Improvements in or relating to Chaff Cutters.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 25th July, 1898
Improvements in or relating to Chaff Cutters.
I, ARTHUR SAMUEL FRANCIS ROBINSON, of the Vale of White Horse Iron Works,
Wantage, in the County of Berks, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows;
-
This invention has reference to improvements in chaff cutters of the typo now
in common use wherein an endless feed web serves to feed hay or straw to geared
feed rolls that are caused to revolve in a forward or backward direction, or are
brought to rest, by moving a safety lever into a backward, forward or central
position respectively.
Such a machine must now, according to law, be of such construction or fitted
with such apparatus or contrivance as to prevent the hand or arm of the person
feeding the machine from being drawn between the rollers to the knives, and
various safety devices have heretofore been provided for this purpose com-
prising one or more loose rollers so placed above the material being fed to the
geared feed rollers, as to prevent the attendants hand or arm being drawn in
towards the cutting knives, the roller or rollers being pressed against the material
as it moves along on the feed web towards the geared rolls, and rotated by contact
with such material. I have found in practice that a roller or rollers so placed
makes the feed web rub very hard on the wearing strips at the bottom of the feed
box whereby undue waste of power and wear of the machine are caused. Now my
invention is designed to obviate this disadvantage for which purpose I arrange
under each of the feed web chains at the respective sides of the feed box, a roller that
is keyed to a transverse rotary shaft or spindle, or is mounted to run freely upon a
fixed shaft or spindle, so as in each case to support the chains and transverse strips
of wood composing the feed web above the bottom of the feed box, at the part
thereof near which they are arranged and so relieve the same from wear, whilst
at the same time greatly reducing the power required to drive the feed web.
Supporting rollers such as described may advantageously be used in connection
with various arrangements of top pressure rollers. I prefer however to employ
a top pressure roller made of wood and of about 4 inches diameter, such roller
being carried by a tubular or solid spindle that is arranged to move in radial
slots in the sides of feed box and is carried by thin flat radius arms which are
journalled to the ends of the spindle, extend backwards or in a direction away
from the pressure and feed rollers, and are pivotted at their ends to the sides of
the feed box. The ends of the spindle projecting beyond the outside of the feed
box, are each connected to a weighted rod, the arrangement being such that the
spindle ends are allowed a sufficiently free movement to admit of the roller
rising more one side than the other. Instead of weights, hooked spiral springs
may be used to load the spindle and pressure roller.
With this arrangement, the material to be fed to the feed rollers may be
pressed between the feed web and the top pressure or friction roller with impunity,

page_text: the said roller rising and falling according to the amount of material required
to be passed to the geared rolls, and the said material being at the same time
well compressed between the lower anti-friction bottom rollers, the feed web, and
the top friction driven roller whose direction is defined by the radius arms, and its
pressure by the weights or springs connected to its spindle.
I, ARTHUR SAMUEL FRANCIS ROBINSON, of the Vale of White Horse Iron Works,
Wantage, in the County of Berks, 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:--
This invention has reference to improvements in chaff cutters of the type now
in common use wherein an endless feed web serves to feed hay or straw to geared
feed rolls that are caused to revolve in a forward or backward direction, or are
brought to rest by moving a safety lever into a backward, forward or central
position respectively.
Such a machine must now, according to law, be of such construction or be fitted
with such apparatus or contrivance as will prevent the hand or arm of the person
feeding the machine from being drawn between the rollers to the knives, and
various safety devices have heretofore been provided for this purpose in which
one or more loose rollers are so placed above the material being fed to the
geared feed rollers as to prevent the attendant's hand or arm being drawn in
towards the cutting knives, the roller or rollers being pressed against the material
as it moves along on the feed web towards the geared rolls, and rotated by contact
with such material. I have found in practice that a roller or rollers so placed
makes the feed web rub very hard on the wearing strips at the bottom of the feed
box, whereby undue waste of power and wear of the machine are caused. Now my
invention is designed to obviate this disadvantage as I shall now describe with
reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings wherein Fig. 1 shows in cross
section and Fig. 2 in longitudinal section, so much of a chaff cutter of the kind
referred to as is necessary to illustrate the application of my invention thereto.
1 and are the feed rollers for feeding hay or straw towards the cutters (not
shown), these rollers being geared together and caused to revolve in a forward or
backward direction or brought to rest by moving a safety lever into a backward,
forward or central position respectively, in a manner well understood; 2 is a
weighted lever by which the upper roller 1 is caused to exert pressure upon the
hay or straw passing between it and the lower roller 1*; and 3, 3ª are feed web
chains that are connected together by transverse strips 3 of wood and are arranged
at the respective sides of the feed box 4, the said chains passing around chain
wheels 5, of which only one pair is shown, and over guide pulleys 5".
struction and arrangement of the above mentioned parts in a chaff cutter are well
Known and form no part of the present invention.
The con-
According to my invention in order to obviate the disadvantage hereinbefore
mentioned, I arrange under each of the feed web chains 3, 3 at the respective
sides of the feed box, a roller 6 that is keyed to a transverse rotary shaft or
spindle 7, or is mounted to run freely upon a fixed shaft or spindle, so as in each

page_text: case to support the chains 3, 3" and transverse strips 3b of wood, composing the feed
web, above the bottom 4" of the feed box 4, at the part thereof near which they are
arranged and so relieve the bottom of the box from wear whilst at the same time
greatly reducing the power required to drive the feed web. Supporting rollers G
such as described may advantageously be used in connection with various arrange-
ments of top pressure rollers. I prefer however, as shown, to employ a single top
pressure roller 8 made of wood and of about 4 inches in diameter, such roller being
carried by a tubular or solid spindle 9 that is arranged to move in radial slots 10
in the sides of feed box 4 and is carried by thin flat radius arms 11 which are
journalled to the ends of the said spindle 9, extend backwards, i.d in a direction
away from the pressure and feed rollers, and are pivotted at their rear ends, as at 12,
to the sides of the feed box so that the pressure roller will tend to be lifted by
excess of material passing under it." The ends of the spindle 9 pro-
jecting beyond the outside of the feed box 4, are each connected to a
weighted rod 13, the arrangement, as will be seen, being such that the spindle ends
are allowed a sufficiently free movement to admit, when desired, of the pressure
roller 8 rising more one side than the other to allow of such roller automatically
accommodating itself to unequal thicknesses of material passing between it and the
supporting rollers 8. Instead of using weights 13" on the rods 13, hooked spiral
springs may be used to load the spindle 9 and pressure roller S.
With the arrangement described, the material to be fed to the feed rollers 1, 1ª
can be pressed between the feed web 3, 3, 3b and the top pressure or friction
roller 8 with impunity, the said roller rising and falling according to the amount
of material required to be passed to the geared rolls 1, 1", the said material being
at the same time well compressed between the lower antifriction supporting
rollers 6 and feed web 3, 3ª 3b, and the top friction driven roller 8 whose direction
is defined by the radius arms 11 and its pressure by the weights or springs con-
nected to its spindle 9.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
:-
1. In a chaff cutter of the kind herein referred to, the combination with the feed
web chains arranged at the respective sides of the feed box, of supporting rollers
arranged below the said chains so as to support the same and their transverse con-
necting strips above the bottom of the feed box at the part thereof adjacent to
such rollers, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings
annexed for the purpose set forth.
2. In a chaff cutter of the kind herein referred to, a top pressure roller carried
by a spindle the ends of which are arranged to move in radial slots in the sides
of the feed box, are connected to radius arms pivoted at their rear ends to
the sides of the feed box, and are each connected to a separately loaded rod, so
that either end of the pressure roller can move vertically to a different extent
to the other, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings
annexed.
3. In a chaff cutter, the combination with the feed web and chains 3, 3. 3b, of
lower supporting rollers and a top pressure roller, mounted, arranged and operating
substantially as described and shown for the purposes specified.
THE
CHCF
pin 1033
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Chartered Patent Agent.