IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING CUT GRASS, WET HAY, STRAW CROPS, GRAIN, AND OTHER LIKE MATTERS.”
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Alfred Gibbs, of Gilwell Park, Sewardstone,
near Woodford, in the County of Essex, Esquire, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING CUT GRASS,
WET HAY, STRAW CROPS, GRAIN, AND OTHER LIKE MATTERS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Alfred Gibbs at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1880.
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS, of Gilwell Park, Sewardstone, near Woodford, in the
County of Essex, Esquire. "IзPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
DRYING CUT GRASS, WET HAY, STRAW CROPS, GRAIN, AND OTHER LIKE
MATTERS."
My Invention consists, first, of improvements in the machinery or apparatus
described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 1380, A.D. 1876, with reference
to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings, and my said improvements consist in
mounting the bars to which the shorter ends of the tines are attached in slides or
on rocking standards, and in imparting reciprocatory motion to the said bars, by
which arrangement, when the machine is in action, the tines are jerked as they
lift the grass or matters to be dried, and the tufts or masses are shaken out and
lightened, the action of the tines on the matters under treatment being very
similar to that of a hay fork manipulated in the ordinary manner. In order to
give the required reciprocatory motion to the said bars I mount in the frame of
the machine rotatory cranked shafts, one on each side of the machine, and I
connect the said shafts to the bars by means of connecting rods, and I gear the
said cranked shafts to the cranked shafts carrying the tines by means of bevilled
gearing, or in any other suitable manner, so that the former shafts, which I term
the "jogging shafts," shall make between five and six revolutions to each revolution
of the latter shafts. I prefer to pass the driving belt or chain over a pulley on the
jogging shaft on one side of the machine, whence motion is communicated in any
suitable manner to the corresponding shaft on the other side of the machine.
My Invention consists further in substituting shovels for the tines in the
machine herein before referred to, by which modification the samo machine is

page_text: rendered applicable for drying grain seeds and other like matters; or instead of
removing the said tines and substituting shovels, removeable blades may be
secured to the point ends of the said tines. In some cases I prefer to form per-
forations in the said blades and the blades of the aforesaid shovel, or I substitute
forks or combs for the said blades.
For the sake of compactness and for convenience in travelling I joint the
brackets which support the bars, so that the said brackets may be folded against
the sides of the machine when it is not in use. And in some cases I arrange the
fan and furnace on the same carriage with the machine and at the side thereof, the
supporting wheels of the machine being set in the same plane as those of the fan
and furnace. In this arrangement I reduce the length of the machine sufficiently
to admit of its passing through an ordinary farm gateway.
My Invention consists further in forming the said machines with a single trough
instead of a double trough, and in mounting a number of fans at the side of the
said trough, opposite to that at which the tines are mounted, the mouths of the
said fans from which the air issues being so formed as to deliver the air passing
from them into the trough in a broad stream, similarly to the air duct illustrated
in Figure 1 of the Drawings accompanying the Specification herein before referred
to, and in arranging furnaces below the said fans, whence they draw heated air,
the whole constituting one machine, which is capable of being readily moved from
place to place. I prefer to use with this arrangement the arrangement herein-
before described for jerking the tines. Motion is communicated to the different
parts of the machine from the fan shaft over a pulley, on which the driving belt
from the engine or other motor passes.
My-Invention consists further in mounting a fan and furnace on wheels, and
-gearing the shaft of the fan with tho-said-wheels_or_one of them, so that their or
its rotation is caused to impart rotatory_motion to the fan shaft, the mouth-of-the
fan being so formed and in such a position that when the-machine. is caused to
advance a broad stream of air is directed from the fan in a forward or backward
and downward direction. This machine is used to dry cut grass in the field, the
machine being drawn or driven over the cut grass, which is turned and tossed with
forks by hand or otherwise, before the mouth of the fan.
My Invention consists further of the combination of an inclined or curved table
or platform, or platforms mounted on wheels, and provided with a rake or rakes
and with tines actuated by a crank shaft and jegging shaft, as herein before
described, and with a fan or fans and furnace or furnaces, the parts being so
arranged that when the machine is drawn over a field on which cut grass or hay
is lying, the rake or rakes raise the hay, which is then tossed by the tines and
exposed to the action of the hot air from the fan or fans and thrown onto the
platform or platforms, whence it falls to the earth, motion being communicated
to the different parts of the machine from the travelling wheels.
My Invention consists further in combining an air duct consisting of a series of
lengths of tubes of different diameters connected together with a fan and furnace
mounted on wheels, as hereinbefore described, the tubes being of such diameters or
having their ends so formed that when connected together spaces are left at their
junctions for the exit of the air driven into them froin the fan. The end of the
said duct farthest from the fan, which is the smaller end, is supported on wheels.
In some cases I arrange the tubes of the air-duct so that they may be slidden one
within another, in the same manner as the tubes of a telescope. In use this
apparatus is drawn fan foremost over a field of cut grass or wet hay, the hot air
being driven through the openings in the duct into the swathes of grass or rows of
hay lying on the field. As the hottest air issues from the end of the duct nearest
the fan, the wettest grass is thus first acted on, and is subjected to the greatest
heat.
My Invention consists further in combining a hay tedder or similar machine for
raising and turning hay with a fan and furnace mounted on wheels, as hereinbefore

page_text: described, or with a machine consisting of several fans connected with a furnace or
furnaces, the said fan or fans and furnace or furnaces being mounted on one
carriage, and the fans being geared with the supporting wheels of the carriage.
The action of this arrangement is as follows:-When the machine is drawn over a
field of cut grass the hay tedder raises the grass and exposes it to the action of the
hot air issuing from the fan or fans.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Alfred Gibbs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd March 1881.
WILLIAM ALFRED GIBBS, of Gilwell Park, Sewardstone, near Woodford, in the
County of Essex, Esquire. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR
DRYING CUT GRASS, WET HAY, STRAW CROPS, GRAIN, AND OTHER LIKE
MATTERS."
My Invention consists, first, of improvements in the machinery or apparatus
described in the Specification of my Patent, No 1380, A.D. 1876, with reference
to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings, and my said improvements consist in mounting
the bars to which the shorter ends of the tines are attached in slides or on rocking
standards, and in imparting reciprocatory motion to the said bars, by which
arrangement when the machine is in action the tines are jerked as they lift the
grass or matters to be dried, and the tufts or masses are shaken out and lightened,
the action of the tines on the matters under treatment being very similar to that
of a hay fork manipulated in the ordinary manner. In order to give the required
reciprocatory motion to the said bars I mount in the frame of the machine rotatory
cranked shafts, one on each side of the machine, and I connect the said shafts to
the bars by means of connecting rods, and I gear the said cranked shafts with the
cranked shafts carrying the tines by means of bevilled gearing or in any other
suitable manner, so that the former shafts, which I term the "jogging" shafts,
shall make between five and six revolutions to each revolution of the latter shafts.
I prefer to pass the driving belt or chain over a pulley on the "jogging" shaft on
one side of the machine, whence motion is communicated in any suitable manner to
the corresponding shaft on the other side of the machine.
The arrangement of the jogging shaft and reciprocating bar hereinbefore
described is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, and is
fully described with reference thereto.
My Invention consists further in mounting the fan and furnaces and the said
machine on one carriage, the relative positions of the said fan and furnaces and
machine being the same as those illustrated in Figure 1 of the Drawings accom-
panying the Specification herein before referred to, and the supporting wheels of
the carriage being set in the same plane as those of the fan and furnaces in the
said Drawings. This arrangement admits of the fan and furnaces and machine

page_text: being moved from place to place without disconnecting them. As in this arrange-
ment the position of the machine relatively to the carriage on which it and the
fan and furnaces are mounted, is such that the air duct and reciprocatory trough
are in a plane at right angles to that of the wheels of the carriage, I reduce the
length of the said machine sufficiently to admit of its passing through an ordinary
farm gateway.
My Invention consists further in substituting shovels for the tines in the
machine herein before referred to, by which modification the same machine is
rendered applicable for drying grain, seeds, and other like matters. Or instead
of removing the said tines and substituting shovels, removeable blades may be
secured to the point ends of the said tines. In some cases I prefer to form
perforations in the said blades and the blades of the aforesaid shovels, or I substitute
forks or combs for the said blades.
My Invention consists further in forming the said machines with a single trough
instead of a double trough, and in mounting a number of fans at the side of the
trough opposite to that at which the tines are mounted, the mouths of the said
fans froin which the air issues being so formed as to deliver tho air passing from
them into the trough in a broad stream, similarly to the air duct illustrated in
Figure 1 of the Drawings accompanying the Specification herein before referred to,
and in arranging furnaces below the said fans whence they draw heated air, the
whole constituting one machine which is capable of being readily moved from
place to place. The use of a fan mounted on an independent carriage is thus
-rendered. unnecessary. I prefer to use with this arrangement the arrangement
herein before described for jerking the tines. Motion is communicated by suitable
gearing to the different parts of the machine from the fan shaft over-a pulley.on
which the driving-belt-from-the engine or other motor passes. Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawings is a side elevation partly-in-section,_and_Figure 2 is
an end elevation of a machine thus constructed,_and_Figure 3 is a transverse
section taken on the line 1 Figure, 1, showing the relative arrangement-of-
the fans and furnaces and the air duct and reciprocatory floor, the said
parts and those in iminediate connection, therewith only being shown in the
said section. The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same
parts in each of the said Figures of the Drawings. A, A, are the furnaces; B, B, are
the fans; C, C are the side chambers of the fans which communicate with the
furnaces B, B; c', c', are valves or dampers by which the communication between
the furnaces and the chambers C, C may be cut off when required, the said valves
or dampers being worked by means of slotted cranks c³, c³, the slots in which
engage with pins c, c, on a bar c, which is supported by and capable of sliding
in staples co, c; b, 62, are fast and loose pulleys mounted on the fan shaft b³.
D is the air duct; b is a hanging plate hinged to the fans, and forming the back
of the air duct; E is the reciprocatory floor which is mounted on rollers e¹, e';
F is the crank shaft, on the cranks of which the tines f, f, are mounted, the said
tines being connected by straps, cords, or chains f³, f³, to a bar G, as described in
the Specification of the Patent herein-before referred to; H is the jogging shaft,
mounted in bearings carried by the brackets which support the bar G; ² is one of
the cranks on the said shaft, and is one of the rods by which the said shaft is
connected to the said bar. One of the bearings supporting the shaft H is shown
at ³, and one of the said brackets is shown at g¹, Figure 2. Motion is
communicated to the fans by a driving belt passing from a steam engine or other
motor over the pulley bon the fan shaft b3; 6 is a pulley on the fan shaft, from
which motion is communicated to a shaft I (mounted in bearings i, i, on the frame
of the machine) by means of a band passing over a pulley on the said shaft I.
From the shaft I motion is communicated through the shaft J to the crank shaft K,
by which reciprocatory motion is imparted to the floor E, and from the said shaft Í
notion is communicated through the shafts L, M, to a shaft N mounted in bearings
carried by the brackets g'. From the shaft N motion is communicated to the time
shaft F and to the jogging shaft H by means of the pinion n', which gears with

page_text: the toothed wheel fon the tine shaft F, and with the pinion on the jogging
shaft H.
In order to arrange the machine for use, the fore carriage is detached from the
part marked Q by withdrawing the bolts P, P, and the said fore carriage is then
removed and the fore end of the machine is lowered to the necessary inclination
and suitably supported. The machine is then in proper position for working, and
is used as described with reference to the apparatus illustrated in Figures 1 and 2
of the Drawings accompanying the Specification of my aforesaid Patent.
Although I have described the arrangement of the jogging shaft in connection
with this machine, it is not necessary that that arrangement be used as a fixed bar
or adjustable bar arranged as described in my aforesaid Specification may be
used.
Instead of arranging the bar G in slides as hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, it may be mounted on rocking standards jointed to
the brackets g¹.
For the sake of compactness and for convenience in travelling, the brackets
which support the bar G may be jointed so that the said bracket, may be folded
against the sides of the machine when it is not in use.
My Invention consists further in mounting a fan and furnace on wheels, and
gearing the shaft of the fan with the said wheels, or one of them, so that their or its
rotation is caused to impart rotatory motion to the fan shaft, the mouth of the fan
being so formed and in such a position that when the machine is caused to advance
a broad stream of air is directed from the fan in a downward or forward, or backward
and downward direction. This machine is used to dry cut grass in the field, the
machine being drawn or driven over the cut grass, which is turned and tossed with
forks, by hand or otherwise, before the mouth of the fan.
This arrangement is illustrated in connection with the arrangement illustrated
in Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying Drawings, and is fully described with
reference to those Figures.
My Invention consists further in combining an air duct consisting of a series
of lengths of tubes of different diameters, connected together with a fan and
furnace mounted on wheels, as bereinbefore described, the tubes being of such
relative diameters, or having their ends so formed that when connected together
spaces are left at their junctions for the exit of the air driven into them from the
fan with which the said duct is connected, and communicates at one of its ends.
The end of the said duct farthest from the fan is supported on wheels. In some
cases I arrange the tubes of the air duct so that they may be slidden one within
another in the same manner as the tubes of a telescope. The fan is driven by
gearing actuated by the supporting wheels, as illustrated with reference to Figures
4 and 5 of the accompanying Drawings, or by means of a stenin engine, or by other
suitable means.
In use this apparatus is drawn fan foremost over a field of cut
grass or wet hay, the hot air being driven through the openings in the duct into
the swathes of grass or rows of hay lying on the field. As the hottest air issues
from the end of the duct ucarest the fan, the wettest grass is thus first acted on
and is subjected to the greatest heat.
My Invention consists further in combining a hay tedder or similar machine for
raising and turning hay with a fan and furnaces mounted on wheels, as herein before
described, or with a machine consisting of several fans connected with a furnace or
furnaces, the said fan or fans and furnace or furnaces being mounted on one carriage,
and the fan or fans and the tedder being geared with the supporting wheels of the
carriage.
Figure 4 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 5 is an
end elevation of this arrangement.
The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in both Figures.
A, A, are the fans; B, B, are the sido chambers; and C, C, are the furnaces; and
is the ash pan. The fans and furnaces are supported by brackets a', «², b³, b²,
bolted to the frame D of the machine. a*, a*, are louvres capable of being closed

page_text: when required, by which a portion of the air forced through the fans may be
allowed to pass out at the front thereof. a is the duct with which the mouths of
the fans communicate. This duct forms the main exit for the air forced by the fans,
and is provided with a casing a which is capable of being raised or lowered
according to the depth of the cut grass or bay which it is required to treat. E is a
toothed ring affixed to the travelling wheel F, the teeth of which ring gear with a
pinion as on the fan shaft a', by means of which gearing the fans are worked when
the machine is drawn forward. The said pinion may, by a groove and feather
arrangement, be made capable of sliding on the shaft a, so that the fan may be
ungeared from the toothed ring E when desired. G is the tedder carried by the
frame D and geared with the travelling wheels F, F1, by means of sprocket wheels
H, H', and chains h¹, h. The said tedder is provided with the usual means for
reversing its motion, and for throwing it out of gear with the travelling wheels, and
with the usual means for raising and lowering it. Part of one of the ordinary
arrangements for the latter purpose is shown at I. J, J, are guard plates jointed
to or arranged so as to be capable of removal from the fans and fore carriage, the
object of the said plates being to prevent hay from being thrown over and resting
on the fans and fore carriage.
The action of this arrangement is as follows:-When the machine is drawn over
a field of cut grass the hay tedder raises the grass and exposes it to the action of
the hot air drawn from the furnaces by and issuing from the fan or fans.
Although in the arrangements of travelling fans and furnaces I have described
the fans as actuated by gearing from the travelling wheels, I do not limit myself
to that means of actuating them, as ¯they may¯bo actuated-by-a-steam engine, or in
any other suitable way.
Having now described--the-nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself-
to the precise details described, as the same may be varied-without-departing
from the nature of my Invention, but I claim as my said Invention,--
First. The improvements herein before described in the machinery or apparatus
described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 1380, A.D. 1876, with reference to
Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings accompanying the said Specification, that is to say,
imparting reciprocatory motion to the bars to which the tines are connected,
essentially as and for the purpose herein before described.
Secondly. The arrangement herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1
and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, the arrangement of fans and
furnaces on one side of a machine of the kind referred to in the preceding claim, "in
place of one of the rows of tines, whereby the machine is rendered complete in
itself.
Thirdly. The combination of a compound blast and exhaust fan, or several such
fans and a furnace or furnaces with a suitable carriage provided with means for
working the fan or fans, the whole of the apparatus being arranged essentially as
and for the purpose herein before described.
Fourthly. The combination with the apparatus claimed in the preceding claim of
a tubular air duct, constructed as herein before described.
Fifthly. The combination of a hay tedder, with the apparatus referred to in my
third claim.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Alfred Gibbs, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.