IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Smith, of Melbourne, in the County of Cambridge,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING THRASHING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 31st October 1879, and dated the 23rd May 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Smith at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd May 1879.
FREDERIC SMITH, of Melbourne, in the County of Cambridge.
IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING THRASHING MACHINES."
"IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for feeding thrashing
machines.
For this purpose I arrange a feeding hopper in the position in which the feeding
hopper is commonly applied, but in place of this hopper being stationary, I cause a
movement to be imparted to the parts forming the front and back of the hopper in
a direction to and from the thrashing drum; and I provide inclined teeth or fingers
upon these parts of the hopper, so that by their movement to and fro they may carry
the corn or other crop into the machine. I arrange these moving boards or parts of
the hopper to slide in guides, the guides in such case being parallel to the face of
the board.
I impart movement to the moving boards or parts of the hopper by connecting
rods passing to crank pins on a pair of wheels geared together, and driven by a
strap from one of the rotating axes of the thrashing machine. The movements of
the front and back boards or parts of the hopper are alternate, so that as the one
rises the other descends.
Or the moving boards or parts of the hopper may be carried upon radial arms, to
which movement is imparted in such manner as to cause the alternate action already
explained.
In place of making both the front and back of the hopper moveable, the one may
be fixed and the other moveable, but the feeding action obtained in this way is less
perfect.
Another modification of the arrangement may be made by fixing the inclined
teeth or fingers on rods or frames, to which the movement is imparted up and down,
so as to carry them along the face of the front and back boards of the hopper,
which in this case remain stationary, but this arrangement also is less advantageous
than that first described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frederic Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st November
1879.
FREDERIC SMITH, of Melbourne, in the County of Cambridge.
IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING THRASHING MACHINES."
« IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for feeding thrashing
machines.
For this purpose I arrange a feeding hopper in the position in which the feeding
hopper is commonly applied, but in place of this hopper being stationary, I cause a
movement to be imparted to the parts forming the front and back of the hopper in
a direction to and from the thrashing drum; and I provide inclined teeth or fingers
upon these parts of the hopper, so that by their movement to and fro they may
carry the corn or other crop into the machine. I arrange these moving boards or
parts of the hopper to slide in guides, the guides in each case being parallel to the
face of the board.
I impart movement to the moving boards or parts of the hopper by connecting
rods passing to crank pins on a pair of wheels, geared together and driven by a
strap from one of the rotating axes of the thrashing machines.
The movements of the front and back boards or parts of the hopper are alternate,
so that as the one rises the other descends.
The apparatus is shown by the Drawing annexed, in which Figure 1 is an eleva-
tion of the feeding hopper and some other parts of a thrashing machine; Figure 2
is a plan, and Figure 3 is an end view of the same. a, a, is part of the frame of
the machine; b, b, are guides fixed to the frame; there are four of them in all, two
on either side; c, c, are metal blocks able to slide up and down in the guides, and
the boards d, d, forming the front and back of the feed hopper are fixed to the
block c, c; e is the axis of the thrashing drum immediately beneath the bottom of
the feed hopper; f, f, are a pair of axes geared together and driven by a belt
passing around a pulley on one of them, and also around a pulley on one of the
other axes of the thrashing machine. The speed may conveniently be such that
the axes ff, shall make one revolution during ten revolutions of the thrashing
drum. The axes f, f, carry at their ends crank pins, and these are connected by
the rods g, g, with the blocks c, c, and so the boards d, d, receive an alternating
movement. d, d, d², d², are projections or fingers upon the boards d, d, which aid
in dividing the sheaves and carrying the feed forward. his a feeding table, having
a flexible support at i, and connected by the hinge joint k with one of the boards d,
so that the inner edge of the feeding table is free to move together with the board d,
to which it is attached.
Or the moving boards or parts of the hopper may be carried upon radial arms, to
which movement is imparted in such manner as to cause the alternate action
already explained.
In place of making both the front and back of the hopper moveable, the one may
be fixed and the other moveable, but the feeding action obtained in this way is less
perfect.
Another modification of the arrangement may be made by fixing the inclined
teeth or fingers on rods or frames, to which the movement is imparted up and down,
so as to carry them along the face of the front and back boards of the hopper, which
in this case remain stationary, but this arrangement also is less advantageous than
that first described.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same I would have it understood that I claim,--
First. The construction of the feeding hopper of a thrashing machine with the
front and back moveable and receiving a reciprocating motion by which the feeding
of the corn or crop into the machine is facilitated, substantially as described.

page_text: Second. The modifications described according to which one side only of the
hopper is moveable, or in which the sides of the hopper being fixed, teeth or fingers
are caused to move to and fro along the face of the front and back boards of the
hopper, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Smith, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this 20th day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
FREDERICK SMITH. (L.s.)