AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON A MACHINE FOR CUFFING HAY AND STRAW
Year: 1815

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GARDNER, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Machine Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
.His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of June, in the fifty-fifth year
of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said James Gardener, my exors,
admors, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said James Gardner, my exors, admors, and assigns, should
and lawfully might, during the term of years therein mentioned, make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON A MACHINE
FOR CUFFING HAY AND STRAW;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
á proviso that if I, the said James Gardner, shall not particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void,
as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Gardner, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention is
fully described and ascertained in manner following, having reference to the
annexed Drawings (that is to say):-

page_text: My improvement or improvements relate to that part of the machine by
which the hay and straw is carried forward to meet the repeated strokes of the
knife. To effect this I employ two pressers, to which I give a backward and
forward movement in the direction of the length of the trough or box; one
is situated in the bottom of the bottom of the trough or box which contains
the hay and straw and the other in the upper part of the box, above the hay
and straw, so that the two pressers enclose part of the hay and straw between
them, and thus in their forward movement carry the hay and straw forward as
much as is intended to be cut off by the next stroke of the knife. The hay
and straw is prevented from receding with the backward movement of the
two pressers, by causing the lower-presser to descend below the bottom of the
box, and also by means of another presser which compresses the hay and
straw upon the bottom of the box during the backward movement of the two
pressers, and while the knife is cutting. The better to explain myself and to
shew the manner in which I carry the same into effect, I have hereunto
annexed Drawings of a machine which cuts by a knife fixed upon a wheel in
the common way, and to which machine my improvement or improvements are
applied. A, Figs. 1 and 2, is the wheel, a the knife, and B the handle to turn
the wheel. C, Fig. 1, a.crank upon the axis of the wheel, and d a.rod
communicating therefrom with a lever D, Fig. 2, which is also connected by a
rode with the frame g of the presser F; thus, by the motion of the crank C
and the lever D, the presser F is made to rise and fall, by which the hay and
straw is compressed for the action of the knife; the frame 9, which carries the
presser F, is let into grooves in the sides of the trough H, and in which it
rises and falls, as seen in the cross section, Fig. 5. I is the frame of the
machine. All these parts are those of a common machine, and. to which I
make no claim. My improvement or improvements are represented in the
other Figures, to all of which the same letters of reference apply. I make the
presser F a double presser, by attaching to it another presser G, by means of
the frame (shewn separately in Fig. 9), and which is also firmly attached to
the frame g, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4. In this case F and G may be.
considered as one presser, or otherwise they may be made distinct pressers, and
each worked by separate cranks upon the same axis, and separate levers, as
before described of F. Figs. 3 and 4 are side sections of the front end..
K and L are the two pressers to which the backward and forward movement
is given. The lower presser K. has likewise another movement, viz³, it rises
and falls on the center pin K, as seen in Fig. 8; this center pin is suspended
by the bar k, m, which, moving upon the fixed center pin M, admits the back-
ward and forward movement of the presser K, which rises and falls at the.

page_text: same time with the presser F, G, the front part of K being supported by the
iron frame g, having a roller ato (as also seen in Fig. 5), that it may move
more freely in its backward and forward movement. The upper presser L does
not rise and fall, but only moves backward and forward; for this purpose it is
supported in front by an iron cross piece n, the ends of which enter grooves in
the sides of the box H, and upon which it slides in its backward and forward
movement. The back. part is. suspended by the link p, q, which hangs and
moves upon the center pin q.. The two bars k, m, and p, q, are connected
together by the bar M, which therefore connects the two pressers K and L,
and makes them move at the same time. The motion is communicated to the
bar M by a metal wheel E, Figs. 1, 7, and 8, which is fastened upon the axis
of the wheel and revolves therewith. On each side face of its rim is a
projecting swell t, u, Fig. 8. A stud projects from the bar M, and also a
stud which carries a screws. The side faces of the wheel E revolve between
the stud r and the point of the screw 8, as seen in Fig. 7; and thus its opposite
swells act alternately upon the stud r and the point of the screw s, upon the
principal of a common worm, to produce motion to a certain distance, viz.,
while the part from t to v, Fig: 8, passes the point of the screw it pushes it
forward, carrying the bar M. and the pressers K, L, forward at the same time.
After the point has passed the screw is it ceases to act, and the pressers K, L,
remain stationary (with the exception of the rising and falling motion of the
presser K) until, by the revolution of the wheel, the swell w, Fig. 7, upon the
opposite face, comes into action against the stud r, and gives to the two pressers
an opposite movement; the distance to which they move gives the length of
the hay and straw when cut, and which is regulated as required by the
screw 8. x, Figs. 3 and 4, are ribs of iron or wood fastened in the sides of the
box H, and extend across the box to form part of the bottom and to support
the hay and straw when the presser K is down, as in Fig. 8. Grooves are
made across the presser K to receive the ribs r, as seen in Fig. 4, and which
grooves are wide enough to admit of its backward and forward movement.
It will be observed that the two pressers K and L, though they advance
together, do not move equal distances. If it is desired to give the two pressers
an equal movement, I connect them together, as seen in Fig. 6; the bar k, m,
is made shorter only from m to z, where it joints to the bar M and has a hole
at bottom to receive the center pin K, which will produce the effect desired.
The operation of the pressers in carrying the hay and straw forward is as
follows:-The hay and straw being put into the box H, is thrust forward.
under the presser L; the pressers F, G, and K then rising, as in Fig. 4, the
hay and straw becomes compressed between K and L, both of which are then

page_text: moved forward by the wheel E, is before described, carrying the hay and straw
with them; the pressers F, G, and K then fall, as seen in Fig. 3; the hay and
straw is then compressed for the action of the knife by F, G, which descends
below the level of the bottom face of L, and allows it to pass freely in its
backwards movement, the hay and straw being compressed by F, G, upon the
bottom of the box H (or the ribs x). The pressers K and L make a retrograde
movement by the opposite face of the wheel E acting upon the stud (r) as
before described. Note, instead of the presser K resting with a roller o, upon
the cross bar of the frame g, it may be suspended by a bar from the frame f,
as shewn by the dotted lines R, Fig. 3. Fig. 10 shews another method
of rising and falling the lower presser K, in which it is suspended by the
bars R, R. Instead of moving upon the center K, Fig. 3, the bars R, R,
are hung on center pins from ƒ (shewn dotted), and which pass through
the sides of the box H. The backward and forward movement is given
to K by an arm T, which projects downwards from M, and acts between two
studs projecting from the side of the presser K.
I have described a machine with the knife fixed upon a wheel, but I claim
the application of my improved method of advancing the hay and straw to any
kind of machine wherein the manner of working the knife may vary; and I
also claim the right of making my machines of different sizes, and of varying
the proportionate dimensions of the several parts thereof, as may be required,
to adapt them to hand or horse power.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Gardener, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.