GRAIN DRYER

SECHOIR DE GRAINES CEREALIERES

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A relatively compact, streamlined dryer for use in
hopper-bottomed grain bins includes a foraminous, cylindrical
casing surrounding a foraminous, cylindrical duct, which is
coaxial with the casing, the openings of the casing and duct
being directed downwardly to reduce the risk of clogging;
triangular brackets extending outwardly and downwardly from the
casing for pivotally supporting feet so that the dryer can
readily be mounted on the sloping floor of a bin over the
central discharge opening thereof without substantially impeding
the unloading of grain; an inlet duct in the side of the casing
for admitting air into the dryer; and a frusto-conical,
annular cap on the top end of the dryer closing the top of the
passage between the casing and the duct.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A grain dryer comprising substantially cylindrical,
foraminous casing means; substantially cylindrical, foraminous
duct means coaxial with and spaced apart from the interior of
said casing means; spacer means for maintaining the casing
means and duct means in spaced apart relationship; annular cap
means interconnecting and covering the top of the casing means
and the top of said duct means; and inlet means for introducing
air under pressure into the space between said casing means and
said duct means.
2. A grain dryer according to claim 1, wherein said
casing means and said duct means include louvered walls, the
openings of which open downwardly when the dryer is in use.
3. A grain dryer according to claim 1, wherein said
cap means is substantially frusto-conical including a vertical
inner side wall substantially aligned with said duct means and
an inclined outer side wall.
4. A grain dryer according to claim 1, including
foot means on said casing means for supporting the dryer above
a bin floor.
5. A grain dryer according to claim 4 including
connector means for connecting said foot means to said casing
means; whereby said foot means can be rotated for mounting the
dryer on sloping bin floors.

Description

3~




This invention relates to a grain dryer, and in
particular to a dryer for use in the air drying of grain in bins
or silos with inclined bottoms.
The dryer of the present invention is primarily
intended for use in bins having a capaci-ty of 2,000 to 10,000
bushels. In general, grain dryers for use in such bins are
somewhat bulky structures, which may impede the unloading
of the grain through -the bottom central diseharge opening of the
bin. Moreover, eare must be taken to ensure that the dryer is
sufficiently strong to avoid collapsing during unloading of
the bin.
The object of the present invention is to overcome
the above-men-tioned problems by providing a relatively simple,
strong grain dryer, which can be mounted in the centre of a grain
bin above the discharge opening without subs-tantially impeding
the flow of grain during unloading of the bin.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a
grain dryer comprising substantially eylindrical foraminous casing
means; substantially cylindrieal, foraminous duct means coaxial
with and spaced apart from the interior of said casing means;
spacer means for maintaining the casing means and duct means in
spaeed apart relationship; annular eap means intereonnecting and
eovering the top of the casing means and the top of said duct
means; and inlet means for introducing air under pressure into the
spaee between said easing means and said duet means.


The invention will',now be described in greater
de-tail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which
illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:
Figure l is a perspective view from above of a
grain dryer in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the grain dryer
of Fig. l wi-th parts omitted;
Figure 3 is a plan view of a reinforcing ring used in
the dryer of Figs. l and 2; and
10 - Figure 4 is a perspective view from above and one
side of a foot used in the dryer of Figs. l and 2.
With reference to the drawings, the grain dryer of
the present invention includes a foraminous, cylindrical outer
casing l, and a foraminous, cylindrical central duct 2 concentric
with the casing l. Both the casing l and the duct 2 are defined
by a plurality of overlapping, interconnected panels containing
louvers 3 over substantially their entire surfaces, with the
exception of small planar rectangular borders ~. The louvers 3
are elongated openings which direct air downwardly and outwardly
from the casing l, and downwardly and inwardly from the duct 2.
The casing 1 and the duct 2 are held together by an
annular frusto-conical cap 5 and a pair of reinforcing rings 6
(Fig. 2) at the bottom and midpoint of the structure. The cap
5 has a generally inverted V-shaped cross sec-tion, and is open
at the bottom for retaining the casing l and the duct 2 in proper




-- 2 --


spaced apart relationsh~p ! ~ short annular flange 8 extends
downwardly from the bottom edge of the inclined outer wall 9
of the cap 5 around the top end of the casing 1. The cylindrical
inner wall 10 of the cap extends from above the top of the inclined
outer wall downwardly inside of the top end oE the duct 2. Screws
or bolts and nuts (not shown) are used to connect the top of the
casing 1 to the flange 8 and the top of the duct 2 to the bottom
of the inner wall 10 of the cap 5. A square inlet duct 14 is
provided in one side of the casing 1 for introducing a.ir from a
conventional blower (not shown) into the space between the
casing 1 and the duct 2.
With reference to Fig. 3, each reinforcing ring 6
is defined by a pair of concentric, annular metal strips 15 and
16, which are connected together by a third metal strip 18 which
defineds an annular, essentially square wave pattern. This
axrangement lends high strength to a relatively lightweight,
thin walled structure,
Three generally triangular brackets 2Q (.Fiss. 1, 2 and 4)
are spaced equidistant around the bottom of the casing 1 for
pivotally supporting feet 21. Each bracket 20 is defined by a
pair of parallel, spaced apart, triangular sides 23, which are
interconnected along their longer vertical edges by an inner plate
24, and along their inclined outer edges by a cross plate 25.
A small sleeve 27 (Figs~ 1 and 4) is provided at the bottom outer
corner of the bracket 20 for receiving a short rod 28 which acts




-- 3 --

~J~ 3 ~


as an axle for the t~iangular foot 21~ The foot 21 is held on
the rod 28 by cotter pins 3~ (one shown~. The foot 21 has a
generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration and when viewed
from either side is triangular. As shown in Fig. 4, the feet --

21 permit the mounting of the dryer on a grain bin floor 31 havingvirtually any inclination, so that the longitudinal axis of the
duct 2 is aligned with the centre of the grain discharge opening

32 in the floor 31.
In use, the grain dryer is placed on the floor 31

in the bottom centre of a grain bin over the central discharge
opening 32. Rectangular tubing (not shown) is used to connect
the inlet duct 14 to a blower or fan. When grain is loaded into
the bin, the downwardly opening louvers in the casing 1 and the
duct 2 prevent clogging of the openings by the grain. The open core

structure does not obstruct the natural flow of grain during
unloading, and eliminates the dan~erof collapse during rapid
emptying of the bin. secause of the hollow core, the dryer
occupies relatively little storage space in the bin. Moreover,
the locating of the dryer in the centre of the duct ensures good

air distribution.
The dryer of the present invention was specifically
designed for use in hopper bottom bins with a capacity of 2,000
to 10,000 bushels, and accordingly the casing and duct are
formed of 20 gauge galvanized louvered screen. However, the basic

principles underlying the invention can be used in larger or

smaller bins.




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