IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND "ROSSING' BARK
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bristow Hunt, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND "ROSSING'
BARK." A communication from abroad by Samuel Rogers Thomp-
son, Machinist, and Thomas Shepard Nowell, Shoe Manufacturer,
both of the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bristow Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th December 1875.
I, BRISTOW HUNT, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRINDING
AND 'ROSSING' BARK," (a communication to me from abroad by Samuel
Rogers Thompson, Machinist, and Thomas Shepard Nowell, Shoe Manų-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bristow Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BRISTOW
HUNT, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Bristow Hunt, Her special
licence, that I, the said Bristow Hunt, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Bristow Hunt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRINDING AND
BARK," a communication to me from abroad by Samuel Rogers Thomp-
son, Machinist, and Thomas Shepard Nowell, Shoe Manufacturer, both in
the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the United States of America,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Bristow Hunt, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
⚫ROSSING
'
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Bristow Hunt, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say:—
This Invention has for its object to improve the construction of
machines for performing the operations of "rossing" bark or removing

page_text: supporting frame 5. Each collar 2 is provided with one or more teeth
or cutters 3 projecting from its periphery (as shewn most clearly in
Figure 3), and formed so as to shave fragments of rind or liber from
pieces of bark passed over the cylinder 1 in a direction opposite to its
rotation. Each tooth 3 is of the same width as its collar, and the teeth
are arranged along the cylinder 1 in one or more spiral series, so that as
the cylinder is revolved the teeth act successively on the bark, each
tooth detaching or shaving a small fragment of liber from the bark as it
comes in contact therewith, the next tooth of the series detaching an
adjoining fragment immediately after its predecessor. The rind or liber
is thus detached in separate shavings of the width of the cutters, these
shavings being sufficiently small to obviate the necessity of grinding
the liber after it is separated. The shavings or fragments of liber as
they are detached from the bark fall into a receptacle 6 under the
cutting cylinder; the remaining portions of the bark after passing over
the cutting cylinder slide down an incline 7. A horizontal feed roll 8 is
placed above the cutting cylinder, and provided with radial spurs 35 on
its periphery. It is journalled in blocks 9 supported by two arms 10
hinged at 11 to slotted ears 12 on the supporting frame 5, and adapted
to oscillate on their hinges in a vertical plane. The axis 13 of the feed
roll 8 is parallel with the axis 26 of the cutting cylinder, but is placed
somewhat in front thereof, see Figures 1 and 3. It is rendered adjust-
able vertically and horizontally by means of the hinged arms 10, the
free ends of which can be raised or lowered, while the hinged ends can
be moved horizontally in the slots 14 of the ears 12, these movements
of the arms 10 moving the feed roll toward or away from the cutting
cylinder, both vertically and horizontally, the vertical movement
enabling various thicknesses of bark to be rossed, and the horizontal
movement enabling the feed roll to be moved toward the front of the
machine, so that it may be lowered without striking the cutting cylinder
when it is desirable to grind the ross with the rind or liber. The down-
ward movement of the arms 10 is limited by adjustable stops or rests 15,
consisting of nuts 16 on vertical threaded standards 17 projecting from
the supporting frame 5, the upper ends of the standards projecting
through slots 18 in the arms 10. By adjusting the nuts 16 the feed roll
is supported at any desired height above the cutting cylinder. The feed
roll is held downwardly with a yielding pressure by springs 19 con-
necting the free ends of the arms 10 with the frame 5. The springs are
provided with terminal rods 20, 21, which are connected respectively

page_text: with the arms 10 and frame 5, the rods 20 being threaded and passing
loosely through orifices in the ends of the arms, above which they aro
provided with thumb nuts 22 bearing upon the upper sides of the arms,
and by adjusting which the tension of the springs 19 can be regulated
as desired. The springs can be disconnected from the frame 5, thus
allowing the arms 10 with the feed roll to be swung out of place, as
shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 1. If desired weights may be sub-
stituted for the springs 19.
A horizontal bed plate 23 is placed in front of the cutting cylinder
and adapted to support the bark as it passes thereto. It is supported
by two or more vertically adjustable threaded standards 24 passing
through tapped lugs 25 on the frame 5. By turning the standards 24
the bed plate may be raised or lowered to any extent so as to regulate
the thickness of the shaving of liber taken from the bark by the
teeth 3.
A friction roller 27 is journalled in the sides of the bed plate 23, and
projects slightly above the upper surface of the same, as shown in
Figure 3. This roller supports the bark under the feed roll 8, and
facilitates the passage of the bark between the cutting cylinder and the
feed roll. A spout 28 or extension of the bed plate 23 is hinged to the
outer end of the latter and adapted to be inclined downwardly to any
desired extent so as to facilitate the presentation of a longitudinally
curved piece of bark to the cutting cylinder. The sheets of bark in
drying are liable to become warped, the rind or liber side becoming
concave, consequently if the bed plate is horizontal the end of the bark
is liable to be inclined downwardly as it meets the knives, cutters, or
teeth 3, and in this position greater pressure is required to straigthen
the bark and cause it to pass between the cutting cylinder and the feed
roll. The hinged extension 28 however enables the outer end of tho
bark to be depressed so as to present the inner end to the cutting
cylinder horizontally and enable it to be passed readily over the cutting
cylinder.
The cutting cylinder and feed roll are rotated differentially by
pulleys 29, 30, driven by belts, the cutting cylinder being rotated at a
higher rate of speed than the feed roll.
A hopper 31, Figure 3, is or may be adapted to enclose the feed roll,
being provided with end slots 32 which slip over the journals 13 thereof.

page_text: At the side of the hopper are binged doors 33, which when raised (as
shown in dotted lines) allow the machine to operate as above described,
but which when closed prevent the bark being presented horizontally
from the bed plate 23. This hopper is provided for enabling the
machine to grind small pieces of bark advantageously, the hopper
being filled with the fragments which descend to the cutting mechanism.
When this hopper is used the cover 34 (Figure 1) of the feed roll is
removed.
Firstly. The rind or fiber is shaved from the bark by the independent
knives 3 in separate fragments, and is thus separated and ground at the
same operation.
Secondly. The feed roll is enabled to be adjusted vertically so as to
admit any desired thickness of bark between itself and the cutting
cylinder.
Thirdly. The feed roll is enabled to be moved horizontally away from
the cutting cylinder by means of the horizontal slots in the cars 12 so as
to admit of its being lowered together with the bed plate so far as to
enable the cutters to grind the ross as well as the rind or liber when it
is desirable to grind both parts of the bark together.
Fourthly. The yielding pressure of the feed roll permits it to yield to
protuberances on the bark, and prevent breakage of parts.
Fifthly. The adjustability of the tension of the springs enables the
yielding pressure to be varied as desired.
Sixthly. The vertical adjustability of the bed plate enables any
desired thickness of rind or liber to be shaved from the bark.
Seventhly. The hinged extension of the bed plate enables curved bark
to be properly presented to the cutting cylinder.
And, Eighthly. The hopper enables small picces or fragments of bark
to be ground advantageously.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion
that I claim as the Invention communicated to bee by the said Samuel

page_text: Rogers Thompson and Thomas Shepard Nowell, the combination,
arrangement, and application of the above described improvements in and
to machinery or apparatus for grinding and rossing bark, for the
purposes and to obtain the objects above specified, substantially as
described and as illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bristow Hunt, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.