IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of 7, Whitehall Place, in the City
of Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND
REAPING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Edwin Ruthven
Whitney, of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal, and Province of
Quebec Dominion of Canada.
Sealed the 19th August 1879, and dated the 4th June 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th June 1879.
"IM-
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of 7, Whitehall Place, in the City of Westminster.
PROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES." (A communication from
abroad by Edwin Ruthven Whitney, of the City of Montreal, in the District of
Montreal, and Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada.)
This Invention, which has for its object to simplify the mechanism through
which the cutter knife is operated by the rotation of the driving wheel, and to
render its action more even and certain may be thus described.
The frame of the machine has formed in it on the side opposite to the cutter bar,
eyes, or bearings, in which rocks a shaft extending forward about as far as the
cutting knife.
Upon this shaft are keyed two dogs or pawls, impinged upon by a face cam or
corrugated wheel, made in one with or secured to the driving wheel, these pawls
being set on the shaft out of line or at an angle to each other, so as to be struck
alternately by the projections as the wheel revolves.
A crank or arm keyed on the rock shaft has pivotted to its free end a link or
pitman, which is connected with the cutter bar, and communicates the necessary
motion to it.
To throw the machine out of gear a transverse shaft is provided, carrying a
treadle within reach of the driver's foot, the pressure forward of which rotates the
shaft so as to bring a lever mounted on it to bear either against a shoulder or one
of the dogs on the rock shaft, thus forcing it back and taking the dogs out of the
line of movement of the face cam. A compression spring arranged on the rock
shaft offers a yielding resistance to this pressure, and restores the dogs to their
normal position directly it is removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
November 1879.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of 7, Whitehall Place, in the City of Westminster. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES." (A communication from abroad
by Edwin Ruthven Whitney, of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal,
and Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada.)
This Invention has reference to the mechanism for imparting from the driving or
carrying wheels of any reaping or mowing machine the required motion to the
cutter bar and knife, and is designed to simplify the construction of such mechanisın
and render its action more direct, even, and certain.
It may be thus briefly described,-
At right angles to the axle of the driving wheels, and in close proximity to one
of them, is carried in bearings formed in the side of the frame a rock shaft, to which
motion is imparted by a cam or corrugated wheel cast in one with or secured to
the said driving wheel so as to revolve with it, and striking against dogs or pawls
mounted on this shaft so as to give it an intermittent rocking movement, by which
through an arm or crank pin keyed thereon, and connected by a link or pitman
with the cutter bar the necessary motion to-and-fro is imparted to it.
Means are also provided by which the driver can when it is desired move the
dogs on the rock shaft out of gear with the wheel, and thus stop the action of the
cutter bar; for fuller comprehension of the Invention reference must be had to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which,-
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the Invention.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line x, x, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the operating dogs, and
Fig. 4 is a view of the driving wheel, shewing cam wheel and dogs, et caetera.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
.
A, A¹, are the driving or carrying wheels of any suitable diameter and
B being the axle, on which rides the frame c, made of sufficient strength, and
preferably of some such form as that shewn in the Drawings, c, c, being eyes or
bearings attached on one side, in which is carried a rod or shaft D having mounted
on it the dogs E, E¹, set, as shewn, out of line or at an angle with each other, the
points e, e¹, of these dogs being impinged upon alternately by the corrugations f. f,
of the wheel or disc F, made in one with or in any way secured to the wheel A¹.
G is an arm or crank pin keyed on to the end of the rock shaft D, having
pivotted to its outer end a link or pitman H, connecting it with the cutter bar I,
which with the finger bar k is of any suitable or ordinary construction, and
provided with any of the well known devices (such as a lever with ratchet and
pawl) for turning it up, and holding it while the machine is travelling on the road.
The other parts of the machine not specially referred to in this description, nor
forming part of the Invention, may be of any approved and usual construction.
The manner in which the above described mechanism acts in imparting motion
from the driving wheel to the cutter bar will be so clearly seen from the foregoing
and the Drawings that it is only necessary to say that as the wheel revolves the
corrugations or projections strike in turn the points e, e¹, (one of these being in
the hollow between two of the projections on one side of the wheel, while the other
at the opposite point is being acted upon by one of them), so that the shaft D is
alternately rocked in either direction in turn, pulling and pushing the knife, and
thus giving it the required vibratory motion.
It will also be observed that the arrangement where the points at which the rock
shaft is operated by the wheel are opposite to each other on a horizontal line, and
alike equidistant from the centro, and the point of support gives a very steady and
equable motion, with much less strain on the parts and a lighter draught,

page_text: The means for throwing the dogs E, E', out of gear with the wheel F are as
follows:-
M is a short shaft carried in proper bearings in the frame C at right angles
to the rod D, and having mounted on it a treadle N within reach of the driver's
foot.
On this shaft M is secured rigidly a downwardly projecting lug O, which when
the treadle is pressed forward acts upon the front dog or a shoulder cast for the
purpose on the shaft itself, which is thus pushed back, and the dogs cleared from
the action of the wheel F.
A compression spring P placed on the shaft D between the eye c and dog E,
or a shoulder cast on the shaft restores the dogs to their normal position, when the
pressure on the treadle is removed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into practical effect, as communicated to me as aforesaid, what I claim
is,―
1st. In a mowing and reaping machine the mechanism for imparting motion to
the cutter bar, composed of a shaft carried horizontally in bearings in the frame,
and receiving rocking motion from two dogs or pawls mounted on it, and acted
upon alternately by a face cam or corrugated wheel made in combination with one
of the driving wheels, the said shaft carrying on its end a crank, through which
and a link or pitinan vibratory motion is imparted to the cutter bar, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
2ndly. The combination in a mowing and reaping machine, with a rocking shaft
imparting vibratory motion to the cutter bar, of a transverse shaft, operating when
rotated to disengage from the corrugated driving wheel the dogs or projections
mounted on the said rocking shaft, substantially as hereinbefore described, and for
the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
W. LLOYD WISE. (LS)