IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY- MAKING MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Andrews, of Union Iron Works, Melksham,
in the County of Wilts, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-
MAKING MACHINES."
Sealed the 19th November 1867, and dated the 8th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Andrews at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1867.
I, WILLIAM ANDREWS, of Union Iron Works, Melksham, in the County of
Wilts, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HAY-MAKING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in bay-making machines, and
consists in so arranging the gearing for transmitting motion to the revolving
rakes from the carriage or running wheels that the rakes may be driven at either
of two varying speeds, and yet always be revolved in the direction known
as back action, that is, in the same direction as the carriage or running wheels,
whereas heretofore the gearing has been arranged so that the rakes might
have two motions imparted to them, either a forward motion or a backward

page_text: motion. I effect this according to one arrangement by employing one straight
axle passing through both carriage wheels and driven round with them. On
this shaft are keyed two cog wheels, one on either side of the machine; either
one or other of these wheels can by means of two intermediate toothed wheels
be caused to gear with one or other of two pinions formed or fixed one at either
end of the rake barrel, which as is usual turns freely around the axle or
spindle of the running wheels, and according as the intermediate wheels are
applied at one or other end of the machine the rakes may be driven at either
one or other of two speeds, the intermediate wheels for one end of the
machine being for this purpose made of different diameters from those used
at the opposite end. The two intermediate wheels for each end of the machine
are fixed to one another and turn on the same stud or axis; one of these
wheels gears with the toothed wheel on the axle and the other with the
pinion on the rake barrel. The studs carrying the intermediate wheels are
carried by frames which are supported by the axle and have attached to them
rods or bars leading from the shafts.
According to another arrangement I divide the rake barrel into two parts,
and 1 place the whole of the gearing (for transmitting motion to these parts
from the axle of the running wheels) in the centre of the machine. For this
purpose I employ at the centre of the axle two toothed wheels, which are
connected together and are capable of being slid to and fro along the axle,
but yet turn with it; this double wheel by being slid on its axis can be caused
to gear with either one or other of two pinions fixed on a shaft, which also at
its ends carries two toothed wheels gearing with two pinions fixed or formed
one on either half of the rake barrel. The shaft is carried in bearings in a
frame supported by the axle, and connected by a rod to the shafts; by this
means by causing the double toothed wheel to gear with one or other of the
two pinions on the intermediate shaft the rakes may be driven at either one
or other of two speeds.
Another part of my Invention consists in carrying the rake bead in such
manner that the angle of the teeth may be varied so as to toss the hay more
or less as occasion requires; this I effect by carrying the rake head in such
manner that it may be turned in the spring casting and fixing it with a screw
or wedge.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Andrews in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, WILLIAM
ANDREWS, of Union Iron Works, Melksham, in the County of Wilts, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me, the said
William Andrews, Her special licence that I, the said William Andrews, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Andrews, 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 HAY-MAKING MACHINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Andrews, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 William Andrews, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hay-making machines, and
consists, firstly, in so arranging the gearing for transmitting motion to the
revolving rakes from the carriage or running wheels that the rakes may be
driven at either of two varying speeds and yet always be revolved in the direc-
tion known as back action, that is, in the same direction as the carriage or
running wheels, whereas heretofore the gearing has been arranged so that the
rakes might have two motions imparted to them, either a forward motion or a
backward motion. I effect this according to one arrangement by employing
one straight axle passing through both carriage wheels and driven round with
them. On this shaft are keyed two cog wheels, one on eitber side of the

page_text: machine; either one or other of these wheels can by means of two inter-
mediate toothed wheels be caused to gear with one or other of two pinions formed
or fixed, one at either end of the rake barrel, which as is usual turns freely
around the axle or spindle of the running wheels, and according as the inter-
mediate wheels are applied at one or other end of the machine the rakes may
be driven at either one or other of two speeds, the intermediate wheels for
one end of the machine being for this purpose made of different diameters
from those used at the opposite end. The two intermediate wheels for each
end of the machine are fixed to one another and turn on the same stud or
axis; one of these wheels gears with the toothed wheel on the axle, and the
other with the pinion on the rake barrel. The studs carrying the interme-
diate wheels are carried by frames which are supported by the axle, and have
attached to them rods or bars leading from the shafts.
According to another arrangement I divide the rake barrel into two parts,
and I place the whole of the gearing (for transmitting motion to these parts
from the axle of the running wheels) in the centre of the machine. For this
purpose I employ at the centre of the axle two toothed wheels, which are con-
nected together and are capable of being slid to and fro along the axle, but
yet turn with it; this double wheel by being slide on its axis can be caused
to gear with either one or other of two pinions fixed on a shaft, which also at
its ends carries two toothed wheels gearing with two pinions fixed or formed
one on either half of the rake barrel. The shaft is carried in bearings in a
frame supported by the axle and connected by a rod to the shafts. By this
means by causing the double toothed wheel to gear with one or other of the
two pinions on the intermediate shaft the rakes may be driven at either one
or other of two speeds.
Another part of my Invention consists in carrying the rake head in such
manner that the angle of the teeth may be varied so as to toss the hay more
or less as occasion requires; this I effect by carrying the rake head in such
manner that it may be turned in the spring casting and fixing it with a screw
or wedge.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a horizontal section of a bay-making machine constructed
according to the first arrangement herein described. a is a straight axle
passing through both carriage wheels b, and which is driven round with them

page_text: when the machine is drawn forwards by ratchets c¹ carried by discs c, then
engaging with the teeth of internal ratche twheels d formed on the boss
of each carriage wheel; one of the ratchets and ratchet wheels are shown.
separately at Figure 2. e, e, are cog wheels keyed on the axle a, one on either
side of the machine; f is the rake barrel turning freely around the axle; this
barrel has fixed to each of its ends a pinion g, and these pinions come close
alongside of the cog wheels e, which are keyed on the axle; h; h, are cast-
iron frames, each formed with a closed end which carries a boss h¹ through
which the axle passes, and also another boss h² to carry a stud k, which is to
form a spindle for the intermediate wheels 1, by which the cog wheel at one
end of the axle and the pinion on the same end of the rake barrel are to be
geared together. The frames h also form hollow cases for surrounding and
enclosing these wheels and pinions, the open end of the frame being closed
over with a cover h³ of thin sheet iron or wood. In Figure 1 the interme-
diate wheels are shown applied at the left-hand side of the machine; if the
intermediate wheels were removed from this side of the machine, and other
intermediate wheels were applied at the opposite side of the machine, the rakes
would be driven at a slower speed, as the diameter of the cog wheel e at .his
side of the machine is smaller than the cog wheel on the left-hand side of the
machine. Each of the frames h has bolted to it a bar m of wrought iron,
and by this bar the frames are connected to the shafts n, as shown in the
Drawings.
Figure 3 shows a horizontal section, Figure 4 a vertical section, and
Figure 5 a side view of a machine constructed according to the second
arrangement herein-before described. In these Figures a is the axle ; b, the
carriage wheels, which, as in the machine just described, drive round the axle
when the machine is drawn forwards. At the centre of the axle are two
toothed wheels c, c, fixed on a short hollow axis c, which can be slid endwise
to and fro on the axle, but is prevented from turning round it by a key or
feather; d', d, are two pinions fixed on a shaft d, which at its ends carries
two cog wheels d³, which gear with pinions e¹ fixed or formed one on either
half of the rake barrel e which carry the rakes by arms projecting from them,
as is clearly shown by the Drawing. The shaft d is supported by the two
ends of a cast-iron frame f, through which the axle also passes; f¹ is an arm
formed with or it might be connected to the frame f, and which connects this
frame to the wooden bar 9 which carries the shafts. The gearing on the
interior and exterior of the frame f is enclosed in a casing g*, the lower half
of which is of cast iron and is bolted to the frame f, whilst the upper half is

page_text: moveable and forms a lid to the casing; h is a shaft carried at one end by a
bearing in the semicircular plate k fixed to the wooden bar g, and at its opposite
end by a bearing on the casting f; this end of the shaft carries a crank arm
and roller h¹, which is received between the two cog wheels c', '; the opposite
end of the shaft has a lever handle upon it by which the shaft can be
turned, and the shaft can be fixed in either of three positions by a spring
bolt h³ entering one or other of three holes formed in the semicircular plate k.
When the lever is locked in its central position then neither of the cog wheels
c³, c², will be in gear with either of the pinions d', d, on the shaft, but if the
lever be locked in either of the other positions then the crank arm h¹ on the
end of the shaft h will have slid the cog wheels c, c, endwise on the axle, so
as either to bring the cog wheel c¹ into gear with the pinion d' or the cog
wheel into gear with the pinion d³, and thus the rakes may be driven at
either of two different speeds, as the cog wheels c', c, are of different dia-
meters. 1, 1, are castings embracing the axle near its two ends; these castings
have bolted to them wrought-iron rods l', 1', which pass to the shafts m, as
shown. One of the castings has also bolted to it an arm m², which carries
a driver's seat at the back of the machine.
I will now describe more fully that part of my Invention which relates to a
mode of carrying the rake head, so that the angle of the teeth may be varied.
Figures 6 and 7 show a section and plan view of a rake bead capable of
turning in the spring casting in these Figures. (1) is the rake head carrying
the rake teeth; this head is by preference made tubular, as shown, and is sup-
ported in two bearings formed at the extremity of a forked arm (2); fixed to
the rake barrel (3) is a casting capable of turning around the central portion
of the rake, and which can also be fixed thereto by a screw (4), which passes
through the casting (3) and bears at its end against the tubular rake head, a
small casting (5) being interposed to prevent injury to the rake head; the
casting (3) has a flat side or surface (6) formed upon it, against which a
spring (7) bears, the opposite end of the spring being fixed to the rake barrel.
The casting (3) is thus always kept by the spring at the same relative position
to the rake barrel, whilst the rake teeth can be set at any angle thereto by
being turned in the casting (3) and locked by the screw (4). If the rake
teeth encounter any obstacle the rake head will turn in the bearings at the
end of the forked arm (2), the spring casting (3) then pressing back the
spring (7) as is usual.
.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-

page_text: First, the constructing hay-making machines so that the rakes may be
driven at different speeds in the direction known as back action, as herein
described.
Second, the constructing hay-making machines with the whole of the
gearing in the centre of the machine, whilst the rake head is divided into two
parts, as herein described.
Lastly, the mounting the rake head in the spring casting in such manner
that it can be turned therein, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Andrews, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ANDREWS. (L.S.)