Adjustable chaffer or sieve.

Application filed May 5,1900. Serial No. 15,638. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Benjamin F. Martien, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ashland, in the county of Ashland and State 5 of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Chaffers or Sieves, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is the producio tion of a chaffer or sieve which shall comprise a series of adjustable corrugated slats secured to shafts in such a manner that the said slats will be permanently held in fixed positions relative to the shafts and not be15 come loose when subjected to severe service, which shall have. the slats provided with means for deflecting part of the currents of air upwardly from the channels of the corrugated slats, which shall be provided with 20 means for simultaneously ad justing the series of slats when so desired, and which, withal, shall possess additional and desirable features and characteristics constituting the same a superior means for performing the 25 requisite functions.

With this end or purpose in view my invention consists, objectively, in a sieve embracing a series of corrugated slats immovably fixed to shafts and said shafts united by suit30 able means whereby they can be rocked simultaneously and the slats caused invariably to lie in parallel planes.

It further consists in a sieve embracing corrugated slats having the channels provided 35 with means for deflecting currents of air upwardly.

Finally, it consists in certain novelties of construction and combinations of parts herein disclosed, and specified in the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one example of the physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to the best of the several modes I have so far devised for the application of the principle.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a part of a sieve, showing a series of corrugated slats and shafts journaled in a frame, the edges of the said slats overlapping one another and the crank-arms of the shafts provided with 50 means for simultaneously rocking all the shafts. Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1, taken on line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a corrugated slat, taken on a line parallel with and adjacent the shaft.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, the 55 letter A designates the end piece of the frame which supports the shafts and corrugated slats of the sieve.

' B designates the side pieces of the frame; C, strips of wood or metal secured to the top 60 surfaces of the side pieces B in any wellknown manner; D, bearings formed in the side pieces; E, the corrugated slats, preferably made of iron or thin metal which can be readily bent to shape; F, indentations made 65 in the ribs of the corrugated slats, upon one side thereof, by striking up the metal or in any other way; G, shafts having crank-arms and to which shafts the corrugated slats are rigidly and immovably secured, said shafts 70 being journaled at the ends in the bearings D D of the side pieces, as clearly shown.

H is a strip of wood or metal, to which the ends of the crank-arms of the shafts are journaled in such a way that the movement of 75 the strip will simultaneously rotate all the shafts.

I designates staples which fasten the shafts in the recesses of the indentations made in the ribs of the corrugated slats, and J desig- 80 nates the solder applied to the contact surfaces of the shafts and indentations and which rigidly holds the shafts in immovable positions relative to the corrugated slats.

It will be observed that the indentations 85 made in the ribs of the metallic corrugated slats serve a twofold purpose—first, as seats for the shafts, and,second, as deflectors of the currents of air which pass upwardly between the slats, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2. 90 It is absolutely necessary that the shafts shall be held immovable relative to the slats,· so that when all the shafts are simultaneously rotated the corrugated slats themselves will be shifted through the same arcs of imaginary 95 circles, and thus preserve the uniformity in size of the openings between the adjacent edges of the slats. The staples I serve to hold the shafts within the seats or concave surfaces of the indentations in the ribs, but 100 would not in all cases prevent a limited rotary movement of a shaft relative to a corru734,467 gated slat. To anchor the shaft within the seats permanently and immovably, I apply solder J to the contact surfaces of the shaft and ribs, which, I find, insures great rigidity 5 and strength of union which will withstand all the strains of severe service. Besides serving as concave seats for the shafts, the metalof the indentations projecting upwardly in the channels of the slats constitutes deflecio tors for the air moving along the channels and diverts part of it upwardly, as shown by the 'arrows, through the material which is moving over the slats. By uniting the crankarms of the shafts to a single strip it is obvi15 ous that all of the shafts and corrugated slats can be simultaneously rotated and the open spaces between the adjacent edges of the slats where they overlap be rendered uniform.

While I have illustrated and specifically set forth only one example of the physical embodiment of my invention, I do not thereby intend to restrict the scope thereof to the exact details as shown, inasmuch as changes 25 and modifications and substitutions may be made and adopted at the will of the manufacturer without constituting a substantial departure.