A MACHINE TO CUT FAT AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A LIKE NATURE, PREPARA- TORY TO MELTING, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TALLOW, SOAP, AND CANDLES, AND WHICH MACHINE MAY BE USED FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GARDNER, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Ironmonger, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Ninth day of November, in the second year of His reign, give and grant
unto me, the said James Gardner, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James
Gardner, my exors, adññors, and assigns, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"A MACHINE TO CUT FAT AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A LIKE NATURE, PREPARA-
TORY TO MELTING, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TALLOW, SOAP, AND CANDLES, AND
WHICH MACHINE MAY BE USED FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said James Gardner,
shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
should utterly cease, determine, and. become void, as in and by the same,
relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Gardner, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly made known
and ascertained by the following description thereof, and by the Drawings
hereunto annexed (that is to say):-
I put upon a shaft or axle, which is made of iron or other suitable metal,
a number of circular or round knives, which I fix at any required distance
from each other; they are fixed upon the axle in a firm manner, and the
whole revolve together on their axis, as herein-after described. But to give
effect to the knives in cutting the fat or other articles required to be cut,
I make use of a roller, the diameter of which is the same, or thereabout, as
the diameter of the knives, and which roller I also fix firmly upon a shaft
or axle. The knives and roller are both fastened upon a wood frame in such
a position as by their mutual revolutions to draw the fat or other articles in
and cut them. In the several Figures of the annexed Drawings the same
parts of the machine are denoted by the same characters.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of the machine. a, a, are knives; b, b, the
spaces between them; and c, c, are iron rings or ferrules, which separate them
from one another. d, d, d, d, is the roller; its axle is connected with the axle
of the knives by the cog wheels e, e, and ff. g,g, is a pinion fixed on the
axle h, h, upon which also is fastened the fly wheel i, i. k, k, k, k, is the wood'
frame on which the knives and roller are placed.
My machine being applicable to cut articles of various descriptions besides
fat, such, for instance, as meat for 'sausages, and roots of various sorts, say
potatoes and carrots and parsnips for feeding cattle, &c. &c., I make the roller
differently, to adapt it to the different purposes to which it is to be applied.
It also admits of different modes of construction when applied to cut articles
of the same kind; any of which modes, as may best answer my purpose, I
adopt at pleasure. I make it, for example, of wood or metal, either cylin-
drical, as in Figures 1 and 11, or with grooves in it, as in Fig. 2; the distance
from groove to groove is such as to permit each knife to enter a groove; or I
make it of wood and cover it with sheet or other lead, the lead accommodating
itself to the-knives. Each knife makes for itself a groove; and for the
purpose of better drawing in the several articles to be cut, I fix upon its
circumference (if required) small teeth, as shewn in the section, Figure 3; they
are placed on the roller in such positions as to pass between the knives.
I make the knives of any suitable metal, such, for example, as iron or steel,
or both together, but I prefer entirely steel, because I get more strength with
less substance of metal. I also make them of any convenient size, and put

page_text: any convenient number of thein upon the same axle, and fix them at any
convenient distance apart from each other. No specific size, nor number, nor
distance from each other, being exclusively useful, I vary in each of these
particulars at pleasure. I would observe, however, that the sizes which I
think most generally suitable are from five or six to ten inches diameter.
They may be fixed upon the axle in various ways, but the method which I
adopt is as follows:-
Let Fig. 4 represent the axle on which the knives are to fixed. 1, 1, is a
collar, having its side face v, v, perpendicular to its axis; that part of the
axle on which the knives are fitted is perfectly cylindrical. The knives
have a round hole at their center (see Fig. 5) which fits somewhat tight
upon the axle, and is concentric to the circumference. The rings or ferrules c, c,
Fig. 1, are fitted upon the axle in the same manner as the knives. Figs. 6
and 7 shew them detached from the axle. To secure the axle from turning
without the knives, a groove is cut in it in the direction of its length, and
an iron key fitted into it, which projects into the notches of the knives at n,
Fig. 5. The whole of the knives and rings are tightened upon the axle by
being forced in a direction against the collar 1, 1; this is effected by a key driven
through the axle at m, Fig. 4, against the collar o, o, Fig. 1, which is of the
same diameter as the collar 1, 1.
Fig. 8 is a side view of the machine. p, p, p, p, are metal chairs fastened
on the wood frame k, k, k, k. The knives and roller revolve in a direction
towards each other, or in the direction x, y, z. The lines r, r, r, r, is a section
of a wood hopper, which feeds the machine. The fat and other articles intended
to be cut are put into the hopper, and are drawn in and cut by the conjoint
efforts of the knives and roller. They are disengaged from the interstices
between the knives by the following contrivance:-Let Fig. 9 represent a
section of the knives and roller. Upon the ring or ferrule c I suspend the
curved piece of iron s, s, s. Fig. 10 is a detached view of it; it is as much
narrower than the ring or ferrule, in the direction t, t, Fig. 1, as will just allow
it to play easy between the knives when the machine is at work. The curved
pieces of iron s, 8, 8, are stationary, whereby they discharge the fat and other
articles from the knives; they are prevented from turning with the knives by
their ends abutting against a rod of iron, which passes across the inside of
the wood frame for that purpose, as shewn at w, Figs. 8 and 9.
Figure 11 is a view of the machine completed, excepting the wood hopper
shewn in Fig. 8. As my machine may be applied to cutting articles of
different kinds, as before stated, it may be proper in some instances to give
the knives greater velocity than is given to the roller. For example, in

page_text: cutting meat for sausages, the lean part being of a tougher and more flimsy
texture than fat, it will be more perfectly cut by giving to the knives a degree of
shear or a drawing cut. This will be accomplished by making the cog wheels
of such proportionate sizes as to obtain the required speed of the roller and
knives respectively. The power which gives motion to the machine may be
applied directly to the axle of the knives, or the axle of the roller; but if
the machine be worked by a man, it will in some cases be necessary to
apply it to the axle and pinion shewn in Figures 1 and 11.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Gardner, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.
Inrolled the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-two.