IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Gardner, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND
REAPING MACHINES."--A communication from abroad by Andrew
George Gray, residing at Orange Street, Saint John, New
Brunswick.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Gardner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th November 1875.
c'
I, HENRY GARDNER, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company,
of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING
AND REAPING MACHINES," communicated to me from abroad by Andrew
George Gray, residing at Orange Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel method of giving motion to the knife
bar of mowing or reaping machines, which is accomplished by means of

page_text: a bar sliding in boxes at the front of the machine, and which is
alternately driven from side to side by teeth on the inside of wheels
which are placed on the axle inside the riding wheels and firmly fastened
to it, thus giving motion to a lever which in turn acts upon and gives
motion to the knife bar, the knife bar being arranged in such a manner
that it may be used close to the ground or at any desired height above
it at the option of the driver; also to a novel arrangement of gib in
connecting rod by which it may be thrown out of gear with the lever.
The riding wheels of the machine revolve on the axle as in a carriage,
but for the purpose of giving motion to the machine are made fast to
the axle by pawls. The driving wheels have teeth around the inside
edge; these teeth are arranged so that the points on one wheel are
opposite the recesses and midway between the points on the other.
The driving wheels are made fast to the axle so that as they revolve
they cannot alter their relative position to each other. A straight
reciprocating bar is arranged to slide in boxes which serves as guides
and keep it in its proper position. The ends of the bar are bevelled to
a corresponding angle to that of the teeth, so that as the wheels revolve
the teeth force the bar alternately from side to side, the teeth on the
one wheel driving the bar towards the other wheel and causing the end
of the bar to enter the recesses on the latter wheel and so on alternately,
driving the bar from side to side as the wheels revolve. From the side
of the bar a stud projects which reaches beyond the guide bar. To the
end of the stud is connected an oscillating lever, the lever being pivoted
so that it oscillates by the motion of the bar. The end of the lever is
slotted; the slot is crossed by a stud or pin. The knife connecting rod
projects through a slot in the end of the lever, and is connected to said
lever by a gib which passes over the stud or pin in the end of said lever.
The connecting rod is in a direct line with the knife bar, and conveys a
direct thrust to it from the end of the lever.
When it is desired to stop the action of the knife bar the attendant
has merely to press his foot on a pedal to raise a rod and so lift the
connecting rod out of the "gab" or "gib," the projecting end sliding
through the slot in the lever without receiving any motion. By raising
the pawls the riding wheels can go free on the axle so that the machine
may be drawn along without giving motion to the working parts.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Gardner in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GARDNER, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166,
Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Gardner, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry Gardner, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Gardner,
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 "Im-,
PROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES," (communicated to me
from abroad by Andrew George Gray, residing at Orange Street, Saint
John, New Brunswick), upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Gardner, my exccutors 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Henry Gardner, 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, that is to say:
This Invention relates to a novel method of giving motion to the
knife. bar of mowing or reaping machines, which is accomplished by
means of a bar sliding in boxes at the front of the machine, and which
is alternately driven from side to side by teeth or serrations on the inside.

page_text: of rings or wheels which are placed on the axle inside the riding or
bearing wheels and firmly fastened to it, thus giving motion to a lever
which in turn acts upon and gives motion to the knife bar, the knife bar
being arranged in such a manner that it may be used close to the ground
or at any desired height above it at the option of the driver; also to a
novel arrangement of jib or gab in the connecting rod by which it may
be thrown out of gear with the lever.

page_text: When it is desired to stop the action of the knife bar the attendant
has merely to press his foot on a pedal to raise a rod M' and so lift the
connecting rod out of the "gab" or gib, the projecting end sliding
through the slot in the lever J without receiving any motion. By
raising the pawls the riding wheels can go free on the axle so that the
machine may be drawn along without giving motion to the working
parts. The transverse reciprocating bar may have rollers in the ends to
engage into the wheels' teeth.
Figure 4 is a modified arrangement. The reciprocating bar is left out
in this construction and the neck G as an equivalent to the pin H is
used, this being securely fastened to the top of the oscillating lever J.
The two teeth wheels are placed on one side of the machine at a distance
apart sufficient to allow the neck G to act between them in the same
manner as the reciprocating bar before described. The oscillating lever
is held by a pin Q between jaws R, which are attached to the frame S
at a right angle in front of the teeth wheels. The neck G on the top of
the lever J projects and takes into the teeth or serrations, so that as the
wheels B, B, revolve the oscillating motion is given to the lever J. The
boxes b, b, may be fitted with springs to act as cushions and take the
end thrust of the reciprocating bar at each travel.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
The arrangements of the parts for effecting the to-and-fro motion of
knives in mowing and reaping machines, as set forth and shown.
Secondly. The wheels B, B, with teeth formed on the inner sides and
made fast to the axle, for the purposes described.
Thirdly. The reciprocating bar C sliding in boxes to maintain its
position in combination with the teeth wheels B, B, as and for the
purpose described.
Fourthly. The oscillating lever J in combination with the recipro-
cating bar C and the connecting rod M, as and for the purpose
described.
Fifthly. The gib or gab connecting rod M in combination with lever J
and the knife bar, as and for the purpose described.
Sixthly. The modification shown in Figure 4 of the Drawing con-
sisting of an oscillating lever and the neck in direct combination with

page_text: the teeth wheels and the connecting rod, as and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Gardner, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.