US1642705A - Stone catcher for beet slicers - Google Patents

Description

1,642,705 Sept. 209 H. R. TUTTI-E I- I STONE CATCHER FOR BEET SLICERS Filed June 213. 192e; 2 .sheets-sheen woswdioz l 1,642,705 Sepf- 20 1927 `H. R. TUTTLE STONE CATCHR FOR BEET SUICERS Filed June 23, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented sept; 2o, 1927.

' UNITED STATI-:s

HOWARD `RAY TUTTLE, 0F BLISSFIELD, MICHIGAN.

sfroNn CATCHER Fon 4ennui sLIcEns.

n Application filed June 23,

An object of my inventionis to provide an improved stone catcher lfor beet slicers of' the drum type commonly known as Magnin slicers, of which there are many in use in theUnited States. My invent-ion is characterized' by the fact that my rock catcher can be easily and quickly thrown into operatingV position when a rock is discovered in the slicer, and also that when same is in its operating position the beets, rock, etc. will pass in a. continuous stream from inside the slicer into my rock catcher vandy automatically out through t-he end of same, which results in an action that is much more effective in removing the rock or other hard foreign substance from the slicer, than can be obtained. with the roc-k catchers ordinarily furnished on these slicers.

Itis understood that the presence ofrocks or other hard foreign substances such ras iron, nuts, bolts, etc. in the slicer -is very objectionable, as same destroys or greatly impairs the knives which revolve in the slicer to cut the beets which are continuously fed into same. Y A

The rock catcher ordinarily used on slicers ofthe above lmake consists of a cylinder passing into the Slicer, the outer end of said cylinder being closed and having a small handle the length of which approximately equals the diameter ofthe cylinder, for the purpose of turning the cylinder on its'seat when a rock is discovered in the slicer. At an appropriate Vplace in the cylindrical wall of said rock catcher, a rectangular opening is vformed therein, for permitting the beets, stone, etc. to yentery this rock catcherkwhen same is thrown or'rotated into operating position. Ordinarily, when there is no stone inthe `slicer, this cylinder is revolved into its normal position where the above mentioned cylindrical opening'is blanked off by the surrounding housing in such manner that no beets or other substance can enter the rock catcher Awhich is thus kept empty to provide a small amount of space into which the beets can rush, and presumably carry the stone,v when the rock catcher is thrown into operation. The trouble with theseV ordinaryrock catchers is that owing to the corrosion caused bythe beet juices which saturateall parts of the slice'r during operation, these ordinary rock catchers, wino to ,their excessive bear' tapp surface, can only' be turned ywith great nutty' 'which takes eltngether 'toe much 1926. Serial NO. 118,109.`

time in effecting same, and the rock often y up to capacity, with the resultthat the rock isstill in and cannot be removed from the slicer at all, and then'considerable damage to the knives and other parts of the machine results. `Furthermore, since it is necessaryr finally to pull this rock catcher out of the slicer inl order to empty fromit the beets and .the rock whichwas hoped would'enter same, much diiiculty and delay in this respect is often encountered because many of thejbeets will be part way in and part way out of this cylindrical rock catcher, and by locking or jamming themselves crosswise of other Xed parts of the surrounding slicer housing, practically bind or lock the rock catcher in the slicer, making it very difficult to'k remove the rock catcher for emptying same. The delays often experienced on this account are exceedingly annoying.

All the objections previously mentioned,

areeliminated by my improved stone catcher.' I reduce the bearing area` of same to narrow a widths, which makes it exceedingly easy to rotate the rock catcher into operating posi'- tiony in spite of the normal corrosion at the points of bearing contact. This'easy rotation is further facilitated by means ofthe adequate turning lever which I furnish Ifor this purpose. Furthermore, bypopening the end of my rock catcherwhich projects out through the'side of the slicer, in place'of sealing up this end bya closure like in the common rock catchers, the beets flow in the continuous stream from the inside of the slicer through my cylindrical rock catcher and out through the open end of same, until the offending rock, bolt or other lmatter, comes outof the slicer. At least the operator canori-:ach into my rock catcher through the @pen end of same with his hand, or can poke into saine with a rod, for the urpose of keeping the beets seatimieusy earning through and out of the open end of same until the rock comes out. Obviously this is much more practicable than the old type of rock catchers ordinarily furnished on these slicers.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawings, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a beet. slicer equipped with my improved stone catcher. In this figure the stone catcher 1s shown in its normal inoperative position corresponding to the time when there is no stone in the slicer to be removed.

Fig. -2 is a similar view showing the stone catcher only, but in its operative position f for removing the beets, stone, etc. from the slicer.

Fig. 3 is a transverseV section in plan through a slicer equipped with my improved rock catcher.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the slicer showing my rock catcher in place.

Fig, 5 shows the principal member comprising my rock catcher, removed from the slicer.

The general parts of the slicer are well known, and consist of a rotary drum carried on a horizontal shaft 1, and on the inner face of this rotary drum are carried a continuous .series of beet cutting knives 2 of well known type. The beets are fed through a hopper 3, see Fig. 4, into the slicerl where they quickly move into the position shown in Fig. 1, the spirally shaped pressure plate 4 serving to wedge or press the lbeets downward upon the knives to effectively cut same. v Toward the end of this pressure plate there is a cylindrical housing 5 for carrying the cylindrical part 6 of the stone catcher, -and just beyond this stone catcher is fastened the counterplate 7 which normally prevents the beets from being ycompletely carried around the slicer as indicated in Fig. 1,and which also serves to defleet the beets, stone, etc., into the stone catcher when the latter is revolved into its operating position as indicated in Fig. 2.

As best indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, this stone catcher consists principally of a cylindrical member 6, having a more or less rectangularly shaped opening therein, and also having relatively narrow bearing bands 9 .on the outer surface thereof, a long hand lever 1.0 being also attached thereto. As indicated in Fig. 3 the cylindrical member 6 projects through and beyond the stationary non-rotating side member 11 of the slicer. Suitable cleats .or straps 12 are fastened to this side member 11, and cooperate in permanently holding the rock catcher 6 in its housing 5, i. e. they prevent ythe rOvCk catcher by same if necessary, I prefer to bevel theA edges 13 of same, adjacent the opening 8, as best seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Also to prevent muck and fine cuttings from leaking into the clearance space between housing 5 and cylinder 6, I prefer toV roll out the bevelled edges 13 of the cylinder as Yshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. A simple quicksopening latch or member 15 preferably is also p rovided. This member furnishes a stop o r rest on which the hand lever 10 can normally rest in its horizontal position, to prevent the rock catcher accidentally turning from its normally closed to its open operating position. In Fig. 3 the dotted position of hand lever 10 is shown resting on this latch 15, the position being dotted in as it does not correspond with the `open position shown by the balance lof the rock catcher in this view,

The approximate relation between the hand lever 10 and the opening 8 in the rock catcher is best shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 4, shows in full line the actual position o1' hand lever 10 corresponding to the normal closed position of the rock catcher. It is seen to be resting on the latch 15. The ldotted position of hand lever 10 in Fig. 4 shows same swung around to its position when the rock catcher is in open operating position. To swing this hand lever 10 from its horizontal closed p0- sition, down into its open position, it yis merely necessary to rotate latch 15 out of the way horizontally around its pin 16, s ee Figs. 3 land 4, which can be veryqnikly done, and it is then practically no effort whatever to force the hand lever 1 0 down into its `dotted position shown in Fig. 4 for the purpose of quickly throwing the rock catcher into open position. When this is done lthe beets, rock, etc. will obviously pass from inside the slicer, through opening 8l into the cylindrical rock catcher, and view'/ of the operating pressure these beets,I etc. will automatically push themselves out of the open end 17 of the rock catcher a continuous stream onto the Hoor, unt-il the roel; is discharged, after which the hand lever 10 can again be swung up intov its horizontal position to close the rock catcher. Thereafter the voperation of the slicer continues as usual, `the rock or other hard foreign` substance 'having been safely removed from same. l

Owing to thecomparatively narrow width rae 'lll

of my bearing bands 9, there is obviously no considerable bearing resistance against the rotation of my rock catcher.

Various modifications and adaptations of iiiy improved rock catcher can of course be made in accordance with the tastes and desires of the designer for user thereof Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It is another important advantage of my rock catcher that same operates to removek and catch the rock from the slicer, without stopping the slicer or in any Way retarding or interfering with the continued slicing operation of the machine. This is not possible With the ordinary rock catchers furnished in this kind of a Slicer. lVith those ordinary rock catchers the slicer must invariably be stopped before therock catcher can be emptied of its beets, rock, and other trash, for the purpose of being sure that the rock has been removed from the slicer. Since delays of this character at the slicing machines, retard and delay the entire sugar factory, these delays at the Slicer are carefully guarded against by the management of the sugar factories. Therefore in so far as my rock catcher Wholly eliminates the delays just mentioned, its use is of great advantage.

I claim:

l. In a beet slicer having a stationary side member, a cylindrical drum revolving about a horizontal axis and having cutting knives fastened on the internal cylindrical face of saine, and a stationary housing Within said cylindrical drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mounted in said housing and projecting through said stationary side member, said cylindrical rock catcher having a hand lever for turning same and having the end which passes through said stationary side Vmember open, said cylindrical rock catcher also having an opening in the cylindrical face of same arranged to afforda continuous passage from the inside of the slicer through the last said opening and -out through the open end of said cylindrical rock catcher to the space outside of said slicer.

2. In a beet slicer having a stationary side member, a cylindrical drum revolving about a horizontal axis and having cutting knives lfastened on the internal cylindrical face of same, and a stationary housing Within said cylindrical drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mounted in said housin and narrow bearings between said cylin rical rock catcher and said housing for permitting the easy rotation of said rock catcher Within said housing.

3. In a beet slicer a stationary side member having a hole therethrough, a drum. adapted to revolve around a horizontal axis, a stationary housing Within said drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mounted in said housing and having one of its ends normally open and located adjacent said hole through the stationary side member, said rock catcher also having an opening through its cylindrical face arranged to afford a continuous passage from the inside of said slicer through the last said opening and out through said open end of the rock catcher and through said hole in thestationary side member to the space outside said slicer. c

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Blissield, in the county of Lena- Wee, Michigan, this 12th of December, 1925.y

HOWARD RAY TUTTLE.

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