IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD CRUSHERS, OR ROLLERS FOR ROLLING, CRUSHING, OR PRESSING LAND
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Crosskill, of Beverley, in the County
of York, Civil Engineer and Ironfounder, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD CRUSHERS, OR ROLLERS FOR ROLLING, CRUSHING,
OR PRESSING LAND."
Scaled the 13th January 1853, and dated the 22nd November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Crosskill
at the Office of the Commnissioners of Patents, with his Peti-
tion, on the 22nd November 1852.
I, WILLIAM CROSSKILL, of Beverley, in the County of York, Civil
Engineer and Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD CRUSHERS, OR ROLLERS FOR ROLLING,
CRUSHING, OR PRESSING LAND," to be as follows:-
A roller for this purpose consists usually of a number of discs,
or cylinders, with serrated or plain edges, placed side by side, on a
shaft or axle, and either revolving separately upon the shaft or axle,
or altogether with it. My improvements consist in making the
discs or cylinders of which a roller is composed of different
diameters; the size of the hole in the centre of each disc or cylinder
for receiving the shaft or axle increasing in the larger discs or
cylinders, so that the distance from the outer circumference of the

page_text: holes to the outer circumferences of the discs or cylinders is about
the same in both the large and the small ones. By these means
rolling discs or cylinders of different diameters will work side by
side on the same axle, and the different sized discs or cylinders
produce an irregular motion, which prevents the roller from clogging.
Reference is made to the drawings annexed.
A, A, A, A, represents the axle or shaft of a roller; B, B, B,
are the large, and C, C, C, the small discs, placed alternately on
the same. Figures 2, and 3, show an elevation of each of these;
d, are bosses on the small discs, which keep them in an upright
position; and e, e, are studs on the large discs, which hold them
parallel to the small ones. The principle of my Invention is appli-
cable to all kinds of rollers in which the discs or cylinders revolve
independently of each other, with either serrated or plain edged
discs or cylinders, and whether on round, octagon, or any other
formed axles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said William Crosskill in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAN CROSSKILL, of Beverley, in the County of York, Civil
Engineer and Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-second day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Crosskill, Her
special licence, that I, the said William Crosskill, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Crosskill, my executors, administrators, and 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

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD CRUSHERS, OR ROLLERS
FOR ROLLING, CRUSHING, OR PRESSING LAND," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Crosskill, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the saine was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Crosskill, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):
Before proceeding to describe my Invention, it is necessary to
state, that all rollers, especially rollers with serrated or toothed
edges, are found to clog, and become choked, when the land is moist
or damp, and ny improvements enable them to revolve freely,
under circumstances in which rollers now ordinarily in use would
become clogged. I effect this by making the discs or cylinders of
which the rollers are composed of different diameters, and I find
it best to place on the axle or shaft of the roller a large disc and
a small one alternately, the axle or shaft passing through holes in
the centre of the discs. These holes in the centre of the small
discs are very little larger than the shaft, and on each side of the
small discs there are bosses or collars round the holes in the centre;
these bosses or collars may be cast on the small discs, or may be
riveted or otherwise fastened to them, and they should be suffi-
ciently wide to maintain the small discs in an upright position on
the shaft, at the same time allowing them to revolve freely. The
large discs, placed and working between the small discs, are kept
upright, and also at a proper distance from the small discs, by the
rings or studs cast on them, which abut against the small discs on
either side of them; and the holes in the large discs, through which
the roller shaft passes, are made so large that when the roller is
placed on a level surface, all the discs, both large and small, coine

page_text: in contact with the ground, and as the roller moves forward, the
unequal motion of the large and small discs produces a self-cleaning
action. If the holes in the large discs are not made sufficiently
large, the small discs will not touch the ground, and if the holes
are too large, the large discs will, on meeting with a lump of earth,
rise over it, instead of being pressed down upon it, by the weight of
the axle and the other discs that are carried by it. It is therefore
necessary, in order to make the machine thoroughly efficient, that
the holes in the large discs be exactly of such diameter that when
the roller stands on a level surface, both the large and small discs
shall touch the ground and the under side of the shaft. If the shaft
is made less in diameter within the large discs than within the small
ones, or if a ring of metal is placed on the shaft between cach pair
of small discs, or if the bosses on the small discs are made so wide as
to meet each other when placed on the shaft, a corresponding alter-
nation must be made in the size of the holes in the large discs, so that
they do not prevent the small discs from touching the ground, and so
that the large discs cannot be raised from the ground without over-
coming the weight of the shaft and of the small discs. The large
and small discs revolve at different rates of speed, and thus have a
self-cleaning action.
I will now proceed to describe the Drawings annexed to this
Specification. Figure 1, is a plan of a roller made on my im-
proved principle. A, A, A, is the shaft or axle, B, B, are the large,
and C, C, the small, discs placed alternately on the same shaft.
Figures 2, and 3, are elevations of each of these discs; d, d, are
bosses on the small discs, which keep them in an upright position;
and e, e, are studs on the large discs, which keep them parallel
to and at proper distances from the small ones; f, f, are rings
placed between each of the small discs, to keep them at a fixed
distance apart, so that the large discs can have more freedom of
motion. The thickness of the rings f, f, added to the length from
the holes to the circumferences of the large discs, exactly equals the
length from the holes to the circumferences of the small ones, so
that all the discs touch the ground when the roller is placed on a

page_text: flat surface, and none of the large discs can be pushed up without
overcoming the weight of the shaft and all the small discs.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is worked, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the particular details described
herein; but I claim as my Invention all rollers consisting of discs
or cylinders of different diameters, working side by side on the
same shaft, and having the holes in the large discs of such a size
that the small discs can touch the ground when the machine is
placed on a level surface. The principle is applicable to all kinds
of rollers, either with serrated or plain edged discs or cylinders,
and the holes in the discs and the roller shafts may be round,
square, octagon, or of any other form whatever; but I very much
prefer round shafts and round holes in the discs.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Crosskill, have hereto-
fore set my hand and seal this Ninth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-