IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESS WHEEL ROLLERS OR CLOD CRUSHERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Colborne Cambridge, of Bristol, Agri-
cultural Implement Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRESS WHEEL ROLLERS OR CLOD CRUSHERS."
Sealed the 26th January 1858, and dated the 4th August 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Colborne
Cambridge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th August 1857.
I, WILLIAM COLBORNE CAMBRIDGE, of Bristol, Agricultural Implement
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said, Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRESS WHEEL ROLLERS OR CLOD CRUSHERS," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to improve the construction of the self-
clearing wheel rollers and clod crushers, and thereby render their operation
more regular and efficient. The ordinary crushing wheels, which go to form
the compound rollers, I separate by inserting between them narrow wheels,
which may have either a plain or serrated periphery. These narrow wheels I
prefer to make about half an inch less in diameter than the other wheels; and
I make the bore for the axle about half an inch larger than the adjacent
wheels, so as to allow for play, and enable them to keep in contact with the
ground. The friction of the adjacent wheels against the sides of these narrow

page_text: wheels will have a tendency, together with their own weight, to keep them
down, and ensure their efficient action on the clods which they may meet; and
this rubbing action, coupled with the unequal speed of rotation of the adjacent
wheels, will ensure the self-clearing of the roller from clods and other matters
while it is in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Colborne Cambridge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COLBORNE CAMBRIDGE, of Bristol, Agricultural Implement Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Colborne Cambridge, Her special license that I, the said William
Colborne Cambridge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Colborne Cambridge, 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 PRESS WHEEL ROLLERS OR CLOD CRUSHERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Colborne Cambridge, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Colborne Cambridge, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing the pressing.
surfaces of that class of press wheel rollers and clod-crushers known as self-

page_text: clearers. The discs or wheels employed to form the pressing surfaces of this
class of implement have been made of varying diameters, and the central hole
in the boss of those wheels having a superior diameter has been made
sufficiently large to enable these wheels to play freely on their axle, and thus
permit the wheels of smaller diameter to bear upon the ground. In other
respects, however, all the wheels or discs of the set or series have been similar
in construction. Now I have found that by making them materially different
in form, both as respects their profile and figure in cross section, the action
of the implement is rendered more efficient. In constructing the compound
pressing roller according to my Invention I place upon the axle a number of
plain wheels or discs, of a given diameter and breadth, and tapered at their
periphery to a blunt crushing edge or rib, alternating these with a serrated
wheel or disc of considerably less breadth than the other wheels.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 an end
elevation of the improved implement; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a serrated
wheel, shewing it applied to its axle; Fig. 4 is a side elevation, shewing a
plain and serrated wheel placed side by side on their axle; and Fig. 5 is a
sectional plan view of the same. a, a, are the broad plain wheels, and b, b,
the narrow serrated wheels. These wheels are mounted loosely on a common
shaft c, which has its bearings in the end frames d, d. The wheels b, it will
be seen, are made somewhat larger in diameter than the wheels a, and the
central hole at the boss is proportionately enlarged to allow for play, and thus
enable the wheels of smaller diameter to keep in contact with the ground.
The friction of the wheels a against the sides of these narrow wheels will have
a tendency, together with their own weight, to keep them down on a level
with the wheels b, and ensure their efficient action on the clods which they
may meet; and this rubbing action, coupled with the unequal speed of rotation
of the adjacent wheels, will ensure the self-clearing of the roller from clods and
other matters while it is in use.
I would remark that I do not confine myself to any special proportions
either for the relative diameter or breadth of the intervening rollers, but I
have found the pressing roller to work well when the serrated wheels have
measured from half an inch to one inch in diameter more than the plain
wheels, and when their breadth has been about one-third that of the plain
rollers.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Press Wheel Rollers and Clod Crushers," and explained 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 combining plain and serrated press wheels

page_text: together on a common axle, in the manner and for the purpose above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Colborne Cambridge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W C. CAMBRIDGE. (L.S.)