US3057080A - Garin drier - Google Patents

Description

B. F. HADDIX GRAIN DRIER Oct. 9, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20, 1959 0 v o o o a n a Q o a o Q 0 0 O I 0 Q A c u? 0 a Q BY m vIN V EN TOR. fizzizz'x.

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a 211 )7 flfizzzx. E 46 BY 4'4 PP, fir wsvvr/sq United States 3,057,080 GRAIN DRER Bud F. Haddix, 38 E. Willow, Monroe, Mich. Filed July 20, 1959, er. No. 828,278

1 Claim. (Cl. 34-174) This invention relates generally to agricultural equipment and more particularly to a novel grain drier having a substantially greater productive capacity than grain driers heretofore known or used.

Grain which is to be stored for long periods of time must be thoroughly dried prior to storing so that it will not spoil. To accomplish this large batch grain driers have been developed which are usually located adjacent grain elevators so that the grain can be dried in a matter of hours and transferred immediately to the storage elevator. Such grain driers generally comprise a perforate enclosure for supporting a quantity or batch of grain, and means for forcing heated air into the enclosure and around the grain to rapidly dry the same. A complete drying cycle for grain in such a device comprises a loading phase, a drying phase and an unloading phase, and the time required for the complete drying cycle is the sum of the times required to complete the successive phases of the drying operation.

Grain driers now in use employ a screw-type grain discharge or unloading mechanism to move grain out of the drying enclosure upon completion of a drying cycle. Grain driers are also loaded by similar mechanisms. Such screw-type mechanisms move grain from the drying enclosure at the relatively slow rate of, for example, to bushels per minute. Also, such screwtype mechanisms are subject to wear due to the abrasive nature of dry grain and, therefore, must be replaced at frequent intervals, such as about every 300,000 bushels. The cost of such a screw mechanism for a large grain drier amounts to $125.00 and, in addition, the grain drier will have to be out of operation when a worn-outscrew mechanism is placed. While the presently known and used grain driers do effectively and rapidly dry grain, they are extremely inefficient insofar as the loading and unloading phase of the cycle is concerned. For instance, in a 1,000 bushel grain drier, it normally takes minutes to load the grain into the drier, 120 minutes to dry the grain and 30 minutes to unload the grain; thus a 180 minute cycle is required to dry 1,000 bushels of grain. Most grain driers are operated 24 hours a day so that only eight batches of grain can be dried per day with presently existing grain driers.

At the present time, the owner or operator of the grain drier receives a fee of approximately 10 cents per bushel for drying grain so that the total income from a 1,000 bushel grain drier is about $800.00 per day. Obviously, if more grain could be dried in a twenty-four hour period, the operator of a grain drier could make considerably more money and such an improved drier would have substantial advantage over presently known and used driers.

The grain drier of this invention has, therefore, been developed to materially reduce the grain drying cycle and to provide a drier which has greater durability than presently known and used driers, without adding to the cost of the same. The grain drier of this invention employs a novel discharge or unloading mechanism which can be employed to both load or unload 1,000 bushels of grain 3,057,080 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 "ice in one minute. Thus, with the drier of this invention, the total drying cycle is one minute to load, minutes to dry and one minute to unload, so that, based on a twenty-four hour operating day, a grain drier operator can process enough more grain to increase his daily income $140.00 over the income produced by presently known drying devices. That is, with a 1,000 bushel grain drier of this invention, 58 minutes per cycle can be saved as compared with the drying cycle time of known grain driers, thus permitting more batches of grain to be dried per day, and materially increasing the operating revenue for the grain drier operator. In addition, with the grain drier of this invention, it is not necessary to shut down the grain drier for periodic replacement of the loading and unloading mechanisms, thus saving the grain drier operator the cost of new mechanisms and the loss of time required to replace such mechanisms. The aforementioned advantages have been achieved while simultaneously providing loading and unloading mechanisms which will operate properly under all climatic and environmental conditions.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved grain drier which employs an improved and novel loading and unloading mechanism which materially reduces the drying cycle of grain and enhances the commercial value and return to the grain drier owner or operator.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a grain drier of the aforementioned type which is exceptionally durable in construction and which may be operated for an extremely long period of time under variable climatic and environmental conditions without requiring any adjustment or replacement of the loading and unloading mechanism.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a grain drier of the aforementioned type which is as economical to purchase as presently known grain driers and has the aforementioned advantages over presently known grain driers.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a study of the following specification wherein reference is made to the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exterior perspective view of a grain drier;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a grain clearing valve in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a grain drier, in operative association with a wet and dry storage bin and partially broken away to show the disposition of the clearing valves;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the grain drier of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 66 of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 1, a grain drier 10 comprises an elongated enclosure 11 having an outer shell 12 defined by a bottom wall 13 of a V-shaped cross section, a top wall 14 of inverted V-shaped cross section and a pair of spaced arcuate side walls 15 and 16 that extend be tween opposite edges of the bottom wall 13 and top wall 14. The outer shell 12 of the enclosure 11 is formed from a perforate material, for example, perforate steel plate, so as to provide for the passage of heated air therethrough, as will be described.

The enclosure 11 is provided with a pair of spaced end walls 17 and 18 formed from a plurality of imperforate plates, preferably steel, joined together and to the outer shell 12 as by welding or riveting. The outer shell 12 is laterally reinforced by a plurality of spaced externally disposed ribs 19 that are secured to the outer shell 12 as by welding. The enclosure 11 is supported with the longitudinal axis thereof horizontally disposed by a generally rectangular base frame 20 and a plurality of upstanding supports 21. The ribs 19, frame 21 and upstanding supports 21 are preferably made from angle iron having an L-shaped cross section and are secured to the enclosure 11 and to one another, as by welding or rivet- An air heating unit 24, which may be gas or oil fired, is mounted externally of the enclosure 11 on the end Wall 18. The heating unit 24 is secured to the end wall 18 as by a plurality of tie rods 25 that rigidly maintain the heating unit with respect to the end Wall 18. A blower 26 is mounted externally of the heating unit 24 to force air, at outside ambient temperature, through the heating unit and into the enclosure 11, as will be described. Suitable controls 28 are provided for the heating unit 24 and blower 26.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the enclosure 11 is provided with an inner shell 30 of perforate material, preferably steel plate, similar to the material of the outer shell 12. The inner shell 30 has substantially the same cross-sectional configuration as the outer shell 12 but is of substantially smaller cross-sectional area than the outer shell 12. The inner shell 30 extends between and is secured to the end walls 18 and 17 as by welding or rivets.

The inner shell 30 is spaced from the outer shell 12 so as to define an annular drying chamber 31 therebetween. Because of the configuration of the inner shell 30 and outer shell 12, the walls of the enclosure 31 all slope with respect to a horizontal plane and therefore facilitate gravity flow of grain into and from the drying enclosure 31. The inner shell 31} also defines a plenum chamber 32 for the uniform dispersal of heated air around the grain supported in the drying chamber 31.

The end wall 18 is provided with a central aperture 33 of circular configuration for the admittance of heated air from the heating unit 24. The heated air is forced through the aperture 33 and into the plenum chamber 32 by the blower 26 mounted rearwardly of the heating unit 24. The heated air then passes through the inner shell 30 into the drying chamber 31, where it absorbs moisture from the grain, and then outwardly through the outer shell 12 of the enclosure 11.

Grain is gravity fed into the annular drying chamber 31 of the enclosure 11 through a hopper 34. After the drying chamber 31 is suitably loaded, heated air is forced into the plenum chamber 32, to initiate the drying phase of the drying cycle.

In accordance with the present invention, a valve 35 comprising an elongated tubular member 36 is employed to clear the drying chamber 31 upon the completion of the drying phase of a drying cycle. The valve 35 is normally disposed within and substantially closes a rectangular orifice 38 that extends the full length of the bottom wall 13 between the end walls 18 and 19 of the drying chamber 31 at the lowermost point thereof. The orifice 38 is defined by a pair of spaced inverted L-shaped seat members 39 and 40 that are secured to the bottom wall 13 in parallel relation as by welding. The adjacent sides of the seat members 39 and 40 are disposed in parallel, spaced relationship so as to define the discharge orifice 38. The seat members extend the entire length of the drying chamber 31 as does the orifice 38. The tubular 36 is normally biased downwardly by its own weight and the weight of the grain within the drying chamber 31.

To clear the drying chamber 31 upon the completion of the drying phase of a drying cycle, the tubular member 36 is biased upwardly with respect to the orifice 38 by a plurality of hydraulic actuators or jacks 41 and 42. The hydraulic actuators 41 and 42 are supported with respect to the frame 20 by a pair of L-shaped brackets 43 and 44, respectively, that are secured to the frame 20 as by riveting or welding. Hydraulic pressure is developed by a hydraulic pump 45 that may be driven by, for example, an electric motor 46. Suitable hydraulic lines 48 extend between the pump 45 and the hydraulic actuators 41 and 42 to provide for the passage of hydraulic fluid therebetween.

The longitudinally extending tubular member 36 is provided with three spaced vertically oriented tubular bearings 49, 5t} and 51 that are secured to the tubular member 36, as by welding. Three vertically extending pins 52, 54 and 55 are secured to the frame 20* of the drier 11), as by welding, in complementary spaced relationship with the tubular bearings 49, 50 and 51, respectively, so as to be receivable therein to guide the tubular member 36 for reciprocating translation in a generally vertical plane. A pair of stop members 57 and 58 are secured to the end walls 18 and 19, respectively, and are engageable with the opposite ends of the tubular member 36 to limit upward displacement of the tubular member 36 under the bias of the hydraulic actuators 41 and 42 to thereby limit and define the open position of the valve 35.

Referring to FIG. 3, the grain drier 10 is shown in association with a wet grain storage bin 60 and a dry storage bin 61. The drier 10, Wet storage bin 60 and dry storage bin 61 are supported by a plurality of upstanding vertical columns 62. The wet storage bin 60 is related with the enclosure 11 of the grain drier 10 so as to feed grain into the drying chamber 31 thereof by gravity. A valve 65, similar in construction to the valve 35, described hereinbefore, is disposed between the wet storage bin 60 and drying chamber 31 of the drier 10 so as to provide for the rapid filling of the drying chamber 31.

The dry storage bin 61 is disposed below the grain drier 10 for the acceptance of dried grain upon completion of the drying phase of a drying cycle. The storage bin 61 preferably has a capacity slightly greater than the capacity of the drying chamber 31 so as to insure the acceptance of the entire portion of grain dried in one drying cycle.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the novel grain clearing valve 35 which extends the full length of the drying chamber 31 and opens the orifice 38 in its entirety, upon upward displacement thereof, facilitates the rapid clearing of dry grain from the drying enclosure 31 upon completion of the drying phase of a drying cycle and thereby materially shortens the grain drying cycle.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claim.

What is claimed is:

A grain drier comprising an elongated annular grain drying chamber defined by spaced longitudinally extending perforate inner and outer walls, said longitudinally extending perforate inner walls defining a plenum chamber centrally of said drying chamber, an imperforate end wall at each end of said drying and plenum chambers, an air heating means at one end of said plenum chamber, means for creating a pressure differential between said plenum chamber and said drying chamber whereby heated air flows through said drying chamber, means defining an elongated orifice extending the full length of said drying chamber at the lower extremity thereof, a tubular grain discharge valve within said drying chamber and normally closing said orifice; a plurality of hydraulic jacks disposed at the lower extremity of said drying chamber for moving said valve in translation inwardly of said drying chamber to open said orifice to permit gravity flow of grain outwardly of said drying chamber, a plurality of tubular bearings extending diametrically through said valve, a plurality of vertically extending pins Within said bearings in telescoping relationship and fixedly mounted with respect to said means defining an elongated orifice, and a rigid valve stop secured to each of said end walls to limit upward movement of said discharge valve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Behr et a1. Jan. 26, Dienst Mar. 9, Stockmar Dec. 11, Davis Sept. 7, Arndt Dec. 4, Pfening Nov. 4,

FOREIGN PATENTS Finland Aug. 15,

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