IMPROVE- MENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINE, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINES."
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew John Murray, of Albany Road, Cam-
berwell, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINE, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew John Murray
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th May 1869.
I, ANDREW JOHN MURRAY, of Albany Road, Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to the employment of tubes in the place of
the finger bars hitherto used in reaping and mowing machines. To
carry this part of my improvements into practice I take a tube of the
required length and of any convenient diameter, and divide the same
longitudinally through its centre or through any desirable part thereof
so as to form an upper and lower part. The lower part is to be fixed to

page_text: the frame of the machine, and the upper part is to be made movable
upon centres or hinges at the back of the tube or jointed in any other
suitable manner. The fingers are divided into two parts; the upper part
thereof is to be rivetted or otherwise fastened to the upper part of the
tubular bar, and the lower part of the said fingers is to be rivetted or
otherwise fastened to the lower part of the said finger bar. By this
means the tubular bar can be opened and closed so that the knife may
be fixed therein and removed at pleasure. When the knife has been
fixed in its place as herein-after more fully explained, and the apparatus
closed, the same is secured by screws or other convenient fastenings ;
the fingers are so shaped and arranged that when the tube is closed the
openings in the said fingers through which the knife passes, as also an
aperture in the tubular cutter bar hereafter to be described, are kept
open. The said aperture in the tubular cutter bar is formed in the front
of the same by removing a portion of the tube at the edge or edges pro-
duced by the longitudinal division thereof, and it extends from end to end
of the said bar. This aperture is made of a width just sufficient to allow
the cutting part of the knife to work freely therein. In fixing the knife
the back of the same is placed in metal supports or holders, each of
which is made to receive the back of the knife, the said supports or
holders being designed to move to and fro inside the tubular bar in
grooves provided therein for that purpose. I use three of these knife
in
grooves
supports or holders, but more may be used if
the tube are intended to keep the knife supports or holders and the back
of the knife when placed therein in their proper position within the
tubular bar, by which means the knife is made to move parallel therewith.
The only working parts in contact within the tubular bar are the parts
of the knife supports or holders which move in the grooves. I modify
this part of my Invention by securing the back of the knife in one of
the supports or holders only, the said support being actuated by any desired
arrangement for communicating motion to the knife, the other sup-
ports or holders being fixed rigidly in the tube. By this modification the
back of the knife moves in these fixed supports only. To carry this modi-
fication into practice I rivet or otherwise fix the blades to a bar of T-iron
which constitutes the back of the knife. I prefer this form of iron for the
back of the knife because it combines lightness with strength, but I do
not confine myself thereto, as other angular iron might be used in its
place. Motion is transmitted to the knife by means of levers or other
appliances which are attached to one or more of the knife supports or
necessary.
The

page_text: holders, and a slot must be made in the tube for this communication with
the external means for giving motion to the knife. I do not confine
myself to the use of a cylindrical tubular bar, I prefer such a shape for
general use, but my Invention can be performed by and with other
shaped tubes. By the use of a tubular bar I enclose all but the cutting
part of the blade of the knife within a tube, by which means the rubbing
parts are kept free from dirt and other obstructions, and the friction is
reduced to its minimum quantity.
My improvements relate, secondly, to the peculiar construction of a
cam for operating an oscillating lever for communicating motion to the
knives of reaping and mowing machines, and which may also be used
for communicating similar reciprocating motion to other machinery.
This cam is a section of a hollow sphere in a plane passing through its
centre at any angle except a right angle with its axis of motion; the
circular inclined plane thus formed is bounded by the exterior and
interior circle of the hollow sphere produced by such sectional division.
On this section of a sphere or its equivalent a collar is fixed parallel
with the axis of motion and the whole is cast in one piece. The inner
part of this collar is bored and works upon a turned axle or shaft. On
this collar a pulley is cast or keyed, which pulley is actuated by a band,
chain, or other appliance for communicating rotary motion thereto, and
the same is kept in its place upon the axle or shaft by another collar
actuated by a nut and screw. To produce the movement required the
inclined circular plane is brought in contact with a lever preferably
provided with a couple of friction wheels or rollers arranged to run upon
the plane. The lever reciprocates on an axis situated in the shaft in the
centre of the said inclined circular plane. The two friction wheels or
rollers rotate on centres carried in the lever at each side of the fulcrum
of the same at as great distances from it as the circumference of the said
inclined plane will allow, and, when in position each of the said friction
wheels or rollers touches the said inclined circular plane. When rotary
motion is communicated to the cam the inclination of the circle will be
reversed once in every revolution, and the lever will by the arrangement
above explained be made to follow the change in the inclination of the
plane of the circle and will transmit to it a reciprocating motion. In
using this cam and lever upon my reaping and mowing machine I place
the axle or shaft of the cam and lever parallel with and at a convenient
distance from the tubular bar. I communicate a rotary motion to the
apparatus by means of a strap from a pulley actuated by the main

page_text: driving wheel. In using this cam and lever in other machinery the
lever may have given to it if desired a double oscillating action by
extending the lever at both sides of the fulcrum thereof.
My improvements relate, thirdly, to means for guiding a reaping and
mowing machine when the same is propelled by animal power applied
at the rear of the machine. For this purpose I employ a guiding and
counterbalancing wheel carried in a pole which is rigidly fixed in a
central position on the machine. I connect the said pole with the
machine by means of an iron frame which is made to move on centres
placed on the bearings of the main axle of the carrying wheels; I cast
bosses upon both sides of 'the 'cast-iron frame of the machine at the
bearings aforesaid, and couple the two arms of the said frame and pole
upon these bosses to the machine. This arrangement allows the body of
the machine to rock vertically independently of the frame and pole and
keeps the said pole rigid in its central position. On the end of the pole
is placed a cross bar which moves freely on the central joint or pole pin.
At the ends of the cross bar are placed two shafts within which the
horses are to be harnessed; these two shafts are jointed on the ends of
the cross bar and are capable of a horizontal independent movement, by
which the horses are enabled to act with more freedom in applying their
power to the propulsion of the machine in any desired direction. The
raising and lowering of the cutting apparatus is effected in various ways,
I prefer, however, for this purpose to place in the centre of a cross piece
at the back of the main carriage perpendicular parallel guide plates con-
nected together at both ends and with holes in them for receiving a pin.
The pole runs between these guide plates. The vertical motion of the
fore part of the machine is regulated by motion communicated to the
hind part thereof, and this motion is effected by a lever, the fulcrum of
which is situated in the guide plates. By depressing the lever the rear
part of the machine will be depressed and the fore part thereof elevated,
and vice versa. When the machine is set at the required angle a pin is
put through a pin hole in the guide plates, and by this pin, which rests
against the under part of the pole, the frame of the machine is kept in
its required position; by this means the height of the cutting is regulated
or the machine may be adjusted for travelling. The machine is capable
of vertical movement while at work by means of the lever above
mentioned, and the cutting apparatus can be raised to suit uneven ground
or lifted over obstructions, the set of the machine being restored by
leaving the lever at rest. In this arrangement the guiding and counter

page_text: balancing wheel simply turns in the pole of the machine and has no.
appliances for altering the angle of the machine horizontally with that
of the pole by means of chains or toothed gearing, the guiding of the
machine being effected by means of the guiding wheel, and the cross bar
being made to move freely upon the pole piu, the shafts moving freely
on the cross bar at any angle with the machine
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew John Murray in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
JOHN MURRAY, of Albany Road, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,.
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Andrew John Murray, Her
special licence that I, the said Andrew John Murray, my executors,.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew
John Murray, 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 AND MOWING MACHINES, PARIS CE
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Andrew John Murray, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew John Murray, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the Description of the Drawings which accompanying this
Specification, such description being contained in the following state-
ment, that is to say:-
My Invention relates, first, to the employment of tubes in the place of
the finger bars hitherto used in reaping and mowing machines. To carry
this part of my improvements into practice I take a tube of the required
length and of any convenient diameter, and divide the same longitu-
dinally through its centre or through any desirable part thereof so as
to form an upper and lower part. The lower part (6) is to be fixed to the
frame (A) of the machine, and the upper part (a) is to be made move-
able upon centres or hinges (c) at the back of the tube, or jointed in
any other suitable manner. The fingers are divided into two parts;
the upper part (d) thereof is to be rivetted or otherwise fastened to the
upper part (a) of the tubular bar, and the lower part (e) of the said
fingers is to be rivetted or otherwise fastened to the lower part (b) of the
said finger bar. By this means the tubular bar can be opened and
closed so that the knife (f) may be fixed therein and removed at
pleasure. When the knife (f) has been fixed in its place and the
apparatus closed the same is secured by screws or other convenient
fastenings. The fingers are so shaped and arranged that when the
tube is closed the openings in the said fingers through which the knife
(f), passes as also aperture in the tubular cutter bar hereafter to be
described, are kept open. The said aperture in the tubular bar is formed
in the front of the same by removing a portion of the tube at the edge
or edges produced by the longitudinal division thereof, and it extends
from end to end of the said bar. This aperture is made of a width just
sufficient to allow the cutting part of the knife (f) to work freely therein.
In fixing the knife (f) it is first fixed to a lug (g) which is connected
with the lever (h). Each end of the knife (f) is provided with a slot
which runs upon a pin fixed to a rest in the end of the tube. Motion is
transmitted to the knife by means of levers (1) or other appliances
which are attached to it, and a slot must be made in the tube for
this communication with the external means for giving motion to the
knife (f). I do not confine myself to the use of a cylindrical tubular

page_text: be performed by and with other shaped tubes. By the use of a
tubular bar I enclose all but the cutting part of the blade of the knife
(f) within a tube, by which means the rubbing parts are kept
free from dirt and other obstructions and the friction is reduced to
its minimum quantity.
My improvements relate, secondly, to the peculiar construction of a
cam for operating an oscillating lever for communicating motion to the
knives of reaping and mowing machines, and which may also be used for
communicating similar reciprocating motion to other machinery. This cam
(i) is a section of a hollow sphere in a plane passing through its centre,
at any angle except a right angle with its axis of motion; the circular
inclined plane (j) thus formed is bounded by the exterior and interior
circle of the hollow sphere produced by such sectional division. On this
section of a sphere or its equivalent a collar is fixed parallel with the
axis of motion and the whole is cast in one piece. The inner part of
this collar is bored and works upon a turned axle or shaft (k). On this
collar a pulley (1) is cast or keyed, which pulley (1) is actuated by a
band chain (m) or other appliance for communicating rotary motion
thereto, and the same is kept in its place upon the axle or shaft by
another collar actuated by a nut and screw. To produce the movement
required the inclined circular plane (j) is brought in contact with a
lever (h) preferably provided with a couple of friction wheels (n, n,) or
rollers arranged to run upon the plane (j). The lever (h) reciprocates
on an axis (o) situated in the shaft (%) in the centre of the said inclined
circular plane j. The two friction wheels or rollers (n, n,) rotate on
centres carried in the lever at each side of the fulcrum (o) of the same
at as great distances from it as the circumference of the said inclined
plane () will allow, and when in position each of the said friction wheels
or rollers (n, n,) touches the said inclined circular plane (j). When rotary
motion is communicated to the cam (i) the inclination of the circle will
be reversed once in every revolution, and the lever (h) will by the arrange-
ment above explained be made to follow the change in the inclination
of the plane () of the circle, and will transmit to it a reciprocating
motion. In using this cam (i), and lever (h) upon my reaping and
mowing machine I place the axle or shaft (k) of the cam (i) and lever
() parallel with and at a convenient distance from the tubular bar. I

page_text: communicate a rotary motion to the apparatus by means of a strap (m)
from a pulley p actuated by the main driving wheel (9). In using
this cam (i) and lever (h) in other machinery, the lever (h) may have
given to it, if desired, a double oscillating action by extending the lever
at both sides of the fulcrum (o) thereof.
My improvements relate, thirdly, to means for guiding a reaping and
mowing machine when the same is propelled by animal power applied
at the rear of the machine. For this purpose I employ a guiding and
counterbalancing wheel (1) carried in a pole (8), which is rigidly fixed
in a central position in the machine. I connect the said pole (s) with
the machine by means of an iron frame (1), which is made to move on
centres placed on the bearings of the main axle (a) of the carrying
wheel (). I cast bosses (1) upon both sides of the cast-iron frame (A)
of the machine at the bearings aforesaid, and couple the two arms of
the said frame () and pole s upon these bosses (w) to the machine.
This arrangement allows the body of the machine to rock vertically
independently of the frame (t) and pole (s), and keeps the said pole (s)
rigid in its central position. The raising and lowering of the cutting
apparatus is effected in various ways, I prefer however for this purpose
to place in the centre of a cross piece (y) at the back of the main
carriage perpendicular parallel guide plates (2) connected together at
both ends, and with holes in them for receiving a pin (B). The pole
(s) runs between these guide plates (=). The vertical motion of
the fore part of the machine is regulated by motion communicated
to the hind part thereof, and this motion is effected by a lever (C) the
fulcrum (D) of which is situated in the guide plates (2). By depressing
the lever (C) the rear part of the machine will be depressed and the
fore part thereof elevated, and vice versa. When the machine is set at
the required angle a pin (B) is put through a pin hole (B') in the guide
plate (2), and by this pin (B), which rests against the under part of the
pole (8), the frame (A) of the machine is kept in its required position.
By this means the height of the cutting is regulated, or the machine
may be adjusted for travelling. The machine is capable of vertical
movement while at work by means of the lever (C) above mentioned,
and the cutting apparatus can be raised to suit uneven ground or lifted
over obstructions, the set of the machine being restored by leaving the
lever at rest. In this arrangement the guiding and counterbalancing
wheel simply turns in the pole of the machine, and has no appliances

page_text: for altering the angle of the machine horizontally with that of the pole
by means of chains or toothed gearing, the guiding of the machine being
effected by means of the guiding wheel (").
The letters of reference used above refer to the following Figures of
the Drawings accompanying these Presents.
Figure 1 view of my cam motion; Figure 2, side view of my reaping
machine; Figure 3, plan of same. To these Figures the letters of
reference refer as hereafter stated.
a, upper part of tube; b, lower part of tube; c, hinge to which
upper part of tube is fixed; d, upper part of fingers; e, lower part of
fingers; knife; g, lug on knife to which cam lever () is fitted; h,
cam lever; i, cam; (j), circular inclined plane; k, shaft on which cam is
mounted; l, pulley attached to cam (i); m, band communicating rotary
motion to cam (i); n, n, friction wheels or rollers; o, axis or fulcrum of
cam lever (h); P, pulley having motion communicated to it from main
driving wheel (9); q, main driving wheel; r, counterbalancing and guid-
ing wheel; 8, rigidly fixed pole; t, iron frame made to move on centres;
u, main axle; v, carrying wheel; wo, bosses cast on frame (A), (A);
y, cross piece; z, perpendicular parallel guide plates; A, frame of front
part of machine; B, pin for guide plates; C, lever with fulcrum (D)
in guide plates z. Some portions of the machine are not shown, that is
some of such parts as are similar to those now in general use. The
other parts not lettered will be readily understood by reference to the
accompanying Drawings, as they are only such as are used in ordinary
machines, or such as are required to fix and connect the various parts
of the machine together or for communicating motion from one part to
another.
"
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed and
carried out in practice, I hereby declare that I claim, the Invention of
Improvements in Reaping and Mowing Machines, Parts of which
Improvements are Applicable to other Machines," as herein described
and illustrated, important features in the said Invention being the cam
arrangement, which can be used in any machine where a similar motion
is required, and also the use of this arrangement for reaping machines,
and the arrangement of the chief portion of the mechanism in the centre
of the machine.

page_text: And I would have it understood that I do not claim the mere con-
stituent details per se and apart from the purposes of my Invention,
nor do I limit myself to the precise form of the said details.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew John Murray, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
year
nine.
A. J. MURRAY. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOMAS MORGAN,
Clerk to the
Inventors' Patent Right Association, Limited,
21, Cockspur Street,
Charing Cross..