Improvements in Thrashing and Winnowing and Dressing Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Thrashing and Winnowing and Dressing
Machines.
I WILLIAM WORBY BEAUMONT of 100 Palace Road Tulse Hill London Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the construction & working of some of those parts of
thrashing winnowing & dressing machines which deal with the product of the
drum. I make shakers with a linked articulated structure of wood or metal or
other materials with or without transverse slats or parts connected by links or
levers & distance pieces & pins or rods, or in some cases with a reticulated
structure as of a chain mat or articulated wire netting and in either of the forms
of one or more parts in width & length and with or without intermediate supports.
One end of such structures is held or jointed to a fixed part of the machine
& the other end or intermediate part is given a reciprocating or gyratory or
similar suitable motion by means of excentrics cams or cranks or of apparatus
such as that described in the Patent granted to me in 1892 and numbered 9953.
The apparatus is so carried that it or each of its parts assumes a curve or
polygonal bend of catenary character and by the motion given it assumes
alternately a more or less nearly right line form the approximate elimination of
the curved form increasing the length of the chord and by a greater range
& more rapid movement decreasing the verse sine & thus giving a repeated sudden
movement to anything upon the shaker. In some cases I employ the excentric
or other shaft mentioned to give rise to the movement of the riddles sieves
dressing apparatus or jogboards by means of the apparatus described in the
Patent Specification already referred to such apparatus being similarly applicable
to winnowing machines and dressing machines.
Dated this 17th of Jul 1803
Improvements in Thrashing and Winnowing and Dressing
Machines.
I WILLIAM WORBY BEAUMONT of 100 Palace Road Tulse Hill London Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement. :-
My invention relates to the construction and working of those parts of thrashing
machines which deal with the products of the drum. I make the straw shakers
with a linked or articulated structure or in some cases of a reticulated structure.
One end of such shaker structure is suitably held and jointed to a fixed part of the
machine and the other end receives a reciprocating motion by means of cams,
excentrics or cranks. The shaker whether of an articulated or reticulated
structure may be of the width of the inside of the machine or may be divided
into two or more parts suitably connected.
The structure whether in one or several parts in the width, is so carried that it
alternately assumes a catenary curvature, with the end near the drum higher than
the other or delivery end, and by the push or pull of the cam, crank or excentric a
P71

page_text: straight or plane form, or when the push is sufficiently sudden the central parts of
the structure may be jerked above the line joining the points of support and a
momentary reverse curvature be assumed after the manner of the blanket in
"blanket tossing."
I employ the excentric or other shaft required to give motion to the shaker, to
give rise to the movement of the riddles, jogboards and first and second dressing
shoes, by means of the automatic balancing reciprocating or gyrating apparatus
described in the Specification of the Patent granted to me in 1892 and numbered
9953, and now known as the "Vibromotor." In a similar manner the same
apparatus is applicable to winnowing and dressing machines.
My invention is illustrated by the drawings hereunto attached and may be
particularly described and ascertained by reference to them.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a finishing thrashing machine showing only so
much of the construction of such a machine as is necessary to an explanation of the
construction and working of my new shaker and of my improvements in the means
method and apparatus for working the riddles, jogboards and first & second dressing
apparatus or sieves.
A A is the frame and side of the machine containing the several parts to be
operated.
D indicates the position of the drum and C the concave which may be of any of
the forms usually employed. From the drum D the straw, together with more or
less of chobs grain, chaff and short straw, is thrown up the plate D on to the
shaker S S. The greater part of the grain, chaff, and other of the smaller products
of the drum pass through the concave C in the usual way and falls as commonly
understood to the part of the jogboard J below. The grain, chaff, and small stuff
shaken out of the straw by the shaker S S falls upon the forward part J of the
jogboard. All the grain and other materials falling upon the two parts of the
jogboard travel down its inclined surfaces and fall through the opening therein to
the riddles R R in the usual way.
The short straw, ears and cavings which do not pass through the riddles pass off
at the lower end thereof. That which passes through the riddles RR falls upon
the jogboard K and thence to the sieves in the first dressing shoe E. At the back
of the main jogboard the second dressing shoe E' is connected to that jogboard by
an extension J¹. The jogboards J and J², the riddles R R, jogboard K, dressing
shoe E and second dressing shoe E' are all connected and move together. The
whole of the riddling & dressing sieves thus connected together are suspended by
four suspending rods S R or suspenders of any suitable well known kinds and may
be such as are used for carrying the sieves of rotary scalpers in flour mills.
The shaker SS as shown is an articulated structure consisting of a number of
links which may be of leather or of wood such as ash connected together by rods
or wires passing through the ends of the links, the structure resembling that of the
well known leather link belting, but with the links and rods generally of much
larger dimensions. The links may for instance be 9 inches in length, 2 inches in
width (depth) and half an inch thick and the rods may be of three-eighth inch
round steel, but I do not confine myself to such dimensions, as in some cases they
may be very much smaller and lighter.
The structure so built up after the manner of a link belt need not be in one piece
of the whole width within the sides of the machine, but may be of two or several
pieces to make up that width each part being at their adjacent edges loosely
connected at a few places by leather laces or straps or by similar suitable means.
At the lower end of the shaker the rods connecting the links are connected by
metallic eye pieces attached to a plate P¹.
The links of the top row are made of somewhat larger width at their upper ends,
so as to allow of a hole larger than is required for the rods in the other parts of
the structure. This is to allow of a larger rod seen in section at Q upon which
all the upper links are threaded whether the shaker structure be in one width or
several parts making up the full width. The rod Q is suspended by a link Pat

page_text: each end, the link being connected by a joint pin D in a lug or ear attached to
the frame of the machine. Attached to the frame of the machine is a bracket T,
through an ear on which is passed an eye bolt U upon which is a helical spring as
shown or a volute spring or rubber buffer rings, the spring or buffers being held on
by a small plate and adjusting lock nuts X. At Y under the eye of the eye-
bolt is a small plate which normally sits upon a rubber buffer ring between the
plate Y and the ear on the bracket. The plate P' to which the lower end of the
shaker links are connected is attached to a cross bar S' which passes across from
side to side of the front of the machine, its ends being held in two rocking
levers R L seen in front view to a larger scale in Fig. 2. The rocking lever RĽ
is held in a hearing piece I attached to the frame of the front of the machine and
the pin RS on which the lever RL rocks may be a short one as shown or may be
long enough to pass across the front of the machine to connect the two bearings
as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The bar S¹ may be of angle iron with
round ends cranked upwards where they enter the upper boss of the rocking lever
as shown. The lower end of the rocking levers RL carries a rod C¹ Figs. 1 & 2
connecting the two levers and forming at the outer ends the pins for receiving the
ends of the connecting rods CR. These connecting rods are held at their other
ends in the screwed bosses or sockets of the excentric straps of the excentrics SE
on the shaker shaft SS by which reciprocating movement is given to the lower
& forward end of the shaker. In the position shown the excentric allows the
shaker to sag or take a catenary curve. When the excentric is rotated half a
revolution the rod C R pulls the lower end of the rocking lever and this through
the medium of the bar or rod S' and plate P¹ pulls the whole shaker structure
tight and causes it to take a nearly right line between S' and Q. When the
shaft SS with the excentrics SE is rotated at the proper speed the. quick
reciprocation takes the slack or sag out of the shaker sufficiently rapidly to jerk it
quite up to or above a right line connecting S¹ and Q and the straw upon it is
tossed sufficiently violently to shake out of it any grain that may be sent over with
it from the drum.
To prevent the jerk upon the shaker from being too severe and to permit a small
movement where it is jointed to the fixed part of the machine the spring or buffer U
previously described is inserted and permits a slight angular movement of the
links P. The length of the connecting rods CR may be adjusted by their ends
where screwed into the excentric strap socket. To prevent too much sag of the
shaker, and to adjust it or to relieve the excentric of some of the pressure upon it
during a part of its revolution a plate preferably carrying a rubber pad is placed
at Y and a flat-headed screw in a boss in the upper part of the rocking lever R L
may be used to adjust and determine the distance to which the bar S₁ may permit
the sag of the shaker. To prevent extension of the length of the shaker by wear,
or extension of the holes in the links if made of wood the links at the sides and in
some cases some intermediate links may be of metal.
Toward the lower end of the shaker it will be generally desirable to attach some
light transverse slats to assist in the delivery of the straw as shown in section in
Fig. 1. These slats will be preferably in short lengths even when the shaker
structure is in one width and when it is in several widths or parts the slats will be
in length about the same as the width of the parts.
Instead of the long links herein before described short links may be used such
as those of Ewart's gear chain or chain belts. A number of such chains may be
stretched from the suspending rod Q to the plate P¹. If the thrasher be
say 4 ft. 6 in. between the sides there may be say four pairs of such chains say 1 ft.
apart, each pair being connected by slats of say 2 inches in width and half an inch
in thickness connected to the links by rivets or by bolts and nuts, or the pairs of
links may be connected by wires of sufficient strength, the ends of the wires being
bent into eyes closed upon the links. Similar shorter wires may connect the links
of the adjacent pairs of .chains. In place of the articulated structure as described
for the body of the shaker in one or more parts, a reticulated structure such as an
;

page_text: open-work mat or net work of rope of hemp, leather, or raw hide or other suitable.
material in one width or in parts or strips suitably connected at their adjacent edges
to make up the width may be used. When a fibrous rope or string is employed
woven into a mat net work it should be a smoothly finished rope or string such as
would not be likely to hold or check the movement of the short straws, cavings,
ears or weedy materials that have to be passed over the shaker. The longitudinal
ropes or strands should generally be of larger size and strength than the transverse
ropes, strings, or strands and the ends must be formed into loops or eyes through
which the suspending rods at the two ends of the shaker mat net work may be
threaded. For some purposes the shaker structure may be a reticulated wire
structure such as a suitable wire netting or netting connected by links and may be
of the character of a wire chain mat of a kind well known but used for other
purposes such as wire mattresses and the chain mat pads used by ostlers for cleaning
purposes. The shaker shaft or spindle S S receives motion by a belt B' and
pulleys p2 and p3 from a shaft H which also serves to give movement to the
riddles and dressing shoes of the machine. The shaft H is driven by a belt B
running on a pulley p on the drum spindle and on the pulley p' on the said shaft.
On the same shaft H is a bevel wheel G for driving the vibromotor by which the
riddles and sieves are worked. This wheel G gears, into a bevil wheel on a vertical
spindle in the bearing F, this bearing being attached to a cross member of the
framing of the machine. From the lower end of the said vertical spindle depends
a flexible, or jointed, or hooked rod L the lower end of which is connected
to the top of a vertical spindle M running in a bearing N fixed to the back
part of the jogboard frame. On the lower part of the spindle M is the
arm carrying the weight V. the rotation of which as
an unbalanced
weight gives rise by reaction to a gyratory movement of the jogboard and its
attachments as described in the Specification of the Patent No. 9953 of 1892.
The horizontal path described by any point in the jogboard, riddles, or sieves will
not necessarily be a circle, but will depart therefrom to an extent which will depend
principally upon the difference in the weights of the parts which include the riddle R
and first dressing shoe E and of the part which includes the second dressing shoe E',
and by the disposition shown in Fig. 1, the delivery end of the riddles will receive
motion which will be of greater range in the direction of the length of the machine
than transversely. The second dressing shoe on the contrary will receive a longi-
tudinal motion which will be the same as that of the delivery end of the riddles but
will have a greater transverse movement, any point describing an ellipse the major
axis of which is transverse to the machine, while a point at the end of the riddle
will describe an ellipse the major axis of which will be longitudinal in direction.
The letter W in Fig. 1 indicates the position of the awner. Below the second
dressing shoes of finishing thrashing machines it is usual to place a rotary screen
and this may be done although I have not indicated it, but have instead indicated the
use of a larger number of finishing sieves & return plates in the shoe E' for effecting
the final separations. The grain elevator and other parts not materially affected or
altered by the requirements of my invention I have omitted from my drawings as
not essential to the description thereof and for greater clearness.
According to the arrangement of the parts described with reference to Fig. 1 all
the riddles and sieves make the same number of strokes per unit of time, and this is
common to most machines now made. Considerable advantages would however
result from the operation of the first and second dressing shoes at much higher
speeds than the speed which may be best for the riddles. Much smaller sieves could
be used to perform the same quantity of work, & by increasing the number of the
sieves in the second dressing shoe the usual rotary screen may be dispensed with
and in all cases these parts severally mentioned may be made lighter than at present
and less power will be required to work them. My invention enables me to drive
these different parts at the desirable different speeds by simple means and without
any reference to the question of balance of the parts. The arrangement of parts
for this purpose is shown in Fig. 3, the machine being with regard to the frame and

page_text: the shaker, the drum, the concave, and some other parts, the same as in Fig. 1.
The first dressing shoe E in Fig. 3 is however separated from the main jogboard
and riddles and must be carried by suspenders used for it alone. These suspenders.
may be of the kind previously mentioned as used in flour mill machinery. To
operate this first dressing shoe E which I prefer to run at about double the speed'
commonly used, I employ the arrangement of " vibromotor" shown. The driving
bracket 2 is attached at G³ to the outside of the machine and the spindle it carries
is driven by a half-crossed belt B³ running upon a pulley on the spindle H and
upon the "vibromotor" pulley. p. The jointed or hooked rod L2 dependant from
the spindle in the bracket F is connected to the vertical spindle in the bracket N*
which carries the arm and "vibromotor" weight V. By this means the dressing
shoe E may be driven at any speed independently of that of the riddles or any other
parts of the machine and the stroke given to it may be varied at will by adjustment
of the position of the weight V².
"
Similarly the second dressing shoe E' is driven by means of the belt B2 on the
pulley p which is on the spindle running in the bracket bearing F¹ attached to a
piece of framework G' which may be at one end of the awner and within the
framework of the machine. The jointed or hooked rod L' drives a spindle in the
bracket bearing N₁ carrying the arın and "vibromotor weight V" and thus
operating the second dressing sieves at any desired speed and with any desired
stroke or range of gyration. The shoe is suspended by four suspension rods S R of
any suitable usual kind. A rotary screen may be used below the shoe E' although
I have not indicated it.
The main riddles and jogboard are operated in the same way as has been
described with reference to Fig. 1, but the connection J' between the jogboard J
and the shoe E' is removed and the inner end of the jogboard is carried by suspension
rods S R.
Although I have shown the "vibromotor" in Figs. 1 and 3 placed towards the
back end of the jogboard it will be obvious to those accustomed to the construction
of thrashing machines that its position may be modified and if found desirable it
might be placed towards the central part of the jogboard. It may sometimes be
necessary to put the driving part of the "vibromotor" below, and the bearing
carrying the "vibromotor" weight above the communicating jointed or flexible
rod by which motion is communicated to the "vibromotor" weight. This inversion
of the arrangement shown may in some cases facilitate the arrangements for
driving by means of a belt from the shaker shaft, from the shaft H which drives.
it, or from the drum spindle.
In the Patent Specification No. 9953 of 1892, I have described a horizontal
form of "vibromotor" which may be employed for working these before mentioned
parts of thrashing machines, the bearing for the driving spindle of each "vibro-
motor" being attached to the side of the machine, and driven by belts from the
drum or shaker shafts, the "vibromotor" weight being carried below or on the top.
of or at the end or side of the riddles, jogboard, or dressing shoes as may be most.
convenient by bearings as described with reference to Figs. 7, 12, 14, and 17 of the
drawings in the Patent Specification No. 9953 previously referred to.
Instead of the excentric shaft S S and excentrics S E and rods C R for giving
reciprocating movement to the delivery end of the shaker the arrangement shown
in Fig. 2A may be used. In Fig. 2 S S is the shaker shaft on which is a can: S C
which acts upon a roller r in a slot in the rocking lever R L pivotted at C'. The
shalt S S is rotated by a belt B' which runs on a pulley on the drum shaft and
on the pulley p2. Fly wheels may be placed on either end of the shaft S S in.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what.
1 claim is.
(1.) A shaker as required for thrashing machines consisting of an articulated or

page_text: reticulated structure suspended from its two ends, the end near the drum being
higher than the delivery end, and the suspension being such that the articulated or
reticulated shaker structure may take a catenary curve of small versed sine, said
shaker receiving at its lower end a reciprocating movement which alternately
tightens it and allows it to sag all substantially as described and shown with reference
to Figs. 1, 2, and 24 of the drawings hereunto attached.
(2.) Connecting the jogboards, riddles, and dressing shoe or shoes of a thrashing
machine and operating the whole by one "vibromotor" substantially as described
and shown with reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings hereunto attached.
(3.) Operating the jogboard, and riddles of a thrashing machine so that they
may be driven by one "vibromotor" and operating the first and second dressing
shoes each by separate "vibromotors substantially as and for the purposes
described with reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings hereunto attached.
Dated this 16th day of April 1894.
"
W. WORBY BEAUMONT.