IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING VEGETABLE AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Arthur Biddell, of Ipswich, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING VEGETABLE AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES."
Scaled the 1st September 1858, and dated the 3rd March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Arthur Biddell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Potition, on
the 3rd March 1858.
[, GEORGE ARTHUR BIDDELL, of Ipswich, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING VEGETABLE AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to the construction of machines intended to be
used for slicing, cutting, or reducing turnips, carrots, roots, or other substances
for which such machines are applicable, and consist in fixing to a suitable.
frame a cutting plate or series of cutters, arranged according to the desired
form or degree of fineness to which the substances are required to be reduced.
The hopper or receptacle or series of receptacles intended to receive the sub-
stances to be cut are so formed that the substances in approaching the knives
or cutters always descend or move into a freer or less confined space, thus
having no tendency to jam or stick fast in the hopper. The hopper is made
to pass the edges of the cutters or knives, and by suitable partitions or
Price 8d 1

page_text: abutments placed in and forming part of the hopper the turnips or substances
are forced against the edges of the cutters, and the pieces thus severed are
collected on the other side of the frame. The hopper with its partitions
or abutments, carrying the substances to be cut, is put in motion by means
of toothed wheels or other suitable gearing or driving apparatus, and can
thus be worked either by manual or other power.
This machine can also be arranged to cut the substances into strips or
oblong pieces by the use of a small frame or frames carrying cross knives,
which can be brought into action immediately below or behind the edges of
the knife or knives used for cutting the substances into slices.
It will be evident that a modification of the above machine may be made
in such manuer that the hopper may be fixed and the cutters moveable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Arthur Biddell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ARTHUR BIDDELL, of Ipswich, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, 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
George Arthur Biddell, Her special licence that I, the said George Arthur
Biddell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Arthur Biddell, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING VEGETABLE AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Arthur Biddell, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Arthur Biddell, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
These improvements relate to the construction of machines intended to be
used for slicing, cutting, or reducing turnips, carrots, roots, or other substances
for which such machines are applicable, and consist in fixing to a suitable
frame a cutting plate or series of cutters, arranged according to the desired form
or degree of fineness to which the substances are required to be reduced. The
hopper or receptacle or series of receptacles intended to receive the substances
to be cut are so formed that the substances in approaching the knives or
cutters always descend or move into a freer or less confined space, thus having
no tendency to jamb or stick fast in the hopper. The hopper is made to pass
the edges of the cutters or knives, and by suitable partitions or abutments
placed in and forming parts of the hopper the turnips or substances intended
to be cutare forced against the edges of the cutters, and the pieces thus.severed
and collected on the other side of the frame. The hopper with its partitions
or abutments, carrying the substances to be cut, is put in motion by means of
toothed wheels or other suitable gearing or driving apparatus, and can thus be
worked either by manual or other power.
The same machine can be arranged to cut the substances into slices and
strips or oblong pieces by bringing into action a frame or frames carrying cross
knives, which cross cut the slices immediately below or behind the edges of
the slicing knives.
Having described the nature of my Invention, I will now describe the
accompanying Drawing, which represents my Invention in what I believe
to be its most convenient form and arrangement.
Figure 1 represents the complete machine in plan; Figure 2, plan with
hopper removed; Figure 3, plan of under side of the machine, shewing teeth
of hopper; Figure 4, front elevation of complete machine; Figure 5, side
elevation of complete machine; Figure 6, sectional elevation of portions of the
machine to an enlarged scale; Figures 7, 8, 9, three different views to an
enlarged scale of harp piece or cross knife frame; Figure 10, plan of a frame
with knives adapted for forming strips or mincing; Figure 11, plan full size
of a portion of a knife and frame for cutting strips; Figure 12, section full
size of the same; Figure 15, plan full size of a portion of knife and frame
for mincing; Figure 14, section full size of the same. His the hopper, with
its three screw-like arms or partitions. h, the under side of the lower and
largest rim of this hopper, has teeth cast upon it, which gear into the teeth of

page_text: pinion J, which gives motion to the hopper by means of the spindle and fly
wheel K.
This spindle is carried by the frame L, revolving in two bearings I, 1,
Figure 3. The sundry-holes in this frame are intended to lighten it as well as
to let stones, &c., fall through. This frame has also a central vertical spindle
firmly attached to it by a cotter, shewn clearly in Figure 6. Around this
steadfast spindle as a centre the hopper H revolves, and is kept in position
endways by the nut and collar at the top of spindle, and by the fixed collar at
about the centre of the spindle's length. M, M, are two flat curved stee
knives, about one-eighth of an inch thick, bolted firmly to the raised corre-
sponding portions of the frame L. It must be observed that open spaces are
left in the frame I corresponding in shape to the form of the flat knives M, M,
and about half their width, so that the portions cut from the turnips or other
substances are free to fall away by passing under the knives.
.
In the Drawings the two sets of cross knives are represented as fixed for
action, so as to deliver pieces of a finger-like form square in section, but of
such a length as is determined by the ever-varying diameters of the turnips
or other like substances under operation. The cross knives are pieces of knife-
edged steel, firmly fixed to two small frames or harp pieces A, A, by means of
thin wooden wedges driven tightly into mortises by the side of the knives.
When these cross knives are desired to be brought out of action, the two bars
N,N, are withdrawn a short distance, and the two harp pieces A, A, fall into
vertical positions, thus leaving the space immediately below the flat knives
quite clean, in which case the result of working the machine would be the
production of flat slices. The harp pieces A, A, swing upon centre spindles
p, p, which move in lugs cast upon the under side of the frame L. These
spindles have arms attached to them at their outer ends, and by means of
these the harp pieces are brought up into the horizontal positionsand the lock
bars N, N, are pushed inwards below the harps, the machine being then in a
state for cross cutting, as shewn in the Drawings. It will be observed that
the harp form has been adopted to enable the cross knives to be so placed
as not to impede each other's free cutting action, the strips being free to pass
between the back and front edges of two contiguous cross knives.
The frame L is supported by three wooden legs R, R, R, firmly attached by
bolts at their upper ends and braced together by a triangular casting S near
their lower ends; Tis a sheet iron inverted conical shoot bolted to the frame
L, through which the cut substances pass directly into a skep or other
receptacle placed upon the iron brace S. When it is desirable to construct a
machine for producing thin strips only, I use a frame or plate with three or

page_text: more knives or cutters, as shewn in Figure 10, Plate 2, at V, V, instead of
the frame L, and knives previously described. The knives in this instance
are shewn full size in plan (as seen from under side of plate) and section
at Figures 11 and 12.
And when it is further desired to produce minced pieces (viz., strips broken
into short lengths), I adopt the form of plate and knives shewn at W, W, in
Figure 10, which are shewn full size in plan and section at Figures 13 and 14.
By this arrangement it will be understood that the strips, instead of being
allowed to pass freely away from the cutters, as clearly would be the case in
the arrangement as shewn at Figure 12, they are forced against that portion
of the plate X in Figure 14 immediately behind the edge of the cutter,
which in this instance projects but a short distance from the edge of the
casting. It will thus be evident that the strips get broken up into short
pieces (about in. long) by butting against the casting as they are forced
under the knife or cutter.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the details nor to the precise form or arrangement of the machine
herein shewn and described; I claim, however, the general combination or
arrangement shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Arthur Biddell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
5 Witness,
HOWARTH FARRAR,
of 1pswich.
GEORGE ARTHUR BIDDELL. (L.S.)