US669508A - Endless adjustable screen. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Mar. l2, |90l. W. COLLIER.

ENDLESS ADJUSTABLE SCREEN.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1900.)

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Patented Mar. I2, I.901|. W. COLLIER.

ENDLESS ADJUSTABLE SCREEN.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1900.;

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No. 669,508. Patented Mar. l2, |9011.- W. COLLIER.

ENDLE-SS ADJUSTABLE SCREEN.

(Application filed Apr. 5, IQOOJ 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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WILLIAM COLLIER, -OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF, ONE-HALF TO SAMUEL E. MILLS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

ENDLESS ADJUSTABLE SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,508, dated March 12, 1901.

Application iiled April 5, 1900.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM COLLIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Endless Adjustable Screens; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others Io skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improvement in adjustable or variable mesh screens, and relates particularly to traveling endless screens or sieves in contradistinction to vibrating or reciprocating screens.

To the above ends the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described,and defined in the zo claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanyingv drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts Vthroughout the several views.

Figure l is a plan View, with some parts broken away, showing a screen or sieve constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the said screen. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a portion of the same. 3o Fig. 4 is a detail approximately on the line 004 a# of Fig. 2, some parts being removed. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line m5 :t5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, but with some parts removed, showing means for adjusting the frame; and Fig.

7` is a longitudinal vertical section, on an enlarged scale, through a portion of the screen.

In this device I employ two pairs of endless chains, preferably of the type employed as 4o bicycle-chains. The pair of chains a run over loose sprockets a on atransverse shaft a2 aud over sprockets 61.3, that are secured on a shaft a4, as shown, by means of set-screws a5. The shafts CL2 and c4 are suitably mounted or supported by brackets b of aframework b. The longer pair ofsprocket-chainsf run over loose sprockets f on a shaft a2 just outward of the sprockets ct', and they also run over sprockets f2, carried by theshaft a4 and with t-he 5o sprockets a3. Both chains a andf run over supporting flanges or skids b2 of the frame b', p

Serial No. 11,699. {No model.)

and the said frame b is adapted to be adjusted on the shaft a4 as a pivot by means of eccentrics g on a transverse shaft g', mounted in suitable bearings g2, the said eccentrics engaging the flanged sides of the frame b. The eccentric-shaft g' is adapted to be moved and set in different positions by a latchdever h and coperating segment h', said segment being secured to a suitable support, as indicated by the dotted lines at e, as shown in Fig. 6. By means of the shaft g and eccentrics g the free end of the screen is adapted to be adjusted, so that the separating-surface of the screen will move either upward or downward as it is carried by the chains, said chains being driven as indicated by the arrows marked on Fig. 2. The shaft a4 is mounted in suitable bearings a6 and it is shown as provided with a pulley di, by means of which it may be driven. The drivingsprockets f2 are adjustable With respect to the driving-sprockets a3, and for this purpose said sprockets f2 are provided with segmental slots f3, while said sprockets a3 are provided with studs as, the reduced and screwthreaded ends of which work through said slots f3 and are provided with nuts a9.

The endless separating-surface of the screen is made up of an overlapped series of transversely-extended slats k and p, the former of which are the longer, overlie the latter, and are provided with inturned end anges lo, which serve as side links to the outer chainsf. The shorter and inside slatsp are likewise provided with end flanges p', that serve as side links to the inner chains d. Thus the slats k and p are moved continuously in whatever relation they may be set to each other, and as they pass over the frame b/ they are held closely together, as shown in Fig. 2. The slats 7c andp are preferably formed from thin sheets of metal and they are provided with main perforations 71:2 and p2, respectively, that are approximately pear-shaped-that is, elongated in the direction of the movement of the slatsand are small at one end and large at the other. The perforations k2 and p2 are extended small ends in the opposite directions, and they are set zigzag or out of line with each other, as best shown in Figs. l and 3. When the perforations k2 and p2 IOO are fully open,they stand with their large ends respectively approximately in line with the adjacent edges of the slats p and 7c. To adjust the meshes of the screen, by partially closing the perforations k2 and p2 the slats p and 7.o are overlapped more than as shown in Fig. l, or, for instance, as shown in Fig. 3, wherein the slats 7i; about halt close the perforations p2, while the slats p likewise about half close the perforations 7a2. This adjustment of the slatsp and lo can be readily accomplished by loosening the nuts a9, so as to rotate the driving-sprockets f2 with respect to the driving-sprockets aand then retightening said nuts to lock the said dri ving-sprockets together in such adjustments. In this way the perforations k2 and p2 maybe entirely opened or entirely closed or partially closed to any desired extent.

In order to readily pass small seeds and other fine foreign materials, the slats lo and p are provided with smaller perforations s, which may be located wherever desired and as close together as desired.

The separating-screen above described is adapted for general use in various classes of separating-machines and is especially adapted for use in connection with threshing-separators to eect the separation of the wheat or oats from other seeds and foreign material. Also this screen is adapted for use in various different ways; but usually the grain or stock to be separated would be delivered onto the free or right-hand end ofthe screen, as shown in Fig. 2, and the screen would usually be set at an incline.

In threshing wheat the perforations 7a2 and p2 would be so adj usted as to pass the wheat, While if threshing oats said perfor-ations would of course be adjusted so as to pass the oats. The oats or Wheat passed through the perforations would be caught by a suitable device, (not showin) while such materials as do not pass through the meshes of the screen will be discharged at the left-hand end thereof, and in case of a threshing-machine the straw or chaff will be delivered to the stacker and large or unhulled grain would be returned to the cylinder by devices such as used in all threshing-machines and which form no part of this invention.

Whether used in a threshing-machine or in other forms of separators, a blast of air would be usually blown upward through the separating-surface of the screen, and to permit the free passage of the air through the under or returning portions of the separating-surface the chains are made of uneven lengthsthat is, one is given more slack than the other-so that the returning slats 7c and@ Will be separated or dropped in different vertical positions, thereby leaving wide-open spaces between them, both for the passage of the air upward and for the passage of the separated grain downward.

With an adjustable-meshed screen of the above character it is of course obvious that all grains or seeds, from the smallest to the coarsest, may be separated when the screen is properly adjusted. For flax, for instance, the large perfor-ations 7a2 and p2 would be so nearly closed that only narrow and transversely-elongated slots or openings would be left for meshes in the screen. On the other hand, for beans or peas the perforations k2 and p2 would usually be completely opened. I-Ience it will of course be understood that a single screen of the above character will make a separator universally serviceable for the separation of grains and seeds and obviates the necessity for a large number of screens of different mesh. It will also be understood that this invention is capable of a large range of modification as lo its details of construction and arrangement of its parts.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

l. A separating device comprising in combination, two pairs of endless carriers, such as chains, guiding and driving wheels for such chains, two series of overlapped slats, secured one series to each pair of endless chains, said slats having perforations or meshes, adapted to be opened or closed by the adjustment of one pair of chains with respect to the other, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a suitable frame and bearings ot the pairs of driving-sprockets a5 and f2, adjustably secured together, the idle sprockets d' and f', the endless chains a andf running` over said sprockets d d3 and ff2 respectively, and the overlapped slats 7a and p, secured at their ends to the links of the chains f and ct respectively, said slats having the perforations 102 and p2 respectively, said parts operating substantially as described.

3. In a separating device the combination with suitable sprocket-wheels, of two pairs of endless chains or flexible carriers, one pair of chains having materially more slack than the other for the purpose set forth, means for adjusting said chains or carriers, and a separating-surface made up of two series of perforated slats, one series carried by one pair of said chains and the other series bythe other pair of said chains, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM COLLIER.

Witnesses:

MABEL M. MCG-ROBY, F. D. MERCHANT.

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