IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REAPING " PRO left
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Tolmie Campbell, of Washington, City in
the United States of America, but now of 67, Gracechurch Street,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REAPING
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Tolmie Campbell,"
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd May 1856.
I, ROBERT TOLMIE CAMPBELL, of Washington, City in the United States of
America, but now of 67, Gracechurch Street, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REAPING &
MOWING," a communication from a foreigner residing abroad, to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to reaping and mowing machines of the
ordinary general construction and arrangement, and consist in modifications of
such machines, by which I facilitate their movement over the ground, and
turning, prevent strain upon the pole to which the horses are attached, adjust
at pleasure the height at which the cutters operate, diminish the wear of the
cutting blades, prevent clogging, and, finally, gather the grain into sheaves for
binding.
The draught wheel I place in a horizontal circular disc or ring, to which
the journals of said wheel are attached. This disc fits and turns in another
disc or ring, which is attached to the machine at the usual draught point by

page_text: racks, herein-after described. To the first-named disc the pole for the horses
is attached in any convenient mode. This arrangement facilitates turning, and
prevents lateral draught and strain.
I regulate the height of the cutters above the ground by the mode of
attaching the disc of the draught wheel to the machine. At the point of
attachment I introduce. racks on the machine, and on the ends of the project-
ing parts of the disc, by which it is united to the machine. These racks have
teeth, which gear into each other, and can be brought together at any point in
their length, so as to raise or lower the draught line at pleasure, and thus
adjust the height of the cutter bar with nicety. The cutter bar I hold down
to its place by means of springs, having rollers on their ends to allow free
lateral motion to the bar, while preventing vertical play; this prevents the
cutting parts from becoming clogged. I make the tooth of my machine in
two pieces, an upper and an under piece, and between them I place two strips.
of hard leather, projecting a short distance from the sides of the tooth. These
leather strips are held in place by the pressure between the two parts of the
tooth when bolted together. The object of this arrangement is to diminish the
wear of the knives, by allowing them to strike against a yielding substance.
The knives are driven in the usual way, by gearing from the main driving
wheel. On the tread of this wheel, in order to increase its hold upon the
ground, I place two rows of angular zig-zag flanges or projections, the points
of the angles being just far enough apart to allow a tooth or clearer to pass
between them to keep them free from dirt..
.
:
The gathering of the grain into sheaves for binding I effect by means of a
reciprocating standard, which I call a compressor, and two corresponding
stationary ones. The stationary compressors are vertical bars or standards,
placed back of the cutter bar, and one at each end of the machine, so that the
grain as it is cut must fall between them, to insure which guides sare placed to
direct its fall. The reciprocating compressor moves latterly back & forth
in guides between the stationary ones, and at right angles to the path of the
machine. This motion is communicated by means of a cord from a pulley,
which is made to move alternately in contrary directions by means of two
bevel wheels, one on either end of its shaft, which are alternately brought into
gear with a bevel wheel on the shaft of the driving wheel, by the action of a
cam on the inner face of the driving wheel operating a lever acting in the
groove of a pinion on the pulley shaft.
The guides in which the compressors move may be brought nearer to, or
removed farther from the line of knives by an adjustment, so that the
binding string inay be applied at the middle of the length of the grain,'

page_text: whether it be short or long. The reciprocating compressor is retained in its
position, when at either end of its course, long enough for the binding string
to be tied, by means of catches, operated by a long lever, to which motion is
imparted at the proper moment by projections on the inner rim of the driving
wheel. An attendant at each end of the machine ties the binding string
around the sheaf when in a state of compression and throws off the sheaf,
when the compressor releases it, and moves towards the opposite end of the
machine.
The power by which the various parts of the machine are operated is
derived in the ordinary way from the driving wheel, which revolves as the
machine is drawn over the ground by horses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Tolmie Campbell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
TOLMIE CAMPBELL, of Washington, City in the United States of America, but
now of 67, Gracechurch Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Tolmie Campbell, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Tolmie
Campbell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other's as I,
the said Robert Tolmie Campbell, 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 MACHINES FOR REAPING & Mowie," a communication,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Tolmie Campbell,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
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.
, or

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Tolmie Campbell, 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 following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in
which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine complete. Figure 2 is a
side view of the draught wheel, shewing in section the inner and outer discs,
to which it is attached, and the racks, by means of which the point of attach-
ment of the outer disc to the frame of the machine is raised or lowered.
Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the tooth or finger I, with its
cap J, shewing the mode in which strips of leather K are inserted to receive
the blow of the knives or cutters. Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section
of the tooth I, with its cap J, shewing their construction and attachments.
Figure 5 is a side view of the main driving wheel. Figure 6 is a top view of
the same, shewing the zig-zag projections or ridges, and the dog or cleaner,
which keeps them from being clogged. Figure 7 is one of the stationary
compressors or standards, with its mode of attachment and adjustment.
Figure 8 shews the arrangement for reversing the action of the reciprocating
compressor.
My improvements are applicable to reaping and mowing machines of
the ordinary general construction and arrangement, and consist of modi-
fications of such machines, by which I facilitate their movement over the
ground, and, turning, prevent strain upon the pole to which the horses are
attached, adjust at pleasure the height at which the cutters operate, diminish
the wear of the cutting blades, prevent clogging, and, finally, gather the grain
in sheaves for binding.
In the accompanying Drawings, in which the same parts are indicated by
the same letters in all the Figures, A is the draught wheel; B, the inner disc,
to which the draught wheel is attached; C, the journals of the wheel A; D, the
outer disc, attached to the frame of the machine; E, racks, by means of which
the point of attachment of disc D to the machine is raised or lowered; F, the
pole to which the horses are attached, and which is attached to inner disc B;
G, the cutter bar; H, springs which hold the cutter bar down to its place';
h, h, &c., rollers on the ends of said springs; I, the compound tooth; J,
upper half, or cap of said tooth; K, leather strips, interposed between the two
balves of said tooth; L, knives or cutters, reciprocating between the teeth I
and impinging against the leather strips K; M, the main driving wheel; N,
the reciprocating compressor; O, O', stationary compressers; P, P', guides
for directing the fall of the grain; Q, Q', guides in which the reciprocating
compresser slides; R, cam groove in driving wheel M; S, pulley, which works

page_text: the reciprocating compresser N by means of a cord, shown by dotted lines;
T, T, bevel pinions attached to the same shaft as pulley S; .U, bevel wheel,
driving alternately the pinions T and T', and attached to the shaft of the main
driving wheel; V, the shaft of S, T, and T', which is capable of sliding
horizontally in its bearings; W (see Fig. 8) is a small grooved pulley on shaft
V, but which is not seen in Fig 1; X is a point, which is slid horizontally
back & forth by the cam groove in the driving wheel M, and, working in
the groove of pulley W, causes the shaft V to work back & forth in its
bearings; Y, Y, slots in which the compressers O, O', may be moved and
fixed at any required distance from the cutter bar to suit the height of the
corn to be cut; Z, Z, long catch lever by which the reciprocating compresser.
is caught, held, and released at each end of its stroke to allow the sheaf to be
tied; b, b, projections on wheel M by which lever Z is operated.
The draught wheel M, I place in a horizontal circular rim or disc B, to
which the journals C of said wheel are attached. The disc B fits and turns
in another dise D, which is attached to the main frame of the machine at the.
usual draught point by racks E. To the disc B the pole for the horses is
attached in any convenient mode; this arrangement facilitates turning, and
prevents lateral draught and strain.
I regulate the height of the cutters L above the ground by the mode
of attaching the disc of the draught wheel to the machine; at the point of
attachment I introduce racks E on the machine, and on the ends of the
projecting parts of disc D, by which it is united to the machine. The teeth
of these racks gear into each other, and can be brought together at any point
in their length, so as to raise or lower the draught line at pleasure, and thus
adjust the height of the cutter bar with nicety.
The cutter bar G, I hold down to its place by means of springs H, having
rollers on their ends, to allow free lateral motion to the bar, while preventing
vertical play; this prevents the cutting parts from becoming clogged.
I make the tooth I of my machine in two pieces, J being the upper half or
cap, and between them I place two strips, K, K, of hard leather, projecting a
hort distance from the sides of the tooth, as shewn; these strips are held
in place by the pressure between the two parts of the tooth when bolted
together. The object of this arrangement is to diminish the wear of the
knives, by allowing them to strike against a yielding substance.
The knives are driven in the usual way by gearing from the main driving
wheel M, which need not be more particularly described. On the tread of
wheel M, in order to increase its hold upon the ground, I place two rows of
angular zig-zag flanges or ridges, as seen in Figure 6, the inner points of the

page_text: angles being just far enough apart to allow a tooth or clearer to pass between
them to keep them free from dirt.
The gathering of the corn into sheaves for binding I effect by means of a
reciprocating standard N, which I call a compresser, and two corresponding
stationary ones, O, O'. The stationary compressers are vertical standards, of
the shape shewn in the Drawings (Figure 7), placed back of the cutter bar,
and one at each end of the machine, so that the corn as it is cut must fall
between them. Further, to insure this, guides P, P', are placed as shown to
direct its fall. The reciprocating compresser N moves laterally back and
forth in guides Q, 'Q', between the stationary ones, and at right angles to the
path of the machine. This motion is communicated by means of a cord from
a pulley S, which is made to move alternately in contrary directions by means
of two bevel pinions, 'T, T, on the same shaft with pulley P, which are
alternately brought into gear with bevel wheel U, on the shaft of main wheel
M, by the action of cam groove R, on the inner face of wheel M, operating
short lever or point X, acting in the groove of small pulley W on shaft V.
The guides Q, Q', in which the compressers are arranged, may be brought
nearer to or removed farther from. the line of knives by adjustment in a slot
by a set screw, as clearly shewn in Figure 7, so that the binding string may
be applied at the middle of the length of the straw, whether it be short or
long. The reciprocating compression is retained in its place when at either
end of its course long enough for the binding string to be applied by means
of catches, operated by the long lever Z, to which motion is imparted at the
proper moment by projections b; b, on the inner rim of the driving wheel M.
An attendant at either end of the machine ties the binding string around the
sheaves when in a state of compression, and throws off the sheaves when
released by the compresser, as it begins to move towards the other end of the
machine.
The power by which the various parts of the machine are operated is
derived in the ordinary way from the driving wheel, which revolves as the
machine is drawn over the ground by horses.
Having thus fully described my Invention, what I claim under the above in
part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the mode herein above described of hanging the draught wheel in ȧ
revolving disc.
Second, the mode herein described of regulating the lieight of the cutters
above the ground by means of racks:
Third, the mode herein described of holding the cutter bar down to its
place by means of springs constructed & operating as stated.

page_text: Fourth, the construction of the tooth in two pieces with strips of leather
between them, as described, & for the purpose specified.
Fifth, the construction of the tread of the driving wheel with zig-zag ridges,
and the clearing of them by a vibrating dog or clearer, as described and
shewn.
Sixth, the gathering the corn into sheaves for binding by means of a
reciprocating compresser, constructed and operating, in combination with
stationary compressers, substantially, in the manner described.
And, finally, I claim the general arrangement of a reaping or mowing
machine constructed and operating substantially in the manner herein-before
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Tolmie Campbell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
ROBERT TOLMIE CAMPBELL. (L.S.)