IMPROVEMENTS IN CHAFF CUTTERS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Charles Southwell, of Rugeley, in the
County of Stafford, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CHAFF CUTTERS."
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Charles
Southwell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st January 1870.
•
I, FREDERICK CHARLES SOUTHWELL,. of Rugeley, in the County of
Stafford, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CHAFF CUTTERS," to be as follows:-
t
The objects of this Invention are to afford the means of regulating
the cut, stopping or reversing the action of the feed rollers; and for
stopping and putting in motion the feeding mechanism of chaff
cutters.
The Invention consists in fitting a jointed lever to a fixed part of the
frame of chaff cutters, in such a manner that it may act upon a shifting

page_text: clutch or a set of wheels or upon the shaft of the feeding mechanism
to throw the apparatus into gear for its proper working, whether for
regulating the cut, stopping or reversing the feed rollers, or putting the
feeding mechanism into or out of gear. One arm of the lever is centred
upon a pin or stud and is in connection with the shifting mechanism,
while the other arm takes into the notches of a plate fixed to the frame.
to lock it and secure the gearing in the required position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Charles Southwell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
CHARLES SOUTHWELL, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Charles Southwell, Her special
licenco that I, the said Frederick Charles Southwell,my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Charles
Southwell, 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
“IMPROVEMENTS IN CHAFF CUTTERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Frederick Charles Southwell, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Frederick Charles Southwell, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: 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 :—
The objects of this Invention are to afford the means of regulating
the cut, stopping or reversing the action of the feed rollers, and for
stopping and putting in motion the feeding mechanism of chaff
cutters.
The Invention consists in fitting a jointed lever to a fixed part of
the frame of chaff cutters, in such a manner that it may act upon a
shifting clutch or a set of wheels or upon the shaft of the feeding.
mechanism to throw the apparatus into gear for its proper working,
whether for regulating the cut, stopping or reversing the feed rollers,
or putting the feeding mechanism into or out of gear.
One arm of the
lever is centred upon a pin or stud and is in connection with the.
shifting mechanism, while the other arm takes into the niches of a
plate fixed to the frame to lock it and secure the gearing in the required
position.
The Invention will be well understood on reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, where Figure 1 is a front, and Figure 2 a side
view of a chaff cutter fitted with my improved lever or apparatus for
shifting the clutch or a set of wheels of the feeding mechanism as before
explained.
Figure 3 is a plan showing more clearly the position of the lever
and the other parts connected with it. a is the lever, pinned at 6 to
the fixed frame c, so that it can be moved by the handle portion & to
one side or the other to throw either the large wheel e or the small
wheelf into gear to suit the length of cut as desired. The lever a is
jointed at g to enable the handle portion d to fall down and engage
itself into one or other of the notches h, i, j, in the plate k in a secure
manner. When the length of cut has to be shifted the handle end
of the lever is lifted to bring it in line with the fork end, so that it can
be moved in the desired direction and to the required distance, upon
which the handle is let go and it falls into the desired notch and is
retained there.
In the Figures I have shown the fork in the groove of the collar
connecting the two wheels e and f, so that the lever can move them
along the shaft m to gear into the wheels n or o, as the case may be,
but when the machine is not required to work the wheels can be

page_text: disengaged by shifting the lever and letting it fall into the central
notch i.
The Invention is applicable to all kinds of chaff cutters, whether
they are driven by steam or other power, or by hand, and to all parts of
chaff cutters in which a shifting clutch or a set of wheels are placed 5
for the purpose of throwing the various parts into and out of gear.
And 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
"Improvements in Chaff Cutters," the jointed lever for working the
clutch or shifting gear wheels, as herein-before described and represented 1
in the accompanying Drawings.
.
Also the combination of the jointed lever with the notch plate on
a fixed part of the frame and acting in the manner and for the purposes
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Charles Southwell, have 1
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
FREDª. C. SOUTHWELL. (L.S.)