A MACHINE FOR THRASHING CORN AND OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GOUCHER, of Woodsetts, in the West Riding of the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-fifth day of November, in year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year of Her. reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said John Goucher, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her
special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
John Goucher, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said John Goucher, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick
upon Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and in all Her Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A
MACHINE FOR THRASHING CORN AND OTHER GRAIN;" in which said Letters
Patent there is, amongst others, contained a proviso that if I, the said John
Goucher, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, that then the
said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as by the said Letters
Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said recited proviso, I, the
said John Goucher, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, and the Drawing therein
referred to (that is to say):-
In the thrashing machine as usually constructed the straw and grain
becomes crushed or broken: now, the object of my Invention is to avoid
such injurious consequences to the straw and grain to a greater extent than
has hitherto been done; for this purpose I. construct a thrashing machine
with grooves or channels in the surfaces of the beater, by which the corn is
beaten out, such grooves or channels being of suitable dimensions to allow of
the corn and straw lodging therein and passing through without being injured
by the action of the surfaces between and by which the corn is beaten out and
separated from the chaff. A thrashing machine so constructed will require less
power to drive it, inasmuch as the straw and corn will pass through with great
facility, provided the dimensions of the grooves or channels are suitably adapted
to the kind of corn to be operated on. The revolving beater or drum in my
thrashing machine consists, as in thrashing machines of the ordinary con-
struction, of several longitudinal bars, firmly attached to arms or spokes, or to
the periphery of wheels, affixed to a central shaft or axis, with which the beater
or drum revolves.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figures 1 and 2 shew the end and side
elevation of the revolving beater of my thrashing machine with six longitudinal
bars or beaters (but the number of such bars may be varied); and Figures
3 and 4 shew a front and end view of one of these bars. On the external
or beating surface of these longitudinal bars are grooves or channels; these
may be produced either by a grooved plate of iron, securely fixed to the face of
the longitudinal bars, or by winding iron wire about the bar, in the manner
represented in the Drawing, taking care to secure the wire at each end (as
shewn in Figures 5 and 6), and at intermediate places, so as to prevent its
becoming loose or slipping by the action of beating. In the Drawing, the wire
is represented as wound round the beaters, and inserted in notches at the
edges. Also, the wire may be passed over the face or working surface back-
wards and forwards, care being taken to secure it firmly at the two sides of the
bars on each turn. The depth and width of the grooves or channels may be

page_text: varied according to the nature of the grain to be thrashed, and the general
construction and arrangement of the other parts of the machine, and the
method of driving it may be the same as in ordinary thrashing machines. I
prefer, however, that the "roof" should be perforated, so as to admit of the
passage of the grain and chaff, thus facilitating their separation from the straw.
For this purpose, I construct the roof or circular envelope of perforated instead
of solid plates, fastening them together and adjusting the distance of the roof
from the revolving beater by screws in the usual manner. The various parts
of the thrashing machine as well known; I wish it to be understood, therefore,
that I do not lay claim to the exclusive use of these several parts except when
employed in connection with and for the purposes of my Invention; and I
hereby declare that I claim as of my Invention, a thrashing machine in which
the surface of the beaters is grooved or channelled and the roof perforated, as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Goucher, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-nine