CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING BONES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Burns, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, and Richard Pritchard Willett, of the same
place, Bone Merchant, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING BONES,"
Sealed the 22nd January 1853, and dated the 20th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Burns and
Richard Pritchard Willett at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th October 1852.
We, ROBERT BURNS, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, and RICHARD PRITCHARD WILLETT, of the same place, Bone
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
BONES" to be as follows:-
Our Improvements apply or relate to cutting, rasping, or reducing
bones for the purposes of artificial manure. Hitherto bones have been
crushed, pounded, or pulverized for this purpose. The product from
this operation was a moist conglomerate mass, from which a very large

page_text: proportion of the ammonia, phosphorus, and other volatile component
parts which formed the most valuable ingredients as a manure passed
off in the shape of foetid and noxious vapors, creating at the same
time a nuisance to the community at large, and a loss to the manu.
facturer. By the use of our improved process of cutting or rasping the
bones, instead of crushing or pulverising them, the product obtained
consists of coarse dry chips or raspings, emitting little comparative
odour, and retaining almost all the ammonia, phosphorus, &c. which
render the bone dust so valuable as a manure. The apparatus by
which we effect this object consists principally of a cylinder, in which
the bones are placed promiscuously. One end of the said cylinder is
furnished with a piston, which is impelled by means of a rack and
pinion, or other suitable mechanical means, whilst at the other end is
placed a quickly revolving cylinder, furnished with cutters, knives, or
rasps, for the purpose of cutting, rasping, or reducing the bones as they
are pressed forward by the action of the piston aforesaid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Burns and Richard Pritchard Willett
in the Great Seal Patent Office ou the 20th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we
ROBERT BURNS, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
and RICHARD PRITCHARD WILLETT, of the same place, Bone Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Robert Burns and Richard Pritchard
Willett, Her special license that we, the said Robert Burns and
Richard Pritchard Willett, our executors, adminstrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Robert Burns & Richard Pritchard
Willett, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR CUTTING BONES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Robert Burns and Richard Pritchard Willett, by an instrument in
writing under our hands 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 we, the said Robert Burns and Richard
Pritchard Willett, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is
to say):
Our improvements in machinery or apparatus for cutting bones
apply or relate to cutting, rasping, or reducing bones for the purposes
of artificial manure. Hitherto bones have been almost invariably
crushed, pounded, or pulverized for this purpose by a mill or other
siinilar means. The product from this operation was a moist con-
glomerate mass from which a very large proportion of the ammonia,
phosphorus, and other volatile component parts (which formed the
most valuable ingredients as a manure) passed off in the form of fætid
and noxious vapors, thus creating at the same a nuisance to the
community at large, and a loss to the manufacturer. By the use of
our improved machinery or apparatus for cutting or rasping the bones,
instead of crushing or pulverizing them, the product consists of coarse
dry chips or raspings, emitting little comparative odour, and retaining
almost all the aminonia, phosphorus, &c. the presence of which renders
the bone dust so valuable as a manure.
The improved machinery or apparatus by which we effect this object
consists principally of a quickly revolving cylinder or drum furnish
with cutters, knives, or rasps. This said cylinder is placed at one end

page_text: of a trough or box in which the bones to be cut or rasped are placed
promiscuously. The said trough or box is furnished with a piston,
which is impelled forward by means of a rack and pinion, or other
suitable mechanical means, and thus presses forward the bones against
the revolving cutters, knives, or rasps, by which means they become
cut, rasped, or reduced to a proper state for use or employment as
artificial manure.
In order that the mechanical construction of our improved ma-
chinery or apparatus for cutting bones may be clearly understood
and more minutely described, we have attached to these Presents a
Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the same, and have marked thereon
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the
following explanation thereof. Fig. 1, represents a plan or horizontal
view of the apparatus as seen from above, drawn to a scale of
about one inch and a half to a foot; and Fig. 2, is a longitudinal
section of the same, taken through about the centre of the apparatus.
a, a, is the main frame work of the apparatus, which supports
the box or trough 6, 6, in which the bones to be cut or rasped or
placed, the upper part of the box b, b, being mounted upon hinges,
and capable of being raised for that purposes. At one end of the
trough b, b, a cylinder c, c, is mounted, being keyed upon a shaft d, d,
which revolves in suitable bearings. The cylinder c, c, is provided
with grooves running parallel to its axis, in which grooves the cutters
e, e, are placed, being firmly held in the said grooves by means of
metallic wedges,f, which are further secured by means of the metallic
rings g, g, passed over their ends. The cutters are grooved upon the
face, and their upper edge bevilled off from the back, thus forming a
serrated cutting edge. The construction of this part of our improved
apparatus is best shewn at Figs. 3, 4, and 5, in the drawings; Fig. 3,
being an end view of the cylinder, with the cutters removed; and 3
Fig. 4, a plan view of the same. Fig. 5, represents front, edge, and
back views of the cutter. The shaft d, d, upon which the cylinder c, c,
is mounted, is connected by means of the spur gearing h, h, to a shaft
i,i, which derives its motion from the steam-engine or other motive
powor employed. k, k, is the pistou, which is attached to the end of a 3

page_text: long spur rack 1, 1; this spur rack l, l, is actuated by means of a spur
pinion m, keyed upon a shaft n, n, which is driven in the following
manner: Upon the shaft d, d, a pulley o, o, is keyed, giving motion,
by means of a driving strap, to a pulley p, p, upon a shaft 7, 9. The
pulley p, is loose upon the shaft 7, 9, and is connected thereto, and
disconnected therefrom, when required, by means of the clutch boxr,r.
The shaft 9, drives another transverse shaft s, s, by means of a strap.
This shaft s, s, communicates motion by means of a bevil wheel and
pinion t, t, to a vertical shaft u, u, which drives the shaft n, n, by means
of the worm v, and worm wheel w, o. It will be evident, from this
description, that if the box or trough b, b, is filled with bones, and the
apparatus set in motion, the bones will be slowly pressed forward,
whilst the cutting cylinder will revolve at a high velocity, and thus
cut, rasp, or reduce the same as required.
Having thus described the nature and object of our said Invention
of improvement in machinery or apparatus for cutting bones, together
with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, we would
remark, in conclusion, that we claim as our Invention the improved
machinery or apparatus for effecting the above object as above
described and shewn in the Drawings, or any modification thereof, by
which the bones are pressed forward by mechanical means against a
revolving cutter or rasp.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Burns and Richard
Pritchard Willett, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
mrre שתמממת
ROBERT BURNS.
(L.S.)
RICHARD PRITCHARD WILLETT. (L.s.)