IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING, CUTTING, OR PULPING ROOTS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Martin, of Barmer, near Fakenham, in the
County of Norfolk, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING, CUTTING, OR PULPING ROOTS AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 10th September 1858, and dated the 29th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Martin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th April
1858.
I, JOHN MARTIN, of Barmer, near Fakenham, in the County of Norfolk,
Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING, CUTTING, OR PULPING ROOTS
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the reducing or pulping roots and other sub-
stances by means of machinery or apparatus consisting of a revolving cylinder,
to the interior of which knives or cutters are affixed, the roots or other
substances to be pulped or reduced being placed within the barrel of the
cylinder. Suitable arrangements are made in the interior of the cylinder to
prevent the rotation of the substances to be cut or pulped with the cylinder;
the main feature of this Invention being that the substances to be reduced
are operated upon by being brought into contact with suitable knives or
cutters in the interior of the cylinder, in place of being reduced by knives
or cutters placed on the exterior of a revolving cylinder, as in the machines at
present in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARTIN, of Barmer, near Fakenham, in the County of Norfolk, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Martin, Her special license that I, the said John Martin, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Martin, my executors, administrators, or 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 OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING, CUTTING, OR PULPING ROOTS AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Martin, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Martin, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of machinery for
cutting and reducing roots and other substances, and consists in the application
and use of a revolving hollow cylinder, to the interior of which knives or
cutters, are affixed, the roots or other substances to be cut, pulped, or reduced
being placed within the barrel of the cylinder. Suitable arrangements are
made inside the cylinder for preventing the rotation of the substances under
treatment with the cylinder itself. The principle or main feature of my
Invention is, therefore, that the substances to be reduced are operated upon
by knives or suitable cutters or reducers placed inside a revolving hollow

page_text: cylinder, in lieu of being reduced by knives or cutters placed on the exterior
or outer surface of a revolving cylinder, as in the machines at present
in use.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical
section of an improved root cutter made according to my said Invention,
taken along the line 1, 2, in Figure 2; Figure 2 is a corresponding vertical
transverse section of the same taken through the middle of the reducing
cylinder; Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the reducing or cutting portion of the
machine corresponding to Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a detail side elevation of
the cylinder with the internal knives or cutters connected thereto.
A is the framing of the machine, which is fitted with suitable bearings B, B,
within which works the horizontal shaft C; this shaft carries at one end a
fly wheel D and actuating winch handle E, and at the opposite extremity it is
fitted with a metal cylinder F, which is open at one end and closed at the
other, the latter having a double projecting boss, as shewn, for the purpose
of enabling the cylinder to be more securely fastened to the shaft C. A
number of knives or cutters G, G, of any suitable shape are secured in any
convenient manner to the surface of the cylinder, and are so disposed with
suitable openings that their cutting edges shall project inside such cylinder in
place of outside the same, as in machines hitherto employed. When the
roots are not required to be greatly reduced or absolutely pulped, I prefer to
use the form of cutter shewn full size at Figure 5, the edge being inclined
in an opposite direction, to suit the interior of the cylinder; but when the
roots require to be pulped or further reduced, then I prefer to use the double
gouge cutter, shewn full size at Figure 6. But I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine or restrict myself to any particular form of
cutter or arrangement of cutters, so long as the cutter is made to project with
its cutting edge inside the cylinder or cutting barrel; neither do I confine
myself to a cylindrical barrel, as the same may obviously be made of conical,
tapered, or barrel-shaped form; nor do I confine myself to the horizontal
position of the shaft or axis on or by which such revolving cylinder, cone,
barrel, or receptacle is borne or actuated, and which said axis or shaft may be
arranged or constructed in the manner shewn, or may be continued through

page_text: the said cylinder or barrel to the open end thereof, and supported in a bearing
on the front cross bar of the framing.
One of the methods which I have found most convenient for connecting the
cutters to the cylinder or barrel is to screw them directly to flanges H formed
on a loose cutter plate H¹ (Figure 4), which fits over a corresponding
aperture in the cylinder or barrel, and is fastened thereto by bolts and nuts, as
shewn at I, I, I. One or more of these plates and sets of cutters may
obviously be applied to the same cylinder or barrel; in my Drawings I have
shewn two of them severally fitted on to diametrically opposite sides of the
cylinder. The front end or mouth of the cylinder or barrel F works in close
proximity to a plate K, which is bolted to the inner side of the front cross
bar K of the framing, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3, and this plate is fitted
with two other plates L and M, standing out at right angles from the inner
surface of the plate K, and extending along the interior of the cylinder or
barrel, but without touching it, as will be clearly seen on referring to Figures
2 and 3. The two plates may be connected at the ends furthest in the
cylinder by a tranverse rod or bar N. The roots to be cut or reduced are
placed in the spout or hopper O, and fall thence into the interior of the
cylinder F, where they are quickly, reduced by the knives herein-before
referred to. Now as the cylinder itself rotates, it would carry the roots also
round with it, and consequently no cutting action would result. To obviate
this, however, I have introduced the plate or breast L, which being stationary,
serves as a stop to the roots, and holds them during the passage of the knives
across them. One or more rows of points or spikes m, m, on the front of the
breast serve to hold the roots firmly during the cutting process. The second
plate M acts in a shield to prevent the roots from coming in contact with the
knives or barrel, except at the part in front of the stop or breast L. The.
surface contact of the roots in the cylinder is thus reduced, and consequently
there will be less friction and less power required to drive the machine. In
order to allow the dirt or earthy matter adhering to the roots to get away
easily, I propose to make those portions of the cylinders not occupied by the
cutter plates, in the form of an open grating, as shewn clearly in my Drawings
at F, for which purpose also I have made slots or openings in the shield M.
Figures 7 and 8 represent respectively on a larger scale a vertical transverse
section and corresponding plan of a portion of a cylinder or barrel fitted with
pulping knives of a double gouge shape, similar to that shewn in perspective
at Figure 6. In this arrangement the loose cutter plates H¹ herein-before
referred to are dispensed with, the cutters being bolted to flanges H fitted to

page_text: or formed directly upon the surface of the cylinder, which has suitable apertures
made in its surface to admit of the cutters entering therein, and to permit the
passage out of the pieces or fragments of root or other substance cut off or
reduced by the knives or cutters. According to another modification the
cylinder or barrel may be held stationary, whilst the roots themselves are
forced round by the action of a revolving shaft inside the said cylinder or
barrel, which is still furnished with internally projecting knives or cutters.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the prin-
ciples or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for cutting or
reducing roots and other substances, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use to and in the cutting or reducing of roots
and other substances of a revolving barrel or cylinder, or other shaped circular
vessel or receptacle, fitted with knives or cutters fixed thereto, which have
their cutting edges projecting or protruding into the interior of such cylinder
or otherwise shaped vessel or receptacle.
Third, the combination of an internal fixed guard and stop or breastplate
with a revolving cylinder, barrel, vessel, or receptacle, fitted with internal
knives or cutters, for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Martin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
JOHN MARTIN. (L.S.)