IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wilson, of Upper Poppleton, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES."
Sealed the 26th April 1864, and dated the 31st October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
October 1863.
I, JOHN WILSON, of Upper Poppleton, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of
thrashing machines, whereby greater efficiency and rapidity of working are
effected than by the machines at present in use.
I propose to make the shakers of leather. I employ about twenty long
ones, each about seven feet long, and six cross shakers, each about four feet
six inches long; the shakers are fastened to each other by means of a screw.
The long shakers at one end are fastened under the concave at the other end;
they work from the shuttle board. In the box I employ seven moveable
knives and nineteen fixed knives. The fan is about twenty inches in diameter,
casting the air into two currents, that is to say, it blows the air twice over,

page_text: and instead of rotating in the ordinary direction its action is reversed. By
these improvements I obtain two blasts of air with one blower.
The shuttle board or trough is about three feet six inches by four feet; it is
made of leather, and punched with three-quarter inch holes at top, and one
inch holes at the bottom.
The shoes are nine inches in depth at one end, and thirteen inches at the
other; half the shoes are out, the ends forming a screen. The shuttle board
is moveable, and over each spout there falls a lid made of leather with a heavy
piece of lead attached to it to make it fall; the lids are raised by means of a
string or cord.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILSON, of Upper Poppleton, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Wilson, 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,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,.
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THRASHING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Wilson, 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Wilson, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of
thrashing machines, whereby greater efficiency and rapidity of working are
effected than by the machines at present in use, and less motive power is
required, and the machine is much lighter.
I make the shakers of leather. I employ about twenty long ones, each
about seven feet long, and six cross shakers with wooden connecting laths,
each about four feet six inches long; the shakers are fastened to each other
by means of a screw. The long shakers at one end are fastened under the
concave at the other end; they work from the shuttle board. The fan is about
twenty inches in diameter, casting the air into two currents, that is to say, it
blows the corn twice over, and instead of rotating in the ordinary direction its
action is reversed. By these improvements I obtain two blasts of air with
one blower.
The shuttle board or trough is about three feet six inches by four feet; it is
made of leather, and punched with three-quarter inch holes at top, and one
inch holes at the bottom.
The shoes are nine inches in depth at one end, and thirteen inches at the
other; half the shoes are out, the ends are forming a screen.
In order that my said Invention may be completely understood by those
acquainted with thrashing machinery, I annex the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a sectional side elevation of the machine
mounted on wheels. The machine is about fourteen feet long, four and a
quarter feet broad, and nine feet in depth. The forterer is six inches deep
and 18 inches wide.
Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the leather shakers.
In Fig. 3, the dotted line inch under the lower half of the fortering wheel
is made of square ½-inch iron bars placed alternately with bars of an inch in
width, but lower than the others, leaving a slight interval between the bars.
The corn on leaving the fortering machine is exposed to the second blast of
the fan.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion that I do
not limit myself to the precise details and configuration of parts herein
expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously be varied or modified without
in any way departing from the principles on which the Invention is based;
but what I claim, and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, are, the general arrangement and combination of parts, sub-
stantially as herein specified and shewn, constituting the "Improvements in
Thrashing Machines," according to the title hereof.!
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wilson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
EDW. B. WELBURN,
Poppleton, York.
JOHN WILSON. (L.B.)