USRE715E - Improvement in grain-separators - Google Patents

Description

J. R.-MOFF.|TT.

Grain Sparator.

Reissued May 17, 1859'. i

moor/v To"? UNITED STATES JOHN R. MOFFITT, or PIQUA, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAlN-SEPARATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,432, datedNovember 30, 1852; Reissue No. 540, dated March 23, 1858; Reissue No. 71 5, dated May 17, 187.19.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. Mormr'r, of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grain-Separators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification.

The subject of my invention is an improved construction of endless-chain strawcarrier, the links of which are furnished with protubcrances or cavities, which, in connection with suitable driving chain gears, are the means of imparting positive motion to the'straw-can rier for the purpose of enablingit to run slack and loose, to increase its efficiency, at the same time that it is rendered much more durable and the power required to propel it greatly reduced.

The accompanying drawing represents a vertical longitudinal section of a machine embodying my improvements. The toothed thrashing-cylinder b, concave a, riddle k, and fan It may be of any suitable form. The strawcarrier is composed of endless chains d, connected by wooden slats or rods w, about threefourthsof an inch in diameter and from an inch to an inch and a half apart. The links of the chain d are provided with teeth s, or depressions, which engage with suitable driving-chain gears, f, for the purpose of impartin g to the straw-carrier a positive motion with out the necessity of its being tightly stretched, the objectsof which are hereinafter explained. g are loose pulleys carrying one end of the straw:

carrier, and adjustable in distance from the gears f. r r are rollers supporting the upper side of the straw-carrier and assistingits agitation. j is a spiral conveyer employed to forward to the winnowing apparatus all matters which fall through the straw-carrier into the trough i. l is a rough, in which the imperfectly-thrashed heads, &c., are deposited by the combined action of the riddles is, fan t, and tail-board u. o is an elevator composed of a spiral flange having a pitch of about fifteen degrees and mounted on a shaft journaled within the elevator-box a, which is set at an angle of somewhat less than forty five degrees to the horizon, and in such position above the upper side of the screw to prevent choking.

The operation is as follows: After chaff, &c., are, by the tremulous shaking of the open straw-carrier, rapidly separated from the straw, the latter passing over the tail of the machine, while the'former fall through into" troughs i and are, by screws conveyed to the winnowing apparatus, where the grain, chafi, and tailings (or imperfectlythrashed heads, 850.) are separated in customary manner, and the latter, being deposited in the elevator-box n, are, by the spiral elevator 0, returned in a continuous stream to the action of the thrashing-cylinder.

It is evident that the construction of the chains d will admit of various slight modifications without changing theirleading characteristics or the essential features of the invention. ing-chain gears may engage in depressions in For instance, the cogs on the driv-,

passing through the thrashing apparatus 1) c,the grain,

the links, or the chain-gears may be iurnished' with cavities for the reception of protuberances on the links.

The importance of this invention consists in enabling the straw-carrier to run slack and loose by propelling it by a positive and definite motion rather than by the traction of smooth pulleys, the advantages of which are, first, the avoidance of friction, whereby the power required to propel the carrier is reduced and its durability increased many fold; and, second, increasing the tremulous shaking motion, which is best adapted for the separation of grain from straw. The strawcarrier is thus found to be such an eflectual separator as to entirely avoid the Waste of grain by passing over the tail of the machine,

and at the same time to allow the thrashing apparatus to be constructed and arranged wit-h exclusive reference to easy and effectual thrashing, which greatly economizes power and increases the efficiency of the machine.

It is preferable to drive the straw carrier by its lower end, the slackness of the upper side being by this means increased.

I claim as new and of my invention here- The endless chains d, composed of metallic links provided with protuberanees or depressions, when used in combination with suitable driving-chain gears to impart a positive motion to the straw-carrier of a thrashing and separating machine, as explained.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

J. R. MOFFITT. Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, OOTS. KNIGHT.

Images