USRE2837E - Franklin benjamin hunt - Google Patents

Description

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i @M55 'fatsatwt @frn FRANKLIN BENJAMIN HUNT, or RICHMOND, 1NDIANA-A Let-ters .Patent No. 41,070, dated January 5, 1864; reissue lvTo. 2,368, dated October 2, 1366; 'reissue Nq. 2,837,

` kann January 14, 186s.

IMPROVEMENT 1N saam-correas.

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'ro ALL WHOM IT MAY 'coNcnnN4 A Be `it known that I, FRANKLIN. BENJAMIN HUNT, of Richmond, in the county of Wayne, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Straw and 4other substances; and I doihereby declare that the lfollowing is'a full, clear, and e-:actdescription of the same,l refercuco boing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which Figure 1 is a side viewoimy invention.

Figure 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the same at the line aux, iig. 3.

Figure 3, a plan or top view of tlie'machine partly in section. i

i Figure 4, a detached front View of aportion of the upper feed-roller with one ot the bearings in section.

'Figure 5, a detached central section-of the fly-wheel ttedonits shaft. v

Figure 6, a detached View in the same plane as igff', illustrating the manner of setting the axis of vth'e knife above the planb of the cutter-bar' in order to ,cut the fodder obliquely.

My invention relates to a new and improved machine forcntting fodder, sueh'as hay,.st`ra\v, cornstalks,

tc., in a suitable manner for feed for horses and cattle. My machine is also adapted, by the peculiar construction and arrangement of its parts, to cutting up into short pieces hard roots', stems, and-othersubstan'ces, such as rope, woolien rag-s, SLC., when such substances are'required in short'lengths to be treated by other machines or y processes.. I employ a curved knife set upon arms, and diagonal toits shaft, and acting upon the-straw or other material that is fed along bya pair of rollers, to separate the'same by la slanting-and shearing cut, -in conse- 'quence of the axis pf the revolving knife being 'higher than the bar against which the knife cuts. This cutter- .bar is adjustable horizontally, and is supported upon a bar cast in one piece withvthe journal-boxes of the` cutter-` shaft, so as to be very rigid and preserve 'the cutting portions in their proper relative positions* In constructing my machine, l

make a rigid bar, combined with the bearings of the cutter-shaft,and'seeur-ely Y fasten -to the wooden frame A,` thereby making a solid andfirm foundation to work and construct upon and make aurm,r`so1id, and durable machine. The ily-wheel and revolvingcutting-knife are` so connected to a shaft that when' the cutting-knife is in rapid motion, and is brought in contact with a hard foreign su-bstance,k such as largesticks, te., the revolving knife may be suddenlystopped and the fly-wheel allowed to continue to vrotate and expend its momentum in a-gradual manner, which is essential to the preservation of the knife and the other I .parts of the machine from injury by such sudden stoppage of Vthe. revolving knife. v

The upper feedroller is fitted in a frame 'provided with slings, that pass to aspring, or its equivalent, the

said roller being free to accommodate itself to the thickness of material fed into the machine. vSaid roller is l guided in its movements, as it rises and falls, by slots in guide-plates. Around the shaft of the adjustable feedroller I place hubs 'to protect the shaft of the roller from friction and wear against the sidesof-the guide-slots in which it works. The frame to the adjustable feed-roller could be omit-ted and the roller-simply attachedto the slings, butI-prefer combining the frame with the roller and slings, especially in large-sized machines.-v The slings to theadjustable feed-roll have hooksI formed upon them, which lcatch against the bearings of the lower roll-shaft, the object of which is, that when one side has been raised .to a much greater extent than the other,

by theuneven material passing between the rolls, the hook on the raised side will check the further rising of that side, 'and, vtend to even the material-Tn thickness as it is fed to the cutting-knife. Another'feature of the hooks is that theyprevcntthe adjustable feed-roll from an excessive quantity of material passing throught@ the action of 'tbe-knife.4

lhecutter-bar, ag'inst which-thc revolving knife cuts,"isadjustable, and is rmly supported by a rig-id bar, thereby making-anun and solid support to hold the material to the cutting action of the knife. The horizontallymoving adjustable bar is readily secured in proper: positionbyscrewbolts or other vappropriato means. The object of using-a horizontally adjustable bar is that it ismore easily adjusted toa revolvingcutter than itwpuld be to adjustthc knife on its bearingsV to the bar, especially by an unskilled person.

I will new proceed to more particularly describe, the parts of mymachineisome of which arealso novel and net hereinbefore described) by referring to the letters on the drawings. Y I

the drawing, v.Awrepresents the framing of the machine, whiehmay he constructed eitheifof wood or i inetahand in any proper manner to support the working parts., B is a feed-box, which is placed on thefrauing A, andA maybe of the usual taper form, its sides a @being nearer together :at .its'discharge-cnd, as 'shown' in fig. 3. On the front part of the framing A there are two bearings b Zi, in which a shaft, C, is fitted and allowed to rotate freely. This shaft G' has two arms c c rnily keyed upon it,l and to one end of each arni the cutter or knife D is secured by screws or otherwise. l This cutter or knifeoceupics a diagonal or spiral position, and, as the shaft C is rotated, works closely over the outer edge of a horizontally adjustable bar, E,which is attachedv by screws or other suitable means, and having its bearing upon a inetal bar, a', that is forme-d with and extends across from one bearing b to the other bearing ZJ. The screiwholcs in this bar are elongated to admit of the cutter-bar E being adjusted further forward or backward, as desired, to compensate for wear either of theknife D or barE. 'lhe screws or bolts s', which hoid the har E down upon its hearings, are in a vertical position;

`-therefore the holes .in the bearings of the bar :r may be elongated, or the screws may pass through elongated holes in the sliding bar E. The adjustable cutter-bar is made to extend through .the side plates w, shown fig. 3. The bar :c being in one piece with the bearings b, holds the cutter-bar E in position much inore reliably than is the case Where screws or other connections intervene, which are liable to becoine misplaced or'loosened in use. The weighted ends c e of the armsfc c, opposite to the cutter or knife D, are made sufficiently heavy to counterpoise or balance the cutter or knife on the shaft, and thereby insure auniform and easy rotation and cutting action. l

On one end of the shaft C a fly-wheel, E', is fitted. This shaft is shown with a'collar, e, upon it, with a shoulder,f,at its inner end. The iiy-wheelis fitted on this collar, the inner. end of the hub g being pressed against, the shoulderfby a nut, z, which is on a-screw-cut on the shaft at the outer side of the collar e, and which bears against the outer end of the hub y, (see iig. 5.) By screwing up the nut h to a. greater or less ex-tent the huh gvmay be pressed more or less firmly against the Vshoulder-j', and the fiywhcel secured to4 the -shaft G more or less firmly, as desired, but not in any case so rin as to prevent the slipping of the wheel onV 'its shaft when the cutter or knife is arrested in its motion by coming in contact with any-hard foreign substance, such, for instance, as a thick stick, over-crowding of cOrnStalks, tc, By this slipping of the iy-wheel cuits shaft the cutter or knife is greatly preserved, it bei-ng prevented from breaking and becoming nicked, strained, and bent under the action of the driving power in connection with the momentum of the fly-wheel. The collar e and sholllderfon the shaft C are not absolutely essential. The shaft C may be turned in slightly taper forni,

-and the hub g of the ily-wheel `tted upon it more or less tightly by-means of a'screw-nut, and the same end attained. Other means may be, resorted to to accomplish the same result, viz, to allow ofthe cutter-knife to be suddenly arrested and the iiy-wh'eel to continue to revolve and expend its'momentum in a gradual manner.

On the end of the shaft C, opposite to that where the iiy-whcel E is secured, there is fitted a pinion, 7i', which gears into a wheel, z', on a shafnf, above the shaft C, the bearings ofthe shaft F being in upright plates jj attached to the bearings b of the-shaft C. The shaft F has a pinion, c, uponit at the end opposite to that where the wheel iis attached, and this pinion [c gears into a pinion, l, which gears into a wheel, m, on one end of the shaft-n of a feed-roller, G, which is the lowest of a pair, land which shaft n 4works in fixedy or unmovablc bearings. The shaft F is the driving-shaft of the machine, and the shaft C, on which the cutter-arms cnc are placed, is above the level or plane of the sliding adjustable cutter-har E, as shown inflg. 2. This relative position of the shaft C and adjustable cutter-bar E'oauscs the diagonal. cutter or knife D to act-or work witla drawing and shearing cut, and consequently with greater facility than it otherwise would.

H is the upper feed-roller, the periphery of'which may be provided with longitudinal ribs, Vo, to catch and feed forward the substance in the feed-box B to'he' out. The shaft 2J of this fced-roller'H has its bearings in two slings g g, which are placed, one on each side of the feed-box B, andextend down below the same, and are connected at their lower ends by a cross-liar, s', to which a spiral spring, 1, is attached, the lower end of said spring being connected to a cross-bar, e, at the lower part of theY framing A. The upper ends of the slings gg are connected to a plate or board, t, to the back edge of which there is attached a pendent boardor plate, u, which extends down hackof 4the roller H, as shown in fig. 2. y

v The spring I is for the purpose of-keepingthe upper roller H' prcssed'down toward the lower fixed roller G. Two cylindrical hubs u', at the end'of the roller H, pass into the curved slots 1J v in plates w w attached one to each side of the feed-box. The slots 'v v are parts of circles, of which the shaft C is the centre, and consequently wheh the roller H rises and falls,it moves in a circle. concentric with C, and will, at all points of its movement, heat the same distance from C, and also have the sa'me relative position with the cutter or knife D. This is a desirable feature inthe invention, for if the roller H were allowed to move up anddowrr in a vertical plane under the 'diiferent thickness of the layer of straw or other substance beneath it tobc cut, its distance would vary materially in relation with the cutter or knife, and be, when elevatori, so far from the lat-tei', that the straw or other material to be cut would not be held firinly in position. The substance to be cut isfed to the cutter or knife by the action of the two'rollers Gr H. The hubs u may be loose rings upon the shaftp or hubs projecting inward from the slings qq. In eitherease the shaftp is protected from friction and wear against, the sides of the slots v v;

To admit of the aforesaid motion of the roller 'H a eculiar wearing is neccssar in order that said roller I 7 P e; y v ma*T be ro erl rotated while in nir osition. This earinr is arranfred as follows: The shaft 11. of the lowerm- J P P y y P l S o e 4, v feed-roller@ has a pinion,a, at its end, (opposite to that where the wheel mis attached,) and the pinion aff gears into a pinion, the axis of which is a gudeon attached to a swinging plate, c', the lower end of which plate c is fitted loosely on the shaft n. The pinion b gears into a similar pinion, cZ, thc axis of which is a `gudgeon, also attached to the` plate c, and vthepinion d is kept in gear with a pinion, e', on the shaft j) of the upper roller H by means of 'a link, f, which is attached to the gudgeon'of the pinion d at the upper end of the plate cand tted loosely on the shaft By' this arrangement 'the roller H is allowed to rise and fall without, disconnecting the driving-gears. The board or. plate u., which extends down back of the'npper roller H, prevents the straw or other substance from passing over the top of said roller, a contingency which would bliuble to occur. were said board fixed or stationary, asit wonldnecessarily require to be placed sulliciently -high ,to admit of the thickest layers of straw or' v'substance to be cut passing underneath it, and a thin layer would consequently be liable to pass over thc roller H, the latter in that case being quite low, aud the lower I edge of the board u quite high. arrangement, it willbe seen, completely obviates-this diculty, as the board u moves up and down withthe roller H.

L is a curb r'cap,.which covers thevcutter oi` knife D, and, J' is a chute, which conducts the cut substance down at the front part of' the machine. The substance to be cut maybe out into pieces of greatcror less length by varying the relative size of the pinions k L More than one rotary knife may be placed upon the cutter-shaft, if required, but I prefer a single rknife with a highs'pced, which willgive a sharp, quick cut, which I believe to be more effective than a sloeg-.tearing cutl There' are three prominently distinctive features in my machine, via: By combining the bearings of the cutter-.shaftfwith the rigid bar zc, thereby making a solid foundation, to which all the working parts of the :machine are combined; and, combining a horizontally sliding adjustable bnr, against which a single revolving knife cuts with-a rapid and lquick cut; also, a friotional ddvice, by Which-means the rapidly-revolving cuttingknife maybe suddenly stopped when in rapid motion, and the ily-wheel allowed'to continuev to revolve and expend its momentum iu agradual manner.' l

i- Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, machines for vcutting straw, dtc.- 1. .Ii'claim the'bar :L3-east in one piece, Awith the bearings b b of cuttersh'aft c, and extending across from onelto the other, substantially as shown.`

' 2. Iclaim connecting the feed-rollers G and-H by means of the pinions a, d', and e', the pinions b' and d being placed on studs on the swinging plate c', attached tothe shaft'n, the pinions d and e being kept 'in`l gear by thelinkf, or its equivalent.. l

3. I claim 4the'swinging plate'c, connected to the shaft u, and carrying the -pinionsl b and d', substantially rsetforth.

as and for-the purpose shown and set forth.

4, I claim mounting the upper 'feed-roller I-I in a frame with s lingextending below thelower fecd-roller, and acted upon by a spring, or its equivalent, substantially as shown and for the purpose set fortb.

5. I.. claim 'fthe booked slings' q g,.in combination with the yielding feed-roller H, andl 'spi'.ing I, or its equivalent, whereby the said feed-roller'H is limited in its upward movement, as set` forth.'4

6; I clhim the hubsor bearings u u,.attached 'to the slings q g, -and'surrounding thel shat'tp'of the feed.

roller H, said hubs-moving in slots Z1 in plates w, and relieving the shaft' from friction against' the plates, as'4 7. I claim the guide-boardor plate u; connected to and moving with the frame toftheupper feed-roller H, and exteudin'g'downward et the-back of thesaidroller tonear a level with its axis, substantially :1s-,and for 8. I claim the slots v v in the plates w, when made concentric .with shaft C, in-combination-with plnions dJ, al, and c, saidpinionsfconnecting lfeedfrollers H and G, so..that .the adjustable roller can move uplanddown -concentric with shaft C-,and the pinions remain in gear, substantially as set forth.

v9.- In combinationwith the bar -z and adjustable bar E, I claima revolving knife, 1),'with its :uiirs' pl:1ced` above he plane of the adjustable cutter-bar E,'to act with aslanting and shearing cut, substantially as souffert-l1. i

FRANKLIN BENJAMIN HUNT.

Witnesses: N. -W. HEILBORN,

I. M.Poe'n.

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