IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY, STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Richmond and Henry Chandler, both of
Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Agricultural Implement Makers, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY, STRAW,
AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 30th November 1858, and dated the 2nd July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Richmond and
Henry Chandler, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd July 1858.
We, FRANCIS RICHMOND and HENRY CHANDLER, both of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Agricultural Implement Makers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY,
STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES;" to be as follows:--
The nature of our Invention consists, first, in supporting the upper rollers
of chaff-cutting, and other machines of the like nature, in adjustable bearings,
so that each roller can rise or fall independently of the other; the object of
this part of our Invention is to enable each top roller to regulate its distance
from the bottom roller, according to the depth of the feed, and it also allows
the front pair of rollers to keep firm hold of the hay, straw, or other vegetable
substance to be cut.
Secondly, in casting the mouthpiece of chaff-cutting and other machines of
the like nature, of cast steel or other suitable hard metal.
Thirdly, in making the teeth of the first pair of feed rollers tapered and
radiating from the axis.

page_text: Fourthly, in an improved mode of constructing knives for chaff-cutting and
other machines of the like nature, and connecting them to the fly wheel.
The blade of the knife is stamped with projections and holes, the projections
being diagonal to the face of the blade. The arms or disk of the fly wheel
are furnished with screwed bushes, on which the projections of the knife blade
fit, and a bolt passes through each projection, and through the bush. When
the knife has been bolted to the fly wheel, its cutting edge can be adjusted to
the edge of the mouthpiece by the screwed bushes and bolts referred to.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Richmond and Henry Chandler, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 31st December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANCIS
RICHMOND and HENRY CHANDLER, both of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Agricultural Implement Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Francis Richmond and Henry Chandler, Her special licence that
we, the said Francis Richmond and Henry Chandler, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Francis Rich-
mond and Henry Chandler, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY, STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Francis
Richmond and Henry Chandler, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Francis Richmond and Heury
Chandler, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of our Invention consists, first, in supporting the upper feed
rollers of machines for cutting bay, straw, and other vegetable substances, in
adjustable bearings, so that each roller can rise or fall independently of the
other.
Secondly, in casting the mouthpiece of machines for cutting hay, straw, and
other vegetable substances, of cast steel.
Thirdly, in making the teeth of the first pair of feed rollers of such machines
tapered and radiating from the axis.
Fourthly, in an improved mode of constructing the knives of machines for
cutting hay, straw, and other vegetable substances.
And, lastly, in an improved mode of connecting the knives to the fly wheels
or other fixings of such machines.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a chaff-cutting machine to which our improve-
ments are applied; Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 a transverse sectional
elevation of the same; Figure 4 is a detached view of the adjustable bearings
of the top feeding rollers; Figure 5 is a detached view of part of the feed
rollers, shewing our improved mode of shaping the teeth; Figure 6 is a plan
of the same; and Figure 7 is a detached view of the cutting knife, shewing
how the same is constructed and connected to the fly wheel.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, a is the bed plate of the machine, supported on the
franie in the usual manner; c and d are the two bottom feed rollers,
supported in fixed bearings, as is now customary; and c' and d¹ are the top
feed rollers, which are so supported, that each can rise or fall independently of
the other, according to the depth of the feed. To the axles of the rollers c¹
and d' are suspended the links c and d³, the lower ends of which are jointed
to the beam e; to the centre part of this beam is cast the projection e¹, to
which is jointed the long lever f, furnished with a weight f'; the lever f is
also jointed to the swing frame g whose fulcrum is at g¹. To the beam e are
cast or fixed the levers e², the ends of which are jointed to the brackets h¹ fixed
to the under side of the feeding plate h. The mouthpiece consists of the
bottom plate i, see Figure 3, and side plates ', in which are cast slots for the
bearings of the top feed roller d', and for the cover 2, which moves up and
down with the said roller d', as now customary; to this cover is screwed
the plate. The mouthpiece is cast of the metal known as cast steel, the

page_text: object being to prevent the mouthpiece being injured by the action of the
knives k, k, which are connected to the fly, wheel l fixed to the shaft m, revolving
in bearings cast to the bed plate a. Our improved mode of constructing the
knives and connecting them to the fly wheel will be described hereafter. The
feed rollers are turned round from the shaft m by the bevel pinion m¹ gearing
into a bevel wheel, and by the various wheels and shafts shewn in the
Drawings, which do not require to be described in detail, as they are common
to machines of this description. On referring to Figure 3, it will be seen that
the teeth of the first pair of feed rollers c and c¹ are made to radiate from the
axis, as shewn best in Figure 5, and that they are taper, as shewn in Figure 6
whereas the teeth of the second pair of feed rollers d and d¹ are of the usual
shape. The improved shaped teeth of the rollers c and c¹ take better hold of
the hay, or straw, or other vegetable substance to be cut, and consequently
convey it more regularly to the second pair of rollers d and d¹, the teeth of
which enter in the spaces between the teeth of the first pair of rollers, and
strip them, the teeth of the second pair of feed rollers are stripped by the
plates and, which are serrated in the usual manner.
As it is of the utmost importance in machines for cutting hay, straw, and
other vegetable substances, to. be able to adjust the knives to the face. of the
mouthpiece, we construct the knives and connect them to the arms of the
fly wheel or other fixing in the following manner :-The blade of the knife k,
which is shewn in section in Figure 7, is set at an angle to the face of the
fly wheel, as is now customary; each blade is stamped with four or other
convenient number of projections k¹; the outer faces of which, are diagonal, to
the blade, and in a line with the face of the fly wheel. The projections k¹ fit
against the screwed bushes P, which are furnished with six-sided heads, and
are screwed into the arms of the fly wheel 1; the bolts 1 pass through the
projections of the knives k, through the bushes, and are tightened up
against the arms of the fly wheel, thereby firmly securing the knives. When
it is necessary to adjust the cutting edge of the knife, the nuts of the bolts 2
are slackened, and the bushes are turned round or partly round, either in
one direction or the other, to increase or diminish the distance of the cutting
edge of the knife from the face of the mouthpiece, and then the. nuts of the
bolts are again. tightened; by this means the separate adjusting screws
usually employed are dispensed with, and the knives are easier to adjust, and
more securely attached to the fly wheel or other fixing than heretofore.
Figure 4, the feed rollers and the machinery by which they are weighted are
shewn in the positions they occupy when the machine is not at work, but when
the hay, or straw, or, other vegetable substance to be cut, is supplied, and the
In

page_text: machine is set in motion, the top roller c¹ of the first pair of feed rollers rises
into the position shewn in Figure 3, while the top roller d' of the second pair
of feed rollers will probably remain closer together than the first pair, but each
top roller can rise or fall independently of the other, according to the depth of
the feed, consequently the pressure between the rollers is at all times equal,
and the hay, or straw, or other vegetable substance to be cut, is always
securely held between the front pair of rollers, which object could not be
obtained in the machines of the ordinary construction, in which both top rollers
move simultaneously.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the details set forth, as the same may be considerably modified;
we would also remark that although we have shewn and described our various
improvements in machines for cutting hay, straw, and other vegetable
substances as combined, they may each be used independently of the others,
and we declare that we claim,―
First, the supporting the upper feed rollers of machines for cutting hay,
straw, and other vegetable substances in such wise that each can rise or fall
independently of the other, as described.
Secondly, the casting the mouthpiece of such machines of cast steel.
Thirdly, the making the teeth of the first pair of feed rollers of such
machines tapered and radiating from the axis, as shewn and described in
reference to Figures 5 and 6.
Fourthly, the improved mode of constructing the knives of such machines,
as shewn and described in reference to Figure 7.
And, lastly, the improved mode of connecting the knives of such machines
to the fly wheel or other fixing, as shewn and described in reference to
Figure 7.
In witness whereof, we, the said Francis Richmond and Henry Chandler,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-ninth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-eight.
FRANCIS RICHMOND. (L.S.)
HENRY CHANDLER.
(L.S.)
FRANCIS RICHMOND. (L.S.)
HENRY CHANDLER.
(L.S.)