IM- PROVEMENTS IN REAPING OR MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Winton, of Thorne, near. Falkirk, in the
County of Stirling, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN REAPING OR MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 28th March 1865, and dated the 1st October 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Winton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st October 1864.
I, PETER WINTON, of Thorn, near Falkirk, in the County of Stirling, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING OR MOWING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention has for object the constructing of reaping or mowing
machines in an improved manner with a simplified combination of the parts,
and so as to be more efficient and convenient in use than such machines as
hitherto made.
In a modification embodying the improvements a horizontal cast-iron frame
of a rectangular form is formed with plain eyes in the inner and outer sides of
it, and the main shaft is entered through these and through the eye of the
driving wheel placed in position within the frame. The intermediate shaft
for working the cutter bar is set on the frame within the rim of the driving

page_text: wheel, and drives the inclined crank shaft on the outer side of the frame by
bevil gearing in the usual way, being shifted into gear with or out of gear
from the spur wheel or rim on the main wheel by means of a lever and clutch.
The machine being for two horses, a long centre pole, by preference of tubular
iron, is fixed to the rectangular frame with swivelling or swing trees at back
and front, and a fore wheel is by preference dispensed with. The delivery is
self-acting, and is effected by two rakes or arms fixed on a shaft which is
inclined inwards and backwards from the vertical, being principally held near
its upper end by a bracket fixed to the rectangular frame. The inclined shaft
is driven by bevil gearing directly from the main shaft, the driving bevil
pinion being fixed on the inner. end of that shaft. To get the inclined shaft
as close to the side as possible the inner side of the rectangular frame is
indented to allow the bevil pinion to be put the more closely in near the
wheel. The inclined shaft is put out of gear by means of a clutch which
lifts the bevil wheel, being acted upon by a lever linked to the lever for acting
on the cutting gearing. The delivery board or platform is quadrant-shaped
in plan, and is curved horizontally to the conical form, swept through by the
rakes descending a little just behind the cutters, and rising considerably at the
back end. Paddles or reel blades for. laying the crop. to the cutters are dis-
pensed with, unless specially required..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Winton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st March 1865.
TO ALL. TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
WINTON, of Thorn, near Falkirk, in the County of Stirling, North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Peter Winton, Her special licence that I, the said Peter-
Winton, my-executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Peter Winton, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN REAPING OR MOWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Peter Winton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or 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 Peter Winton, 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
in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:
My said Invention has for its object the constructing of reaping or mowing
machines in an improved manner, with a simplified combination of the parts,
and so as to be more efficient and convenient in use than-such machines as
hitherto made.
And in order that my said Invention, and, the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, I have 'hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing, a
reaping or mowing machine as constructed with my improvements.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure.2 is a plan of the machine, and
the same parts are marked by the same reference. numerals in both Figures.
In this machine the driving gear is arranged upon a horizontal cast-iron
frame 1, 2, 3, 4, of a rectangular form, and which is formed with plain eyes
in the inner and outer sides 4, 2 of it, and the main shaft 5 is entered through
these eyes and through the eyes of the driving wheel 6 placed in position
within the frame. The intermediate shaft 7 for working the cutter bar 8 is
set on the frame 2, so as to project within the rim of the driving wheel 6, and
it has a pinion on its inner end, which is driven by a toothed ring or wheel 9,
forined or fixed upon the spokes or centre frame of the driving wheel. 6. The
inclined crank shaft 10 is carried upon the outer side of the frame 2; and is
driven by bevil gearing in the usual way; and the intermediate shaft 7 is
shifted into gear with or out of gear from the spur wheel or rim 9 by means
of a lever 11 and clutch 12. Tlie machine being for two horses, long
centre pole 13, which is of tubular iron, is fixed to the front 3 of the rectan-
gulár frame, and is fitted with swivelling or swing trees 14 at back and front
(the last-mentioned not being shown in the Drawing), whilst a fore wheel is
by preference dispensed with. The delivery is self-acting, and is effected by two

page_text: .rakes 15 on arms 16, fixed on a shaft 17, which shaft is inclined inwards
and backwards from the vertical, being principally held near its upper end by
a bracket 18 fixed to the rectangular frame 4, and steadied by a stay 19.
The inclined shaft 17 is driven by bevil gearing 20 directly from the main
shaft 5, the driving bevil pinion being fixed on the inner end of that shaft,
whilst to get the inclined shaft 17 as close to the side as possible, the inner
side 4 of the rectangular frame is 'indented, as shown, to allow the bevil
pinion to be put the more closely in near the wheel. The inclined shaft 17
is put out of
gear by means of a clutch lever 21, which lifts the bevil wheel 20,
being acted on by a bell-crank lever 22, connected by a link 23 to the lever
11 for acting on the-cutting gearing; thus both the cutting and delivery
-mechanism are put into or out of working gear by one movement. Thè
delivery board or platform 24 is quadrant-shaped in plan, and is curved
horizontally to the conical form, swept through by the rakes 15 descending
a little just behind the cutter bar .8, and rising considerably at the back
end 25. The side of the delivery platform 24 further from the driving gear
is supported by the usual running wheel 26, which is held in a bracket 27
hinged to the platform frame so as to be adjustable as to height by a
lever 28 and catch rack 29. The bracket 27 besides being forked vertically
to receive the wheel 26 is slotted horizontally to receive the wheel spindle,
and when on turning the machine this side of the platform moves back a
little the wheel gets to the front of the bracket, the spindle running up.the
slots; the bracket is curved a little as shown in the plan, Figure 2, in such
a way that when the wheel shifts, as described, it assumes a better position for
the turning of the machine, immediately receding to its former position on
the machine resuming a straight course. As from the oblique position of the
rake shaft 17 in both Figures 1 and 2, the exact positions of the rakes.1'5
relatively to that shaft cannot be clearly understood from those Figures, a
portion of the said shaft 17 is shown separately in Figure 3 as placed
vertically, and with 'one arm 16 and one rake 15 placed parallel to the plane
of the Drawing, whilst Figure 4 is a view of the same parts as taken at right
angles to Figure 3.
Paddles or reel blades sometimes used for laying the crop to the cutters are
dispensed with in this machine, but can of course be added if specially
required.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the 'same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not claim
to have invented every separate detail herein described and delineated, but
that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention

page_text: secured to me by the. herein-before in part recited Letters Patent-is-the
arranging or combining together of the details of reaping or mowing machines
substantially in the improved manner herein described and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Winton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
PETER WINTON. (L.S.)