IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES."-
A communication.
Sealed the 27th October 1857, and dated the 10th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th June 1857.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the application to harvesting machines of a
peculiar cutting device.
The cutters consist of discs, to which are attached projecting blades, and
rotary motion is communicated thereto by a suitable arrangement of gearing.
These cutters are mounted on plates, connected together by a hinge joint..
The plates are provided at their forward edges with fingers, and connected with,
the main frame of the machine, the whole being so arranged that the cutters
are allowed to conform to the inequalities of the ground, as will be herein-after
fully described.

page_text: The second part of this Invention relates to a peculiar raking attachment to
be applied to the removeable platform of the machine, which platform is used
when the machine is employed as a grain harvester. The platform is fitted with
an endless apron which receives the grain, and a moveable bar or rake, which
at given intervals passes across the apron and pushes off the grain that has
accumulated thereon. This bar is jointed at its opposite ends to two swinging
arms attached to the platform frame, and it is retained in its normal position
by the tension of a spring. A chain or cord from the bar passes to a segment
guide or curved box attached to the back part of the main frame, and adjoining
the periphery of the driving wheel, and a ball is fitted thereto to enter the box.
To the inner side of the driving wheel, near its periphery, a projecting plate is
attached, which, as the wheel rotates, passes through the box and raises the
ball to the top of the box. By this movement the chain to which the ball is
attached is caused to draw the bar to the edge of the platform and push off
the cut grain therefrom.
As soon as the ball is freed from the pressure of the plate, the spring will
force back the bar to its original position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
10th December 1857.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 REAPING MACHINES," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent

page_text: Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The first part of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, relates to the application to reaping or harvesting machines of
a peculiar cutting device, consisting of rotary cutters mounted on plates, which
are connected together by a hinge joint, the plates being provided at their
forward edge with fingers, and secured to the main frame of the machine.
The whole is so arranged that the cutters are allowed to conform to the
inequalities of the ground, as will be herein-after fully shown and described.
The second part of this Invention relates to a peculiar raking attachment,
to be applied to the machine when the same is used as a grain harvester.
This latter device is formed of an endless apron and a moveable bar or rake,
arranged and operated in a novel manner.
In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section of the
harvester, a, a, in Fig. 3, indicating the plane of section; Fig. 2 is a front
view, Fig. 3 a plan view, of the same. Similar letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in all the Figures. A represents the main frame of the
machine, the form of which is shewn clearly in Fig. 2. This frame is con-
structed of a metal bar a, on the outer end of which the wheel B is fitted. A
pendent bar 6 is attached to the bar a, and a horizontal plate C is attached to
the lower end of the bar b. To the plate C a plate D is hinged, as shewn
at c (Figures 2 and 3). To the outer end of the plate D a shoe d is attached,
said shoe resting upon the ground and supporting the outer end of the plate D.
The outer end of the plate C, near the hinge c, is also supported by a shoe e,
as shewn in Fig. 2.
upper
In the upper surface of the plate C, and near its point of attachment to the
pendent b, a circular recess is made to receive a toothed wheel f. This wheel
is attached to the lower end of a vertical shaft 9, the
end of which is
fitted in a bearing h. Keyed to the upper end of the shaft g is a bevil wheel i,
which gears into a corresponding wheel keyed on the inner end of a hori-
zontal shaft k, the said shaft having a wheel on its outer end, which wheel

page_text: gears into a cogged rim m attached to the side of wheel B. Adjoining the
ŕecess in the plate C which receives the wheel f, is a second recess, in which
a toothed wheel n is mounted. This wheel n gears into the wheelf, as shewn
by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, and the upper surfaces of the wheels are flushi
with the upper surface of the plate C. A toothed wheel o is also mounted
within a recess in the plate C, and in gear with the wheel n. The wheel o
also gears into a corresponding wheel p which is fitted within a recess in the
plate D, and the wheel p gears into a wheel q, which is also fitted in a recess
in the plate D.
On each of the wheels n and g a circular plate r is fitted, and these plates
have knives or teeth s attached to their peripheries. These knives or teeth s
work over projecting horizontal fingers t formed on the front ends of the plates
C, D, the said front ends being of a semicircular form, as shewn plainly in
Fig. 3. As the machine is drawn along, the two plates r, r, are rotated in the
direction indicated by the arrows 1, shewn in Fig: 3, and the grass or grain is
cut as the knives s pass over the fingers t. In consequence of having the two
plates C, D, jointed, as shewn at c, the plates and cutters are allowed to yield or
"give," so as to conform to the inequalities of the ground, and thereby cause the
grass or grain to be cut at a uniform height. H represents a platform, which
The
is hinged, or it may be permanently attached to the plates C, D.
platform E has an oblong slot made in it to receive an endless apron I, placed
directly in line with the space between the two cutters, or rather the plates r, r,.
to which the cutters are attached. The endless apron I works over rollers
a', a, attached to the platform H. J represents a bar, the ends of which are
hinged to arms K, which work on vertical rods b' attached to the platform H;
L is a spring secured to the platform; and c' represents a rod or chain secured
to the spring L and bar J. The rod or chain passes through the bar J, and
a ball d¹ is secured to its end: This ball plays in a curved box M attached to
the back part of the main frame A, and adjoining the periphery of the wheel B.
To the inner side of the wheel B, near its edge or periphery, a projecting pin
or plate e' is attached, which, as the wheel B rotates, passes through the
box M, and is for the purpose of operating upon the ball; N is a stop placed
on the back part of the platform H..
When the machine is used as a grain harvester,. the platform H is applied
to the machine, as described; but when used as a mowing or grass cutting
machine, the platform is detached, as no raking device is required. As the
grain is cut down by the rotation of the knives, it passes on to the endless
apron I, by which it is conveyed by the side of the bar J. This bar J, every
time the projecting plate e¹ passes through the box M, is moved outward to the

page_text: edge of the platform H, and thereby the cut grain is forced therefrom. The
motion of the bar J is caused by the ball d' being raised to the top of the
box M by the pin or plate el, at which time the chain c¹, connecting the ball
with the bar, draws the bar J to the position shewn by the red lines in Fig. 3.
As soon as the ball is freed from the plate e¹, the bar J is forced back to its
original position by the spring L, which may be of any proper form. The
endless apron may be operated by gearing, or by a belt m¹ from the shaft F,
which shaft is connected with the shaft k.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Reaping Machines," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that I make no claim to the rotating cutters separately or in
themselves considered; but what I claim under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application and use of the rotating cutters formed of plates, with
knives or teeth attached thereto when the said cutters are mounted on plates
connected by a hinge for the purpose specified.
Second, the bar for discharging the cut grain from the platform, operated
by the means above set forth, and working in connection with the endless
apron I, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
5 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)