IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-MAKING AND RAKING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips,
both of Spittlegate Ironworks, Grantham, in the County of Lincoln,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-MAKING AND RAKING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 23rd November 1869, and dated the 16th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hornsby
and James Edwin Phillips at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 16th June 1869.
We, RICHARD HORNSBY and JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS, both of
Spittlegate Ironworks, Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-
MAKING AND RAKING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hay-making and
raking machines. On the frame of the hay-making machine, which is
carried by the road wheels, is mounted an axis supporting the rakes; it
has crank arms at its ends. The rakes are fixed, as is herein-after
described, upon tubes, which are able to turn on this axis. On the tubes
are pinions, which gear with toothed wheels on the main carrying wheels,

page_text: and so drive the rakes. By turning the cranked axis partly round these
pinions are taken out of gear, suitable handles are provided for this pur-
pose. The crank arms are continued beyond their bearings in the frame,
and on the further sides thereof they carry other pinions similar to the
first and gearing with them. When the crank axis is turned the same
motion which takes the first pinions out of gear being continued takes the
second pinions into gear, and so a reversal of the motion of the rakes is
obtained. The rakes are carried from the tubes on the axis by radial
arms, and each set of arms is strengthened by a ring tying the arms
together. The rake teeth are fixed into bars, and one such bar is pin-
jointed to the extremity of each radial arm. Spiral springs hold the
bars in such position that the teeth stand radially. On the under side of
each bar two horns are fixed, which bear against a T-head, the stem of
which enters a socket at the end of the radial arm, and is pressed out-
wards by a spiral spring so as to bear firmly on the two horns and hold
them in position. Should the teeth meet an obstacle they yield back,
overpowering the spring, but return as soon as the obstacle is passed.
There is a hollow in the centre of each of the T-heads so that if the
teeth are laid quite back so that one of the horns may enter the hollow,
the teeth will remain where they are placed as is required for travelling
when the machine is out of action. The frame of the machine has the
shafts fixed to it, but adjustably, so that the teeth may be set to work
more or less closely to the surface of the land.
The raking machine consists of a long rectangular frame, to which on
one side shafts are fixed, and along this side from end to end two parallel
bars run; upon them the rake teeth are mounted so as to turn freely, the
bars each taking the alternate teeth, an arrangement which affords
great lateral steadiness to the teeth by the increase which it allows to
be made in the width of the base of the tooth, or its connection with
the bar on which it turns. One of the bars carrying the teeth is able to
be turned partly round in its bearings in the rectangular frame by hand
screws or other suitable contrivance, and it has short arms upon it,
which at their ends carry studs. The carrying wheels are mounted on
these studs, and the wheels have bosses of considerable lengths, so that
they may run steadily on the studs. These bosses are on the inner sides
of the wheels and so do not increase the width of the machine. By the
partial rotation of the bar which carries the studs on which the wheels
turn the frame is raised or lowered, and the set of the teeth to the land
is adjusted as may be desired. The studs and wheel bosses pass through

page_text: slots in the ends of the frame (which are of cast iron) and the slots are of
such a form as to allow a freedom of motion which is required. To lift
the teeth from time to time to cause them to drop the hay or material
which they have collected a hand lever is provided; it is centred at
the back of the shafts and projects to the rear. This lever is connected
by links with other levers turning on one of the bars carrying the teeth.
When the hand lever is depressed it forces down the forward ends of
these other levers, raising their hinder ends, which carry a bar passing
along underneath the teeth from end to end, and this bar in rising lifts
the teeth.
In some cases a light frame carrying a seat is fixed upon the
rectangular frame, and then a second handle is provided in front of the
seat to be worked by the driver. The two handles are linked together
in any suitable and convenient manner. Or the rake teeth may be
raised by mounting the bar which forms their axis on levers centred to
the frame, and at their hinder ends carrying a lifting bar passing along
underneath the teeth. The teeth are raised by rocking these levers, and
as the lifting bar rises the axis of the teeth is depressed. These levers
are linked to a hand lever at the back of the frame and are so worked.
Another hand lever to be worked from the driving seat may be mounted
at the back of the shafts, and have a connecting rod passing from it to
the first handle. The rake teeth we prefer to make of T or L iron, and
to connect them with the rake bar we clamp each tooth in a malleable
cast-iron holder. The holder has two horns, at the extremities of which
eyes are formed, through which the rake bar passes; midway between
the horns the socket or groove for the tooth is formed; it is of a T form,
and runs at right angles to the rake bar. The tooth being inserted in
the socket or groove it is secured by a bolt passed through the stem of
the iron and the lips or sides of the socket or groove, which latter are
drawn in by the bolt so as securely to nip the tooth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
б HORNSBY and JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS, both of Spittlegate Ironworks,
Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, 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 us, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin
Phillips, Her special licence that we, the said Richard Hornsby and
James Edwin Phillips, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips,
our 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 AND RAKING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others),
that we, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips, our execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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 we, the said Richard Hornsby and James
Edwin Phillips, 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 and
raking machines. On the frame of the hay-making machine, which is
carried by the road wheels, is mounted an axis supporting the rakes; it
has crank arms at its ends. The rakes are fixed, as is herein-after
described, upon tubes which are able to turn on this axis. On the tubes
are pinions which gear with toothed wheels on the main carrying wheels
and so drive the rakes. By turning the cranked axis partly round these
pinions are taken out of gear (suitable handles are provided for this
purpose), or the tube and pinion may be fixed on the axis and the axis
itself turn in its connections with the crank arms. The crank arms are
continued beyond their bearings in the frame, and on the further sides

page_text: thereof they carry other pinions similar to the first and gearing with
them. When the crank axis is turned the same motion which takes the
first pinions out of gear being, continued takes the second pinions into
gear, and so a reversal of the motion of the rakes is obtained. The
rakes are carried from the tubes on the axis by radial arms, and each set
of arms is strengthened by a ring tying the arms together. The rake
teeth are fixed into bars, and one such bar is pinjointed to the extremity
of each radial arm. Spiral springs hold the bars in such positions that
the teeth stand radially. On the under side of each bar two horns are
fixed which bear against a T head, the stem of which enters a socket or
recess in the radial arm, and is pressed outwards bv a spiral spring so as
to bear firmly on the two horns and hold them in position. Should the
teeth meet an obstacle they yield back, overpowering the spring, but
returning as soon as the obstacle is passed. There is a hollow in the
centre of each of the T heads, so that if the teeth are laid quite back, so
that one of the horns may enter the hollow, the teeth will remain where
they are placed as is required for travelling when the machine is out. of
action. The frame of the machine has the shafts fixed to it, but adjust-
ably, so that the teeth may be set to work more or less closely to the
surface of the land.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a hay-making machine thus con-
structed; Figure 2 is a rear elevation in section of a part of the same
machine. The section is taken mainly through the axis of the rakes,
but the parts beyond are also, shown in section, this section being taken
through the centre of the supporting wheels.
a, a, are the frames. of the machine; they have stud axes fixed upon
them, and on these the carrying wheels b, b, turn. The same frames
also support an axis c; it has crank arms c¹ at its ends; o are studs
fixed in these arms and received into suitable holes or bearings prepared
for them in the frames a. The crank axis consisting of the part c with
the arms o' and studs o can turn partly round in these holes or bearings,
and in the arrangement which the Drawing represents the axis c is also
able to turn in the sockets which receive it in the arms c¹. d is a tube.
fixed on the axis c; it carries the rakes; there are two such tubes, one at
each end of the machine, and the parts in connection with them are
similar. d' is a pinion fixed either on the tube d or on the axis c, and
capable of gearing with the ring of teeth 6' on the main wheel b; c³ is a
handle fixed on the arm c for turning it upon the stud c³, and by this

page_text: means the pinion d' is taken into. or out of gear with the ring of teeth 6¹;
d is another pinion carried by the arm c¹ beyond the stud c³; it gears.
with the pinion d', and when this latter pinion is taken out of gear with
the teeth 6 by continuing the motion the pinion d is brought into gear.
therewith. The handle c³ is provided with a locking bolt, which can be
made to engage with either one or other of three notches in the frame a;.
when it is in one of these notches the rakes rotate in a forward direction
as the implement travels; when in another notch they revolve in the
reverse direction; and when the bolt is in the third or intermediate
notch the rakes remain stationary. e, e, are radial arms fixed on the
tube d, and e¹ is a ring connecting these arms; the ring and the inner
ends of the arms (which each consist of two parallel bars) are cast
together as a wheel, and the outer or forked ends of the arms are. bolted:
to the periphery of the ring; ff, are the bars in which the rake teeth
are fixed; they are pinjointed to the radial arms at f¹; f, f, are horns
fixed on the bars f, and the T pieces 9 are caused to. bear against against
the horns by coiled springs g'. The stems of the T pieces are cruciform
in section and pass through the ring e¹;, they are reduced in diameter at
their inner ends where the coiled springs encircle them. The stems of
the T pieces also pass through guides at their lower ends, which also
serve as abutments for the springs. The T pieces 9 being thus con-
stantly pressed outwards hold the rake teeth in a radial position, unless
by coming in contact with the ground or an obstacle a strain be put
upon them, in which ease they are able to yield. Or to prepare the
machine for travelling along the road the teeth may be turned down to
a tangent to the circle in which they revolve, and they will then be held
by one or other of the horns entering a recess in the centre of the head
of the T piece. h is a three-sided frame connected rigidly to the two.
frames; a and i are shafts (a small part of one of them only is seen),
they are jointed to the frame & at 2, and clamped to them when at
work in the position required by screws . d* are drums fixed on the
revolving tubes d to prevent the hay lapping around them.
We claim as respects this part of our Invention the arrangement of
the rakes and their driving pinions on an axis with crank arms capable
of rocking, so as to take the pinions into and out of gear with the driving
rings, substantially as above described.
*
We also claim the arrangement of T pieces or equivalent instruments
and coiled springs operating in connection with the rake teeth to retain

page_text: them in the positions in which they are required, substantially as above
described.
We also claim the general arrangement of hay-making machines,
substantially as above described.
Another part of our Invention relates to horse rakes or raking machines..
The raking machine consists of a long rectangular frame, to which on
one side shafts are fixed, and along this side from end to end two
parallel bars run. Upon them the rake teeth are mounted so as to
turn freely, the bars each taking the alternate teeth, an arrangement
which affords great lateral steadiness to the teeth by the increase which
it allows to be made in the width of the base of the tooth or its connection
with the bar on which it turns. One of the bars carrying the teeth is
able to be turned partly round in its bearings in the rectangular frame
by hand screws or other suitable contrivance, and it has short arms upon
it which at their ends carry studs. The carrying wheels are mounted on
these studs, and the wheels have bosses of considerable length so that
they may run steadily on the studs. These bosses are on the inner sides
of the wheels, and so do not increase the width of the machine. By the
partial rotation of the bar which carries the studs on which the wheels
turn the frame is raised or lowered and the set of the teeth to the land is
adjusted as may be desired. The studs and wheel bosses pass through
slots in the ends of the frame (which are of cast iron), and the slots are
of such a form as to allow the freedom of motion which is required. To
lift the teeth from time to time to cause them to drop the hay or material
which they have collected, a hand lever is provided, it is centered at the
back of the shafts and projects to the rear. This lever is connected by
links with other levers turning on one of the bars carrying the teeth.
When the hand lever is depressed it forces down the forward ends of
these other levers raising their hinder ends, which carry a bar passing
along underneath the teeth from end to end, and this bar in rising
lifts the teeth. The rake teeth we prefer to make of T or iron,
and to connect them with the rake bar; we clamp each tooth in a
malleable cast-iron holder. The holder has two horns, at the extremities
of which eyes are formed through which the rake bar passes; midway
between the horns the socket or groove for the tooth is formed; it is
of a T form and runs at right angles to the rake bar. The tooth
being inserted in the socket or groove it is secured by a bolt passed
through the stem of the teeth and the lips or sides of the socket or

page_text: groove, which latter are drawn in by the bolt, so as securely to nip
the tooth.
Figure 3 is a side view of a horse rake or raking machine thus con-
-structed (one of the carrying wheels is omitted that other parts may be
more clearly seen). Figure 4 is a portion of a plan of the same machine.
a, a, is a rectangular frame consisting of two cast sides connected at the
front and back by wrought metal bars extending across the machine;
b, b, are shafts fixed to the front bar of the frame; c and d are two
bars or axes carried by the side frames; they are parallel to each other
and to the front bar of the frame a; e, e, are the rake teeth mounted
alternately on the bars c and d, the manner in which the teeth are held
is herein after fully described. The bar or axis c is capable of being
partially rotated by the hand screw f carried on the hinder bar of the
frame a and working with a nut c¹ jointed to the arm c³ of the bar or
axis c; c, c, are other arms on the same axis, and within the frame a;
they carry studs c on which the main wheels 9,9, turn. The stud c
pass through slots in the end castings of the frame a, the wheel bosses
as will be seen are of considerable length so that the wheels may turn
steadily on the studs, but being on the inner sides of the wheels they do
not increase the width of the machine. The arms have caps formed
upon them enclosing the wheel bosses, so that the grass or weeds may
not accumulate and wind upon them. By turning the axis c as already
described the frame a is raised or lowered and so the angle at which the
points of the teeth meet the land is varied as may be required. h is a
hand lever jointed to the shafts and connected by the inclined links h¹
with the levers i, which are mounted on the bar c and are able to turn
thereon. These levers i at their hinder ends carry a bar k extending
along beneath the rake teeth from side to side of the machine. A
weight * fixed on the lever h nearer to or further from its outer end, as
is found most suitable to the work and the state of the land, tends to
raise the bark and so reduces the pressure of the points of the teeth on
the surface of the land, and the same bar when the hand lever is drawn
down serves to lift the teeth off the land, is an upper har connected
with the bar k, by means thereof the teeth may be held down towards
the land when it is so desired.
Figure 5 shows a portion of the back bar of the frame a. l is a catch
upon it for fastening down the lever h to bold the rake teeth off the land;
m is a guide for the reins by which the horse is driven.

page_text: Figure 6 shows in plan the method of mounting the rake teeth on the
bars c and d. The teeth e are made T form or L form in section, and
their upper ends are held in sockets of a corresponding shape formed in
holders which are cast in malleable iron. These holders are each made
with two horns P,, with eyes on them to receive the bar or axis on
which the tooth is to turn. The width of the holder is equal to the
distance between the teeth which each bar carries, and the holders by
abutting the one on the other are prevented from moving longitudinally
of the bar or axis which carries them. Each tooth is secured in its
socket by a bolt passing through it and through the sides of the socket,
clamping the parts closely together. Figure 7 is a side view and
Figure 8 a back view of the same parts.
We claim as respects this part of our Invention the construction of
horse rakes or raking machines with the adjustable arms which support
the carrying wheels within the frame, such wheels having their bosses on
their inner sides, substantially as above described.
We also claim the construction of horse rakes or raking machines
with the rake teeth mounted alternately on two parallel bars or axes,
substantially as above described.
We also claim the method of connecting rake teeth of a T or L form
in section with the bar or axis which carries them substantially as above
described.
We also claim the general arrangement of horse rakes or raking
machines substantially as above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin
Phillips, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-nine.