MACHINE FOR SEPARATING CORN, GRAIN, AND SEEDS, FROM THE STRAW
Year: 1817

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WELD, of Pylewell House, in the County of Southampton, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of December,
in the fifty-eighth year of His reign, did give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Weld, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Ilis especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Weld, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, during the term of years therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my new-invented
"MACHINE FOR SEPARATING CORN, GRAIN, AND SEEDS, FROM THE STRAW;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if I, the said Joseph Weld,
should not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
should utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same
(relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Weld, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
áscertained in manner following (that is to say):-

page_text: My Machine for Separating Corn, Grain, and Seeds from the Straw operates
principally by means of a cylinder or drum situated in an horizontal position,
and which is made to revolve by some animal or mechanical power in a
similar manner to the threshing machines now in use; but whereas the said
machines now in use have pieces of wood or iron called beaters fixed upon the
surface of such drum or cylinder for the purpose of beating or threshing out
the grain from the ears of the corn which are presented to the drum, the
said machines are found to be incapable of threshing corn, or effectually sepa-
rating the corn from the straw, unless the drum or cylinder is made to revolve
with a very great velocity, so that the-beaters affixed thereto shall strike the
ears of the corn which are presented to them with very sudden blows or
strokes, thereby to shake the ears-violently, and-cause the grain to fly out of the
husks. Now the cylinder or drum of my new-invented machine is studded
with wire pins, which project a small distance beyond the external surface
thereof, and operate, against rows of metal teeth, which are fixed round the
drum or cylinder, and have no motion; but the said rows of teeth, together with
certain pieces of wood which sustain them, are so adapted to the cylinder as
to form a kind of roof or fixed cover to the same within and beneath which it
revolves, and in so revolving the pins which project from the surface of the
cylinder pass very near to the several rows of teeth which are fixed and project
somewhat withinside of the concave surface of the fixed roof or cover before
mentioned, so that the corn which is presented to the cylinder will, by the
motion thereof, be drawn in between the cylinder and the fixed teeth, and be
operated upon or rubbed between the pins of the cylinder and the teeth of the
cover with such friction as to rub out or separate the corn from the straw;
and this can be done effectually by my machine without the necessity of turning
the cylinder with that great rapidity which the common machines require,
because. the corn cannot escape the action of the pins of the cylinder against
the successive rows of teeth, even if the cylinder moves slowly. But to explain
more fully the construction of my machine, I have hereunto annexed a Drawing
of the same, wherein Figs. 1 and 2 are elevations of the wooden framework with
the cylinder mounted therein, but the cover with its teeth is removed to shew
the cylinder more clearly. A, A, are the upright posts, and B, B, the hori-
zontal pieces which unite them together and form a frame, which is strengthened
by braces, as is apparent in the Figures. C, C, are the feet or ground pieces on
which it stands. E is the cylinder, which is supported in bearings screwed to
the uprights A, so that it can freely turn round. The cylinder is put in
motion by means of the drum or pulley F, which is connected with the axis or
spindle of the cylinder, and an endless belt or strap passes round the same to

page_text: communicate motion from the power of animals, wind, water, or steam, the
same as in other threshing machines; or if my machine is made on a smaller
scale it may be turned by hand. G is a fly wheel to regulate the motion. The
cylinder E is made of wood and covered over on the surface with sheet iron.
The situation of the pins, which are driven into the cylinder, is clearly shewn,
and they form spiral rows. These pins are made of iron or steel wire, which
is rather more than one eighth of an inch in diameter, and they project above
the surface of the cylinder about one eighth of an inch. II, II, at each end
of the cylinder are round pieces of wood of the same size as the cylinder. These
pieces are screwed fast to the uprights of the frame and do not turn round, but
they are placed close to the ends of the cylinder which does turn. In these
pieces of wood iron bolts are fixed, which project from the same in the direc
tion of radij, and serve to fix and attach several pieces of wood, which I call
rubbing and clearing pieces, and which pieces, when all put together, form the
fixed cover to the cylinder as before mentioned, and each of the said rubbing
pieces has a row of teeth fixed to it for the pins of the cylinder to act against.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section on a double scale to shew the cylinder with the
rubbing and clearing pieces which surround it. I is part of the feeding table,
whereon the corn and straw is spread in order to present it to the cylinder. K
is a wooden rail fixed by means of a bolt at each end to the aforesaid pieces
H, H. This I call the feeding rake, because that side which is turned towards
the cylinder has two rows of teeth or pins fixed in it in the manner of a rake, as
is shewn separately at K in Fig. 4. Upon the teeth of the rake a wooden rail
L is loosely fitted, with liberty to rise up or fall down upon the said teeth. The
feeding rake and rail L regulate the admission of the straw and unthreshed
corn to the cylinder. For this purpose the rake is situated at the end of the
feeding table I, and the teeth of the rake are near to the surface of the
cylinder. The corn in the straw is pushed forward on the feeding table I, and
presented to the cylinder which is in motion, and by its pins will draw it in,
but if the corn and straw are presented faster than it can pass through the space
between the teeth of the rake K and the cylinders, a portion of the corn and
straw will be held back by the teeth of the rake, and the feeding rail L will rise
up as the corn and straw accumulate beneath it, but the feeding rail bearing
upon the straw which is held in the teeth of the rake, it will press the said
straw down towards the cylinder, which will therefore take it in as fast as it
can sufficiently operate upon it. By this means the feeding of the cylinder is
regulated, and it is prevented from receiving any check. The different rubbing
pieces are marked M, N, O, P, in Fig. 8, and are shewn separately in Fig. 4.
The first piece M is fixed nearly over the top of the cylinder; and it has three

page_text: rows of teeth fixed to it, as denoted by m, n, and m. The two rows m, m, are
formed on the edges of pieces of iron plate, which are screwed to the edges of
the wood, and the middle row of teeth is formed of small pieces of similar
plate, which are shewn in full size at Fig. n, and each piece has two sharp
points to drive into the wood. The iron plate in which the teeth are formed
is about three sixteenths of an inch thick, and the teeth are formed by notches
like a saw; about forty-three teeth are contained in every foot of length; the
teeth are not sharp at the points, but rather rounding. The rubbing piece N
is similar to M, but a small space is left between. The two other rubbing
pieces O, P, have only one set of teeth each, which are fixed on the upper or front
edges, and the pieces are placed near together so as to form a continuous roof
or cover to the cylinder. The last of these pieces, marked P, has also a set of
teeth P, which I call a grating, and which are fixed in an oblique direction, as
shewn in Fig. P. The grating is composed of a number of small pieces of
iron fixed into the edge of the wood by a point formed at one end of each
piece. The use of the grating is to allow the grain to pass out which has been
separated from the straw by the rubbing action of the pins of the cylinder
against the teeth of the rubbing pieces N, O, P; but to separate any grains
which may have escaped this action, three other rows of teeth, which I call
clearers, are applied at Q, R, and S. These teeth are fixed to pieces of wood
in the same manner as the rubbing pieces, and the difference is only in the
form of the teeth, which are square, as shewn in Fig. 4, at Q, R, S, or the tecth
may be round, but must be made at such distances that the pins in the cylin-
der will correspond with the teeth of the clearers, as shown in the Figure,
that is about 36 teeth in a foot of length. The first clearer Q is fixed nearers
to the cylinder than the teeth of the rubbers; the next clearer R is still
nearer to the cylinder, and the last S is fixed as near to the pins of the cylinder
as it can be to avoid touching. By this latter the remaining ears of corn will
be rubbed open and all the grain taken out. The straw passes through the
spaces between the teeth of the clearers, and also in the intervals between the
pins of the cylinder, and falls out below, but the greatest part of the grain
comes out in the spaces which are left between the clearing pieces for that
purpose. The pieces to which the teeth are fixed can be readily removed in
order to repair or examine them. The machine which I have now described
is proper for threshing barley, but when wheat is to be threshed I find it most
advantageous to remove the two first of the rubbing pieces M and N, and sub-
stitute others, of which the side that is presented to the cylinder is shewn at
Fig. 5. It has no teeth on the edges of the piece, as at m, in Fig. S, and
the teeth in the middle of the piece are placed iu short rows obliquely, as shewn-

page_text: in Fig. 5. These rows of teeth are short pieces, like Fig. r, with two points
to cach to drive into the wood. Also for threshing wheat I remove the last
clearing piece S, and substitute another, in which the teeth are made by regular
indentations or waves, as shewn at Fig. 6, and the pins of the cylinder fall
opposite to the said indentations, whereas the teeth of the clearers before
described for barley are square or round, and the pins of the cylinder fall
opposite the teeth of the same, as shewn in Fig. 4, at Q, R, S. And further,
for threshing wheat the corn in the straw is to be spread upon the feeding
board, and presented to the feeding rake with the length of the straw parallel
to the length of the cylinder, but in barley the corn is put in with the heads
or ears forwards. For threshing oats the two clearing pieces Q and R are to
be removed and others substituted, which are shewn in Fig. 7. They are fur-
nished with teeth like Fig. 7, which are fixed across the breadth of the pieces
correspondent to the pins in the cylinder. Pins are also fixed in the intervals
between the teeth, as shewn in Fig. 7. The scale attached to the Drawings will
shiew the dimensions and proportions of the parts, and I have specified some
measures, but the dimensions as well as the materials of which the machine is
made may be varied at the discretion of the workman who makes the same.
The velocity with which the cylinder is turned is not very material, but I
advise the same to be turned about 160 turns per minute, and it will then
dispatch the work.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Weld, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand oight hundred and sichtoon.