IMPROVEDENTS IN THE FORM AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING GEAR OF THRASHING MACHINES, AND IN THE FORM AND MODE OF APPLYING THE STRAW SHAKEES TO SUCH SAID MACHINES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Williams and Thomas Williams, Smiths
and Ironfounders, both of the Helston Foundry, Helston, in the County
of Cornwall, for the Invention of "IMPROVEDENTS IN THE FORM AND
ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING GEAR OF THRASHING MACHINES, AND IN THE
FORM AND MODE OF APPLYING THE STRAW SHAKEES TO SUCH SAID MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Williams and
Thomas Williams at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 18th July 1857.
We, NICHOLAS WILLIAMS and THOMAS WILLIAMS, Smiths and Ironfounders,
both of the Helston Foundry, Helston, in the County of Cornwall, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORM
AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING GEAR OF THRASHING MACHINES, AND IN THE
FORM AND MODE OF APPLYING STRAW SHAKERS TO SUCH SAID MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
First, by disposing the driving gear so as to occupy the smallest possible
space compatable with the most efficient arrangement for effecting its purpose,
to enable us to cover or enclose the whole in a proper ense.
Second, by improving the form, arrangement, and mode of applying straw
shakers, so that while they will act more effectively, they can be placed in any
position that is at any angle with the fixed or barn work of the machine,

page_text: and by this means enable us to apply straw shakers of improved action, and
to adopt them to barns where the present form of shaker cannot be applied.
To effect these we arrange our driving gear thus:-On the principal axis or
shaft we fix in the usual manner the main driving wheel, which is a spur wheel,
having the teeth on the inner periphery of its rim; these teeth gear into and
drive a pinion, which is attached to another spur wheel having its teeth on
the outer periphery of its rim; this last-named wheel and the pinion may
be formed seperately and rotate on a pin, or they may be made in one and
revolve upon
short shaft. This second wheel gears into a spur pinion cast
on the back of a bevil wheel mounted on the principal shaft, and causes both
to rotate upon the said shaft, which by this arrangement answers for the axis
or shaft of both the first and third wheels, the former being fixed to the latter
revolving on it. The third or bevil wheel gears to the pinion of the trans-
mitting shaft in the usual manner, and the motion is conveyed to the barn or
fixed work of the thrashing machine in the ordinary way. The whole of the
driving gear is encased by a suitable cover of wood or metal, and the wheels,
shafts, and pinions are properly fixed to and attached and supported by
the same.
Our improvements in straw shakers consist in constructing them so that the
moving frames, boxes, or beds shall be in one part of their length an inclined
plane, in the other horizontal; moreover, that these planes shall form a bend
or angle with cach other when viewed in plan. From this construction we
are enabled to apply straw shakers to barns or the fixed work of thrashing
machines where the present straw shakers cannot be applied. Although wo
prefer our straw shakers to be of an angular form in the plan, nevertheless,
the same combination of inclined and horizontal beds, boxes, or frames may
with great advantage be made straight in the plan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nicholas Williams and Thomas Williams in the Great Seal
Patent Oflice on the 18th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, NICHOLAS
WILLIAMS and TпоMAS WILLIAMS, Smiths and Ironfounders, both of the
Helston Foundry, Helston, in the County of Cornwall, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her.

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Nicholas Williams and Thomas Williams, Her special licence that we,
the said Nicholas Williams and Thomas Williams, our exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Nicholas Willians and
Thomas Williams, our 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,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE FORM AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING GEAR OF THRASHING MACHINES, AND
IN THE FORM AND MODE OF APPLYING THE STRAW SHAKERS TO SUCH SAID MACHINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Nicholas Williams and
Thomas Williams, our exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 l'atent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Nicholas Williams and Thomas
Williams, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say :--
Our Invention consists, first, in arranging the driving gear of thrashing.
machines so as to occupy the smallest possible space compatible with a perfect
performance of its purpose, and thus enable us more easily to enclose the
same in a proper case.
Second, by improving the form, arrangement, and mode of applying straw
shakers to thrashing machines, so that while they will act more effectively,
they can be placed in any position that is at any angle with the fixed or barn
work of the machine, and by this means enable us to apply straw shakers of
improved action, and to adopt them to barns where the present form of
shakers cannot be applied. To effect these we arrange the driving gear
thus: Upon a block or bed plate in the ground or in the plate forming the
bottom of the cover we erect the principal shaft or axis, upon which the
machinery works and is supported; the upper part of the shaft is stayed
and moves in the cover of the case (when this latter is adopted), or if the cover
be not used, by any other convenient stay. Midway up the shaft are attached
sockets or shoes, into which one or more poles are fixed horizontally and at
equal angles with each other; in general, we prefer three of these poles at

page_text: angles of one hundred and twenty degrees with each other, and braced
together by horizontal and diagonal braces from the extremities of cach other
and from the vertix of the main shaft. At the extremities of these poles the
horses or other motive power is attached to drive the machinery.
Upon the main shaft we fix, by keying or otherwise, a main driving spur
wheel, having its teeth on the inner periphery of its rim; these teeth gear
into and drive a pinion, which is attached to another spur wheel having its
teeth on the outer periphery of its rim. The last-mentioned pinion and wheel
may be formed or cast in one piece, or they may be formed seperately and
rotate upon a small shaft, supported from the bottom plate, or from the side
frame of the cover, or otherwise. This second wheel gears into a spur pinion
cast on the back of a bevel wheel mounted on the principal shaft, causing
both to rotate upon the said shaft, which by this arrangement answers for the
axis of both the first and third wheels, the former being fixed to and rotating
with the shaft, the latter revolving freely around it. This third bevel wheel
gears into the pinion of the transmitting shaft, which conveys the motion to
the barn or fixed work of the thrashing machine by means of combinations
of belts, runners, and gear in the ordinary manner.
The whole of the above-described driving gear is enclosed in a covering of
wood or metal, preferably of cylindrical form, and in parts so as to be easily
taken to pieces and put together, and of sufficient strength that the shaft and
any parts of the gear may, if necessary, be fixed to, attached, and properly
supported by it.
Our improvements in straw shakers consist in constructing them so that
the moving frames, boxes, or beds, whichever of these are used, shall be in
one part of their length an inclined plane and in the other horizontal. By
this arrangement we are enabled to apply straw shakers at any angle to the
barn or fixed work of the thrashing machine where at present, in many cases,
they cannot be applied. Although we prefer and claim the use of straw
shakers so formed to be placed at any angles with the barn work of the
machine, nevertheless the same combination of inclined and horizontal beds,
boxes, or frames which we particularly claim as our Invention may with
great advantage be placed in a straight line with the barn work after the
usual manner as at present.
In order more clearly to illustrate the above-described Invention and to
render it more intelligible, the accompanying Drawings are appended to this
Specification and the following description, reference being therin made
to the Drawings; at the same time we wish it clearly understood that the
dimension sizes, and, to a certain extent, the form and combination of parts

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
>
Figure 1 is an isometric view of the driving gear in its case, and Figure 2
is a section of the same, shewing the internal arrangement. A is the box or
case, cylindrical in form, having the lid curved or domical; B, the main axle
or shaft, round and upon which the driving machinery works; C, C, C, are
the arms or poles inserted in the sockets or shoes c, c, c; D, D, D, arc the
horizontal, and d, d, d, the diagonal braces binding together the poles; E,
the transmitting shaft, conveying the power from the pinion f. In Figure 2,
the shaft B is seen in section with the sockets or shoes c; upon the lid of the
case is the journal or bearing &', and at the bottom plate 6, the pivot upon
which the shaft turns. a (see Fig. 2) is the main driving wheel, having the
teeth on its internal periphery, and gearing into the pinion m, which has
the toothed wheel n either fastened or cast upon it. This latter wheel n
gears into the pinion o, cast on the back of the large bevel wheel p, which has
its teeth on the under side gearing into the bevel pinion f. Upon rotation
being produced on the main axle or shaft by the motive power applied at the
extremities of the arms, the wheel a is caused to rotate on the shaft, at
the same time producing rotation in the pinion m and the toothed wheel n,
which are mounted upon a seperate axis; these latter in their turn acting
upon the pinion o, cause the largo. bevel wheel to rotate freely about the
main shaft, and communicate its motion to the bevel pinion f, and hence to
the transmitting shaft E, upon which the pinion f is mounted. Figure 3 is
an extension of Figure 2, shewing a mode of transmitting the motion
generated in the driving gear to the thrashing machine and to the straw
shakers; to the former by means of the belt wheel H and the belt h, passing
round the driver h' mounted upon the axle of the thrashing machine; to the
latter by means of the rigger i, the runner j. the toothed gear and shafts
K, K', to the cranks which work the straw shakers. Figure 4 is a view of
the straw shaker. A, A, A, A, the inclined boxes wired; B, B, B, B, the
horizontal ones; C, C, the sides; and D, D, the framing. Figure 5 shews
the arrangement and position of the straw shaker when in connexion with one
of our ordinary thrashing machines, and placed at right angles to it, Figure 2
showing the sectional plan of the same. Our improved straw shakers may,
however, with almost equal advantage, be placed at any angle or in a straight
line with the thrashing machine. Figure 6 is a section of the straw shaker

page_text: through the boxes on the line a, b, in Figure 2, shewing the position of the
cranks and the forin of the boxes.
Having now described our Invention, and the mode in which it is to be
carried into effect, we now wish it understood that what we wish secured by
the before in part recited Letters Patent are,-
First, the arrangement and construction of the driving gear of thrashing
machines substantially as set forth in this Specification and Drawings, more
particularly the combination of the driving wheel with the teeth on its inner
periphery, and the bevel gear transmitting wheel, the one rotating with and
the other round the same shaft, and the means for conveying the motion from
the former to the latter.
Second, the construction of straw shakers having the boxes, beds, or frames
partly in inclined and partly in horizontal planes, and the application of
them at right angles or any other angle to the fixed or barn work of thrashing
machines."
In witness whereof, we, the said Nicholas Williams and Thomas
Williams, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Ninth day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
D
NICHOLAS WILLIAMS. (LS.)
THOMAS WILLIAMS.
(L.B.)