US3417868A

US3417868A - Grain cleaner

Info

Publication number: US3417868A
Application number: US555628A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Harlan J Donelson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-06-06
Filing date: 1966-06-06
Publication date: 1968-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 1985-12-24

Description

Dec. 24, 1968 H. J. DoNELsoN, JR 3,417,868

GRAIN CLEANER Filed June 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 24, 1968 H. J. DoNELsoN, JR 3,417,868

GRAIN CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1966 United States Patent 3,417,868 GRAIN CLEANER Harlan J. Donelson, Jr., W. Highway 330, Marshalltown, Iowa 50158 Filed June 6, 1966, Ser. No. 555,628 Claims. (Cl. 209-28) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A grain cleaner adapted to clean grain passing therethrough and which may be used independently or in combination with a storage bin grain dryer or grain spreader as desired. The cleaner includes a housing having a scroll means therein and including a vibrating screen means positioned over the scroll means. A rotating fan means is positioned in the scroll means and is adapted to discharge the material dropping through said screen means outwardly of the housing. The material passing from the outer end of the screen means is discharged from the lower end of the housing.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a grain cleaner which separates the fines from the grain being cleaned.

A further object of this invention is to provide a grain cleaner which separates the trash from the grain being cleaned.

A further object of this invention is to provide a grain cleaner having a spout means associated therewith which may be adjusted to insure that the incoming grain will be uniformly distributed upon the shaking screen of the grain cleaner.

A further object of this invention is to provide a grain cleaner having a removable perforated shaking screen so that the grain cleaner may be used for a variety of different grains.

A further object of this invention is to provide a grain cleaner which may be used by itself or in combination with a storage bin grain cleaner or a grain spreader if desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a grain cleaner having a selfadjusting belt tensioning means thereon.

A further object of this invention is to provide a grain cleaner which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a storage bin illustrating the grain cleaner of this invention being mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view as would be seen on line 2 2 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as would be seen on line 3 3 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as would be seen on line 4 4 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view as would be seen on the line 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view as would be seen on line 6 6 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view as would be seen on line 7 7 of FIG. 6.

Patented Dec. 24, 1968 ice The grain cleaner of this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and includes a housing 11 supported by a plurality of downwardly depending legs 13. Housing 11 is comprised of a hollow cylindrical body portion 15 and a hollow funnel portion 17 secured to the lower end thereof.

A plurality of braces 19 are secured to the upper interior surface of body portion 15 by bolts or the like and extend radially inwardly therefrom. Braces 21 overlap and are secured to each of the inner ends 0f braces 19 by bolt 23 extending therethrough. A bearing means 25 is secured to the inner ends of braces 21 by bolts 26. As best seen in FIG. 7, bearing means 25 rotatably receives the upper end of a shaft 27. Y

An eccentrically drilled bushing 29 is mounted on shaft 27 at a point below bearing means 25 and is prevented from movement thereon by set screw 31. A collar 33 rotatably embraces bushing 29 and is prevented from downward movement with respect thereto by its lower end engaging shoulder 35 on bushing 29. A support plate 37 embraces collar 33 and is secured thereto by welding or the like. A perforated screen 39 having a substantially conical shape is welded to support plate 37 and extends downwardly and outwardly therefrom.

A plurality of brackets 41 are secured to the inner wall surface of body portion 15 by any convenient means and includes

vertical portions

43 and 45 and a horizontal portion 47 extending between the upper ends thereof. A scroll support 49 is secured at its opposite ends to body portion 15 by bolts or the like and extends across the width thereof as best seen in FIG. 7. A pan shaped scroll 51 is secured to scroll support 49 by bolts 53 and includes a base portion 55 and an upstanding wall portion 57. Scroll 51 and scroll support 49 are provided with suitable central openings through which shaft 27 extends. A bearing means 57 is bolted to the bottom of scroll support 49 and operatively engages shaft 27 to prevent longitudinal movement of shaft 27 in conventional fashion. A pulley 59 is secured to the lower end of shaft 27 by means of set screw 61 at a point below bearing means 57.

A fan hub means 63 is secured to shaft 27 at a point above base portion 55 of scroll 51 by means of set screw 65 and includes a at base portion 67 extending horizontally outwardly therefrom. A fan backing plate 69 is secured to base portion 67 of fan hub means 63 by bolts 71, and as seen in FIG. 7, is slightly smaller in diameter than scroll 51. A plurality 0f fan blades 73 are secured to the upper surface of fan backing plate 69 and extends outwardly from fan hub means 63 in a radial manner as best seen in FIG. 6. As best seen in FIG. 7, the upper ends of each of the fan `blades 73 taper downwardly from their outer to their inner ends respectively. A flat circular band 75 is secured to the upper outer ends of each of the fan blades 73 and extends therearound as best seen in FIG. 6.

A iin means 77 is secured to the bottom surface of fan backing plate 69 by welding or the like as best seen in FIG. 7. The upper end of upstanding wall portion 57 of scroll 51 is secured to each of the vertical portions 45 of the brackets 41 by any suitable means such as a rivet, bolt or the like. A discharge spout 79 extends from the upstanding wall portion 57 of scroll 51 outwardly through cylindrical body portion 15 of housing 11 as best seen in FIG. 6. Wall portion 57 of scroll 51 is provided with a suitable opening formed therein so that the interior of discharge spout 79 is in communication with the interior of scroll 51.

A plurality of spaced apart, case-hardened, angular wear plates 81 are secured to the lower end of screen 39 by welding as best seen in FIG. 3 and are adapted to engage and slide upon horizontal portion 47 of each of the brackets 41. The length of each f the wear plates 81 is greater than the width of the horizontal portion 47 of the bracket 41 upon which they rest. At least one of the wear plates 81 is provided with downwardly extending

lugs

83 and 85 secured thereto by Welding or the like at opposite ends thereof.

Lugs

83 and 85 extend downwardly past the opposite sides of horizontal portion of bracket 41. A spring 87 is secured to body portion 15 and screen 39 and extends therebetween as best seen in FIG. 6 to yieldably resist the movement of screen 39 in one direction.

A pair of spaced apart

motor support brackets

89 and 91 are secured to body portion 15 by bolts, rivets or the like and extend across the width of housing 11 as best seen in FIG. 4. As seen in FIG. 5, an electrical motor 93 is bolted to

motor support brackets

89 and 91 which are angular in cross-section. A pulley 95 is secured to motor support bracket 91 adjacent one end thereof by a bolt 97. An idler pulley bracket 99 is slidably mounted on motor support bracket 89 as best illustrated in FIG. 5 and has a pulley 101 secured thereto by a bolt 103. A spring 105 -is secured to body portion 15 and idler pulley support bracket 99 and extends therebetween as best Seen in FIG. 4 to yieldably urge idler pulley support bracket 99 towards the left as viewed in FIG. 4. A drive belt 107 extends around

pulleys

95, 101, 59 and motor pulley 109 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The drive belt 107 has not been shown in FIGS. and 7.

A hollow cylindrical spout 111 is vertically adjustably secured to the upper end of housing 11 and is provided with a plurality of vertically disposed slots 113 extending upwardly from the lower end thereof. An angular plate 115 is secured to spout 111 by Welding adjacent each of the slots 113 and has a portion 117 extending inwardly therethrough as best illustrated in FIG. 2. Spout 111 is secured to housing 11 by means of the portions 117 of plates 115 being received between the overlapping braces 19 and 21 (FIG. 2). The tightening of bolts 23 maintains portion 117 between braces 19 and 21 thereby preventing movement of spout 111 with respect to housing 11. Spout 111 can be vertically adjusted with respect to screen 39 by simply loosening bolts 23 in each of the overlapping braces 19 and 21 and moving spout 1v11 to the desired position and then again tightening bolts 23.

In FIG. 1, the numeral 119 designates a storage bin having an access opening 121 formed in its upper end. A conventional grain dryer 123 of the forced air type is in communication with the interior of bin 119 and forces air thereinto which will pass through the grain within bin 119 and be discharged outwardly through access opening 121. FIG. l also illustrates a discharge chute 125 which is operatively connected to discharge spout 79 and extends therefrom to a suitable receptacle such as a wagon 127. The numeral 129 in FIG. 1 designates a grain conveyor means which is adapted to deposit grain within the upper end of spout 111.

The normal method of operation is as follows. As previously stated, the grain cleaner may be used by itself, in the environment seen in FIG. l, or with a grain spreader positioned therebelow.

The spout 11t1 is rst vertically adjusted as previously described to insure that the grain passing therethrough will be uniformly deposited on the shaking tscreen 39. Obviously, spout 111 can be vertically adjusted to permit the gra-in cleaner 10 to beused for a variety of different grains. 'Ihe Kgrain cleaner will function without spout 111 mounted thereon but the eiciency thereof is reduced by the omission thereof. As also previously described, screen 39 can be constructed of a mesh type screen or of a perforated metal material, the latter being preferred. The mesh or perforations of screen 39 can be varied to permit the cleaner to be used for a variety of different grains.

The energizing of motor 93 causes shaft 27 to be rotated by means of drive belt 107 which extends around 4

pulleys

109, 95, 59 and 101. Spring 105 yieldably urges idler pulley support bracket 99 away from

pulleys

59 and 109 to maintain the proper tension on the drive belt 107. It can be appreciated that spring 105 will compensate for drive belt wear and it is not necessary to constantly tighten the drive belt as the same wears.

The rotation of shaft 27 causes fan backing plate 69 to be rotated Within scroll 51 and hence fan blades 73 which are secured thereto. The rotation of shaft 27 also causes screen 39 to be shaken or oscillated due to the eccentrically drilled bushing 29 which is secured to shaft 27 as previously described. The rotation of shaft 27 would normally tend to cause the revolution of screen 39, however, such rotation is limited by the lugs 83 and on wear plates 81 engaging brackets 41. Thus, shaft 27 will rotate screen 37 in one direction against the force of spring I87 until lug 85 engages one side of horizontal portion 47 of bracket 41. 'Spring 87 then returns screen 39 to its original position so that lug 83 engages the other side of the horizontal portion 47 of bracket 41. It can be appreciated that the cooperation of shaft 27, eccentrically drilled bushing 29, bushing 33, plate 37, lugs 83 and 85, and spring 87 causes screen 39 to be oscillated, vibrated or shaken.

The grain to be cleaned is deposited into the upper end of spout 111 and passes onto the vibrating screen 39 into scroll 51. The fines drop through screen 39 into scroll 51. The rotating fan blades 73 cause the fines to be discharged from the cleaner through discharge spout 79. The grain, which is of sutlicient size to prevent its passage through screen 39, passes from the lower end of the screen 39 and falls downwardly from the cleaner through the open lower end of funnel portion 17. Pin 77 which is secured to the bottom of fan backing plate 69 tends to prevent undesirable material from becoming lodged between fan backing plate 69 and base portion 55 of scroll 51.

The rotating fan assembly creates a certain amount of back pressure, that is, upwardly moving air within housing 11. The upwardly moving air tends to blow any trash present in the grain upwardly from the upper end of housing 11. The fines can be collected by merely securing a suitable chute means to the outer end of discharge spout 79. Thus it can be seen that the grain cleaner separates the lines and trash from the grain thereby cleaning the grain.

The grain cleaner 10 may be secured to the upper end of a storage bin 119 by simply securing the lower ends of legs 13 to the roof thereof. The conveyor means 129 deposits the grain to be cleaned within spout 111. The environment of FIG. 1 permits a greater amount of trash to be separated from the grain due to the 4grain dryer 123 forcing air outwardly from the interior of the bin 119 through access opening 121. The upwardly moving air supplements the back pressure created by the fan assembly and thereby causes even more eilicient separation of the trash from the grain. The chute means 127 is connected to the discharge spout 79 thereby permitting the collecting of the nes within wagon 127.

Thus it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my grain cleaner without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included Within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a grain cleaner,

a housing having upper and lower ends,

a scroll means mounted within said housing between the upper and lower ends thereof, said scroll means having a diameter less than the diameter of said housing,

a vertically disposed shaft rotatably mounted in said housing having its lower end extending through said scroll means and having its upper end positioned above said scroll means,

a fan means secured to said shaft for rotation therewith within said scroll means,

said scroll having a discharge means extending therefrom in communication with the interior thereof, said discharge means extending outwardly through said housing,

a power means operative connected to said shaft to cause rotation thereof,

a screen means operatively connected to said shaft above said scroll means,

and means operatively connected to said screen means causing oscillation thereof,

said screen means being substantially conical shaped having an upper end operatively movably connected to said shaft, said screen means having a lower end terminating outwardly of said scroll means between said scroll means and the interior of said housing whereby grain of a predetermined particle size will drop through said screen means into said scroll means and will be discharged outwardly therefrom by said fan means through said discharge means and whereby grain of a predetermined particle size will pass from the lower end of said screen means between said scroll means and said housing and will discharge from the lower end of said housing.

2. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein a pair of spaced apart power means support brackets are secured to said housing and extend thereacross, said power means being secured to said support brackets, a irst pulley secured to one of said support brackets, an idler pulley support bracket slidably mounted on the other support bracket, a spring means operatively secured to said housing and said idler pulley support bracket and extending therebetween normally urging said idler pulley support bracket away from said power means, an idler pulley rotatably secured to said idler pulley support bracket, a second pulley secured to the power shaft of said power means, a third pulley secured to the lower end of said vertically disposed shaft, and a belt means extending around said rst, second, and third idler pulleys.

3. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein said means operatively connected to said screen means causing oscillation thereof includes an eccentric means secured to said screen means and said shaft, and a stop means secured to the lower end of said screen means operatively engaging said housing.

4. The cleaner of claim 3 wherein a spring means is operatively connected to said housing and said screen means and extends therebetween, said spring means normally resisting the movement of said screen means in one direction with respect to said housing.

5. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein said scroll means includes a at circular bottom having a vertical side wall extending upwardly therefrom, said fan means including a fan backing plate secured to said shaft and spaced above said scroll bottom, said fan backing plate having a plurality of fan blades extending upwardly therefrom.

6. The cleaner of claim 5 wherein said fan backing plate has a tin means secured thereto which is positioned between said backing plate and said scroll bottom to prevent material from becoming lodged between the fan backing plate and the scroll bottom.

7. In combination,

a storage bin having an upper access opening,

a grain dryer means in communication with the interior of said storage bin adapted to supply air to the interior thereof which is discharged through said access opening,

a grain cleaner secured to said storage bin having a lower end in communication with said access opensaid grain cleaner including a housing having upper and lower ends, a scroll means mounted within said housing between the upper and lower ends thereof, said scroll means having a diameter less than the diameter of said housing, `a vertically disposed shaft rotatably mounted in said housing having its lower end extending through said scroll means and having its upper end positioned above s aid scroll means, a fan means secured to said shaft for rotation therewith within said scroll means, said scroll having a discharge means extending therefrom in communication with the interior thereof, said discharge means extending outwardly through said housing, a power means operatively connected to said shaft to cause rotation thereof, a screen means operatively connected to said shaft above said scroll means, and means operatively connected to said screen means causing oscillation thereof,

said screen -means depositing grain of a predetermined size into said scroll means, the air being discharged through said access opening by said grain dryer means separating foreign material from the grain within said housing and causing the discharge thereof from the upper end of said housing.

8. In a grain cleaner,

a housing having upper and lower ends,

a power means operatively connected to said shaft to cause rotation thereof,

a screen means operatively connected to said shaft above said scroll means,

said screen means being substantially concial shaped and having an upper end operatively movably connected to said shaft, said screen means having a lower end terminating outwardly of said scroll means,

said means operatively connected to said screen means causing oscillation thereof including an eccentric means secured to said screen means and said shaft, and a stop means secured to the lower end of said screen means operatively engaging said housing,

said housing being provided with a plurality of brackets secured thereto and extending inwardly therefrom, said stop means engaging said brackets to limit the movement of said screen means in two directions with respect to said housing.

9. The cleaner of claim 8 wherein said stop means consists of lugs extending downwardly from a wear plate secured to said screen means, said lugs extending downwardly at opposite sides of said brackets.

a power means operatively connected to said shaft to cause rotation thereof,

a screen means operatively connected to said shaft above said scroll means,

a pair of spaced apart power means support brackets secured to said housing and extending thereacross,

said power means being secured to said support brackets, a Iirst pulley secured to one of said support vbrackets, an idler pulley support bracket slidably mounted on the other support bracket, a spring means operatively secured to said housing and said idler pulley support bracket and extending therebetween normally urging said idler pulley support bracket away from said power means, an idler pulley rotatably secured to said idler pulley support bracket,

a second pulley secured to the power shaft of said power means, a third pulley secured to the lower end of said vertically disposed shaft, and a belt means extending around said first, second, and third idler pulleys.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner.

TIM R. MILES, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 209-366, 279, 138