IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR POCKETING HOPS, FOR PUDDLING DAMS, FOR PUNNING AT BACK OF LONG RETAINING WALLS, RIVER OR SEA EMBANKMENT FACINGS, AND SUCH LIKE WORKS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Winder, of No. 18, Abingdon Street,
Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
POCKETING HOPS, FOR PUDDLING DAMS, FOR PUNNING AT BACK OF LONG
RETAINING WALLS, RIVER OR SEA EMBANKMENT FACINGS, AND SUCH LIKE
WORKS"
Sealed the 28th June 1867, and dated the 9th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Winder at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
January 1867.
1, RICHARD WINDER, of No. 18, Abingdon Street, Westminster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR POCKETING HOPS, FOR PUDDLING DAMS, FOR PUNNING AT BACK OF LONG
RETAINING WALLS, RIVER OR SEA EMBANKMENT FACINGS, AND BUCH LIKE WORKS,"
to be as follows:-
A machine for pocketing hops by means of two feet or stampers working
inside the pocket, having the action similar to the feet of the man who now
treads the hops; these feet are made to work up and down alternately by
being connected by long rods to a double crank shaft, which crank shaft is

page_text: turned by a man having a handle fixed upon a fly wheel keyed to this crank shaft
in the same manner as a two-throw pump is worked. As the pocket that is
being filled does not revolve the frame supporting the crank shaft is made to
revolve so that the feet or treaders, before-mentioned, regularly and equally
tread the hops while travelling round and round inside the pocket. This
revolving motion is given to the frame supporting the crank shaft either by a
pall working upon a horizontal rachet wheel which is fixed upon the floor of
the oast house, the upper part of the pall being attached to an eccentric
which is keyed upon the crank shaft, before-mentioned; or another plan for
giving this revolving motion is by keying a small mitre wheel upon the crank
shaft; another mitre wheel working in this is keyed to a vertical shaft
attached to the revolving frame. At the other end of this vertical shaft a
small pinion is keyed, and this pinion works in a horizontal cog wheel fixed
to the floor of the oast house; or this horizontal cog wheel may be made of
segments fastened around the horizontal ratchet wheel, before-mentioned.
The motion of the revolving frame is regulated by sockets kept in place by
collars being tightly screwed underneath them, these collars being screwed
upon a strong round iron bar which is fixed and stayed to the ceiling joists,
the bar being fixed at the centre of the hole cut in the floor, down which the
hops are thrown into the pocket beneath. The outside portion of the frame
supporting the crank shaft is supported by a friction roller underneath it, which
roller runs upon a race of iron fixed on the floor beside the horizontal rachet
wheel, before-mentioned.
The pocket beneath the floor is supported by four chains or ropes which
pass around four pullies fixed on the under side of the floor. The pressure
to which the hops require to be packed in the pocket is regulated by weights
placed at the end of each rope or chain. A circular disc of iron or wood is
fixed under the pocket to prevent undue strain upon the pocket while being
filled; this disc is kept in place by four rods, chains, or ropes connecting the
dise with the top ring to which the ropes or chains are fixed which hold the
weights. As the pocket becomes filled it descends lower and lower until quite
full, the descent being regulated by the pressure of the feet or treaders over-
coming the equilibrium of the weights.
This Invention, by having a straight rack or rachet in place of those
curved, and before described, is applicable to puddling dams, to punning at
back of retaining walls, and such like works.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Winder in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
WINDER, of No. 18, Abingdon Street, Westminster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Winder, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Winder, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Winder, 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
"IMPROVED MACHINERY POR POCKETING HOPS, FOR PUDDLING DAMS, FOR PUNNING
AT BACK OF LONG RETAINING WALLS, RIVER OR SEA EMBANKMENT FACINGS, AND
SUCH LIKE WORKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Richard Winder, 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 Richard Winder, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
My Invention consists in a means of pressing hops into pockets by means
of feet or treaders working inside the pocket; these are worked so as (as
nearly as possible) to represent the treading of the men's feet; these feet are
worked by two cranks on a shaft; the feet are connected to the crank shaft
by long rods; the crank shaft is turned by hand in a similar manner to a
double-throw pump.
The frame that supports the crank shaft is itself sup-
ported by a central bar fixed to the ceiling above; the outer part of this

page_text: frame is supported upon friction rollers running on a race or flat ring of iron;
this frame is made to revolve either by a pall working along a ratchet wheel
laid on the floor of the oast house, the pall being worked by an excentric
keyed upon the crank shaft, or the frame is made to revolve by cog wheel
gearing connected from the crank shaft to the ratchet by shafting; in this
case curved segments of teeth are fixed to the outside of the ratchet, so as to
form a large horizontal fixed cog wheel in which a small pinion works that is
keyed to a vertical shaft which has at the other end a mitre wheel fixed,
which wheel works in another mitre wheel fixed upon the crank shaft. The
use of this frame revolving is that the feet or treaders work round and round
inside the pocket, so as to tread the hops evenly and perfectly all alike. The
pocket does not revolve, and to regulate the pressure upon the hops the pocket
is suspended by four chains or ropes to weights; these weights are added or
taken away according to the pressure required; the chains or ropes just
mentioned pass over pullies fixed on to the under side of the flooring.
The accompanying Drawings shew more fully the manner in which I carry
my Invention into effect.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine having parts of the frame, flooring,
ring under flooring, the pocket, the ring to which the weights are attached,.
and other parts, shewn in section.
The better to shew the machine A is the ceiling joist of the oast house;
B is a strong wrought-iron bar fixed to the ceiling joist plumb with the centre
of the hole in the floor of the oast house; around this bar the frame D travels.
C is a straight shaft which carries the small pinion C² and the fly wheels H,
both pinion and fly wheels are keyed to this shaft; C are two pinions of
different diameters to give extra power in pressing the hops into the pocket;
D is the revolving frame which supports the straight shaft just mentioned, the
crank shaft G, and the weight of the man while working the machine; E is
a collar used to assist in holding the frame D in its place; F, straps or
bearings to secure the straight shaft C and the crank shaft G to the frame D;
G, the crank shaft; H, the fly wheels; I, a pair of small bevel wheels used for
working the frame D around the central bar B; K, vertical shaft connecting
the bevel wheels to the pinion N ; L, an iron ring to keep the revolving frame
together, and to which the friction rollers, are attached; M, the platform on
which the man stands while working the machine; N, small pinion which
works in the larger horizontal cog wheel P, and thus advances the treaders
round and round inside the pocket at the same time the crank shaft works
them up and down to press the hops; O, rollers to diminish the friction and
to support and steady the action of the revolving frame; P is the horizontal

page_text: nxed cog wheel in which the small pinion N works. The cog wheel is screwed
either in one piece or in segments to the ring Q; Q is a circular ring of iron
secured to the floor of the oast house forming a race or even surface for the
rollers O to travel upon; R shews a section of the floor (and the rafters) of
the oast house as well as the hole in the floor down which the hops are thrown
into the pocket; S are the connecting rods between the cranks and the
pressers; T are four pullies around which the ropes or chains pass that hold
the weights; these pullies are secured to the under side of the flooring; U is
a steadying bar for the pressers fixed to the under side of the revolving
frame D; V is a ring to which the weights are connected by the ropes or chains
just described; the iron plate Y is likewise connected to this ring by the rods
shewn in the Drawing; the inside of this ring is beveled off to receive the
hoop W around which the mouth of the pocket is stitched to hold it open while
being filled; W is the hoop just described; X are the treaders; Y is an iron
casting used to prevent the pocket being burst while under the pressure of
the treaders. The pocket is kept vertical and steady while being filled by lugs
or ears on V running against guide rods or slides fixed from the floor of the
oast house to the ground below; Z are four sets of weights to regulate the
pressure upon the hops; where the force of the pressers overcomes the dead
weight of these weights the pocket sinks gradually downwards until filled, and
the whole pocket of hops will have been subjected to the same pressure
throughout; and further to keep up this equality of pressure throughout balls
or any other shaped weights are fixed to chains at equal distances apart, the
same being attached to the under side of the weights Z, so that when the
pocket is empty they lie upon the ground; but as the pocket becomes filled
and lowered each in turn is taken off the ground and become counterpoises to
the extra weight of the hops in the pocket; Z' is a piece of sacking or any
other material that hangs inside the pocket and guides all hops in the pocket
from the floor above; a weighty iron ring is stitched to the bottom of this
bag to keep it straight; Z³ shews one of two ratchets that are fixed at the
side of the pullies T to steady the pocket while being filled; Z is a steadying
bar for the pocket, this bar runs in a pipe sunk in the ground at the bottom
of the hole in the ground.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improved
method of pressing hops,-
First, the method of and apparatus for pressing hops by feet or treaders, as
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawing; I
likewise claim as part of my Invention the plan (as an alternative) of arranging

page_text: for the frame only to revolve, and the man who turns the machine to remain
in one place instead of turning round with the frame, as shewn in the Drawing;
I likewise claim as part of my Invention, and as another alternative, the plan
of having all gearing on the upper floor fixed and the pocket below made to
revolve, just the reverse action to that shewn at Fig. 1 in the accompanying
Drawing.
Second, for using the same Invention for punning at back of abutments, as
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Winder, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
RICHP. WINDER. (L.S.)