IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GRAIN AND GRASS HARVESTERS
Year: 1861

page_text: L
ENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, or
Stents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GRAIN
AND GRASS HARVESTERS." A communication from abroad by Edwin
Perry Russell and Porter Tremain, of Manlius Onondaga County, State
of New York, United States of America.
-
Sealed the 11th February 1862, and dated the 16th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th October 1861.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GRAIN
AND GRASS HARVESTERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, first, to an improvement in the sickle driving mecha-
nism, whereby the power is transmitted from the driving wheel of the machine
to the sickle; the parts employed to effect this object admitting of a perfect
self-adjusting movement of the sickle and finger bar, so that they may con-.
form to the inequalities of the surface of the ground.

page_text: The Invention relates, secondly, to an improved arrangement of the seat,
whereby the same may be adjusted to compensate for the different adjust-
ment of the finger bar, and the machine kept in a nearly balanced state on its
axle at all times.
The Invention relates, thirdly, to an improvement in the reel, and consists
in hanging the reel shaft in such a manner that it will play or work as the
machine moves along, corresponding to the play or movement of the sickle,
produced by the latter conforming to the inequalities of the surface of the
ground, thereby preventing the self-adjusting movement of the sickle from
rocking or injuring the reel. The reel arms are also secured to their shaft
in such a way as to ensure a firm and ready attachment of the former to
the latter.
The main framing is mounted on a pair of wheels, the outer one. of which
is the driving wheel, and is set somewhat in rear of the inner wheel. From
the inner side of the driving wheel project pins set equidistant from each other
and carrying antifriction rollers. These rollers, as the harvester is moved forward,
work into a screw mounted on an inclined shaft, and impart through a clutch
rotary motion to the shaft. A disc at the lower end of this shaft carries a crank
pin, which enters a coupling box connected by a ball and socket joint to the
driving rod of the sickle bar, which is itself so connected to the sickle bar as
to allow of its self-adjustment vertically to suit the irregularity of the ground
over which the machine is drawn. The rotation therefore of the screw imparts
the requisite reciprocating motion to the sickle bar. The finger bar is attached
to the main frame by means of a shoe provided with two eyes, through which
an oblique or diagonal rod passes from the back to the front of the machine.
At its forward end this rod is connected by a joint or pin to the front left-
hand corner of the frame, while the back end is fitted in a bar, the outer end
of which is attached by a joint or pin to the back part of the frame. The back
cye of the shoe is made oblong to admit of a certain degree of vertical play of
the back part of the shoe and finger bar, and also of the platform when that
is used. When the machine is being drawn along from place to place it is
necessary to raise the finger bar some distance from the ground, but when in
this position the balance of the machine will be destroyed. To counteract
this the driver's seat is supported on bars, the lower ends of which are secured
in sockets on the main frame. This arrangement admits of the seat being
adjusted in two different positions, the seat having a backward position when
the bars rest against the back parts of the sockets, and a forward position
when the bars rest against the front parts of the sockets. The pulley which
drives the reel shaft is keyed to a hollow journal or shaft having a squared

page_text: hole to receive the squared end of the reel shaft, which is slidden therein.
This hollow shaft is supported in a bearing spherical on its under side, and
provided with a pendent pin. A bracket piece attached to the main framing,
and provided with two lugs, supports this bearing, the pin of the bearing going
through the lugs, and being free to move laterally therein. The other end of
the reel shaft is carried by a bar attached to the outer or grain-end of the
platform of the harvester. This arrangement prevents the reel shaft from
interfering with the play of the platform and sickle bar to suit the inequalities
of the ground over which the machine is passing. The radial arms of the reel'
are attached to the reel shaft through the medium of metal heads or clamps,
formed each of two parts and provided with radial grooves, which parts are
bolted together and secured to the shaft by clamping screws.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th April 1862..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFred
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County.
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred.
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others.
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time aud
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 GRAIN AND GRASS HARVESTERS,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates, first, to an improvement in the sickle-driving mechanism, whereby the
power is transmitted from the driving wheel of the machine to the sickle in a
very direct manner, the parts employed to effect this object admitting of a
perfect self-adjusting movement of the sickle and finger bar, so that they may
conform to the inequalities of the surface of the ground.
The Invention relates, secondly, to an improved arrangement of the seat,
whereby the same may be adjusted to compensate for the different adjustment
of the finger bar, and the machine kept in a nearly balanced state on its axle
at all times.
The Invention relates, thirdly, to an improvement in the reel, and consists
in hanging the reel shaft in such a manner that it will play or work as the
machine moves along, corresponding to the play or movement of the sickle,
produced by the latter conforming to the inequalities of the surface of the
ground, thereby preventing the self-adjusting movement of the sickle from
racking or injuring the reel. The reel arms are also secured to their shaft in
such a way as to ensure a firm and ready attachment of the former to the
latter.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine,
the finger bar and sickle being bisected, as indicated by the line x, x, Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the machine; Fig. 3 is a partial sectional elevation,
taken in the line y, y, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detached section of the box, which
connects the driving rod of the sickle with the screw shaft; Fig. 5 is a front
view of the reel; Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the reel shaft, taken in the
line 2, 2, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a section of Fig. 6, taken in the line a¹, a¹; Fig. 8
is an enlarged side view of one of the plates that form the heads, by which
the arms of the reel are attached to their shaft; and Fig. 9 is a section of one
of the heads taken in the line y', y', Fig. 8. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A represents the main frame of a grain and grass harvester, which may be
of rectangular form, and mounted on two wheels B, C, which are on inde-
pendent or separate axles, the axle of the wheel C being somewhat in advance
of that of the wheel B. The wheel B, which is the driving wheel, is pro-
vided with a series of pins a at its inner side to receive friction rollers a¹.

page_text: They are placed at equal distances apart around the wheel B, just inside of its
periphery, as shewn in Fig. 1. On the front part of the main frame A, at its
right-hand side, there is secured a metal bar A¹, to which the bearings a*, a*,
of a shaft D are secured. This shaft is allowed to turn freely in its bearings,
and upon it is mounted loosely a screw E, which connects with the shaft D
when turned in one direction by means of a clutch b¹. When the screw E is
turned in the opposite direction it moves independently of the shaft D; as the
machine is drawn forward the friction rollers a¹ on the pins a act upon the
screw E, and turn it in the direction which connects it with the shaft D, and
the latter is thereby rotated. To the lower end of the shaft D there is
attached a circular hub c, which has a crank pin G depending from it, and on
this crank pin a box H is fitted. The box H is composed of two longitudinal
parts d, d, which embrace the pin G, and are secured together by screws e
(see Fig. 4). In this box II, a spherical socket is formed to receive a ball g
at the inner end of a connecting or driving rod I, see Fig. 4. The outer end
of the connecting rod I is attached by an universal joint a¹ to the sickle A",
which is placed on the finger bar, and may be arranged as usual. J repre-
sents the finger bar of the machine. This finger bar may be constructed in
the usual or in any proper way, and it has a shoe K attached to its inner end.
This shoe K is provided with two eyes h, h', the eye h being at the front, and
the other h being at the back part of the shoe. The shoe is fitted on a rod L,
the front part of which extends diagonally underneath the frame A, and is
attached to its front left-hand corner by a joint or pin i. The back eye h¹ of
the shoe K is oblong, as shewn in Fig. 1, so as to admit of a vertical play
of the back part of the shoe finger bar and platform when the latter is used.
The part of the rod L, on which the shoe K is fitted, is parallel with the sides
of the frame A, and the back end of the rod is connected to or fitted on a
bar M, the outer end of which is attached by a joint or pinj to the frame A.
This arrangement, it will be seen, admits of the finger bar J rising and
falling at either end, and at the same time the oblique rod L serves to
counteract side draught, as its front end is attached to the
left side of the draught pole N, as is shewn clearly in Fig. 2. The finger bar J
may be elevated so as to be entirely free from the surface of the ground, and
rest against the frame A. The finger bar is placed in this position when the
machine is being drawn along from place to place. This position of the
finger bar, however, destroys the balance of the machine; to counteract this,
therefore, the driver's seat 0 is supported on bars P, P, the lower ends of
which are secured by joints or pins k in sockets Q on the frame A. This
arrangement admits of the seat O being adjusted in two different positions,
frame A on the

page_text: the seat having a backward position (as shewn clearly in Fig. 1) when the
bars P rest against the back parts of the sockets, and a forward position when
the bars rest against the front parts of the sockets (as shewn by the dotted
lines in Fig. 1).. When the finger bar J is down in a horizontal or working
position the seat O is adjusted in a backward position, in order that the
machine may be properly balanced, and when the finger bar is elevated, the
seat O is adjusted in a forward position, in order to counteract the additional
weight to which the back part of the frame A is subjected.
The rollers a' on the pins a greatly diminish friction, and admit of a
screw E, of quite moderate pitch, being used, so that a proper speed may be
obtained direct from the wheel B. Instead, however, of making these rollers
cylindrical, as shewn at Fig. 3, it is found preferable to give them a conical
form, as shewn at Figures 10 and 11, and to make the thread of the screw of
a taper form in cross section to suit the change in the form of the peripheries
of the friction rollers. This modification ensures the contact surfaces moving
with equal speed, and thereby all unnecessary friction and wear and tear is
avoided. In these Figures, A represents a portion of the driving wheel of the
harvester, and a the conical rollers, fitted loosely on the pins b; B is the
screw, the thread c of which is of taper form (that is to say), thicker at its
inner edge, which adjoins the shaft d of the screw, than at its outer edge, as
clearly shewn in Fig. 11. The taper of the screw B corresponds to the taper
or conical form of the rollers a, and consequently as the screw B is rotated,
under the action of the rollers a, every point on the surface of each roller will
move just as fast as the portion of the flanch c, with which they are in contact;
for instance, the outer ends of the rollers a, being the smallest in diameter,
are in contact with the flanch c at its inner edge, which, of course, moves
slower than its outer edge, which is in contact with the inner edges or parts
of the rollers a, the diameters of which are larger, and consequently correspond
in speed with the quick movement of the outer part of the flanch c.
In Fig. 5, A is the main frame of a harvester, and B* the platform, which
has the usual finger bar and reciprocating sickle at its front end. This plat-
form is attached to the main frame A* by means of a jointed connection C*,
which admits of the platform working freely up and down, so that the sickle
may conform to the inequalities of the surface of the ground. To the main
frame A there is secured an upright D*, the upper part of
horizontal forked arm E*, in which an upright pin F* is fitted.
passes through two eyes a**, **, in the arm E. The lower eye a** is oblong,
as shown clearly in Fig. 7, so that the pin F* may work or play laterally.
The upper eye is not much larger in diameter than the pin, but it is
which has a
The pin F*

page_text: concave at its upper part to receive the under side or lower part of a
bearing G*, which is at the upper end of the pin F*, see Figures 6 and 7.
The bearing G supports a small shaft H*, which has a pulley ** at its outer
end, the bearing G* being between the pulley and a shoulder d** on the
shaft H*, as shewn in Fig. 7. The shaft H* is tubular, having a square hole
through it for the reel shaft I* to pass through the portion of the shaft which
passes through the shaft H*, being also square, and allowed to slide freely in
the shaft. The opposite end of the shaft I* is fitted in the upper part of an
inclined bar J, which is attached to the outer or grain end of the plat-
form B. It will be seen that the reel shaft I* cannot interfere with the
free undulating movement of the platform in conforming to the inequalities of
surface over which it passes, for the reel shaft is allowed to work freely in
the hollow shaft H* and the bearing G of the latter, in consequence of being
attached to the pin F*, and the latter arranged, as shewn, is allowed to turn
and work like an universal or ball-and-socket joint. The reel shaft I* is of
iron, and upon it there are placed two metal heads K*, K*.
serve as a means for securing the arms of the reel to the shaft I*. Each
head K is formed of two parts f**, f***, and these parts have each four
radial grooved arms 9", which arms receive the inner ends of the reel arms e*,
the said arms being of wood. The two parts f*, f***, of the heads are
secured together by bolts h, and the inner side of one part of each head is
provided with lips or projections *, which fit in the sides of the recl arms e*
when the parts f**, f***, are bolted together, and prevent the arms from
drawing out from the heads, see Fig. 9; by this arrangement the reel
arms may be secured to the reel shaft I* with great facility, and very
securely. The heads K* are prevented from turning on the shaft I* by
means of screw bolts *, which pass radially into one part for f*** of
each head, and are screwed firmly against the shaft (see Fig. 8).
These heads K*
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Grain and Grass Harvesters," as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would
remark that I do not claim the attaching of the finger bar to the main frame
by means of jointed bars to admit of the folding upward or elevating of the
finger bar as well as the yielding or elevating movement at both ends of
the same, for this has been previously done, neither do I claim a screw and
pins on the driving wheel of a harvester for driving or operating a sickle;
but what I claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the means above described for transmitting motion from the driving
wheel B to the sickle bar.

page_text: Second, the attaching of the finger bar to the main frame of the machine,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third, mounting the driver's seat on rocking bars when governed in their
movement, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
And, lastly, constructing and mounting the reel in the manner above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)