Cottonseed cleaner and fractionator

Claim 1

A CLEANER-FRACTIONATOR APPARATUS FOR INDIVIDUALIZING UNOPENED COTTONSEED CONTAINING OCCLUDED FOREIGN MATTER AND FOR ACCELERATING IN A STEPWISE MANNER AND PROJECTING INDIVIDUALIZED COTTONSEED INTO SUBSTANITIALLY STILL AIR, WHICH APPARATUS COMPRISES: (A) A PLURALITY OF SPIKED ROTARY UNITS IN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL ARRAY; (B) INTEGRAL COMMUNICATING CASING ELEMENTS HAVING TOP INLET OPENINGS AND BOTTOM OUTLET OPENINGS AND ENCLOSING SEVERALLY THE SAID ROTARY UNITS, SAID CASING ELEMENTS BEING DEFINED BY PARALLEL LATERAL WALLS AND RESPECTIVE FRONT AND REAR WALLS CONTOURED TO THE SHAPE OF THE ENCLOSED ROTARY UNITS, EACH CASING ELEMENT BEING PROVIDED WITH A BOTTOM OUTLET COMMUNICATING WITH THE TOP INLET OF THE BELOW ADJACENT CASING ELEMENT, THE INLET OPENING OF THE TOPMOST CASING ELEMENT BEING LOCATED, RELATIVE TGO THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF THE RESPECTIVE ENCLOSED ROTARY UNIT, TO TAKE IN UNOPENED COTTONSEED, THE OUTLET OPENING OF THE LOWERMOST CASING ELEMENT BEING LOCATED, RELATIVE TO THE DIRECTION OF THE RESPECTIVE ENCLOSED ROTARY UNIT, TO PROJECT INDIVIDUALIZED AND ACCELERATED COTTONSEED IN AN ESSENTIALLY HORIZONTAL DIRECTION; (C) MEANS FOR INDIVIDUALLY ROTATABLY SUPPORTING THE RESPECTIVE SPIKED ROTARY UNITS IN SAID CASING ELEMENTS; AND (D) DRIVE MEANS FOR ROTATING EACH SPIKED ROTARY UNIT AT A PERIPHERAL SPEED GREATER THAN THE PERIPHERAL SPEED OF THE PRECEDING ABOVE ADJACENT UNIT AND IN A DIRECTION COUNTER THE ROTATION OF THE ADJACENT ROTARY UNIT.