IMPROVE- MENTS IN CHAFF-CUTTING MACHINES." MENTS IN CHAFF-CUTTING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Newton John Suckling, of Market Hill, Maldon,
in the County of Essex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CHAFF-CUTTING MACHINES."
MENTS IN CHAFF-CUTTING MACHINES.'
"
Sealed the 2nd September 1873, and dated the 13th March 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Newton John Suckling
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th March 1873.
I, NEWTON JOHN SUCKLING, of Market Hill, Maldon, in the County
of Essex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CHAFF-CUTTING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Chaff-cutting machines as ordinarily constructed are so arranged that
the hay, straw, or other material to be cut has been fed continuously to
the knives or cutters, the result of which arrangement is that the said
material becomes pushed or crowded up against the knife during the
cutting operation, thereby making the operation less easy and tending to
blunt the knife. The arrangements hitherto adopted for regulating and

page_text: altering the speed of the feed rollers according to the different lengths
of chaff required are besides far from simple.
Now according to my Invention the chaff machines are so arranged
that the feed is intermittent, that is to say, that the feed ceases
during each time a knife or cutter is performing the cutting operation,
and the length of chaff cut can be regulated or altered without
difficulty.
Upon the end of each of the two spindles which carry the feed rollers
I mount a wheel with or without teeth or projections on its face or
on its periphery. These two wheels are driven with an intermittent
motion by means of a cam or other arrangement on the shaft of the
usual fly wheel, the shape and position of the cam being regulated by
the number of knives in the machine. To regulate the length of
material cut, suitable change cams or other arrangement may be
employed, but I prefer to slide the cam or other device on the fly wheel
shaft either nearer to or further from the fly wheel, when a corresponding
increased or diminished stroke or speed is transmitted to the feed
rollers. In some cases I fix the cam or other device close up to the fly
wheel, or make it part of the fly wheel itself. Springs, stops, bearings,
or guides, and friction rollers are introduced where required.
According to one modification of my Invention I employ a sliding
bar which is actuated by the said cam or other device and carries
pauls which take into teeth or pins on the wheels before mentioned,
and drive the same intermittently according to the movements of the
bar.
According to another modification I attach the pauls which work the
wheels to bell cranks which turn on pivots. The bell cranks have rods
connected to them which are actuated by the said cam or other
device. In this case the length of the cut material may be regulated
by adjusting the centres of the rods by means of slots in the bell
cranks,
According to another modification I employ a sliding rod which is
forked so as to receive the two wheels, and carries pauls to take into
the same; the rod is actuated by the cam or other device.
According to another modification I attach to the end of a bar, made

page_text: slides in one direction the centre on which the pauls or levers are
pivotted is carried nearer to or further from the wheels; the pauls
being thus thrown out of a straight line into an inclined position
engage with teeth on their respective wheels. Then as the bar slides
in the reverse direction the pauls return to their straight position, and
in so doing impart a partial revolution to the wheels. Instead of
pivotting the pauls as just described a wedge or double inclined pro-
jection may be formed on the end of the bar between the pauls or
levers; this wedge presses them outwards and thereby makes them
impart a partial revolution to the wheels when the bar slides in one
direction; and when the wedge in the opposite movement is withdrawn
the pauls or levers close, and in so doing engage into fresh teeth on the
wheels ready for the next stroke.
According to another modification I attach the pauls to the short
arms of two levers which are pivotted or centred on the axes of the
wheels. The long arm of one lever is actuated by the cam or other
device which in revolving presses the lever further from the centre, a
corresponding movement being imparted to the other lever by a pin or
projection. The action is transmitted to the pauls which are thereby
caused to impart a partial revolution to the wheels. When the lever
comes nearer the centre the pauls engage with fresh surfaces of the
wheels ready for the next stroke.
According to another modification I connect a lever to a connecting
rod which engages with a pin on a sliding bar which carries the pauls.
This lever is pivotted and is actuated by a cam or collar having pins or
projections on it, or grooves in it.
The length of the cut material may be regulated by having suitable
change cams and collars, but I prefer to slide the cam or collar on
the shaft; or the lever may be slotted so as to alter the centre of the
connecting rod. Instead of the lever bevel wheels may be employed,
a crank pin on one of the wheels giving the requisite movements to
the connecting rod. The length of cut material may be varied by
having change bevel wheels or by having the crank pin adjustable in
its wheel.
If preferred the connecting rod may be dispensed with, the sliding
bar would then be connected direct to the lever or crank pin on the

page_text: According to another modification I attach the two pauls to two
pivotted levers, each of these two levers has a pin from which a con-
necting rod leads to a pin on a bar made to slide by a cam or other
device as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Newton John Suckling in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NEWTON
JOHN SUCKLING, of Market Hill, Maldon, in the County of Essex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Newton John Suckling, Her special licence
that I, the said Newton John Suckling, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Newton John Suckling, 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-CUTTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Newton John Suckling, 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 Newton John Suckling, 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

page_text: by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
Chaff-cutting machines as ordinarily constructed are so arranged that
the hay, straw, or other material to be cut has been fed continuously to
the knives or cutters, the result of which arrangement is that the said
material becomes pushed or crowded up against the knife during the
cutting operation, thereby making the operation less easy and tending
to blunt the knife. The arrangements hitherto adopted for regulating
and altering the speed of the feed rollers according to the different
lengths of chaff required are besides far from simple.
Now according to my Invention the chaff-cutting machines are so
arranged that the feed is intermittent, that is to say, that the feed ceases
during each time a knife or cutter is performing the cutting operation,
and the length of chaff cut can be regulated or altered without difficulty.
Upon the end of each of the two spindles which carry the feed rollers
I mount a wheel, with or without teeth or projections on its face or on
its periphery. These two wheels are driven with an intermittent motion
by means of a cam or other arrangement on the shaft of the usual fly
wheel, the shape and position of the cam being regulated by the number
of knives in the machine. To regulate the length of material cut suitable
change cams or other arrangement may be employed, but I prefer to slide
the cam or other device on the fly wheel shaft either nearer to or further
from the fly wheel, when a corresponding increased or diminished stroke
or speed is transmitted to the feed rollers. In some cases I fix the cam
or other device close up to the fly wheel or make it part of the fly wheel
itself. Springs, stops, bearings, or guides and friction rollers are intro-
duced where required.
According to one modification of my Invention I employ a sliding bar
which is actuated by the said cam or other device and carries pauls which
take into teeth or pins on the wheels before-mentioned and drive the
same intermittently according to the movements of the bar.
This arrangement is represented in Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings
in which A, A, are the spindles of the feed rollers, and B, B, ratchet
wheels keyed thereon; C, C, are pauls working on pivots C¹ and
taking into the wheels B, B; D is the sliding bar; E is a cam or
collar with pins or projections; F is the fly wheel shaft; G is a stop
on the bar D, by shifting which the length of the material cut can
be regulated; H, H, are bearings or guides for the bar D; J is the

page_text: pedestal for the fly wheel shaft; K is an india-rubber or other spring
working on pins L; M, M, is a slide for allowing the top feed roller to
rise and fall; N is a lever on which a weight is hung for the purpose
of keeping the top roller pressed down upon the material which is being
cut; 0, 0, represent one of the cheeks or sides of the machine; P, part
of the box which contains the material to be cut, and Q, Q, part of the
wood frame which supports the machine.
The action is easily understood:-The bar D being pushed forward by
the cam E, the pauls C are caused to move the wheels B and the feed
rollers a portion of a revolution, and thus effect the feed; the spring K
then draws back the bar D together with the pauls, which latter in thus
moving back take into fresh teeth of the wheels ready for the next
forward movement. By altering the position of the stop G the distance
which the bar D and pauls are driven back can be regulated according
to the length of feed required at each cut.
According to another modification, represented in Figure 2, I attach
the pauls C, C, which work the wheels B, B, to bell cranks S, S, which
turn on pivots. The bell cranks have rods D, D, connected to them
which are actuated by the cam E or other device on the fly wheel shaft.
In this case the length of cut material can be regulated by adjusting the
centres of the rods D by means of slots in the bell cranks, as seen in the
Figure. The bell cranks are shewn as mounted loosely on the feed
roller spindles which form the pivots on which the cranks turn. The
other letters of reference on this Figure denote parts corresponding with
those marked with the same letters in Figure 1, and this remark applies
to all the other Figures.
According to another modification represented in Figure 3 I employ a
sliding rod D which is forked, as seen at T, T, so as to receive the two
wheels B, B, and carries pauls C, C, to take into the same, the rod is
actuated by the cam E or other device on the fly wheel shaft.
According to another modification, represented in Figures 4, 4, and 4",
I attach to the end of a bar D, made to slide as before, two pauls C, C,
or two levers 4 carrying pauls C, C. In Figure 4 the levers are
shown working on a pivot 4 1. As the bar D slides in one direction the
centre on which the pauls or levers are pivoted is carried nearer to or
further from the wheels B, B, the pauls or levers being thus thrown out
of a straight line into an inclined position, the pauls engage with teeth

page_text: on their respective wheels. Then as the bar D slides in the reverse
direction the pauls or levers return to their straight position, and in so
doing impart a partial revolution to the wheels. Instead of pivoting
the pauls or levers as just described a wedge or double inclined pro-
jection 6, Figure 4, may be formed on the end of the bar between the
pauls or levers, this wedge presses them outwards and thereby makes
them impart a partial revolution to the wheels when the bar slides in one
direction, and when the wedge in the opposite movement is withdrawn
the pauls or levers close and in so doing engage into fresh teeth on the
wheels ready for the next stroke.
According to another modification, represented in Figure 5, I attach
the pauls to the short arms of two levers U, U¹, which are pivoted or
centred loosely on the axes of the wheels. The long arm of one lever U
is actuated by the cam E or other equivalent device, which in revolving
presses this lever further from the centre, a corresponding movement
being imparted to the other lever U₁ by a pin or projection U². The
action is transmitted to the pauls which are thereby caused to impart a
partial revolution to the wheels. When the lever comes nearer the
centre the pauls engage with fresh teeth or with fresh portions of the
surfaces of the wheels ready for the next stroke. In this Figure I have
shown the wheels B as plain instead of toothed, the pauls in this case
acting by friction. Figure 5° is an end elevation of Figure 5.
According to another modification represented in Figures 6, 7, and 8,
I connect a lever W to a sliding bar D which carries the pauls. This
lever is pivoted at W¹, and is actuated by a cam E, as in Figure 6, or by
a collar having pins or projections on it, as in Figures 7 and 8, or
grooves in it. The length of the cut material may be regulated by
having suitable change cams and collars, but I prefer to slide the cam
or collar on the shaft, or the lever W may be slotted, as seen in the
Figures, so as to allow the centre of the sliding bar to be altered. Instead
of the lever, bevel wheels, as shewn at x, x, Figure 9, one of which
works on a stud x¹, may be employed, a pin on one of the wheels giving
the requisite movements to the sliding bar D through the intermediation
of a connecting rod Z. The length of cut material may be varied by
having change bevel wheels or by having the pin adjustable in its
wheel.
If preferred the connecting rod in Figure 9 may be dispensed with.

page_text: wheel; while in the arrangements shewn in Figures 6 and 7 a connecting
rod may, if found desirable, be introduced between the lever W and the
sliding bar D. The length of cut material is varied as before.
According to another modification, represented in Figure 10, I attach
the two pauls to two levers 2, 2, working on a pivot D1; each of these
two levers has a pin, from which a connecting rod 3 leads to a pin 3-1
on the sliding bar D. The bar D in this Figure is slotted to allow it to
partake of the movement imparted to it by the cam or other device.
The stud or pivot D-1, also forms a guide for that end of the sliding
bar D.
In any of the arrangements herein-before described, where cams,
collars, or stops are adjustable for the purpose of regulating the feed
they may, if preferred, be shifted by a lever; and in cases where the
machine is to be driven by power it may be necessary in order to prevent
injury to the knives to provide a lever, clutch, or other device to throw
the pauls, cam, or collar out of gear in the event of any foreign matter
getting among the material which is being cut.
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. The several arrangements or combinations of parts herein-before
described for producing an intermittent feed in chaff-cutting machines.
And secondly. I claim fitting a cam or equivalent device on the fly-
wheel shaft so that it can be adjusted on the said shaft for the purpose
of regulating the feed, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Newton John Suckling, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of September One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.