IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND LOADING CORN, HAY, STRAW, AND OTHER CUT CROPS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Arthur Wallis and Charles James
Steevens at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd December
1876.
ARTHUR WALLIS and CHARLES JAMES STEEVENS, both of Basingstoke, in the
County of Hants. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND LOADING
CORN, HAY, STRAW, AND OTHER CUT CROPS."
For taking, corn, hay, and other cut crops from the land and lifting it on to
waggons or other suitable conveyance for hauling it, apparatus has been con-
structed consisting of a sloping framework or trough provided with endless chains,
ropes, or bands, connected by cross bars, the said cross bars having tines, teeth, or
projections, and the sloping framework or trough having at or near its upper and
lower ends axes or spindles carrying drums or wheels, round which the endless
bands or chains pass, and by the revolution of which wheels or drums the chains,
ropes, or bands, and the cross bars connecting them, are put in motion, thereby
taking up the aforesaid corn, hay, or other cut crop from the surface of the land,
and carrying or pushing it upon the sloping framework or trough, from the upper
end of which it is delivered or thrown by the said ropes, or bands, or chains, and
cross bars, on to the waggon or other suitable conveyance; such apparatus is
mounted on a wheeled frame or carriage and drawn along the land (generally be-
hind the waggon and attached to it), and motion is imparted to the axes or spindles
aforesaid by one or other of them (generally the lower one), being connected by
pitch chains, toothed wheels, or other suitable gearing to the wheel or wheels, or their
axle or axles on which the apparatus travels, so that as it is drawn along over the
the land the whole is set in motion; the aforesaid times, teeth or projections, take
up the crop from the surface, and in conjunction with the endless chains, ropes, or
bands, and cross bars connecting them, carry or push it up the sloping framework
or trough and deliver it on to the waggon or other suitable conveyance; such ap-
paratus is also sometimes fitted with prongs, teeth, or collectors of some kind in
rear of the said endless elevating chains for the purpose of collecting the crop, and
thereby rendering it easier for the teeth of the cross bars to take it up from the
surface of the land.
Our invention relates to improvements in such apparatus, part of which are also
applicable for elevating or stacking machines for carrying the crop up on to

page_text: The first improvement relates to the arrangement of the prongs or collectors be-
fore described, as having been sometimes used in the rear of the said endless chains,
ropes, or bands. These we make of a long gradual curve, similar to the teeth of an
ordinary horse rake, and we suspend or joint them to a suitable cross bar fixed to
the apparatus, and extending across it at a point considerably above the centre of
the axis or spindle, carrying the drums or wheels at the lower end of the aforesaid
sloping framework or trough; this point of suspension being also somewhat in
advance of the other ends of the teeth, prongs, or collectors which rest upon the
ground. By this arrangement the teeth, prongs, or collectors will accomodate them-
selves easily and freely to the inequalities in the surface of the land in exactly the
same way as do the teeth of an ordinary horse rake. The tooth, prongs, or col-
lectors can be raised clear of the ground for turning round at the end of the field by
an arrangement of levers or any other suitable known means provided for the
purpose.
We sometimes place inside the teeth prongs or collectors, and forming as it were
a lining to them, a curved apron or concave, the lower edge of which is sufficiently
distant from the surface of the ground to clear all inequalities, and in order to pre-
vent the crop getting between this apron or concave and the teeth prongs or col-
lectors, we sometimes attach to it, at or near its lower edge, short fixed teeth or
projections, extending backwards and passing through the spaces between the col-
lecting teeth or prongs.
The teeth, prongs, or collectors, either alone or in conjunction with the said
apron or concave, thus forms as it were a curved grated hopper, into which the crop
is collected or gathered by the points of the teeth, prongs, or collectors, as they are
drawn along the ground, and from which it is taken by the toothed cross bars be-
fore described. In the upper part of the grated hopper thus formed, as described,
we sometimes place a revolving barrel or cylinder, having teeth or other suitable pro-
jections to assist the endless chains, ropes, or bands, and toothed cross bars, in taking
the crop as it is collected; and in some cases, instead of fixing these teeth or projections
to the barrel or cylinder itself we attach them to a separate axis passing through
the inside of the barrel or cylinder and eccentric to it, by which arrangement the
said teeth or projections (which pass through suitable holes, slots, or openings in the
circumference of the barrel or cylinder), are caused to protrude from it during that
portion of its revolution in which they are required to assist in delivering the crop
to the endless chains, ropes, or bands, and cross bars connecting them, and to be
partially or entirely drawn back inside it during the remainder of its revolution,
thereby preventing the said barrel or cylinder, with its teeth or projections, from
carrying the crop round instead of delivering it to the endless chains, ropes, or bands,
and cross bars connecting them. To assist in clearing the crop from the barrel or
cylinder we sometimes use a scraper or scrapers applied to its surface at that part
of its revolution in which the teeth or projections are drawn back as described.
This barrel or cylinder we sometimes cause to revolve in one direction, and some-
times in the other, according as we desire to deliver the crop to the endless chains,
ropes, or bands, and cross bars, over the barrel or cylinder, or under it.
Another improvement has reference to the before-described sloping framework or
trough.
In machines, as heretofore made, the lower end of the said framework or trough
has been made of the same slope as the part immediately above it, namely, that re-
quisite to raise the crop to the required height; according to our Invention we
make the first few feet at the lower end very much flatter or more nearly horizontal
than the part immediately above it, thereby making it much easier for the endless
chains, ropes, or bands, and toothed cross bars before described, to take the crop
from out of the grated hopper, formed as before described, by the collecting teeth
or prongs, and also lessening the chance of any of the crop rolling back and thereby
choking the machine.
Rollers or other suitable known means are provided for guiding the endless
chains, ropes, or bands, and cross bars, so as to follow this variation of shape.
.

page_text: Another improvement (which is also applicable to elevators or stackers for carrying
the crop on to a rick), has reference to the method of mounting the aforesaid sloping
framework or trough on the main-wheeled frame or carriage on which it travels,
and the means provided for varying its slope as required. According to our In-
vention we mount the sloping framework or trough either on a transverse axis or
on trunnions or pivots, so that part of it (by preference the greater part) extends
in front of the said axis, trunnions, or pivots, and part extends behind it or
them.
For the purpose of altering the inclination or slope we attach to the part behind
the said axis, trunnions, or pivots, one or more chains, ropes, or bands, led over
suitable pullies to a barrel mounted on the inain-wheeled frame or carriage; by
turning this barrel in the one direction, and so winding upon it the chains, ropes, or
bands, we draw downwards the back part of the sloping frame or trough, thereby
elevating its front; and by turning the barrel in the opposite direction so as to
slacken the chains, ropes, or bands, we lower the front of the sloping frame or trough
as may be required.
Another improvement consists in sometimes so arranging the apparatus that the
same machine may be used either for lifting crops into waggons as described, or as
an elevator or stacker for raising the crop from, the waggon on to a rick, or for ele-
vating the straw from a thrashing machine. For this purpose we fit to the machine
a removeable hopper which is put on when the machine is required to be used for the
latter purpose, and removed when used for loading crops into waggons. Into this
hopper the crop is thrown as usual, to be carried up on to the rick by the endless
chains, or bands and cross bars, in the usual manner; any suitable known arrange-
ments are in such a case provided for imparting motion to these when so used,.
either by a horse gear or from a steam engine or thrashing machine Another im-
provement consists in sometimes so arranging apparatus for loading cut crops into
waggons or other conveyances that the machine does not itself collect and take up
the crop from the surface of the ground, but only elevates it on to the waggon or
other conveyance. In this case the sloping framework or trough is provided with
a hopper at or near its lower end, which is placed as near the ground as possible,
and into this hopper the crop is thrown with the forks or other suitable imple-
ments by persons walking behind or at the sides of the said hopper, and the before-
described endless chains, ropes, or bands, and toothed cross bars connecting them,
take it from the hopper and carry it up on to the waggon or other conveyance as
before described. This arrangement possesses the advantage that the horses, wag-
gon, or other conveyance and loading apparatus can travel between the swarths of
the cut crop, thereby preventing any danger of the crop being injured by the
horses trampling on it, or by the wheels of the waggon or other conveyance, and
those of the loading apparatus, passing over it.
On machines thus arranged we sometimes provide a seat or seats for the person or
persons who throw or fork the cut crop into the said hopper so that they may be
carried along by and with the apparatus.