Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Dec., 1887
Specification Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1888
1, OLIVER DWIGHT WOODRUFF of Southington, in the county of Hartford and
State of Connecticut, United States of America, Mechanic, 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 generally to that particular class of machines employed for
mincing or cutting up meat or other yielding substances, which comprehend in
connection with many minor details of construction, a cylindrical casing, a rotatable
feed shaft contained therein, a fixed conical shell, and a knife adapted to be rotated
against the face of and to have a shearing action in connection with said conical
shell.
My present invention relates particularly to the rotatable knife and the mode of
mounting the same, and its object is to so construct the said knife that its rings or
frame will be adapted to take the wear which would otherwise be borne by the blade
edges, and to so mount the said knife within the machine, that, while it will constantly
rotate while the machine is in operation it is not constantly in position to bear closely
against the conical shell, its contact with the conical shell, and consequently its
shearing action therewith, being induced and governed by the pressure thereon of the
material to be operated upon, a further object being to provide a stop to limit the
outward movement of the knife and prevent it from being so closely pressed against
the conical shell as to retard the operation of the machine.
An embodiment of my invention, in connection with a convenient type of the
machines indicated, is represented in the accompanying drawings and herein described,
the particular subject matter claimed as novel being hereinafter definately described.

page_text: In the drawings.—
Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is a central elevation
partly in section of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a front elevation
of the machine represented in Figs. 1 and 2, the ring I which binds the two parts
of the shell tightly together being supposed removed. Fig. 4 is an end view of the
knife, Fig. 5 is a central section of the conical shell, the knife being represented
within the same Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a view in perspective, and a fragmentary
detail of the binding I.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
b
In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the casing of the machine,
which casing is made up of two parts a¹ and a². The part a' has an inlet through
the hopper & near one end of the casing. A series of cutting ribs, c, extend from end
to end upon the inner curved wall of part a'. In the end wall a³ of part a¹ a bearing
is formed which supports the shaft el upon which the feed screw e is supported.
The casing as a whole resembles two truncated cones joined at their bases, the
longer cone (and the inclination of its wall is very slight) being the part a' above
described, and the shorter one consisting of the part a², the two parts being preferably
secured together by means of a binding ring I, although any other well known means
or method may be employed. The part a is preferably made conical to facilitate the
adjusting of the knives. The outer end of the part a² has preferably an opening
through which the end of the feed screw shaft el protrudes although the machine will
work quite as well if the outer end of the part a² is closed and the cylindric extremity
of the screw-shaft is cut off. The feed screw conforms in general outline to the frusto-
conical interior part, a¹, of the casing, one end of which screw has a shoulder, e³,
which prevents the movement of the feed screw toward the hopper. A spiral thread
the edges of which are sharpened on the shaft e' constitutes the feed screw.
The part a² is, a conical shell, perforated with delivery holes h¹, the edges of which
form cutters which are opposed to the knives g³ in the cutting of the material by the
rotation of the knives, and it is bound to the part a¹ by means of the binding ring 1,
which, screwing upon the exterior of the large or delivery end of the part a', has a
flange or lip which overhangs the flange at on the part a², and holds the said conical
shell tightly in place against the part a.
The Hange at of the conical shell is provided with a notch as, and when the parts a¹
and a are brought together the notch as on the part a², fits upon a stud a formed
upon the end of the part a¹, and rotation of the conical shell is prevented.
The rotatable knife G is adapted to be placed within the conical shell a' and to operate
in connection therewith.
A good form of knife embodying my invention is that represented in the drawings,
in which g represents the ring at the large end of the knife, and g¹ the disc hub at the
small end of the knife, and g represents four knife blades preferably formed with
or mounted upon the parts g, g¹. The ring gis sufficiently larger than the disc-hub g¹
to render the inclination of the knife blades connected to thein correspondent to the
inclination of the conical shell a'.
The knife blades g³ themselves are preferably formed, as represented in the drawings,
slightly curved in cross-section.
The peripheries of the ring g and disc-hub g¹ are formed or bevelled so that they
have an angular edge inclination coincident, and are flush or on the same plane, with
the knife blade edges, and the said parts therefore coincide with the lines of the
frustrum of a cone outlined by the knife blade edges.
This construction allows the knife blades to approach in operation very closely to
the inner surface of the conical shell, while the parts y and gl being subject to the
same frictional contact with the conical shell as are the blade-edges themselves, serve,
when the knife is pressed into frictional contact with the conical shell, to take the
wear otherwise coming on the blade edges.
Upon the shaft e¹ and just within the bearing formed for it in the end of the conical
shell a is conveniently but not necessarily formed a square or polygonal seat j. The

page_text: disc-hub g of the knife has a central orifice g² of outline correspondent to the seat j,
which adapts the knife to be seated thereon and to be rotated therewith
The length
of the seat is in excess of the thickness of the disc-hub g', and this is necessary as
is hereinafter more fully described, to allow the knife the freedom of longitudinal
movement essential in carrying out my invention.
The knife as a whole is slightly less in length than the space allotted for it in the
conical shell, and this also to allow of the necessary movement of the knife.
Upon the inner face of the small end of the conical shell and surrounding the
bearing therein is conveniently formed an annular rib K which may, indeed, be
the inner face itself of said end, against which the disc-hub g' hears or abuts when it
arrives at the outward limit of its movement, and when its exterior is in working
contact with the interior of the shell.
That end of the shaft which passes through the wall a³ is squared for the convenient
application of a crank handle M or other device for imparting rotation to the shaft.
The operation of my device will be readily understood." Assume the machine
stationary and empty, and the rotatable knife moved back on its seat so that its blades
are not in close contact with the conical shell. Rotation being imparted to the shaft
by the operation of the handle, material fed to the hopper is carried forward by the
screw toward the delivery end of the machine. In its passage thither it is through
the conjoint shear-like action of the sharp cutting ribs within the part a and the
thread on the shaft, to a large extent, divided. Reaching the outer end of the part a',
the material is delivered into the conical shell and within and behind the blades of the
rotating knife. Continued delivery of material into the conical shell will soon fill it,
and the pressure of material against the disc-hub and the blades of the rotating knife
will push the knife outwardly on its seat and force its blade edges into close contact
with the inner face of the conical shell, when it will be in position to begin and
continue its function of shearing off from the inain body of the substance acted upon
all such parts as are pressed between the blades and into the orifices of the conical
shell. The knife will thus be held in shearing contact with the conical shell as long
as material is fed into the machine. Upon cessation of the supply of material to be
acted upon, the knife, although of course continuing to rotate as long as the machine
is operated, will no longer be held tightly against the conical shell. The annular rib K
described serves to prevent any binding of the knife when unusual pressure is put
upon it.
The length of longitudinal play of the knife itself is limited by the size of the
conical shell and the amount of space left therein for such play, and such length is a
matter which is to be predetermined, and regulated by the character of the material
to be operated upon.
As is obvious, knives mounted, in the manner described, the edges of which are
prevented by the end rings g and gl and the rib K from grinding against the edges
of the perforations opposed to them during the operation, will last much longer than
when constructed and mounted in the manner heretofore in use, for while heretofore
such knives have been adjustable by means of screw rings or other devices forcing
them against a perforated plate, they have not been self adjustable.
It is obvious that the feature of taking the wear off the rotatable knife blade edges
as described above, is capable of application with meat cutting machines in genera!
and not confined to machines of the construction described.
Many obvious nodifications in mechanical construction may be resorted to in
carrying out my invention. Thus instead of the hub and hub seat described, the hub
disc may be simply feathered upon the shaft; and instead of the rib K being formed
upon the conical shell it would answer the same purpose if formed upon the hub disc.
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
I claim is:-
1) In a meat cutting machine, in combination, a cylindrical shell, provided with a

page_text: feed inlet, a feed screw mounted in said shell, a conical shell provided with orifices at
the delivery end of said shell, and a knife loosely and longitudinally adjustably mounted
on the feed screw shaft, substantially as set forth.
2) In a meat cutting machine, in combination, a cylindrical shell, provided with a
feed inlet, a feed screw mounted in said shell, a conical shell provided with orifices at
the delivery end of said shell, a knife loosely and longitudinally adjustably mounted
on the feed screw shaft, and a rib or stop interposed between the framework of the
knife and the said conical shell, substantially as specified
Dated this 21
bo 1007