a ratchet, 2, connected thereto, which is moved by pawls 3 and 4, attached to a lever, 5, pivoted to the side of the machine, and actuated through a pitman, 6, resting at one end upon a crank-arm, 7, on the shaft of drum A, by which means motion is imparted to the belt. The wooden drum A, which takes the cotton from the apron, is about sixteeninches in diameter. It may take motion from the main drive-wheel through a belt (not shown) connecting said wheel with a wheel, A2, on its shaft, but is illustrated as taking its motion from a pulley, a', on the stripping-fan shaft through a belt, B', connecting'said pulley with a pulley, a2, on the shaft of roller a, on the opposite end of which shaft will be a cog-wheel meshing with a cogwheel on the end of shaft A. Operating in conjunction with the wooden drum is another drum in rear, say six inches in diameter,l

(represented at a, Fig. l.) Both contain wire points, and they are geared with cog-wheels,

so that both revolve at the same time. As the larger drum takes up the cotton and hulls from the apron and carries them in contact with the small roller running at the higher rate of speed, it bruises the bolls, so that they are broken apart into sections, and at the Sametime opens up the seed-cotton, so as to allow a large amount of sand and leaf trash to become detached from the seed lint cotton.

rIhe operation ofthe drum A in connection with the apron is such that it will not pick up nails or lumps of dirt, rotten pods, or any hard substance. The dirt and sand and rotten cotton, with some few locks of good cotton, pass under the feeding-drum on the end- IOO less apron and fall on the screen l). The screen D is set at an angle, and the cotton (if any) and lumps of dirt slide into the drawer E, the sand sifting through and falling on the floor. The bottom of drawer E is preferably or usually made of open-mesh wire of one inch mesh, to permit the large lumps of dirt to be shaken out of the cotton. This cotton I clean over. The roller c is turned by belt-connec Io tion with the shaft of the stripping-fan, as described, and it is preferably made of wood and with wire teeth, as above set forth, t-he teeth operating to take the cotton from the feed-drum and pass it through a concave set in front, as at c. The inner surface of this concave is provided with strong iron points set into it,so that the teeth on the small roller a, called the breaking-roller, will pass be tween them, causing the hulls of the cotton- 2o pods to be broken, the same to be afterward separated from the cotton by the saws and stripping-roller. This form of feeder might he used independently of the cleaner, and it is my intention to so use it whenever it may be required. lt will remove a large amount of sand and gritty substances from the cotton before it is fed to the breast of a cotton-gin, saving a risk of fire and much wear of the gin. The cotton taken up by the feeding-drum A,

3o after passing the breaking-drum or breakingroller,is dropped upon asieve or screen, preferably made of wire-cloth, woven preferably about three-eighths by onehalf inch mesh. This sieve is represented at C. lt is mounted upon a shaft at or near its upper end and near the feed-drum A,and is made to work loosely,

or is hinged on the shaft (represented at c) through the medium of any suitable loops fastened to the frame of the screen. The shaft c 4o is to be held in place by boxes on the upper girt ofthe frame of the cleaner. At the lower end of the screen is another shaft, c', upon the frame, and passed through each side ofthe machine to admit of the application of arms,

as ci, applied upon each end of the shaft, and which will be held in line thereon by suitable collars, which will permit them to work loosely but yet keep the arms in perfect line. The arms c2 extend up and are connected eccen- 5o trically with the shaft fof the cog-wheel c, as

shown. The eccentric rise is about threefourths of an inch,f thus giving the screen (through the connections) an up-and-down shaking motion at every revolution of the shaft of the cog-wheel, and this causes the separation of sand and leaf trash from the cotton, permitting it to fall upon the floor as it passes through the sieve. The wooden roll# er M, provided with cog-wheel c, and geared 6o with the shaft of the cog-wheel c3 through cogwheel c5, Fig. 2, and having points (which may be of wire) init, is intended to keep back hulls and cause them to be detached from the cotton as the saws carry them up and forward. The saws passing between the points set in the roller K and the roller, and the saws being made to run in directions indicated by arrows, the result of the arrangementvis that the hulls are knocked back, and they fall upon the drum G,which should be slotted, and, being carried under the same as it revolves, fall upon the floor. The operating parts of this feeding breaking-section are coupled with the main driving-shaft by any practical form of friction clutch, one well-kn own form of which is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 at F. This mechanical means is particularly advantageous in this class of machines, since it avoids the use of shifting belts, to which there are many objections, and affords an instantaneous and easily-operating means of regulating the motion as desired. The cotton and hulls pass from the sieve C upon a wire or slotted drum, G, being fed in a uniform manner and carried forward to the saws L. The cylinder or drum G may be composed of woven wire about three-eighths by one-half inch mesh, or preferably of wooden slats parallel with its axis, to let through any leaf trash or any foreign matter contained in the seed-cotton. This drum may be connected with the driving mechanism by means of a suitable clutch, which permits it to be open ated and controlled independently of the feeding-section. It is placed on a wood girt, H, attached to an upright of the frame at one end by a hinge, and resting upon the eccentric l upon a shaft which is operated by a hand-lever, so that the drum may be lowered or raised to let out hulls and other matter that may accumulate without stopping the machine. The hand-lever is provided with any suitable attachment-for instance, aratch'et-bar, a-for keeping it in place when raised or to regulate the distance of the drum from the saws. The saws are preferably made with four or more teeth, and then an intervening blank, and the several saws will be so arranged on the shaft that no two saws will have their teeth all opposite to each other. The shaft for the saws has a wheel or pulley, L, on one end, provided with a cogwheel, L2, and may derive motion from a belt-connection with a wheel, L3, on the end of the main drive-shaft, as seen in Fig. 2.

K is the strippingroller, the purpose of which is to keep back the hulls while the saws have hold of the cotton and are carrying it forward and upward to fans between the ribs of the plate M, located between the saws L and the rollers K and M. It keeps the hulls back and detaches them from the cotton, when they fall on the vdrum G, are carried forward under the saws, and then fall on the iioor. Instead of roller K, llinay employ whatl call my cockle-burr roller, 7 intended to work cotton gathered with burrs on it. Over the stripping-roller K is placed roller M, with teeth, which may be made of wire, to run between the ribs in the direction of the arrows and over the saws to prevent jamming up of the ribs with wet cotton and burrs.

When made with wire teeth,the roller is IIC subject to damage from bending of the teeth by hard substances of unyielding nature. I therefore prefer making this roller (shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 7) of square pieces of sheet metal m m, mounted on a suitable shaft, separated from eachother by wood or iron fillings. rIhe square pieces, run between the ribs and over the saws, to keep the ribs from jamming up with wet cotton or cockleburrs. The cockleburr roller is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. lt is intended to replace the roller l when desired, being for that purpose located or run in same boxes and the connections attached, as on the wire rollers. It is preferably made of sheet metal, circular disks of six or more inches in diameter, with wooden or metal fillings two or more inches in diameter. rlhere are two series of these fillings, one series being about five-sixteenths of an inch long and the other about one-halfof an inch long. (Represented in Fig. 5 by the figuresfand respectively.) The fi ve-sixteenths fillings are placed on the shaft between the circular disk, which pass outside of the saws to keep back the burrs, and the one-half fillings come in to make up the distance between the saws. The five sixteenths fillings have flattened wire points t placed at equal distances, driven orscrewed into the fillings, to come within about an inch ofthe edges ofthe circular pieces, to keep back the burrs which may lodge upon the teeth of the saw, also to keep back the cottonhulls. This roller proves of great value in working cotton gathered with burrs and hulls and bits of wood or cobs, vc. It practically prevents these foreign substances from being carried up and forward by the saws, and causes the burrs to become separated, so that they may pass through the ribs of the frame singly and without jamming. If they are knocked back and fall on the slatted drum G, they pass under the saws and between them and fall on the door with the hulls.

The stri pping-fan N is preferably made with iron or steel blades set in iron or wooden heads, with recesses about threesixteenths of aninch wide by one inch long, to travel astride of each saw, or ncarl y so, for the purpose of separating each seed from the other. rlhe blast from the fan opens up the lint, distends it on the seeds, and detaches a great amount of leaf ,trash and dust from the cotton when the cotdrum is about one-fourth by three-eighths of` an inch mesh, to prevent seeds from passing through, and to admit the seed-cotton or lint on the seed to receive the effects of the eX- haustfrom the sucti on-fan, which carries off the dust and a considerable amount of line leaf trash, metes, die. rIhe exhaust-fan O is placed under wire drum P and revolves in the direction indica-ted bythe arrows, and has a pulley, Oi, on its shaft on one side of the machine, and also a pulley, O"'.

Over the drum I- is placed wire screen U, through which a great amount of dust and leaf trash passes into drawer `\I,to be removed at pleasure.

t is a small stripping-roller provided with a pulley, R on its shaft,and connected by belt with pulley O"y and intended to keep the drum l? clear. The cotton passes to another sieve, S, which is hung on a shaft as close as convement to drum I? and under the strippingroller I?.

The sieve S is made ol' wire-cloth, and may be supported in the same manner`as sieve G, and be connected eccentrically by an arm, S', with wheel S2, suitably journaled to the framing ofthe machine, as shown in Figs. l and 2, so as to give it a shaking motion, the same as sieve C. rlhe motion may be imparted to the wheel S by any suitable means-for instance, by a belt-connection with a pulley, O3, on the shaft of the exhaust-firmas illustrated in Figs. 'l and 2-and a quantity of foreign materials falls through the sieve and into the drawer T, for removal at pleasure, and leaving the seedcotton in a greatly-improved condition, ready for the ginstand.

In this machine I may use as many as three sieves like S, all having the same kind of shaking motion independent of each other.

I have illustrated in the drawings suitable belt-connections with the pulleys of various shafts to operate the several parts; but the manner of ruiming the belts to make the desired connections may be varied in many ways, as will occur tothe skilled mechanic, the relative arrangement of the rotating parts being the same, and therefore I do not limit myselfto any one mode of ruiming or arranging the belting.

The machine constructed and arranged for operation substantially in accorda-nee with the foregoing explanation is found in practice to `admirabl y answer the several purposes or objects ofthe invention as previously set forth.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, `isl. The feeding belt, feeding cylinder or drum, and small roller, the two latter provided with teeth and arranged in the same horizontal plane, and combined for operation substantially as shown and described.

2. rIhe feeding-belt7 feeding-cylinder pro- -vided with teeth, the small roller, also provided with teeth, and a toothed concave in rear of the small roller, said rollers being geared together anddriven by beltconnec tion with the stripping-fan, all arranged and combined substantially as shown, and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of the feeding-belt, feed- IOO IIC

ing-drum, small roller arranged in rear of thefeedingdrum for cleaning said drum and breaking the hulls, and the Wire screen D, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a eotton-elea.11e1',tl1e eombinationvith feeding` mechanism, of a screen, C, hinged at its upper end and adapted to be moved up and down, a shaft, and a rod Connected with said screen and eceentrieally with said shaft for operating said sereen, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described eookle burr roller, Composed of the series of metal disks mounted on the shaft and separated from each other by the Wooden llings of different lengths,said llings being` provided with the flattened rnetallio points, all combined and arranged for operation substantially as shown and set forth.

6. The combination, with the saws. the ribplate, and the roller for k eeping baek the burrs, of the roller M, provided with a central shaft having angular metallic disksmounted thereon, separated from each other by fillingsand` adapted to Work above the saws between the ribs of the rib-plate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. In a cotton-Cleaner, the combination of the main driving-shaft, the friction-clutch F, the feeding-belt, the feedingroller,the screens C and D, and the saws, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

S. rIhe combination of the saws L, rollers K and M, stripping-fan N, iiue O, wire drum P. exhaust-fau 0', sereen U, drawer V, shaking-screen S, aud drawer T, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I elaim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOSEPH DALSTON.

Vitnesses:

XVM. XVALLAen, J. T. VENAnLn.

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