IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPIKE THRESHING MACHINES, WHEREBY ALL LIABILITY TO & DANGER OF ACCIDENT IN THEIR USE IS REMOVED AND PREVENTED, AND BY WHICH THE GRAIN IS CLEANED FROM CHAFF, SMUT, &C. AT THE SAME TIME IT IS BEING THRESHED
Year: 1854

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Russell Palmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
May 1854.
I, WILLIAM RUSSELL PALMER, of the City, County, and State of New
York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPIKE THRESHING
MACHINES, WHEREBY ALL LIABILITY TO & DANGER OF ACCIDENT IN THEIR USE
IS REMOVED AND PREVENTED, AND BY WHICH THE GRAIN IS CLEANED FROM CHAFF,
SMUT, &C. AT THE SAME TIME IT IS BEING THRESHED," to be as follows:-
It is a well-known fact that in the use of those threshing machines known
as spike threshers, as they are commonly constructed, there is a great liability
to accidents, which are frequently attended with serious and oftentimes with
fatal results, and that these accidents are generally caused by the bursting of
the cylinder, or from the spikes being thrown out of the cylinder by the rapid
revolution imparted to it, & also that stones and similar foreign substances are
liable to be. carried into the machine along with the grain, from which the
spikes are often injured or broken, and the operator exposed to danger from
the discharge of any such bodies.
The nature of my improvements consists-in-so-constructing the cylinder that
it is rendered perfectly secure, as near as may be, against the liability of bursting,

page_text: and in so inserting the spikes in it that they will not be thrown out by centri-
fugal force; and in so constructing the feed board or hopper that all foreign
substances which may be in the grain shall be seperated therefrom and dis-.
charged from the machine without being carried into it; and in placing a guard
or roller before the cylinder which shall prevent any foreign bodies from being
drawn or carried into the thresher, & at the same time intercept the spikes
or any other matter when thrown forward by means of the revolutions of the
cylinder.
To prevent the bursting of the cylinder, I construct it of heavy thick hard-
wood staves, and in addition to the iron covering, which completely covers it,
I have three strong iron bands encircling it, one band at either end and the
third at the middle, so that no required velocity will cause it to fly asunder.
In ordinary spike threshers the staves are lighter, and there is no guard against
bursting except a mere sheet iron wrapper which covers the cylinder.
In my thresher I also have the spikes penetrate the cylinder to a greater
depth than in ordinary machines, and I also insert them with a heavy deep
cut screw, so that it is scarcely possible for them to be discharged.
I also construct the concave, so that the teeth inserted therein as they are
worn by use may be adjusted and made to act nearer the teeth inserted in the
cylinder, by which arrangement a single set of teeth, unless broken, may be
used for a much longer time, and thus a considerable saving be effected.
To prevent stones or any foreign substances which may by chance be in the
grain from passing into the machine and injuring and spoiling the same, I con-
struct the feed board or hopper with an opening or aperture in it in front of
the cylinder, through which any foreign substances will naturally pass, and be
carried away from the machine and not drawn into it. The natural effect of
the guard or roller hereafter referred to, and which is placed nearly over such
aperture, is also to seperate any such substances from the grain, and cause
them to pass through the aperture in the feed board. In front of the cylinder
and above the aperture just spoken of I place a protective roller, the gudgeons
of which rest & revolvo-on-helical-springs-which allow the roller to be elevated
to accommodate itself to the quantity of feed, but not sufficiently far to admit
passage of anything but the grain. The great object of this roller is to
prevent the hands and arms or limbs of the operator from being drawn into
the machine, & thus render more safe & secure the use of this kind of
thresher.
the
I also increase the number of spikes in the cylinder and concave, and give
them a greater length, thus increasing the capacity of the machine, and also
make the shape of the spikes such that the grain is not broken and its germi-

page_text: nating principle destroyed. I also attach to my thresher a grain cleaner and
winnower, to which motion is imparted from the thresher, and which, as fast as
the grain is threshed, seperates it from the straw, and winnows out all the
chaff and dirt and lighter grains, and also measures the grain when cleaned,
& deposits it where desired. By a long revolving elevator the straw is also
carried away from the machine and dropt where the operator wishes. Connected
with the winnower is also a smut machine, which wholly cleans the grain from
all taint of that character. These various attachments all receive motion
from the thresher & from each other. By means of the whole I am there-
fore able to take the grain in the straw, and deliver the same in a good
merchantable-condition.