IMPROVED APPLIANCES FOR FACILITATING THE CUTTING OPERATIONS OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tenwick, of Grantham, in the County of
Lincoln, Moulder, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPLIANCES FOR
FACILITATING THE CUTTING OPERATIONS OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 18th February 1874, and dated the 16th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tenwick at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th August 1878.
I, JOHN TENWICK, of Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, Moulder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “IMPROVED
APPLIANCES FOR FACILITATING THE CUTTING OPERATIONS OF REAPING AND MOWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-

page_text: And, Secondly. To an arrangement for adjusting the knife bar within
the fingers by means of set screws attached to the finger beam or to the
guide clips whereby the operation of cutting is much simplified.
According to the first part of my Invention I form my connecting rod
with a ball or sphere at the end which is connected to the knife bar, and
I form a suitable cup or socket with a flap on the knife bar for the same
to work freely in any position, the other end being similarly made, or to
any form that may be required.
According to the second part to the guide clips or thumbs which are
secured to the finger beam I fit a set screw for the purpose of depressing
or raising the knife as it becomes worn; such appliances may be made of
iron or steel or any other suitable material.
filed by the said John Tenwick in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TENWICK, of Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, Moulder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Tenwick, Her special licence
that I, the said John Tenwick, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Tenwick, 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 "IMPROVED APPLIANCES
FOR FACILITATING THE CUTTING OPERATION OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Tenwick, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Tenwick, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here,
unto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to several improvements in parts of reaping and
mowing machines whereby the cutting operation and the balancing of
the front of the platform, or more properly speaking the knife beam
for depressing and lifting the fingers are automatically or mechanically
operated, also to the connecting rod (pitman rod) and knife bar for giving
freedom of action and be capable of self-adjustment while cutting, also
to means of acting the knife within the fingers by means of set screws
attached to the finger or to the guide clips, all as hereafter set forth and
shown in the annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a connecting
rod (pitman rod) a, with a ball or sphere 6 at one end to take into a cup
or socket o on the inner end of a knife bar d, and by which the knife
bar is drawn and pushed to and fro by the rotations of the pitman or
crank fly wheel e, which can be driven in any suitable manner either
direct as is done in some classes of reaping and mowing machines, or
through intermediate gearing, as in other classes of such machines.
This cup or socket has a hinged flap ƒ upon it, and this is so arranged
that on the platform or the knife beam with its appendages being turned
up for transport or for the machine to pass narrow entries the flap lifts
by the pressure of the rod a, though slightly resisted by a spring g, or by
its own weight, and thereby accommodates itself to the angle at which the
knife beam is set. This will be clearly understood by reference to Figures
2 and 8. The length of the rod a is set by an adjusting nut from the
pitman swivel joint.
The finger beam on which the knife travels I form of cast metal and
with cheeks with hollows between them, as in Figure 4, for the reception
of the fingers, and to which the upper portions of the fingers are screwed
or bolted firmly at regular distances apart, the back of the finger piece

page_text: having a strip of hard metal, (Figure 5*,) inserted for the back edges of
the knife bar to work against, as shown at y, in Figure 5, the points of
which fingers may be rigid or in a piece with the backs, or jointed to fall
and bear upon the ground, as in Figure 6, or the tips of some of the
fingers upon a beam can be rigid and some jointed.
The fingers are as before stated screwed or bolted down upon the
beam by nuts m, and the ends of the bolts are made to receive fall-
down levers z, cas in Figures 5, 5%, and 7, the levers being split for a
distance from their free ends to form prongs, the tips of which aro
bevilled off sideways to engage into the notches of set screws, which are
passed through the body of the fingers to bear upon the knives, and
press them slightly into contact with steel strips fitted in the lower
portions of the bodies of them, as in my previous Patent, for the purpose
of maintaining the cutting edges sharp, and to prevent the knives
jumping, as is often the case while cutting hard straw. I also use guide
clip pieces, as in Figure 6º, at intervals, and these have a notched
adjusting screw with a fall-down prong or pin z to take into the notches
to hold the screw at the desired degree of pressure upon the knife.
The guide clips have also pieces of hard metal y forced into their
backs.
I form the notches in the knife setting screws in the direction of
their length, so that by simply lifting the prongs from any one or more of
them; and turning them say th of a turn at the time the exact degree of
pressure can conveniently be adopted without in any way subjecting the
knife bar to undue strain in travelling to and fro, the prongs being
afterwards closed by hand, and forced into the required dovetailed
notches.
•
Figure 8 represents a bolt with a number of vertical notches round
its circumference, and with a pin n in one of them, which pin has a
turned down claw, and to facilitate its removal by simply forcing a
spike or hammer claw end under it when the screw can be adjusted, and
the pin replaced and driven home. In this Figure I have shown the
screw embraced by a nut also notched at one part, into which one half
of the circumference of the pin takes to prevent the nut becoming loose
during the travel or working of the machine, this description of nut,
screw, and pin being applicable to other parts of a reaping or a mowing
machine where found convenient, and also to any machine where they

page_text: can be used with advantage. The fingers I make with the top portion
separate from the bottom portion, which latter I make of hard metal,
such as steel, and I drive or force their dovetailed ends A.into corre-
sponding recesses in the beam, there being a projecting pin B at the fore
end to take into a hole at the back of the finger nose. This is shown at
fig. Fig. 7.
The jointed tipped fingers before referred to can have straw or ear
liftars p, p, upon them to raise laid grain, the tips always bearing upon
the ground by their own weight only permits of the points running
under the grain, and of rising when they foul stones or other hard sub-
stance, the rising action being resisted beyond certain limits by springs,
one of which is shown at q, Figure 6.
When fitting fingers with straw or ear lifters to a machine I propose
only to fit one here and there, and these I make of extra length, so that
their points are in advance of the points of the fingers without lifters,
whether such fingers have jointed tips or not. Thus it will be under-
stood that I do not restrict myself to the use of my jointed fingers only
in any one machine, but they can be used alone or in conjunction with
rigid fingers, whether such fingers are fitted to a finger beam, such as I
have described, or to a wrought-metal one, as is generally used. The
same is also the case should thumbs be fitted (see Patent No. 626,)
year 1871.
It has been usual when the elevation or depression of the fingers and
knives have to be effected for high or close cutting to elevate or to
depress the platform, taking the off wheel as a centre; but this has
always been attended with a deal of labour on the part of the attendant,
besides often taking his attention off the horses which he has to drive
and guide, because he has to contend with the weight of grain, which is
often not evenly balanced upon the platform to permit of its elevation or
depression in an easy manner, consequently in some parts of the field the
stubble is higher than in others, a circumstance which diminishes the foot-
hold of the horses, and interferes considerably with the proper working
of the machine. Now to obviate these disadvantages I make my plat-
form, if one is employed, so that it can be set to any height, and be retained
at that setting, and I balance or swivel my finger beam only, either
by hinging it to the platform at intervals or by hanging it in gimbals at
the ends only, so that the points can be elevated or depressed by contact

page_text: with the ground upon which they run or slide; or I gimbal the off end
only by a ball-and-socket arrangement, and fit the other so that, the
points can be elevated or depressed by a lever at the main frame end. I
fit a balance weight O on the lever x to render the beam easy of
swivelling, and also a small wheel D, Figs. 9 & 10, to work upon a
ball joint E, and with springs in a cap F to preserve the position of the
axle, the wheel being attached to the beam to run upon the ground at
the inner shoe end to lift the points of the fingers to the angle of the
ground over which the machine is travelling. Thus the front end of the
swivelled beam with the fingers follow the undulations of it, the spring
box at tlie inner shoe end allowing the wheel to adjust itself to the twist
of the frame when the machine is turning the corners of the field.
In Figures 11 and 12 I have shown the latter plan; here the finger
beam (with the knife bars in it) is attached to a crank arm or
horizontal levert, from which springs a vertical arm u, with another:
arm v passing through an eye w in the side of the main frame; the
opposite end having a weighted lever x upon it within reach of the
attendant, who, by the slightest possible pressure upon or lift of it,
can determine the angle at which the cutting shall be accomplished.
This is of course independent of the height of cut, that being effected
by the setting of the platform through the ordinary lift lever.
The machine I have shown in the Drawings is of the most recent
construction, with a drop platform, and with one main bearing wheel,
and by which the cutting appliances are operated; but I do not restrict
myself to the use of this machine, only for fitting my swivelled finger
beam to, as by slight modifications to all other existing reaping and
mowing machines of the rake, reel, or hand delivery kind my oscillating
or swivelled finger beam can be arranged or fitted thereto.
Another advantage of using an oscillating or swivelled finger beam
in reaping and mowing machines is derived from the facility by which
it, with its appurtenances, can be disconnected for repairs or for
sharpening the knives when no steel strips are within the fingers or
thumbs, as is commonly the case, since an attendant has only to release
the ball-and-socket joint at the off shoe end when the whole of it can
be removed, and the knife bar slipped out from the finger beam
endways. In the same manner a bar with an injured knife can be
removed and a fresh knife bar put in in a very few moments, neces-
sitating but little delay should such take place in a field.

page_text: The fingers I propose to use with my oscillating beam are of the
jointed kind, such as I have shown in Figures 6, 18, and 14; but I do
not limit myself to the use of those alone, and this will be evident
to the reader of this Specification.
Ordinary make of fingers can have a jointed nose or tip fitted, which
can be arranged to have limited fall to keep the extreme point from
entering the soil. The clip shown at Figure 6ª can also be used in
ordinary machines.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim,
and desire to have secured to me by the in part before recited Letters
Patent, are,-
Firstly. The use of a ball-and-socket joint to connect the pitman
rod with the knife bar of a reaping or a mowing machine, as described
and shown, whether such ball and socket be fitted in the manner set
forth or in any other manner.
Secondly. The means by which a finger beam and knife bar can be
turned up without disconnecting the ball from its socket, as described.
Thirdly. The appliances by which an adjustment of the knives can
be accomplished, and by which the knife bar can be prevented from
jumping while at work, as described and shown.
Fourthly. The employment of screws formed with notches, and the
appliances by which they can be permanently or temporarily set when
such screws fit into apertures in fingers or thumbs of reaping and mowing
machines, as described and shown.
Fifthly. The use of notched screws for the reception of notched nuts,
and the method of preventing such nuts working loose when such
notches, screws, and nuts, are employed in or to reaping, mowing, or
other machines, as set forth.
Sixthly. I claim jointing or pinning loosely the points of fingers to the
bodies, so that the points can fall or be pressed down by springs to
under run the grain, and whether such fingers have ear or grain lifters
fitted to them or not, as described, and substantially as shown in the
Drawings.

page_text: Sevonthly. I claim the employment of a finger beam binged to or
separate and detached from a platform of a reaping and a mowing
machine when such finger beam, with the knife bar within the fingers,
can be oscillated or swivelled for altering the angle of the fingers and
of the knives for cutting purposes, substantially as described and
shown.
Lastly. I claim the motion shown by which an oscillating action or
"sett " can be given to the finger beam of a reaping or a mowing
machine, also the spring box, cap on wheel, at inner shoe end to
facilitate the rise and fall of finger points and the turning of the
machine without drag, whether such finger beam be balanced by a
counterpoise or not, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tenwick, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 14th day of February, One thousand
cight hundred and seventy-four.