CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WINNOWING MACHINES
Year: 1818

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHANIEL
SMITH, of Kettering, in the County of Northampton, Cooper, send greeting,
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third,.did, by
His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of February,
in the fifty-eighth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Nathaniel Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Nathaniel
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully miglit,
during the term of years therein mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WINNOWING MACHINES;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said Nathaniel Smith, shall
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which 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 six 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, shall utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as by the same (relation being thereunto had)
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Nathaniel Smith, do hereby declare that the nature of my said improvement,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in the manner following, and by the Drawing hereunto
annexed, which contains several views of a winnowing machine upon the
ordinary construction, shewing how and in what manner my said improve-
ments are to be applied, which improvements will be particularly specified
hereafter.
Figure 1 of the Drawing is a section of the machine, to explain its internal
structure. a is the hopper, into which the corn or seed (to be operated upon)
is put, and after passing by the rake 1, and the chaffing roller 2, descends into
the machine, and in falling passes through a strong current of air, caused by
the rapid motion of the fan or flyer m, m, m, m, turning upon its axis X; the
fan is nearly surrounded by a casing of light boards, t, t, in such a manner as
to cause the wind to pass out only through the opening or funnel n, n, where
it meets with the corn in its descent from the chaffing roller, and blows or
separates a great portion of the chaff, dust, and other light bodies from the
corn, and carries them entirely out of the machine at O, O, where they fall on
the ground, and may be removed as occasion may require. A certain portion
of the corn, called light corn, is carried by the current of air over the inclined
board E, and falls on the screen F, which permits the dust or other small
particles of chaff, &c. to pass through it into the box G, from which it may
be removed by drawing out the sliding board H. While the light corn
descends the inclined screen and falls in a heap upon the ground at p, p, the
heavy and good corn being very slightly affected or blown out of its direction
by the current of air, falls down upon the inclined board B, sliding from thence
on to the sieve C, which has openings sufficiently large for the good corn to
pass through and fall on to the screen D, which allows any dust, &c. (which
may have passed through the sieve along with the corn) to fall upon the
ground; the corn continues its course along the screen D, and over the inclined
board q, q, falls on the ground at r; the improper substances, as stones, &c.,
which could not pass through the openings in the sieve C, escape by a small
iron plate spoute nailed to the end of C, and is delivered out of the machine
through a spout sideways at the opening f, Figure 3; the inclined board B,
with its sieve C, and the screen D, are all framed together, and have a
horizontal side shaking motion given to them, as will be hereafter described,
for the purpose of facilitating the descent of the corn to its various destinations.
The sieves may be taken out of the frame and changed, so as to operate upon
different sorts of grain. A board h is fixed fast across the machine and joins
to the upper end of the screen F, to prevent any of the light corn being
thrown out with the chaff, and a sliding board d is occasionally introduced

page_text: above the board h, if the corn is very light, so as to pass in any degree over the
edge of h; another board is hinged to the upper edge of E, and supported
at any required angle by means of iron stays i, at each of its ends, which
rest in different notches cut in the inclined surface of E. The angle which the
piece stands at will in some measure regulate the quantity of light corn
which shall fall upon F; but the principal regulation is occasioned by the
board E sliding backwards and forwards, videlicet, farther from and nearer to
the fan. This board is supported by another at its back, forming a triangular
case or box, as seen at E in Figure 1; it can be fixed at any required place.
by the thumbscrew seen at S, Figure 3, where are also seen a row of num-
bers, which serve to point out the various situations of the board E for
operating upon different sorts of grain; for very light seed this board is
removed back, and fastened by its thumbscrew at No. 1, and vice versa. The
machine when worked by hand is put in motion by a winch or handle F 2,
Figure 3, on the axis of which is affixed the spur wheel G 2, which engages
in a pinion H 2 fixed on one end of the fan axis X, Figure 1. On the same
axle with the winch F 2, is a bevelled wheel I, which gives motion to a small
pinion K on the lower end of the oblique axis L, the upper end of which is
furnished with a bevelled pinion M engaging in the teeth of a wheel N; on
the back of this the spur wheel O is fixed. (The wheels N and O turn round
upon a fixed stud projecting from the wood frame of the machine, and
act only as intermediate wheels and to reverse the motion.) The wheel O
drives another P of nearly the same diameter, which is fixed on one end
of the axis of the chaffing roller. A pinion Q is fixed on the same axis
behind P, and gives motion to the wheel R on the axis of the rake. By
means of this train of wheelwork the rake and chaffing rollers revolve,
in contrary directions, the chaffing roller moving nearly double the velocity
of the rake. Figure 4 shews the other side of the machine X, the axis
of the fan, which is furnished with a small crank, communicating by the
rod T with a small lever V, bent at right angles; this lever changes the
direction of the motion, and by a rod passing across through the width of the
machine gives the board B, sieve C, and screen D, a horizontal motion side-
ways. An opening is cut in the boarding at each side of the machine, as seen
at B 2, Figures 3 and 4, to allow the sieves, &c. to shake by the action of the
crank and bent lever V. The end b, Figure 1, of the sieve frame is supported
on a hook fixed in the cross board h, and the other end is suspended by iron
links e, e, Figures 3 and 4. Circular openings are made in the side boarding
of the machine opposite the end of the fan to admit the air to enter; but
when the machine is used for very light seeds these openings are partly closed.
by turning down the flap door at V, Figures 2 and 3; this prevents a free.

page_text: entrance of air to the fan, and consequently diminishes its effect upon the
seed, by making only a slight current of air to blow away the dust, &c. Now
I wish it to be observed that I do not make claim to all parts of the machine
already described, but only such parts and new arrangements of parts as are
here particularly specified, videlicit,―
.
First, in the application of a revolving rake, having any number of
teeth or tines, and of any required form, placed in the feeding hopper of the
machine for the purpose of agitating the corn and chaff, and causing it to pass
down more freely upon the chaffing roller, which deliver it into the machine.
Second, in the peculiar construction of the chaffing roller, which introduces
the corn into the machine in its rough or undressed state; this construction is
described in the Drawings by Figures 6, 7, and 8. It consists of a cylindrical
roller, having a number of grooves or steps cut in its circumference in the
direction of its length; into these steps plates of iron or other metal are fixed,
as seen in Figure 6, having one of their edges formed into indentations or teeth
of any
desired form. (Figure 8 shews a form of teeth which is found to answer
very well for general purposes). These plates are nailed or otherwise fixed
against the surface of the steps, forming altogether a roller with its surface
covered with teeth, as Figure 7, which in. revolving take hold of the corn
and carry it down by the edge of the feeding board into the machine.
Another of my improvements consist in the particular manner of regulating
at pleasure the quantity of corn which shall pass into the machine. It consists
of a moveable feeding board 4, Figures 1 and 2, hinged by its upper edge to
the under edge of the fixed hopper board C, C; from the back of the board C
a small bracket or support 5 projects, which supports the centre of a bent
lever 6 and 7; the end 6 is jointed to the lower end of a rod 8, which rises
up to the top of the hopper, passes through a hole in a cross piece of the top
frame of the machine, and is tapped to receive a thumb nut 20 on its upper
end; it can rise freely up through the hole in the cross piece, but cannot descend
farther than the nut will permit it. The end 7 of the bent lever is connected
with the lower edge of the jointed feeding board 4 by a rod 9. 11 is a curved
lever centered against the frame of the machine, which has a heavy knob at
its farthest end 12; this lever acts by its weight always to press the lower
edge of the board 4 towards the chaffing or feeding roller as far as the nut 20
will permit; by this arrangement if any large improper substance is thrown
into the hopper it forces away the boards 4 by overcoming the weight 12 of
the lever, and passes out without breaking or injuring the machine, as would
be the case if the feeding board was fixed in sliding grooves as in general. By
turning the nut 20 round so as to draw up the end 6 of the bent lever, it
moves the edge of the board 4 further from the feeding roller, and causes the

page_text: grain to 'descend quicker into the machine; but, by turning, the nut 20 in an
opposite, direction the weight 12 presses up the board.4 towards the roller, in.
which case the grain will descend slower.
Anotlier modification of my feeding apparatus consits in the introduction of.
a jointed board fixed within the hopper, which may be turned down to a stop.
so as nearly to touch the feeding roller, as shewn at 10, Figure 2, for the
purpose of bearing up part of the weight of the corn in the hopper, and
preventing the feeding roller from carrying it down faster than may be required;
when the board 10 is turned up, as shewn in Figure 1, it has no operation at
all; but when it is turned down, as shewn in Figure 2, the chaffing roller
described in Figures 6, 7, and 8, or the rake 1, Figure 1, are not in use, being
drawn out and the former replaced by another called a sprigged roller, as will
be seen by the 2, Fig. 2, but to which roller I make no particular claim, the
same having been used before in machines of a similar nature; this roller is
shewn in the Drawing at Figure 10. The arrangement of the wheel work,
shewn in Figure 3, for giving motion to my chaffing roller and rake is one of
my improvements as combined with such roller and rake, but not otherwise.
For the facility of changing or taking out the rollers and replacing them with
others, I make them slide endways upon the iron spindle which has the cog
wheels P and Q upon its end, so as to be taken off and the roller put down
from the top between the frame of the machine till it comes opposite to the
openings or bearings made in the side frame for the axis, which is then pushed
in and passes through a square hole in the roller, when it is prevented from
coming out by a spring catch fixed to the frame of the machine, seen at W,
Figure 4, which falls into a circular niche made round the end of the roller
spindle at X, Figure 9, which shews the roller spindle with its wheels alone,
the roller having been slipped off; when the sprigged roller is used it is slipped
on the same spindle as the others. The rake is taken out in a different
manner, from the rollers not being capable of coming off the spindle; the
upper board, Figure 3, slides out upwards, and the rake spindle with its
wheel R may be taken entirely away, as shewn in Figure 2. The rake spindle
is held down when in its place by a small bolt, which is shot across over its
pivot, as seen at V, Figure 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel Smith, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighteen.
T
NATHAN
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of
F. MATTHEWS.
THO RANDALL, Jun'.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fourth day of August,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Nathaniel Smith came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
T
T
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