IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PICKING HOPS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PICKING HOPS." A communi-
cation from abroad by Herbert G. Locke, of Waterville, in the County of
Oneida, and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 29th December 1877, and dated the 25th July 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th July 1877.
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR PICKING HOPS." [A communication from abroad by Herbert G. Locke, of
Waterville, in the County of Oneida, and State of New York, United States of
America.]
A good machine for picking hops has become a great desideratum to hop growers.
Such a machine is supplied by this Invention, which partly consists in combining
clamping and drawing rollers, with a stripper or strippers arranged in a suitable
framework in due relation with each other.
The clamping and drawing rollers serve to clamp the hop-bine and pull it through
the stripper or between the strippers; and these rollers rotate in such manner that
when the hop-bine is engaged by the said rollers (operated by suitable mechanism)
the bine will be drawn entirely through the stripping device or between the
stripping devices, which will strip the hops off from the bine, no hand labor being
required for the picking except to supply the machine with bines as required.
The Invention consists further in the combination with the clamping and drawing
rollers and the stripping device or devices, together with the gearing for transmitting
motion to the same of a lifting device applied to one of the stripping devices for
the purpose of lifting the stripper when desired. The stripping devices may consist
of rollers mounted in suitable bearings, so arranged that the upper one can be lifted
when required.

page_text: The Invention also consists in the combination with the rotating stripping devices
of guards which prevent the hops from being carried around the stripping devices
by adhering thereto.
In place of rollers, horizontal bars or plates may be used, between which the bine
may be drawn forward by means of the front drawing rollers.
The upper clamping device is pressed down by means of a flat or coiled spring,
and is lifted by means of a lever or a screw.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The upper stripping roller is
adjusted to approach the lower one, near enough to prevent the hops of the hop-
bine from passing through the space between the stripping rollers, but not so near
as to prevent the free passage of the bine, leaves, and stems of the plant.
The machine may be arranged on the top of a box to catch the picked hops as
they fall from the bine, or the picked hops may be otherwise collected.
The bine is passed, preferably butt end first, between the stripping rollers or
devices, and the end of the bine is engaged between the clamping rollers. The
continued rotation of the clamping rollers draws the bine through between the
stripping rollers or devices, and the hops which cannot pass through between the
stripping rollers are pulled off and fall into the box below. The circumferential
motion of the stripping rollers at their parts being in an opposite direction to that
in which the bine is pulled by the clamping and drawing rollers prevents any
crushing of the hops or clogging of the space between picking rollers.
But as a further provision against clogging, guards are supplied, consisting of
metal plates, one attached to the bearings of the top stripper, and the other to the
bearings of the lower stripper or to the frame of the machine. These guards prevent
the picked hops from being carried around the strippers by adhesion thereto.
"The hops are thus rapidly picked from the bine in good condition and with
unprecedented rapidity.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th January 1878.
66
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR PICKING HOPS." A communication from abroad by Herbert G. Locke, of
Waterville, in the County of Oneida, and State of New York, United States of
America.
A good machine for picking hops has become a great desideratum to hop growers
Such a machine is supplied by this Invention, which partly consists in combining,
clamping, and drawing rollers, with a stripper or strippers arranged in a suitable
framework in due relation with each other.
The clamping and drawing rollers serve to clamp the hop-bine and pull it through
the stripper or between the strippers, and these rollers rotate in such a manner that
when the hop-bine is engaged by the said rollers (operated by suitable mechanism)
the bine will be drawn entirely through the stripping device or between the
stripping devices, which will strip the hops off from the bine, no hand labor being
required for the picking except to supply the machine with bines as required.
The Invention consists further in the combination with the clamping and drawing
rollers and the stripping device or devices, together with the gearing for transinitting
motion to the same, of a lifting device applied to one of the stripping devices, as
herein-after described.
The Invention also consists in the combination with the rotating stripping devices
of guards, which will prevent the hops from being carried around the stripping
devices by adhering thereto.
In the accompanying Drawings,-
Fig. is a front elevation of the machine, the stripping devices being presented
to the front.
Fig. 2 is an end view of the machine, showing a portion of the gearing by means
of which the rollers are actuated.
Figures 3 and 4 are sections on the line x, x, in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 shewing the rollers
and strippers as operating upon a hop-bine to pick or pull the hops therefrom, as
herein-after described.
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 represent modifications of the machine.
A variety of methods for rotating the rollers may be devised, and the Invention
is not confined to any particular method of gearing or belting for operating the
machine, which may be driven either by hand, horse, steam, or other power.
A and A¹ are the clamping and drawing rollers, preferably made of elastic
material, or having a hard central portion clothed with soft elastic material, such as
rubber, leather, or felt, but which may be made entirely of wood, metal, or other
suitable hard material, and which may also be fluted if desired, or otherwise
constructed so as to firmly clamp a hop-bine. B and B are stripping rollers or
rollers which pick, pull, or pluck the hops from the bine. These stripping rollers
may be made of any suitable material, either hard or soft, and with smooth or
rough surfaces.
The clamping and drawing rollers A, A1, are preferably made of greater diameter
than the strippers or stripping rollers B, B1, but they may have the same or a less
diameter than the stripping rollers if desired.
The machine will work very well with clamping and stripping rollers having the
same circumferential velocity; but it is preferable for the stripping rollers to have
the greater circumferential velocity, which may be imparted by the use of multi-
plying gearing or otherwise.
The rollers and strippers are arranged in relation with each other, as shewn in
Figures 3 and 4, and they have bearings in a suitable framework C.

page_text: A system of gearing E is arranged to transmit motion from any suitable prime
mover to the rollers in such a manner that each pair of rollers, when in motion,
rotates as indicated by the arrows, that is, each of the clamping and drawing rollers
rotates in an opposite direction to that of its fellow, and each of the stripping rollers
revolves in an opposite direction to that of its fellow, the circumferential motion of
that portion of the part of the clamping and drawing rollers nearest to each other
being in a direction away from the stripping rollers, and the circumferential motion
of the parts of the stripping rollers which are nearest each other being in the
opposite direction or away from the clamping and drawing rollers.
One of the stripping rollers B, B₁, may have adjustable bearings, or it may have
moveable bearings f pressed toward the other stripping roller by springs h, a lever L
suitably connected with the roller having the spring bearings being employed to
lift the roller away from the roller having fixed bearings; but the Invention is not
confined to any particular devices or arrangement of devices for holding the
stripping rollers together or separating them from each other.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The upper stripping roller B is
adjusted to approach the lower one B¹ near enough to prevent the hops of the hop-
bine from passing through the space between the stripping rollers, but not so near
as to prevent the free passage of the bine, leaves, and stems of the plant.
The machine may be arranged on the top of a box, which will catch the picked
hops as they fall from the bine, or the picked hops may be otherwise collected.
The bine is passed, preferably butt end first, between the stripping rollers B, B¹,
and the end of the bine is engaged between the clamping rollers A, A'. The
continued rotation of the clamping rollers draws the bine through between the
stripping rollers, and the hops which cannot pass through between the stripping
rollers are pulled off and fall into the box below, as shewn in Fig. 4. The circum-
ferential motion of the stripping rollers at their parts being in an opposite direction
to that in which the bine is pulled by the clamping and drawing rollers prevents
any crushing of the hops or clogging of the space between picking rollers.
But as a further provision against clogging, guards g¹, Fig. 4, are supplied,
consisting of metal plates, one attached to the bearings of the top stripper B, and
the other to the bearings of the lower stripper B', or to the frame of the machine.
These guards prevent the picked hops from being carried around the strippers by
adhering thereto.
The hops are thus rapidly picked from the bine in good condition and with
unprecedented rapidity.
Fig. 5 represents a modification of the machine, in which a flat spring H is
substituted for the coiled springs h, and a tension screw 8 is employed to adjust the
pressure of the same upon the moveable bearings of the upper clamping and drawing
roller, the spring H being placed within the frame C.
Fig. 6 shews a flat spring H' applied to moveable bearings of the lower clamping
and drawing roller, the spring being arranged outside of the frame C.
Fig. 7 shews a stripping device used as a substitute for the stripping rollers B, B¹.
It consists of a flat plate I having formed in it an eye i, through which the hop-bine
is drawn by the action of the clamping and drawings rollers A, A¹.
Figures 8 and 9 illustrate other modifications of the stripping device or stripper,
K representing in the Figures fixed bars between which the hop-bine is drawn by
the action of the clamping and drawing rollers. One bar and one roller may be
used for the strippers.
Fig. 10 illustrates a modification shewing how the rollers and stripper may be
driven by endless aprons or belts M, M¹, running on the outer surfaces of the rollers
and strippers, the hop-bine in this case being fed in between the endless aprons.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. The combination in a hop-picking machine of clamping and drawing

page_text: rollers and a stripping device or devices, the clamping and drawing rollers being
arranged to rotate in relation with each other and with the stripping device or
devices, as and for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination with the clamping and drawing rollers and stripping
devices of a lifting device applied to one of the stripping devices, as and for the
purpose specified.
Third. The combination with the rotating stripping devices B and B' of the
guards g', as and the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
W NEWTON
Tal
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)