US357480A - Hay-press - Google Patents

Description

.NITED STATEs PATE T OFFICE.

CHARLES ALEX. HAMILTON, OF MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI.

HAY-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,480, dated February 8, 1887. Application filed August 6, 1686: Serial "o. 210,244. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALEX. HAMIL- TON, a citizen of the United, States, residing at Meridiamin the county of Lauderdale and State of Mississippi, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Cotton or Hay Presses, of which the following is a full and clear description. Thisinvention is an improvement in that particular class of presses known as perpetual, continuous, or reversible, andin which the material to be pressed and baled is fedinto the pressbox in successive charges that are successively acted on by the reciprocating follower, the latter being operated by a pivoted reversible sweep or lever,which is so connected with it as to permit it to be thrown back by the elasticity of the pressed material after reaching the limit of its positive forward movement.

My invention consists in a particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a plan view,thclever and follower being shownin full lines in-the starting position, and the lever in dotted lines in the position it occupies after the follower has been forced into the box and has rebounded. Fig. 2 is a side view showing the parts in the same position as Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is another plan view, but showing the fol.- lower at the limit of its forward movement. Fig. 4 illustrates a detail.

The press-box or condensing-chamber A,into which the material to be baled is fed at a, may be constructed in the usual manner. The follower B has rearward extensions 12 at its corners, that serve as guides during its sliding movement. The pitman or connecting rod G is pivoted to the rear side of the follower and slotted throughout its entire length, save the heads.

The reversible lever D, to which the horse is attached, has a large flat metal head, E,which is constructedwith a hub, e, that is keyed or otherwise secured on the vertical fulcrum;

shaft F.

Thelever proper, D, is securely bolted to this head on one side of the fulcrum F. The other side of said head is broader and provided with a curved slot, d, that is eccentric to the fulcrum F, its ends being farther from the latter than its middle portion.

The 'pitman G is loosely attached to the head D by means of a bolt, f, that passes through said slot, as shown.

To relieve friction I apply a loose flanged sleeve, 9, to the bolt, as shown in Fig. 4. The slot of the pitman receives the lever-head E and allows space for it to work in, as required.

The operation of the press is as follows: When the follower is .in the position shown in full lines, Fig. 1, the pitman O is at the limit of its rearward movement, and the cotton, hay, or other material to be baled may be fed'into the press-box at a. The horse attached to the outer end of the sweep D then moves in the direction of the arrow (thus forcing the follower forward and into the press-box) untilthesweep arrives at the position shown in dot-ted lines, whichis at nearly right angles to the longer axis of the press-box A. During this movement the bolt f of the pitman has occupied the end of the slot farthest from the follower; but so soon as the lever passes'beyond the point justindicated the bolt is free to slide in the slot, and the follower is forced suddenly and rapidly backward by the resiliency or elasticity of the material in front of it, so that the parts resume their original relation and position, save that the lever is then on the other side of the press-box, as shown in Fig. 1. In other words, the backward pressure of the material forces back the follower B, and the pitman-bolt f slides around to the rear or farther end of the slot d, which movement is permitted by the slot of the pitman that receives the projecting portion of the head E. The slot d is slightly enlarged or cut out at its ends on the side nearest the fulcrum F, Figs. 1 and 3, thus forming rounded shoulders. The function of the latter is to hold the bolt a little longer on the dead-center than would be practicableif the slot were of uniform widththat is to say, they hold the pitman-bolt f until the shaft F, the bolt f, and the pitman O and follower B are all in line, or on a dead-center, as shown in Fig. 3, when the bolt f is released by sliding off the shoulder it engages. Y Whenon the dead-center,there is no draft, so to speak, on the horse end of lever,

and it can therefore be moved either way with slightforee. The rebounding follower,pitman, and bolt, the latter traversing the curved slot, gradually lose momentum until the other or opposite shoulder is reached, where the side stroke given by the curved slot takes up any tendency to reaction of the lever or sweep. There is no jerk or jar on the team.

I am aware that it is not broadly new to p rovide a reversible sweep or horse lever with a slot and to connect the pitman with it, but the construction and arrangement have been differentfrom mine and not capable of operating in a similar manner and with like advantage.

Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination, with the press-box, reciprocating follower, and slotted pitma-n, of

ver D and its head E, which is pivoted een trally at the end of said press-box and provided with aeurved slot, as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

CHARLES ALEX. HAMILTON.

\Vil'nesses:

J. V. KNIGHT, G. \V. \VALTON.

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