IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF LAWNS OR GRASS PLOTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, Baronet, of Canford Manor,
Wimborne, in the County of Dorset, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF LAWNS OR GRASS
PLOTS."
Sealed the 10th November 1868, and dated the 30th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir Ivor Bertie Guest,
Baronet, at the Office of the Commissioners of l'atents, with his
Petition, on the 30th May 1868.
I, Sir IVOR BERTIE GUEST, Baronet, of Canford Manor, Wimborne, in
the County of Dorset, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF LAWNS OR
GRASS PLOTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object improved apparatus for cutting or
trimming the edges of lawns or grass plots, and is applicable to garden
rollers and lawn mowers of ordinary constructions.
According to my Invention in constructing an apparatus to be
employed for cutting or trimming the edges of lawns or grass plots
ID 71

page_text: I make use of a hollow cylinder or roller provided with framing and
handles. The side of the framing is provided with a plate or guide
for holding and guiding an adjustable slotted bar which is kept in
position by a screw or equivalent means, or the bar may be a fixture.
To this adjustable or other bar I secure a pair of shears or knives, the
lower blade of which is fixed to the bar and may be provided with a
tray for receiving the cut grass, but this is not essential.
The upper
blade of the shears, which is capable of partial rotation upon its axis,
is actuated by means of an adjustable arm or connecting rod worked
by a crank, cam, or eccentric, to which motion is imparted from the
hollow cylinder or roller through suitable gearing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, Baronet, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Sir IVOR
BERTIE GUEST, Baronet, of Canford Manor, Wimborne, in the County of
Dorset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, Her special
licence that I, the said Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Sir Ivor
Bertie Guest, 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 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF LAWNS OR
GRASS PLOTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: 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 Sir Ivor Bertie Guest; 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, reference being had to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings which forms a part of this
Specification:
My Invention has for its object improved apparatus for cutting or
trimming the edges of lawns or grass plots, and is applicable to garden
rollers and lawn mowers of ordinary constructions.
According to my Invention in constructing an apparatus to be
employed for cutting or trimming the edges of lawns or grass plots
I make use of a hollow cylinder or roller provided with framing and
handles. The side of the framing is provided with a plate or guide
for holding and guiding an adjustable slotted bar which is kept in
position by a screw or equivalent means, or the bar may be a fixture.
To this adjustable or other bar I secure a pair of shears or knives, the
lower blade of which is fixed to the bar and may be provided with a
tray for receiving the cut grass, but this is not essential. The upper
blade of the shears, which is capable of partial rotation upon its axis, is
actuated by means of an adjustable arm or connecting rod worked by
a crank, cam, or eccentric, to which motion is imparted from the hollow
cylinder or roller through suitable gearing.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a side view of an
apparatus constructed according to my Invention for cutting or trimming
the edges of lawns or grass plots, and Fig. 2 a plan of the same.
In one
a is a hollow cylinder or roller; it is fixed upon the shaft or axle b
which rotates in bearings formed in or attached to the side frames c, c',
of the apparatus; the framing carries a cross handle c', as shewn. The
side frame c is provided with a plate having guides c³, which serve to
hold and guide the slotted bar d kept in position by the nut e.
piece with the slotted bar d is formed the lower blade d' of a
pair of
shears; it has a projecting part & for protecting the joint from sand
and dirt. The upper blade , which is capable of partial rotation upon
its axis d', is actuated by means of an adjustable arm or connecting rod f,
the lower end of this arm or rod being formed with holes f' through

page_text: which is passed the pin g which screws into the upper blade for
securing the arm or connecting rod thereto; by changing the pin g from
one hole to another the motion of the upper blade of the shears may be
regulated as desired. is a short shaft or spindle capable of rotating
in the bearing adjustable in the slot 2 of the side frame c.
On one
end of this shaft or spindle is formed a small crank, the pin i of which
passes through the upper end of and gives motion to the arm or rod f,
which is kept in position by a washer and split pin, as shewn. On the
other or inner end of the short shaft or spindle is secured a small
toothed wheel j, gearing into and receiving motion from a larger toothed
wheel lixed upon and rotating with the shaft or axle b of the cylinder
or roller . 7 are small adjustable arms carrying a roller m for pre-
venting the front of the apparatus from dipping and thus digging the
points of the shears into the ground. In using the apparatus the roller a
is to remain on the grass but the shears are to overhang the walk, foot-
path, or road, so that the inner side of the shears is close to the edge of
the lawn or grass plot. The apparatus is then to be wheeled forward
along the border of the lawn or grass plot by means of the cross handle c
when the rotation of the roller a will communicate motion through the
toothed wheels and j, crank shaft h, and arm or rod f to the upper
blade, thus causing the shears to cut or trim the edge of the lawn or
grass plot as the apparatus is wheeled along. It will be obvious that a
plate or tray may, if desired, he secured to the bottom part of and
project beyond the side of the lower blade d' so as to receive the cut
grass.
Fig. 3 is a side view of part of a lawn mower-shewing the application
of my Invention thereto. In this case the arm or connecting rod f for
actuating the shears receives motion from a crank i formed on the end of
the shaft or spindle of the cutting blades of the machine, as shewn.
This, however, is only one method of applying my Invention to lawn
mowers, and as their construction varies considerably with different
makers it will be obvious that the manner of applying my Invention
must be more or less modified to suit the requirements of particular
cases; thus, for instance, in some cases the necessary motion for
actuating the shears would be given to the crank, arm, or eccentric
from the drum of the mowing machine through suitable gearing in
a similar manner to that in which motion is given to the shears from
the cylinder or roller a in the apparatus shewn at Figs. 1 and 2,

page_text: therefore I do not contine myself to the precise arrangements shewn
in the Drawings.
I would have it understood that I lay no claim to any of the mechani-
cal parts separately, but that what I believe to be new and claim as of
my Invention is, the peculiar combination and arrangement of parts by
which the apparatus is made suitable for cutting or trimming the edges
of lawns or grass plots, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, have hereunto
şet my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
IVOR B. GUEST. (L.S.)