Improvements in Machines for Mincing Meat.
Year: 1888

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Mincing Meat.
We WILLIAM OVENS and THOMAS CHARLES OVENS of No. 54 St. John Street
Clerkenwell in the County of Middlesex Engineers do hereby declare the nature of
this Invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of improvements in machines for mincing meat in which the
meat is cut or minced by the action of knives working in vertical planes the meat
resting on the face of a circular block rotating in a horizontal plane.
In constructing a machine according to our said invention we mount a number of
knives consisting of circular discs having cutting edges loosely on a spindle or spindles
(hereinafter termed the knife spindle" and the "knife spindles") which is or are
secured to a carrier affixed to the lower end of a rotatory shaft (hereinafter termed the
"knife shaft") which is mounted vertically above the rotating block in suitable
bearings supported by a standard or frame which also supports gearing by which
rotatory motion communicated to the said shaft and the said block from a suitable
motor. Or we secure the knives to the knife spindle or knife spindles and so mount
the latter in the aforesaid carrier as to be capable of rotation therein. The knife
spindle or knife spindles may be parallel to the upper face of the rotating block (on
which face the meat to be minced is placed) or they may be inclined thereto. In tho.
former case the knives are or may be all the same diameter and the faces of the
said knives are at right angles to the face of the rotating block and in the latter case
the knives on different parts of the knife spindle or knife spindles are of different
diameters and the faces of the said knives are inclined to the said face of the block.
We prefer to mount the knife shaft in such a position relatively to the rotating block
that the axis of the said shaft is in line with a point either midway between the axis
of the said block and its periphery or nearer to its axis than to its periphery and we
make the knife spindle or knife spindles of such length and arrange the knives thereon
so that the diameter of the circle described by the motion of the outermost of the
knives when the knife shaft is rotated is equal to or greater than half the diameter of
that face of the block on which the meat to be minced placed and so that a portion
of the said circle touches or nearly touches a vertical plane forming a tangent to the
periphery of the said face of the block. The effect of this arrangement is that by the
rotation of the block and the rotation of the knife shaft the knives are caused to travel
over every portion of that face of the block on which the meat to be minced is
placed or over every portion of the said face except that in immediate proximity to
the periphery of the block. In some cases we mount the knife shaft in line with the
axis of the block.
We provide for the raising and lowering and vertical adjustment of the rotatory
block by means of a nut engaged with a screw below the step or lower bearing of the
block or by other convenient means and we provide for the raising and lowering and
vertical adjustment of the knives by suitable gearing connected to the knife shaft
and actuated by means of a hand wheel or otherwise.
In order to provide for the turning over of the meat automatically while it is being
cut or minced we joint a plough or scraper to a suitable part of the machine which
plough or scraper may be caused to act on the meat on the face of the block or be
thrown out of action by turning it on its joint in one or other direction.
In some cases we secure a blade to the knife carrier which blade when the machine
is in action tends to throw the meat under or towards the knives. And we secure
suitably formed plates or guards to the knife carrier in such positions as to prevent.
objectionable accumulation of meat on the knives.
Dated this 14th day of November 1888.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Mincing Meat.
We WILLIAM OVENS and THOMAS CHARLES OVENS of No. 54 St. John Stree
Clerkenwell in the County of Middlesex Engineers do hereby declare the nature of
this Invention and in what maunel the same is to be performed to be particulariy
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention consists of improvements in machines for mineing meat in which the
meat is cut or minced by the action of knives working on or above a circular block
rotating in a horizontal plane on the face of which block the meat to be minced is
placed.
In constructing a machine according to our said invention we mount a number of
knives consisting of circular discs having cutting edges loosely on a spindle or spindles
(hereinafter termed the "knife spindle" and the "knife spindles") which is or are
secured to a carrier affixed to the lower end of a rotatory shaft (hereinafter termed
the knife shaft") which is mounted vertically above the rotating block in suitable
bearings supported by a standard or frame which also supports gearing by which
rotatory motion is communicated to the said shaft and the said block from a suitable
motor. Or we secure the knives to the knife spindle or knife spindles and so mount
the latter in the aforesaid carrier as to be capable of rotation therein. The knife
spindle or knife spindles may be parallel to the upper face of the rotating block (on
which face the meat to be minced is placed) or they may be inclined thereto. In the
former case the knives are or may be all of the same diameter and the faces of the
said knifes are at right angles to the face of the rotating block and in the latter caso
the knives on different parts of the knife spindle or knife spindles are of different
diameters and the faces of the said knives are inclined to the said face of the block.
We mount the knife shaft so that the circular paths of motion of the knives are
excentric to the axis of the rotating block and we prefer to mount the said shaft so
that the axis thereof is in line with a point either midway between the axis of the said
block and irs periphery or nearer to its axis than to its periphery and we prefer to
arrange the knives at such a distance radially from the axis of the said shaft that the
circle described by the motion of the outermost of the knives when the knife shaft is
rotated touches or nearly touches a vertical plane forming a tangent to the periphery
of that face of the block on which the meat to be minced is placed. The effect of
thus mounting and arranging the knives is that by the simultaneous and continued
rotation of tho block and of the knife shaft the knives are caused to travel over every
portion of the said face of the block or over every portion of the said face except
that in immediate proximity to the periphery of the block.
We provide for the raising and lowering and vertical adjustment of the rotatory
block by means of a nut engaged with a screw below the step or lower bearing of
the block or by other convenient means and we provide for the raising and
lowering and vertical adjustment of the knives by suitable gearing connected to
the knife shaft and actuated by means of a hand wheel or otherwise.
In some cases we secure guards to the knife carrier in which guards are plates
which prevent objectionable accumulation of meat on the knives.
Having thus described the nature of our invention we will proceed to describe
the manner in which it is to be or may be performed reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon. The same
letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures of the
said Drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine a portion being shown broken away
in order to exhibit the knives hereinbefore referred to. Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
and 9 are details hereinafter referred to and Figure 10 is a diagram also hereinafter
referred to.
a is the rotatory block to the upper part of which a rim a¹ is secured as usual.
bare the knives which are mounted as hereinafter described with reference to

page_text: Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 which are drawn to a larger scale than the other Figures
of the accompanying Drawings. c is the bed plate of the machine and d is the
standard or frame which supports the mechanism by which the required motions are
communicated to the rotatory block a and knives. The manner in which the said
block is mounted is substantially the same as that in which the rotatory blocks
are mounted in ordinary chopping machines in which such blocks are used that
is to say the said block is supported vertically by a foot step e in which a pivot f on a
plate secured to the underside of the block bears and the said block is supported
laterally by rollers mounted on axes arranged vertically in a frame g which is secured
to the standard d and to the upper ends of other standards bolted to the bed plate c
one of which standards is shown at gl in Figure 1. The arrangement for admitting
of the raising and lowering and vertical adjustment of the rotatory block a will be
best understood by inspection of Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings which
Figure is a central vertical section of the lower portion of the said block and the
plate pivot and footstep e and the parts which support. the latter in the bed
plate c. The said arrangement consists of a screw e formed below the footstep e and
in one piece therewith and of a screw nut engaged with the said screw and of an
internally screwed bush c¹ with which the said screw el engages the said bush c¹ being
supported by the bed plate c in such a manner as to be incapable of turning with the
said screw.
A lever is formed on the said screw nut to admit of its being readily
turned and a hole e² is formed in the footstep e to admit of the insertion of a lever or
tommy" for turning it when it is necessary to raise or lower the screw e¹ in the
bush in order to raise or lower the block. In using this arrangement the block a is
first adjusted to the height required and the footstep e is then secured by turning the
screw nut h until its underface binds or bears firmly against the upper face of the
screwed bush c'.
"
is the driving shaft which works in bearings secured to the standard d and
jis the knife shaft to the lower end of which the knife carrier is secured the said knife
shaft being mounted and connected to the driving shaft as hereinafter described with
reference both to Figure 1 and Figure 3 the latter Figure, being a central vertical
section taken in a plane coincident with the axis of the driving shaft and showing
the method of mounting the said shaft.
=
Around the upper part of the knife shaft which is of smaller diameter than the
lower part a cylindrical sleeve z screwed on its outer face is placed and secured by
screw nuts jj which engage with a screw 7 formed on the end of the shaft j which
projects above the upper end of the said sleeve. Surrounding the lower part of the
knife shaft j and the said sleeve is another cylindrical sleeve which is supported by
and capable of rotation in bearings d'd carried by the standard d which sleeve k is
connected to the knife shaft j by means of a stud or feather (not shown in the
drawings) which projects from the interior of the said sleeve k and is engaged with a
slot or channel¹ formed in the said knife shaft which is thus free to move longi-
tudinally within the sleeve but is caused to rotate when the said sleeve rotates and
is free to rotate within the sleeve but is incapable of moving longitudinally therein.
A is a mitre wheel which is keyed to the sleeve k and gears with a mitre wheel
keyed to the driving shaft i from which rotatory motion is communicated to the knife
shaft through the said mitre wheels and sleeve k. The upper.part of the sleeve =
passes through a cylindrical hole in a bracket i secured to the standard d and is free
to slide longitudinally in the said bracket but is prevented from rotating therein by
means of a stud or feather l' in the said bracket which stud or feather engages with a
siot or channel 21 formed in the sleeve z. I is a toothed wheel having a screw formed
in the interior of its hub which screw is engaged with the screw thread formed on the
outer face of the sleeve which screw thread is shown in Figure 1 and marked 2.
The wheel is free to turn on the said screw thread but is prevented from rising or
descending by means of the bracket and the bearing d between which bracket and
bearing the said wheel is confined. Consequently when the said wheel / is turned
the sleeve z and the shaft j which is connected to it are caused to ascend or descend
within the sleeve k according to the direction in which the said wheel is turned. m is

page_text: a pinion which gears with the said wheel and is keyed to a spindle mounted in a
bracket m formed on or secured to the standard d to the lower part of which spindle
is secured a hand wheel m². n is a pawl or catch mounted on a pin n' carried by a
projection formed on the bracket m which pawl or catch when in the position shown
in Figure 1 engages with holes formed. in the hand wheel m² whereby the said hand
wheel and the pinion m and toothed wheel Zare prevented from being turned. When
it is required to turn the wheel the outer end of the said pawl or catch n is depressed
The object of
in order to disengage its acting end from the said hand wheel.
mounting the knife shaft as hereinbefore described and of the arrangement herein-
before described of the toothed wheel pinion m and hand wheel m² is to admit
of the said shaft being raised and lowered without disconnecting it from the
driving shaft. The said arrangement is substantially the same as that used in
some drilling machines where the shaft carrying the drill is required to be raised
and lowered without disconnecting it from the driving mechanism therefore we do
not claim the said arrangement as of our invention.
The knife carrier in which the knives are mounted is connected to the knife
shaft by inserting a boss or stalk formed on the said carrier in a socket formed in
the lower part of the said shaft and passing a gib and cotter through slots formed
in the sides of the said socket and in the said boss or stalk. In Figure 1 the said
gib and cotter are shown and marked and in Figure 3 the socket and one of the
siots formed in the sides thereof are shown the said socket being marked and
the slot (see Figure 1) is a set screw which passes through the side of the
socket and bears against the gib which is thus secured in place.
Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying Drawings are elevations taken at right
angles to cach other showing the knife carrier disconnected from the machine and
with the knives and knife guards in place on the said carrier one of the knife
guards being shown in section in the said Figure 4 in order to exhibit the plate
within the said guard by which objectionable accumulation of meat on the knives is
prevented.
The
Referring to the said Figures o is the knife carrier o¹ is the boss or stalk by
which it is connected to the knife spindle ; of the machino as herein before described.
o is the slot through which the koy and cotter (see Figure 1) are passed and
ppare the spindles on which the knives are mounted so as to be free to turn
independently thereon one of which spindles is shown separately in Figure 6.
said spindles are each secured to the carrier and the pair of knives is mounted and
secured on each spindle as follows:-The screwed portion p of the spindle is screwed
into one of the bosses o³ of the carrier until the shoulder p2 at one end of the plain
or unscrewed portion p³ bears against the said boss the screwed portion pt projecting
from its outer side. A nut is then screwed onto the end of the screwed portion pl
of the spindle which projects from the inner side of the said boss. The knives & b
with a washer between them are then placed on the plain portion p³ of the spindle
other washers are placed on the said spindle outside the knives and the several
washers and the knives are secured on the spindle by a nut which is passed onto
the screwed portion p of the spindle and screwed up to the shoulder p. 5 are the
guards which are secured to the knife carrier over the upper parts of the knives bb
by means of screws s¹ s¹. t is one of the plates for clearing the knives from any meat
which may adhere to them one of which plates is secured within each of the
guards s s. are slits in the said plate through which the knives work the
edges of which slits arrest the meat adhering to and carried up by the said knives
and remove it from them.
Figures 7 and 8 are elevations taken at right angles to each other of a knife
carrier and knives showing the method of mounting the said knives when they are
required to be secured to their spindles and showing the arrangement of the knife
guards in this case. Figure 9 is a transverse section of portions of the carrier and
of one pair of the knives and the spindle on which they are mounted the section
being taken on the line X Figure 8. uu are the knife spindles to which the knives bb
are keyed or otherwise fixed tvare forked pieces of metal which are secured by

page_text: screws to the arms of the carrier o their object being to retain the knife
spindles and knives in place. ²² are brasses which form the bearings of the
knife spindles uu and are fitted in recesses in the ends of the arms of the carrier o
and are retained in place by lips which bear against the inner sides of the arms
of the carrier and against shoulders on the spindles u u. ww are the knife guards
which in this case are each formed in two parts which are soparately secured to the
knife carrier by screws w¹ w¹. One of the parts of the knife guard on the right
hand side of Figure 7 is omitted in order to show clearly the method of mounting
the knives in the carrier. The outer end of each of the knife spindles uu projects
some distance beyond the side of the carrier and is squared as shown at u¹¹ the
object being to admit of the said spindles being turned by means of a suitably formed
key when it is necessary to sharpen the knives without removing them from the
carrier and without removing the carrier from the knife shaft.
Motion is communicated to the rotatory block a from the driving shaft by ineans
of a worm a on the latter which gears with a worm wheel y keyed to a shaft y' Lo
which is also keyed a toothed pinion y which gears with the ordinary toothed wheel
or ring a secured to the lower part of the said block a. The shaft y is supported by
a bracket y* and a footstep y³ carried by a bracket which brackets y* and y
are secureil to the standard d. The driving shaft i carries a fly wheel and fast
and loose band pulleys by which the machine is connected to any suitable
motor.
In using the machine the meat to be minced is placed on the block a and the said
block and the knife shaft j are caused to rotate by communicating motion to the
driving shaft i. The directions in which the block a and the shaft j revolve when
the machine is in action are indicated by the arrows on the diagram Figure 10
the larger circle of which diagram represents the periphery of the upper surface of
the said block a and the smaller circle the path of motion of the outermost of the
knives bb when mounted in the carrier o and secured to the knife shaft as shown
in Figure 1. By the said diagram it will be seen that when the machine is in action
every portion of the upper face of the block a is by the rotation of the said block
brought into the path of motion of the knives which consequently act thoroughly.
on the whole of the meat lying on the said face of the said block.
We are aware that circular or disc shaped knives have been used in some
machines for mincing meat in which the meat is cut on the face of a rotating block
but the said knives have heretofore been mounted in fixed bearings above the rotating
block the result being that certain parts only of the said block are acted on by the
knives which therefore do not mince the meat on every part thereof and this is an
objection which our invention is especially designed to remove. We therefore make
no claim to the use of such knives in such machines where the knives are mounted in
fixed bearings. And we also make no claim to the mounting of such knives in such
machines so that the paths of motion of the said knives will be concentric with the
axis of the rotating block as were the knives thus mounted the action of the machine
would be the same as in the case of machines in which the knives are mounted in
fixed bearings above the block. That is to say the paths of motion of the said knives
over the surface of the rotating block would be circles concentric with the axis of the
block consequently the knives would simply cut concentric circular furrows in the
meat lying on the face of the said block. Whereas in machines in which the knives
are mounted according to our invention (that is machines in which the knives are
mounted so that their circular paths of motion are excentric to the axis of the block)
the simultaneous and continued rotation of the said block and of the part carrying the
said knives causes every portion of the meat on the block to be exposed to the action
of the knives the paths of motion of the said knives on the surface of the rotating
block while both the knife carrier and the block are rotating being a succession of
curves the form of which approximates to that of the epicycloid.
Although we have described a method by which our invention may be practically
carried into effect we wish it to be understood that the part of our said invention
which relates to the mounting of the knives relatively to the rotating block is not

page_text: restricted to the mere arrangement of parts described for carrying the said knives and
communicating motion to them as other arrangements may be substituted without
departing from the nature of our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same. is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
First The improvements hereinbefore described in machines for mincing meat in
which the meat is cut on the face of a rotating block by the action of rotating circular
or disc shaped knives that is to say mounting the said knives so that when the machine
is in action they are caused to roll or travel over the surface of the said block around
an axis perpendicular to the said surface and in line with a fixed point between the
centre and the periphery of the said surface.
Secondly-The construction of the knife carrier and the method of mounting the
knives therein substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4,
5 and 6 of the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly The construction of the knife carrier and the method of mounting the
knives therein substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 7,
8 and 9 of the accompanying Drawings.
J
"
1000
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.