Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Raising or Loading Cut Crops and other Matters Capable of being similarly Loaded into Wagons or Receptacles, or for similar uses.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Feb., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 5th Nov., 1895--Accepted, 18th Jan., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Raising or Loading Cut
Crops and other Matters Capable of being similarly Loaded into
Wagons or Receptacles, or for similar uses.
We EDWARD CHRISTOPHER BLACKSTONE, Managing Director of Blackstone
& Company Limited, Agricultural Engineers, of Stamford in the County of
Lincoln, and DAVID JOHNSON of Banbury Road, Kineton, in the County of
Warwick Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to means for use in effecting the raising or loading of cut
crops, crops ready to be loaded, and other matters capable of similar collection into
wagons or receptacles or for like use.
The apparatus consists of a main frame which is provided with journals for the
axles of bearing wheels, one at each side of the main frame. A bearing wheel
axle carries a gear or chain wheel which engages with and operates another
gear or chain wheel carried by a shaft or axis mounted upon the main frame.
This shaft or axis has mounted on it a drum or drums for winding and
unwinding a rope, chain, or suitable band for the purpose of raising and lowering
a large fork or collector to which the said rope or chain is attached.
Upon the winding drum shaft are mounted a clutch, a ratchet with pawl catch
engaging therein and a brake drum; suitable handles or levers extend from
these to within easy reach of the driver or operator's seat.
The main frame is connected to the shafts or means of draught connection by
which the implement is drawn from place to place.
The main frame has supported on it two upright standards-one at each side-
preferably of tube iron, at the upper ends of which grooved pulleys are provided
to receive the rope or chain for raising or lowering the large fork. The upright
standards may also carry light framework-on each side of the main frame-and
between the light framework and standards on each side, the large fork is raised
and lowered, being guided by suitable friction wheels or trunnions adapted to run
up the standards.
The ropes, chains or bands are attached to the large fork and pass over the
pulleys at the top of the standards then down the other side to the winding
drum or drums the winding being set in motion by the aforesaid clutch when
thrown into gear.
The onward movement of the animal in the shafts, or other means of draught
causes the bearing wheels to actuate the gear or chain wheel upon the axle of
said bearing wheels, and this wheel actuates another gear or chain wheel upon
the winding drum shaft, thus winding the rope attached to the large fork when
required. This fork or collector has say twelve or other number of prongs
preferably made of steel and of considerable length, and is designed to slide
along the ground until it is full, whereupon the clutch will be thrown into gear
when the fork will be elevated bodily with its load, retraction being prevented by
means of the ratchet wheel and pawl. When the load has been raised to the

page_text: required height the fork is tipped over by pulling a small chain or string,
after which the pawl catch is released and the break drum steadies the fork
down again and it is again ready to resume the operation of collecting.
Dated the 7th day of February 1895.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56 Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Raising or Loading Cut
Crops and other Matters Capable of being similarly Loaded into
Wagons or Receptacles, or for similar uses.
We, EDWARD CHRISTOPHER BLACKSTONE, Managing Director of Blackstone
& Co. Ltd., Agricultural Engineer, of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln and
DAVID JOHNSON, late of Banbury Road, Kineton, and now of The Grange
Cottage, near Knowle Station, Birmingham in the County of Warwick,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
This invention relates to implements or machines for collecting and loading into
waggons or the like hay and other cut crops or materials capable of similar
collection, and for similar purposes, and it comprises the improvements hereinafter
described.
In carrying out our invention we provide a main frame mounted upon suitable
travelling wheels adapted to be moved by horse or other motive power, and we
employ a collecting fork or basket arranged to be raised and lowered in suitable guides
and in its lowermost position to bear upon the ground to collect the material to be
loaded and in its upper position to be tilted so as to discharge its contents into a
cart or waggon. The lifting of the said collecting fork is effected by means of
ropes wound upon drums driven from the main axle of the machine the said drums
having arranged in connection with them clutch mechanism whereby they may be
thrown into and out of gear by the attendant of the machine, ratchet and pawl
mechanism whereby the said collecting fork when raised may he retained in
position, and brake mechanism whereby the said collecting fork can be lowered.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of our improved implement or machine;
and,
Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same:
Figure 3 is a side elevation illustrating a modification of our invention and
hereinafter described.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the main frame of the machine which is provided with suitable axles and
mounted upon travelling wheels b, b, the said frame in Figure 1 being represented
as provided with draught shafts c for a horse. d, d are standards (which as shewn
in Figures 1 and 2 are channeled) mounted upon the said frame, and e is the
collecting fork or basket which is adapted to slide upon the said standards, the
said standards being of sufficient length that the basket may slide upon them high
enough to raise the collected material sufficiently to deposit it upon a waggon or
the like.
In order to permit of lowering the said standards so that the implement may
be taken under a shed, the said standards are each made in two pieces joiuted
at f, f, guy ropes or rods 9, 9, 9', g¹ being used to steady the standards when

page_text: upright, and struts h, provided for raising or lowering the standards by means
of a rope or chain from the winding drums as hereinafter described.
i is a countershaft driven from one of the travelling wheels 6 through the medium
of the sprocket wheel , chain and the sprocket pinion 3, and j, j are two drums
mounted upon the said countershaft. On these drums are wound cords k, k which
pass over pulleys k¹, k¹ on the heads of the standards d, d and thence down again
to discs on the sides of the collecting fork; the points at which the cords
are connected to the said discs 1, 1 are at the lower parts of the said discs when
the collecting fork is in the position shewn in the full lines in Figure 1, whereby
when the cord is pulled to raise the fork the latter will at the same time be
caused to assume the upright position indicated by the dotted lines at m, Figure 1.
In connection with the gear wheel we arrange clutch mechanism n adapted
to be operated through the medium of the lever n' by the attendant of the
machine sitting upon the seat n² in such a manner that the motion of the wheel 23
may be transmitted to the shaft i or not as desired. With this arrangement when
after the collecting fork is filled, owing to the movement of the machine, the
attendant desires to raise the said collecting fork, he throws the clutch into gear
with the wheel so that the continued movement of the machine causes the
winding of the cords k, k upon the drums j, j and thereby lifts the collecting fork
with its contents to the required height.
o, o are balance weights arranged upon the cords k, k and serving to more or
less counterbalance the weight of the collecting fork and its contents so as to
relieve the draught horse or other animal from as much strain as possible.
These balance weights o, o are guided upon the guy rods g¹, g' connected to the
upper ends of the standards and to the framing as shewn.
To prevent the collecting fork from being carried too far up the standards d, d
and causing damage, one of the balance weights o, o descending on the rods g¹, g¹
strikes an arm n³ on the clutch lever n' thereby moving the lever and throwing
the clutch n out of gear and stopping the winding drums j, j.
The arrangement for holding the collecting fork in an upright position whilst
being raised and for tilting the said fork at its upper position is as follows:-
The tines or prongs p of the collecting fork e are fixed to a shaft pl carrying
at its ends the discs 1, l'hereinbefore referred to and to which the cords k, k are
attached; the said dises have also fixed to them arms 9, 9 carrying studs q', q
which run in the channels of the standards d, d when the fork is raised, the said
studs q, being guided from the position shewn in full lines in Figure 1 into
the channels by running along inclined surfaces in the framing.
The shaft p is held with the collecting fork in its upright position during the
lifting of the load by reason of studs r, r upon the ends of the said shaft impinging
against stops s, s on the discs, as shewn in Figure 1ª.
To the shaft p' is fixed a levert to which a cord extending to a position from
which it can be grasped by the attendant is connected. When the attendant
desires to discharge the contents of the collecting fork, he simply pulls the said
cord whereby the basket is tilted to the position shewn at t, Figure i, the
stud moving away from one end of the stops and coming into contact with
the other end of the said stop, as shewn in Figure 1B. After the load has been
discharged, the attendant uses a brake to allow the collecting fork to drop to its
working position under its weight; this brake as shewn in Figure 1 consists of
a band fixed at one end to the framing of the machine, and at the other end
connected to a lever v' which is operated by a second lever v² adjacent to the rider,
the said band passing around a brake pulley or drum v³ on the shaft i.
In order that when using our machine the clutch mechanism may at any time
be disengaged without allowing the collecting fork to fall, we arrange adjacent
to the pulley of the brake a ratchet wheel with which a pawl engages
except at such times as the collecting fork is being lowered, when the lever v¹ of
the brake acts against an arm of the said pawl and disengages it from its ratchet
wheel.

page_text: As herein before stated the standards d are hinged so that their elevation may
be reduced for placing the implement in a shed. In order to provide for raising
the said standards to their working position, we may attach one of the lifting
cords k to an eye on the strut h, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, so
that, by attaching an ordinary crank handle to one end of the drum shaft i and
operating the same by hand so as to wind the said cord upon its drum, the strut
will be moved from the position shewn in the dotted lines to the position shewn in
full lines, and thereby elevate the standards. The lowering of the standards is
effected by the same means.
With the implement herein before described it is necessary, before discharging
the load, to back it against the waggon owing to the fact that the said collecting
fork cannot be moved round to correspond with any other position of the waggon
relatively with the machine. To overcome this objection we provide an implement
with one standard d only, as shewn in Figure 3, (preferably cylindrical) so that
the said fork can be turned to one side or the other of the machine to discharge
its contents as desired. In this machine the construction of the fork and the
arrangement of the ropes and gearing and brake are substantially the same as
that herein before described, but the said collecting fork is carried by a bracket w
sliding on and rotating with the said standard, which standard is adapted to be
rotated by means of a lever d¹ fixed to its base, the shaft carrying the teeth of the
collecting fork being carried by arms ', ' on the free end of the said bracket.
In this arrangement the lifting rope k is attached to a lever a loose on the shaft pl
of the collecting fork but connected to it by a spring catch in the manner
hereinafter described whereby the first part of the movement of the rope will serve
to pull the collecting fork to the upright position, as indicated by the dotted lines
in Figure 3A, whilst the continued movement of the rope will serve to lift the
collecting fork to the desired elevation.
The bracket w slides between two guide rods w², w² placed side by side which
being attached at their ends to brackets w³, wo fixed to and revolving with the
standard d carry the collector e (at any height) over the waggon to be loaded when
the standard is turned by the lever d. When the collector e is being raised, an
arm a fixed to the collector shaft prises with the lever . by which in the drawing
it is hidden and to which it is connected by means of a catch ². To tip
the collector this catch is withdrawn from the lever x by a cord operated by the
attendant thus allowing the collector to empty itself onto the waggon. The
collector descends in this tipped position, as indicated by the full lines in Figure 3ª
and, when the points of the teeth p touch the ground, the bracket w, still
descending, causes the shaft p' to turn, carrying with it the arm a to its normal
position alongside the lever x. The catch is fitted with a spring and bevelled so
as to be pressed aside on coming into contact with the lever a, springing back and
holding the arms and a¹ together when the collector arrives at the position shewn
in full lines in Figure 3.
It will be noticed that the standard d is mounted in a kind of step-bearing in a
plate y whereby the said standard can be turned relatively with the base plate
for the purpose herein before described and that the said plate y is hinged
whereby the standard can be folded down to occupy relatively small space, the
arms w, to being disconnected from the collector shatt pl.
Instead of elevating the collecting fork with its load by moving the machine
as herein before described, we sometimes arrange such elevation to be effected
by the unwinding of a coil spring previously wound by the movement of the
travelling wheels while collecting the material to be loaded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In an implement or machine for collecting and loading cut crops and the
like, the employment of a collecting fork arranged to be raised and lowered in

page_text: suitable guides and in its lowermost position to bear upon the ground to collect
the material to be loaded and in its uppermost position to be tilted to discharge
its contents, the raising and lowering of the said basket being effected during
the travelling of the said machine, substantially as described.
2. In an implement or machine for collecting or loading cut crops and the
like, the arrangement of a main frame mounted upon suitable travelling wheels
and carrying standards upon which a collecting fork slides and is guided, the
said collecting fork having attached to it cords or chains passing over the heads
of the said standards and connected to drums adapted to be operated from the
travelling wheels through the medium of a clutch, substantially as described.
3. In an implement or machine for collecting or loading cut crops or the
like and wherein a collecting fork, adapted to be raised and lowered and when in its
uppermost position to be tilted, is employed, the arrangement of the said fork
on a single standard substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
4. The manufacture and use of the improved implement or machine herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and in Figure 3 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 5th dor of November 1905
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.