US5289A - Office - Google Patents

Description

J. BENNER.-

Smut Machine.

Patented Sept. 11. 1847,,

). UNITED STATES PATENT ointu JACOB BENNER', OF LIBERTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SMUT-MACHINE.

Specification of LettersPatent No. 5,289, dated Septemberll, 1847.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB BENNER, of

. accompanying drawings, making part of this specificatlon, in wh1ch Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Fig. 2, a vertical section; and Fig. 3, a horizontal section taken at the line (X X) of'Fig. 2.

The same letters indicate like the figures.

Machines for cleaning grain. have long since been made with heaters projecting from a vertical shaft rotating within a circular case composed of bars placed at such distance apart as to leave a free dischargefor dust and other impurities, but not large enough to permit the escape of the grainair being admitted to the case by centrifugal force to aid infthe discharge of the impurities. But in these machines, the grain, which is fed in at the top and discharged at the bottom, passes through the machine too rapidly to be thoroughly cleaned, and to remedy this evil various parts in all plans have been essayed which have'either failed to accomplish the desired object, or

have accomplished it at such cost of time and power as to be of very little practical use. But by my improvement I attain this desired end by simple and efficient means, and the nature of my invention consists in dividing the case into several compartments one above the other by means of horizontal rings that extend from the inner periphery of the case to a wire gauze or perforated cylinder surrounding and attached to the shaft, the heaters being attached to and projecting from this perforated cylinder and made to rotate within the compartments between the horizontal rings-when this is combined with a system or set of feeding or discharging tubes connected with the outer case, the first to discharge the grain in the upper or first compartment which is there acted upon by the first set of heaters, carried entirely around and discharged by centrifugal force into the second tube through an aperture the whole height of the compartmentthis discharges the grain into the second compartment in the same manner as it was fed into the first, and after being acted upon in this second 00mpart-ment by the'second set of heaters and carried around it is discharged .into the" third tube which delivers it to the third compartment, and so on to the end where it is discharged from the lower end of the last tube'in a trough or spoutlead'ing 'from' a fan blower on'the lower'endof the shaft of the beaters. In this way the grain undergoes a successionof beating operations in passing from one chamber or compartment to another in succession,'the beating operation in each being aided by the outward current of air that enters the. wire gauge or' perforated cylinder ateach end and which is forced out bycentrifugal force through" the apertures of the casing carrying out with it'the impurities that have been beaten out, and finally theremaining dust, smut, &c., is discharged and carried off by the current of air from the fan blower'which crossesthe grain as'it' falls.

In the accompanying drawing rep-' resents a suitable frame which may be of;

any desired construction, and (1))" a vertical shaft with pulley' at the upper end. with which it is driven a belt from somefirst' moveri Towardeach end of this shaft (and at intermediate points within) it is provided with a set of arms (0, 0) which are connected "together by bars (d) over which is secured a cylinder (6) made of wire gauze or perforated sheet metal to permit air to pass .through'freely; and to the outer surface of this perforated cylinder are attached a series of setsof beaters (f) each set consisting of one beater for each bar (at) composing the frame of the cylinder. They are made of sheet metal properly secured to the perforated or wire gauze cylinder and to the bars (d). They project from this cylinfor the purpose of throwing up the grain.

when beating it and thereby preventing it from settling by gravity on the lower ring or partition of each compartment.

The outer casing (g) is composed of vertical bars placed at such distances apart as to leave spaces between them which will not permit the escape of the grain and yet leave a free discharge for dust and other impurities, these bars are connected at each end to the rings (h, h) each having a hole in the middle of about the diameter of the inner periphery of the wire gauze cylinder for the free admission of the currents of air induced by the rotation of the beaters, as above stated; and the length of this case is divided into three compartments (2', 2', 1') by two rings (j, j) similar to the rings (h, h) and placed between the sets of beaters, so as to have one set of beaters for each compartment. To the outside of this casing there is a set of tubes (70), (Z), (m), and (n). The one (is) is hopper shaped at the upper end and opens into the first compartment (11) (see red lines in Fig. 2) near the top thereof to supply the grain to be cleaned, and as it enters it is carried around by the beaters,

which by their inclination prevent it from falling on the first ring (j) and by centrifugal action throw it against the bars of the outer casing to beat out the impurities which are blown out through the spaces between the bars by the outward current of air, and in this way the grain is gradually carried around and then forced through an aperture (see red lines in Fig. 2) the whole height of the chamber into the second tube (Z) which delivers it into the second compartment '(z') in the same manner as it was delivered in the first, and after undergoing a like operation as in the first it is discharged into the third tube (m) to be delivered into the third compartment (7;) to undergo a third operation, and from this it is discharged'into the third tube (m)'the lower or delivery end of which is bent as at (0) in the direction of the spout (p) of a fan blower (9) attached to the lower end of a' shaft (2)) and below the casing, so that the current of air induced by the rotation of this fan shall carry oil the remaining impurities from the grain as it is delivered from the tube or spout (n).

This machine may be made with any desired number of compartments to subject the grain to a succession of operations, and the bars of the outer casing may be made in any desired form, or manner according to any of the known plans of smut machines.

What I claim as my invention and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is.

1. Making the outer case of the machine in several compartments, one above the other with the sets of beaters playing within them, substantially as described, in combination with the tubes or spouts attached to.

the periphery of and opening into the outer casing to conduct the grainfrom one compartment to another in succession, substan tially as described.

'2. And I also claim in combinationwith O. P. BRoWNE, JAMES H., KELLER.

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