OR IMPROVED MACHINERY AND APPLIANCES TO BE USED IN HOISTING, REMOVING, DIVIDING, AND HANGING ON HOOKS, TAKING OFF THESE HOOKS AGAIN, AND LOADING CARCASSES AND OTHER BODIES IN ABBATOIRS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Meiklejon, of Westfield Iron Works,
Dalkeith, in the County of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, for the Inven-
tion of "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY AND APPLIANCES TO BE USED IN
HOISTING, REMOVING, DIVIDING, AND HANGING ON HOOKS, TAKING OFF THESE
HOOKS AGAIN, AND LOADING CARCASSES AND OTHER BODIES IN ABBATOIRS,
Sealed the 31st October 1871, and dated the 24th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Meiklejon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th May 1871.
I, JOHN MEIKLEJON, of Westfield Iron Works, Dalkeith, in the
5 County of Mid Lothian, Scotland, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY AND APPLIANCES TO BE USED
IN HOISTING, REMOVING, DIVIDING, AND HANGING ON HOOKS, TAKING OFF THESE

page_text: HOOKS AGAIN, AND LOADING CARCASSES AND OTHER BODIES IN ABRATOIRS, CARCASS
AND MEAT MARKETS, AND OTHER PLACES," to be as follows:-
The machinery and appliances above referred to enable the operations
above named to he performed without the necessity of the butchers
touching the meat. Also enable carcasses to be conveyed from abattoirs
to carcass market on a travelling hoist hereafter described, same being
provided with rows of fixed jointed hooks or loops attached to rails on
which the hoist runs, so that the travelling hoist is enabled to hang the
carcasses or bodies on to such hooks or loops. Also enables a butcher
to hang a carcass on any of these hooks or loops and pick them off
again, and load on a vehicle without moving or touching any of the
other carcasses hanging on the other hooks. Also enable all operations
to be performed from hoisting when killed to loading when sold or
removed from market.
The machinery and appliances consist of travelling hoist, rail beams,
fixed jointed hooks, hanging and dividing hooks, and the other ap
pliances as now to be described.
Description of Hoist.-This is mounted on grooved wheels and is
moved on the rails by a shaft or handle depending to the level of the
hand, or is propelled by means of traction on the foro wheels, which
may be made to revolve by a grooved pulley fixed to the axle and driven
from the hand by an endless chain. The rest of the machinery fitted
to the framework may consist of a grooved driving pulley wheels and
pinions giving a double power, chain barrel, chains and pulleys. The
large pulley to be driven from the hand by a rope, which pulley runs
loose upon the spindle transmitting its power by a small pinion fixed
to a large pulley and to wheel fixed to to its spindle. The power is
conveyed back to original spindle by a different wheel and pinion. On
this spindle the chain barrel is fixed. The barrel to be rigged with
two chains, the end of one hanging down at one side of the hoist,
and the end of the other chain at the other side of the hoist; while
one chain is ascending the other is descending, so that while the end
of one chain is at the top the end of the other will be at the bottom.
One of the chains should be for hanging and taking carcasses off the
hooks or loops on ono rail, and the other chain for hanging and taking
carcasses off the loops on the other rail. The two chains besides being
.
required for working right and left save time in reversing, as there will

page_text: always be one chain available and ready to hoist or lower a carcass as
the case may be.
In working my machinery the animal being killed there is inserted in
each haugh along with the cross tree or way a double horned hook, and
the chain being attached to the hook in centre of the way the whole
can be partially raised by the hoist and checked at any point by a
ratchet, and as the carcass is gradually raised up can be skinned and
disembowelled. The rail beams above are furnished with jointed swivel
hooks or loops. These hooks or loops are attached to rail beams at
distances apart corresponding to the length of the "trec," and when the
carcass is raised up the double hooks inserted in haughs along with the
"tree"
come immediately under two of the loops on the beams, and
cach double hook is hooked by one of these loops. When the hoist
is lowered away the whole carcass is transferred to the loops and to
the double horned hooks, and the cross trec or way comes out of the
haughs and frees the hoist, which is then available for raising another
carcass. This is left hanging to the rail beam held by a hook in each
haugh, here it is dressed and finished, and as soon as finished can be
divided down the back, leaving a half hanging on cach swivel hook or
loop where it is ready for the market. To carry the carcass into the
market it has to be transferred to the hoist, which is done by linking
the chain of the hoist into the unoccupied horn of the double horn hook.
When the hoisting takes place the carcass is drawn up, followed by the
jointed loop on which it has been hanging, and as soon as the chain has
come to the perpendicular the jointed loop falls out, leaving the weight
of the carcass hanging to the hoist with a ratchet holding it. The
carcass is then ready to be moved along the rails to market, which is
done by means of the handle before described, or by traction on the two
fore wheels, which are made to revolve by a grooved pulley fixed to axle
and driven from the hand by an endless chain, all as before described.
Upon arrival at market the butcher stops his hoist, and the carcass
opposite the hook or loop on which he wishes it hung, he should be
furnished with a rod with a hook at its end, with which he lifts up the
jointed hook or loop hanging from under side of rail beam as shown;
the hook or loop when lifted up comes to a nearly horizontal position,
and far enough out to catch the unoccupied horn of the double horned
hook on which the carcass is hanging to, when the hoist is lowered away
the hook or loop grips, and as the lowering is continued the weight is

page_text: transferred to the jointed loop which comes to the perpendicular, and the
chain drops out leaving the carcass hanging to the beam. The picking
off for the purpose of loading is just the reverse of the hanging process,
and is the same movement as that described in taking the carcass off
the jointed swivel loop in the abattoir. Although carcasses only are
above referred to other substances may be dealt with in similar manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Meiklejon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoпN
MEIKLEJON, of Westfield Iron Works, Dalkeith, in the County of Mid
Lothian, Scotland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date tho Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year
of our Lord Oue thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Meiklejon, Her special licence
that I, the said John Meiklejou, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Meiklejon, 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 "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY AND APPLIANCES TO BE USED IN HOISTING, REMOVING, DIVIDING, AND
HANGING ON HOOKS, TAKING OFF THESE HOOKS AGAIN, AND LOADING CARCASSES AND
OTHER BODIES IN ABBATOIRS, CARCASS AND MEAT MARKETS, AND OTHER PLACES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Meiklejon,
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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Moiklejon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, wherein reference is made to the Drawings
which accompany these Presents by various letters of the alphabet, that
is to say:
:-
The machinery and appliances above referred to enable the operations
aforesaid to be performed without the necessity of the butchers touching
the meat, and also enable carcasses to be conveyed from the abattoirs
to carcass market on a travelling hoist, such hoist being provided with
wheels resting on two or more rails carried up by walls, iron pillars, or a
framework of a proper description, rows of fixed jointed hooks or loops
being attached to the under side of the rails on which the hoist runs,
on to which hooks the travelling hoist hangs the carcasses. The hooks
are fixed to a beam at set distances, so that besides preventing the
overcrowding or huddling together of the carcasses in the market a
sufficient space is maintained between the carcasses so as to afford a
proper amount of ventilation, and said arrangements enable butchers to
hang a carcass on any of these fixed jointed hooks or loops and likewise
to pick it off again and load it on a cart, railway truck, or other vehicle
without moving or touching any of the other carcasses which may hang
on the other hooks in their stalls, and further said arrangements render
the hoist capable of doing the operations from the hoisting when it is
killed to the loading when it is sold or removed from the market.
Thus said machinery and appliances consist of the travelling hoist, rail..
beams, fixed jointed hooks on these rail beams, and hanging and dividing
hooks and the accessory appliances.
Description of Hoist.-The hoist has a framework of iron (sec Drawing
at A), and is mounted upon four grooved wheels (G) fitting on to
the top side of rail beams (L) and is moved backwards or forwards
on the rails beams by a wooden handle, or is propelled by means of
traction on the two fore wheels, which are made to revolve by a grooved
pulley fixed to the axle and driven from the hand by an endless chain
or rope (M).
The rest of the machinery fitted to the framework is the hoisting
machinery, and consists of a grooved driving pulley (C), wheels and
pinions giving a double power chain barrel (D), chains, pulleys, and

page_text: ratchet. The power is derived from a large grooved pulley which is
driven from the hand by an endless rope or chain and is conveyed
through a double set of wheels and pinions to the chain barrel. This
barrel is rigged with two chains, one running off at one side while the
other is running on at other side, so that while the end of one chain
is at the top the other is at the bottom. One of the chains is for
hanging and taking carcasses off the hooks or loops on one rail beam
and the other chain is for hanging and taking carcasses off the hooks or
loops on other rail beam. The two chains besides being required for
working right and left save time in reversing as there will always
be one chain available and ready to hoist or lower a carcass, as may be
required.
Working these Arrangements.-In working the system and its
machinery in its most improved way both in an economical and a
sanitary view a set of double-horned hooks will be used, one of which
will always remain in each carcass during the whole of the operations
of dividing, hanging, taking off, and loading. At the same time these
hooks may be dispensed with, as the hoist can perform all the operations
without them although at the expense of time and labour. In the event
of the last-mentionod mode being adopted by any butcher the fixed
hooks will be used instead of the loops. When the animal is killed
there may be inserted in each hough along with the tree or way a
double-horned hook, and the chain being attached to hook in centre of
trec, the whole can be partially raised by the hoist and checked at any
point by the ratchet, and as the carcass is gradually raised up can be
skinned and disembowelled. The rail beams above arc furnished with
jointed swivel hooks or loops. These hooks or loops are attached to
rail beams at distances apart corresponding to the length or to make
the halves fall as under somewhat more of the tree, and when the carcass
is raised up the double hooks inserted in the houghs along with tree
come immediately under two of the hooks or loops when bent up, and
each double hook is hooked by one of these loops. When the hoist is
lowered away the whole carcass is transferred to the loops and double-
horned hooks, and the cross trco or way comes out of the houghs and
frees the hoist, which is then available for raising another animal or
other operation. The carcass is thus left hanging to and immediately
under the rail beams by a hook in each hough. Here it is dressed and

page_text: finished, and as soon as finished can be divided down the back, and by
having the hooks somewhat more apart than length of tree the halves
when divided fall away from one another, leaving a half hanging on
cach swivel, hook, or loop, and where it is ready for taking into the
market.
In order to carry the carcass into market it has to be transferred to
the hoist; this is done by linking the chain of hoist into the unoccupied
horn of the double-horned hook. When the hoisting takes place the
carcass is drawn up followed by the jointed loop on which it has been
hanging, and as soon as the chain comes to the perpendicular the
jointed hook falls out of itself, leaving the weight of the carcass hanging
to the hoist with the ratchet in gear. The carcass is then ready to be
moved along the rail beams to market, which is effected by means of
the handle before described or propelled by the pulley and endless rope
in whatever way the hoist is fitted up. By any of these modes of pro-
pulsion the hoist carrying the carcass is run into the market and stopped
opposite the hook. or loop on which the butcher wishes it hung. He
is furnished with a rod with which he lifts up the jointed loop, which
when lifted up comes to a nearly horizontal position and far enough out
to hook into the unoccupied horn of the double horned hook on which
the carcass is hanging. When the hoist is lowered away the loop grips,
and as the lowering is continued the weight is transferred to the jointed
loop which comes to the perpendicular, and the chain of itself drops
out, leaving the carcass hanging to the beam. The taking off for the
purpose of loading is just the reverse movement of that of hanging on,
and is the same movement as that described in taking the carcass off
the jointed swivel hook or loop in abattoir before running it through
to market.
The Drawings accompanying this Specification as herein-before
referred to have it will be seen placed on the same Sheet therewith
descriptive references to the parts shown in said Drawings and therefore
need not any further statement in regard thereto.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my Invention, and in what manner the same may be performed
or carried out in practice, I hereby declare that I claim the Invention
of new or improved machinery and appliances to be used in hoisting,
removing, dividing, and hanging on hooks, taking off these hooks again,

page_text: and loading carcasses and other bodies in abbatoirs, carcass and meat.
markets, and other places, as the same is hercin-before set forth and
described, whereby I carry into effect my herein described improved
system for effecting the above-named objects.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Meiklejon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
onc.
Witness,
WILLIAM FAIRLEY,
Westfield Cottage,
Dalkeith.
JOHN MEIKLEJON. (L.S.)

page_text: 1. Paridion of carcass when being moved
from abattoir to market also showing
carcass being hung to rail beam.
The carcass indotted lines shows it
just transferred to rail beam.
7: Carcass hanging to rail beam.