IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING STRAW AND OTHER SUCH MATERIALS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Exall, of Reading, in the County of Berks,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
CUTTING STRAW AND OTHER SUCH MATERIALS."
Sealed the 14th July 1854, and dated the 5th May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Exall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
May 1854.
J, WILLIAM EXALL, of Reading, in the County of Berks, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
FOR CUTTING STRAW AND OTHER SUCH MATERIALS" to be as follows:-
The objects of these improvements are simplicity and compactness in the
construction of chaff-cutting machines. In those machines in which the
upper feeding roller rises and falls with a parallel movement to accommodate
the variations in the feeding of the material, a universal joint is generally
employed upon the inner end of the upper roller, and the pressing levers are
disposed at right angles to the roller shafts, and thereby cause an extension in
the frame. To obviate this, I form the roller shaft in one piece, without any
joint between the driving pinion and the roller, and which causes it to rise with
a slight angular motion instead of a parallel motion; and I range the pressing
levers (when I employ them) in the direction of the roller shaft, instead of
placing them at right angles to the same; also, I employ the loose guard in
front of the wheels, which change the cut, to act as a weight upon the pressing
lever.
Further, as regards the moveable part of the mouth-piece, through which the

page_text: material passes from the feeding rollers to the knife, I construct it to move
upon a hinge, situated at a convenient distance at the back of the rollers, with
the cheeks or side pieces extending outside the frame of the rollers, and the
front part turned down in front of the upper roller and within the roller frame.
Lastly, with a view to do away with the inconvenient sharp angles, common to
the framework, I construct such portions of the top of the frame as admit of
it of a rounded form, as shewn in section in Figure 1, instead of the ordinary
angular form, shewn in section in Figure 2.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Exall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th November 1854. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EXALL, of Reading, in the County of Berks, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Exall, Her special licence that I, the said William Exall, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Exall, 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
MACHINES FOR CUTTING STRAW AND OTHER SUCH MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Exall, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 William Exall, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The objects of my improvements are simplicity and compactness in the
construction of chaff-cutting machines. In those machines in which the upper
feeding roller rises and falls to accommodate the variations in the feeding of
the material, a universal joint is generally employed upon the inner end of the
upper roller, and the pressing down levers are disposed at right angles to the
roller shafts, and thereby cause an extension in the length of the frame. To
obviate this, I form the upper roller shaft in one piece, without any joint
between the driving pinion and the roller, thereby causing it to rise with a
slightly angular motion instead of a parallel motion; and I range the pressing
lever, when I employ one, in the direction of the roller shaft; instead of placing
them at right angles to the same; also, I employ the loose guard in front of
the wheels, which change the cut, to act as a weight upon the pressing lever.
Further, as regards the moveable part of the mouth-piece, through which the
material passes from the feeding rollers to the knife, I construct it to move
'a hinge, situated at a convenient distance at the back of the rollers, with
the cheeks or side pieces extending outside the frame of the rollers, and the
front part turned down in front of the upper roller and within the roller frame.
Lastly, with a view to do away with the inconvenient sharp angles, common to
the framework, I construct such portions of the top of the frame as admit of
it of a curved instead of a rectangular form in the transverse section.
upon
The accompanying Drawings, will serve to explain further the preceding
account of my improvements. Figure 1 represents a longitudinal view of the
pressing lever, feeding rollers, and gear. a is the fixed feed roller fixed upon
the shaft a', which turns in suitable bearings; b is the moveable roller, fixed
on the shaft c, and gearing by the wheels d and e with the lower roller. The
moveable roller b is allowed to rise and fall with the side plates f, f; when,
therefore, the machine is over-fed the distance between the rollers will be
increased, but not the distance between the centres of the wheels d and e.
The upper feed roller is kept down by the lever g, which lies parallel to the
roller shaft; and the weight of the plate h, which covers in the gear, is allowed
to act on the end of the lever g, and thus dispenses with a weight for that
purpose. Figure 3 shews the moveable top to the mouth-piece marked i, and
shewn also in Figure 2. The form of the top and sides of the frame is shewn
in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and marked k. Figure 4 shows a front view of the
plate h, which, as before mentioned, covers the gear, and at the same time acts
as a pressing weight on the end of the lever g..

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim in respect thereof,―
Firstly, the fixing the moveable roller upon the shaft of the wheel which
turns it without any universal or other joint between the roller and the wheel,
the moveable roller rising and falling with a slightly angular motion, according
as the feed varies.
Secondly, the placing the pressing lever in the same line with or parallel to
the roller spindles.
Thirdly, the using the covering plate of the gear for a press weight on the
pressing lever.
Fourthly, the form and arrangement of the moveable top to the mouth-
piece through which the material passes from the feeding rollers to the knife.
Fifthly, the form k of the top sides of the chaff-cutter frame.
Lastly, the combination of these several arrangements in one chaff-cutting
machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Exall, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JAMES MURDOCH.
WILLIAM EXALL. (L.S.)