IMPROVE- MENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hornsby, junior, of Spittlegate Works,
Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES"
Sealed the 16th October 1861, and dated the 9th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hornsby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
July 1861.
I, RICHARD HORNSBY, junior, of Spittlegate Works, Grantham, in the
County of Lincoln, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in thrashing machines.
The shakers of thrashing machines are commonly formed of a series of bars
(or boxes) placed side by side, and connected at each end to cranks driven in
unison, so that when at work the bars rise and fall alternately, that is to say,
when one bar is up, the bars next to it are down, and when the first bar falls
those next to it rise, and so on. The bars or boxes also receive from the
crank a to-and-fro motion, the forward motion taking place when the bar is
up; thus it will be seen that the thrashed straw which is thrown on to the
Price Sd.j

page_text: shaker is kept in constant motion, so as to shake out the grain, and is at the
same time carried forward until it falls off at the end of the shaker. An
objection to shakers of this description is, however, that when the motion of
the bars or boxes is sufficient well to shake the straw, the same will travel so
rapidly from end to end of the shaker, that the corn will not be thoroughly
separated unless the shiker be of considerable length. To obviate this
inconvenience I do not, as heretofore, work the cranks at the two ends of the
shaker in unison, but I connect the cranks at the further end of the shaker to
the bars or boxes by means of connecting rods, and I drive the two crank axis
at different speeds usually by a band and pullies. When this arrangement is
made, the action of the bars at the entrance of the shaker where the straw is
first thrown upon it is precisely as heretofore, but at the further end of the
shakeritis only occasionally that the motion of the bars is suitable for carrying
the straw forward, that is to say, it is only from time to time that the
forward motion of the bars or boxes takes place; when they are raised from
this cause the straw is detained on the shaker, which consequently may be
made shorter than heretofore.
In place of arranging the cranks at the entrance end of the shaker,so that
the bars or boxes may rise and fall alternately, they may be so arranged as to
cause them all to rise and fall at the same time as the progress of the straw at
this end of theshaker will be sufficiently ensured by the force with which it is
thrown out from the drum; and when it gets towards the centre of the shaker
it will then rest on portions of the bars or boxes, which rise and fall alternately,
and so it will be carried forward. The cranks at the two ends of the bars or
boxes may either be driven in unison or otherwise, as is found most con-
venient. The simultaneous rising and falling of the bars or boxes may, if
preferred, be at the exit end of the shaker in place of at the entrance end.
In thrashing machines the grain is led from one part of the machine to
another by inclined boards, to which a vibratory motion is given;
these vibrating boards are usually actuated by cranks, and the cranks
employed for this purpose, as well as those employed for working the
straw shaker, have heretofore been forged on their shafts.
Now, according to my Invention I makesuch crank shafts in several pieces,
which I key or fix together, the crank arms being fixed to the sections of the
central shaft, and the crank pins to the crank arms. One advantage of this
arrangement is that it allows of the crank pins being case-hardened with-
out difficulty.
The inclined vibrating boards above mentioned are hung on suspending

page_text: bars or rods, and the connections between these bars or rods, and the parts to
which they are attached, have heretofore been made by means of cylindrical
pins or axes working in bearings of corresponding form. According to my
Invention I make the pins or axes spherical in place of cylindrical, or at any
rate I make them of large diameter at the centre of their length than at each
end, so that the bearing being of corresponding form, the oil with which it is
lubricated may lay in the hollow of the bearing; whereas when the cylindrical
bearing is employed, it rapidly works out at the ends, so that these bearings
require lubricating much more frequently than when hollow bearings are
employed according to my Invention. Heretofore the connecting rods which
communicate motion from the crank to the vibrating boards have been made
of metal, and jointed to the frame carrying the vibrating boards. According
to my Invention, however, I make thein of flexible wood, and fix them to the
frame carrying the vibrating boards. When this system is employed the
elasticity of the wood will be sufficient to allow the crank to revolve freely.
In constructing the drums of thrashing machines, I form the beaters of iron
bars alternated with laths of wood; these are held together by bolts passing
through both the bars and the laths, and the same bolts also serve to secure
them to the drum. The iron bars are so placed that during the rotation of the
drum one of the edges of each of the bars may be brought against the ears of
grain to be thrashed, striking them at the angle which is found by practice to
be most advantageous. The edges of the laths of wood do not project
outwards so far from the axis of the drum as the edges of the iron bars, so
that they do not beat the ears of grain, the laths serving only to keep the iron
bars at suitable distances the one from the other. When the beaters of
thrashing machines are thus constructed, they are much more readily
repaired by ordinary workmen, when necessary, than when they are
constructed in other manners now comm only adopted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Hornsby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HORNSBY, junior, of Spittlegate Works, Grantham, in the County of Lincoln,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Hornsby, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Hornsby,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Hornsby, 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 THRASHING
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Hornsby, 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 Richard Hornsby, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in thrashing machines. The
shakers of thrashing machines are commonly formed of a series of bars (or
boxes) placed side by side, and connected at each end to cranks driven in
unison, so that when at work the bars rise and fall alternately, that is to say,
when one bar is up, the bars next to it are down, and when the first bar falls,
those next to it rise, and so on. The bars or boxes also receive from the
crank a to-aud-fro motion, the forward motion taking place when the bar is
up,
thus it will be seen that the thrashed straw which is thrown on to the
shaker is kept in constant motion so as to shake out the grain, and is at the
same time carried forward until it falls off at the end of the shaker. An
objection to shakers of this description, is however, that when the motion of
the bars or boxes is sufficient well to shake the straw, the same will travel so
rapidly from end to end of the shaker, that the corn will not be thoroughly
separated unless the shaker be of considerable length. To obviate this incon-
venience, I do not, as heretofore, work the cranks at the two ends of the shaker
in unison, but I connect the cranks at the further end of the shaker to the
bars or boxes by means of connecting rods, and I drive the two crank axes at
different speeds, usually by a band and pulleys. When this arrangement is

page_text: made, the action of the bars at the entrance of the shaker where the straw is
first thrown upon it is precisely as heretofore, but at the further end of the
shaker it is only occasionally that the motion of the bars is suitable for car-
rying the straw forward, that is to say, it is only from time to time that the
forward motion of the bars or boxes takes place, when they are raised; from
this cause the straw is detained on the shaker, which consequently may be
made shorter than heretofore.
Figure 1 is a vertical and longitudinal section of a thrashing machine, in
which the shaker is arranged according to my Invention. a, a, are the shaker
boxes, of which there are usually four in the width of the machine; they consist,
as usual,of long and narrow open frames of wood, with cross bars passing from
side to side of them. These boxes have each a bracket fixed to it at its
inner end, which carries a bearing in which a crank of short throw on the
axis is held. There are four of these cranks on the same axis, and they are
so arranged that when one shaker box is at its highest position, that next it is
at its lowest, and vice versa, and the direction of rotation is such that the
boxes move forward when they are raised. The crank axis b is driven fromthe
drum or beater shaft which first receives motion by means of straps, one of
thom marked c passing around a pulley on the beater shaft, and also a pulley
on the axis d, and this has another pulley upon it, which is encircled by the
strap e, which also passes round a pulley on the crank axis 6; so far the
arrangement is an ordinary one. In place, however, of carrying the further
end of the shaker boxes, as heretofore, they are pin jointed to connecting
rods (one is shewn separately at Figure 2), which at their other ends are
connected to and are actuated by cranks on another axis g, and this is
driven at a different speed from the axis b, so that as before mentioned it is
only occasionally that the up-and-down and onward motions of the shaker
boxes at this end of the machine are so timed as to carry the straw forward,
and consequently the straw is detained on the shaker. The axis g is driven
by means of a third pulley on the axis d, from which a cross band h is taken
to a pulley on the axis g. I find it convenient to drive the axis b at a speed
of about 160 revolutions per minute, and the axis g at 180 revolutions or
thereabout per minute. The direction in which the axisg is driven is of no
great importance.
In place of arranging the cranks at the entrance end of the shaker so
that the bars or boxes may rise and fall alternately, they may be so arranged
as to cause them all to rise and fall at the same time, as the progress of the
straw at this end of the shaker will be sufficiently insured by the force with

page_text: which it is thrown out from the drum; and when it gets towards the centre of
the shaker, it will then rest on portions of the bars or boxes which rise and
fall alternately, and so it will be carried forward. The cranks at the two ends
of the bars or boxes may in this case either be driven in unison or otherwise,
as is found most convenient. The simultaneous rising and falling of the bars
or boxes may, if preferred, be at the exit end of the shaker in place of at the
entrance end. In this case when the strawhas arrived at the end of the shaker,
it will no longer have any tendency to travel forward, but the discharge will
depend on its being pushed off by the accumulation of straw behind. This
arrangement allows the straw to remain a comparatively long time on the
shaker; the straw will nevertheless be thrown off before it accumulates to
an inconvenient extent.
In thrashing machines the grain is led from one part of the machine to
another by inclined boards, to which a vibratory motion is given. These
vibrating boards are usually actuated by cranks, and the cranks employed for
this purpose, as well as those employed for working the straw shaker, have
heretofore been forged on their shafts. Now, according to my Invention, I
make such crank shafts in several pieces, which I key or fix together, the
crank arms being fixed to the sections of the central shaft, and the crank pins
to the crank arms. One advantage of this arrangement is, that it allows of
the crank pins being case-hardened without difficulty.
Figure 3 is a plan of a portion of one of the cranked axes for actuating the
shaker. a is a section of the central shaft; it is madeby preferencein wrought
iron and case-hardened; it is shown with a collar in the middle,and worksin a
wooden bearing. b, b, are the crank pins; they are similar in construction to
the portion a of the shaft; the brackets of the shaker boxes which embracethe
crauk pins are also by preference of wood. c, c, are the crank arms; these do
not require to be case-hardened; they are bored to fit on the ends of the pieces
a and ; they are keyed in their places, and the keys are prevented escaping
by nuts screwed on to the pieces a and b beyond the ends of the keys.
In Figure 1 the inclined boards for leading the grain about from place to
place are marked i, i, i¹, i¹; they are carried by two separate wooden frames,
which are suspended by suspension rods from the frame; they both receive their
vibrating motion from the same crank axis d, to which they are connected by
connecting rods, each frame i, i¹, having two connecting rods, one ateach side
of the machine. The crank axis d is shown separately at Figure 4; it is
made up in pieces, as already described, as respects the axes band g. The
inclined vibratingboards above mentioned arehung on suspending bars or rods

page_text: and the connections between these bars or rods and the parts to which they
are attached have heretofore been made by means of cylindrical pins or axes
working in bearings of corresponding form.
According to my Invention I make the pins or axes spherical in place of
cylindrical, or at any rate I make them of larger diameter at the centre
of their length than at each end, so that the bearing being of corresponding
form, the oil with which it is lubricated may lay in the hollow of the bearing;
whereas when the cylindrical bearing is employed it rapidly works out at the
ends, so that these bearings require lubricating much more frequently than
when hollow bearings are employed according to my Invention. k,k,Figure 1,
show the suspension rods by which the frame carrying the inclined boardsiare
suspended; there are four such rods, two on each side of the machine; and 1,1,
showthe suspension rods by which the frame carrying the inclined boards i¹¹
is hung. The upper end of one of the suspension rods k, l, with its upper
bearing, is shown full size at Figures 5, 6, 7. ¹ is a stud formed on or
fixed at the upper end of the link; ² is the upper, and k' the lower part of the
bearing; are bolts by which it is secured to the framing. The lower end
of one of the links k, at the outer end of the machine is shown at Figure 8; the
corresponding parts of the other link and the links are quite similar. Kis
a ball connected by a stem to the frame in which the inclined boards i are
fixed;,, are two pieces which fitting together form a socket for the
ball. The pieces k' are secured by bolts &s to the suspension rod k. Hereto-
fore the connecting rods which communicate motion from the crank to
the vibrating boards have been made of metal and jointed to the frame
carrying the vibrating boards; according to my Invention, however, I make
them of flexiblewood,and fix them to the frame carrying the vibrating boards
When this system is employed the elasticity of the wood will be sufficient
to allow the crank to revolve freely.
In Figure 1 one of the connecting rods giving motion to the frame carrying
the inclined boards i is marked m; there are two such rods one, on each
side of the machine; and one of the connecting rods, of which there are
also two for giving motion to the frame carrying the boards i¹, is marked n.
The method in which the rods m are attached to the frame is shown at
Figure 8; it will be seen that they are rigidly attached to the frame by
bolts; their other ends are firmly attached to connecting rod heads, also
of wood, which embrace the crank pin of one of the cranks on the axis d.
The connecting rods n are similarlyconnected with the crank, andthemanner
in which they are connected with the frame carrying the boards is shown

page_text: ir. the Drawing; 0,0. are plates of iron fixed to the wooden frame to strengthen
it; these have each projecting horizontally from them ledges an inch or so
in width on which the end of the connecting 1od lays, and bridge pieces P.P
bolted at each end to the connecting rod,pass overthe ledges and so securethe
rod to the frame. Plates of metal are laid on the connecting rod at top and
bottom where the bolts pass through it to prevent the bolts cutting into the
wood.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Hornsby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Seventh day of January, in the year of our ord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
RP. HORNSBY JN. (L.S