IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD- CRUSHING ROLLERS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF ROLLERS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathaniel Smith, of Thrapston, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOD-
CRUSHING ROLLERS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF
ROLLERS"
Sealed the 21st October 1856, and dated the 1st May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathaniel Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
May 1856.
I, NATHANIEL SMITH, of Thrapston, in the County of Northampton, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CLOD-CRUSHING ROLLERS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER DESCRIPTIONS.
OF ROLLERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in the construction of a clod-crushing roller,
composed of one, two, or more cylinders, with knibs or projections upon the
face thereof: The projections are in the form of a cone, or of a cone with a.
channel or groove, or in any other suitable form which will simply crush or
crumble clods of earth without cutting the land.
Secondly, in casting a wheel or spokes and boss on to hollow rollers for the
reception of an axle, and in forming one or more of the spokes and the boss
hollow, or with an aperture therein, for the purpose of containing a supply of
grease or other lubricating material.

page_text: And, thirdly, in jointing the axle of rollers in such manner as to allow of
independant rising and falling motions to the sections, all or some of them, of
which the roller may be composed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathaniel Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHANIEL
SMITH, of Thrapston, in the County of Northampton, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Nathaniel Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Nathaniel Smith, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Nathaniel
Smith, 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 CLOD-CRUSHING
ROLLERS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OP ROLLERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nathaniel Smith, my
executors or administrators, 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 per-
formed, 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 Nathaniel Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in the construction of a clod-crushing roller,
composed of one, two, or- more cylinders, with knibs or projections upon the
face thereof. The projections are in the form of a cone, or of a cone with a

page_text: channel or groove, or in any other suitable form which will simply crush or
crumble clods of earth without cutting the land.
Secondly, in casting a wheel or spokes and boss on to hollow rollers for the
reception of an axle, and in forming one or more of the spokes and the boss
hollow, or with an aperture therein, for the purpose of containing a supply of
grease or other lubricating material.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is a front view of part of my
clod-crushing roller; Figure 2, an end view of the same, partly in section,
shewing the hollow boss and spoke for containing grease to lubricate the
axle; Figure 3, a section through the line a, b, of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a
view, in perspective, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the roller surface,
and one of the knibs or projections I use; and Figure 5 is a modification of
the same.
A is the roller, which is composed of two, three, or more cylinders, sec-
tions, or rings, placed on a shaft end to end, as shewn by the dotted lines
in Figure 1; or the whole can be formed in one piece. B, B, knibs or
projections upon the face of the roller, cast in a piece with it, or made
separately and fitted thereto. These projections have grooves or channels c, c,
cut in them, as seen more clearly in Figure 4, or they may be made conical
without the groove, as shewn at Figure 5; but the form which I prefer is that
represented at Figure 4. The cylinders are cast in the usual manner, with
two or more spokes or arms C, C, and a boss D. I make one or more of these
spokes hollow for containing grease or any other lubricating material. The end e
of the spoke is screw-threaded to receive the plug f for stopping the hole;
this hole is sunk in the face of the cylinder, so as not to allow the plug to
interfere with the rolling surface. To lubricate the working parts, I have
merely to fill the hollow spokes C, C, with grease or other suitable material,
and screw in the plug f, when the axle will be kept lubricated until the grease
has been entirely expended. I apply these hollow spokes and bosses to all
descriptions of rollers, and find them especially useful for cylinders having
smooth surfaces for the rolling of grass land.
Figure 6 is an end view of a modification of the arrangement shewn at
Figure 1, and Figure 7 is a section of the same. The modification consists
in placing a number of axles E, E, round the centre axle F, which have
their bearings in two discs or wheels F', F'. I mount on these shafts,
wheels, discs, rings, or cylinders G, G, having knibs or projections on their
faces, or not, as before described. The rings G, G, work alternately
between each other, and are kept at a suitable distance apart by means
of the collars or washers h, h, as will be clearly seen by reference to the

page_text: Diagram, Figure 8. I sometime make the cylinders or rings toothed, and
then place them on the shafts alternately with the smooth surface rings, or I
make one row with teeth and the next without, and so on. I do not confine
myself to the shape of the rings or cylinders, or to the number I employ, or
to the shape of the knibs or projections placed on the face of the rings, for it
is obvious the same can be altered without changing the working of this
implement.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction of clod-crushing rollers with knibs or projections on
the face of the cylinders or sections, of which the same are composed, and
of the shape and form shewn, together with the various modifications, herein.
described.
And, second, the making of spokes and bosses to rollers hollow, in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
NATHANIEL SMITH. (L.S.)