Improvements in the Construction of Reaping and Mowing Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1890.
Complete Specification Left. 23rd Feb., 1891-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Reaping and Mowing
Machines.
I, ALEXANDER MCGREGOR, of Albion Iron Works, Leigh, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
The first part of this invention relates to that class of reaping machines in which
the sheaf is delivered automatically at the rear of the cutter bar, the delivery being
assisted by a rake which forms a part of the revolving reel that is used for gathering
the crop to the cutters.
This part of my invention has for its object improvements in the manner of
obtaining a "feathering" motion to the before mentioned rake, and consists of the
following arrangement.
At the outer end of the rake arm I form or secure a stem carrying a bracket to
which the rake is attached.
On the bracket I form a crank arm so that by actuating the same the bracket,
and with it the rake, may be caused to partially rotate on the stem. In order to
actuate this crank arm I make use of an excentric which may be cast to, keyed or
otherwise secured to the bearing which carries the reel shaft; and on this fixed
excentric I place a strap which is free to revolve around the same and is connected
by a rod to the crank arm. I form the bracket with slotted holes through which
pass two bolts so that the rake may be adjusted without affecting the length of the
excentric rod, as would be the case if the rake arm was made to shift in the ordinary
manner.
As a modification of this first part of my invention I sometimes make use of an
arrangement in which a cam having a roller path is formed or secured at the outer
end of the reel shaft bearing; this fixed cam, by means of a roller actuates a rod,
the outer end of which is connected to the crank arm of the rake bracket similar to
that previously described.
In order to guide the inner end of this rod I make use of a loop which embraces
the reel shaft, and has a slot of a length sufficient for the stroke of the rod when
actuated by the cam.
Or instead of making the loop to work directly on the reel shaft, I sometimes
make it large enough to admit of a collar or roller being placed on the shaft.
I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement described as either the
excentric, or the cam, for actuating the feathering rod may be modified in form, or
they may be combined together; the main feature of this part of my invention
consisting in actuating the feathering rod without the intervention of a lever direct
from a guiding track which is fixed to or forms a part of the bearing in which the
revolving reel shaft works.
In order to actuate the platform on which the grain falls, and cause it to drop in
unison with the action of the delivery rake, I make use of a revolving cam, keyed
or secured to the reel shaft or to the wheel that drives the same, and placed at the
opposite side of the reel shaft bearing to that to which the fixed excentric or cam
is secured; and I form a bearing parallel with the reel shaft bearing, and carrying
a crank shaft having a roller which is actuated by the revolving cam; an arm or
crank at the other end of the crank shaft, being connected to the platform rod. Or
in some cases I make use of an arrangement in which the revolving cam by means
of the roller actuates a lever which is connected to the platform rod; the lever
being in a line with the reel shaft, and at a right angle to the revolving cam.
With the object of so constructing the machine that it may be readily removed

page_text: from place to place, and passed through narrow openings I prefer to hinge the
cutting apparatus to the main frame of the machine in such a manner that it can be
turned up for transit.
In order that this may be accomplished' without removing the reel I attach the
vanes or gatherers of the same in such a manner that they can be folded in towards
the centre of the reel when it is required to turn up the cutting apparatus, and
brought down into their previously adjusted position when required for work. On
the outer end of the reel arm I attach a bracket to which the reel vane is secured
by means of two bolts. The bracket is provided with a slot for adjusting the
distance of the vane from the reel centre, and the parallel adjustment is obtained
by the slot through which one of the bolts is passed.
This bolt is removed when the vane has to be folded up; the other bolt being
the centre on which the vane turns. In order that the vane, when again required
for working may assume the position in which it was placed at the previous adjust-
ment, I make use of a nut operated by a screw and clipping the first named bolt
so that it can only be moved in the slot by actuating the screw; and when the bolt
has to be replaced after having been removed for transit, the nut gives the correct
position without any care on the part of the attendant.
It will be evident that by removing one of the adjusting bolts before named the
rake or rakes may also be turned up in the same manner.
The next part of my invention relates to the manner of driving the gearing
of reaping machines and to the more readily putting the same into or out of
gear.
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me A.D. 1880 No. 2004 I
describe an arrangement whereby two or more pins pass through the hub of the
main driving wheel and gear into holes in a loose pawl-plate having pawls which
drive an internal ratchet box which is cast or secured to the first motion gear wheel.
According to this part of my present invention I make use of a similar arrangement
of pins passing through the hub of the road wheel, driving the pawl plate, the
pawls driving the ratchet box. The only modification in this part with respect to
my before mentioned Specification is that I make the pawl plate of sufficient
thickness at the part where the holes are formed to admit of the gudgeons of the
pawls being inserted in the opposite ends of the same holes that receive the pins
from the clutch.
In order to improve the arrangement for actuating the in and out of gear clutch
and for the better protection from dirt, I form the same with a flange and I make
use of a fork having a covered part and I form the pins that fit in the clutch groove
so that they can be removed and replaced when worn, and thereby avoid the expense
of having to entirely renew the fork.
As a further modification, and an improvement on my before mentioned Specifica-
tion A.D. 1880 No. 2004 I make use of an arrangement in which the pawl plate
is cast to, or forms a part of the first motion wheel, and the internal ratchet box is
loose on the boss of the main driving wheel; a series of holes to receive the in and
out of gear pins being provided in the side of the ratchet box; my improvement
consisting in making the ratchet box the driver instead of the driven.
The last part of my invention relates to the manner of supporting the back of
the knife bar in reaping and mowing machines, and consists of the following
arrangement:
In the finger, at the part which supports the back of the knife, I insert a rivet,
having a conical or countersunk head with a level top slightly projecting above the
surface of the finger and forming an easily renewable bearing for the back of the
knife to work on.
The rivet head may be round or square, the former being no doubt more easy of
applicatior, and I prefer to use steel, or a metal that can be rendered harder than
the ordinary metal of which the finger is formed.
Dated this 22nd day of Mov 1800

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Reaping and Mowing
Machines.
I, ALEXANDER MCGREGOR, of Albion Iron Works, Leigh, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, 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 :--
The first part of this invention relates to that class of reaping machines in which
the sheaf is delivered automatically at the rear of the cutter bar, the delivery being
assisted by a rake which forms a part of the revolving reel that is used for gathering
the crop to the cutters.
This part of my invention has for its object improvements in the manner of
obtaining a "feathering" motion to the before mentioned rake and consists of an
arrangement more particularly shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying
drawings (Sheet 1).
At the outer end of the rake arm a I form or secure a stem b, carrying a
bracket e to which the rake d is attached.
On the bracket c I form a crank arm c¹ so that by actuating the same, the
bracket, and with it the rake, may be caused to partially rotate on the stem b. In
order to actuate this crank arm I make use of an eccentric e which may be cast,
keyed or otherwise secured to the bearing which carries the reel shaft g; and on
this fixed eccentric I place a strap h which is free to revolve around the same and
is connected by a rod ' to the crank arm c¹. I form the bracket e with slotted
holes through which pass two bolts so that the rake may be adjusted to cr
from the recl centre without affecting the length of the eccentric rod ' as woul
be the case if the rake arm a was made adjustable in the ordinary manner.
As a modification of this first of my invention I sometimes make use of an
arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6 (Sheet 2) in which a cam i having a roller i¹ is
formed or secured at the outer end of the reel shaft f, this fixed cam, by means of
the roller, actuating the rod k, the outer end of which is connected to the crank
arm of the rake bracket similar to that shown and described in reference to
Figs. 1 and 2.
In order to guide the inner end of the rod k I make use of a loop / which
embraces the reel shaft g, and has a slot of a length sufficient for the stroke of the
rod when actuated by the cam.
Or instead of making the loop to work directly on the reel shaft I sometimes
make it large enough to admit of a collar or roller m being placed on the
shaft.
I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement shown in the drawings and
either the eccentric or the cam for actuating the feathering rod may be modified
in form, or they may be combined together; the main feature of the part of my
invention which relates to actuating the feathering rod consists in doing so (without
the intervention of a lever) direct from a guiding track which is fixed to or forms a
part of the bearing in which the revolving reel shaft works.
In order to actuate the platform on which the grain falls and cause it to drop in
unison with the action of the delivery rake, I make use of a revolving cam n
(Fig. 1) keyed or secured to the reel shaft or to the wheel that drives the same and
placed at the opposite side of the reel shaft bearing to that to which the fixed
eccentric or cam is secured; and I form a bearing o parallel with the reel shaft
bearing and carrying the crank shaft p having a rollery which is actuated by the
revolving cam; the arm or crank at the other end of the crank shaft, being
connected to the platform rod 3. Or in some cases I make use of the arrangement
shown in Fig. 5, in which the revolving cam t by means of the roller u actuates the
lever which is connected to the platform rod s.
With the object of so constructing the machine that it may be readily removed

page_text: from place to place, and passed through narrow openings I prefer to hinge the
cutting apparatus to the main frame of the machine in such manner that it can be
turned
пр for transit
In order that this may be accomplished without removing the reel, I attach the
vanes of the same in the manner shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 (Sheet 2) so that they
can be folded in towards the centre of the reel when it is required to turn up the
cutting apparatus, and brought down into their previously adjusted position when
required for work.
On the outer end of the reel arm w I attach a bracket to which the reel vane y
is secured by means of the bolts z, and z¹. The bracket is provided with a slot a¹
for adjusting the distance of the vane from the reel centre and the parallel adjust-
ment is obtained by the slot through which the bolt passed. This bolt is
removed when the vane has to be folded up; the bolt being the centre on which
the vane turns. In order that the vane when again required for working may
assume the position in which it was placed at the previous adjustment, I make use
of the nut A, operated by the screw B, and clipping the bolt so that the bolt can
only be moved in the slot by actuating the screw B; and when the bolt has to be
replaced after having been removed for transit, the nut A gives the correct position
without any care on the part of the attendant.
It will be evident that by removing one of the adjusting bolts that pass through
the slots c², or ca the rake may also be turned up in a similar manner.
The next part of my invention relates to the manner of driving the gearing of
reaping machines and to the more readily putting the same into or out of gear. In
the Specification of a former Patent granted to me A.D. 1880 and No. 2004 I
make use of an arrangement whereby two or more pins pass through the hub of the
main driving wheel and gear into holes in a loose pawl-plate, having pawls which
drive an internal ratchet box which is cast or secured to the first motion gear
wheel.
According to this part of my present invention, and which is shown in Figs. 10
11 and 12 (Sheet 3) I make use of a similar arrangement of pins C, passing through
the hub of the road wheel D driving the plate E, the pawls F driving the ratchet
box G.
The only modification in this part with respect to my before mentioned Specifica-
tion is that I make the pawl plate E of sufficient thickness at the part where the
holes are formed, to admit of the gudgeons F' of the pawls F being inserted in the
opposite ends of the same holes that receive the pins from the clutch.
In order to improve the arrangement for actuating the in and out of gear
clutch H, and for better protection from dirt, I form the same with a flange H¹,
and I make use of a fork I having a covered part 1', and I form the pins J that
fit in the clutch box groove so that they can be removed and replaced when worn
and thereby avoid the expense of having to entirely renew the fork.
In the drawing, the fork is shown in connection with an upright lever; but the
same arrangement of cover and renewable pins can be used on a fork actuated by
any arrangement or device of hand or foot lever or pedal.
As a further modification and an improvement on my before mentioned Specifica-
tion A.D. 1880 No. 2004, I make use of an arrangement shown in Fig. 13, in which
the pawl plate K is cast to or forms a part of the first motion wheel, and the
internal ratchet box L is loose on the boss M of the main driving wheel; a series
of holes L' to receive the in and out of gear pins being provided in the side of the
ratchet box. In the drawing the pawl-plate is shewn with holes K¹ to receive the
gudgeons of the pawls; but I do not confine myself to this arrangement as pins
may be formed on, or secured to the pawl plate, or the pawls may be carried by
any other suitable means; my improvement in this modification consisting in making
the ratchet box the driver instead of the driven.
The last part of my invention relates to the manner of supporting the back of
the knife bar in reaping and mowing machines, and consists of an arrangement shown
in Fig. 14 (Sheet 2).

page_text: In the finger N at the part which supports the back of the knife P, I insert a
rivet Q having a conical or countersunk head with a level top Q' slightly projecting
above the surface of the finger and forming an easily renewable bearing for the back
of the knife to work on.
The rivet head may be round or square-the former being no doubt more easy
of application-and I prefer to use steel or a metal that can be rendered harder
than the ordinary metal of which the finger is formed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
First. The fixed eccentric formed with or secured to the reel shaft bearing, with
the strap encircling the same, actuating the rod for giving the feathering motion to
the reel rake, as described in reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Secondly. The modification, having the fixed cam in lieu of the eccentric with
the arrangement for guiding the feathering rod as shown and described in reference
to Figs. 5 and 6.
Thirdly. The arrangement for adjusting the distance of the delivery rake to or
from the reel centre, in combination with the crank bracket c and the eccentric or
cam rods for actuating the same.
Fourthly. The arrangement for actuating the grain platform as described in
reference to Fig. 1, in combination with the fixed eccentric or cam for giving the
feathering motion to the rake.
Fifthly. The modification having the lever as described in reference to Fig. 5,
in combination with the fixed eccentric or cam for giving the feathering motion to
the rake.
Sixthly. In a self acting back delivery reaping machine having a jointed finger
bar, the combination with the latter of means for folding the rake and the vanes
of the reel, either in the manner shown and described or by any mere modification
thereof.
Seventhly. The modification of the arrangement for actuating the gearing of
reaping machines as described in reference to Figs. 10 and 11.
Eighthly. The further modifications of the arrangement of the pawl plate and
ratchet box, as described in reference to Fig. 13.
Ninthly. The application of a cover for protecting the clutch groove in
combination with the arrangement for actuating the gearing as shown and
described.
Tenthly. The application of renewable pins to the clutch fork in combination
with the protecting cover as shown and described in reference to Figs. 10
and 12.
Eleventhly. The particular manner of supporting the knife back by means of
the rivet Q and head Q¹ as described in reference to Fig. 14.
Dated this 20th day of February 1891.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.