IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING OR DRESSING BASS, FLAX, AND OTHER VEGETABLE FIBRES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE THRASHING OF CORN AND OTHER GRAIN."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Smith, of Brentwood, in the County of
Essex, Brush Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING OR DRESSING BASS, FLAX, AND OTHER VEGETABLE
FIBRES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE THRASHING OF CORN AND OTHER GRAIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th.
March 1861.
I, AUGUSTUS SMITH, of Brentwood, in the County of Essex, Brush Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-.
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING OR DRESSING BASS, FLAX, AND OTHER VEGE-
TABLE FIBRES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE THRASHING OF CORN AND OTHER GRAIN," to:
be as follows:-
In the dressing of flax and other similar fibres it has been usual to employ
drums or cylinders armed with spikes or teeth set at right angles with the
particular part of the surface of the drum from which the teeth project. I
have found that teeth so set injure the fibres.
My Invention consists, first, in setting the teeth on such drums at a reverse:
angle, or pointing in the reverse direction to that in which the drum is to be
driven, whatever be the method of feeding or presenting the fibres to the
drum.

page_text: And my Invention further consists in combining with a drum in which the
teeth or spikes are set in the direction aforesaid an apron or shield, which is
hinged at bottom, and is hollowed out on the inside, for the purpose of enabling
an attendant after presenting the fibres to be acted on to press with his knee
or otherwise against the back of the apron and push the fibres, the ends of
which are drawn by the revolution of the drum, between it and the apron,
more or less in contact with the teeth, according to the fibres acted on and the
degree of dressing required. In some cases the hollow or concave of the apron
may be armed with brushes, teeth, corrugations, or the surface thereof may be
made otherwise irregular.
The machinery before described is applicable to the thrashing of corn and
other grain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustus Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
SMITH, of Brentwood, in the County of Essex, Brush Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Augustus Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Augustus Smith, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustus
Smith, 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 MACHINERY
FOR CLEANSING. OR DRESSING BASS, FLAX, AND OTHER VEGETABLE FIBRES,
APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE THRASHING OF CORN AND OTHER GRAIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Augustus Smith, my execu-
tors 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
'

page_text: *within six calendar months next and immediately alter the date of the 'sand
Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustus Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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):-
In the dressing of flax and other similar fibres it has been usual to employ
drums or cylinders armed with spikes or teeth set at right angles with the
particular part of the surface of the drum from which the teeth project. I have
found that teeth so set injure the fibres.
My Invention consists, first, in setting the teeth on such drums at a reverse
angle, or pointing in the reverse direction to that in which the drum is to be
driven, whatever be the method of feeding or presenting the fibres to the
drum.
And my Invention further consists in combining with a drum in which the
teeth or spikes are set in the direction aforesaid an apron or shield, which is
hinged at bottom, and is hollowed out in the inside, for the purpose of enabling
an attendant after presenting the fibres to be acted on to press with his knee,
or otherwise, against the back of the apron and push the fibres, the ends of
which are drawn by the revolution of the drum, between it and the apron, more
or less in contact with the teeth, according to the fibres acted on and the
degree of dressing required. In some cases the hollow or concave of the apron
may be armed with brushes, teeth, corrugations, or the surface thereof may be
made otherwise irregular.
The machinery before described is applicable to the thrashing of corn and
other grain.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings shew in end and side
elevation so much of a machine for cleansing and dressing bass, flax, and other
vegetable fibres as will be necessary to illustrate the manner in which I carry
my Invention into effect.
A is the drum, composed of a metal frame with pieces of wood B, B, bolted
to it, and in which the teeth C, C, are inserted, and set at an angle, as shewn.
The drum is mounted on a shaft D, carrying fast and loose pulleys E, E'; F is
a belt for communicating motion to the drum; G is an apron or shield at the
front of the drum, hinged at its lower end to the bed H of the machine. The
upper part G of this apron is free to move upon the rod I as a hinge. When
pressed inwards an opening is made between it and that part of the frame
marked K, through which the material to be dressed is fed into the machine.

page_text: As the drum revolves the teeth act upon it, and remove the boon, shell, and
other extraneous matter from the fibres. When brushes, teeth, or corrugations
are employed for assisting the cleaning they are fitted to the lower part G of
the apron.
:
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,-
First, setting the teeth in drums used for dressing flax and other fibres, and
for thrashing grain at a reverse angle, or pointing in a reverse direction to that
in which the drum revolves.
Second, the employment of an apron or shield in combination with a drum
fitted with teeth, as before described, in machines for dressing flax and other
fibres, substantially in manner herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, One thousand i
eight hundred and sixty-one."
A SMITIL