USRE4769E - Improvement in centrifugal machines for draining sugar and other substances - Google Patents

Description

2 SheetS-Sheet1.

.. g te Reissued Feb. 27, 1872.

III

SAMUEL s. HEPWOR'TH.

Sugar' and other Substancesl.

Improvement in Centrifugal Machines for Drainin'g EC RTLITNOGRAPNING U1. WSHINGTON D f 2 Sheets-$heet 2'.

SAMUEL s. HEP'WORTH. improvement in Centrifugal Mchins for Draining 4Sugar and other Substances.

*.Reissued Feb. 27,1872.

I l Tm Vl l 'Jl [//1 rasant UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I 'XM'UEIL S. I'IEIVORTH, OF YONKERS, NEV YORK, ASSI'GNOR, BY INIESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF PART' INTEREST T() GOUVERNEUR PAULDING.

IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRIFUGL MACHINES FOR DRAININGSUGAR AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.

Specification lormiing,l part oi' Letters Iaient No. 82,314, dated September 22, 1868', reissue I\'o. 4,76),datcd February :27, 157:2.

.To all yrif/tom, it' may' concern:

Ie it known that I, S. S. IIEPWOR'IH, of Boston, in the county of.' Suffolk and State ot' Massachusetts, have invented new and uselnl Improvements in Centrifugal lilaehines;l and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those sltillediii the art to malte and use the same, rel'ereiice being had to the accompanying drawing forming part 'ofthis specifica-tion. A

Figure l shows a sectionalview of my iinprovedmachine and the apparatus for coinmunicating motion to it. Ifig. 2 shows a front view ot' the same. 'Fig'. 3 shows a view of the wheel Ojdetached; view ot' the lower bearing ot: the shaft I3.

This invent-ion rei'ers to a class otl machines used in the refining' of sugar, by which the molasses is separated from the sugar by ccn trit'ugal action.

I'Ieretot'ore the principal difficult-y experienced in thc employment ot' centrifugal ma.- chines was-that ythe weight of the revolving parts, together vwith the Contents, when re! volvin with great velocity, caused a gyratory vibration, which necessitates the use ot' the machine in the lower part ot the building,

. where a firm and expensive foundation mustbe fori-ned, to prevent the detrimental vibration of the building. The-wear ot' such machines was rapid, occasioningfrequent repairs. The. tendency to gyration or irregular actionis due to the in'lpossibility ot' distributing' the crude su gar uniformly around the central axis ot' the machine, and all attempts at improvement heretofore made were ineffective, as the curb or hoop exterior to the sugar-basket was fixed, which necessita-ted the. restriction, as much as possible, ot' the shaft ot' the machine from. vi#

rior to thc basket, and provit ed with an annu- Iig. 4; shows an enlarged lar trough, A', to receive the molasses or sirnp, and dischargeit at U into the funnclT, aspreviously done. But, instead ot' attemptingto coniine the shaft B to perfect axial rotation, I provide a step-bearing for its reduced end, r, in a metallic crossbar, f, as shown, This bar is atl iixed securely to and across the bottom ofthe curb A, so that the curb and basket shall be concentric. Tapped `into or yotherwise ailixed to the said cross-bar is a gudgeon, b, which works loosely within an elastic relleno, of rubber or other suitablev material,- and both the roller and v ptdgecn are allowed space for gyration within a stout iron cup, J, so that when the sha-ft revolves, its tendency to gyrate also will be permitted by the cup and roller, but with a noisless and elastic action, which is perfectly harmless to the machine or the" building. The cup 'J forms part ofthe pedestal I, which is firmly ailixed to the bed-plate L, but thiscup does not sustain any portion of the weight'ot the parts above, as will now be shown.4 The shaft B is suspended wit-hin a sleeve, e., by inea-ns of itshead, g, restingon a bearing-ring, fi, within the oil-cup j, which latter, together with the bearingring i and swelled section a', forms part ot' the said sleeve, as shown. This swelled section its a corresponding surface, l', of the next sleeve l, as shown, whereby the weight of the shaft, and sugar-basket, and the contents ,of the latter, are supported by the sleeve l. held by a large screw-bolt, d, which screwsilito the cap e oi' the sleeve l, as shown, the said screw-bolt d beine upheldby a cam-link, h, which latter is pivoted to the screw-bolt, as shown, and rests upon washers lc, in a recess in the top ot' exterior sleeve m., the latter sleeve bein g a part of the frame K, as shown.

Thus, the sleeve m sustains the screwbolt, and

the screw-bolt 'sustainsy the secondv sleeve l, which, in turn, sustains, at c', the inner sleeve a, which latter, lastly, sustains the Vweight of the revolving,` parts on the bearing-ring yi. Thev curb A is suspended directly from the inner sleeve c. by arms G and rods E, which pass down through lugs on the cast part ofthe curb A, as shown. The yholes in the sleeves. Zand fm, are only suiiiciently larg@ to permit the vibration or gyration ot' the armsGr, caused by the gyration ofthe shaft B. New, when The slecvetis A the machine is in motion the curb A sus )ended a's shown, will always be concentric with the shaft B and su gar-basket, for the shaft sup` porting the latter has its lower bearing in the cross-bar f afixed to the curb, as aforesaid. The bottom S of the basket is held on the shaft by a nut, n, on the reduced end of the sha-ft B, which reduced end rests, as shown, in a stepbearing in the bar f. The construction is better shown in the enlarged detail View at Fig. et'. The pulley 0 is keyed onto the shaft B, and-.a belt from the pulley Dto the pulley C drives the shaft B and its basket P.. When it is desired to step the machine the lever P is moved so as tobring the eamlink Je, to the lett, when the shaft will be elevated a short distance," which will bring,` the hemisphericai cavity c ot' the pulley C-in contact with the correspondin g` hemispherical surface m et' the sleeve m, whereby a breaking ettectwill re.

sult from the friction ot' the twok parts, and

- the revolution of the shaft be retarded, and

finally stopped. The red l?, which connects Athe lever with the cani-link h, also connects with the eainlink It', which is so shaped, as te its-lower part, which rests ou washers around the screw-bolt supporting, the shaft P', that, when the said cam-link It is brought forward bythe lever l and rod F, the shai't will be lowered, and the base of the friction-cone lli brought inv contact with the iiictioircnpvN, as shown, which will produce a braking effect. The shalt l and the parts Q Q Q it Z O X Y lV,

and the arrangement tl 1ereot',iormingn0 iiartot the invention claimed, will not be lfurtherdwelt I Y upon, thedrawingexhibitingtheir construction and operation suiliciently. The gudgeon bissepf :irate and distinct from the reduced endet1 the shalt B, and therefore does not revolve witlrit. Thatexpcdient has been attempted, in 'connecticn with a roller, many years ago, but the .revolution ofthe gudg'eon ca-us'edthc roller to )in side to side within its bearings, `lcvicewas abandoned at once, and nevereame into practical use.

ln practice, thcgudg'eon b is cast on the. cross bar in preference to being tapped into the saidbar, as shown in the drawing, but

IiLLWliateVer 'manner it may be uflixed or formed, its rigid character is what conduccs,

' in connection with the roller and cup, -to the 'perfect working of the. machine. The hcmis- I pherical form ot' the lower part, fm, 'of the sleeve in, and the corresponding,` form of the cavity c of the pulley C, permit the gyra'tion ot' the shaft without jar'or hindrance when the brake is applied, for these surfaces are concentric, and their radiuses terminate at thc ccnter of the vibration of the shaft B, which is utsomc point above the i'riction-surihccs. This,4 of course, will be determined by the builder to suit the other dimensions. lhcgyra-tory vibration ot' the shaft is permitted by the spherical fitting ot' thc sleeves u, and I, as 1 shown at a 1f, andthis will give the requisite amount ot1 play at the lower end ot' the sha ift without,otherwise providing thcreihr. The lower 'end ot' the linlt It is composed ot' aplanc surta-ee, as shown, and a circular-part, h.

This latter is what sustains` the weight oli'. the

shaft P', and'keeps the friction-cones from conA tact when the plane hf of the cam-link lt is ybrought to sustain the shaft B, when the machine is stopped to reinovcthe drained sugar from the basket.

rlhisv device, therefore, enables the basket to be turned easily by hand in so removing,r the sugar, as the surfaces c and in are then not in contact, nor are the friction-cones, as when the shaft B -is supported by the plane ot' the cam-link it, which is employed when the shaft is rotating. lhis invention supplies want long;v felt inthc employment et cenl trit'ugal machines for reiiningsngar, and great ly'conduces to the economical workingl c-t' such machines.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent l, The suspension of the shaft B and curb A., et a centrifugal machine, from ay sleeve, o,

or other equivalent device, substantially as vshown and described, and t'orthepurposes sei. l

forth. Y y

2. Supporting' the sleeve (t by the spherical surfaces c and t', or surfaces approximating to a spherical surface, for the purpose ol' snpporting and pcrnlitting the vibration or gyra,- tion ofthe basket-shaft l and curb A oi" a centrifugal machine, all as set i'orth.

the to'p by a huilend-socket or other iiexiblc. joint, and at thc bottom by a laterallyelastic bearing, substantially as and t'or thc purpose herein speciiied.

4. Employing the pulley()` and lowerend of theslceve in as i'rict-ioil-surfaces, i'ox the pur pose ot' retarding and stoppinetherevolution of' the basket-shaft ll ol' a centrifugal' machine, all as set forth.

A 5. Making the surfaces c and m spherical, for the purpose of pm'mitting, the gyration of the basketshaft B, all substantially as shown and described.

6. The gudgeon i), aiiixed rigidly to the crossbarf', or other equivalent bottom part ot" the curb A, substantially as shown and described, in combination with a roller, o, and cup J, or its equivalent, as and for the. purpose sotfortis 7. The employment otl an elastic roller, o, substantially as shown and described, in com- Witnesses:

ln'rnn hun nia-1, I. N. PAULDING.

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