1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



293 



and the crank-handle, placiner it on the 

 heavy brake-hub which is amply strong. A 

 pressure on the brake-lever retards and 



ROOT'S AUTOMATIC HONEY-EXTRACTOR. 



A Device for Reversing the Combs While the 



Extractor is in Motion, Without Slam 



or Bang; Running Extractors 



with a Gasoline-engine. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



As previously announced in these columns, 

 the foreman of our machine-shop, Mr. Frank 

 H. Marbach, has invented and perfected a 

 new mechanism for reversing four, six, eight, 

 and ten frame extractors, and that, too, 

 while the extractor-reel is revolving, with- 

 out any slam or bang of -the pockets. After 

 the combs have been extracted from one 

 side, a slight pressure on the street- car 

 band-brake will cause the pockets to turn 

 the combs the other side to so quickly that 

 one is at first nonplused as to how the thing 

 was done so neatly and quietly. 



We have seen a great many reversing- 

 devices ; have tested many of them, but 

 found them defective in one or more points, 

 and generally complicated. Nor is this all. 

 The mechanism is usually under the pock- 

 ets where it becomes fouled with honey, 

 and where, too, it is difficult to get at it to 

 make the necessary adjustment or repairs. 

 Nearly all if not all that we have seen put 

 almost a breaking strain on the gearing and 

 crank- handle, making the whole outfit short- 

 lived. 



The mechanism that Mr. Marbach has de- 

 vised takes the strain entirely off tbr ^ears 



root's automatic four-frame 

 extractor; top view. 



honey- 



root's automatic four-frame honey-ex- 

 tractor ; side view. 



stops momentarily the reversing-hub while 

 the reel continues to revolve on account of 

 the inertia or momentum acquired, causing 

 the baskets to be turned the other side to. 



By consulting the illustrations one will 

 easily get the idea. Referring to the side 

 view, with the side of the can cut away, G 

 is the brake-lever; E the brake-band encir- 

 cling the reversing-hub, already mentioned, 

 with its four arms as at A. On the under 

 side of these arms are downwardly project- 

 ing pins which slide in a rectangular slot in 

 the reversing-levers B. These levers are 

 pivoted to the radial channel-arms support- 

 ing the reel. On the other end is the gear- 

 ing, consisting of an internal segment and a 

 pinion, the latter bolted to the hinge of the 

 pocket. The relation of these parts is 

 shown in the small drawings at the right of 

 the side view. The hub just back of the 

 brake-band E, with its radial arms A, is 

 journaled loosely on the extractor-shaft. In 

 a majority of the reversing-devices, the 

 whole extractor-reel with its pockets is jour- 

 naled on the shaft, making a loose and un- 

 stable construction. In the device here 

 shown the shaft is rigidly secured to the reel 

 that holds the pockets and the entire mechan- 

 ism. 



The reel should be revolved so that the 

 hinges follow (not precede) the pockets in 

 the direction of revolution. The machine is 

 then speeded up to full motion; and as soon 

 as the combs are extracted on one side, 

 pressure on the lever G retards and stops 

 the brake- hub loosely journaled on the shaft, 

 causing the arms A A to remain stationary 

 for a moment while the reel continues re- 



