IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES OR MACHINERY FOR THRASHING AND DRESSING GRAIN
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Waller, of Uddingston, near Glasgow,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING
MACHINES OR MACHINERY FOR THRASHING AND DRESSING GRAIN."
Sealed the 9th July 1858, and dated the 19th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Waller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
January 1858.
I, WILLIAM WALLER, of Uddingston, near Glasgow, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THRASHING MACHINES OR MACHINERY FOR THRASHING AND DRESSING GRAIN," to be
as follows:-
My improvements relate to thrashing machines, and are applicable to the
combined machine, or to the thrashing machine and dressing machine sepa-
rately, or to distinct parts of these two machines, or to these machines combined
together. They consist of, the following parts:--
Firstly, making the concave, or screen or breastwork, between which breast-
work and the drum the process of thrashing, beating, or rubbing out the grain
from the ear is carried on, of iron or steel grooved, or grooved and plain, such
grooves by preference being slightly inclined from the direction of the straw in
passing over it; the screen being also made of three or more parts, either
hinged or unattached, for the greater facility of adjustment, when hinged
forming a chain.
Secondly, the application of revolving forks to the combined machine, which
revolving forks act as straw shakers or straw carriers.

page_text: Thirdly, the application of a perforated plate or lattice screen of wood or
iron, or the two combined, under the revolving forks.
Fourthly, suspending the shock board, or shogging board, or caving board,
and the riddle board at one or both ends, wholly or partially on one or more
double levers, whether straight or at angles with one another, the opposite
ends of which are employed to give motion to other parts of the same or to
one another. Thus, if motion be given to the riddle board, and the shock board
be attached to it, as above, described, an opposite or balancing motion is
communicated to it.
i
Fifthly, parting the riddles horizontally and imparting opposite motions to
them by means of double levers, as above.
Sixthly, making the frames of thrashing machines and corn dressing
machines, or other machines used for the purpose of preparing grain food for
man or beast, of malleable iron, or of cast iron or of steel, whether alone or in
combination with wood or other material.
Seventhly, making the sides of the above machines in plates of steel or iron,
malleable or cast, wholly or in part or in combination with wood or other
suitable material.
Eighthly, making the blowers or fanners of the combined machines with two
or more outlets for the blast, for the more effectual dressing of, the grain, such
outlets being taken from the circumference of the case at two or more points.
Ninthly, the use of steel beaters for the thrashing drum.
Tenthly, imparting motion to shaker rails or shaker boxes by double levers
or arms, as before described for riddle, &c. boards.
Eleventhly, making the riddle boards or frames of iron or steel, as also the
case in which the riddles are contained.
Twelfthly, making the shock board or shogging board or caving board of
iron or steel.
Thirteenthly, the substitution of iron (malleable or cast) or steel for wood
wherever practicable in such machines.
Fourteenthly, when the riddles are made of perforated wood, in grooving the
face to prevent the grain rolling down it too freely.
Fifteenthly, introducing pins or stops into the face of the riddles, to separate
the short straws and allow the grain to meet the openings more readily while
the short straws are divided, to allow the escape of any grain that may be
amongst it.
!
Sixteenthly, suspending the shaker rails or shaker boxes on links, the
centres of which are within or between the points of attachment to the boxes
or rails.
1
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page_text: Seventeenthly, suspending the shaker rail or shaker boxes on links, the
centres of which are outside or beyond the points of attachment, and by these
means I get two distinct motions from radial links.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Waller in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th July 1858.
i
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALLER, of Uddingston, near Glasgow, Mechanical Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-cight, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Waller, Her special licence that I, the said
William Waller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Waller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
"IMPROVEMENTS
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
THRASHING MACHINES OR MACHINERY FOR THRASHING AND DRESSING GRAIN," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Waller, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their 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.
IN
!
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Waller, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improvements relate to thrashing machines or machinery for thrashing
and dressing grain, and are applicable to the combined machine and to
the thrashing machine and dressing machine separately, and to distinct
parts of the two machines. The Drawings shew so much of the combined
thrashing machine as is required to explain the nature of my Invention, and
the way in which it is to be carried out,

page_text: Drawing No. 1 shews a side elevation; the sides are formed of cast-iron
plates, the position of the adjusting screws of the concave C being shewn.
Drawing No. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same, the concave
and revolving fork being shewn.
Drawing No. 3, the drum concave and grating are here shown, Fig. 1 being
a vertical section of them; Fig. 2, the front elevation of improved drum;
Fig. 3, the front elevation of two parts of the improved concave; and Fig. 4,
section of grating shewing another arrangement of bars.
Drawing No. 4, the revolving shaker, as commonly used in Scotch mills,
is shewn in Fig. 2, and the improved revolving shaker in Fig. 1, which may
be applied as shewn to any machine.
Drawing No. 5, the box or rail shaker suspended on links at both ends,
is shewn in Fig. 1, at one end of the stroke, and Fig. 2 at the other
end of the stroke, the red lines in Fig. 2 shewing it in the middle.
Drawing No. 6, the blower with two blasts, as applied to the combined
machine blowing two sets of riddles by one fanner.
Drawing No. 7, the mode of making the riddles themselves is here shewn.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the ordinary punched plate; and Fig. 2, a section of the
same, shewing the wood frame on which it is fixed; Figs. 3 and 4 are plans of
plates punched, but having stops or pieces of wire or sheet projecting from
the face, as more clearly shewn in Fig. 5, a section of same; Fig. 6 is
an enlarged section of stops where made short, but they may be carried
the full length of the plate, forming corrugations as Fig. 7 shews in section;
Fig. 8 is the section, and Fig. 9, the plan of plate with semi-punched
square holes; and Fig. 10, section, and Fig. 11, the plan of plate with
semi-punched round holes; Fig. 12 is side clevation, Fig. 13 plan, and
Fig. 14, section of a wood riddle having the stops or projecting pieces on
the face; and Fig. 15, the wood riddle grooved on the face as described.
Drawing No. 8 shews the balance levers described, Fig. 1, as applied to the
shock or caving board and riddle of the combined machine; and Fig. 2 as
applied to 4 separate riddles of varied travel in the corn dressing machines,
but the same travel may be obtained if wished.
The same letters represent the same parts in all the Drawings, videlicit,
A is the thrashing drum; B, the concave or breastwork or screen between
which and the drum A the process of extracting the grain from the
ear is carried on; C, the adjusting screws and pins of the concave breast-
work; D, the grain board, behind concave, to guide the thrashed grain
down to the caving riddle N; E, the grating of the concave; F, the
revolving fork or shaker which delivers the straw on G, the board to

page_text: receive the straw, and H receives the grain and pulse extracted from the
straw, guiding them to the riddle N; this board is not necessary where
the shock or caving board is under; I, the shaker rails or shaker boxes;
J, the links carrying I; K, the shock board or caving board; L, the first
riddle board; M, the second riddle board; N, the caving riddle in L;
O, the blast riddle in N, which is also placed sometimes in L; P, the
suspending links of riddle frame L, and shock board or caving board K;
Q, the balance lever; R, the blower or fan or fauner; S, the shaker crank;
T', the cross framing of machine.
To enable my Invention to be fully understood, I will describe in order the
several parts, and the way in which I propose to carry out my improvements.
In the machines hitherto used, the thrashing drum A is generally made as
shewn in Drawing No. 2, with a number of cross beaters fixed on arms or
discs; these beaters are shod with iron, and on the outside are fixed plates of
various forms called beater plates. The drums are open, but sometimes are
bound with iron under the beater plates. The Scotch scutching drum is
closed and covered in with sheet iron, and the beaters (wood shod with iron
as above described) project. These cross beaters by revolving rapidly cause a
strong current of air, which acting upon the lighter portions of the thrashed
corn, holds them back, and prevents them from passing readily down the
boards, or it accelerates them, and so prevents the proper separations from
being effected, carrying the grain over the riddles. The first part of my
Invention has for its object the prevention of these inconveniences and objec-
tions, and consists in closing the drum as shewn in Drawing No. 3, -Figs. 1
and 2; and in forming my beaters of thin strips of steel, plain or grooved, or
wire fastened on the periphery of the drum, and in sometimes covering the
drum frame with steel plate corrugated. I prefer that the corrugations or
projections shall be diagonal on the drum, and either diagonal and sloping in
the opposite direction on the concave breastwork B, or running horizontally
or zig-zag, but the corrugations or strips of steel or wire may be varied in
shape and position on the drum as found most suitable. I have found that a
very slight projection is sufficient to carry round the grain, therefore in no
case would advise a projection greater than one quarter inch for any kind of
grain, but even less than that is suflicient.
The concave breastwork or screen B, against which the drum rubs the
corn, is generally made in one piece, and the grating E in one, and the mode
of construction is simalar to that shewn in Drawing No. 2, being open to allow
the grain and chaff to escape on to the board D while guiding them to the
riddle board L. By dividing the concave breastwork B into three or more

page_text: parts, as shewn in Drawings Nos. 2 and 3, Fig. 1 and 4, I am enabled to
regulate the extent of surface over which the rubbing shall be continued, and
the adjusting screws C₁, 0³, C3, C4, Drawing No. 1, enable me to set the
breasting B nearer to the drum, or wider open, at pleasure, and set one or
more parts or segments of the concave in advance of the other. The segments
are hinged on the pins to which the adjusting screws are attached, which are
also marked C1, C2, C3, C4, Drawing No. 3, Figs. 1, 3, 4. I make the
breasting of plates having projections on the face to rub the grain effectually
before allowing it to escape, and so remove the hulks or whites, which are
grain that has not been deprived of husk. The breasting may be made of
wrought or cast iron, plain, grooved; or corrugated, such projections being
either horizontal or diagonal, but by preference either horizontal or sloping
in the direction opposite to those on the drum, or zig-zag. The breasting may
be closed or may have openings in it to allow the escape of the grain &c., but
I prefer its being closed, as shewn in Drawing No. 3, Figs. 1 and 3, with
broader projecting pieces either cast on or attached at intervals, to ensure the
ears being clean thrashed, such pieces being grooved to prevent the grain
being broken. Two segments or parts of breastwork are shewn in Fig. 3,
which will shew the way I propose to make them; but I do not confine
myself either to the arrangement of the projecting pieces, or to it being made
in plates as shewn, but I prefer it so made. The concave grating E may be
made of plain bar radial from the centre, as now made, and represented in
Drawing No. 2, but I prefer it made of angle iron, Drawing No. 3, Fig. 1,
or of bars inclined to the periphery of the drum in either direction, Fig. 4,
or of bars placed in opposite directions forming an angle with one another.
The
The Scotch shaker is shewn in Drawing No. 4, Fig. 2; it is formed of a set
of forks revolving round an axle, and dragging or pushing the straws over a
grating generally made of wood, which allows the short straws, chaff, and
grain to escape from the straw, but as the straw is pushed over it, it can only
be partially shaken, as instead of being shaken loose it is compressed.
drum or barrel of the shaker is covered with sheet iron, and closed, as shéwn
by Drawing No. 4, Fig. 2, F. I propose adding a revolving fork to the
combined thrashing machine, but not in the form described. I use a
revolving fork, as shewn in Drawing No. 2, to carry away any straw that
might collect near the drum A, to receive the straw from the drum A, and to
open the straw on the shakers I, I, to lighten it, and allow any grain that may
be in to escape.
I also use a revolving shaker, as shewn by Drawing No. 4,
Fig. 1. This drum or frame of the shaker may be either round, octagonal,
or any other shape that may be preferred, and covered with wire or wood

page_text: strips, but is open- so as to admit of grain, chaff, and short straws passing
into and through the shaker on to the caving board H, whence it will pass te
the riddles; the shaker then becomes a riddle, and the straw being delivered
to it at the side is carried over it, being shaken loose as it passes. over, and
turned over by the motion of the shaker, being delivered on to the board G,
and the shaker cleared by the forks. By this improvement the. straw is not
broken, as it is necessarily by the present Scotch shaker, and the grain is more.
effectually separated. I do not confine myself wholly to making the revolving
shaker with forks or prongs, though I prefer having, it so made, but it may.
be made of lattice-work of wood or iron, or wood and iron, which shall
answer the same purpose or nearly the same, but my improvement consists in
making the revolving shaker, now generally known as the Scotch shaker, open
in the case to permit grain to escape into and through the cover, instead of
closed as now, and by preference carrying the straw over the shaker instead
of pushing it under; also in the application of a revolving fork to the
combined thrashing machine or the improved Scotch. shaker, above described,
and represented in Drawing No. 4, Fig. 1. either alone or in combination
with one of the several kinds of straw shakers known and, used in these
machines, or a simple vibrating board or straw carrier, see Drawing. The
straw shakers now in use are generally made of a number of rails or boxes
receiving motion from a cranked axle, see Drawing No. 2 (S), and supported
at one end by links J, which are generally put vertical, or having the centre
of radiation and the centre of vibration at or near a right angle with
the shaker rails or boxes I. In some cases, inclined links have been used
at the end opposite to that which is connected to the crank, to obtain. a
lifting motion, but the great wear of the cranks shews that, carrying the
weight of the shaker rails or shaker boxes as. well, as the straw requires
too much power. Drawings 1 and 2 shew the links J: and boxes I.
My improvement consists in supporting the shaker, rails or shaker boxes
on links at both ends or near the ends, and. I prefer having the links
inclined. Drawing No. 5 shews the arrangement. The two rails or boxes
are shewn, and are marked I and I, the links J, J, carrying the rail or
box L, and the links J; J; the rail or box 12, in. the centre position, shewn in
red lines in the Drawing. The rails or. boxes are level, but at every other
position the rails or boxes I' cross those 1, the positions of the links at each
end of the travel being given in Figs. 1 and 2. There may be several modifi-
cations of these links in the arrangement of them, as for instance, these are
shewn with the centre of the link below the line of vibration, and within the
centre of vibration or point of attachment to the.shaker, rails, or, shaker, boxes,

page_text: but they may be put outside the centre of vibration, and the fixed ends of the
links may be above the line of vibration, or they may be placed some above
and some below, some within and some without the point of attachment, or
they may be vertical, but I prefer them placed as shewn in Drawing No. 5,
the top of the shaker being the plane or level from which I take the angle of
my links.
In this arrangement one set of boxes exactly balances the other,
hence a saving of the power required to give it motion. From having the links
inclined more or less a rising motion is given to the boxes or rails in addition
to the forward or carrying motion, and these motions may be varied by altering
the length of the radial or suspending links J', J, J, J, or the position of the
end which acts as the centre of radiation or vibration. Rectilinear motion
may thus be communicated to these rails or boxes I, and the cranks dispensed
with. The shock board or shogging board or caving board K, Drawing No. 2,
is now made of thin wood in wood frame, sometimes covered with sheet iron.
I make it wholly of thin sheet iron or steel, or of wire, or in combination with
In the Drawing
wood, and I prefer the combination of the two materials.
No. 2 a wood frame is shewn supporting a thin sheet of iron, which having a
smooth surface allows the straws, chaff, and grain readily to pass down; but
as there is frequently a great quantity of dust in the straw which falls on this
boad, and does not pass off so readily, I prefer covering it with fine wire,
sufficiently coarse in the mesh to allow the dust to fall, yet too fine for any
grain however small to pass through. I will herein-after describe the mode
in which I suspend and give motion to this and other parts of the machine.
The riddle board or riddle case L, and the smaller or lower or second riddle
board M, are generally made in one, but sometimes are parted horizontally, as
shewn in Drawing No. 2. The riddle case is made of wood. I would also
construct this if in one, or these if made as shewn of iron or steel plates or
wire, either altogether, or as I prefer, in combination with wood, as above
described for the caving board. The caving riddle N is sometimes made of
wood with holes drilled or bored in, sometimes of wood laths or lattice, some-
times of wire, and sometimes of sheet iron or zinc punched or drilled; all
these are open to various objections, the wood laths hold the cavings or short
straws, the wire riddles choke, and the drilled wood or punched plate riddles
presenting a smooth surface, permit grain to be carried over with the cavings
or short straws, which is lost; to prevent this I make my riddles either of plain
wood, or sheet iron, or zinc, or other suitable material, and groove the face
of the wood riddle, to stop any grain that may be rolling down, and introduce
stops or strips into the face of the riddle, see Drawing No. 7; or the same
may be performed by corrugating or planing the face in alternate ridges and

page_text: furrows, so that the cavings are carried on the points of the projecting parts,
while the grain passing down the grooves meets the apertures, and the smaller
portions, chaff, &c. escape from the other, and likewise find their way to the
blast. But the riddle I prefer is made from sheet iron, and is corrugated; or
the same corrugations, instead of being carried over the whole of the plate, may
be made as stops or even pins punched, but not punched through in the plate,
see Fig. 6, in Drawing No. 7. The openings for the grain are punched in,
but not punched through, the whole of the circumference or outside of the
opening; if square, one side of the square is left; if round, à portion of the
circumference, as Drawing in 7, Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, the wholes are semi-punched
and have the punchings left connected with the plate by a tongue. In the
caving riddle I place this tongue at the farthest side of the hole from the
direction in which the cavings enter the riddle, consequently the grain falls at
once into the hole while any straw that might have a tendency to enter a
common round or square hole, as usually made, meets the tongue and is
carried over the hole into the plate again. In the blast riddle O, I put that
side of the hole where the tongue is down next to the fan, to allow the blast to
have a clear passage. There are several ways in which the same effect may be
produced on a plain surface, such as pieces of wire fixed on the face, but my
improvement consists in undulating the face of the riddle, that the grain can
escape from the straws, &c. which are with it, and find a ready access to the
openings, and also in having tongues in the apertures, as described, whether
attached or left in punching. I wish it to be understood, however, that I 'do
not mean to claim the riddle made of lattice or strips of wood, with spaces
between slots for the passage of the grain, but the formation of riddles from
plain pieces of wood or from sheet iron, as described above, with grooves and
stops or projections on the face. The fan or blower R, Drawing No. 2, is
shewn as in general use, except that for greater effect the case is made
cycloidal, as economy of space in the combined thrashing machine is an object
I take
of great importance, particularly in the portable or travelling machine.
two or more blasts of air from the circumference of the case, by which one fan
is made to do the work of two or more; but as this has been practised before
in some corn dressing machines, I use it only in combination in the combined
machine, and I wish it to be understood that by combined machine I mean a
inachine containing the thrashing drum, straw shaker, and winnower, with or
without more parts, placed in or upon one frame. The arrangement of fan is
shewn in Drawing No. 6.
Steadiness in working can only be attained by a perfect balancing of
the parts, therefore I propose, by the use of double levers on one end of

page_text: which one portion of the working parts is suspended or connected, to
give motion to some other part from the other, thus in Drawing No. 8
the end of the shogging board is carried on one end of the double link or
lever Q, while motion is communicated to the riddle board L from the other
end of the same lever Q, and in the same way. The lower or second riddle
board M might receive motion and be carried from the upper riddle board L,
or if a cross motion were desired, it might have that motion conveyed through a
bell crank or other suitable mechanical contrivance, without being hung. or
attached to the double levers; but although I can recommend the plan for
the small riddles and parts of a corn dressing machine, I do not advise its
adoption in the combined machine as at present constructed, as the weight of
the riddle board is too great to admit of a quick reciprocating movement being
economically carried through these levers, but their advantage is in being able
to alter the motion or length of stroke of one riddle and make it more than
another where they are divided. The principle is exemplified in the combined
machine because it forms the subject of the Drawings, and a good arrangement
may be made, in which the benefit will be at once manifest. The framing and
sides or lining of combined thrashing machines have hitherto been made of
wood, the drum, where used alone, has been contained in iron sides; and the
Scotch thrashing mills have in some cases been made with cast-iron framing;
this has been lined or pannelled with wood. Now, I make my combined
thrashing machine and corn dressing machine with a frame of cast or wrought
iron, either alone or in combination with one another or with wood. Drawing
No. 1 shews the sides of the machine made of cast iron and put together in
plates, each of which is complete in itself, but the framing may be cast in such
way as is most ready for putting together, and may be lined with wood, or
iron, or other material, or of the same in combination. The transverse
stays T, Drawing No. 2, may be either of wood or wrought or cast iron.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the way in which
iny improvements are to be effected, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details described, nor to the exact way of con-
structing the same, as shewn by the Drawings; but what I do claim in the
manufacture of thrashing machines―
1. The use of corrugated plates or plain or grooved strips of steel on a
closed drum.
2. Making the concave or breastwork of wrought or cast iron or steel
plates, corrugated or grooved, or grooved and plain.
3. Making the concave or breastwork in three or more parts, either
hinged or unattached.

page_text: 4. Making the grating under the drum of angle iron or iron bars, placed
the one at an angle with the other or inclined to the periphery of the drum.
5. The application of a revolving shaker or fork, as described, to the com-
bined thrashing machine.
6. The application of a revolving riddle shaker and straw carrier.
7. Covering the revolving shaker with wire or other suitable material.
8. Suspending the rails or boxes of straw shakers on links at or near both
ends.
9. Making the shogging or shock board or caving board of sheet iron alone
or combined.
10. Making the riddle board as described.
11. Grooving the face of wood riddles.
12. Introducing stops or pins into the face of the riddles.
13. Grooving or corrugating the riddle plates.
14. Forming tongues to the apertures in the riddle plates.
15. Taking two or more blasts from the circumference of the fan case of
combined machines.
16. The use of double levers for communicating motion, as described.
17. Making the frames of combined thrashing machines and corn dressing
machines of wrought or cast iron, either alone or in combination with wood.
18. Lining the framing, that is, making the sides of these machines with
sheet iron or steel plates.
19. Making the sides of combined thrashing machines and corn dressing
machines of plates of cast iron.
20. Making the boards or partitions and those parts generally formed of
wood of plates of steel or iron, or of wire.
21. Making the cross rails or stays of the frame of wrought or cast iron.
22. Working two or more sets of elevators on one spindle, either alone or
in addition to some other portion of the machinery, all as herein-before
described, and shewn by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Waller, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-cight.
In the presence of
5
JOHN THOMPSON, Clerk, Uddingston.
WILLIAM WALLEK. L.S.)