IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Palmer, of Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of
Durham, Agricultural Implement Dealer and Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Palmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
September 1855.
J, JOHN PALMER, of Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of Durham, Agri-
cultural Implement Dealer and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING
MACHINES" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of reaping
machines, the object being to render them more efficient than heretofore. My
improvements relate chiefly to reapers provided with a radiating roller platform.
In this class of machine, the agricultural produce, as it is cut and received on:
to the platform, is raked off at the side by the attendant, the action of the rake
giving the conical rollers au axial motion. To facilitate the discharge of the
cut produce, I propose to give the last roller of the set or the last two rollers a
continuous rotary motion, by means of suitable gearing set in motion by the
main driving wheel, and I further propose to form ribs or other projections on
the periphery of the last roller to assist in the discharge of the produce.

page_text: For the purpose of gaining strength without increasing the weight of the
implement, I make the separators which divide the cut from the uncut corn or
other produce of steel, and the side plate or fence of the platform I make of
galvanized iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Palmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PALMER, of Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of Durham, Agricultural Imple-
ment Dealer and Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Palmer, Her special license that I, the said John Palmer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Palmer, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Palmer, 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 within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Palmer, 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
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The main object of this Invention is to render reaping machines more
efficient in their action than heretofore. This I propose to effect, firstly, by the
application thereto of a novel construction of radial roller platform, which is

page_text: intended to receive the agricultural produce as it is cut, and facilitate its dis-
charge on to the ground; secondly, for the purpose of gaining strength without
increasing the weight of the implement, I make the separator which divides
the corn to be cut from that which the machine is to pass of steel, and the side
plate or fence of the platform I make of galvanized iron.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents, in plan view, a reaping
machine with my improvements applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is a sectional
elevation of the same.
a, a, represent a series of conical rollers, mounted radially in suitable framing
set in the rear of a line of cutters b, which act within a space circumscribed (as
it would appear in a side elevation of the machine) by the periphery of the
running wheel c. To render the action of the radial platform more efficient
than those in use prior to the date of my Patent, I impart rotary motion to the
last one or two of the rollers a by means of gearing, which is driven by the
rotation of the running wheel c. The rollers a and a are represented as
connected with the motions of this wheel, for the purpose of being rotated
independently of the action of the rake, which, as applied by the attendant to
draw back the cut produce from the front of the machine, imparts rotary motion
to the forward rollers a, a, a. d (Figs. 1 and 2) is a shaft, which carries a
spur wheel e in gear with a ring of teeth on the inner periphery of the wheel c.
At its other end this shaft is fitted with a bevil wheel f, that gears into a
pinion g, keyed on a stud axle h, carried by a bracket pendent from the main
framing. To this stud axle is attached, by means of a swivel connection, a
rod i, which is provided with a squared socket, that takes on to the squared end
of the axle of the roller a'. It will thus be seen, that as the machine is drawn
forward over the ground, rotary motion will be imparted to the roller a', in the
direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, and thus the cut produce brought up to this roller
will be delivered by it on to the ground in a line parallel or nearly so to the
line of progress of the machine. When thought desirable, rotary motion may
be communicated from this roller to one or more rollers of the series by means
of a band or strap k; and ribs or other projections may be formed on the
periphery of the last roller, if thought desirable, to enable it to take a better
hold of the produce fed up to it by the rake of the attendant. 1, 1, is the
separator, which precedes the cutters, and marks the division in the standing
crop between the portion to come under the operation of the advancing cutters
and that which is to be left for the return action of the machine. This
separator I propose to make of steel to give it strength; and the better to
ensure its action when passing over uneven ground, I joint it to its bearing,
thus permitting of its rising and falling to accommodate itself to the ground.

page_text: Another improvement which I effect in the construction of reaping machines
is, forming the side plate or fence m, m, of the platform of galvanized iron,
which will resist the deteriorating effects of damp and moisture.
Having now set forth the nature of my improvements in the construction of
reaping machines, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim the improvements in the platform and the separator, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six."
JOHN PALMER. (L.S.)