A NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING FODDER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"A NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING FODDER."A communication
from abroad by Franklin Benjamin Hunt, of Richmond, Wayne County,
State of Indiana, United States of America.
Sealed the 14th June 1864, and dated the 2nd January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd January 1864.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING FODDER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a new and improved machine for cutting fodder,
such as straw, hay, stalks, or other substance, for animals, and it consists,
first, in an improved cutting device, the same consisting of a revolving spiral
or helical knife placed in front of the feed box, that is to say, across the end
or mouth at which the material to be cut is projected, and arranged in such a
relative position with the bed thereof that a comparatively long drawing cut is
obtained and the fodder cut with a less expenditure of power than usual.

page_text: The Invention consists, secondly, in a novel arrangement of the upper feed
roller of the machine, whereby the same in adjusting itself to the thickness of
the layer of straw, hay, or other substance passing underneath it will rise and
fall in the arc of a circle and always be at the same distance from the shaft of
the cutter or knife, so that the substance to be cut will at all times be retained in
proper position on the bed, and while being acted on by the cutter or knife
for this purpose the shaft of the upper feed roller is fitted in curved slots or
guides to admit of said roller rising and falling in the arc of. a circle and
be at all points of its movement at the same distance from the shaft of the
cutter or knife.
The Invention consists, thirdly, in a peculiar arrangement of gearing to
admit of the curvilinear adjusting movement of the upper feed roller without
any disarrangement of said gearing, which consists of a bar connected directly
to the shaft of the lower feed roller and to the shaft of the upper feed roller
by an arm, and having pinions attached to it, said bar and its pinions being
arranged in gear with the pinions of the feed roller shafts.
The Invention consists, fourthly, in the employment or use of a guard board
or guard plate attached to the frame of the upper feed roller so as to cause
said guard board or guard plate to rise and fall with the upper feed roller and
at all times prevent the substance being cut from passing over the top of the
upper feed roller, a contingency which otherwise might occur.
The Invention consists, fifthly, in attaching the fly wheel of the machine to
its shaft in such manner that the former may, in case of the cutter or knife
being arrested in its work by acting upon any hard foreign substance, be
allowed to slip on its shaft, and thereby relieve the cutter or knife from any
undue strain to which it would otherwise be subjected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: I, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Clark, 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 "A
NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING FODDER," a communication to me from
abroad by Franklin Benjamin Hunt, of Richmond, Wayne County, State
of Indiana, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Clark, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a new and improved machine for cutting fodder,
such as straw, bay, stalks, and other substances, for animals, and it consists,―
First, in an improved cutting device, the same consisting of a revolving
spiral knife placed in front of the feed box, and arranged in such a relative
position with the bed thereof that a comparatively long drawing cut is obtained
and the fodder cut with a less expenditure of power than usual.
The Invention consists, secondly, in a novel arrangement of the upper feed
roller of the machine, whereby the same in adjusting itself to the thickness of
the layer of straw, hay, or other substance passing underneath it, will rise and
fall in the arc of a circle, and always be at the same distance from the shaft of
the cutter or knife, so that the substance to be cut will at all times be retained
in proper position on the bed, and while being acted upon by the cutter or
knife.
The Invention consists, thirdly, in a peculiar arrangement of gearing to
admit of the curvilinear adjusting movement of the upper feed roller without
any disarrangement of said gearing.
The Invention consists, fourthly, in the employment or use of a guard board
or guard plate attached to the frame of the upper feed roller, so as to cause

page_text: said guard board or guard plate to rise and fail with the upper feed roller, and
at all times prevent the substance being cut from passing over the top
of the upper feed roller, a contingency which otherwise might occur.
The Invention consists, fifthly, in attaching the fly wheel of the machine to
its shaft in such a manner that the former may in case of the cutter or knife
being arrested in its work by acting upon any hard foreign substance be
allowed to slip on its shaft, and thereby relieve the cutter or knife from any
undue strain to which it would otherwise be subjected.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side view of this Invention;
Fig. 2, a side sectional view of the same, taken in the line x, x, Fig. 3;
Fig. 3, a plan or top view of the same, partly in section; Fig. 4, a detached
front view of a portion of the upper feed roller with one of its bearings in
section; Fig. 5, a detached central section of the fly wheel fitted on its
shaft. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several.
Figures.
A represents the framing of the machine, which may be constructed of either
wood or metal, and in any proper manner to support the working parts; B is
a feed box, which is placed on the framing A, and may be of the usual taper
from its sides a, a, being nearer together at its discharge end than at its
opposite end, as shown in Fig. 3. On the front part of the framing A there
are two bearings b, b, in which a shaft C is fitted and allowed to rotate freely..
This shaft C has two arms c, c, firmly keyed upon it, and to one end of said
arms a cutter or. knife D is secured by screws or otherwise. This cutter or
knife has a spiral position, and as the shaft C is rotated works closely over the
outer edge of a metal bed plate E, which is attached to the front or discharge
end of the bottom of the feed box by screws d, so as to admit of being
adjusted further forward or backward as desired to compensate for wear either.
of the knife or bed. The ends of the arms c, c, opposite to those where the cutters
or knife D is attached are made somewhat heavy, in order to counterpoise or
balance the cutter or knife on the shaft, and thereby ensure an easy cutting
action of the former.. On one end of the shaft C a fly wheel E' is fitted.
This shaft may have a collar e upon it, with a shoulder f at its inner end.
The fly wheel is fitted on this collar, the inner end of the hub g of the former
being pressed against the shoulder f by a nut h, which is on a screw cut on
the shaft at the outer side of the collar, e, and which bears against the outer
end of the hub g, see Fig. 5. By screwing up this nut h to a greater or less
extent the hub g may be pressed more or less firmly against the shoulder f,
and the fly wheel secured to the shaft C more or less firmly, as desired, but
not so firm as to prevent the slipping of the wheel on its shaft when the cutter

page_text: or knife is arrested in its motion by coming in contact with any hard foreign
substance, such, for instance as a thick stick, hard woody weed, stalks, and
other substances. By this slipping of the fly wheel on its shaft the cutter or
knife is greatly preserved, it being prevented from breaking and becoming
strained and bent under the action of the driving power in connection with
the inertia of the fly wheel. The collar e and shoulder f on the shaft C is not
absolutely essential; the shaft C may be turned in slightly taper form, and the
hub g of the fly wheel fitted upon it more or less tightly by means of a screw
nut, and the same end attained; I prefer, however, for the purpose the
arrangement first described. On the end of shaft C, opposite to that
where the fly wheel E is secured, there is fitted a pinion h, which gears into a
wheel on a shaft F above the shaft C, the bearings of the shaft F being in
upright plates j, j, attached to the bearings a, a, of the shaft C. The shaft F
bas a pinion k upon it at the end opposite to that where the wheel i is
attached, and this pinion k gears into a pinion 7, which gears into a wheel m
on one end of shaft n of a feed roller G, which is the lowest of a pair, and which
shaft n works in fixed or immovable bearings.
The shaft F is the driving shaft of the machine, and the shaft C on which
the cutter arms c, c, are placed is above the level or plane of the bed plate E,
as shown in Fig. 2. This relative position of the shaft C and bed plate E
causes the cutter or knife D to act or work with a drawing cut, and conse-
quently with greater facility than it otherwise would. II is the upper feed
roller, the periphery of which is provided with longitudinal ribs o to catch and
feed forward the substance in the feed box B to be cut. The shaft p of this
feed roller H has its bearings in two bars g. 9, which are placed on at
each side of the feed box B and extend down below the same, and are con-
nected at their lower ends by a cross bar r to which a spiral spring I is
attached, the lower end of said spring being connected to a cross bar s at
the lower part of the framing A. The upper ends of the bars 9, 9, are
connected by a board or plate t, to the back edge of which there is attached a
pendant board or plate u which extends down back of the roller H to a level
with its shaft p. as shown in Fig. 2. The spring I has a tendency to keep
the upper roller H pressed down towards the lower fixed roller G, and the
shaft p
has two cylindrical hubs u upon it, one at each end of the roller H,
and these hubs are fitted in curved slots v, v, in plates w, w, attached to each
side of the feed box. The slots v, v, are parts of circles of which the shaft C
is the centre, and consequently when the roller H rises and falls it moves in a
circle concentric with C and will at all points of its movement be at the same
distance from C and also have the same relative position to the cutter or

page_text: on the shaft p
knife D. This is an essential feature of the Invention, for if the roller H
were allowed to move up and down in a vertical plane under the different
thickness of the layer or straw or other substance beneath it to be cut, its
distance would vary materially in relation with the cutter or knife, and be,
when elevated, so far from the latter that the straw or other substance to be
cut would not be held firmly in position. The substance to be cut is fed to
the cutter or knife by the action of the two rollers G, H. In order to admit
of this curvilinear motion of the roller H a peculiar gearing is necessary in
order that said roller may be properly rotated at all points of its movement.
This gearing is arranged as follows:-The shaft n of the lower feed roller G
has a pinion a¹ at its end opposite to that where the wheel m is attached,
and the pinion a¹ gears into a pinion 6, the axis of which is attached to
a bar c', the lower end of which is fitted loosely on the shaft n. The
pinion gears in a similar pinion a', the axis of which is also attached to
the bar c', and the pinion a¹ is kept in gear with a pinion
of the upper roller H. by means of an arm f which is attached to the
upper end of the bar c¹ and is fitted loosely on the shaft p, by this
arrangement the roller H is allowed to move in the curved path described
without at all interfering with its driving gear. The board or plate u
which extends down back of the upper roller H prevents the straw or
other substance being cut from passing over the top of said roller, a contin-
gency which would be liable to occur were said board fixed or stationary, as it
would necessarily require to be placed sufficiently high to admit of the thickest
layers or stuff or substance to be cut passing underneath it, and a thin layer
would consequently be liable to pass over the roller H, the latter in that case
being quite low, and the lower edge of the board u quite high. This arrange-
ment, it will be seen, completely obviates this difficulty, as the board u moves
up and down with the roller H. I is a curb or cap which covers the cutter
or knife D, and J is a chute which conducts the cut substance down at the
front part of the machine. The substance to be cut may be cut into pieces of
greater or less length by varying the relative size of the pinions k, l.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the employment or use in a fodder cutting machine of a cutter or
knife D attached to or connected with a shaft C which is placed in front of
the bed plate E of the feed box B, and above the level or plane of the former,
and arranged substantially as shown, to cut over the front or outer edge of
said bed plate for the purpose specified.

page_text: Secondly, attaching the fly wheel E' to its shaft C in the manner shown, or
in an equivalent way, to admit of said wheel slipping on its shaft in case the
motion of the cutter or knife is arrested by any foreign substance, for the
purpose of preserving the cutter or knife, as set forth.
Thirdly, having the shaft p of the upper feed roller H fitted in curved slots
or guides v, v, substantially as shown, to admit of said roller rising and falling
in the arc of a circle and be at all points of its movement at the same distance
from the shaft C and cutter or knife D, as and for the purpose specified.
Fourthly, the bar c' connected directly to the shaft n of the lower feed
roller G, and connected to the shaft p of the upper feed roller H by the
arm f, and having the pinions b', d', attached to it, said bar and its pinions
being arranged in gear with the pinions a¹, e¹, of the feed roller shafts n, p,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fifthly, the guide board or guide plate u attached to the plate t of the
frame of the upper feed roller H, and extending down at the back of said
roller to a level with the shaft p of the same, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)