IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINES
Year: 1850

page_text: UME, 1,
RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of J. C. Robertson and Co.,
of 166, Fleet Street, London, Patent Agents; send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the
Seventh day of December One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the
fourteenth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the town of Berwick upon Tweed, in the Islands. of
Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINES," communicated to me by a certain

page_text: Foreigner, residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the present specification
thereof, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed; that is
to say,
The said invented improvements in agricultural machines have
relation to that class of machines which are worked by horses in cutting
or reaping wheat, corn, or other grain, and have for their object the
holding of the straw or stalks of the grain in a favourable position while
being cut, and the more conveniently arranging, collecting, and disposing
of the same when cut.
Figure 1, is a side elevation, and Figure 2, a plan of a reaping
machine, constructed according to the said improvements. A, A, is a
frame of wood of a triangular form, to the front of which there are
fixed the pole B, and whipple-trees C, C. The back rail D, of the frame
is prolonged on one side of the machine, so as to project about six feet
beyond the frame, and the projecting portion forms the basis of a plat-
form E. F, and G, are two wheels upon which the machine is mounted;
he wheel F, (from its position) bears the greater portion of the weight
of the machine, and is employed for communicating motion to the
moving parts, as herein-after described. H, H, H, are a set of fingers,
somewhat of a spear-head shape, which are affixed to the front edge of
the platform, and placed at regular intervals apart from each other;
immediately underneath these fingers is placed the cutting-blade I,
which is formed of a thin plate of steel, toothed upon its front edge, and

page_text: fitted into a groove, or into bearings attached to the front of the plat-
form. Figure 3, is a cross section of the rail D, and the cutting-blade I,
showing the method of attaching the fingers H, H, to the front of the
platform, and their relation to the cutting-blade; this blade has perfect
freedom to slide from one side of the machine to the other, but the
amount of range given to it is limited by the crank K, to which it is
attached by means of a connecting rod L. M', is a bevel wheel, which
is keyed to the shaft of the wheel F, so that both may revolve together,
and give motion to a bevel pinion M2, and wheel M³, which are fixed
to an intermediate shaft N. The wheel M³, gears into a pinion O,
placed on the crank shaft, and consequently gives motion to the crank K,
the connecting rod L, and the cutting-blade I. The number of teeth
of the intermediate gearing which has just been described, are so pro-
portioned and adjusted that the cutting-blade may reciprocate and do
its work very rapidly. P, P, is a large reel, or gatherer, which is of very
light construction, and carries at its extremities four blades, R, R, R, R,
made of thin deal; at the near side of the machine this reel is sup-
ported by an upright S, and at the off side by a brace T, which is
raised upon the back of the platform. When the machine is going
forward, the reel is made to revolve in the direction indicated by the
arrow, by means of a band or belt U, which takes on to the hem of the
bevel wheel M', and the rigger V, the latter of which is keyed to the
reel shaft. The distance of the reel from the platform is capable of being
adjusted by means of the sliding bearing a, (upon the near side of the
machine) which is acted upon by the screwed rod b.
side the brace T, is fixed to the spur T2, by means of a moveable bolt, so
that the brace may be raised or lowered at pleasure, by passing the
moveable bolt into any one of the holes (6', 6',) further up or down in
the spur.
W, is a seat for the driver, and ✗, a seat for the person
gathering the reaped grain from the platform.
At the further
When the machinery just described is applied to the cutting of wheat
or other grain, it is brought to the edge of the field (with either two
or four horses yoked to it,) and with the platform placed in front and
the horses alongside of the crop to be cut down, as represented in the
perspective view Fig. 3ª. As the horses advance the wheel gearing is put

page_text: in motion, which causes the reel slowly to revolve, and so prevent the
straws or stalks from being pressed forward when they come in contact
with the cutting-blade, which has at the same time a rapid reciprocating
motion imparted to it by the action of the crank K, and connecting
rod L; the straws or stalks are thus speedily cut through, and fall back-
wards on the platform. The fingers H, H, H, greatly facilitate this part
of the operation, as they hold the straws or stalks from yielding along
with the lateral action of the cutting blade; and it is for the more
effectually accomplishing this object that they are formed of a shape
like to a spear-head, which causes the straws or stalks to slide into. the
spaces between them when in that position; and as the inclined edges
at the roots of the fingers (that is, immediately over the cutting blade,)
form an acute angle with the edge of the knife, the cutting through of
the straws or stalks is sure to be effected by the reciprocating movement
of the knife blade. Two separate views of parts of the fingers and
cutting-blade are given in Figures 4, and 5; the blade in Figure 4, is
straight in the cutting edge, while that in Figure 5, is zig-zag, or of an
indented form. In every case, however, it has been found to be of
great advantage to have the cutting edge toothed somewhat similar to
a sickle, and to have those teeth divided into sections corresponding to
the number of fingers, each section having one half of the teeth in-
clined in one direction, and the other half having the teeth inclined in
the opposite direction. As the straws or stalks of the crop. which is in
the course of being reaped are cut through by the action of the cutting-
blade, as just described, the continued rotation of the reel causes them
to fall over upon the surface of the platform E, from which as they
accumulate they are drawn off with a common hand-rake by the
attendant who sits upon the seat X.
The quantities so drawn off are each about the size of a common
sheaf, and delivered on to the ground immediately behind the frame
A, A, of the machine, thus leaving a clear space for the return of the
machine in case the binding of the sheaves may not have kept pace
with the progress of the reaping or cutting machine. Y', is a wheel-
board, which turns the standing grain in before the cutting-blade upon
the near side of the machine; and Y2, is a "separator," which performs

page_text: a similar part upon the off side of the machine; Y³, is a brace, which
gives stiffness to the support for the reel, and serves to keep the reaped
grain from being dragged over the back of the platform. Z, is a canvass
back to the platform.
When the machine is being transported from one place to another,
the intermediate gearing for communicating motion from the shaft of
the wheel F, to the cutting-blade and reel, is disconnected by the lower
bearing of the intermediate shaft being moved aside, for which pur-
pose the bearing c, is fixed in one end of a lever d, shown separately
in Figure 6. The lever is attached at the centre to the frame by a pin e,
upon which it is free to move as a fulcrum; the other end of the lever d,
is fixed to the frame by a bolt passed through the hole f, so that by
undoing that bolt the wheels may be readily thrown into or out of
gear.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is, the construction of reaping or grain cutting and gathering machines
according to the improvements before described; that is to say, the con-
structing and placing of holding-fingers, cutting-blades, and gathering-
reels respectively, as before described, and the embodiment of those
parts as so constructed and placed, all or any of them, in machines
for reaping purposes, whether such machines are constructed in other
respects as before described, or however else the same may in other
respects be constructed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.

page_text: aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
for that purpose.