US3915627A

US3915627A - Dryer for moist particles such as grain

Info

Publication number: US3915627A
Application number: US493212A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard F Foy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-07-31
Filing date: 1974-07-31
Publication date: 1975-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 1992-10-28

Abstract

A particle dryer embodies a rotatable tube mounted at an angle with the particles introduced at the forward highest end of the tube from which the heated air flows. The flow of grain to the tube is regulated so as a limited amount will be engaged by extending longitudinal channels or angles on the wall and sprinkle downwardly from the tube side to the bottom and counterflow through the moving heated air. Rearwardly of the center a sleeve is disposed about and spaced from the rotatable tube. The sleeve is supported on a burner casing at the bottom to produce a flow of heated air to the wall of the tube which is perforated and lined with a screen on the inside. The sleeve is covered with insulating material along with the section thereahead, the former of which is stationary and the latter of which rotates with the tube. A washerlike split ring is secured at the ends of the sleeve made from glass filaments or the like which will withstand heat and wear when disposed in engagement with the rotatable wall of the tube for trapping air within the sleeve and forcing it to pass through the perforations into the interior of the tube. A grain cooling section is provided rearwardly of the heating section whereby the dried grain may be cooled preparatory to being dispensed into suitable containers.

Description

Foy

1 Oct. 28, 1975 DRYER FOR MOIST PARTICLES SUCH AS GRAIN [76] Inventor: Richard F. Foy, 2551 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 48013 [22] Filed: July 31, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 493,212

[52] US. Cl. 432/105; 432/106; 432/117 [51] Int. Cl. F27B 7/36; F27B 7/32 [58] Field of Search 432/105, 106, 108, 117, 432/1 18 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,020,960 ll/1935 Pehrson et al. 432/105 2,455,531 12/1948 Stroman 3,242,888 3/1966 Klovers et a1 432/106 Primary Examiner-John J. Camby Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Harness, Dickey & Pierce [57] ABSTRACT A particle dryer embodies a rotatable tube mounted at an angle with the particles introduced at the forward highest end of the tube from which the heated air flows. The flow of grain to the tube is regulated so as a limited amount will be engaged by extending longitudinal channels or angles on the wall and sprinkle downwardly from the tube side to the bottom and counterflow through the moving heated air. Rearwardly of the center a sleeve is disposed about and spaced from the rotatable tube. The sleeve is supported on a burner casing at the bottom to produce a flow of heated air to the wall of the tube which is perforated and lined with a screen on the inside. The sleeve is covered with insulating material along with the section thereahead, the former of which is stationary and the latter of which rotates with the tube. A washerlike split ring is secured at the ends of the sleeve made from glass filaments or the like which will withstand heat and wear when disposed in engagement with the rotatable wall of the tube for trapping air within the sleeve and forcing it to pass through the perforations into the interior of the tube. A grain cooling section is provided rearwardly of the heating section whereby the dried grain may be cooled preparatory to being dispensed into suitable containers.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Sheet10 f3 m 3,915,627

US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 US. Patent 0a. 28, 1975 Sheet 2 on 3,915,627

US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,915,627

/li" A m 1 DRYER FOR MOIST PARTICLES SUCH AS GRAIN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Reference may be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,677,195; 2,683,594; 2,774,587; 2,939,693; 3,076,269; 3,136,611 and 3,360,868 which were uncovered in a search and which shows the state of the art covering similar types of particle heating devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The dryer of the present invention can be made in any size but in the present instance is constructed to fit upon the bed of a truck so that it can be transported from one place to another to dry the damp grain on the site where it is stored, usually on a farm where it was grown. The dryer embodies a tube which is approximately 3 /2 times its diameter which in the present ex ample is approximately feet. This tube is divided into a front grain receiving end, a rear grain expelling end, a preliminary drying section adjacent to the front end and a heating section between the preliminary drying section and the rear end. The forward portions of the rear end and the preliminary drying section have a ring shaped I-section element thereabout in which a plural ity of rollers extend with the outer face engaged by a pair of spaced supporting rollers. The rollers are mounted on pedestals, the ones at the front intake end are higher than those at the rear outlet end so as to have the axis of the tube disposed at an angle sloping toward the rear end. This causes the particles of grain to move from the intake end to the exhaust end as the tube is rotated.

A third ring is mounted on the tube which may have teeth for a chain which is driven by a sprocket on a motor for turning the tube at a slow speed of approximately revolutions a minute. The preliminary drying section has a layer of insulating material thereabout retained thereon by a sleeve of sheet aluminum fixed to the outer surface thereof and to the tube. The heating section is formed by a U-shaped sleeve which is spaced from the tube and supported on a perforated offset housing in which an elongated burner is mounted and operated by propane or other suitable gas from a replaceable tank. Most of the products of combustion from the burner mixed with the air from the perforated openings in the burner housing travels upward about one side of the tube which is perforated in the area of the sleeve with the inside covered by a screen to permit the entrance of the heated air while preventing the passing of the grain and chaff therefrom.

A frame is mounted at each end of the sleeve to which it is secured and the ends of the sleeve have a washerlike element attached thereto made of glass filaments or the like which will withstand the heat and wear when disposed in engagement with the outer surface of the tube to maintain the heated air within the sleeve and force it through the perforations and screen into the tube where it will pass to and from a fan at the front end, The granular particles are raised and dropped from the aligned channels and angle members which are longitudinally disposed on the inner wall of the tube so as to have the heated air pass through the moist granules as they fall from the wall.

A frame is provided at the front higher end of the tube having a hopper for delivering the moist particles through a fixed wall within the tube end. The particles are metered from a second hopper which has a gate which may be moved inwardly and outwardly to change the size of the orifice through which the particles pass so as to control the flow thereof to and through the tube. An auger is disposed in the second hopper for delivering the particles therefrom to the first said hopper which delivers them to the tube end. A frame is also provided at the rear end of the tube for supporting a truncated disk therewithin having the cutaway portion extending above the bottom of the tube at one side thereof. An outer wall is provided with a screen for the passage of air which cools the grain before it enters the discharge hopper. The outer wall is spaced from the bottom of the rear end of the tube, with an inner wall extending forwardly and arched around the rear end of the tube for catching the grain as it is advanced to the area between the walls which form the discharge hopper. The discharge hopper may have an auger piv oted therein for raising the dried granules and delivering them to a bin on the body of a truck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a supporting base which may be the floor of a truck for a particle drying device embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 3-3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 44 thereof;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 5-5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 66 thereof;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 77 thereof;

FIG. 8 is an end view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 as viewed from the point 8 thereof, and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 8, taken on the line 9-9 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The particle dryer ll of the present invention embodies a tube 12 of substantial length being approximately three or four times its diameter in length. I- beam elements 13 and 14 are formed into rings and secured to the outer surface of the tube 12 near the rear end of the front section 15 and near the forward end of the rear section 16. Wheels 17 are supported by brackets 18 which are mounted upon spaced pedestals 19 to have the wheels 17 spaced apart a substantial distance for engaging the outer web of the element 13 and supporting the front portion of the tube 12 for rotation. Similar wheels 21 are supported by brackets 22 on pedestals 23 with the wheels in engagement with the outer web of the element 14 and spaced apart to be aligned with the wheels 17 for supporting the rear portion of the tube 12. An additional wheel 20 is mounted on an axle 20A between the pedestals 23, the periphery of which wheel 20 extends into the rearwardly facing side channel of the element 14 for preventing the rearward movement of the tube 12. It will be noted that the front pedestals 19 are higher than the rear pedestals 23 so as to have the tube 12 slope from the front intake end rearwardly to the rear discharge end.

A drive ring 24 may be constructed as a pulley or as a sprocket having teeth which engages a chain 25 which meshes with the teeth of a sprocket 26 supported and driven by a shaft 27 from a reduction gear box 28 of a motor 29 through a universal joint 27. If the ring 24 is a pulley, then the chain 25 would be a belt driven from a pulley on the end of the shaft 27. The preliminary drying section 31 of the tube 12 is covered with an insulating material 32 contained within a sleeve 33 of sheet material, preferably of aluminum. The insulation 32 and sleeve 33 are fixed to the section 31 of the tube to rotate therewith.

The heating section 34 has an arched frame 35 disposed at each end for securing a sleeve 36 which is supported about the tube section 34 in spaced relation therewith as illustrated in FIG. 6. The portion of the tube 12 forming the section 34 has perforations 37 extending therethrough enclosed by an inner screen 38 which is secured to longitudinally disposed angle members 39. The angle members 39 are disposed in extension of the channel members 41 which are aligned therewith and diametrically spaced 90 apart along the inner wall of the tube. The members within the sections 15, 16 and 31 are the ones of channel section 41, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 9. The channel and angle sections control the movement of the grain as it is carried upwardly with the wall to spill over the channel or angle members to pass downwardly through the heated air which is moving forwardly along the side of the wall from the heated section through the preliminary drying section and to and from the front end into which the particles, which are usually grain, are introduced.

The outer surface of the sleeve 36 is covered by the insulation 32 enclosed by an aluminum sheet 42. In this instance, the insulation 32 and sheet 42 are fixed to the spaced arched frames 35 at each end of the heating section. The burner area 43 is confined by an offset elongated casing 44 having a plurality of apertures 45 therethrough for the passage of air which supports combustion at a burner 46 which embodies a plurality of tubular elements having openings at the top thereof. The burner is offset to deliver heated air along the side 47 of the tube 12 and is supplied with propane or other suitable gas through a conduit 48 from a gas tank 49 mounted on the base or platform 10.

In accordance with one of the features of the present invention, the grain which is dried within the dryer 11 is subject to a coating operation before it is dispensed or discharged. More particularly, as the grain flows into or th'rough'the section 16, it will be cooled under the influence .of the rotating angle members 39 and by the flow of air supplied by the fan 40. Accordingly, the

temperature of the grain will be reduced to an acceptable level before the dried grain is dispersed through the conduit 74 into the hopper 77, from where the grain may be transported to any suitable destination for use, storage, etc.

A hopper 53 is mounted on a frame 54 and provided with a nozzle 55 projecting through an opening in a circular closure plate supported by the frame 54 inside of the tube 12 for introducing a flow of moist grain thereinto to be dried. A fan 40 may be mounted on the plate 30 for discharging air from the front end of the tube 12. A flowcontrol hopper 56 may be mounted at the bottom of the frame 54 having a slide therein (not shown) which is moved by turning a handle 57 on a threaded screw 58 to regulate the size of the opening for metering the grain delivered to the hopper 53. By using an auger device 59 the grain is advanced from the hopper 56 to the hopper 53.

As the tube 12 is rotated, the grain passes rearwardly along the tube 12 as it is raised and continuously dropped through the heated air which is passing along the wall from the rear to the front end of the tube in counterflow movement to the movement of the grain. The flow from the burner 46 containing the products of combustion and the air from the intake apertures 45 will pass upwardly along one side of the tube 12 from which rotation occurs into the area between the tube 12 and sleeve 36. The heated mass will pass through the perforations 37 and screen 38 into the tube 12. To prevent the escape of the heated air, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a washerlike element 61 is secured to the spaced frames 35 and the ends of the sleeve 36 by suitable means, herein illustrated as by bolts 62. The washers 61 are made from some durable material such as filaments of glass which will withstand the effects of wear and heat and which is capable of retaining the heated air within the space between the tube 12 and sleeve 36. A similar washer 61 may be secured to the edge of the plate 30 in engagement with the tube 12 to prevent the escape of air between the plate 30 and tube 12.

An angle member frame 63 is constructed to have the upper portion disposed within the rear end of the tube 12 for supporting a truncated circular plate 64 within the end with the cutoff section 60 disposed at the side 47 in alignment with the side at which the heated air is delivered. The lower portion 65 of the frame 63 extends outwardly from the upper portion to form a delivery hopper 66 having an outer wall 67 containing a screened opening 68 at the side portion 47 for the passage of air into the rear end of the tube 12. An inner wall 69 has a semi-cylindrical flange 71 extending beneath the rear end of the tube 12 to permit the passage of the grain out through the end of the tube into the area between the sloping edge walls 73 into a circular conduit 74 from which the grain passes downwardly beneath the platform or base 10 where it is collected in suitable containers such as a hopper 77. The frame 63 is supported on the platform or base 10 by a suitable plate 75 and braced by angle members 76 from the platform or base 10. An auger 78 delivers the dried grain from the hopper 77 to a bin or truck body in the conventional manner.

With this arrangement, the grain or other particles are continuously advanced through the drying tube 12 which is continuously rotated and provided with a flow of heated air from the rear to the front end along one side of the wall in countermovement to the direction of grain flow and in the path of fall of the grain particles. Longitudinally extending vanes within the tube continuously raise the grain and permit it to fall from the tube side through the heated air flowing therealong. This continuously subjects the grain particles to the heated air as they pass to the rear end of the tube by the slope thereof while being continuously raised and dropped through the flow of heated air. Once the grain reaches the cooling section at the rearward end of the tube 12, the flow of air from the fan 40 will cool the heated and dried grain. after which time the grain may be dis-.

tioned, it is to be understood that any type of particles which are to be treated by a flow of heated air can be satisfactorily dried by being passed through the tube 12 from the front intake to the rear discharge end thereof, as specifically described hereinabove.

I claim:

1. In a drying device for particles of material, a tube of substantial length having intake and exhaust end sections and a preliminary drying section and a heated section between the end sections, perforations being provided through the wall of said tube at the heated section permitting heat to pass into the tube during rotation thereof, screen means supported within said tube at the heated section covering said perforations, rings mounted on the outer surface of said tube inwardly of the ends thereof, rollers engaged by said rings by which the tube is supported for rotation and retained against endwise movement, a motor, drive means between said tube and motor by which the tube is rotated, insulating means on the preliminary drying section rotatable with said tube, a burner housing, heating means for said heated section embodying a fixed sleeve spaced from said tube and engaged by said burner housing, said burner housing offset toward one side of said sleeve for delivering air along one side of the tube and heating means within said housing for heating air and delivering it between said sleeve and tube.

2. In a drying device as recited in claim 1, wherein rows of outwardly extending members are provided on the inner wall of said tube from which the particles fall when raised by the tube as it is rotated, the heated air at the side of the tube passing through the falling particles in counter-flow relation thereof.

3. In a drying device as recited in claim I, wherein washer elements are supported on the ends of said sleeve in engagement with said tube for confining the heated air within said sleeve.

4. In a drying device as recited in claim 1, wherein hopper means is provided at the intake end extending through a circular plate therein for delivering the particles at a predetermined rate to within the front end of said tube.

5. In a drying device as recited in claim 4, wherein hopper means is provided at the rear end of said tube having bottom inner and outer openings aligned with the side of the tube along which the heated air is directed.

6. In a drying device as recited in claim 5, wherein the hopper means at the rear end section has a screen over the outer opening for the passage of air into the rear end of the tube.

7. In a drying device as recited in claim 6, wherein the forward wall of the hopper means at the rear end section has an arcuate flange extending forwardly beneath the lower portion of said tube.

Claims

2. In a drying device as recited in claim 1, wherein rows of outwardly extending members are provided on the inner wall of said tube from which the particles fall when raised by the tube as it is rotated, the heated air at the side of the tube passing through the falling particles in counterflow relation thereof.

3. In a drying device as recited in claim 1, wherein washer elements are supported on the ends of said sleeve in engagement with said tube for confining the heated air within said sleeve.