CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINERY
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRÉSENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STEPHENS, of the Albynes, in the Parish of Astley Abbotts, in the County of
Salop, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of February, in the fourteenth year of Her reign,'
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Stephens, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Stephens, my exors, adñors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said John Stephens, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINERY;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
John Stephens, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, parti-
cularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what-
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: 1P, that i comprance with the said proviso, 1, the said.
John Stephens, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in actuating the friction surfaces of thrashing
machines, or those parts which disengage the seed from the plant, so that
they shall act as rubbers instead of beaters or strippers, as heretofore. By this
means I find that I not only effect the thrashing operation more perfectly
than by the ordinary machinery used for that purpose, but that I can do so
with a great economy of power and without injury to the straw.
In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this my Specification,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, of so much of a thrashing
machine constructed according to my Invention, as will shew the nature of
the improvement; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, being partly in
section. a is the main driving shaft of the machine, turning in bearings in
the main framing. is a drum grooved on its periphery and keyed fast to
the shaft a, which also carries at one end a bevilled wheel c. This wheel c
gears into and drives a pinion e, mounted on a crank shaft f, which turns in
suitable bracket bearings projecting from the main framing. To the crank
shaft two rods g, g*, are connected, and these are severally attached to sliding
bars h, h, by vertical studs projecting from these bars, passing through the
socketed end of the rods g, g. These bars h, h, slide in guides made for
them in the end framing of the machine, and to their under sides are attached
ribbed or grooved friction surfaces i, i, by means of screws which admit of the
nice adjustment of the surfaces as regards their distance from the drum b.
k, k, are weighted guide rollers for guiding the material to be operated
upon into and out of the machine. The action of the machine is as follows:-
Rotary motion being communicated to the shaft a by hand or other power,
the drum b is caused to rotate, and with it also the bevil wheel c. This taking
in the pinion e, as before said, will rotate the crank shaft, and through the rods
9, 9, communicate a reciprocating motion to the friction surfaces i, *. The
material to be operated upon (say for instance wheat) is fed into the machine
between the drum b and the roller k, which latter will be caused to revolve in
the direction of the arrow by friction of contact, and pass the wheat under the
friction surfaces i, i*. But as these have a motion at right angles to that of
the drum, they will severally rub the ears of wheat against the ribbed or
irregular surface of the drum, and cause the seed to be disengaged therefrom.

page_text: In order to effect this the more perfectly, the friction surface i* is set nearer
to the drum than the friction surface i, so that those ears which fail to be
sufficiently acted upon while passing under the first friction surface, will be
made to yield all the seed they contain by passing under the action of the
second surface. The straw then passes off, being guided out of the machine
by the roller, and the seed falling down is acted upon by a blast of air from
a fan in the well-known way (but not shewn in the Drawing), for the purpose
of winnowing out the chaff and other extraneous matters therefrom. To
prevent the rising of the friction surfaces i, i", under the upward pressure of
the straw fed into the machine, antifriction rollers 1, 1, are provided at either
end of the machine, which rollers by acting on the upper surfaces of the
bars h, h, will enable them to resist the upward pressure put on their respective
friction surfaces, and thus keep the surfaces i, i, at their proper relative
distances from the drum b. The motion of the machine is rendered uniform
by means of the fly wheel d, which is actuated by a cog wheel 2 keyed on to
the shaft a, taking into a pinion 3 on the stud which carries the fly wheel.
This construction of machine is intended principally for thrashing wheat, peas,
beans, &c., but for thrashing barley and oats I propose to employ the arrange-
ment shewn in partial sectional elevation at Fig. 3, the principle of action of
which is precisely similar to that above described, although the means employed
in carrying it out are somewhat different. Keyed on to the main shaft a, which
carries the drum b, is a cog wheel l, which gears into and drives a pinion m
mounted on a hollow shaft n. This shaft turns in bearings in the main
framing, and carries a fly wheel o for steadying the motion of the machine.
Through the shaft n a squared shaft p, forming the axle of a card cylinder q,
passes, for the purpose of receiving rotary motion therefrom and communi-
cating the same to the card cylinder. The other end of this shaft q is cylin-
drical, and passes through a guide affixed to the framing. The cylinder is
embraced by a frame r, which is provided with a vertical stud to receive
the socketed end of the crank arm g, through which a traverse motion
is communicated to the card cylinder. The agricultural produce, therefore,
which is to be acted upon is fed into the machine between the rotating drum
and card cylinder, and by the reciprocating motion of the card cylinder the
same kind of rubbing action is communicated thereto as that before described,
whereby the seeds will be effectually disengaged from the straw. 'The
difference between the action of this and the above-described machine is that
the card cylinder will, from the elastic nature of its rotary surface, act some-
what like a brush, and thus admit of a nearer proximity of the two friction
surfaces, without the risk of crushing or otherwise injuring the grain or sced.

page_text: It is therefore better suited than the rigid surfaces for acting upon such
produce as yields seeds smaller than wheat.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim the application to thrashing machinery of friction
surfaces (whether rotary or not) having a traverse motion, whereby, in con-
nection with a rotary friction surface, the ears of corn or other agricultural
produce may be subjected to a rubbing action for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stephens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
Enrolled the Ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.