COMPRESSING GREEN CROPS OR OTHER MATERIALS IN SILOS
Year: 1884

page_text: to the Sealing having
I, THOMAS POTTER, clerk of works of Alresford in the County of Hants do
hereby declare the nature of the said invention for COMPRESSING GREEN CROPS
OR OTHER MATERIALS IN SILOS to be as follows:-
"
My invention relates to improvements in machinery for compressing green crops
in Silos, for which British letters patent No 1807 of the year 1883, were granted
to me, that is to say, "my system of employing vertical standards of wrought or
cast iron built or fixed into walls, and having cogs attached thereto, and used in
conjunction with screw or bydraulic jacks for the purpose of effecting great
"downward pressure."-The present improvements have for their object, 1st To
reduce the cost of the requisite machinery,-2nd To render it available for
temporary purposes, 3rd To simplify the use of the said machinery.
"
In carrying my invention into practice I employ by preference wrought or cast
iron standards of the section known as channel shape. Each standard has slots or
mortices made therein at fixed distances apart, and into which slots or mortices,
a movable iron cog or shoe is inserted and which is used as the point of resistance
to the pressure exercised by an ordinary screw or hydraulic jack, or simple lever;
by these means great pressure is placed upon the contents of the silo. I also
secure to the iron standards, rods or bars of iron to act as fulcrums during the
process of compression. At the bottom or other point of the standards I attach a
metal shoe or clamp, which is built into the wall to counteract the upward force
caused by the use of the jack,-
,- or for the same purpose I reverse the position of
the said shoe or clamp and pass it under a wood beam or platform resting on the
floor of the Silo.-Instead of channel shaped iron for standards I sometimes use
square or round iron and obtain the resistance to pressure by means of a movable
shoe or clamp passing over or otherwise attached to the standard, and secured by
set screw, wedge, or grip action.

page_text: I THOMAS POTTER of Alresford in the County of Hants Clerk of Works do
hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMPRESSING GREEN CROPS OR OTHER MATERIALS USED IN MAKING ENSILAGE IN
SILOS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in machinery for compressing green crops.
in Silos, for which British letters patent No 1807 of the year 1883 were granted to
me, that is to say my system of employing vertical standards of wrought or cast
iron built or fixed into walls and having cogs attached thereto, and used in
conjunction with screw or hydraulic jacks for the purpose of effecting great
downward pressure..
The present improvements have for their object, -1st To reduce the cost of the
requisite machinery-2nd To render it available for temporary purposes 3rd To
simplify the use of the said machinery.
In carrying my invention into practice I employ wrought or cast iron
standards, by preference of the section known as channel iron. Each standard
has slots or mortices made therein at fixed distances apart, and into which slots or
mortices a moveable iron cog or shoe is inserted, and which is used as the point of
resistance to the pressure exercised by an ordinary screw jack, or hydraulic jack,
or simple lever; by these means great pressure is placed upon the contents of the
Silo. At the bottom or other point of each of the standards I attach a metal shoe
or clamp, which is built into the wall to counteract the upward force caused by
the use of the jack, or for the same purpose I reverse the position of the said
shoe, or clamp and pass it under a wood beam or platform which rests on the floor
of the Silo.
Instead of channel shaped standards I sometimes use square, round, or irregular
section of iron, and obtain the resistance to pressure by means of a movable shoe,
clamp, or transom passing over or otherwise temporarily attached to the standards,
and secured thereto by set screws wedges, bolts, or grip action.
In order that my invention may be better understood, I annex drawings as
follows,―
Fig. 1. is a plan of a Silo which may be of any required dimensions, showing the
channel iron standards a. a. a. a built into the walls. These standards are morticed
or slotted at intervals apart to receive moveable cogs or shoes, the mortices or slots
being square, oblong, circular or other shape as may be preferred. Fig. 6 is a
portion of a standard drawn to an enlarged scale, having square shaped mortices
or slots.
The iron standards may be of a square, round, or irregular section as may be
found most convenient.
Fig 2 is a vertical section of the same Silo through A. B Fig. 1.
The bottom of the Silo being paved or concreted and the green crop deposited
thereon, the latter is covered with planks b. and these also by compressive beams c.
The moveable shoes d. being inserted in one of the slots or mortices, are used as
points of resistance to screw, hydraulic, or other lifting jacks, and great pressure
is thus obtained. Each standard bas an iron shoe or cramp at bottom e. rivetted
or otherwise secured to it and built into the walls.
Fig 3 is similar in all respects to Fig 2 except that the standards a. a. a. a are
not built into, or secured to the walls in any way, but simply rest against them
and the shoes or cramps at bottom of each standard being reversed pass under

page_text: compressive beams f. as shown by Fig 4 which is a section through C. D of Fig 3,
thereby enabling the said standards to be used for temporary purposes, or in any
pit or building for the making of ensilage.
Instead of using a screw or hydraulic jack to obtain the necessary pressure a
simple lever may be used in connection with the iron standards and movable shoes
or cogs as shown in Fig 4, and the fulcrum rest being made of an arch form admits
of a metal bolt passing through it and into one or other of the slots or mortices of
the standards, for the purpose of preventing the compressive beam c. from
rebounding when the lever is removed. A weight may be attached to the end of
the lever so as to produce continuous pressure until such time as the former rests
upon the compressive plank or beam c.
Fig 7 is a larger scale drawing showing the fulcrum rest and how the bolt passes
through it.
Fig 5 is a section of a Silo where the standards may be kept at a distance away
from the walls if desired, where for instance the Silo is very wide. In this case the
shoes, clamps, or transoms g. pass over the standards, and the former being attached
thereto with a set screw bolt, or wedge as may be preferred form the points of
resistance to a lifting jack in a similar way to that previously described. The
compressive beams are kept in place by a pin or bolt h. passing through one or
other of the slot holes or mortices.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what inanner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1st The use of moveable shoes or cogs made to fit into a series of slots or
mortices in iron standards, and thereby form the points of resistance to ordinary
or hydraulic jacks.
screw,
2nd The adaptation of these standards to temporary purposes, in pits or slight
buildings in the way described.
3. The use of a simple lever with or without a weight attached thereto,
(affording a system of continuous pressure) where such system is preferred to
lifting jacks.
4. The adoption of iron clamps, shoes or transom bars passing over the standards
instead of into slots or mortices and the adoption of a more suitable section of iron
standards rendered necessary thereby.
Dated this 14th day of November 1884