CERTAIN FURTHER IMPROVE- MENTS ON AN ENGINE OR MACHINE FOR SEPARATING CORN AND SEEDS FROM THE STRAW AND CHAFF
Year: 1814

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLAM
LESTER, late of Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, but now of Bir-
mingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
September, in the fifty-fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the
said William Lester, my exors, adñors, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Lester, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, should and lawfully might, during the term of years therein
mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN FURTHER IMPROVE-
MENTS ON AN ENGINE OR MACHINE FOR SEPARATING CORN AND SEEDS FROM THE STRAW
AND CHAFF;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that if
I, the said William Lester, 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 inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that
then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever
thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by
the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Lester, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
references and description thereof (that is to say):
Compartment A: oil fountain, vertical axis, or gudgeon for the bearings of
water wheel, shafts, and all other vertical rotative motions for slow time.
Letter a, the chair with the gudgeon or axis, and gland or cover in their
which
proper places; figure 1, the gland; 2, the axis; 3, a screw,
into
opens
the bottom of the oil reservoir to let out the oil when washed with boiling
water, which will be necessary at times when the oil becomes too thick, so as
to lose its fluidity; letter b, the chair empty; the dotted line shews the part
that is removed for a continued axis, and closed for the end of a gudgeon.
Letter c, the oil fountain or bearing on which the axis revolves; fig. 1
is a fluted grove through which the oil is driven by the motion of the
axis; 2, 2, flutes or chancls through which the oil passes to the hole in
the center, as seen in letter d, the bearing inverted. Letter e, the axis or
gudgeon; fig. 1, dotted lines, the continuation of the axis when not a gudgeon;
2, 2, fluted or oil carriers; 3, bosses to prevent the oil flowing out of the chair
by the rotative motion; 4, wings or arms that are let into wood shafts when a
gudgeon; letter f, the gland or cover; the dotted lines shew where it is cut
out for an axis, but close for a gudgeon; fig. 1, a continuation of the flute
seen at fig. 1, letter c. The gudgeon, axis, and bearing part must be polished
and made of iron, brass, or any other metal.
Compartment B: letter a, oil cup fountain and toe for an upright shaft or
axis to drive a horizontal motion to communicate power from a lower to a
higher level; fig. 1, a gland to bolt to a beam; 2, a toe growing out of it,
which descends into the cup; 3, a gland that covers the cup, to keep out the
dust; 4, the cup or chair, which is bolted upon the upright shaft; letter b,
the cup empty; letter c, a concave bearing or fountain that receives the
convex part of the toe; fig. 1, 1, two flutes that let the oil sink down to the
hole on the center which is seen at fig. 1, letter d; 2, 2, square channels that
slide down upon two projections within the cup, to prevent it moving with
the motion of the shaft; letter c, the gland to keep out the dust; letter f, the
toc, with a grove fluted to spread the oil under it as it rises through the
fountain. Both the bearing part of the toe and the cup must be polished, and
made of iron, brass, or any other metal. One of letter a must be placed at
the top of the upright shaft, and one at the bottom.
Compartment C: a circular oil box for vertical axises with quick motions.

page_text: Letter a, the lid or cover of the box; fig. 1, the gland; 2, a boss in which the
axis of the wheel runs; 3, a convex swell on each side the box, to prevent
the oil working out; letter b, the wheel; letter c, the box; fig. 1, 1, the
cheeks that confine the axis on the wheel; 2, 2, two bits of steel that are let
into the cheeks to prevent their wear by the rapid motion of this axis. This
box is made oil tight by stuffing round the lid with white lead and linseed oil,
and to be dry before oil is put into the box, the axis of the wheel revolving in
the bosses without going quite through. Letter d, the same kind of box, but
with cheeks and glands placed the other way, the wheel of which carries the
piston rod of a steam engine that works horizontally, that is propelled to and
from without a revolving motion.
Compartment D: an axis cloathed with wheels, tubes, cylinders, stops, and
springs, to convert a parellel or perpendicular motion into a rotative motion.
Letter a, the axis cloathed; fig. 1, 1, two wheels; 2, 2, two tubes; 3, 3, the
journeys e, in compartment A, that revolve in oil; letter b, the naked axis ;
fig. 1, the half of the journey 3, as above, which is cut into two parts, to let on
the tubes and wheels, and then to be rivetted on with a counterpart, and also
two similar ones at the other end. c, c, wheel and tubes put together;
letter d, a stop wheel with diagonal teeth in the inside, or the continuation of
the tube broken or parted at that place; letter e, the tube, with diagonal
teeth which fit and work over the diagonal teeth at d when turned out-
wards from towards the left hand, but which locks and stops fast when
turned in a contrary direction; letter f, the same as e, only turned the other
end uppermost to shew it inside, with the chamber for the spiral spring g
coiled round its cylindric bed h, the square bottom of which fits easy in the
square cavity, fig. 1, letter f; letter i, a stop wheel, with diagonal teeth in the
inside, but bevelled off in the contrary way to those at d. j, k, and l corre-
spond, and fit into i. Letter m, a rack, the parallel motion of which cover
the wheels 1, 1, at a, turns the axis in one direction as the tubes 2, 2, fly back
against the spiral springs g, l, alternately. The breaks or teeth in the tubes and
wheels sloping one to the right hand and the other to the left is the cause of
this continued motion, as one wheel is by this means at liberty to return back
at the time the other with the axis is propelled forwards, and this vica versa
as long as the motion of the rack m continues. n, n, two conducting rods or
pistons, to propel and guide the rack; o, o, oil reservoirs or buckets that take
up oil from reservoirs into which they work, to oil the cheeks of the rack
in the grove in which it works; letter p, an end view of the rack.
Compartment E: an apparatus to unite two shafts or axises, and to let the
cylinder or body that is impelled spend its impulse by the vis inertia when.

page_text: the power
is at rest. The tubes, wheel, and spring are similar to the above,
except the wheel a having no teeth on the outside. b, a nut that screws on the
tube upon the axis; C, a gland that covers the nut and receives the other axis.
Particular F: a parellel alias rotative apparatus to convert a perpendicular
or parellel into a vertical or rotative motion, producing in all cases the effect of
a crank, without requiring a fly wheel to carry the axis over the opposite point
of the circle to tho power applied. This article combines all the parts of the
compartment D, with the addition of the case and cheeks in
works.
which the rack
Letter a, the
Particular G an angular view of the winnowing machine.
hopper that receives the corn, &c. in the chaff; b, two rollers that draw down
the corn and chaff into the current of air; c, c, the dotted lines, represent the
ends or sides of the conducting plates or partitions. The chaff is blown along
the canal c, c, and the corn and seeds fall upon the cylinder d, which turns or
revolves outwards towards the right hand. This cylinder, which is shewn at H,
is made of wire, with mashes of a size that will not let extraneous substances
through, such as the white coals, chubings, topings, stones, lumps of dirt, &c. &c.,
or any substance that is larger than a full-grown corn. As this wire cylinder
has a rotative motion of about 5 or 6 times per minute, the substances that will
not pass through it ride over and fall to the right of the machine, the corn and
sceds falling through the cylinder d betwixt the dotted lines upon the cylinder e,
which revolves or turns towards the left hand, and is made of wire or other
material with mashes or holes, either longitudinal, round, or square, and of a
size that will not let full-grown corn through, and which cylinder must vary
according to the size of the corn or seeds or other substances that is meant to
be screened or skried over it; the mature corn, seeds, or other substances ride
over it towards the left hand, and fall on f; the imperfect corn, seeds, and other
small substances fall through the cylinder on g. h is a fly wheel fixed upon
the fan axis, which has a revolving motion towards the right, and a volocity of
from 3 to 400 revolutions per minute. i is the mouth of the machine or cavity
c, c, out of which the chaff and other light substances is blown by the current
of air that is put in motion by the fanners j.
Particular I: letter k, k, two rollers that draw down the corn, seeds, &c. &c.
from the hopper a, j, the cylinder c, with its center or cap that screws on at e,
the other end of the cylinder having a square hole that fits upon the axis that
carry the wheel d, from whence it receives its motion.
Another view of the winnowing machine, Particular K: letter a, the first
wheel, one revolution of which turns the fanner about 11 or 12 times.
It is fixed upon the roller axis that has the handle or winch, which is shewn

page_text: in the other view. b, a pinion fixed on the end of the other roller, and
gives motion to the wheel c; d, the lower wheel, which turns the cylinder e,
c turning the cylinder f; g. 9, 9, dotted lines, to shew the corresponding lines
and divisions in the other view of the machine. The upper g shews the ends
of two plates that lie within the hopper, and convey the corn and chaff to
the rollers. These plates have slits cut at the bottom of them to let the little
wheels which are on the rollers pass, but which cannot be seen in this view.
Particular L letter a, the close cylinder, made of light wood, and covered
with sheet iron, tin, or any other metal. The prominent parts or inverted
are fastened on with screws, nuts, and burs by stems or screws growing out of
the ends, and two from the middle. 6, the pinion.
Particular M: the upper fricter or bed, with its As inverted. They are made
of iron, brass, or any other metal, cast or wrought, and are either cast, rivetted,
or screwed on.
Particular N: the lower fricter or bed. a, the plate which conducts the
corn and straw upon the inclined plane in the receiving or check chamber.
Particular O letter a, the open cylinder, with parellell bars of iron feathered
on the back edge and rounded off in the front; b, b, b, prominent oblique strips
of iron in imitation of a part of the As on the close cylinder; c, c, c, c, rings of
iron to support the parallel bars; b, the pinion. This cylinder is to be used
instead of the close one for beans, peas, &c. &c., as occasion may require.
Particular P: check work, with square cells, about 3 of an inch wide and an
inch deep, more or less. It is the same as Q below; is made of cast-iron or
any other metal, and separates the corn from the straw when it is started from
the ear by being drawn slowly over it with the reel a, a, 22.
Particular R: an end view of the separating machine as fixed in a barn,
mill, or any other place. a, a, a, a, the frame of timber; b, b, b, b, the first
wheel, to the axis of which the power is communicated, but at the opposite end
from this view, either by a coupling box or any other means from a tumbling
shaft, and moved by a water wheel or any other power. Its time or velocity
about twelve revolutions per minute. On the axis of this wheel is fixed the straw
reel a, a, Particular Q; this axis works or revolves in the oil boxes a, b, &c.,
compartment A; c, c, c, the second wheel which drives cylinder d; the axis of
this wheel revolves or works in the oil box c, compartment C, but not seen in
this view; d, d, d, the third wheel, bolted to the first, and drives or turns the
fourth wheel e, e, e, e, which is bolted to the fifth wheel f, f, f, that drives
or turns the sixth wheel g, g, g; a seventh wheel is bolted to the sixth
h, h, h, and drives or turns the eighth wheel i, i, i; the axis of the fourth
wheel turns in brasses bolted to the upright post; the two lower axises

page_text: run
or turn in brasses fixed to the boarding. The dotted lines shew a
section of the ends of the different cylinders, beds, frictors, plates, boards,
partitions, &c. &c., numbered as follows:-No. 1, 1, a recess for the feeders
of the machine to stand in; 2, 2, the feeding board; 3, 3, 3, the cylin
der; 4, 4, the first frictor or bed; 5, 5, the second ditto, with its conduct-
ing plate attached, as seen at a, Particular N; this plate conducts the
straw and corn into the chamber j, j, j; it then falls down the inclined
plane k, k, k; 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, a line or chain that connects the two beds or
frictors together, passing over the two pulley wheels 7, 7, and admits of
the beds or frictors raising or flying from the cylinder when any great
obstruction passes through the machine, also to enlarge or contract the
space betwixt the cylinder and the beds or frictors for the different kinds of
corn and seeds; this is done by turning the thumb screw 1, raising or
depressing the lever m, m, which bears with the snug n upon the lever 0, 0, 0;
there is a corresponding lever 0, 0, 0, and snug at the other end; the two snugs
fixed on one bar raises or falls the little wheel p, which is fixed upon an axis
to the end of the lower or second bed; one also at the other end; the
lever o, o, o, is counteracted by the weight q; r,, a small roller on which the
bottom cheek of the lower frictor bed works; one also at the other end; 5, 5, 5,
are bars of iron made smooth on the face of them, and guide the other checks
of the beds which are shewn by dotted line t, t, t; the lower bed must be near
double the weight of the upper one to keep them in equilibrium; v, the pinion
on the cylinder axis, which makes from 7 to 800 revolutions per minute, and
turns or revolves in the oil box c, compartment C; 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, the space, the
cylinder, and the beds through which the straw and corn is driven into the
receiving chamber j, j,j; 8, 8, 8, the space at the bottom of this chamber where
the straw is drawn over the cheek grating P, by the reel 9, 9, 9, 9, and driven
upon the grating 10, 10, 10, through which the long caving or short straw fall
into the space 11, 11, 11, and falls into recess u; 12, the space into which the
corn, chaff, and short caving fall through the cheek work upon the cylinder
13, 13, 13, 13, which is made of wire, with mashes the size of a common
caving riddle or seive, which turns or revolves toward the left hand, and throws
the caving or shorts into the recess u; this revolves about six times per minute;
the corn, seeds, and chaff fall through the space 14 into the channel or air
current w, w, w; the chaff is blown out at a, and the corn and seeds fall into
the space 15, upon the cylinder 16, 16, 16, which turns or revolves towards the
right hand, and throws the extreaneous substances into the recess y; the corn
and seeds fall through this cylinder into space 17 upon the cylinder 18, 18, 18,
which turns or revolves towards the left hand, and throws the good and perfect

page_text: corn into the recess z, the small seeds and thin corn falling through the cylinder
into the recess y. These cylinders are the same as those in the winnowing
machine below, and changed and worked in the same way. The dark line
19, 19, 19, 12, shews where this machine may be cut into two parts, to render
it portable, or to work the upper part to start the corn from the ear, and
separate it from the straw only, without winnowing. Be it here observed, that
the dotted lines in this view have corresponding ones at the other end of the
machine.
Particular S a carriage propelled by the power of steam, which carrys the
separating machine from farm to farm, and works it when taken off the car-
riage, and placed in the barn or any other convenient place. .Letters a, a, a, a,
the frame made of timber or iron; b, b, b, b, the rack and piston rods, which
pass through the cylinder c, c, and are propelled to and from by the elastic
power of steam pressing alternately fore and aft against the piston gland in the
cylinder, the rack working over the axis on which the wheels d, d, are fixed
on square arms, so that they cannot turn or revolve on their centers, as other
carriage wheels do in general, but must revolve with the axis as one body.
'This motion propels the carriage forward with a velocity in proportion to the
length of the stroke of the piston rod, the height of the wheels, and the
number of strokes the rack makes in a given time. e, e, oil boxes d, in
compartment C, in the first Skin, on which the piston rod works; f, f, on the
wheel d, an expanding and contracting crank; h, h, two nuts that lock the
stem of the crank fast. This crank works a rod that is fixed by a joint to
the rack at rod n, compartment D, Skin 1st, and attached by a joint. This
rack gives a rotative motion to the main or reel axis of the separating machine,
as seen, i, i, i, blank sketch T; j, j, a winch, by which the carriage is directed;
k, k, a lever that throws the steam on or off the work. When the carriage
is to remain stationary, for the steam power to work a corn-separating machine,
the hind part of the carriage is supported by earth or any other substance, and
the earth dug from under the hind wheels to let them turn without bearing,
which earth must be returned before the carriage can be propelled forward in
a direct line to move to another place. 1, 1, 1, 1, dotted lines that shew where
the bench or box is to be fixed on which the engineer stands or sits to direct
the machine; m, m, a nossle, to which a leathern pipe is fixed, to supply the
5 machine with water when it can be come at without manual labour, to supply
the reservoir n, n; o, o, oil cups to feed the piston rod in the stuffing boxes at
the end of the cylinder.
Particular T a blank sketch of the upper part of the machine R, to shew
where the power is fixed to the main axis.

page_text: Particular V another blank sketch, to shew the straw reel and grate.
Particular U another sketch, to shew where the power is attached from
the steam engine in the boat.
Particular W a canal boat propelled by steam with the rotative motion of
the apparatus, compartment D, in Skin the first. The boat conveys the sepa-
rating machine from place to place, and works it by steam when stationary.
Particular X: a view of that apparatus with its rotative reel and paddle
chain. a, a, two reels, with 8 round iron staves or bars placed at equal dis-
tances, the end of which is seen at a in article z; b, b, two oil boxes, in which
the propelling axis revolves; these oil boxes are the same as a, compartment A,
in Skin the first. c, c, the cheeks or guide for the rack, and which may be
either bolted to the cylinder or fixed to the framing of the boat; d, d, the
glands upon the jointed chain that drive the water through the troughs e, c,
which rushes in at the square holes f, f, from towards the head of the boat,
and is forced out at the holes g, g, towards the stern. One of these holes is
seen at a in the boat. The section of this trough, which is made of wood or
iron, cast or wrought, is seen at b, b. Y, a part of the chain with its glands,
that turn round or revolve upon their centers, one side of which gland is made
heavier than the other, to keep them vertical in their assent from or dissent
into the water, by which means they are not liable to lave or be obstructed,
but present their full surface in the horizontal line of their motion, which is
somewhat similar to the waterman feathering his oars. These glands, when
they pass over the large reel a at Z from the right towards the left hand, form
half a revolution on their centers by a kind of tip to place the heaviest part
of the gland below their center. These floats or gland may be made of wood,
iron, cast or wrought, or of any other metal. To make the boat stationary
while it works the seperating machine, two bolts must be taken out of the
chains. To throw them off the reels, a crank or tooth wheel may be put upon
the reel.
Article Z a section of the chain and reels. a, the large reel, with its staves
placed at equal distances in the circle, with which distances or equal spaces
from bar to bar the joints of the chain must correspond. b, b, two small reels
of half the diameter of the large one, but with four staves or bars placed at
the same equal distance from each other in the circle, to correspond also with
the joints of the chain.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lester, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seveneenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
WILLIAM (L.S.) LESTER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of March, in
the year
of our Lord 1815, the aforesaid William Lester came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifteen.