IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CHAFF
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Francis Snowden, of Chichester Place,
Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex, Machine Maker, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CHAFF."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Francis Snowden
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st August 1860.
I, WILLIAM FRANCIS SNOWDEN, of Chichester Place, Gray's Inn Road, in
the County of Middlesex, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CHAFF," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the arrangement of the
driving parts of chaff cutters, the object being to simplify the construction of
such machines without detracting from their efficiency. To obtain the inter-
mittent feed motion necessary for preventing the material to be cut being
driven against the knife while operating, I key on to the axles of each of the
feed rolls a ratchet wheel, which wheels I drive by means of clicks carried by
rock levers. The forward ends of these levers rest on studs carried by a
vertical and adjustable bar so connected with a lever situate near the foot of
the machine, that though receiving an upward motion therefrom, the amount

page_text: of that motion will not be determined by the amount of movement of the rod
which transmits the movement of the lever thereto. This lever I propose to
drive by a rod from a crank on the driving shaft of the machine. As, there-
fore, the lever rocks on its fulcrum, it will raise the studs on the vertical bar,
and cause them to lift the click levers, and drive round the feed rolls a portion
of a revolution. The amount of this axial motion of the rolls which deter-
mines the length of feed is regulated by a nut on the upper or threaded end
of the adjustable bar, by which nut the bar is supported in a manner that
allow of its rising and falling in its guides. Connected with the lever at the
foot of the machine is the presser board, which holds down or presses the
material while the cut is taking place, and rises to allow of the material
being fed forward after every cut. To permit of this pressure adjusting itself
to a greater or less thickness of feed, I joint the coupling rod of the presser
to a spring attached to the lever instead of connecting it directly to the lever,
so that when an undue strain is put on the presser, the spring will yield and
afford the requisite relief. A sliding strap is provided on the lever for the
purpose of regulating the resisting force of the spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Francis Snowden in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FRANCIS SNOWDEN, of Chichester Place, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Machine Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Francis Snowden, Her special license that I, the said William Francis
Snowden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Francis Snowden, 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 terin 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 "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CHAFF," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Francis Snowden, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: 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 Francis Snowden, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the arrangement of the
driving parts of chaff cutters, the object being to simplify the construction of
such machines without detracting from their efficiency.
.
In the accompanying Fig. 1 shews in side elevation so much of a chaff
engine as will serve to explain the nature of my improvements; Fig. 2
is a front view of the same, the cutting wheel being removed from its crank
shaft; and Fig. 3 is a detached view of a portion of the driving apparatus
shewn in plan, and hereafter particularly referred to. A, A, is the framework
of the chaff engine; B is the ordinary crank shaft; and C, C, are the feed
rolls. In order to obtain the intermittent feed motion necessary
for prevent-
ing the material to be cut being driven against the knife or knives of the
cutting or fly wheel D while in operation, I key on to the axles of each of
the feed rolls a ratchet wheel a, and these wheels I drive in opposite directions
by means of clicks b, b', carried rock levers c, c¹. These levers are
situated one on either side of the ratchet wheel of the upper feed roller (see
the detached view, Fig. 3), and their forward ends rest on a stud d, carried
by a vertical bar e pendent from the framing A, and adjustable for the purpose
of raising or lowering the stud d by means of a nut e', working on the tapped
or threaded end of the bar. The rock lever c has its fulcrum on the axle of
the upper roller, and to its rear end is jointed its click b. The lever c¹ has
its fulcrum at c³ on the side framing; at their forward ends these levers are
coupled together by a pin from one entering a slot made to receive it in the
other. Jointed to the lever c¹ is a pendent arm c³, which carries at its lower
end the weighted click 6'. Situate near the foot of the machine is a lever E,
which has its fulcrum in the framing at f. This lever is connected to the
crank shaft B, and receives an upward motion therefrom through the crank
rod F. Jointed to the lever E is a vertical rod g for operating the rock
levers c, c¹, that carry the clicks. This rod carries at its upper end a stud
which as the rod ascends will strike against the forward ends of the rock

page_text: levers, and cause them (through their clicks and the ratchet wheels a, a,) to
impart a slight rotary motion to the feed rolls.
The amount of this axial motion of the rolls, which determines the length of
feed, is regulated by the nut e¹ on the upper or threaded end of the adjustable
bar e, by which nut the bar is supported in position. Connected also with the
lever E at the foot of the machine, by means of a coupling rod h, is the ordinary
presser frame and board, which holds down or presses the material while the cut
is taking place, and rises to allow of the material being fed forward after every
cut, as is well understood. In order to permit of this presser adjusting itself
to a greater or less thickness of feed, I joint the coupling rod of the presser
to a spring i attached to the lever E, instead of connecting it directly to the
lever, which receives an unvarying amount of movement from the crank shaft.
By this arrangement the pressure put on the feed will be that of a yielding
spring, which will accommodate itself to the thickness of the feed. A sliding
strap is provided on the lever for the purpose of regulating the resisting
force of the spring. To assist this spring ¹ in maintaining the pressure on
the feed when a larger supply than usual is brought under the passing board,
I provide an additional spring 2 below the lever E, which spring is bowed, as
shewn at Fig. 2, and passed through the strap of the coupling rod h. Its use
is to bear upon a cross pin in that strap, when by reason of an excessive
supply of hay or straw to the engine, the pressure commences to throw an
undue strain upon the spring i, and thus to relieve the upper spring of a
portion of the strain, which it would otherwise have to sustain.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improved machinery
for cutting chaff, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim the improved arrangement above described for operating the
presser, and giving the intermittent feed motion to chaff cutters.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Francis Snowden, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
WILLIAM FRANCIS SNOWDEN. (L.S.)