IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING POTATOES INTO DIFFERENT SIZES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert Mackinder, of Mere Hall, Lincoln, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING POTATOES INTO
DIFFERENT SIZES."
Sealed the 21st July 1863, and dated the 21st February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert Mackinder at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1863.
I, HERBERT MACKINDER, of Mere Hall, Lincoln, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
POTATOES INTO DIFFERENT SIZES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for separating
potatoes into different sizes. For these purposes the potatoes which are to be
separated into different sizes are placed in a hopper, through which a shaft or
axis passes on which there are curved stirrers, which keep the potatoes in the
hopper constantly in motion. The potatoes as they descend from the bottom
of the hopper fall on an inclined riddle, the spaces between the parallel wires
or rods of which are set at such a distance apart as will allow only the smallest
of the potatoes to drop through. The potatoes on arriving at the end of the
first riddle fall on a second inclined riddle, the spaces between the parallel
wires or rods of which are such as only to permit those potatoes to descend
through them which are suitable for seed. The potatoes from the second
inclined riddle fall on to an inclined shoot, or mouth-piece, where there is a

page_text: sack or other receiver into which the largest potatoes are received. The
potatoes which fall through the first riddle come on to an inclined board, which
causes them to descend laterally till they come near the opposite side of the
machine to that at which the delivery shoot or mouth-piece is applied. Below
the inclined board is an inclined riddle to allow the dirt to fall through, which
conducts the potatoes to the mouth or delivery shoot, where a sack or other
receiver is situated. A similar arrangement of parts is applied below the
second riddle. The riddles are placed in a suitable frame, which receives a
constant to-and-fro motion by means of a crank or otherwise. Under the
riddles are placed transverse rollers, which, in the event of any potatoes passing
only partly through the riddles, cause such potatoes to be driven back, and
thus are the spaces of the riddles kept constantly open. Motion is com-
municated to the riddles and to the stirrer in the hopper by means of a crank
handle on the driving drum or pulley, which by a band gives motion to the
crank axis, on which there is a pulley, which by a strap gives motion to the
stirrer axis. A fly wheel is placed on the crank shaft.
Other mechanical arrangements than that above described may be employed
for giving motion to the parts of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Herbert Mackinder in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
MACKINDER, of Mere Hall, Lincoln, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Herbert Mackinder, Her special licence that I, the said Herbert
Mackinder, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Herbert Mackinder, 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 "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING POTATOES INTO DIFFERENT SIZES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Herbert Mackinder, my

page_text: 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 per-
formed, 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 Herbert Mackinder, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for separating
potatoes into different sizes, and the Invention consists in the combined
apparatus here after described. The potatoes which are to be sorted into
different sizes are placed in a hopper, from which they descend on to an
inclined riddle. The parallel wires or rods of which this riddle is formed are
set at such a distance apart as to allow only the smallest potatoes and the dirt
to drop through. After passing over this riddle, the potatoes reach a second
riddle of similar construction, but with the parallel wires or rods further apart,
so as to allow potatoes suitable for seed to pass. These two riddles are com-
bined together in a moveable frame carried by small wheels, which rest upon
short guide rails on the main frame of the apparatus, and the riddle frame
receives a to-and-fro motion from a connecting rod and a crank on an axis,
which is driven by a band passing around a pulley on the crank axis, and also
around another pulley which is driven directly by a crank handle. A fly wheel
is employed to render the motion more regular. The motion thus communi-
cated to the riddles serves both to keep the potatoes in movement, and also to
clear from the spaces of the screen any potatoes which may be set fust between
them: There are for this purpose immediately underneath the riddles rollers
passing from one side to the other of the fixed frame. These rollers are able
to turn freely, but in other. respects they are held stationary, and the riddles
pass backwards and forwards over them, so that whenever a potato passes
partly through the riddle and then becomes fast, it is pushed back again by
coming against one of the rollers, and thus the riddles are kept clear. The
use of these rollers with the riddles forms an important feature of my Inven-
tion. The potatoes which pass through the first riddle fall upon a grated
incline, which conveys them to a mouth or opening in the side of the
apparatus, where they fall into a sack placed to receive them, and similarly
the seed potatoes from the second riddle are collected, but the incline which
receives them need not be grated, as all the dirt falls through at the first

page_text: riddle. The large potatoes pass off at the end of the second riddle to mouths
at the end of the apparatus, and are there collected in sacks.
The apparatus above described, although it is more especially applicable to
the sorting of potatoes, may also be used for sorting other roots.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and 5
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view, Figure 3 a longitudinal
section, and Figures 4 and 5 are transverse sections of apparatus constructed
according to my Invention.
a, a, is the frame of the apparatus; it is mounted on wheels a', a', and has
handles a, a, to facilitate its removal from place to place; 6 is the hopper
receive the potatoes or roots; c and d are the upper and lower riddles, the
riddle c being finer than the riddle d, and e is the frame in which the riddles are
mounted; this frame is linked by means of the connecting rod with a crank
on the axis 9; 9' is a fly wheel and g³ a pulley on this axis, and around the
pulley and also around the pulley h the band i passes; h¹ is a crank handle
on the pulley h, by which it is turned, and thus a to-and-fro motion is given
to the riddles and their frame; this frame e is furnished with wheels e', which
rest on the short rails a³ on the frame a, and thus the riddle frame is supported
and guided in its motion; k is the grated incline, on which the smallest
potatoes and the dirt fall; the dirt passes through, and the potatoes run down
to the mouth, where they are received into a sack; m is another incline,
which conducts the seed potatoes to the mouth n, where they are collected, as
before; o, o, are the mouths, by which the large potatoes when they get to the
end of the second screen pass into other sacks placed for their reception.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert Mackinder; have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of our
: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
HERBERT MACKINDER. (L.D.)