IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Brinsmead, of Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk, Machinist, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING
MACHINES."
"
Sealed the 8th May 1868, and dated the 21st January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Brinsmead at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st January 1868.
I, HENRY BRINSMEAD, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THRASHING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in that class of
combined thrashing and dressing machines in which the straw is cut
or chopped up and bruised to fit it for food for cattle.
My improvements consist, firstly, in effecting the operations of thrash-
ing, chopping, and bruising the straw, chopping wheat, and removing
the awn from barley, by the use of two or more cylinders and concavės,
at one and the same operation, instead of, as heretofore, by first thrashing
Dine 8d1

page_text: and separating the corn from the straw, and afterwards chopping and
bruishing the straw by other and distinct apparatus or parts of apparatus.
Secondly, in the application and combination with the above thrashing
and chopping cylinders and concaves of a set of riddles for effecting the
separation of the grain from the chopped straw and chaff.
And, thirdly, of a fan elevator for raising the chopped straw and
chaff to the stack, this elevator creating the necessary current of air
for separating the chaff from the corn.
And, fourthly, in combining the thrashing, chopping, and dressing
apparatus with the elevator so as to form together one portable and
compact machine, and mounting the same upon a suitable carriage of
two or more wheels and in the general arrangement of the apparatus.
The apparatus I employ for this purpose consists of two or more
cylinders (I prefer two generally) revolving on spindles parallel to each
other, which cylinders are furnished with blunt projections; beneath and
partly enveloping the cylinders are fixed to the framework of the
machine screens or concaves, which are likewise furnished with blunt
projections so arranged that the projections on the cylinders pass between
them; and at the upper end of the concave where the straw first enters
between the concave and first cylinder, is fixed a row of knives or blades.
The corn or straw is forced by the projections on the first cylinder
against the fixed knives in the concave and is thereby chopped into
short lengths, and the action of the blunt projections in the concave
and the second cylinder is such as perfectly to separate the grain from
the ear, and at the same time to bruise the straw, remove the chobs, or
when thrashing barley to remove the awn. The straw issues from
between the second cylinder and the concave cut and bruised in a fit
state to be used as fodder for cattle, and falls successively upon two
vibrating riddles which separate the grain and the chaff from the
chopped straw; from the second riddle the straw passes at once to the
fan elevator by which it is raised on to the stack. The corn and chaff
which are separated from the straw by the last-mentioned riddles are
led by proper channels to a third riddle fixed in a second vibrating
frame, and in falling meet a current of air which is drawn in by the
elevator, by which means the chaff is separated from the corn and is by
the elevator again mixed with the straw and conveyed to the stack
together with the straw. The elevator thus effects the double purpose
of elevating the straw and chaff, and of causing a current of air to pass

page_text: over the lower riddle so as to separate the chaff from the grain, thus
supplanting the ordinary fan used for this purpose. The lower riddle is
extended backward to reach under the concave, and carries at that part
another riddle which serves to collect the corn which escapes through
the concave and to separate therefrom the few straws which may be
forced through the openings of the concave along with the corn. The
lower end of the feed board is furnished with a series of flaps hinged
to the feed board at their upper ends and with their lower ends resting
against the upper end of the concave:
end of the concave: The lower ends of the flaps are
weighted sufficiently to cause the corn to enter between the concave
and the first cylinder, but should any foreign substance, such for example
as a stone' be fed in with the corn, the flap which is struck by it will
open and allow it to pass out of the machine, while the other flaps
remain closed and prevent the corn escaping. This arrangement is to
prevent injury to the knives and projections of the concaves and
cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Henry Brinsmead in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 21st July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRINSMEAD, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs, and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Brinsmead, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Brinsmead, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Brinsmead, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THEASHING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Brinsmead, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: 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 Henry Brinsmead, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in that class of
combined thrashing and dressing machines in which the straw is cut
or chopped up and bruised to fit it for food for cattle.
My improvements consist, firstly, in effecting the operations of
thrashing, chopping, and bruising the straw, and chobbing wheat, or
removing the awn from barley, by the use of two or more cylinders
and concaves, at one and the same operation, instead of, as heretofore,
by first thrashing and separating the corn from the straw, and after-
wards chopping and bruising it by other and distinct apparatus or
parts of apparatus.
Secondly, in the application and combination with the above
thrashing and chopping cylinders and concaves of a set of riddles for
effecting the separation of the grain from the chopped straw and chaff.
And, thirdly, of a fan elevator for raising the chopped straw and
chaff to the stack, such fan elevator also creating the necessary
current of air for separating the chaff from the corn.
And, fourthly, in combining the thrashing, chopping, and dressing
apparatus with the elevator so as to form together one portable and
compact machine, and mounting the same upon a suitable carriage of
two or more wheels.
The apparatus I employ for this purpose consists of two or more
cylinders, I prefer two generally, revolving on spindles parallel to each
other, which cylinders are furnished with blunt projections; beneath
and partly enveloping the cylinders are fixed to the framework of the
machine screens or concaves, which are likewise furnished with blunt
projections, so arranged that the projections on the cylinders pass
between them; and, at the upper end of the concave where the straw

page_text: first enters between the concave and first cylinder is fixed a row of
knives or blades. The corn or straw is forced by the projections on the
first cylinder against the fixed knives in the concave, and is thereby
at the commencement of the operation chopped into short lengths,
and the action of the blunt projections in the concave and the second
cylinder is such as perfectly to separate the grain from the ear, and
at the same time to bruise the straw, remove the chobs, or, when
thrashing barley, to remove the awn. The straw issues from between
the second cylinder and the concave cut and bruised in a. fit state
to be used as fodder for cattle, and falls successively upon two vibrating
riddles which separate the grain and the chaff from the chopped straw;
from the second riddle the straw passes at once to the fan elevator,
by which it is raised on to the stack. The corn and chaff which are
separated from the straw by the last-mentioned riddles are led by
proper channels to a third riddle fixed in a second vibrating frame.
and in falling meet a current of air which is drawn in by the fan
elevator, by which means the chaff is separated from the corn, and
is by the elevator again mixed with the straw and conveyed to the
stack together with the straw. The elevator thus effects the double
purpose of elevating the straw and chaff, and of causing a current
of air to pass over the lower riddle so as to separate the chaff from
the grain, thus supplanting the ordinary fan used for this purpose.
The lower riddle frame is extended backward to reach under the
concave, and carries at that part another riddle which serves to collect
the corn which escapes through the concave, and to separate theréfrom
the few straws which may be forced through the openings of the concave
along with the corn. The lower end of the feed board is furnished
with a series of flaps hinged to the feed board at their upper ends, and
with their lower ends resting against the upper end of the concave;
the lower ends of the flaps are weighted sufficiently to cause the corn
to enter between the concave and the first cylinder; but should any
foreign substance, such as a stone, be fed in with the corn the flap
which is struck by it will open and allow it to pass out of the machine,
while the other flaps remain closed and prevent the corn escaping;
this arrangement is to prevent injury to the knives and projections of
the concaves and cylinders.
Sheets I. and II. of the accompanying Drawings show several views
of a thrashing machine constructed according to my Invention, and
adapted for being driven by steam power or other motive power,

page_text: Sheet III. shows a thrashing machine also constructed according
to my Invention, but modified so as to admit of being driven by
horse or other animal power. In Sheet I. Figure 1 is a side elevation,
Figure 2 is a front elevation, and Figure 3 a back elevation. In
Sheet II., Figure 4 is a plan and Figure 5 is a sectional elevation.
The same parts are indicated by the same letters in all the Figures.
a is the feeder's box; b, the feed board; c, c', the cylinders with
the blunt projections d. d; e, e', the concaves (adjustable by the
screws and nuts shown in Figure 1), with projections f, f, and the
knives or blades g, g, near the upper end; h, h, are the flaps hinged
to the feed board at i, and resting upon the upper end of the concave
at jis the upper riddle frame carrying the riddles and m. The
riddle receives the chopped straw as it issues from the concave of
the second cylinder c¹ and delivers it on to the riddle m. n is a
plate bottom to the first riddle and collects the corn which passes
through the riddle and delivers it into the passage o at the side of
the machine, by which passage the corn is again delivered into the
riddle frame just below the second riddle m. p is a sheet iron bottom
to the second riddle m, and conveys the corn to the outlet, below
which is a fork separator q consisting of a number of iron rods about
one inch apart which spreads the corn out into a uniform stream to
receive the action of the blast; r is the lower riddle frame carrying
the riddles s and t. The riddles receives the grain which falls
through the concaves e, e', and the few straws which are forced
through the concaves with the corn pass over the riddles and out
at the back of the machine. The grain passes through the riddles
and is conveyed by the plate bottom u to the fork separator q, from
whence it falls on to the riddle t together with the corn from the
riddles and m. vis the fan elevator placed conveniently to receive
the chopped straw which passes over the end of the riddle m. The
air which is drawn in by the fan enters at the parts indicated by
the arrows and passes over and under the riddle t. The strength of
the blast is regulated by the valve w. Tubes of the requisite length
are attached to the moveable spout x of the fan, and are capable of
being raised by the chain and winch to any desired elevation.
dressed corn passes out at the spout y into the elevator z, by which
it is raised to a convenient height for sacking. Motion is communi-
cated to the machine from the steam engine or other motive power
by a strap and the pulley 1 on the spindle of the cylinder c. On
The

page_text: the same spindle is a pulley 2 which conveys the motion by a strap
to pulley 3. On the fan spindle at the opposite end of this spindle
pulley 4 conveys the motion by a strap to pulley 5 on the spindle of
the cylinder c'. The crank spindle for driving the riddle frames /
and receives motion by the pulley 6 from the pulley 7 on the
spindle of cylinder c; the elevator z is driven from the crank spindle
by a strap and the pulleys 8 and 9. 10 and 11 are fly wheels for
equalizing the motion of the cylinders c and c'.
In Sheet III., Figure 1 is a sectional elevation; Figure 2 is a plan
and Figure 3 a sectional plan.
a is the feeder's box; b is the feed board; c, c', the cylinders with
Diunt projections d, d; e, e', the concaves with the projections f, f,
and the knives or blades g, g, in the concave of the upper cylinder at
the side where the corn enters; is the upper riddle frame carrying
the riddle i. The upper cylinder c delivers the thrashed corn and
partly chopped straw on to the riddle i, which separates the corn
and chaff, and delivers the partially cut straw into the hopper j
of the second cylinder c', by which the chopping and bruising are
completed. is the lower riddle frame carrying the riddles and m,
which catch the bruised straw as it issues from the lower cylinder c';
n is a plate bottom to the first riddle i and collects the corn which
passes through the riddle and delivers it into the passage o by which
it is conveyed on to the plate bottom p of the lower riddle frame k,
the plate bottom 7 also collects the corn which passes through the
two riddles and m; q is a fly wheel to regulate the motion of the
cylinders, having fan blades attached to the under side of the rim
and revolving in a case s, terminating in a spout t, so placed that the
biast carries the bruised straw falling over the end of the riddle m
out at the side of the machine. The plate bottom 2 terminates in
a spout or passage u for the exit of the corn, and passes close beneath
the fan case; at is placed a sieve over which the corn passes. Air
is drawn in by the fan at the end of the spout u and also through
the openings of the sieve r, and meeting the corn in its passage
carries off the chaff and delivers it together with the straw out at
the side of the machine by the spout t. The riddle frames h and
receive motion from the crank shaft w which is driven by a strap x
from the cylinder spindle y. The machine is driven by the V pulley
on the cylinder spindle y by an endless rope or band from the horse

page_text: gear, which is by preference or
gear.
Having now described my Invention and the methods of carrying
out the same, I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not confine
myself to any of the details as shown and described, as the apparatus
may be modified in various ways while the spirit and intention of
the Invention herein-before set forth are retained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Brinsmead, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
ARTHUR THO. COLE,
Accountant,
Ipswich.
HENRY BRINSMEAD. (L.S.)