IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO MILLSTONE 'DRIVERS,' OR APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING MILLSTONES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, British and International Patent and Trade Mark
Agent and Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
APPERTAINING TO MILLSTONE 'DRIVERS,' OR APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING
MILLSTONES." A communication from abroad by Wells Ely Sergeant and
Gardinor Spring Butler, both of Minneapolis, in the State of Minnesota.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Phillips Thompson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th June 1878.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, British and International Patent and Trade Mark Agent and Consulting
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO MILLSTONE DRIVERS,' OR
APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING MILLSTONES." A communication from abroad by Wells
Ely Sergeant and Gardiner Spring Butler, both of Minneapolis, in the State of
Minnesota.
'
This Invention consists in introducing between the bail and the spindle on which
it is mounted a transverse rocking shaft or frame, having crank arms or ends
serving as a self-adjusting driver, and transmitting a uniform motion to the stone,
notwithstanding the tipping or oscillating motion of the same. The shaft may be
seated in bearings in the bail to act on the spindle or a bar thereon, or vice versa,
and it may be passed through or around the spindle.
Rollers can be mounted on the driver, and be provided with an internal chamber
or channel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Phillips Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd December 1878.
-
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, British and International Patent and Trade Mark Agent and Consulting
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO MILLSTONE 'DRIVERS,' OR
APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING MILLSTONES." A communication from abroad by Wells
Ely Sergeant and Gardiner Spring Butler, both of Minneapolis, in the State of
Minnesota.
This Invention consists in introducing between the bail and the spindle on which
it is mounted a transverso rocking shaft or frame, having crank arms or ends
serving as a self-adjusting driver and transmitting a uniform motion to the stone,
notwithstanding the tipping or oscillating motion of the same.
The shaft may be
seated in bearings in the bail to act on the spindle or a bar thereon, or vice versa,
and it may be passed through or around the spindle.
The Drawings represent the shaft passing around the spindle, this arrangement
being considered the better one, and an improvement on the other.
Fig. 1 represents a side olevation of my improved device with the shaft seated in
a block attached to the spindle, and operating upon the bail; Fig. 2, a vertical
central section of the same.
Fig. 3, a top plan view of the transverse rock shaft.
Fig. 4, a sectional view, illustrating a method of forming the bearings for the
same.
Fig. 5, a sectional view of one of the rollers employed upon the ends of the crank
arms, and Figs. 6 and 7 respectively a perspective view and a cross section of my
improved device, showing the transverse shaft mounted in the bail, the section
being taken on the line, x, of Fig. 6, and drawn to a larger scale.
In the Drawings A represents the spindle having at its upper end a point, upon
which is hung the bail B; C, the transverse angular or bent shaft, and D, the
driving block which rotates with the spindle A. The shaft C is seated in bearings
in the driving block D, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2, in which it is free to
oscillate, and may be passed either through or around the spindle A, the latter
method being however preferred. The ends of the rock shaft are bent downward
and outward in opposite directions, out of line with its axis, and preferably
furnished with steel rollers a, as shown, and extend into hoods n formed upon the
depending arms of the bail B. As the spindle A and driving block D rotate,
carrying with them the rock shaft C, the bent arms of the latter bearing in the
hoods n impart motion to the bail B.
Should one of the bent arms of the rock shaft C bear upon the bail B in advance of
the other, the resistance offered by the bail will throw that arm downward, causing
the shaft to oscillate and throw the opposite end or bent arm upward and outward,
until it also bears against the bail. In this manner an equal pressure is secured
upon the bail on each side of the spindle, thereby causing an even movement of the
bail and the stone which it carries, and preventing a swinging or rocking motion,
though at all times permitting the stone to adjust itself.
Ordinary boxes or bearings may be used to secure the rock shaft C upon or in
the driving block D, and shoulders or pins employed to prevent the shaft from
moving endwise; but in practice I prefer to form one half of the bearing on ench
side of the spindle in the driving block, and the other part in a dovetail block b,
which is passed in endwise to its seat, and retained by means of pins, keys, or
screws. This forms a very cheap arrangement, permits the blocks b to be tempered
very hard, and enables them to be readily replaced when worn. The rock shaft C
may be shouldered to prevent movement endwise, but I prefer to construct it with
arms o projecting inward, and bearing upon opposite sides of the spindle A, as
shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

page_text: As before stated, when attached to the driving block, the rock shaft C may be
carried either through or around the spindle A, the latter arrangement however
being preferred. This may be accomplished, and a continuous shaft preserved either
by means of an eye or ring e passing entirely around the spindle, or a bow or bend
passing on one side of the spindle only, the former arrangement being represented
in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and the latter in Figs. 6 and 7.
Instead of mounting the rock shaft C in the driving block D, it may be hung in
the bail B, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the lower ends of the bent arms in this caso
extending downward into recesses formed in the driving block.
It will be observed that with this construction the principle of operation remains
unchanged, the driving block D swinging downward one of the bent arms, until
both are acted upon thereby oqually, the arms transmitting motion to the rock
shaft and bail.
The rollers a may be omitted, though it is preferred to employ them, as they
cause the device to act more quickly and easily.
In order to prevent dust and grit from cutting out the interior of the rollers a or
the arms on which they are placed, a recess or a series of communicating grooves
are formed on its inner face, as shown in Fig. 5, and one or more openings made
from the lower groove to the lower face of the roller to permit the exit of the
dirt.
Instead of forming hoods in the bail, the ends of the crank shaft may bear
against the side or face thereof, the driving block D being in that case furnished
with shoulders to engage the arms in event of backlash.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim is,-
1. The combination of a mill spindle, a bail suspended thereon, and an inter-
mediate transverse rock shaft having cranked arms or ends arranged to transmit
motion from the spindle to the bail.
2. The combination of a mill spindle, a bail suspended thereon, and a transverse
rocking shaft or frame adapted to extend around the outside of the spindle from
side to side.
3. The combination of a spindle, a bail, and an intermediate frame or shaft
having crank arms or ends, said shaft or frame being mounted in bearings in one of
the parts with its arms acting against or within the other.
4. A millstone driver consisting of a rock shaft or frame with two crank arms or
ends, and with journals or bearings, whereby it is adapted for use in connection
with a spindle and bail, as shown.
5. The rollers mounted on the driver and provided with the internal chamber or
channels.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto set
WM. P. THOMPSON. (L.S.)