IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TURNIPS, CARROTS, MANGOLD WURZEL, AND OTHER VEGETABLES
Year: 1851

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THESE PRESENT SHALL ME, I, ALEXANDER
SAMUELSON, of Banbury, Agricultural Implement Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said Alexander Samuelson; my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alexander
Samuelson, my exors, adiñors, and assignes, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Samuelson, my exors, admors, or assignes, should at any time
agree with and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TURNIPS,
CARROTS, MANGOLD WURZEL, AND OTHER VEGETABLES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Alexander Samuelson, shall
cause a particular description of 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, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery,

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I the said
Alexander Samuelson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The improvements are in the construction of certain portions of the implements
for cutting turnips, carrots, mangold wurzel, and other vegetables well known
as Gardner's single-action and double-action turnip cutters, which implements
are distinguished by the knives being of a cranked shape, mounted upon a
cylinder or barrel composed of one or more parts, and the said improvements
consist, first, in the adaptation or combination therewith of a metal frame
and hopper, instead of the wood ones hitherto used; second, in the addition to
the front or back plates, or both (usually called name plates) of one or more
projections, so formed and placed as to receive the last piece of a turnip or
other vegetable to be cut by one or more of the knives in their descent, which
last piece in Gardner's turnip cutter, as hitherto constructed, was apt to pass
below the plate without being cut; third, in the attachment of the hoppers
in such manner as to facilitate the cleaning of the barrel; fourth, in the
attachment of the knives for cutting the pieces of one of two widths in the
double-action cutters in such a way that those not for the time being in action
may not interfere with the free operation of the implement when the knives
for cutting pieces of the other width are being used.
The framing of the Gardner's cutters as hitherto constructed was made of
wood, which, owing to its liability to expand and contract with moisture and
drought was liable to become loose at the joints, and consequently less effective
to sustain the reaction of the cutting parts. This was partially remedied by
the use of iron bolts and screws, and other contrivances for tightening up the
parts of the wood frame; but by this means the distance between the interior
of the frame and the cylinder was deranged, causing other inconveniences to
arise.
To remedy this defect I make the top of the frame which receives and
supports the cylinder or barrel of inetal, and the legs of wood or of metal; and
as I consider the use of wood even for the legs the less perfect of the two, and
as many modes of construction when using legs of wood with metal frame are

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, an end elevation; Figure 3, a plan
as seen from above, of cutter, mounted according to this Invention on an iron
frame, supposing the sides to be made of wrought iron; the cylinder, or barrel'
and hopper are in their places; the cylinder shown in Figure 3 is one known
as a double-action cylinder, capable of cutting pieces of two widths, the knives
being so arranged that when the barrel is turned in one direction wider pieces
will be cut than when it is turned in the opposite one.
Figure 4 is a plan of the frame as seen from above when the hopper and
barrel are removed. Figure 5 is a side elevation of another form of iron
frame; and Figure 6, an end view with one side in section shewing a mode of
construction when cast-iron sides are used.
For cutters to be used in the field I prefer wrought-iron side frames for the
sake of portability and non-liability to fracture, but for such as are to be used
as fixtures I prefer cast-iron side framing on account of their greater
rigidity.
a, Figure 1 is a bar, and a, a¹, Figures 2, 3, 4, are bars of iron formed to
the desired shape for the sides of the frame b, Figure 2; and b, b', Figure 4,
are connecting pieces between the sides a, a¹; c, c², Figures 2, 3, and 4 are
diagonal bracings for the same purpose. a, Figure 1, is a tie between the
lower extremities of each side. e, Figure 1, is an arched tie rod in one or
more segments to give additional stiffness to the sides. a, Figure 5, and
a, a', Figure 6, are cast-iron frame sides, each being a single casting, and 'the
two sides connected by bolts, stays, or tie pieces, as shewn at b, 6', in the same
Figures.
When the frame sides are made of wrought iron, I prefer to use the double-
ribbed iron, as shewn at f, f, Figure 2; but a plain bar, or various sections of
simple or combined bars, or trussed, or hollow, or corrugated bars may be used,.
some of which are shown in full size at Z to Z.
The barrel is mounted upon the frame in bearings 9, g', in Figures 1, 2, 4,
5, 6, 7. In Figures 5 and 6 the bottom portion of these bearings forms part
of the frame sides.
The barrel is enclosed within a spout and hopper which have hitherto been
composed partly of wood and partly of iron, the sides of the hopper were of
wood, and as they expanded or contracted the front or name plate, or side.

page_text: plates, or one of them was liable to be drawn towards the the cylinder, so as
to come in collision with it, or removed from it so as to allow larger pieces of
turnip or other vegetable to pass than was desirable. Moreover, the hopper
was permanently attached to the frame by bolts, so that in order to obtain
access to the cylinder, the former had to be detached and lifted completely off,
which required a man to assist, whereas a machine is capable of being worked
by a boy.
h, Figures 8 and 9 (which are drawn to an enlarged scale, shows a pro-
jection according to this Invention, upon the front or name plate for holding
the last piece of turnip or vegetable to be cut by the knives.. For the better
comprehension of the operation of this ledge, it should be remembered that in
Gardner's cutter the cranked knives project beyond the periphery of the
cylinder on which they are mounted. The front or back plate when in contact
or nearly so with the knives, will therefore be at some distance from the body
of the cylinder, and any piece of vegetable of less thickness than the amount of
such projection of the knives was not held between the cylinder and the plate.
Now, since by the contrifugal force of the cylinder such piece is thrown
towards the plate, the projection at h will arrest its fall and retain it as at i,
Figure 8, the inclination of the plate itself causing the piece to incline towards
the body of the cylinder so as to come in contact with one or more of the
knives forming part of the set m, m', in their descent, and to be cut by them.
One or more projections may be employed for this purpose, according to the
size of the roots to be cut and the diameter of the cylinder. The projection
at h is bevilled downwards towards the body of the name plate, and this I
consider the best form. A similar projection or projections may be formed on
the opposite plate, if the width to which the pieces are intended 'to be reduced
when the opposite knives are in action, renders it desirable. I consider the
projection or projections to be most efficient when placed somewhat above the.
horizontal plane of the axis of the cylinder.
. I may observe that in the name plates, as hitherto made, the foot of the
plate when it is attached to the frame has generally been thickened, so as to
form a projection from the general plane of such plate, which has been done
with a view to strength, but neither the form nor the position of this projection
tended to arrest the last piece of root in its descent. Figure 7 shews a hopper
attached to the frame by means of hinges or axes at k, so that the cylinder
may be uncovered to admit of ready access for the purpose of cleansing without
entirely disconnecting the. hopper from the frame, this arrangement enabling
the person working the machine readily to get to the barrel 1, in Figure 3.

page_text: l; l', in Figure 8, are the knife, set or sets of knives, which according to this
Invention are attached so as to be capable of being raised or lowered from or
towards the periphery of the barrel, or of being entirely removed when the
knives m, m', in the same, Figures are to be used, the object of which is to
present a more even surface for the roots than the retention in their places of
the knife or knives 1, 1, would admit of. For the sake of shewing the relative
positions of which they are capable, 1, Figure 8, is shewn with its cutting edge
lowered to the periphery of the barrel, whereas l', in the same Figure, projects
from such periphery, but it should be understood that when the barrel is in
action these knives will both be raised or both lowered. n, n¹; Figure 8, are
cranked portions of the same knives attached to the skeleton of the cylinder by:
bolts working in slots o, o¹, for the purpose of raising or depressing the cutting.
edge of the said knives, whilst their. back edges are also attached to the
periphery of the skeleton by screws, so that the knives may be entirely
removed. When the power of such entire removal is not deemed necessary,
they may be held at the back edge by studs, pins, or hinges. The same
arrangement of raising or lowering the knives will obviously admit of pieces of:
one of the two widths, namely, that width cut by the moveable knives being
cut of variable thickness.
For the purpose of obtaining easy access to the connections of the knives
with the cylinder, when the hinged hopper before described is not used, I
construct the lower part of the hopper, as shewn in Figures 10, 11, 12, & 13,
where p, p, r, r¹, are four separate parts of a convenient shape (which I prefer
to make of cast iron) attached together by bolts or rivets, leaving a space at s
on each side for access to the interior of the cylinder. These spaces are
covered by plates, one of which is hinged as shewn at t, Figure 11, or attached
in any other obvious way so as to be partially or entirely removeable from
before the space s.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details, as herein described, so long as the peculiar character of any part
of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the combining barrels or cylinders with knives, such as herein
described, and known as Gardner's cutter, with a frame and hopper of
metal.
Secondly, I claim the use or combination of projecting pieces with such like
cutter barrels for insuring the last piece being cut, as herein explained.
Thirdly, I claim the means herein described of connecting and applying
hoppers and hopper sides on axes to such machines.

page_text: And, fourthly, I claim the arranging or applying knives for cutting one of
two widths of pieces, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Samuelson, have hereunto set
. my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our
T
sight hundred and fifty and