IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horace Leeman Emery, of Albany, State of New
York, United States of America, but now residing at No. 72, Sloane
Street, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Agricultural Implement
"
Sealed the 27th May 1863, and dated the 1st December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horace Leeman Emery
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st December 1862.
I, HORACE LEEMAN EMERY, of Albany, State of New York, United States
of America, but now residing at No. 72, Sloane Street, Chelsea, in the.
County of Middlesex, Agricultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of thrash-
ing machines, and to economise the power employed in driving such
machines. To this end I use as the drum or beater a spiked roller, which
works in a case, the upper and lower parts of which are concave. A fixed
table in front of the spiked roller receives the corn to be thrashed, and along
it the corn is sliden by the attendant until it is taken hold of by the roller.
The concave above the roller is fitted like the roller with spikes or pegs, and

page_text: between these the spikes of the roller as it rotates pass; as the ears of corn
are drawn by the rotation of the roller past the spikes of the concave the seed
is beaten out and carried forward with the straw. In the rear of the roller
is an endless band of buckets or elevators, which receive the falling seed,
and throw it on to a horizontal screen, which is pierced so as to allow of
the discharge of the seed through it, while the straw which comes over with
the seed is retained upon the riddle. This screen acts also the part of a
shaker, and to this end it is fitted with inclined fingers, which agitate the
straw, and cause it to lie loosely on the screen as it passes thence out of
the machine. The straw passing over the band of elevators towards the
screen is acted upon by a prism roller fitted with three sets of sliding
fingers or times, which project in succession from the angles of the roller
in order to take hold of and move forward the straw. When they have
thus acted they are withdrawn within the roller to prevent the straw from
being wound around the roller. This roller serves also to beat out any grain
that may remain in the ears after leaving the spike roller. Below the screen
is an inclined board, which receives the seed as it falls from the screen, and
conducts it into a riddle box where the dressing and assorting of the seed
takes place. This riddle box is constructed somewhat after the manner of
ordinary riddle boxes, and it is provided with spouts for discharging the seed
into suitable receptacles. It receives a blast of air from a fan or blower
situate below the table before mentioned, which blast discharges the chaff
through the open end of the box. The riddle box, screen, and inclined board
receive an end wise motion from a pair of rock levers situate in rear of the
box and below the screen. These levers vibrate on a fixed fulcrum, and are
driven by a connecting rod from a crank on the fan shaft, being jointed to the
lower end of one of these levers. The screen is jointed to the upper end of
these levers and the inclined board to a point a few inches below, and con-
necting rods couple the riddle box with the levers at a point below their
fulcrum. The other moving parts of the machine receive their motion from
straps passing over or around pullies on the fan shaft. Leading off from the
spiked roller case, near the opening for the entrance of the straw is a pipe
for carrying off the dust which might otherwise disturb the operations of the
attendant.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Horace Leeman Emery in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORACE
LEEMAN EMERY, of Albany, State of New York, United States of America,
but now residing at No. 72, Sloane Street, Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her,
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Horace Leeman Emery, Her special licence that I, the said
Horace Leeman Emery, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Horace Leeman Emery, 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 THRASHING MACHINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Horace Leeman Emery, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of.
their bands 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 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 Horace Leeman Emery, 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, reference being had to the accompanying. Drawing,
and the letters and figures marked thereon, which form part of this Specifi-.
cation.
The nature of the said Invention consists in the use, peculiar arrangement,
and novel construction of an endless band of cells or boxes for receiving the,
grain as it is discharged from the thrashing cylinder; in the employment and
novel construction of a revolving raker for the purpose of accelerating the.

page_text: with an overshot or undershot motion, is a peculiarity of my Invention. E,
Figures 1, 2, 3, is the revolving raker.
The form of the case of this raker, the number of rows and teeth in each
row, and other parts may be modified without departing from the spirit of
my Invention, but I have found by experience that the most convenient and
efficient form is that shown in the Drawings extending across the machine.
The case is in the form of a prism with circular heads 6, having hollow
journals c fixed to them. A stationary crank shaft d is fitted loosely within
these journals, and one end of this shaft extends bearing the bearing, and is
squared or flattened to receive a fixed socket for the purpose of keeping
the said shaft in the required position. To this shaft are attached three
rows of teeth, which extend through apertures in the angles of the
prism, as illustrated in the Drawings. F, Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5, is the
vibrating riddle; G, Figures 1 and 2, are the sets of agitating fingers.
attached to the same. One journal of each set of these fingers extends beyond
the side of the frame A sufficiently far to receive a slitted arm f. The
perforations in the vibrating riddle are made of about the form shown in
Figures 4 and 5, their object being to facilitate the passage of the grain with-
out obstructing the passage of the straw over them. 9, Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5,
are the serrated ledges on the vibrating riddle. Immediately under this riddle
is a vibrating slanting grain board H, of about the same dimensions; his a
swing support of the outer end of the grain board, and i the swing support
of the outer end of the riddle. Figures 1 and 6, are the swing levers with
connecting shaft j; these levers are supported by the fulcra k in bearings
on the frame. are crank pins fixed at the lower end of the levers, to which
pins are attached connecting rods m; n are wrist pins upon the levers I,
designed to receive the connecting rods o; p are wrist pins attached to the
sieve box, and receive the connecting rods o; q are wrist pins upon the upper
ends of the levers I, which connect, support, and move the vibrating riddle
F; r are wrist pins upon the lever I, which connect, support, and move the
grain board H; J is the sieve box suspended by hangers s and t. The
upper ends of the hangers s are attached to the frame, and the lower ends
to wrist pins on the side of the box. The upper ends of the hangers t are
attached to wrist pins on the sides of the box, and the lower ends to the
frame; u are excentrics on the fan shaft inside the frame, and receive the ends
of the connecting rods m. K is the opening of the flue, which receives and
conducts the dust past the cylinder into the straw chamber L, and away from
the person feeding the machine; M is the feeding table; N is the drum
containing the fan O for cleaning the grain.
++

page_text: OPERATION OF THE MACHINE.
The sheaves being fed into the machine by the operator between the
cylinder B and the concave C, the grain is separated from the heads by
means of the said pins or bars, or other suitable device. The grain and straw
are received upon the endless band of cells or boxes D, the straw passing over
and most of the grain lodging in the cells, from which it is emptied on the
riddle F as the cells successively pass over the upper cylinder. As the
straw passes over the endless band it is engaged by the rapidly revolving
raker. The straw passes under this raker and over the end of the riddle.
During the passage it is violently agitated by the revolving rake E and the
sets of fingers before described. The grain being completely separated by this
process from the straw, the former with a portion of the chaff passes through
the riddle F, and is arrested by the vibrating grain board H, and passes
down this board to the sieve box J, where it is cleaned and separated by
means of sieves, screens, and blasts of air in the usual manner, and then
delivered through different spouts. Motion is conveyed by a band from the
driving power to the cylinder B and the fan O. By means of the pulley
on the fan shaft u motion is given through a bolt to the endless band of cells
and to the revolving raker E. Motion is conveyed to the swing levers I
by means of excentrics on the shaft u, through suitable connecting rods m
attached to wrist pins l. The sets of teeth in the revolving raker E being
connected to the stationary crank shaft the teeth protrude during the first
half of the circuit, and retire during the last half, the extremes being at the
top and bottom of the prism as it revolves. The object of this arrangement
is to prevent the straw winding around the raker. The sets of fingers G
receive their movements through slitted arms fixed to their journals outside
the frame. Through these slits are pins set in the frame, at any desired
distance above the journal, to regulate the degree of vibration of said fingers.
The movement of the riddle gives the required motions to the sets of fingers.
The hangers q and i of the riddle F are so arranged as to raise the same
riddle during the outward stroke, thereby producing an outward throw with
a tossing motion, while the hangers r and h of the slanting grain board H
are so arranged as to lower the said grain board in the outward throw, pro-
ducing a tossing motion in the reverse direction. By this arrangement the
straw is thrown over the end of the machine, the serrated ledges acting as
rakes, and the grain is carried in an opposite direction, and falls into the
sieve box. The vibrating motions of both the riddle and the grain board
are in the direction of the length of the machine. The hangers s and t of

page_text: the sieve box J are so arranged and operated as to create an outward and
upward motion of the same. The sieve box J receives its motion from the
swing levers I, acting through connecting rods o, and attached to wrist pins p
on the sides of the said box. The different degrees of vibration of the sieves
required for different kinds of grain are obtained by attaching the connecting
rods o to the wrist pins n on the swing levers I at different distances from
the fulcra k. The parts of the machine that are in duplicate will be readily
distinguished by the description, though they are not all shown in the
Drawings.
Having fully described the nature of my improvements, I claim the said
Invention substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this First
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three.