US819171A - Down-separating apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 1, 1906.

W. H. ROBINSON. DOWN SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED PEB.11. 1902.

HWEIVTO WITNESSES.- WM 0 ATTORNEY UN ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, OF STElNWAY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO HIMSELF, AND W. M. HANES, OF WINSTON SALEM,

NORTH CAROLINA.

DOWN-SElARATING APPARATUS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1906.

Application filed February 11,1902. Serial No. 93,659.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Steinway, borough of Queens, city of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Down-Separating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This application relates to an apparatus for separating down from contour feathers.

The mixed down and contour feathers, as they are plucked from the bird or fowl, are after passing through a cleansing operation forced by an air-blast into a round chamber andcaused to circulate therein, during which movement a separation has taken place, the larger of the contour feathers escaping through one outlet, and the down, mixed with a quantity of small OI medium contour feathers, I assing through a different outlet.

N y invention con sists in certain featuresof construction, combinations of devices, and arrangements of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, and particularly pointed out in the concluding claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of an apparatus made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a plan, of the apparatus.

In the several views like parts are designated by like numerals of reference.

The feathers may be blown into the separator through any convenient sup ly-pipe 1, which may descend alongside of the separator and commur icate with the latter by means of an elbow .2 and a box 3, the walls of the latter converging or contractir g and its top and bottom separating as they approach the drum of the separator so as to match a vertical slit cut in the wall of the drum-and seen at Fig. 1. The box is arranged at am;- gent to the drum, as seen clearly at Fig. 3., so

that the mixture of air, down, and contour" feathers may be discharged into the. drum in a tan ential direction, so as to set up a rotary circu ation of the mixture within the-drum.

The pri': cipal chamber of the separator comprises both a drum, which is designated as 4 and has a head or top 5, and also a hollow" cone or funnel 6. The drum is cylindrical in form and vertically arranged and may be sup-" ported in any suitable manner. ts open lower end is joined directly to the top of the funnel 6, which may be termed a taperingconnection between the drum and a discharge-pipe 7, which is connected to the apex of the cone and through which the contour feathers are conveyed to a bin 7.

Extending downwardly into the chamber to a point nearly level with the bottom of the drum is arran ed a central vertical tube or hollow core 8, by which the down is collected and which affords a passage for the down out of the main chamber and into a vertical pipe or conductor 9, which is erected upon the drumhead and with the lower portion of which the collector 8 has a telescopic connec tion.

The collector 8 and conductor 9 may, if desired, be rigidly joined o.- formed in one piece, both being firmly fixed in place; but I prefer to adjust the collector 8 vertically, and to this end I provide means for lowering and raising the same and for sustaining it at different elevations. Said adjusting means. may consist of a nurr ber of wing-screws 10, passing" loosely through peiforations 11, made in the upper pa;t of the collector or tube 8 and tapped into the lower part of the pipe or stack 9. There may beprovided any desired number of vertical rows of holes 11, and the tube 8 may be adjusted to as many different elevations as there are holes in each row. Handle-bars 12 may be secured to the inner Walls of the tube 8, so as to facilitate the adjustment thereof, and the pipe 9 may be provided with a cap 13, which may be rerroved at any tine so as to affo;d access to the handle-bars and wing-screws. If desired, the tube 8 may be lengthened and extended farther up into the pipe 9, and the well-known e uivalent of a single vertical slot may be su stituted for each row of holes, so that a mere loosening of the wing-screws will enable the tube to be moved, thus avoiding the necessity of taking the screws out and reinsei ting them.

Near its upper endthe pipe 9 may open into any suitable conductor 14, through which the down may pass to a bin or other receptacle 14.

Although it is evident that any air which is forced into the chamber through the box 3 is desirab e not to permit the immediate vht of the air, but rather to confine it within the chamber for some time, so as to aflord the down and the contour feathers an interval in which to become separated. This result is accom lishd by causing the air to travel aroun the drum many times between its ingress and egress, the rotary impulse being given to the air, as above'explained, by giving a tangential direction to the entering blast. As the inrush of the air-blast is con tinuous, the air within the chamber must eventually become forced out through the vents, and hence the air tends to swirl around the drum in a spiral path, or, in other words, it has a combined rotary and downward movement, the former being caused by the impact of the air-blast and the latter being occasioned bythe necessity of reaching the vent 7, through which a large proportion of the air finally escapes. It will also be understood that in passing from the cylindrical drum into the conductor 7 the air will follow a course which is not only spiral, but also centripetal, owing to the convergence or con ical arrangement of the sides of the funnel 6. Thus the general movement of the air while confined within the chamber may be likened to the movement of a cyclone, the outer portions of the blast traveling at a high rate of s eed in a iral and centripetal downward irection an the central or inner portions of the air movin at a much less rapid rate, and hence being re atively calm.

The constantly-inrushing air has a churning effect upon the swirling mixture of air, down, and contour feathers, whereby the separation of the contour feathers from the down is promoted. The down and said feathers become eventually separated .because of the cyclonic movement of the air, the effect of said movement upon the contour feathers being unlike :its effect upon the down, so that said featherstake one course in escapin from the chamber or shell, while the down ta es a different course and passes out through a special conductor, the latterextending to that point within the chamber where the down may be collected to the best advantage. The effect of the cyclone upon the contour feathers is to cause them to fiy toward the walls of the chamber, this movement being due to the action 'of centrifugal force, to

. which the said feathers yield more readily than does the down, owing to their comparatively dense or hea. structure. As said feathers brush the wal s of the chamber during their entire downward passage, they may be considered as forming alayer or lining for the said walls, said lining being com osed of large, medium, and small contour eathers. The effect of the cyclone uponthe fluffy down, however, is not so violent, and it does not tend to fly against the walls of the chamber, but rather to float about in the more moderate current which immediately sur- 'opposite to the air-supply rounds and underlies the core 8, said core, as above explained, bein made hollow and open at its lower end, said end thus forming a mouth for affording a'vent for the comparatively calm central air, and hence serving to collect the down held in suspension by said central body of air. Thus the separation of the down from the contour feathers occurs partly because of the churning action of the airblast upon the swirling mixture'within the cyclone-chamber, partly because of the segregation of the comparatively dense contour feathers which is caused by the operation of a centrifugal force, partly because said feathers are forced to line the walls of the chamber in passing down to the vent 7, whereby their segregation is preserved notwithstanding the continued presence of down in the chamber,

and'partly because of the existence of a collector in the midst of the down which is suspended in the calmer central air and into which said air may pass inde endentl-y of the yiolently-moving currents w "ch strike down through the conical outlet.

It will be understood thatitwould be disadvantageous to arrange either the vent 7 or the mouth of the down-collector in such a relation to the blast-inlet that a ready egress would be offered to the air immediately upon entering the drum or before the separation of the down from the contour feathers. Such a contingency is avoided by lacing the vent 7 at the apex of the cone 6, ar removed from the air-inlet 3, and also by placing the mouth of the collector at a lower level than or out of line. with said inlet, meansbeing also pro- IIO is of great value in this art is the centrally-ar- I ranged core of the cyclone-chamber for control ing the movement of the air and directin it in a circular path or course. So far as this function of the device 8 is concerned it is immaterial whether or not said de vice' also serves as a down-collector -or whetheror not it is of hollow construction. A great advantage is secured by the arrangement of said core boxS, inasmuch as the whirling air, a t ough continually churned by the entering blast, is still forced to continue in a circular course'and the separating action or effect of the cyclone is preserved. 1 v 1 I prefer to make the downcollector 8 ad justable, so that it may be set at the exact point where nothing except down will be likely to enter its mouth. As will be gathered from the foregoing description, an adjustment of said collector to a high level would offer a more available vent for the air, and as a result there would be some liabilit of a remature escape thereof-that is, the an won (1 get into the mouth of the collector before a thorou h separation of the down from the contour eathers had occurred, so that a quantity of small and medium sized feathers would be ejected together with the down. On the other hand, if the mouth of the col lector should be adjusted to too low a point and approach too closely to the apex of the cone the down floating in the central portions of the apparatus would not find such a ready escape, and conse uently in tending downwardly toward the epressed mouth of the collector would be liable to et caught in the outer cyclone-belt, thereby ecoming remixed with the contour feathers and passing down therewith through the outlet 7, while a smaller uantity of down would of course be collecte .b the device 8 than would be the case if the atter were adjusted to the proper height. From these premises it follows that by inspection of the down as it emerges from the apparatus into the bin the o erator is enabled to judge Whether or not t e collector 8 needs readjustment, and if so, in What direction and to What extent. If contour feathers appear mingled among the down feathers or down, he should lower the collector. On the other hand, if he perceives that the down is discharging too' scantily into the bin he should raise the collector. By means of ordinary intelligence the operator may after ac quiring a little experience adjust the collector readily to the required point, and of course it will be understood that when it is once adjusted correctly frequent readjustment will not be necessary unless exceptional conditions should arise.

Many other variations may be resorted to in details of construction and arrangement Within the scope of the invention. It is not essential in all forms of the invention that the tube 8 telescope Within the pipe 9, as obviously the tube and pipe could be made in a single piece which could be adjusted vertically as a Whole. Nor is it essential in all forms of the invention that the down pass in an upward direction out of the drum so long as the mouth of the d0wn-collect0r is arran ed within the cyclone-chamber.

at I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A down-separator consisting of a cyclone-chamber having both an inlet for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and also provided with a collector for thedown, said collector extending into the interior of the cyclone-chamber in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down;

said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

2. A down-collector consisting of a cyclonechamber havin both an inlet for an air-blast and an outlet or the contour feathers, and also provided with a collector for the down, said collector extending into the interior of the cyclone-chamber and terminating about centrally or midway between the. ends and sides thereof in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

3. A down-separator consisting of a circular cyclone-chamber having both an inlet for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and havin a hollow core which collects the down an conducts it out of the chamber in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down;.said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the c clone-chamber and the central outlet for. t e down, respectively.

4. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber consisting of a drum joined to the upper end of a downwardly-tapering cone, and a tubular down-collector extending downwardly from the head of said drum into the interior thereof in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclonechamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

5. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber consistin of a'drum and a cone and having a tubular the head of the drum toward the apex of the cone, and terminates between said head and said cone-apex in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

6. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber having a tapering outlet for the contour feathers, a core, and an outlet for the down in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins bein in closed communication with the outlet om the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

7. In'a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber having a core and also having an outlet for the down and an outlet for the contour feathers in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyown-collector which extends from clone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, res ectively.

- 8. In a own-se arator,-a cyclone-chamber having .a core and also having an outlet for the down at said core in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

9. In a down-se arator, a cyclone-chamber having a core an also having an outlet for the down at said core, one portion of said chamber having a conical formation in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication With the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

10. -A down-separator comprising a cyclone-chamber and an adjustable vent in combination with a bin for the se arated contour feathers and a separate bin or the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

11. A down separator comprising a cyclone chamber, an outlet for the contour feathers, a collector for the down, and means for effecting a relative adjustment between said outlet and said collector in combination with a bin-for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

12. A down separator comprising a cyclone-chamber, said chamber consistlng of a drum and a cone joined thereto, and an adjustable outlet for the down in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a se arate bin for the down; said bins being in c osed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

13. A, down-separator consistin clone-chamber having both air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and also provided with an adjustable collector for the down, said collector extending into the interior of the cyclone-chamber in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a' separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

14. A down-collector consistin of a cyclone-chamber having both an in et for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and also provided with an adjustable col lector for the down, said collector extendin into the interior of the cyclone-chamber an terminating about centrally or midway between the ends and sides thereof in combinaof anyan inlet for antion with a bin for the separated contour feathers and aseparate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively. j

15. A doWn-se arator consisting of a circular cyclone-cham er having both an inlet for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and havin an endwise adjustable hollow core which co lects the down and conducts it out'of the chamber in combination with a bin for the separated 'contour feathers and a separated bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

16. In a down-se arator, -a cyclone-chamber consisting of a rum and a cone and havin an internally-arranged adjustable downco lector in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

17. In a downse arator, a cyclone-chamber consisting of a rum joined to the up er end of a downWardly-taperin cone, an a vertically-adjustable tubular own-collector extending downwardly from the headof said drum into the interior thereof in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a se arate bin for the down; said bins being in c osed communicatibn with-the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central.

outlet for the down, respectively.

18. In a, down-separator, the combination,

bin for thedown; said bins being inclosed' communicationwith the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, res ectively.

20. A clone-chamber having a tapering outlet for the contour feathers, a core, an outlet for the down, and means for adjusting. the last-mentioned outlet, in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

21. In a down-separator, the combination of drum 4, cone 6, tube 8, pipe 9, and Wing? own-separator comprising a cyscrews in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers'and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

22. In a down-separator, the combination of drum 4, cone 6, tube 8, pipe 9, wing-screws 10, and perforations 11 in combination with a bin for the se arated contour feathers and a separate bin fiir the down; said biris being in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

23. The combination of box 3, drum 4 having head 5, cone 6, pi e 9, cap 13, tube 8, wing-screws 10, and pe orations 11 in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a se arate bin for the down; said bins being in c osed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

24. A down-separating apparatus com rising a cyclone-chamber having an inlet or a blast of air, feathers and down, and having an outlet for the contour feathers, a bin in closed communication with said outlet, said chamber having a tubular core which terminates at its lower end within the chamber, a

second bin, a closed conductor from said core to said bin, an opening being provided in said conductor to give access to said core, and a cover for said opening.

25. A down separating apparatus com prising a cyclone-chamber having a lower outlet for contour feathers; a bin in closed communication with said outlet; said chamber having an upper central collector for down; said collector being adjustable for height a conductor surmounting said conductor, and provided at its upper end with an opening and a cover, and a pipe connected to said conductor; and a bin to which said pipe leads.

26. A down separating apparatus comrising a cyclone-drum, having an inlet for a blast of feathers and down, a bottom outlet for feathers, a bin in closed communication with said outlet, a top outlet for down, a second bin in closed communication with top outlet, a tubular central collector adjustable for height, an o ening being provided to give access to said co lector for adjusting the same, and a cover provided for closing said opening.

Signed at New York, in the State of New York, this 17th day of December, A. D. 1900.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON. Witnesses:

JOHN A. GALVIN, THOMAS C. PATTERSON.

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