USRE4579E - Improvement in machines for cleaning and scouring rice, coffee, and other grain - Google Patents

Description

y l wlLsoN AG'E'R. improvement in Mhine for Cleaning and Scouring Rce,-Coffe, and othe Grain.

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WILSON AGEn.I @MJ-WM' Improvement in Machine vfor Cleaning and Scouring Rice, Coffee, and otherv Grain. No. 4,579. Reiss'ued0cf.1o,1a71.

Eef "lge-x wenn@ @wenn UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILSON AGER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F OLUllIBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN` MAOHINES FOR CLEANING ANO SCOURING RICE, COFFEE, AND OTHER GRAIN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,177, dated September 15, 1857 reissue No. 4,579, dated October 10, 1871 extended seven years.

To Il whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, lVILsON AGER, now of -\Vllshington, in tinl IDistrict of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hulling and Uleaning Rice, Uo'ee, and other Grain; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawing form4 ing part of this specification, in which Figure l is a top view ofthe lnachine by which the operation is effected. Fi g. 2 is a vertical section on line ww, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of driving-wheel end of machine. Fig. 4 is an elevation ot the opposite end showing pinions for rotating the burr. Fig. 5 is a view of the burr removed from the shell. Fig. Gris a view showing the interior of shell. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are detached views ofthe dress. Fig. 10 is a transverse section of the shell and burr in position.

Similar eharacters'of reference in the several figures denote the same parts.

The object of my invention is the cleaning and scouring of the grain ready for use lafter the removal of the husk therefrom.

Before describing the means I employ to effect that end I will refer briey to the structure of the grain when rice is to operated upon.

The husk of the paddy is attached to the grain at one extremity only, and can readily be separated therefrom by pressure in direction of the length of the grain. In fact this is the easiest way to effect the separation. After the removal of the husk the grain is found to be covered with a coating, which can readily be lremoved by rubbing upon some rough substance. The removal of this coating and the separation of the germ constitutes the cleaning ofthe grain. Regarding the husk, it will be found that its outer surface is roughened somewl at like a le, which property l avail myself of in t e cleaning process, as will be hereinafter set forth. The nature of my invention principally consists of the peculiar construction and arrangement of the scouring mechism for the rice or other grain operating upon the mixture of husk and kernels after the grain is hulled, by an alternate packing and loosening action for removing the coating or pellicle and polishing the kernels for the market. The inanner in which this packing' and rubbing operation is performed consists in the passing of the rice, &c., and husk between the shell and burr, rotating in opposite directions, and so dressed that the husk shall act upon and remove t-he inner coating aforesaid and the germ be also separated from the grain during the cleaning operation, the details of construction and operation being as hereinafter set forth. r

In the drawing, S is the shell suliiported by hollow shafts, e a', in bearings b b', and rotated in direction of arrow l, Fig. 3, by power applied to wheel A secured on hollow shaft a'. Bis the burr, having spindles cc' at its extremities passing through hollow shafts a c' and rotated in direction of arrows 2, Fig. 4, by reason of cogwheel connections cl d' between shafts a' and j', and pinion connections e e' e" between shaft j' and spindle c. The hollow-shafts ay a' are upon heads g g', secured iu the ends of the shell or concave S, as shown in Fig. 2. The shell S is encased in bands h h' at the extremities, as shown in Figs. l and 2. 0n band h' is the feed-hopper 'i communicating with the surface of the burr by openings 'i' in the shell, Figs. 2 and 6. Band h has a discharge-pipe lc, outlets ,k' in the shell permitting' the passage of the grain. The bands are secured to the supports I) D' by screw S', and the shell rotates freely within them. The burr B is formed with a vspiral-flange Z, occupying the position beneath the band h' for conveying the paddy or other grain to the hulling portion of the n'lvachine. This hulling portion is cylindrical and is represented in Fi g. 5 by the part of the burr between y and z. Its surface has a dress consisting of a system of indcntations, n' Figs. S and 9, having' their greatest depth at the base, and reaching the surface at the point. The hulL ing portion of the shell, shownl between y' and z', Fig. 6, has a similar dress arranged in inverse order. This dress is shown at X, Fig. 8, and X', Fig. 9, where X, Fig. 8, represents a portion of the hulling shell of full size 5 and X' X", Fig. 9, a portion of the shell and burr of full size, revolving in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows 3 and 4, and showing the reverse positions of the indentations. Upon the hulling- -cylinder is the double series of deflecting-blocks m., arranged spil-ally, as shown in Fig- 5, the action of which will be hereinafter set forth. F-rom z to z" of the burr B is a spiral-flange, o, which conveys the grain and husk to the cleaning-Imrtion of the machine.` The burr and concave or shell of this part has the cross-section shown at Y, Fig. 10, and the dress shown at Y', Fig. 7, the cavities p p', Figs. 5 and 6, being so arranged on the shell and burr as that the two series shall cross when the parts are in position. The cavities shown at Y are of full size.

The operation of the hulling and cleaning is as follows: The paddy is fed by the hopper i as shell and burr are rotated in oposite directions indicated by arrows l and 2. On passing through the openings i of the shell the rice encounters the spiral-flange l, and is conveyed by it to the space between the hulling portions of the lshell and burr. The paddy on entering this space will encounter'some one of the deiiecting-blocks m, which will turn the grain across the axis of the burr, and in so doing cause one end of the grain to enter a cavity, n., in the shell as thev other is caught by one of vthe cavities, n', in the burr, as` shown in X H, Fig. 9. The rotation of the shell and burr, as shown by arrows, causes a pressure in the direction of the length of the grain eecting theseparation of the husk, as before stated. The grain and husk then pass onward to the spiral-flange o, which conveys them to the cleaner. There the rice. and husk p ack together as the shell and burr rotate in opposite directions, shown by arrows at Y, Fig. 10; the rough surface of the husk rubbing vupon the grain and acting as a iile to remove the coating therefrom. The eccentricity of the operating surfaces of this portion of the machine cause the greatest packing when the ridges r T', Fig. 10,

are opposite each other, and when the ridges passy to the position shown at Y, Fig. 10, the increase of space causes'the grain and husk to be changed in relative position, whereby otherlportions of the grain are submitted to the action of the husk. Therefore, since the shell and burr rotate with considerable rapidity, there is a continual change of position of the substance passing between them, causing the grain to be thoroughly operated upon and the coating entirely removed during the transit of the mixture from z to z". The cleaned rice and husk are then `forced out through passage la, Fig. 2, after which the husk may be separated from the grain in any suitable manner. During the rubbing of the rice and husk the ends of the grain will bebrought in contact with the edge of some one of the cavities p p', which will cause the germ to separate from the grain.

Having' described my invention, I claim- The method of cleaning and scouring rice, coffee, and other grain by means of the mechanism herein described, consisting chiefly ofthe shell S provided with the cavities p and ridges r on its interior surface in combination with burr-cylinder B, provided with similar cavities and ridges p r upon its outer surface, as specified and shown,

constructed and arrangedto operate as described, whereby the grain after being hulled is subjected with the husk to an alternate packing and loosening action whilebeingcleaned and scoured, resulting from the peculiar form and dress of the scouring surfaces above described, substantially as set forth.

. WILSON AGER. Witnesses: EDM. F. BROWN,

DANIEL BREED. (70)

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