AN APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY, CORN, AND ROOTS, AND OTHER THINGS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Archibald White, of Great Missenden, in the County
of Buckingham, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN APPARATUS FOR
DRYING HAY, CORN, AND ROOTS, AND OTHER THINGS."
Sealed the 12th April 1861, and dated the 18th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Archibald White at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1860.
I, ARCHIBALD WHITE, of Great Missenden, in the County of Bucking-
ham, Gentleman, do declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN
APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY, CORN, AND ROOTS, AND OTHER THINGS," to be as
follows:-
An erection, a room, a chamber, or a place which I will in this Specification
call a chamber, and which may be a permanent building or part of a perma-
nent building, or of wood or other light material in pannels, and portable, and
having outsides and a roof or top, and with a bottom or with the earth for a
bottom, such chamber to have in it one or more line or lines of rails on which
the wheels of the carriages after-mentioned could run from one of its ends to
the other. One of the ends of such chamber to be open to permit the
escape of the air after it had passed in contact with the hay, &c., and to allow
the carriages laden with the hay, &c. to be dried to be put on the rails and
portions of the side or of each of the sides of such chamber to open and shut
or be movable, to allow the carriages with the hay, &c. on them to be placed

page_text: on or removed from the rails, and to allow the hay, &c. to be got at to turn or
move it. The other end of the chamber to be closed, except sufficient open-
ings to receive the air from the fans after mentioned, and at that end a set of.
fans somewhat similar to the fans of a winnowing machine for each set of rails,
or more of such fans, if necessary, so made to revolve that the air should be
driven rapidly over and under the rails and carriages and out at the other end
of the chamber, such fans being made to revolve by rack and pinion work, or
wheels, or spindles and bands, or other appliances, and having motion commu-
nicated to them by a steam engine, a horse or horses, an apparatus in the
nature of a windmill, a man or men, or a weight suspended from under a tripod,
or otherwise suspended and acting somewhat in the manner in which a weight
acts in communicating a rotary motion to a spit when roasting meat, or being
made to revolve by any other motive power or means.
A rectangular frame to be placed at each of the openings in the side or
sides of the chamber on which or on spars laid across which to run and sup-
port each carriage and its contents when such contents was removed from the
chamber, and to aid in placing the hay, &c. to be dried in the chamber, and
to enable the carriages to be taken out and returned to such chamber when
their contents required turning or moving with, if necessary, pullies and slings
whereby to lower each carriage and its contents, and to raise it from the
ground, and with a windlass or roller and friction break, if required, at each or
either of such frames. Two spars to pass over and rest on each frame, and be,
when used, so passed under the carriage to be moved (such carriage being
lifted on to and off them by means of a lever or by other means), that such car-
riage may be supported on them, and by means of the rollers under such
carriage, and aided by gravity, pass out of such chamber on to the frame, or
vice versa.
Each of such frames to have a sufficient roof or covering to keep
the rain off, and that over the frame next the fans to be sufficiently large to
also cover the cart or truck after-mentioned, or the whole of one side of the
chamber for a space as wide as the frames to be covered by a roof, supported
one side on the chamber and the other side on poles or tripods, or on such
frames, or partly by each; and under such last-mentioned roof a line of rails
to be laid, on which a truck to run, on which the carriages as they are emptied
to be conveyed from the fans to the other end of the chamber to be again filled.
Also a roof or sufficient covering to keep the hay, &c. from the rain while
being moved to the carriages from the cart or waggon on which it was brought
to the chamber.
A set of carriages each of a size that might be found desirable, and in
number sufficient to occupy all the rails and enough to spare for returning to

page_text: be filled, so that the chamber might be always full, cach carriage to be on
wheels, each of such wheels to be in the cross section of its periphery, of a
shape to fit and retain itself and roll freely on the rails, such carriages to have
their bottoms formed of wire or other netting or lattice or other work, or bars
sufficiently open to allow the air to have free access on the under side to tho
hay, &c. placed in them to dry, and each to have on the under side four small
rollers with sufficient guides, on which rollers the carriage could rest and run
on the spars before mentioned, when being passed laterally into or out of the
chamber. Each carriage to have a sufficient number of spars or cross pieces
to be over the hay, &c. while being dried, to retain such hay, &c. on the car-
riage, and prevent the air from the fans blowing it off. Each carriage to have
a sufficient coupling to attach it to the carriage before and that behind it on
the rails on which it was.
A cart or truck or a sufficient number of each with a tilt or covering in
which to remove the hay, &c. when dry to the stack or other place of deposit
for it, and each with or without tackle by which to attach it to a lifting appa-
ratus by which to raise it to the rick.
The chamber to be so placed as that the end at which the fans were was
sufficiently lower than the other end, to cause the carriages, when on the rails,
to pass by gravity from such other end to the fans, or the rails to have a suffi-
cient fall to effect that, as cach carriage was filled and placed on the rails,.
couple it to the carriage or carriages next it, and the carriage at the end to be
held by a chain or other attachment to the frame, to prevent it and the car-
riages coupled to it passing more rapidly towards the fans than it was intended
they should so pass, or from passing towards the fans at all until it was
intended they should so pass: such chain or other attachment to be passed
round and acted on by a roller with ratchet work and friction break to moderate
the speed of the carriages down the rails.
As each carriage next the fans was emptied the whole line of carriages on
the rails from which that carriage was removed to be allowed to approach one
carriage width nearer the fans, and a carriage at the other end of the chamber.
filled with hay, &c. to be dried, to be passed into the chamber; as the car-
riages were emptied, next the fans, pass them to the other end of the chamber,
to be again filled and placed ready for passing into the chamber; or, instead of
the chamber, fit up a barn or any other building with hurdles or other open.
work, supported horizontally by scaffolding or by other supports on which to
place the hay, &c. to be dried, and with sufficient planks laid and supported
horizontally between such hurdles or open work, to allow the hay, &c..to. be
conveyed to and from such hurdles or open work, and to be spread, turned, and

page_text: moved when on them; and in such barn or other building fix horizontally or
vertically a shaft or shafts having fans attached to it or them, to which give
rapid motion by any of the means before mentioned, and, if found necessary,
propel air rapidly into the barn or building by suflicient openings and fans, and
cause air to pass rapidly out of such barn or building by other sufficient open-
ings and fans, and give rapid motion to all such fans by any of the means
before mentioned.
Also, if found necessary, in or to the chamber before described, place or
attach fans by which to force or aid in forcing the air out of such chamber, and
give rapid motion to such fans by any of the means before mentioned..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Archibald White in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARCHIBALD
WHITE, of Great Missenden, in the County of Buckingham, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Archibald White, Her special licence that I, the said Archibald White, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Archi-
bald White, 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 of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN APPARATUS FOR
DRYING HAY, CORN, AND ROOTS, AND OTHER THINGS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that. I, the said. Archibald White, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Archibald White, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:
An erection, a room, a chamber, or a place, which I will in this Specifica-
tion call a chamber, and which may be a permanent building, or part of a
permanent building, or put up in any building fit to receive it, or it may be of
wood or other light material in panels and portable, and having outsides and a
roof or top, and with a bottom or with the earth for a bottom, such chamber
to have in it one or more line or lines of rails having a fall from its open end
to the fans on which the wheels of the carriages, after mentioned, could run
from one of its ends to the other, and on which they would so run by gravity
when not restrained. One of the ends of such chamber to be open to permit
the escape of the air after it had passed in contact with the hay, &c., and por-
tions of the side or of each of the sides of such chamber to open and shut or
be moveable to allow the carriages with the hay, &c. on them to be placed
on or removed from the rails, and to allow the bay, &c. to be got at to turn
or move it. The other end of the chamber to be closed, except sufficient
openings to receive the air from the fans, after mentioned, and at that end a
set of fans, somewhat similar to the fans of a winnowing machine, for cach
set of rails, or more of such fans, if necessary, so made to revolve as that air
should be driven rapidly over and under the rails and carriages and out at the
other end of the chamber, such fans being made to revolve by rack and pinion
work, or wheels or spindles, and bands or other appliances, and having motion
communicated to them by a steam engine, a horse or horses, an apparatus in
the nature of a windmill, a man or men, or a weight suspended from under a
tripod or otherwise suspended, and acting somewhat in the manner in which a
weight acts in communicating a rotatory motion to a spit when roasting meat
or being made to revolve by any other motive power. A roof along the entire
length of such chamber on the side of such chamber next the openings to
form an open shed under cover, of which the hay, or corn, or other thing to
be dried to be put on to and taken off and turned or shifted on the carriages,
or a roof over the parts of such chamber opposite each opening, under cover
of which such operations could be performed with, if found advisable, a line of
rails on the ground extending under such roof from one end of the chamber
to the other, and having a fall from the fans end of such chamber on which
to return the empty carriages to be again filled. A suflicient number of flat
pieces of wood or levers, each a little longer than the width of the chamber and
shed, and of a width at one end greater than that at the other, and having a
piece of wood or iron about two feet long attached by its middle to the narrow
end and at right angles to such lever. The posts supporting the roof of such

page_text: shed or such roofs on the sides farthest the close chamber, to be so placed
opposite the openings to the close chamber as to allow brackets or irons to
be attached to them, on which to rest and support the said levers when in use
for moving the carriages into or out of the close chamber, and also, if neces-
sary, moveable spars across such shed on which to rest and support the
carriages when out of the close chamber. Pulley tackle with rollers and
friction breaks, if necessary, to aid in raising and lowering the carriages when
out of the close chamber, and to elevate the narrow ends of the levers so as to
make them form an inclined plane on which the carriages to pass by gravity
into the close chamber and, if necessary, short levers, by which to so elevate
such ends of such levers. When a carriage was to be passed into or out of
the close chamber one of such levers (its wide end first) to be passed under
each of the parts of such carriage, on which the rollers were the narrow end
of such lever being rested on or in one of the said brackets, the levers would
then by means of the pieces of wood or iron attached to their narrow ends be
turned edges up and down, by which the carriage would be raised from the
rails and made to rest on its rollers on the levers, which forming an inclined
plane would cause the carriage to pass out of the close chamber, and by
elevating the narrow ends of such levers an inclined plane would be formed
on which the carriage would pass into the close chamber, and by turning the
levers, so that they should lay flatways, the carriage would be lowered to and rest
'on the rails and the levers would be withdrawn. Bolts, or catches, or stops to
prevent the carriages passing along the rails by gravity when it was not desired
they should so pass, or, if necessary, the carriages to be coupled together and
prevented so passing by a rope or chain with roller and friction break at the
open end of the close chamber.
A set of carriages, each of a size that might be found desirable, and in
number sufficient to occupy all the rails, and enough to spare, for returning to
be filled, so that the chamber might be always full; each carriage to be on
wheels, each of such wheels to be in the cross section of its periphery of a
shape to fit and retain itself and roll freely on the rails, such carriages to have
the bottoms and sides formed of wire or other netting, or lattice, or other
work or bars sufficiently open to allow the air to have free access on the sides
and ends and under side to the bay, &c., placed in them to dry, and each to
have on the under side four small rollers with sufficient guides, on which
rollers the carriage could rest and run on the levers, before mentioned, when
being passed laterally into or out of the chamber. Each carriage to have a
sufficient wire lid, or a sufficient number of spars or cross pieces to be over the
hay, &c., while being dried, to retain such hay, &c. on the carriage, and pre-

page_text: vent air from the fans blowing it off. Each carriage to have, if necessary, a
sufficient coupling to attach it to the carriage before and that behind it on the
rails on which it was. As each carriage next the fans was emptied the whole
line of carriages on the rails from which that carriage was removed to be
allowed to approach one carriage width nearer the fans, and a carriage at the
other end of the chamber filled with hay, &c. to be dried to be passed into the
chamber. As the carriages were emptied next the fans pass them to the other
end of the chamber to be again filled and placed ready for passing into the
chamber. Or, instead of the chamber, fit up a barn, or any other building
with hurdles or other open work supported in a horizontal position by scaffold-
ing or by other supports, on which to place the hay, &c, to be dried, and with
sufficient planks laid and supported in a horizontal position between such
hurdles or open work to allow the hay, &c. to be conveyed to and from such
hurdles or open work, and to be spread, turned, and moved when on them,
and in such barn or other building fix horizontally or vertically a shaft or
shafts having fans attached to it or them, to which give rapid motion by any
of the means before mentioned, and if found necessary propel air rapidly into
the barn or building by sufficient openings and fans, and cause air to pass
rapidly out of such barn or building by other sufficient openings and fans, and
give rapid motion to all such fans by any of the means before mentioned.
Also, if found necessary, in or to the chamber, before described, place or
attach fans by which to force or aid in forcing the air out of such chamber
and give rapid motion to such fans by any of the means before mentioned.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is performed, I declare that I claim the combination of appa-
ratus, herein-before described, for the purpose of drying hay and corn, and
roots, and other things.
In witness whereof, I, the said Archibald White, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
ARCHIBALD WHITE. (L.S.)