AN IMPROVED COMBINED GUARD AND FEEDER FOR THRASHING MACHINE DRUMS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Potterton Fison, of Teversham, in the
County of Cambridge, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINED
GUARD AND FEEDER FOR THRASHING MACHINE DRUMS."
Sealed the 23rd December 1875, and dated the 5th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Potterton Fison
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th July 1875.
I, JOHN POTTERTON FISON, of Teversham, in the County of Cambridge,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
COMBINED GUARD AND FEEDER FOR THRASHING MACHINE DRUMS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved guard for thrashing machine
drums, whereby to prevent accidents to the attendant. By means of
this Invention it is rendered impossible for any person to be drawn or
fall into the drum.

page_text: The Invention consists in an arrangement of balanced reel and feed
board constructed as follows:-The reel is made to revolve over the
opening for feeding, and its journals are supported in the ends of two
counterweighted levers, in such a way that the reel is capable of rising
and falling. The feed board is supported on pivots near its centre, and is
connected to the axis of the reel by a link. The reel is driven by a belt
and facilitates the feeding, but as soon as any unusual weight comes
upon either the reel or the upper part of the feed board, the reel is
brought down and the lower part of the feed board brought up so as to
entirely close the feed opening; the belt which drives the reel at
same time becoming slackened, thus stopping its movement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Potterton Fison in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I JOHN
POTTERTON FISON, of Teversham, in the County of Cambridge, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Potterton Fison, Her special licence
that I, the said John Potterton Fison, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Potterton Fison,
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
⚫ AN IMPROVED COMBINED GUARD AND FEEDER FOR THRASHING MACHINE DRUMS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Potterton
Fison, 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

page_text: 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 John Potterton Fison; do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accompanying
Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
My Invention relates to a combined drum guard and feeder for
thrashing machines. It is designed to prevent accidents by making it
impossible for any person to fall upon or be drawn into the drum, and
to act also as a feeder or feed regulator, whereby improper feeding, waste
of corn, and the usual tendency to choke (when fed by hand only) are
completely obviated.
The Invention consists in the employment of a balanced cylinder or
reel, and pivoted feed board arranged and operating in the following
manner: The cylinder covers the full width and length of the mouth
of the machine, and is supported by two counterweighted levers in such
a way as to be capable of rising and falling as herein-after described.
The feed board is mounted to swing on a horizontal axis preferably at or
about the middle of its height, and it is connected to the journals of the
before-mentioned cylinder by links or connecting rods. The cylinder is
made to revolve by a belt in order to assist and regulate the feed.
Should however any unusual weight come upon either the cylinder or
the upper part of the feed board, as for instance, a person falling on the
same, the cylinder instantly descends or is brought down upon the feed
board, and the lower part of the feed board at the same time rises to
meet the cylinder. The cylinder and feed board being thus brought
together, the feed opening of the thrashing machine is entirely closed.
When the cylinder falls the belt which drives it becomes slackened, and
the motion of the cylinder is consequently arrested. As soon as the
weight is removed the cylinder and feed board return automatically to
their working positions. The connections between the cylinder and
feed board are adjustable to admit of the feed board being set at different
inclines, and the feed board is so mounted as to be adjustable, hori-
zontally, or by another arrangement -vertically. By this means tho
width of mouth or feed opening is regulated as required...

page_text: In order that my Invention may be more readily understood, I will
proceed to more fully describe it in reference to the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the combined drum guard
and feeder; Figure 2 is an end elevation, and Figure 3, a sectional
elevation of same on line 1, 1, Figure 1.
and feeder; Figure 2 is an end elevation, and Figure 3, a sectional
elevation of same on line 1, 1, Figure 1.
Figure 4 shows the arrangement for making the feed board adjustable
vertically.
Figure 5 shows face and edge views of one end of the feed board
provided with adjustable connections for the coupling rods.
A is the combined drum guard and feed regulating cylinder. Its
journals revolve in movable bearings a fitted in inclined slots b in end
frames or castings B bolted to the main frame of the thrashing machine.
The length of slots 6 is such as to allow the cylinder bearing sufficient
play up and down therein to bring the cylinder in contact with the feed
board. The cylinder A is supported in the highest or working position
by two counterweighted levers C located within the body of the thrashing
machine, and each mounted on a fulcrum, stud, or bolt c fixed to end
frames B. The journals of cylinder A. are supported by the short arms
of these levers, which have slots c¹ for the journals to pass through to
allow of the cylinder rising and falling in its guides b. The counter-
weights of levers C are movable thereon, in order to adjust the balance
of the cylinder and feed board accurately, and the two levers C are
connected rigidly together by a cross rod C₁; D is the inclined feed
board pivoted on a horizontal cross rod d, passing through brackets d'
fixed at back of feed board D, the ends of said rods d being received in
horizontal slots e in an extension E of frames B. The feed board is
mado adjustable, horizontally, to enable the width of feed opening to be
regulated and adapted for all kinds of corn, and also readily removable
to give access to the beaters. For this purpose a plato F is placed
behind the extension E of the frame at either side of the machine. The
plates F have a hole near one end through which the ends of the rod d
pass before being received in slots e. Plates F are secured in the
desired position by a screw bolt f passing through a hole in E and
'through a slot f¹ in F. By means of plates F which are provided with
handles f, the feed board may be moved backward or forward to
increase or diminish the width of mouth as required. The feed board
may also be made to shift vertically for the same purpose by mounting

page_text: •
it as shown in Figure 4. In this case the slots e are vertical, and the
feed board supported and adjusted by set screws, the plates F being
dispensed with. The feed board may, however, if desired be otherwise
mounted so as to bring down the cylinder when any unusual weight
comes on the feed board.
Referring again to Figures 1, 2, 3; G, G, are the connecting rods
fitted at one end on the journals of cylinder A, and at the other end
connected adjustably to the feed board D. In this arrangement the
connecting rods G have a number of gaps g, by any one of which they
may be attached to fixed studs g' on the feed board, whereby the length
of connecting rod may be altered as required. In Figure 5, the
connection is made by an eye on the connecting rod G fitting on a stud
on a screw bolt 7, passing through a slotted plate fixed on the feed
board D, said plate having a rack of teeth with which a V tooth on the
bolt engages, and in which it is secured by a nut on the bolt at back.
By this means the connection can be readily shifted nearer to or further
from the axis of the feed board, in order to set the latter at the required
incline, or otherwise to adjust the connection to the height of the feed
board.
4
The cylinder A is preferably about fourteen inches in diameter, but
may be more or less if required, and its length is equal to that of the
thrashing, drum I. The cylinder which is of light construction may
have end and centre frames of wood, and a covering of sheet iron or
zinc to resist pointed or heavy substances which may come in contact
with it. A¹ are bevelled wooden bars or slats fixed longitudinally on
the cylinder, at equal distances apart. They extend the whole length of
the cylinder and serve to divide and loosen the sheaves, bundles, or loose
corn when thrown on the feed board or on the cylinder, and also to
carry the corn uniformly and continuously to the mouth of the thrashing
drum. The cylinder A also serves to prevent stones or other heavy
foreign substances which may be fed in with the corn being violently
thrown out by the drum to the danger of the attendants.
The cylinder A is driven by a belt K from the shaker spindle. The
ends of cylinder A are shielded so as to prevent straw falling between the
cylinder and end frames B on to the connecting rods or levers. A
plank L passes across from one frame B to the other at back, and tho
cylinder A is partly covered to avoid back action when anything comes

page_text: in contact with back of cylinder, and to prevent the corn falling any-
where but in its proper place.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would observe that I do not confine myself to
the precise arrangement and construction of the details of the apparatus
herein shown and described, but what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The application to and use with a thrashing machine of a balanced
guard cylinder connected to and acting in combination with a swinging
feed board, substantially as herein shown and described for the prevention
of accidents, as specified.
2nd. The combined drum guard and feeder, for thrashing machines
consisting of the balanced guard and feed cylinder, having rotary motion
and mounted as described, and the swinging feed board connected to said
cylinder and acting in combination therewith, substantially as herein
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Potterton Fison, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Third day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.