AN IMPROVEMENT IN SCYTHE SNATHS OR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abel Franklin Goodnow, of the State of New York,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
SCYTHE SNATHS OR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF."-A communication.
Sealed the 4th August 1854, and dated the 3rd June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abel Franklin Goodnow
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd June 1854.
I, ABEL FRANKLIN GOODNOW, of the State of New York, of the United States
of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN SCYTHE SNATHS OR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOP," as communicated
to me by a foreigner or person residing abroad or out of the dominions of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, to be as follows, that is to say:
What I claim therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent as a new
manufacture is a scythe snath or cradle snath composed of a wrought metal tube,
the same possessing great durability and facility of being bent into any desired
form without increasing its ordinary weight, or impairing its usual strength
and firmness. It further consists in a longitudinal rib, or its equivalent, on the
snath, in combination with a series of notches in the ring of the neb, for the
purpose of adjusting the nebs securely upon the snath.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Abel Franklin Goodnow in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, ABEL
FRANKLIN GOODNOW, of the State of New York, of the United States of
Amozice send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, A.D. 1854, in the seventeenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Abel Franklin Goodnow, ler special license that I, the said Abel
Franklin Goodnow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Abel Franklin Goodnow, 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 of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN THE SCYTHE SNATH, OR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Abel Franklin Goodnow, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly 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, or Office of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Patents, within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Abel Franklin Goodnow, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, making,
part of this Specification:-
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of the snath; Figure 2, a trans-
verse section thereof in the line a, a, of Figure 1; and Figure 3, a transverse
section of the same in the line y, y, of Figure 1. Like letters designate like
parts in all the Figures.
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in constructing the snath of metal
in the tubular form, for the purpose of securing great durability and facility of
shaping it as desired, while it retains the required lightness and strength; and,
secondly, in the manner of adjusting the nebs on the snath, as herein-after fully
set forth.
First, the snath A is constructed of metal in the form of a tube in any con-
venient manner, generally by bending thin sheets of wrought iron into the
tubular form and brazing the edges together. The sheets of metal should be
quite thin to insure lightness, since in a tube great strength and firmness arc
compatible with extreme lightness of construction. The snath is then bent
into the desired shape, which is capable of being readily varied as desired by
the purchaser, this property of the tube being one of the desiderata gained
by its use. Its almost unlimited durability is another object gained. The
1

page_text: part of the snath where the heel of the scythe fits upon it is flattened on the
under side, and the cavity of this portion of it is filled with a plug a, in order
that it may resist the pressure to which it is subjected in fastening the scythe.
The scythe is fastened on the snath by means of a ring h, the side of whose
aperture under the heel of the scythe is flattened, and somewhat wider than said
heel to give it play sideways, for the purpose of turning the point of the scythe
out or in at pleasure; a shank, having a screw thread cut on it, projects from
the upper side of the ring h, over which fits a washer m, striding the ring and
resting upon the top of the snath.
A nut screws down upon said washer, and thereby draws the ring h up
against the heel of the scythe, and binds it firmly to the snath.
The nebs B, C, are tightened on the snath by a similar device, viz., by
means of a ring and shank b, 'with a screw thread on the extremity of the
shank, on which a nut f, let into the wood d of the neb, and turning with it,
acts, and with a washer c, serving both to bind the nebs and as a ferrule to the
wood.
My improved device for adjusting the neb upon the consists of a small
longitudinal rib e formed upon the snath where the nebs are placed, and fitting
into a series of notches cut on the inner periphery of the ring of the neb. The
aperture of the ring is sufficiently large to allow it to turn freely over said rib e
when the nut fis unscrewed, and then the rib is inserted in any one of said
notches, which will give it the desired position to the neb, after which the nut f
is screwed down firmly and holds the nib unchangeably in that position. My
snath is applicable to grain cradles as well as to scythes.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent as a
new manufacture, is, a scythe or cradle snath composed of a wrought metal
tube, which possesses the advantages of great durability and facility of being
bent into any desired form, without increasing its ordinary weight or impairing
its usual strength and firmness. I also claim the longitudinal rib e, or its
equivalent, on the snath, in combination with a series of notches in the ring of
the neb, for the purpose of adjusting the nebs securely upon the snath, sub-
stantially as herein set forth.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Second
day of Tune One thousand night hundred and can c
ABEL FRANKLIN GOODNOW. (L.S.)