AN IMPROVED MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR RIPPLING OR SEEDING FLAX
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR RIPPLING
OR SEEDING FLAX."-A communication from abroad by Baron Woldemar
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd April 1866.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR
RIPPLING OR SEEDING FLAX," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to remove the seed from the flax quickly
and with small expenditure of power, and without losing or spoiling any of the
seed or breaking off the heads of the plant, so that the flax does not lose in
weight by the operation. For this purpose an iron spindle passing through a
closed casing has fixed upon it a number of radial arms, to the ends of each

page_text: of which are attached a number of curved metal prongs or teeth fixed in a
row a small distance apart and parallel to the axis of the spindle, which is
caused to revolve with the pronged arms in the direction in which the prongs
are curved. The upper part of the casing is rounded so as to conform as
nearly as possible to the path of the revolving prongs, and in such rounded
portion, at opposite sides of the machine, are formed slits or narrow openings
of a length rather less than the width of the pronged arms. In some cases
the apparatus may be provided with two sets of pronged arms fixed upon the
same spindle, and the casing is then formed with two such openings on each
side. In operating with this apparatus it is brought on the ground where the
flax lies, and the pronged arms are caused to revolve rapidly, either by means
of a crank upon the spindle turned by manual power, or by means of suitable
gearing driven by an engine or other source of motive power; the operators
then take a bundle of flax, after it has been tied, and insert the heads through
the slits of the casing, advancing the flax gradually into the casing up to
where it is bound, when the rapidly revolving prongs catch the heads of the
flax and strip off the seeds of the same, which fall into a receptacle at the
bottom of the casing. The bundle of flax is then drawn out of the casing
and another bundle is introduced in the same manner. To prevent the spaces
between the prongs from choking, the prongs are made tapering in their
transverse section from the front or working edge to the back edge. In order
to prevent the operator's hands from being drawn in through the openings in
the casing a curved protecting lip is fixed to the lower edge of the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2
19th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Denton
Abel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said 3
Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at,

page_text: 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 "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR RIPPLING OR SEEDING FLAX," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Baron Woldemar von Loewis, of Mena, at Riga,
in the Empire of Russia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Denton Abel, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say,-
This Invention has for its object to remove the seed from the flax quickly
and with small expenditure of power, and without losing or spoiling any of
the seed or breaking off the heads of the plant, so that the flax does not lose
in weight by the operation. For this purpose an iron spindle passing through
a closed casing has fixed upon it a number of radial arms, to the ends of each
of which are attached a number of curved metal prongs or teeth fixed in a
row a small distance apart, and parallel to the axis of the spindle, which is
caused to revolve with the pronged arms in the direction in which the prongs
are curved. The upper part of the casing is rounded, so as to conform as
nearly as possible to the path of the revolving prongs, and in such rounded
portion, at opposite sides of the machine, are formed slits or narrow openings
of a length rather less than the width of the pronged arms. In some cases
the apparatus may be provided with two sets of pronged arms fixed upon the
same spindle, and the casing is then formed with two such openings on each
side. In operating with this apparatus it is brought on the ground where the
flax lies, and the pronged arms are caused to revolve rapidly either by means
of a crank upon the spindle turned by manual power, or by means of suitable
gearing driven by an engine or other source of motive power. The operators
then take a bundle of flax after it has been tied, and insert the heads through
the slits of the casing, advancing the flax gradually into the casing up to
where it is bound, when the rapidly revolving prongs catch the heads of the

page_text: flax, and strip off the seed pods of the same, which fall into a receptacle at
the bottom of the casing. The bundle of flax is then drawn out of the casing,
and another bundle is introduced in the same manner. To prevent the spaces
between the prongs from choking the prongs are made tapering in their
transverse section from the front or working edge to the back edge. In
order to prevent the operator's hands from being drawn in through the
openings in the casing a curved protecting lip is fixed to the lower edge of
the same.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing shows a side elevation, partly in
section, and Figure 2 shows a transverse section of the before-described
improved apparatus for rippling or seeding flax.
.
Upon the wrought-iron shaft A, carried by bearings a, a, on the casing B,
is fixed a cast or wrought-iron boss C with four ribs D; to these are bolted
the four wrought-iron forked arms E, in the forks of which arms are fixed a
number of sickle-shaped prongs or teeth F, F, by preference of steel, which
prongs are kept a small distance apart by means of distance pieces G, G,
forming together a description of comb. The prongs are fixed to the arms E
by means of two screw bolts passing through the arms, prongs, and distance
pieces, as shown. The prongs are by preference made to taper in thickness
both in the direction of their length as also in their transverse section from
the front or concave edge to the back or convex edge, as shown in the
enlarged detached back elevation and transverse section of one of the blades
at Figures 3 and 4. By this arrangement the choking of the spaces between
the prongs is prevented. The casing B is rounded at top so as to conform
nearly to the circular path of the prongs F, and is provided on each side with
slits or apertures H, H', through which the heads of the flax to be operated
upon are introduced; these slits do not extend to the full width of the
pronged arms in order to insure that the whole of the flax introduced shall be
operated upon thereby. The apertures H are provided with a projecting
lip on their lower edge in order to protect the hands of the workman. The
casing is provided at bottom with a hinged door I, through which the seed
pods that fall down after being stripped off the flax are removed; or a
separate receptacle may be placed in the bottom of the casing for receiving
the seed pods. When the apparatus is in operation the shaft A with the
pronged arms receives rotary motion in the direction of the arrow, either by
means of the crank handle J upon the fly wheel K worked by manual power,
or by means of any suitable arrangement of gearing worked by a steam engine
or other source of motive power. As before stated, two sets of the pronged
arms may be fixed upon the shaft A, one set being arranged near to each

page_text: side of the casing, in which corresponding apertures are formed, so that four
workmen can operate at one and the same machine.
The above-described apparatus, which is termed the "Livonian rippling
machine," works with the greatest efficacy at a speed of from fifty to sixty
revolutions of the shaft A per minute.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner in which it is to be
performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
details of the apparatus as shown on the accompanying Drawing, as these
may be variously modified without departing from the nature of the said
Invention; but what I claim under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the construction and use of apparatus for rippling flax in which a
number of sickle-shaped prongs fixed side by side a small distance apart upon
arms carried by a revolving shaft are caused to travel past one or more
apertures in a surrounding casing through which the flax to be operated
upon is introduced, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
CHARLES D. ABEL. (L.S.)