US826988A - Grain-separator. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED JULY 24, 1905.

G. W. BRADBURY GRAIN SEREXRIJEGR. APPLICATION FILED JJHEB, 1905.

Attorneys SHEET 1.

r. SHEETS Inventor by v WW um G. W. BRADBURY. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8. 1905.

PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

5 BHBETS-SKBET 2.

Witnesses N t 7 i, N Inventor Attorneys N0; szmss PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

5 SHEETSSHBET 3 inventor Attorneys PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

G. W. BRADBUBY. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1905.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

GwgfeWfi/udmiy lnv'entor Witnesses Attorneys No. 826,988. PATENTBD JULY 24, 1906. G. WpBRADBURY.

GRAIN SBPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1905.

5 SHEET$SHET-T n znnnnnnnnn/n-ln nnnnnnnn Geogdell fimaary lnventc r Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

, GEORGE W. BRADBURY, OF WALLA; WALLA, WASHINGTON.

" 'G RAlN-SEPARATOH.

To alt whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. BRADBURY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Walla Walla, in the county of Wallawalla I 5 "grain and valuable matter from the straw,

ume to constitute a distinct layer or stratum chafl", and lighter particles in a very thorough and efficient manner in the se aratin part of the machinethat is to say, efore t as grain is 'subjected to the action of, the cleaning mechanis1n-the purpose being to produce a well-cleaned product by the separating mechanism alone, and thus to enable power to be saved in the operation of the cleaning mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to dispense with oscillatory, vibratory, and recip rocatory nrschanisms, such as shaking-screens and the like, whereby a degree of vibration is set up which is injurious-to the mechanism of machines of the ordinary types.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the present invention may be described as consistingin maintaining within a suitably-constructed casin an air-current discharging at the tail end of the casing and of sufficient velocity and volof air in motion upon Whichthe straw, chaff, and lighter particles will practically be floated through the. length of the, casing until discharged at the tail end of the casing.

The invention further consists in'maintainin I above said stratum or air-current a plu- ;raity of carriers, such as inclined raddles overlapping one another and adapted to support the straw and lighter particles, to agitate and tear the same asunder, to divide the upper from the lower part of the casing in which the air-current is maintained, and to permitthe grain and heavy particles to be separated from the straw and light particles and to settle upon the bottom of'the casing, where means are provided for disposing of the grain.

The invention-further. consists in the com- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 8, 1905. Serial No. 264,314,

indicated by the line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Patented July 24, 1906.

bination, with the threshin andseparating mechanisms, of an irnproveril cleaning or fanning mechanism which is supported upon the forward part of the deck of the casing and to which the separated grain is conveyedb'y an elevating mechanism.

The invention further consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts, which will be here inaiter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, "but that the right is reserved to any changes, alterations, and modifications to which recourse may be had within the scope of the invention and without departing from the spirit or sacri'iicing the efficiency of the same.

In said drawipgs, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a grainseparator constructed and equipped in accordance with the principles of-the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the plane Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line a i in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5 5 in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view taken on the plane indicated by the line 6 6 in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower part of a machine embodyiiig a modified construction. Fig. 8 is a transv-trse sectional detail view taken on the plane indicated by the line 8 8 in 7.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

A casing 1 of appropriate form and con struction is supported upon front and rear trucks 2 and 3, whereby it may be conveniently transported from place to place, and this casing constitutes the body of the machine. At the front end of the casing is the feed-table 4, the concave 5, and a shaft6, carrying the cylinder 7, all f which are of ordinary construction. Slightly in rear of the cylinder-carrying shaft is a shaft 8, carrying a beater 9, which is driyen by means of a belt 10 from the shaft carrying the cylinder, so as to rotate in the same direction as the latter.

In the upper part of the casing are disposed a plurality of inclined carriers or rad- IIO dles..,'. in Fig. 1 of the drawings three such raddles have been shown, designated, respectively, 12, 13, and 14; but it isto be understood that any desired number of such raddles may be used, according to the size and proportions of the machine. The forward raddlc 12 is disposed under the beater 9 and with its forward end extended beneath the delivery-lmard 15 of the concave. so that material delivered between the cylinder and the concave and subjected to the beating and loosening action of the beater 9 will be-dcposited upon the lower end of said raddle,

- which latter is of a width corresponding with 15 the width 01'' the casing. Each of the raddles is preferably composed of slats 16, mounted upon flexible members, such as belts .17,

which latter are supported by pulleys 18 upon the upper shafts 19, 2t),"a-1rd 21 and pul- 2o l'eys 22 upon the lower shafts 23, 24, and .25.

' The several supporting-shafts,of the raddles are journaled in the sides of thyg asing, and eachshaft is provided at one end with a sprocket; wheel 26, the several sprocket- .wheels being connected by a chain 27, whereby the several raddles areproperly driven. The shaft 19 of the lirst 'raddle 12 is driven by means of a twisted belt 28 from the shaft 8 of the heater 9'.

In the manufacture of'thc raddles I prefer to employ steel slats, although, ofcourse, any material may be used, said slats being suit- "ably spaced apart to permit grain and bits of cars having grain attached thereto to pass between the slats. The lower half (or thereabouts) of the upper lead of each raddle is supported upon an inclined slide or supporting member 29. The entire lower lead of the rearmost raddle (here designated 14) is likewise supported upon an inclined supporting member or slide 30.

It has been already stated that the several raddles are disposed n the upper part of the casing. It may, furtner, be stated that the 45 receiving end of each raddle is overlapped by the delivery end ofthe precedin one, so that material passin over the raddle will be deposited upon the next one or will be iutercepted by the latter without dropping into 59 the lover part of the casing, in which an aircurrent is maintained, as will be presently described.

At the fronteud of the casin beneath the cylinder and the concave an well to the front of the latter is supported a fan-casin 31, containing a fan' 32, which is supporter upon'a shaft 33, driven direct from the 0 lin flder-shaft 6 by mehns of a belt or ban 34, I The rear part of the fan-casin has a mouth .j 'o gti'of large area, said mouth being equal to Jone-fourth of the perimeter ofthe fan-casing,

or even more, if desired, theupper and lower edges of said mouth being provided with flarflanges 36 and 37, the former of which is connected by a deflector 38 with the front part of the casing of the separator. The deflector 38 is needed for the purpose of conveying grain." which passes between the bars of the concave in a learward direction in the machine and out of-the range of thebladcs of the fan 32, whereby such grain would be liable to be crushed or injured. The flanges 36 and 37 also permit the air, which is set in motion. by the fan and which is discharged through the mouth 35, to be disseminated through the casing within limits which are circumscribed in the manner to be hereinafter set forth.

In some machines a single fan arranged as herein described may be sullicientfor the purposes of the invention. At other times, and especially in lirge machines, it may be found desirable to provide additional or auxiliary means forforcing air throu h the case ing of the machine, especially at the rear end of the latter, or for reinforcing the blast, as it might be termed. This object may be accomplished in various ways. In the drawings has been illustrated an additional or auxiliary fan-casing 39, supported about midway in the machine and containing a fan 40, mounted upon a shaft 41, which has been shown as being driven by means of a link belt 42 from the shaft 33 of the fan 32. This auxiliary fan-casing has a rearwardly-open ing mouth 43, which is also'of large area, and it is provided at the upper edge of said mouth with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined flange 44. An inverted-V-shaped deflector 45 is also provided, one edge of said deflector being connected with the free edge of the flange 44 and the other edge with the upper portion of the fan-casing 39. The latter as een shown as arranged directly beneath the raddle 13, whichoccupies a position intermediate the ends of the casing and intermediate the raddles 12 and 14; but it is to be understood that not only may the location of the auxiliary fan-casing 39 and its related parts be changed within the scope of the invention, 1 10 but any desired number of such auxiliary fancasings may be employed.

The bottom 46 of the casing 1 has been shown as being approximately semicylindrical in shape and provided with a een trallydisposed longitudinal trough 47 of semicircular cross-section, which is intersected about centrally ofthe casing by a subjacent transversely-disposed trough 48, communicating therewith. 'The ends of the casing are provided .vith bearings for a shaft 49, carrying right. and, left hand spiral convcyers 50 and 51," which "by the rotation of the shat t will ,carrylmaterial settling in the trough-47 from the out andrear ends of the main casing in the direction ofthe transverse intersecting trough 48, into which all such material is delivered. The shaft 49has been shown as provided near its rear end with a bevel-gear 52, meshing with a bevel-gear 53 upon a r39 transverselydisposed shaft 54, which is driven by means of a link belt from the shaft 21, which sup orts the upper end of the rear raddle.14. e transverse trough 48 contains a spiral conveyer 56, the shaft of which, 57, extends into the casing 58 of an elevator or conveyer, including an endless web or band 59, carrying a plurality of bucks cts or-slats 60 of ordinary construction. The shaft 57 has been shown as carryin a sprocket-wheel 61, connected by a link belt 62 with a sprocket-wheel 63 upon the fancarrying shaft 41'; but it is obvious that it may be driven in any other convenient manner-for instance, direct from the shaft 33 of the front or main fan.

It will be seen that by the mechanism herein described the grain which is separated from the straw is carried to. the central portion of the'casing and delivered into a transversely-disposed conveyer-trough, from whence it passes to an elevator, whereby it is conveyed to cleaning mechanism to be here inafter described. It is desired to beunderstood, however, that although the herein-described mechanism for conveying the grain will be preferred, owing to its simplicity of construction and ease of o eration, other well- ,known and approved rnec anism may be sub- ,stituted such as illustrated, for instance,

in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawin s, where'the casing has been shown as provi ed with a flat bottom 64, intersected by anapproximately centrally disposed trough or depression 65, in which is supported a spiral conveyer, (here designated 66.) For the urpose of convey mg the grain to the troug 65 a pair-of drapers 67 andfiShave been shown, said dra ers. being operable in the direction of the mi dle oi the casing,-es will be readily seen and understood. These drapers may be operated in any suitable and convenient manner from the fan-shaftyfrom the raddles; or from any other movable partsor the machine,

' Upon the forward part of the deck 69 of the machine-casing is sup orted the recleaning mechanism whereby t from the straw is separated. from dust, chaff, and other worthless material, which, in spite of the eifective work of the separating mechism roper, may still be associated therewith.

The cleaning mechanism is arranged within the casing 7 0,which, as stated,is su ported upon the'iront part of the deck 69, and it comprises, primarily, a shaking-shoe suspended by inks-7 1 beneath the roof of the casing 70 and comprising a chafiing-screen 72 and an imperforate plate 73, supported beneath and spaced from said screen. The shoe S, comprising the screen 7." nd plate 78, is slightly tilted or inclined in a forward-direction, and the screen is of a mesh. which will admit of the passage of grain, cookie, and the like, while chaff and unthreshed grain, includin earsor portions of cars to which grain is stil e grain separated protruc e through the meshing and which exhibit a tendency to lodge thereadhering, will tail over the front edge of the screen and into a chute or s out 74, whereby it is conveyed to the feed-ta is in front of the cylinder to be rethreshed. The shoe S is fed from the spout'75 of the elevator-casing 58,

said spout being extended obliquely to one.

side and provided with a discharge opening or mouth 76, which is of a width approximately equal to the width of the. shoe and within which is disposed ascrew conveyer 77, whereby the grain coming from the ele-' vator will be spread transversely over the up- The shaft of the screw conve er 77 has" been shownas driven, b means 0 a link belt 78,.from the shaft 79, w 'chsupports the upper end of the elevatorbelt 59. Motion is also communicated from said shaft 79 b means of a belt 80 to the shaft 81 of a fan82 in a casing or housing 83, which is supported adjacent to the elevator-casing 58 transversely upon the deck of the machine. The stand 84, which supports the fan-casing 83, also sup orts a fan-casing 85, fan 86, t

belt 88 from the fan-shaft 81. The fan cascontaining a e shaft of which, 87, is driven by a reading ing or housing has a spout or mouth 89, 4

which extends through the rear part of the casin 70 in alinement with the rear end of the s aking-shoe S. The housing 83 ofthe.

fan 82 has a plurality of discharge spouts or funnels 90 extending through the rear wall of the casing 7,0'in alipement with a plurality of rotary screehs 91, suitably supported for rotation beneath the shaking-shoe S, said cylinders being inclinedin a downward and rearward direction. The mesh of these cylin ders is such as to prevent the passage of sta-' 'ple grain, while small grains, cockle, and the ike may pass therethrough. At the upper or front ends of the cylindrical screens 91 is disposed a transverse feedtrough 92, receiving the discharge frdm the imperfora-te plate 73 of the shoe and provided with a plurality of corrugations 93, constituting feed-spouts, which are extended into the upper ends of the rotary screens, which are thereby supplied. Adjacent to eachscreen a scra er 94, the function of which is to push back actual contact such grains as may of the screens in and to interfere with their operation. The material discharged through the cylindrical screens drops upon a rearwardly-inclined' chute 94', discharging into a trough 95, containing a rpiral conveyer 96, whereby the.

material is ischarged at one side of the casis supported ICC in into a suitable receptacle, such as a box or a suitably-sup )orted bag. The material discharged over the rear ends of the inclined cylindrical screens 9] passes into a. trough 97, adjacent to and parallel with the trough 95 and containing a spiral conveyer 98, whereby it is eventually discl urged at one side of the casing, where it is taken care of, as usual, the material discharged throu h the conveyertrough 97' being the cleaned grain.

Su )portcd beneath the inclined chute or board 94 is a slide 99, which may be moved over the trough 95, so that the material passing through the cylindrical screens will be discharged into the coliveyer trough 97, as

' will be readily understood.

The shaking-shoe is driven by a pitman 100, connected with a crank 101 upon the fan-shaft 87. The shaft of one of the conveyers 98 is driven by a belt 102 from the fan-shat t 81, and the shaft of the conveye r 9a is driven by a belt 103 from the. shaft of the conveyer 98. A twisted belt 104 transmits motion from the shaft of the convever 96 to a shaft 105, supported longitudinally in suitable bearings upon the outside oi the casing 70, and the shaft 105 has a spur-wheel lot) operating through a slot 107 in said casing and engaging one of a series of intermeshing spur-gears 108, mounted exteriorly upon the cylindrical screens 91, which are thereby rotated.

In nearly all threshing-niachines and grainseparators there is provision for con'veying the threshed material rearmirdly through the casing and for meanwhile keeping said material in a state at agitation or commotion, which is designed to facilitate the separation of the grain and heavy particles from the straw and light and comparatively worthless particles, the latter being conveyed to the straw-pile. at the tail end of the machine, while. the. grain and heavy materials which have been separated during the mssage through the machine are delivered. apart from the straw. The material discharged by the threshing meehanisn; is usually carried through the inachine-(anling by mechanical means, which are objectionable, owing to the power required to drive them and to the obstructiens which they present to the proper separation of the grain. in other machines air currents or blasts are employed to operate upon the material while passing rearwardly through the casing for the purpose of agitating and partly supporting or floating the same, so that the mechanical devices may be considered in the light of auxiliary means to prevent the straw from settling and to serve as screens for the separation of the grain. Under the present invention the raddles disposed throughout the length of the machine m aybe consideredin the light of screens and supporting members; but it is desired to be especially observed that. said raeldles are disposed altogctherin the upper part of the casing of the machine, while the means for setting the air in motion are disposed altogether beneaththe raddles. It will thus be seen that when the machine is in operation the entire lower part of the casing is occupied by or lilled with a stratum of air moving with great velocity in a rearward direction toward thcdisclmrge end of the machine. This moving stratum ol" air is of considerable. volume, and being preventml from expanding downwardly and laterally by the bottom and the sides of the casing it is free to expand only u an upward direction--thzit is to say, through, between, and over the raddles. The latter therefore may not be properly described "straw-carriers," but more properly as screen-partit ions, through and between which. grain may gravitate, while the straw practically lloated through the machine-casing upon the air-current and is discharged at the tail end of the machine, preferably upon a stacker of ordinary construction, which, however, is not shown.

The material delivered from the cylinder and concave under the influence of the beater t) upon the first raddlc will strike the board or slide 2) with some degree of force, which is ell'ective in dislodging grain from cars or parts of cars to which they still ad here. The slides .29 of the several raddles are elle'ctive tor the same purpose, while the slide 30 under the rearmost raddle is ex trcmely important and ell'ective in intercepting grain which might otherwise be blown out at the tail end of the machine, such rain being conveyed by the middle 14 in a l'orward direction and delivered into the lower part of the casing.

An extremely-important feature of the present invention is that uncer the construction and arrangement of )arts herein described only the grain and he-a particles will be a'pable oi se tling in. the lower part ol the casing, all straw, (hall, and light particles being carried upon the upwardly-expanding and rearwardly-directcd air-current lo'a point of 'linal discharge. at the rear end ot the casing, which is unobstructed and of larger crosssectional area than any intermediate part of the casing, owing to the rear part of the deckbcing inclined upwardly, as shown. This is important in order to permit the rcar\\'ardly-moving air current to expand upwardly, thus blowing the light stull' out oi" the ma him, while not interfering with the settling of the grain by gravit v. This may be aid to constitute tllClctMliI'lg feature of the present invention, inasmuch as the separation is thereby rendered so thorough and eil'ecti've as to be *actically complete, the subsequent cleaning operation being necessary mainly for thc pur mse of eliminating dust and small seeds, suc ;as cookie, millet, and the like, together with grain is distributed in the manner described upon the shaking-shoe containing the chafiing-screen, the grain passing through the latter and ears weighted with grain passing over the screen and through thechute 74 to the tln'eshing mechanism. The grai asses over the bottom plate 7 3 of the shola mt e trough 92 and is delivered by the feeder s spleemngmechanism, the grain passing fromformed in the latter into the upper end of the cylindrical screens, through which an aircurrent is set up by the fan 82 through the tunnels or spouts 90 of the fan-casing 83.

Dust and impurities will be effectively removed or separated from the grain by the air-currents set up by the fans 82 and 86, while the grades of grain or seed may be separated by the cylindrical screens 91. When this latter separation is not desired, the material passing through the cylindrical screens, as well as the over-tail from the latter, may be directed into the trough 97 by adjusting the slide 99 astride the trou h 95.

From the foregoing description, ta ken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains. The construction is simple, and the machine has been found to be thoroughly effective in practical operation for the purpose for which it is intended.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A grain separator comprising rearwardly-expanded body-easing having at its rear an opening of greater cross-sectional area that any intermediate portion of the casing, a trough-shaped floor located in said casing and extending longitudinall thereof, said 001 having along its central ongitudisaid depression and adapted to move the grain from the ends of the separator to the middle thereof, a t1ansversely-extending conveyer adapted to convey the grain from the middle of the floor in a lateral direction and outside of said casing, avertically-arranged conveyer adapted to elevate the grain on top of said casing, a superimposed casing located upon the said body-casing, a grain-screening apparatus located within the last said casing and upon which the said grain is deposited, a fan operating in conjunction with said grain-screening mechanism, a series of rotating screens located below the said grainsaid grain-screening mechanism entering the said rotating screens, and a means for forcingrl blast of air up the rotating screens in the opposite direction from that taken by the grain. o-

2. In a separator the combination with a rearwardly-expanded body-casing having an opening in its rear end of greater cross-sec tional area than of any intermediate ortion of the casing; of a plurality of radd es dispose 1 Within the casing and above the bottom thereof, a trough disposed longitudinally within the bottom of the casin there being an uninterrupted airspace etween said "itrough and the raddles and extending to the rear opening of the body-casing, and means within said air-spa e for setting in motion the ward between the raddles, downward upon the conveyer, and rearwardly through the openmg.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have h reto aflixed my signature 1n the presence of two 'lllIlBSStE.

' GEORGE W. BRADBURY.

Witnesses:

J. H. Joonrnr, Jr., L. L. MonnrLL.

nal axis a depression, conveyors operating in I air contained therein and directing it up

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