CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR REDUCING TURNIPS, MANGEL WURZEL, CARROTS, AND OTHER ROOTS FOR FOOD FOR HORNED CATTLE, HORSES, AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GREEN the Younger, of Newtown, in the County of Worcester, Farmer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by my Petition, humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that, after considerable application and
expence, I had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR CUTTING OR REDUCING TURNIPS, MANGEL WURZEL, CARROTS, AND OTHER ROOTS
FOR FOOD FOR HORNED CATTLE, HORSES, AND OTHER ANIMALS;" and Her said
Majesty, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which
may be for the public good, was graciously pleased, by Her Royal Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the seventh day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two, in the fifth year of Her reign, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said John
Green the Younger, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I or they, by myself or themselves, or
by my or their deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as I or they
should agree with (and no others), during the term of fourteen years from the
date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within that part of Her said Majesty's Dominions called England,
Her Dominions of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such
manner, as to me, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, shall seem meet, and as

page_text: that I or they shall enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of
the said Invention during the said term of fourteen years; and for that end
Her said Majesty requires and strictly commands all Her subjects whatsoever,
within England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed aforesaid, that they shall
not, neither directly or indirectly, make, use, or put in practise my said Inven-
tion or any part thereof, nor in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the
same, nor make any addition thereto or subtraction therefrom, whereby to
pretend himself or themselves to be the inventor or inventors thereof: And
whereas the said Letters Patent also contain a proviso obliging me, the said
John Green the Younger, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same (reference being thereunto had) will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance, with the said proviso, I, the said
John Green the Younger, do hereby declare that my said Invention is
described and ascertained in this my Specification, aided by the two Sheets of
Drawings appended hereto (that is to say) :-
My improvements consist,―
Firstly, in the construction of a machine or apparatus for reducing or
grinding into a pulp and small pieces turnips and any of those roots which
are or may be used as food for cattle and other animals, and which roots have
been previously cut into slices or strips.
And secondly, in the combination of this machine with other well-known
machinery or apparatus for cutting the said roots into slices or strips, so that
when combined they shall form one machine, and perform the two operations
simultaneously.
I will now describe the machinery which performs these two operations of
cutting into slices and of reducing or grinding. And let it be borne in mind
that throughout this description the same letters of reference refer to the same
parts in all the Drawings.
My machine is shown in a complete state in Figures 1, 2, and. 8, on
Sheet 1; and in Figures 8 and 9 on Sheet 2. All the other Figures on both
Sheets represent the principal parts of the said machine separately.
Figure 1 is a section taken in the direction of the line a, a, on Figure 9,
and Figure 2 is a section through the line b, b. Figure 3 is an end elevation,
Figure 8 a side elevation, and Figure 9 a plan. A is an axle or spindle

page_text: supported by and revolving in two fixed journals B, B, and upon this axle or
spindle is placed the cutting machine C, which consists of a cylinder having
one end closed and the other open, and having upon its periphery a knife c, c,
which extends all across the cylinder, and is held to it by two screws, one at each
end; immediately under this knife, and at right angles to it, are placed a
number of knives, each denoted by the letter d; these are rivetted into a plate
of metal which is fastened to the cylinder by three screws. These knives d are
about five eighths of an inch deep, but they may be either of a greater or a less
depth, as may be convenient; and in order to give a place for these knives d,
and that they may with more facility and effect lay hold of the substances to
be cut, and discharge them into their proper place, about one third of the
periphery of the cylinder has been drawn in towards the centre, (except for
about an inch on each side, marked e, e,) and which deflected portion of the
periphery is included between the letters 9, g. There may be, if it is found
necessary, more knives c, c, than one upon the periphery of the cylinder c, and
in such a case they must be placed at equal distances apart. The reducing or
grinding apparatus is composed of an outer cylinder D, D, supported partly by
the two brackets h, h, which are at one end rivetted to the cylinder, and
nailed to the framework at the other end, but principally by the timbers E, E,
which form in fact a part of the frame itself. This cylinder D, D, has pro-
jecting from its interior surface a number of spikes or studs n, which are cast
upon it, and arranged in circular rows, the spikes or studs of the first row being
longer than those of the second, and the second longer than the third, and so
on, the spikes of each row gradually diminishing in length as they recede from
the first row, each row being at the same time a proportionably less distance
apart, as are also the spikes themselves, (that is to say,) that the spikes
themselves are closer together in each row in proportion to the distance it is
situated from the first row, or, in order words, that the first row contains the
least number and the last row the greatest number of spikes or studs, and the
intervening rows a number in proportion to their distance from these two.
extremes. There are at the lower part of the cylinder D, D, three boxes R,.
placed at equal distance apart, and they each contain an adjusting plate 3,.
being upon a hinge, and capable of being moved to and fro by the screw 4.
They are used to regulate the fineness or coarseness of the pulp and small
pieces, by being placed nearer to or further from the conical collar F. Within.
the cylinder D, D, is placed a conical drum or roller F, made of wood, having
a number of spikes or studs m projecting from its surface, which are arranged.
in precisely the same way in every respect as the spikes upon the cylinder
D, D, but upon this conical roller there are, as well as the spikes or studs m,

page_text: two rows of knives 7, r, each row containing four knives, which are equidistant
from each other, and, if necessary, there may be more such rows of knives.
They are used to remove the pulp and small pieces from between the spikes or
studs on the cylinder D, D, which would otherwise be liable to clog. The
spikes or studs m, m, and the knives r, are made of wrought iron, and drove
into the wood; but when the conical roller F is made of cast iron or other
metal, then these spikes or studs may be cast with it, and the knives & made
of wrought iron, and rivetted on to the conical roller F. The roller F is
fixed upon and revolves with the axle or' spindle G, which rests in a journal
formed by the cross bar p, p, which bar is attached to and forms part of the
cylinder D, D; and the upper end of this spindle or axle is supported by another
cross bar 8, 8, 8, having one of its ends screwed down to the framework, and
the other merely resting upon the top of the cylinder D, D. The bevil or
mitre wheel H wheel, which is likewise fastened upon the axle G, gears into
and works freely with the one J, through which it receives motion. v, v, is a
sort of case made of thin sheet metal, and is used to guide, as they fall, the
pieces of vegetables from the cutting into the reducing machine. It is nailed
to the framework at the upper end, and at the lower to the piece of wood 5,
which is fastened to the frame. The hopper or feeder is denoted by K, and is
I made of wood, except the back part of it, w, w, which is of cast iron, and
fastened to the wooden part by four screws on each side. It is open at the
top at L, immediately over the rollers. And in order to regulate the opera-
tion of the cutting according to the speed of the grinding, I have attached a
regulator M, which can be moved backwards or forwards by the screw N.
I will now describe the action of my machine. As soon as the hopper is
filled with roots, a man takes hold of the handle P, which is fixed to one of
the arms of the fly wheel Q, and by turning it round motion is given to the
axle A, and of course to the circular cutter C and the bevil or mitre wheel J,:
and as the circular cutter C moves in the direction of the arrow the knives
come in contact with the roots, and sever pieces from them, some of which fall
in the direction of the arrow into the reducing machine, while others pass
through the spaces formed between the knives d, and drop into the interior of
the cylinder C, from which they are afterwards thrown by the action of the
machine into the space formed between the cylinder D, D, and the conical
roller F, which is at the same time revolving (motion being communicated to it
by the wheel J through the intervention of the one H), and so takes in the slices
or strips of vegetable matter, and by the cutting and rubbing which they
undergo from the action of the spikes and knives are fairly beaten into a pulp
or small pieces, the fiueness of which is determined by the adjusting plates 3,

page_text: as has been before remarked. The pulp and small pieces, when in a suffi-
ciently fine state, are forced from the machine by the action of the spikes, and
fall from the space formed all round between the cylinder D, D, and the cir-
cular cutter C, on to the floor, or into a suitable receptacle placed there for it.
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, shew my machinery
in detail, that is, they represent the principal parts of it separated from the
machine itself, so as to make them more intelligible and the whole machine
better understood. Figure 4 is a side elevation of the hopper; Figure 5, a
section of it through the line 2, 2, on Figure 6; Figure 6 is an end elevation,
and Figure 7 a plan of the same. Figure 10 is an end elevation of the circular
cutter C, as is also Figure 12, and Figure 11 is a plan of it. Figure 13 is a'
plan, and Figure 14 an elevation, of the conical roller F. Figure 15 is a plan
of the cylinder D, D, shewing only the first (or top) row of spikes or studs,
and Figure 16 an elevation of it.
Having now pointed out distinctly the precise nature of my improvements,
and shewn by what means those improvements are effected, and explained, too,
the precise action of the machinery, there remains little more to be said upon
the subject; but as some parts of this machinery may be varied in form
without deviating from the principle of the Invention, I shall now just point
out (in words) a few of those variations; and if sufficient attention is paid to
what has already been said these variations will be well understood.
The first variation is to form the cutting machine C by a circular disc of
metal revolving vertically, and having one or more knives affixed to one of its
sides, in which case the hopper K must of course be so arranged as to supply
the roots (to be cut) upon that side; but this vertical cutter, and also the
circular one C, are well known, and have long been used for the same or
similar purposes, so that no difficulty whatever can be found in adopting
this variation, if it is ever found desirable to do so.
The second variation comprises a new reducing or grinding machine, and it
is done by having two cylindrical rollers mounted upon and fastened to hori-
zontal axles revolving in fixed journals, and they must have a number of
spikes or studs projecting in equal circular rows from their peripheries. It is
necessary for these rollers to revolve at different speeds, in order to cause a
grinding motion, otherwise the slices or strips would be merely drawn through,
and not reduced to the required fineness.
In the third variation, where one roller only is used, similar to the above,
working against a flat plate of metal having one row of spikes or studs upon
it, and this plate placed in the same horizontal plane with the roller, so that the
spikes or studs may stand in a line with its axes.

page_text: Having described and ascertained the nature of my Invention, I claim,―
Firstly, that combination of machinery which I have described as forming
a reducing or grinding apparatus, and also any other combination of mecha-
nical parts for reducing or grinding previously cut pieces of roots into a pulp
and small pieces, in which combination the roots are operated upon by move-
able surfaces, or by surfaces part of which are moveable and part of which are
stationary, and upon which are placed spikes or studs, or any other similar
projections which will produce a like effect; and,
Secondly, I claim the combination of such reducing or grinding apparatus
with other machinery or apparatus (such as I have described for previously
cutting the said roots into slices or strips); but I lay no claim whatever
to this cutting machine alone.
It is now necessary to state, that my object in reducing these roots into a
pulp and small pieces is that they may be mixed with a portion of chaff, which
makes a very economical and nutritious food for cattle. It is obvious that when
fodder of an inferior quality is cut into chaff, and mixed with a portion of
ground roots, it would be much more eagerly devoured by cattle than when
the roots and fodder are given alternately. The machinery herein-before
described may be usefully and beneficially employed in cutting or reducing
apples and pears prévious to being ground in the ordinary cider mill, which
would very much facilitate and expedite the latter operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Green the Younger, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, One thousand