IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY AND STRAW INTO CHAFF, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROTHWELL LOMAX, late of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, but now of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the eleventh year of Her reign, did
give and grant unto me, the said William Rothwell Lomax, my exors, admors,
or assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Rothwell Lomax, my exors, adñors, or assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Rothwell Lomax, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times hereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inventions of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR CUTTING HAY AND STRAW INTO CHAFF, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent there is a proviso,
that I, the said William Rothwell Lomax, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Inventions, and in what manner the said Invention
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of therein part recited
Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso; I; the-said
William Rothwell. Lomax, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statements thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, the same letters denoting the same parts when shewn in
different positions.
.
My improvements consist, firstly, in so arranging the knives of machines
for cutting bay, straw, goss, and other vegetable substances into small parts,
suitable for the food of cattle, or other purposes, so as to give a greater amount
of draught to the knives than as heretofore been done.
Secondly, for giving motion to the rollers and mouthpiece, according to
the number of knives placed on the wheel, cylinder, or slide frame, hereafter
shewn.
And, thirdly, my improvements relate to 'the making of knives for cutting
bulbous roots, such as turnips, &c., of a corogated or angular form, by which
means I obtain a more uniform division of the parts, so as to avoid the evil of
the machines now in use, namely, that of leaving the last piece large than
the rest, or too large for convenient use.
And in order that I may be better understood, I will proceed to describe
my various improvements, as set forth in the annexed Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a front view of a machine for cutting chaff, &c.; the
knives a, a, are so adjusted that the heal of the knife just comes above the
mouth, and the point extends to the lower edge of the mouth, as shewn by
the dotted lines b, c, the point passing behind the part d, which keeps the
straw, &c. well up for the operation of cutting; e, the top of the mouth, is
made to rise during the time the straw, &c. is being impelled forward into the
mouth, and then descending holds it in a compressed state during the stroke of
the knife; and in order to meet the difficulty of the quantity coming into the
mouth varying in bulk, the spring f is introduced so as to vary the capacity of
the mouth, thereby preventing the possibility of the machine choaking; and this
action of the mouthpiece or part e-is effected by the connecting part 9 working
into the eccentric h, which derives its motion from the pinion i, fixed to the
main shaft j. A part of the plate to which the knives are fastened is removed,
as also a part of the wheel, to avoid confusion.

page_text: Fig. 2, 3, and 4 are sides and back views of the same machine, in order that
I may be better enabled to show the means by which the motion of the feed
rollers is obtained. K is an eccentric working on the shaft l, which gives
motion to the crank m, and by the connecting rod n to the lower crank o, on
which the palls p, 9, are fastened by them, the desired motion is given to the
ratchets r, s, which are secured on the axes of the feed rollers. Sometimes
I place a ratchet wheel upon each end of the top roller, as shewn at the dotted
line t, Fig. 3, to prevent the rollers running back, and it is also seen that the
top roller should work in a slott that it may yeald to the varying quantity
passing through to the mouth, and this roller is held down to its work by the
rods u, u, and lever and weight v, w. The box for holding the straw is removed
in Fig. 4..
Figuers 5 and 6 are detached views of the eccentric h, and connecting
parts g, and pinions ; & l.
And Fig. 7 and 8 represents a section of the rollers and a top view of the
mouthpiece e. In order to meet the necessity for cutting long or short chaff
the eccentric k by means of a slott can be made more or less eccentrict as may
be desired, and is secured in this position by being fastened to the part a by
the screw y; x
being fixed permanently to the shaft 7: On the face of the
part may be attached an indicator and scale to show the setting of the
machine.
Fig. 9 represents a different mode by which I give motion to the ratchet
wheel, which is done by attaching a rod to the cranks at A and connecting the
rod to an eccentric placed on the main shaft, doing away with the necessity of
a second shaft.
Fig. 10 represents a mode of connecting the feed rollers by cog gearing in
such a manner as to allow the top roller to rise or fall according to the feed:
The cogs are represented by the double circular lines, and 6 & c are fixed on
the pinion of the feed roller c, having a loose slott for the pinion to work in,
in order that it may rise or fall.
And Fig. 11 represents another mode by which the mouthpiece may be
raised twice to each revolution of the wheel carrying the knives.
Fig. 12 and 13 represent another mode for obtaining the desired draught
to the knives, and in this case the knives are placed diagonally on a circular
frame or cylinder which is secured firmly to the driving shaft, and the mouth
made circular to the area of the knife.
And Fig. 14 represents a similar action with the mouth strait and the knife
sharpened upon both edges, and placed in a diagonal position on a frame which

page_text: is made to move backwards and forwards parallel with the mouth. The frame
for want of space is shewn broken.
Fig. 15 represents the plate and knife of a turnip-cutting machine, the
novelty of which consists in making a series of angular groves on the face of
the plate, and making the knives angular in a contrary direction, as shewn in
the section of the plate at D, Fig. 16, which also represents a plan of the
hopper.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which it
is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the particular mode or modes here set forth; but what I do claim
is,―
Firstly, for placing the shaft which carries the knife or knives in machines
for cutting chaff in any position that ranges within the draughtway of the
mouth, but I prefer its being placed centrely over the mouth, as shewn at
Fig. 1.
Secondly, I claim for causing by cog wheels a shaft to revolve one or more
times, according to the number of knives used, while the shaft that carries the
knives is making one revolution. Also for fixing upon this shaft an eccentric
with the parts in connection with the mouthpiece and the spring, as shewn
in Figures 1 and 5.
Thirdly, I claim for the mode of uniting the feed rollers and giving motion
to the same, as set forth in Figures 9 and 10.
Fourthly, I claim for the mode of giving motion to the mouthpiece of
machines or chaff cutters with two knives, as shewn at Fig. 11.
Fifthly, I claim for the fixing a knife or knives upon a cylinder or open
frame, as shewn at Figures 12 and 13, the axes of which work at right angles
with the mouth.
Sixthly, I claim for fixing a knife that cuts upon both edges on a frame that
slides backwards and forwards the long way of the mouth, the knife being
placed so as to cross the mouth diagonally, as shewn at Fig. 14.
And lastly, I claim for making the knife, necessary for dividing turnips or
other roots, of an angular or corogated form, the angular form being shewn in
Figuers 15 and 16.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rothwell Lomax, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eight day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-nine.
WILLIAM ROTH WELL LOMAX. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Rothwell Lomax came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One