CERTAIN IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPLIANCES FOR REDUCING BONES, HOOFS, HORNS, AND OTHER LIKE ANIMAL MATTER TO SMALL PARTICLES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Atkin, Edwin Atkin, and Alfred Amos
Atkin, trading as Atkin and Sons, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Saw Manufacturers, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPLIANCES FOR REDUCING BONES, HOOFS,
HORNS, AND OTHER LIKE ANIMAL MATTER TO SMALL PARTICLES."
Sealed the 10th September 1870, and dated the 11th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Atkin, Edwin
Atkin, and Alfred Amos Atkin at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th March 1870.
We, GEORGE ATKIN, EDWIN ATKIN, and ALFRED AMOS ATKIN,
trading as Atkin and Sons, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Saw Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPLIANCES FOR

page_text: REDUCING BONES, Hoors, HORNS, AND OTHER LIKE ANIMAL MATTER TO SMALL
PARTICLES," to be as follows (that is to say) :—
The object of our Invention as herein-after described is to reduce, cut,
or granulate bones, hoofs, horns, and like animal matter, in contra-
distinction to grinding or pulverizing the same, and we effect this by
setting up on a suitable axis a series of circular blades of steel of any
desirable thickness and diameter, the said blades being toothed around
their peripheries in the same manner that circular saws are toothed or
treated. These blades are held on the axis in close compact order by
means of collars and screws or other equivalent means, and which axis or
spindle with the blades thus applied we set up in a suitable recess fitted
with journals for the axis with the blades to revolve in, extending or
reducing the number of the circular toothed blades, according to the
size of the machine or apparatus we wish to make. The said recess is
contrived with an opening at the bottom for the reduced or granulated
bones or like animal matter to fall through into a portable receiver.
A rectangular or other suitable shaped parallel inlet is provided with
a plunger or piston fitting the said parallel inlet, the front of the said
plunger or piston being shaped of the same curve as the peripheries of the
circular toothed blades, but roughed on its surface for the purpose herein-
after mentioned, and in the said inlets is also provided a moveable bed
plate or bed plates for adjusting and regulating the cut of the blades and
the advancing of the piston to the circular blades as they wear down
in diameter from use. This plunger or piston at its rear end may be
fitted to a lever by which the said plunger or piston is advanced to, or
retired from the peripheries of the circular blades. The said inlet has
an opening on its top or side for receiving a hopper or otherwise for
supplying the bones or like animal matter to be reduced. Such
apparatus so arranged with the circular toothed blades is put in motion
by pulleys and band or other equivalent means, and the said piston
has only to be retired by means of the lever to permit bones or like
animal matter from the hopper or otherwise to fall into the recess when
the plunger can be progressively pressed forward, carrying before it the
bones or like animal matter against the toothed surfaces of the revolving
circular blades until the said matter is divided up, which will be readily
ascertained by the plunger or piston coming in contact with a stop that
prevents its contact with the circular blades.

page_text: In some instances instead of using a lever guided by hand we purpose
applying a self-acting motion for advancing and retiring the plunger or
piston, or advancing the plunger to its work by an elastic force.
In some instances instead of using a lever guided by hand we purpose
applying a self-acting motion for advancing and retiring the plunger or
piston, or advancing the plunger to its work by an elastic force.
The means of fixing or setting up the apparatus thus described, we
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Atkin, Edwin Atkin, and Alfred Amos
Atkin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
ATKIN, EDWIN ATKIN and ALFRED AMOS ATKIN, trading as Atkin
and Sons, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saw Manufacturers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said George Atkin, Edwin Atkin, and Alfred
Amos Atkin, Her special license that we, the said George Atkin,
Edwin Atkin, and Alfred Amos Atkin, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Atkin, Edwin
Atkin, and Alfred Amos Atkin, our executors, administrators, or
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPLIANCES FOR REDUCING BONES, HOOFS, HORNS, AND OTHER LIKE ANIMAL MATTER
TO SMALL PARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said George Atkin, Edwin Atkin, and Alfred Amos Atkin, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George Atkin, Edwin Atkin, and
Alfred Amos Atkin, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is
to say :-
The object of our Invention as herein-after described is to reduce, cut,
or granulate bones, hoofs, horns, and like animal matter in contra-
distinction to grinding or pulverizing the same, and we effect this by
setting up on a suitable axis a series of circular blades of steel of any
desirable thickness and diameter, the said blades being toothed around
their peripheries in the same manner that circular saws are toothed or
treated. These blades are held on the axis in close compact order by
means of collars and screws, or other equivalent means, and which
axis or spindle with the blades thus applied we set up in a suitable recess
fitted with journeys for one or more axes with the blades to revolve in,
extending or reducing the number of the circular toothed blades,
according to the size of the machine or apparatus we wish to make.
The said recess is contrived with an opening at the bottom for the
reduced or granulated bones or like animal matter to fall through into
a portable receiver. A rectangular or other suitable shaped inlet or
mouth piece is applied horizontally or vertically, and when used hori-
zontally is provided with a plunger or piston fitting the said parallel
mouth or inlet, the front of the said plunger or piston being shaped of
the same curve as the peripheries of the circular toothed blades or
cutters, but roughed on its surface for the purpose hercin-after mentioned,
and in the said inlet is provided a moveable bed plate or plates for
adjusting and regulating the cut of the toothed blades and the advancing
of the piston to the circular blades or cutters as they wear or decrease
in diameter from use or repeated sharpening, this plunger or piston at
its rear end may be fitted to a lever by which the said plunger or piston
is advanced to or retired from the peripheries of the circular cutters.
The said inlet or mouth piece has an opening on its top or side for
receiving a hopper or otherwise for supplying the bones or like animal
matter to be reduced. Such apparatus so arranged with the circular
toothed blades is put in motion by pulleys and band or other equivalent
means, and the said piston has only to be retired by means of the lever
to permit bones or like animal matter from the hopper or otherwise to

page_text: fall into the recess or mouth through the opening before referred to,
when the plunger can be progressively pressed forward, carrying before
it the bones or like animal matter against the toothed surfaces of the
revolving circular blades, until the said matter is divided up, which
will be readily ascertained by the plunger or piston coming in contact
with a stop that just prevents its roughened end coming in contact with
the circular cutters.
In some instances instead of using a lever guided by hand we purpose
applying a self-acting motion for advancing and retiring the plunger or
piston, or advancing the plunger to its work by an elastic force, or rely
simply on the gravitation of the material intended to be reduced falling
down on the surface of the circular cutters.
The means of fixing or setting up the apparatus thus described wo
purpose varying according to position or motive power used. As for
instance when two or more sets of blades are required with their
respective spindles and reverse driving gear or pulleys, a hopper may be
placed immediately over them, so that as the spindles are made to
revolve in opposite directions, the bones or other animal matter will
fall, and from its own gravity, as before stated, present itself to the
cutting edges of the said revolving cutters, a gauge or adjustable feed
bar being placed between the revolving cutters to prevent choking, and
a combined machine constructed according to this modification we have
exhibited in the Drawings hereunto annexed, and which we will now
proceed to describe, observing that the same parts represented in the
different views are marked with the same letters of reference, and
notwithstanding that much variation of general details may be made,
and form and mode of construction altered, nevertheless we have found
our arrangement as exhibited both in proportion and adaptation to

page_text: shown at Figure 4 marked e¹. The upper parts of the stand or side
supports are cast or formed with T grooves from end to end for the
heads of the holding down screws to slide in as seen at B, B, Figure 4,
by which means the carriages r, r, and 8, 8, for the axes C and D, on
which the cutters are placed, can be shifted and adjusted for the purpose
hereafter described; E is the feed box in which, as shown best in
Figure 2, a self-acting plunger works by means of its connection with
an adjustable link G to the lever H, which lever working on the
fulcrum I will remain stationery as here shown when pulled down to a
horizontal position, this is necessary for exposing the mouth of the feed
box E through the opening J, but which when filled with hoofs or like
animal matter to be reduced and the lever elevated, the hoofs, horns, or
other like animal matter is pressed forward by the gravitating force
of the weight K acting on the serrated or roughed surface of the
plunger F, so as to impel forward against the revolving cutters L, the
material intended to be granulated or reduced, which cutters are shown
in distinct figures on their respective spindles at Fig. 5. We have made
the plunger of iron as it is more enduring on the serrated face, and by
the mode here shown of constructing the link G, viz., using a right
and left handed screw tapped into the part b, it is evident that this part
has only to be turned around to shorten or lengthen the distance
between the centres c and d, that the plunger may be so adjusted as to
permit its serrated surface to approach sufficiently near to the periphery
of the revolving cutters to divide up the small particles, but without
coming in actual contact with the cutters, and when all the material has
been operated on the lever H with its attendant parts will be in the
position shown at Figure 1. This arrangement we have found particu-
larly suitable for reducing hoofs and horns, but for reducing bones, we
-prefer supplying them through the central hopper or mouth M, and
letting them fall by their own gravitation to meet the converging
action of the revolving cutters C and D, the said cutters being
toothed as shown in Figure 2 and revolving in the direction of the
arrows; and to hold up the bones or animal matter to be operated on we
apply a transverse feed bar of iron or steel, marked N in Figures 2
and 3, and held securely in position by the pins f, f, Figure 3 passing
through lugs formed on the lower edge of the hopper M. O is merely
a shield covering the otherwise exposed portion of the cutters to prevent
accidents or anything injurious getting to the peripheries of the cutters

page_text: at that part. With this description we will imagine that the hopper M
is filled with bones or like animal matter intended to be reduced,
driving bands being placed on the pulleys P and Q fixed on the axes C
and D passing around pulleys on a prime or driving shaft, one of which
bands must be crossed to obtain the reverse motion to one set of cutters,
the converging revolution of the cutters will gather the bones down on
the bar N, and the irregular action of the teeth hereafter referred to
will agitate the smaller pieces, and throw them from side to side of the
feed bar until entirely reduced, the fineness of the cut being regulated
by the distance between the peripheries of the cutters and the edges
of the said feed bar N. A receiving pan or spout can be conveniently
placed underneath for receiving or conducting the reduced particles
away as they are cut. This process we have found most efficient and
rapid for the cutting or reducing of bones to dust or small particles,
but for hoofs and horns, which are of a close and softer texture we
prefer presenting them to the face or revolving action of the cutters
through the horizontal hopper or receiver E, but in that case we reverse
the action of the cutters on the axis D as indicated by the arrow,
and
we prefer extending the surface of the cutters the lengthway of the
axis as exhibited at Fig. 6, the dotted lines representing the capacity of
the interior of the feed box E. We effect this by removing the cutters
from the axis C and applying them to the axis D (for economy and
convenience), first reversing the cutters already on the axis D, that the
acute angle of the teeth may be presented to the material to be reduced,
or another spindle with the cutters may be applied, the surface of the
cutters extending the whole width of the interior of the horizontal
hopper J, and with this arrangement hoofs and horns may be readily
shaved and reduced into minute shavings or particles, the fineness of
the cut being regulated in this case by the distance between the
front edge of the adjustable bed plate W and the peripheries of the
circular cutters. It will be seen by referring to Figures 3 and 4,
as also from the detached views, Figure 5 and 6, that the cutters L
and R are produced by preference from a series of steel discs uniformly
concentrically pierced with a hole of the size of the spindle, and
5 a feather way for passing over their respective axes, regulated by the
adjustable collars e, f, g, h, and j, k, with set nuts m and n, seen
only in the top view, Figure 3. We have by preference adapted the
adjustable principle, in order to show that by removing the vertical

page_text: hopper M. and shield O, not only can the spindle C and cutters R,
as well as the spindle D and cutters L, be readily taken from the machine
by removing the glands from the carriages r, r, and 8, 8, but the
cutters can be removed from the spindle C and applied to the spindle D
for the purpose of cutting hoof and horn as herein-before described.
But to provide for the wearing away of the cutters by use, we have only
to loosen the lock nuts and screws of the carriages r, r, and 8, 8, that
carry the cutters, when the carriages can be brought together by the
heads of the pins working in the T grooves B, B, exhibited in Figure 4;
and for the same purpose, viz., to meet the reduced diameter of the
cutters from wear, the horizontal hopper E and adjustable plato W, can
be moved in the same manner up to the cutters by slots being formed
through the flanges S and T of the horizontal hopper E and through
the plate W underneath, as will be best understood by referring to the
top view Figure 3, the slots being respectively marked a, p, q, r, 8, t,
and this same adjustable principle we adopt in the ends 2 and v of the
vertical hopper M shown in Figures 2 and 3, the end v being likewise
scen at Figure 4; and it being desirable that the lower edges of these
ends should be near to the surface of the cutters, wo have formed slots
on the angles of the sides of the hopper for screws to pass through
into the ends to hold them sufficiently in position, and yet allow them
to be adjusted as desired, and which slots we have exhibited at Figure 4
marked a¹, ¹, c¹, and d¹.
We do not think it necessary to describe every detail and part of our
arrangement, as a machinist of ordinary skill will well understand and
comprehend our Invention as here exhibited and described, as the
machine may be constructed separately for working only a horizontal
hopper, or with two horizontal hoppers, the cutters revolving between
them, each set revolving in the direction of their respectivo hoppers, and
in like manner a separate machine may be constructed and adapted for
the vertical hopper, applying the driving pullcy or pulleys and the
adjustable details according to such requirements.
With these general remarks we wish it understood that what we
claim as of our Invention and wish to protect by these our in part
recited Letters Patent is, the general arrangement as here exhibited a
and described for the purpose of reducing bones, hoofs, horns, or other
like animal matter to small particles, the said animal matter so reduced

page_text: being for the purpose of manure, without confining ourselves to the
general details herein described and exhibited, provided the spirit of
our Invention is preserved either in a separate or combined form.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Atkin, Edwin Atkin,
and Alfred Amos Atkin, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord, Ono
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
WILLIAM LOACH,
GEORGE ATKIN.
(L.S.)
EDWIN ATKIN.
(L.S.)
ALFRED AMOS ATKIN.
(L.S.)
Clerk to James S. Cockings,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.