IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co, Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THRASHING MACHINES" A commu
C
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th August 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THRASHING
MACHINES [A communication to him from abroad by Josef Schleyder, of
Vienna, Austria.]
"
Hitherto in driving thrashing machines by means of portable engines, the power
has been transmitted by a belt running on a pulley keyed to the shaft of the thrashing
drum. This pulley has been very small, that is to say only about from 180 to
240 millimetres in diameter in order to enable the drum to be driven at a speed
of about 1,200 revolutions per minute. By reason of the length of the belt (about
20 metres) and of its being always slack and having a velocity of about 13 metres
per second, the surface of its adhesion to the pulley is so sinall that there has
hitherto been a great waste of power.
:
According to the present improvements the diameter of the pulley of the
thrashing drum is increased to about 400 millimetres, and an intermediate power
transmitting apparatus is inserted between the thrashing machine and the portable
engine. This apparatus consists, by preference, of two pulleys keyed to the same
shaft, the smaller pulley having a diameter of about 470 millimetres and being
driven by the belt from the portable engine, and the larger pulley having a
diameter of about 1100 millimetres and driving a belt running over the pulley of
the thrashing drum.
It has been found in practice that by using these improvements a thrashing
machine having a drum of about 1350 to 1500 millimetres (54 to 60 inches)
diameter cau be driven by a portable engine having only about 5', square meters
heating surface, whereas hitherto a portable engine having about 14 to 15 square
metres heating surface has been required for the same purpose.
It is obvious that the said intermediate transmission apparatus may be attached
either to the thrashing machine or to the portable engine, or may be inade seaparate
and fixed to the ground, and instead of using belt-pulleys, equivalents such as
toothed wheels, friction wheels, worm-wheels, or the like, may be employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office
8th February 1883.
on the
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THRASHING
MACHINES A communication to me from abroad by Josef Schleyder, of Vienna,
Austria.
"
Heretofore in driving thrashing machines by means of portable engines, the
'power has been transmitted by a belt running on a pulley keyed to the shaft of
the thrashing drum. This pulley has been very small in diameter in order to enable
the drum to be driven at a speed of about 1200 revolutions per minute. By
reason of the length of the belt, which is always slack and has a high velocity, and
the small surface of the pulley, there has hitherto been a great waste of power.
According to the present Improvements the diameter of the pulley of the
thrashing drum is increased and an intermediate power transmitting apparatus is
inserted between the thrashing machine and the portable engine. This apparatus
preferably consists of two pulleys keyed to the same shaft, the smaller pulley being
driven by the belt from the portable engine and the larger pulley driving a belt
running over the pulley of the thrashing drum.
It has been found in practice that by using these improvements a thrashing
'machine having a drum of from 54 to 60 inches width can be driven by a portable
engine having only about 58 square feet of heating surface, whereas hitherto a
portable engine having from about 150 to 160 square feet of heating surface has
been required for the same purpose,
The said intermediate transmission apparatus may be attached either to the
thrashing machine or to the portable engine, or may be made separate and fixed
to the ground, and instead of using belt pulleys equivalents, such as toothed wheels,
friction wheels, worm wheels or the like, may be employed.
It is well known that steam thrashing machines the drums of which are from 54
to 60 inches in width require from 5 to 7 horse-power when running without
thrashing, about 1%, horse power more when thrashing short stalked crops, and
about 3 horse power more when thrashing long-stalked crops.
The fact of so much power being required is owing to the incorrect proportions
of the diameters of the driving pulley of the drum and the fly-wheel of the engine
and the excessive slip of the driving belt on the small 7 to 9 inch pulley of the
drum.
My foreign correspondent has discovered that by increasing the diameter of the
driving pulley of the druin to say 16 inches, by diminishing the width of the belt
to say 2 or 3 inches, and by increasing its speed from about 42 to about 80 or
90-feet per second, any further slipping of the said belt is prevented and a great
saving in driving power is effected. It was found that for attaining the purpose
mentioned it was not advisable to increase the driving speed or the size of the
fly-wheel of the portable engine, and that the only practical solution was to
introduce an intermediate gear between the fly-wheel shaft and the drum-shaft.
I am aware that it has been before proposed to apply power so as to drive first
the parts of a thrashing machine which require slower motion than the drum, and
then from these to transfer the power to the axis of the drum.
But the present
Invention differs essentially from such arrangements.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown different means for carrying the
said invention into practice and the object of all these arrangements is to increase

page_text: the velocity of the belt driving the drum, thereby allowing an increase in the
diameter of the pulley of the said drum.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portable engine with a horizontal boiler, driving
a thrashing machine; and Figure 2 is a section on the line xy drawn to an enlarged
scale. In this arrangement the portable engine carries a toothed gear consisting
of the wheel a keyed to the crank shaft and driving the double toothed wheel c
revolving on a stud b. One part of the wheel c is in gear with the wheel d fixed to
the pulley which revolves loosely upon the crank-shaft. The belt from the pulley
passes over the pulley f of the thrashing drum and the pulley f is of a larger size
than usual.
Figure 3 shows a portable engine with a vertical boiler, driving a thrashing
machine, and Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the boiler.
In this arrangement the toothed wheel g is keyed to the crank-shaft and drives
the wheel h which is keyed to the shaft i. The pulley is also fastened to the
shaft and therefore revolves with it.
Figure 5 is a side view and Figure 6 is a plan view of a portable engine driving
a thrashing machine by means of a separate intermediate apparatus.
In this arrangement a belt n from the pulley m drives the pulley o fixed to the
same shaft as the pulley p which drives the enlarged pulley r of the thrashing drum
by means of the belt q.
Figure 7 is a side view of a portable engine driving a thrashing machine, in which
arrangement the intermediate apparatus is mounted on the thrashing machine. The
pulley t drives, by means of the toothed wheel u, the toothed wheel v keyed to the
shaft of the thrashing drum.
Figures 8, 9 and 10 drawn to an enlarged scale show in vertical section, side
elevation, and plan the intermediate apparatus shown in Figures 5 and 6. This
construction is intended for portable engines of about 3 horse power.
Figures 11. 12 and 13 show in vertical section, side elevation, and plan, an inter-
mediate apparatus constructed with pulleys and toothed wheels for the purpose of
enabling the number of revolutions of the pulley of the portable engine to be
reduced to one half or two-thirds without reducing the velocity of the thrashing
drum, and for thus effecting a corresponding saving of steam and consequently
of fuel.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim:-
First The arrangement of mechanism substantially as described for enabling
the belt driving a thrashing machine drum to be advantageously driven at a speed
of more than fifty feet per second, and for enabling the pulley of the said drum to
be correspondingly increased in diameter.
Second An intermediate power transmitting apparatus consisting of pulleys or
wheels arranged between the crank-shaft of a portable engine and the drum-shaft
of a thrashing machine, for the purpose of enabling the belt driving the thrashing
drum to attain a velocity of more than 50 feet per second, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Eighth day of February in the year of our Lord one