CER- TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THRESHING AND WINNOWING CORN AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Spence, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THRESHING AND WINNOWING
CORN AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE."-A Communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Spence at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th February 1853.
I, WILLIAM SPENCE, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THRESHING AND
WINNOWING CORN AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in adapting and applying to such machines
certain arrangements and combinations of mechanism by means of
which the corn or other agricultural produce, on being introduced into
the machine, is, after being operated upon by the revolving beaters or

page_text: threshers, carried forward over an open travelling apron of a peculiar
construction, and allowed to fall into a receptacle, whence it is con-
veyed by a suitable apparatus on to the rack or open floor peculiarly
formed for the purpose of allowing the winnowing blast to pass through
it, and to clear it more effectually than heretofore, whence the grain
falls into a receiver, while the chaff is blown out of the machine. In
these machines there are also arrangements by which the corn that is
not duly operated upon is made to return through the machine, and
come again in contact with the working parts.
The open travelling apron alluded to above is formed by means of
an endless chain or chains, with rods extending therefrom horizontally
at intervals, such chain or chains passing over rollers, and having
thereby imparted to it or them, in its or their course, a short tremulous
vertical motion.
Also the aforesaid rack or open floor is formed by means of a series
of leaves or shutters inclined more or less in the direction of the win-
nowing blast, so as to present the least amount of obstructing surface
to the passage of such blast through the floor; and the said leaves or
shutters, in consequence of their inclination, obviate the tendency of
the floor to become choked by the entry of refuse matter or broken
heads of corn into the interstices of the same. This rack or open floor
has the usual short backward and forward movement imparted to it.
There is also a trough or receptacle at the end of the open floor, into
which any matter that does not pass through the said interstices, and
is not carried over the tail-board, may enter a trough, and be carried
back into the machine, to be again operated upon by the working
parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters' Patent,
filed by the said William Spence, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 24th August 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM SPENCE, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Spence, Her special licence
that I, the said William Spence, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Spence, my executors,
adñiors, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR THRESHING AND WINNOWING CORN AND OTHER
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE," being a communication from a foreigner re-
siding abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Spence, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Spence, 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 following statement, reference being had to the drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
This Invention of "certain improvements in machines for threshing
and winnowing corn and other agricultural produce" relates to
machines generally in which the threshing and winnowing processes
are capable of being performed, it being intended to increase the
efficiency of such machines, without reference to their particular form
and construction, by adapting and applying thereto certain improved
arrangements and combinations of mechanism herein-after described,
for the purpose of operating more completely upon the whole of the

page_text: corn or other agricultural produce supplied to the machine, and thereby
avoid waste.
And the means by which this object is accomplished consist, in the
first place, of an open travelling apron, on which the corn or other
agricultural produce, as it passes from the beaters or threshers, is
received; and while the grain and chaff pass through the interstices
of the same, the straw deprived of the grain is conveyed away:
Secondly, of a rack or open floor on to which the corn is conveyed and
deposited, in order that it may be submitted to the action of the win-
nowing blast: And thirdly, of a receptacle for collecting any refuse
matter, in order that it may be passed back into the machine, and
operated upon over again.
In order, however, that the Invention may be fully understood, I
proceed now to describe, by the aid of the accompanying drawings, the
particular form and construction of these three portions of mechanism,
with their respective uses, as applied to threshing and winnowing
machines.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of such a machine, with the improve-
ments applied thereto; and Fig. 2, is a longitudinal vertical section
of the same. A, A, is the ordinary frame of the machine, boarded in
as usual to prevent waste of the material under operation; B, is an
inclined feeding board, down which the corn or other agricultural
produce is carried to the beaters or threshers C, C, which act upon it
as it passes into the machine over a bed or floor D, with openings in
it. By the rotation of the drum or frame carrying the beaters or
threshers, the corn or other agricultural produce is passed forward on
to the open travelling apron E, E, which constitutes the first part
of the improvements under this Invention. This open travelling apron
is formed by means of an endless chain F, with another similar chain,
the two chains forming the two side limits of the apron, and being
connected together by means of rods G, G, extending horizontally
between them, so as to cause them to move forward as one chain.
This endless chain or chains is made to travel over rollers H, H, being
advanced or set in motion by means of a toothed pinion I, taking into
the projections or teeth J, J, on the chain F. As the chain passes over

page_text: the rollers it has imparted to it a short tremulous vertical motion by
the projections or teeth J, J, successively striking upon the surface of
the rollers. The corn or other agricultural produce, whilst being
carried forward on the travelling apron, is subjected to a tremulous
vertical motion, by which it is made to fall through the interstices of
the apron, between the rods G, G, into the trough K. The straw not
passing through the said interstices is carried forward until it arrives
at the point of return of the endless apron, whence it falls to the ground
beyond and out of reach of interference with the winnowing apparatus.
The smaller matters proceeding from the threshing apparatus, and
consisting of grain, chaff, &c., are conveyed by the screw conveyer L,
on to the inclined board M, and thence pass on to the rack or open
floor N, which constitutes the second part of the improvements under
this Invention.
•
This rack, or open floor, is formed of a series of leaves or "slats"
O, O, inclined more or less in the direction of the winnowing blast,
which is caused by the rapid rotation of the fan-wheel P. It will
be seen on reference to Fig. 2, that by the inclination of the
leaves or "slats" O, O, the spaces between them are so situated as to
admit of the blast passing through them in the most direct manner,
and thereby clearing them from obstructions; moreover, the liability of
the spaces to become choked is lessened by their being more or less
covered by one leaf or "slat" projecting over another in a vertical
direction.
At the end of the rack, or open floor, is a tail-board Q, over which the
chaff is blown, the grain falling into a trough with a screw conveyer R,
within it, whence the grain is conveyed to any suitable receptacle. The
rack, or open floor, is rocked or shaken by means of the small crank S,
set in motion by the gearing at T, as shown in Fig. 1. At the
bottom of the tail-board Q, is fixed a trough or receptacle U, into
which may fall loose heads of corn and other matters that may not
have passed down the interstices of the rack or open floor, and may
have been too heavy to be carried over the tail-board Q. From this
trough or receptacle U, the matter thus collected falls into a trough V,
underneath, which has in it a screw conveyer, by which the said

page_text: matter is conveyed back, and again introduced into the machine at W.
And this trough or receptacle U, constitutes the third part of the
improvements under this Invention.
The matters thus introduced into the machine are again deposited on
to the feeding-board B, and subjected once more to the operations above
described. The trough, or receptacle U, may be of any convenient
form, and arranged in any convenient manner to receive the otherwise
refuse matters, so that they may be conveyed back to the working
parts of the machine.
I would here remark that I have not referred to the process of
threshing and winnowing corn, nor to the details of machines for the
purpose, because the present Invention does not relate to them in any
other way than merely as supplying the means of operating with
increased effect in carrying the corn or other agricultural produce, and
duly shaking it on its passage from the beaters or threshers to the
winnowing floor, there winnowing it and collecting the refuse matters
to be again subjected to the operations of the machine as described.
The particular forms and arrangements of the portions of mechanism
by which these operations are effected may be somewhat varied in their
application to different machines, but in all cases they will perform the
same essential functions, (viz.) to receive the corn or other agricultural
produce from the beaters or threshers, and shake it on an open
travelling apron, so as to cause the grain to fall into the conveyor and
be taken to the winnowing floor, such winnowing floor by its con-
struction with leaves or "slats" inclined to the direction of the blast
being adapted to become cleared by the blast, and lastly, to collect and
take back to the threshing apparatus for a second operation such
matters as were not duly operated upon at first.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
what I claim under the present Patent is,―
First, the adaptation and application to threshing and winnowing
machines of the open travelling apron, as described;
Secondly, the adaptation and application thereto of the rack or open
floor, as described; and,

page_text: Lastly, the adaptation and application thereto of the receptacle,
whereby the matters that have not been duly operated upon are passed
and conveyed back into the machine, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Spence, have hereunto set
my
hand and seal, this twenty-second day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witnessed by B. NANCARROW.
WILLIAM SPENCE. (L.B.)