IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY AND OTHER CUT CROPS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR ELEVATING THE SAME
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Alfred Gibbs, of Gillwall Park, Sewardstone,
Woodford, in the County of Essex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY AND OTHER CUT CROPS, ALSO
IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR ELEVATING THE SAME."
Sealed the 14th May 1867, and dated the 19th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Alfred Gibbs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1866.
I, WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS, of Gillwall Park, Sewardstone, Woodford, in
the County of Essex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY AND OTHER CUT
CROPS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR ELEVATING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object" Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Hay
and other Cut Crops, also in Apparatus for Raising or Elevating the same."
For the purpose of drying or completing the drying of hay or other. cut
crop I employ heated air drawn from a furnace by means of a fan and forced
thereby into a suitable open receiver filled with the hay or crop to be treated;
also I utilize the heat of the exhaust steam from the engine which drives the
fan by causing it to pass into pipes or passages within the receiver. 1 operate
by preference on the land where the cut crop is laying, and I employ a

page_text: portable steam engine to give motion to a fan supported on a suitable frame
and secured to the land; this fan should be of sufficient size to absorb the
full power of the engine. The eye of the fan is connected by a suitable pipe
or passage with the smoke box of the engine from which the fan draws the
hot air and products of combustion; smokeless fuel should be employed in
the furnace. The exit passage from the fan is connected with the receiver,
which is a large trough or shallow box capable of containing a hundredweight
or more of loose hay, and the current of air is so directed as to sweep along
from end to end of the bottom of the trough or receiver. The passages for
the exhaust steam are so arranged as to divide off parts of the receiver along
each side, and into the spaces so partitioned off the crop is first placed by the
workman, and when it has been there warmed up by the steam heat it is
transferred to the central division of the receiver, where it is exposed to the
hot air blast, which permeates through every part of the heap; the workman
gradually advances it up to the hottest end of the receiver, or that at which
the hot blast is admitted, until when the drying is complete he throws it out
to be carted away to the stack. The operation may conveniently be conducted
under a tarpauling or portable iron roof. Provision is made to enable the
workman to regulate the temperature of the blast by admitting cold air to the
fan in larger or smaller proportions, or self-acting apparatus may be employed
to regulate the temperature of the blast. The air in passing from the furnace
to the fan is caused to pass through a perforated metal plate in order to prevent
sparks being carried forward into the receiver, or the air may be heated (but
less conveniently) by drawing it through hot pipes or passages in place of
directly through the furnace. The receiver is mounted on wheels and is fur-
nished with shafts, so that it may be moved from place to place like a cart;
the shafts serve to support a light platform on which the green crop may be
placed ready for the workman to put it into the drying receiver. The same
receiver may if desired be employed to dry spent grains and similar matters; in
this case it is furnished with shelves on which the matters are laid in thin
layers, and the shelves are so arranged as to cause the hot air to pass through
the receiver in a zig-zag course. The receiver may, if desired, be employed
as a cooking vessel for cattle fond, the hot air or steam, or both together being
used to heat the vessel. In order to raise or elevate hay or other similar cut
crop to the top of a stack or other place where it may be required, I also
employ a fan driven by a steam engine; the blast is caused to enter the lower
end of a pipe or passage of large diameter and open at its upper end, which is
at or about the level of the top of the stack or other place to which the crop
is to be raised; there is also at the bottom of the pipe or passage an opening

page_text: with a hopper or receiver, and here the workman introduces the hay or cut
crop, and the blast immediately carries it to the top of the pipe or passage,
where it is discharged.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Alfred Gibbs in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ALFRED GIBBS, of Gillwall Park, Sewardstone, Woodford, in the County of
Essex, Gentleman, seud greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Alfred Gibbs, Her special licence that I, the said
William Alfred Gibbs, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, 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 APPARATUS FOR DRYING HAY AND OTHER CUT
CROPS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR ELEVATING THE SAME," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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.
вы
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for drying hay
and other cut crops, also in apparatus for raising or elevating the same.
the purpose of drying or completing the drying of hay or other cut crop
For
I

page_text: employ heated air drawn from a furnace by means of a fan and forced thereby
into a suitable open receiver filled with the hay or crop to be treated; also I
utilize the heat of the exhaust steam from the engine which drives the fan
by causing it to pass into pipes or passages within the receiver. I operate
by preference on the land where the cut crop is laying, and I employ a
portable steam engine to give motion to a fan supported on a suitable frame
and secured to the land. The eye of the fan is connected by a suitable pipe
or passage with the smoke box of the engine from which the fan draws the
hot air and products of combustion; smokeless fuel should be employed in
the furnace. The exit passage from the fan is connected with the receiver,
which is a large trough or shallow box capable of containing a hundredweight
or more of loose hay, and the current of air is so directed as to sweep along
from end to end of the bottom of the trough or receiver. The passages for
the exhaust steam are so arranged as to divide off parts of the receiver along
each side, and into the spaces so partitioned off the crop is first placed by
the workman, and when it has been there warmed up by the steam heat it
is transferred to the central division of the receiver, where it is exposed to the
hot air blast, which permeates through every part of the heap; the workman
gradually advances it up to the hottest end of the receiver, or that at which
the hot blast is admitted, until when the drying is complete he throws it out
to be carted away to the stack. The operation may conveniently be conducted
under a tarpauling or portable iron roof. Provision is made to enable the
workman to regulate the temperature of the blast by admitting cold air to the
fan in larger or smaller proportions, or self-acting apparatus may be employed
to regulate the temperature of the blast. The air in passing from the furnace
to the fan is caused to pass through a perforated metal plate in order to
prevent sparks being carried forward into the receiver; or the air may be
heated (but less conveniently) by drawing it through Łot pipes or passages
in place of directly through the furnace. The receiver is mounted on wheels
and is furnished with shafts, so that it may be moved from place to place like
a cart; the shafts serve to support a light platform on which the green
crop may be placed ready for the workman to put it into the drying receiver
The following is the arrangement I prefer :-I take an ordinary portable
agricultural engine, say it is of six-horse power, and I remove the cover at
the end of the smoke box and apply in its place a bonnet having an opening
in the centre about 28 inches in diameter, in which is fitted and fixed the
base of a conical pipe, which at its other or smaller end, where it is about 21
inches in diameter, fits into a socket on the fan case, this socket is in con.
nection with passages for leading the hot air to the eyes of the fan so as to

page_text: The furnace of the
In order to allow of
admit it on either side of the flyer and around the axis. The fau case will be
about 45 inches in diameter and 30 inches in breadth, and its mouth or exit
opening 30 inches by 12 inches. The bonnet which fits on to the smoke
box of the engine is provided at its mouth, which is within the smoke box,
with a perforated plate or a cover of wire gauze, to prevent the passage of
sparks; the holes should be about one-eighth of an inch square. This plate or
cover is placed in an inclined position leaning towards the direction in which
the current is passing, so that any particles arrested by it may have less
tendency to cling to the surface of the perforated plate or wire gauze, but
may rather fall down clear of it within the smoke box. The rigger or driving
pulley of the engine by means of a belt drives the fan.
engine is supplied with coke or with anthracite coal.
the regulation of the quantity of air drawn through the fire the funnel of the
engine is fitted with a damper or cap, which may be entirely closed or partly
open so as to allow the descent of more or less cold air. The fire may be
further regulated by opening or closing the fire door. In this way also the
temperature of the air as it comes from the fan may be governed; it should
be about 230° Fahrenheit. The blast pipe of the engine receives a flexible
or other pipe for conducting the steam away from it for use as herein-after
described. The fan case is made with feet so that it will stand steadily on the
land, and holes are formed through these feet so that it may be pegged down
by means of stakes. The receiver in which the drying process is conducted
consists of a strong rectangular frame about 11 feet long, 8 feet broad, and
2 feet deep. It is open at the top and enclosed at the sides and ends, the bottom
frame is covered by preference with stout and fine wire netting; within the
receiver is a steam casing of a U form; it is made of thin sheet iron, and the
steam from the blast pipe of the engine is led into it, and it is also fitted with
another pipe to lead away the condensed water to any convenient place. The
horns of the U formed casing are about 5 feet apart, and.as the case lies on the.
openwork bottom they abut upon the hinder end of the receiver, so as to
leave a space of 18 inches on either side between the casing and the sides of
the receiver, and the length of the casing is such as to leave a similar space
at the front end of the receiver. The steam casing is about 2 feet deep and
2 inches wide. When in use the receiver rests on suitable bearers laid on.
the land, but it has a cranked axle passing under its bottom to receive carrying
wheels, one on each side, which are put on when the receiver is to be removed.
from place to place, so that it then becomes a cart, and it serves to carry the
fan and other gear; it is fitted with suitable shafts. When arranged for use:
it may, be secured, to the land by stakes driven through. lugs at its corners...

page_text: At the rear end of the receiver at the bottom and in the centre an opening is
made 5 feet long, and 6 inches deep, and to it a casing of sheet iron is adapted,
and this casing is at its other end fitted to the delivery passage of the
fan. At the front end of the receiver and projecting forward from it
is a frame on which hurdles may be laid, so as to form a platform on
to which the crop as it is carted to the apparatus is first placed so as to be
ready for the workman to put into the receiver. It is first placed in the
all around the edge, where it becomes well warmed by the steam heat, and it
is then removed to the central part of the receiver, where it is submitted to the
action of the heated air; it is advanced gradually towards the incoming current
of air until when dry it is thrown out to be carted away. In this way the
drying of grass, grain, and other cut crops may be rapidly completed.
space.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the arrangement of apparatus
for drying hay and other cut crops in such manner that the crop may be
submitted to a current of hot air forced in amongst it, such hot air being
drawn by a fan from the smoke box of a portable engine which drives the
fan as herein described. I also claim the arrangement of the receiver as
herein described.
According to another part of my Invention in order to raise or elevate
hay or other similar cut crop to the top of a stack or other place where it
may be required I also employ a fan driven by a steam engine. The blast
is caused to enter the lower end of a pipe or passage of large diameter and
open at its upper end, which is at or about the level of the top of the stack
or other place to which the crop is to be raised. There is also at the bottom
of the pipe or passage an opening, and here the workman introduces the hay
or cut crop, and the blast immediately carries it to the top of the pipe or
passage, where it is discharged. The arrangement as far as relates to the
engine and fan and the connection from the one to the other is by preference
like that already described, except that the fan is arranged to rest on the land
with its delivery mouth inclined upwards at an angle of 45° or thereabout.
To the mouth of the fan a trunk of light boards or other material is fitted; it
corresponds with the mouth of the fan, being 30 inches broad and 12 inches
deep, and its length is from 20 to 28 feet, it is set up into an inclined position
and supported by suitable props and stays. On the top side of the trunk
and at a convenient distance from the ground is a door of the full width of
the trunk, and about one foot broad, through which the workman introduces
the cut crop regularly and continuously, the top of the trunk serving him as
a feeding platform, and as the crop is introduced it is at once carried up by
the draft, and discharged at the top of the trunk at the elevation required.

page_text: In most cases the condition of the crop will be improved by the hot air with
which the elevator is arranged to work, but when hot air is not desired
the connection between the smoke box of the engine and the eye of the fan
may be omitted.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the combining a trunk and
fan and portable engine so as to form an apparatus for raising or elevating
hay and other cut crops as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS. (L.s.)
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS. (L.s.)