IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR BREAKING HEMP AND FLAX
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR BREAKING HEMP AND
FLAX."A communication from abroad by Joseph Holford Siddall, of
the City of Philadelphia, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 31st July 1866, and dated the 2nd February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd February 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR BREAKING
HEMP AND FLAX," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of machinery, whereby a
series of beaters is set in rapid action and caused to strike into recesses or
between bars on which the flax or hemp to be operated upon is laid. The

page_text: machine may be described as a bed frame supported by standards, and formed
with a kind of grid at one end. The grid consists of parallel bars rounded at
their upper part and connected together by cross pieces, but so as to leave
deep recesses between them of the full length of the bars. At the opposite
end of the bed frame a barrel or cylinder is mounted transversely to the line
of the bars, and secured thereto is a transverse bar. This bar is slotted and
forms a kind of hinge butt to which the beaters are jointed, they being
secured thereto by a transverse pin. At the back of the beaters are staples
through which are inserted the free ends of a series of springs, which springs
are firmly secured at their other ends to the slotted bar of the cylinder. A
reciprocating motion is imparted to this cylinder by means of straps secured
thereto at one end, and at their other ends to opposite ends of a vertical
sliding board or plate. The motions of this plate are controlled by vertical
guides, and it is operated through a coupling rod connected, to a crank on the
end of the driving shaft of the machine. As therefore the sliding plate rises
a quick axial motion will be given to the cylinder, and the beaters will be
caused to strike with an elastic blow into the spaces in the grid, thereby
"breaking" the flax or hemp submitted to its action. To prevent injury to
the beaters from their being worked when there is no fibre on the bed frame
blocks of india-rubber are inserted between the bars to take the blows of the
beaters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR BREAKING HEMP AND FLAX,"
being a communication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature, of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by. the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed;
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists mainly in constructing the beaters of machinery
for breaking hemp and flax with flexible joints, and imparting the requisite
motions thereto by means of a vibrating: slide and straps actuated by a crank
and connecting rod, the beaters being carried by a cylinder or barrel having
a reciprocating axial motion. :
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. I is a perspective view of the improved
machine; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3 is
a cross section at the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Figures 4 and 5 are a side and
edge view of one of the beaters C; Figures 6 and 7 are a top and end view
of the cylinder D and arm F; and Figures 8 and 9 are an end and face view
of the slide J and board h. Like letters in all the Figures indicate the same
parts.
This bed has
action of the
A is the main frame, constructed of sufficient strength to resist the strain
upon it; B is a bed which is firmly secured to the frame A.
bars a, a, a, at one end which form the resisting parts to the
beaters C, C, C, C, which in their action on the hemp or flax partially fill the
spaces b, b, b, between the bars a, as represented by red lines in Fig. 3. The
other end of the bed plate is open to allow the cylinder D-and its connections
to work freely-therein. The journals c of the cylinder are supported by the
boxes E that are secured by screws or bolts to the bed B. The beaters C are
jointed to a slotted arm F affixed.to and forming part of the cylinder D. A
bolt passes through all the beaters and through the cheeks e of the arm F
and forms a fulcrum for the beaters to turn on when they vary from a straight
line with the arm F as herein-after-described. For the purpose of effecting

page_text: this variation, and still preserving to them the requisite stiffness, they are
provided with springs G, G, G, G, whose heels are firmly bolted to the arm F,
while their resilient parts are connected with the beaters by means of staples f,
the ends of the springs being turned up to secure their attachment to the
beaters. Blocks of india-rubber or other equivalent substance g are inserted
in the recesses between the bars a, a, to act as cushions and take the shock
from the beaters when there is no fibrous material on the bars a. An up-and-
down motion is imparted to the beaters by the reciprocating axial motion of the
cylinder D amounting to about one-fourth of a revolution; this axial motion
is obtained by means of three straps H, H, and I, which are connected at one
end to the cylinder, and at the other to a vertical board h carried by a slide J,
as represented in Figures 1 and 2. The end straps H, H, are connected to
the upper end of the vertical board h, and the central strap I to the lower end
of the board so that they are brought alternately into action to impart a
rocking motion to the cylinder. The slide J is connected with a crank K on
the end of a longitudinal shaft L by means of a connecting rod M ; N is a
pulley over which a belt passes which communicates with the motive power
to propel the machine; O is a loose pulley for shifting the belt to stop the
machine.
It
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The crank shaft L being
revolved as described an up-and-down motion is communicated to the beaters
by means of the connections therewith of the cylinder D, straps H, H, and I,
the slide J, crank K, and connecting rod M as above described, the beaters
ascending into the position represented in Figures 1 and 2, and descending
into that represented by red lines in Fig. 8. The hemp or flax is fed over
the bars a by hand in the usual manner of operating hand brakes.
will readily appear that with the first blows of the beaters on the fresh parts
of the stalks the latter will be but partially broken, and consequently the
beater will descend but a short distance into the spaces b, and their descent
vary continually during the progress of the breaking, but this is provided for by
the use of the flexible joints and the yielding of the springs G as described.
The form of the springs represented in the Drawings has proved in practice the
best for the action of the beaters.
The machine may be adapted for thrashing grain by substituting an
endless apron or its equivalent in place of the bars a, and flails instead of the
beaters C.
Having now set forth the nature of the "Improved Machinery for Breaking
Hemp and Flax," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the
manner of carrying it into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the

page_text: above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the improved machinery constructed
and operating as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Second day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)