IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING AND WINNOWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Colborne Cambridge, of Bristol, Agricultural
Implement Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING
AND WINNOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 13th October 1859, and dated the 20th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Colborne
Cambridge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th May 1859.
I, WILLIAM COLBORNE CAMBRIDGE, of Bristol, Agricultural Implement
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THRASHING AND WINNOWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain means for rendering the shakers of
thrashing machines, and the riddles or screens of thrashing and winnowing
machines more efficient in their action than heretofore. To this end I
construct the shakers of sheet metal stamped with lines of (by preference)
oval holes, and having a hollow rib pressed up between the rows. The
shakers are mounted at a slight incline and connected at their opposite ends
to crank shafts, the cranks of each of which correspond in position and are
set at any desired angles. Rotary motion being given to one crank shaft will
be communicated to the other through the shakers, and thus the separation of
the corn from the straw, and the discharge of the straw from the machine

page_text: will be rapidly and efficiently performed. The riddles for separating the
cavings or short straws from the corn, &c., I also make of plate metal, with
oval holes and ribs as above described, and thus, while allowing ample space
for the passage of the corn through the riddle, I provide the means for
intercepting and discharging the cavings over the riddle.
As an improvement in winnowing machines, whether connected or not with
the thrashing machine, I form the lower riddle or screen of sheet metal with
oval holes (punched) of a size sufficient to pass single seeds, and increase it in
length so that it will extend forward below the fan, and thereby lengthen the
run of the grain. The riddle I support on links connected to its extremities
and drive it by a crank in the direction of its length. In the winnowing
machine I take the motion for the crank shaft from the spindle of the fan,
and in the thrashing machine either from the fan spindle or the shaker
wheels.
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 19th November 1859.
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 Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THRASHING AND WINNOWING MACHINES," 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

page_text: 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 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to certain means for rendering the shakers of
thrashing machines, and the riddles or screens of thrashing and winnowing
machines, more efficient in their action than heretofore. To this end I
propose first to operate the shakers in a somewhat different manner from that
heretofore practised, and also to construct the shakers of frames covered with
sheet metal stamped with rows of elongated holes, and having a hollow rib
pressed up between the rows. The riddle for separating the cavings or short
straws from the corn, &c., I also make of plate metal with groups of oval
holes, divided by ribs as above described, and thus while allowing ample space
for the passage of the corn through the riddle, I provide the means for
intercepting and discharging the cavings over the riddle.
The same
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews the improved mode of mount-
ing the straw shakers of thrashing machines, whereby a very efficient
reciprocating action will be imparted to them, ensuring the effectual separation
of the corn from the straw. a, a, a, represent three shakers set abreast of."
each other and mounted at a slight inclination from the horizontal; these
shakers are connected at their opposite ends to wrought-iron crank shafts b, b;
the cranks c, c, c, of each of which correspond in position, and are set at angles-
dividing radially into equal parts the circle of their rotation.
remark applies when, by reason of the increased width of the thrashing
machine, four shakers and a corresponding number of crauks for the shafts b
are required. Rotary motion derived from the drum or beater shaft or other
convenient spindle of the thrashing machine is given to one crank shaft and
communicated to the other through the shakers, and thus the separation of
the corn from the straw and the discharge of the straw from the machine will
be rapidly and efficiently performed. Fig. 2 shews in plan view a shaker
covered with sheet metal d in place of the wooden bars usually employed for
supporting the straw (on its passage from the drum or beater) while the loose
corn is being separated therefrom. The sheet metal, it will be seen, is pierced
with rows of elongated boles, which may be made of any convenient size for
keeping back the straw, but allowing a free passage downwards for the corn.
Between the rows of holes, ribs, or hollow beads e are pressed up, the same

page_text: running in parallel lines across the plate, and serving to support the straw as
it passes down the shaker, and keep a free course for the discharge of the.
corn. The riddle on to which the corn falls from the shakers I also form of
pierced and ribbed metal, varying the size of the holes according to the nature
of the grain under operation. When thrashing wheat, for example, I find a
good result from the use of holes three-eighths of an inch broad by three-
quarters of an inch in length. When fitting up thrashing machines to enable
them to finish the corn for the market, I arrange the riddles of the winnowing
apparatus as shewn in the section at Fig. 3. This winnowing apparatus is
fixed to the side of the thrashing machine, but made detachable at pleasure.
The lower riddle f is carried by strips of wood or iron attached to that riddle
of the thrashing machine which receives the corn from the shakers, and it.
thus receives a longitudinal motion therefrom. Near the raised end of this.
riddle f, a vertical rock shaft g is mounted carrying two arms h, h', as shewn
best in the elevation Fig. 4. To the lower arm h, the riddle f is loosely
jointed, and to the upper arm ¹ the upper riddle i is connected, the same.
being supported by links and vibrating on a fixed pin. This arrangement
allows of the riddles being worked directly from the riddle of the thrashing
machine, so that the speed of the riddles in the two machines may correspond,
and that without the use of gearing. The corn as it is discharged from the
elevator falls on to the riddle i, which receives a quick lateral motion from.
the rock shaft g, and thence falling through the blast of the fan k is received.
on to the riddle f, which by its longitudinal reciprocating motion imparts the
desired motion to the rock shaft. The lower riddle or screen f, it will be seen,
is in this arrangement lengthened as compared with the upper riddle (which
is of the ordinary proportion), for the purpose of increasing the run of the
grain, and thereby lengthen the run of the grain.
When constructing winnowing machines according to my Invention to be
worked independently of the thrashing machine, I arrange the parts as shewn
in the sectional elevation, Fig. 5, where is the top screen which receives a
lateral motion, and m is the extended lower riddle or screen which receives
the grain as it falls from the riddle 7 through the blast delivered by the fan n.
The riddle m I support on links connected to its extremities, and drive it in
the direction of its length by a crank on the axle o, which receives motion
through a belt and pulleys from the fan shaft. In this winnowing machine
the riddle m extends forward below the fan, but the lower riddle of the
winnowing apparatus applied to the thrashing machine I make somewhat
shorter to allow of the discharge of the corn into a fixed box or trough below
the fan,

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Thrashing and Winnowing Machines," 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,―
First, the mode of operating the shakers of thrashing machines as above
described.
And secondly, the mode of constructing the shakers of thrashing machines
and the riddles of thrashing and winnowing machines as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Colborne Cambridge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.