IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Leggett, Engineer, and Robert Gittus,
Farmer, both of Mildenhall, in the County of Suffolk, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
Sealed the 2nd October 1863, and dated the 18th April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Leggett and Robert
Gittus at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 18th April 1863.
We, ROBERT LEGGETT, Engineer, and ROBERT GITTUS, Farmer, both of
Mildenhall, in the County of Suffolk, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CHAPP AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE," to be as
follows:-
The first part of our Invention consists in the adaptation of moveable
knives in place of fixed ones, for the purpose of producing a drawing cut
throughout the stroke or passage of the knives through the material to be
cut, by which arrangement we greatly lighten the work or labour of cutting,
keep the said knives in better order, and prevent the undue compression of
the material to be cut, especially at the commencement and termination of the
stroke of the knives through it. The arrangement being also such as to
afford greater facility for sharpening the knives, while, not being fixed to the
arms of the fly wheel as in tho ordinary plan, are at all times, whether new

page_text: or even greatly worn, capable of being easily got at for this purpose. We prefer
to suspend the knives at about the centre of their length from the arms of
the fly or carrying wheel, upon studs or centres, about which the knives are
free to revolve. The upper ends of the said knives are steadied or guided by
means of studs, or the ends of the knives themselves work in slots or guides cast
or fixed upon the said wheel. The lower ends of the knives are attached
to guides or blocks which are kept in contact with the periphery of a fixed
disc placed eccentrically with the centre of the fly wheel upon which the knives
are carried, and by means of which disc the said knives are made to assume
different directions with respect to the radii of the wheel at different points of
its revolution. This disc may be circular, oval, or otherwise shaped, and the
knives straight or curved. In machines for cutting chaff the fly wheel and
knives we prefer to revolve in a vertical plane, but a horizontal arrangement
may be convenient for cutting other substances.
The second part of our Invention relates to the construction of the pressure
plate, one portion of it moving vertically in the ordinary way, but the other
portion having a circular motion corresponding with the circumference of the
top feeding roller, to which it closely fits, in order that the space between the
vertical portion of the pressure plate and the said roller shall always be com-
pletely filled up, so as to prevent any choking of the material to be cut. In
ordinary chaff cutters the edge of the pressure plate in its descent gets further
and further from the surface of the roller after passing its centre, and thus
leaves a large open space into which the material to be cut is forced, having
room to allow of its being deflected out of its proper course; whereas in our
improved arrangement the material to be eut passes continually under a smooth
metallic surface which prevents the possibility of choking.
The third part of our Invention relates to the mode of constructing the feed
rollers. Instead of these rollers being notched or grooved longitudinally they
have deep ribs cast on them in the direction of their circumferences. These
ribs we prefer to traverse the circumference of the said rollers not at right
angles to their axes, but more or less inclined thereto, the inclination of the
ribs of the top roller being one way, and those of the bottom roller the other
way. This difference of direction of the ribs on the rollers has the effect of
straightening out the separate straws or fibres of the material to be cut when
lying crosswise, sending them through the mouth of the machine at right angles
so the plane in which the knives revolve.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Leggett and Robert Gittus in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
LEGGETT, Engineer, and ROBERT GITTUS, Farmer, both of Mildenhall, in the
County of Suffolk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Robert Leggett and Robert Gittus, Her special licence that we,
the said Robert Leggett and Robert Gittus, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Leggett and
Robert Gittus, our 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OP MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING CHAFF AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Robert Leggett and Robert Gittus, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said Robert Leggett and Robert Gittus,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
The first part of our Invention consists in the adaptation of movable knives
in place of fixed ones, for the purpose of producing a drawing cut throughout
the stroke or passage of the knives through the material to be cut, by which.
arrangement we greatly lighten the work or labor of cutting, keep the said knives
in better order, and prevent the undue compression of the material to be cut,
especially at the commencement and termination of the stroke of the knives
through it, the arrangement being also such as to afford greater facility for

page_text: sharpening the knives, which, not being fixed to the arms of the fly wheel as in
the ordinary plan, are at all times, whether new or even greatly worn, capable
of being easily got at for this purpose. We prefer to suspend the knives, at
about the centre of their length, from the arms of the fly or carrying wheel,
upon studs or centres about which the knives are free to revolve. The upper
ends of the said knives are steadied or guided by means of studs; or the ends of
the knives themselves work in slots or guides cast or fixed upon the said wheel.
The lower ends of the knives are attached to guides or blocks which are kept
in contact with the periphery of a fixed disc placed eccentrically with the centre
of the fly wheel upon which the knives are carried, and by means of which
dise the said knives are made to assume different directions with respect to
the radii of the wheel at different points of its revolution. This disc may be
circular, oval, or otherwise shaped, and the knives straight or curved. In
machines for cutting chaff the fly wheel and knives we prefer to revolve in a
vertical plane, but a horizontal arrangement may be convenient for cutting
other substances.
The second part of our Invention relates to the construction of the pressure
plate which we term a "duplex" pressure plate, one portion of it moving
vertically in the ordinary way, but the other portion having a circular motion
corresponding with the circumference of the top feeding roller, to which it
closely fits, in order that the space between the vertical portion of the pressure
plate and the said roller shall always be completely filled up, so as to prevent
any choking of the material to be cut. In ordinary chaff cutters the edge of
the. pressure plate in its descent gets further and further from the surface of
the roller after passing its centre, and thus leaves a large open space into which
the material to be cut is forced, having room to allow of its being deflected out
of its proper course; whereas in our improved arrangement the material to be
cut passes continually under a smooth metallic surface which prevents the
possibility of choking.
The third part of our Invention relates to the mode of constructing the feed
rollers. Instead of these rollers being notched or grooved longitudinally they
have deep ribs cast on them in the direction of their circumferences. The ribs
we prefer to traverse the circumference of the said rollers not at right angles
to their axes but more or less inclined thereto, the inclination of the ribs of the
top roller being one way, and those of the bottom roller the other way. This
difference of direction of the ribs on the rollers has the effect of straightening
out the separate straws or fibres of the material to be cut, when lying cross-
wise, sending them through the mouth of the machine at right angles to the.
plane in which the knives revolve.

page_text: Having now described the general nature of our Invention, we proceed to
explain more particularly how the said Invention can be carried into effect,
reference being made to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings..
Fig. 1 shows an end elevation of a chaff-cutting machine constructed
according to our Invention; Fig. 2 shows a section of the fly wheel; Fig. 3,
section of the pressure plate; and Fig. 4, an edge view of the same. This
machine is fitted with ordinary motion shafts and "change" wheels for varying
the length of the cut, these parts not being seen in the Drawing:
A, A, A, are the knives, in this case shewn straight, but sometimes having
the corners J rounded off. The knives are centred on the fly wheel arms at
B, B, B, their outer ends being guided in the slots D, D, D, shewn formed in
the arms of the wheel. The inner ends of the knives are attached to guide
blocks D', which latter are made in two pieces and clip the edge (which is
formed with a flange) of the disc E, secured to the frame of the machine, and
placed eccentrically with the centre of the shaft or centre I. To this centro-
is attached a universal joint when the machine is driven by power. The feed
rollers are shown at G, the deep ribs of which are shewn at G', which we
prefer to slightly incline to the axes of the rollers, those of the top roller being.
inclined the reverso way to those of the lower roller, but they may be set at
right angles to the axes of the rollers as shewn, the ribs of lower roller being
opposite the hollows of the upper one. The pressure plato is shewn at Figs. 3
and 4; F shews the ordinary vertical plate, which is made to bear upon another
plate Hlying nearly horizontal and attached to a covering plate K (made in
two pieces so as to clip the upper roller for more than its half circumference)
resting on the upper roller. This covering plate has projections on its under
side, which fit between the ribs on the top roller, the plate H being notched
out on the inner edge also to fit the said ribs. The vertical plate Fand the
covering plate K, with the attached horizontal plate H, we term a "
pressure plate.
.
"duplex"
Fig. 5 shews the application of the guide blocks b, and fixed disc a, above
described, for giving motion to the floats c of paddle wheels. By this arrange-
ment the floats may be made to assume any desired position in the course of
their revolution, in order that they may enter and leave the water with the
least loss of power.
Fig. 6 shews a modified arrangement for a paddle wheel, the guide
blocks 6, b, and disc a, being the same as described in reference to the chaff
cutter, Fig. 1. The blades or arms c, c, are attached at one end to the guide
blocks, and at the other to the outer rim, as shown, the float boards being
fastened to the said blades.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we do
not confine ourselves to the exact details herein described, as many modifica-
tions may be made therein without affecting the principles of our Invention;
but what we claim as our Invention, and for which the herein-before named
Letters Patent have been granted to us is,-
Firstly, the application of movable knives to chaff-cutting or other machines
in the manner described, or in any other way accomplishing the same object.
Secondly, the application of a fixed disc placed eccentrically with the driving
shaft for giving the desired inclination to the knives of chaff cutters or other
machines for cutting agricultural products, as well as for giving the desired
direction to float boards of paddle wheels by means of guide blocks traversing
its circumference.
Thirdly, the construction of the rollers of chaff cutters, as described, with
deep ribs formed in the direction of their circumferences.
And, fourthly, the construction of the "duplex" pressure plate, as described,,
for preventing the choking of the material to be cut in passing through the
machine to which it is attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Gittus, on behalf of myself and
the said Robert Leggett, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Nineteenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three.