US343983A - Potato-cutter - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 sheets- Sheen 1.

W. E. GANEDY. POTATO GUTTER.

No.'343,983. Patenteg/June 22, 1886.

WTNESSS INVENTOR i-l Ca/nedy,

(No Model.)

IW. E' GANEDY. 2 sheensfsneet 2.

PoTATo GUTTER. l

Patented June 22, 1886.

WITNESSES INVENTOR m Y0/Moby M ATTORNEYS N. PETERS. Pmwlilhngnpmr, wasmngtun. D, C.

UNITED STATES PATnNT muon.

VILLIAM E. OANEDY, OF ROCHESTER, -MINNESOTA. f

POTATO-CUTTER.

SPBCLFICATIN forming` part of Letters Patent No. 343,983, dated June 22, 1886.

Application filed February 10, 1395. Serial No. 155,548. (No model.)

To all whom if may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. OANEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Olmsted and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Cutters; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specication.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of my device. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is also a vertical sectional view, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view, of the same.

This invention is a device to cut potatoes for the purpose of planting; and it consists in securing above the cutter-knives, hereinafter described, a hopper made in sections arranged side by side, and adapted to separate more or less widely at their lower ends, to allow potatoes of different sizes to be forced through the hopper to the cutter-knives. The sections are pivoted near their upper ends, and coil-springs are arranged toreturn the sections to their normal positions after having their lower ends forced apart by the potatoes.

The invention further consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the cutter frame and knives.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the cutter-frameomposed of the upper ring, a, and the similar parallel lower ring, a. The rings are preferably made of plate metal, and are connected, preferably, along their inner edges by a suitable web, a2. The lower ring is provided with openings a3, by which the cutter-frame may be bolted over the receiving-opening of a planting-machine.

c are four equidistant bosses on the upper surface of the ring a, provided with vertical threaded openings,in which screw the lower ends of the four similar vertical standards, B. The upper ends ofthe standards are threaded, and have upon them the rectangular washers b, secured at suitable heights by means of nuts above and below them, as shown.

C is a cutter-blade running within and diametrically across the cutter-frame, its ends being secured by proper means between the rings a and a at points below two opposite standards B.

C C are two cutter-blades, which have their outer ends secured between the rings at points below opposite standards, and their inner ends abutting on opposite sides against the middle ofthe blade C. The area of the central opening of the frame is thus divided into quadrants.

If preferred, four cutter-blades may be used, arranged to have their inner ends ineetin the axis of the cutter-frame, the said ends being beveled, so as to interlock and prevent lateral motion.

D is the hopper, composed of the four similar sections, d, standing side by side, but having their edges slightly separated. Each section has near each of its lateral edges, at a proper distance below its upper edge, a horizontal pin that pivots iu a corresponding opening in a nut, b, on one of the standards B, the approximate upper corners being cut away to allow room for the nuts between them.

d d are hooks on the outer sides of the sections, situated centrally between and higher than the pivot-points.

E are vertical coil-springs,\vith their upper ends engaged over said hooks, and their lower ends engaging staples e on the ring a..

F are chains,with their outer ends connected to the staples e, and their inner ends connected to staples f on the outer'surfaces of the sections, as shown. These chains do not allow the edges of the sections to strike against each other when the springs act. In practice a rubber band surrounds the hopper at a proper point and re-enforces the action of the springs.

The potatoes may be forced through the hopper either by hand or by a plunger automatically actuated, and the potatoes, after passing through the cutter-frame, may fall either into a receiving-vessel or into tubes arranged in a planting-machine and be fed to the planting mechanism thereof.

lVhen the device is attached to a plantingmachine, the arrangement of the sections of the hopper and the cutter-knives will cause the feed to be equal through the quadrants between the knives.

IOCY

rIhe operation of the device is evident from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. A device for cutting potatoes for planting, consisting of a base having suitable cutting'knives, and a hopper above the same consisting of hinged sections forming a hollow cone, and springs to hold these conic sections in position, but to permit them to yield, as set forth.

2. The combination of the lower knife-supporting frame and its knives with the upper ring, the hopper-supporting pivots, the hollow eonic sections, and springs for holding the lower ends of such sections together, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with thehopper formed of yielding sections, of the retaining-connections F, to prevent the lower ends of the hopper sections from vapproaching too closely, as set forth. Y

4. The combination, with the hopper-sections, of the springs E, attached to said sections above their pivots,and to the base of the structure, substantially as shown.

5. The combination of the rings a and a', the knives secured between and extending across said rings, and the spring-hopper placed centrally above said knives, as set forth.

In testimony WhereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. CANEDY.

Vitnesses:

PHILIP G. MASI, E. H. BATEs.

Images