IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF THE FINGERS OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN DIES OR TOOLS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Smith, of the Firm of Thomas Smith and Sons,
of Saltley, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manu-
facturers and Stampers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF THE FINGERS OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN DIES
OR TOOLS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Smith at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th October 1876.
THOMAS SMITH, of the Firm of Thomas Smith and Sons, of Saltley, near Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manufacturers and Stampers.
"IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FINGERS OF REAPING AND MOWING
MACHINES, AND IN DIES OR TOOLS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
My Invention consists in manufacturing the fingers of reaping and mowing
machines by the process or combination of processes herein-after described.
My Invention further consists of the dies or tools herein-after described to be used
in the said manufacture.
A finger of a reaping or mowing machine consists of a block of wrought iron
having a point at its front end, a cross bar at its rear end, and beyond the cross
bar a plate for attaching the finger to the front bar of the reaping or mowing
machine. In the rear of the point part of the finger a longitudinal guide slot or
gap, open at its back, is made, the lower face of the said slot or gap extending to aud
being on a level with the face of the cross bar. The slots or gaps described in the
several fingers constitute guides in which the moveable cutter works, and the cross
bars of the fingers constitute bearings for the said moveable cutter. The wheat or
matter to be cut passes between the point ends of the fingers, and is cut between
them and the moveable cutter. I manufacture the said fingers in the manner and
by the use of the dies or tools herein-after described. I take a bar of wrought iron
and weld near one end of it a cross piece, the opposite end of the bar being
flattened, so as to expand it, the expanded end being about half the thickness of
the other part, a step being situated between the two parts. This step forms the
closed end of the guide gap or slot in the finished finger. This blank may be made
either by hand or by dies or tools. The upper side of the expanded end of the
[Price 8d1

page_text: blank and the part of the blank near the cross piece are next steeled by having
pieces of steel welded on them. The part of the blank between the expanded end
and the cross piece or bar is next bent or doubled upon itself, so as to present the
two steeled surfaces to one another and make between them a roughly formed hook,
the open end of the hook being situated near the cross bar. This bending or
doubling of the blank may be effected by hand, or by dies, or tools. A roughly
formed finger is thereby made from the doubled or hooked part described, the
pointed end of the finger and the slot or gap in its rear end are fashioned from the
cross bar, the cross bearing near the slot or gap is fashioned, and from the part
behind the said cross bar the plate by which the finger is attached to the machine
is fashioned. The fashioning of these parts is effected in a pair of dies or tools
worked in a stamp, a template or wedge-shaped piece being introduced into the
roughly formed hook before the pair of dies operate upon it. The said template
prevents the hook being closed upon itself, the inner faces of the guide slot or gap
made from the said hook being shaped upon the said template.
The lower die of the pair of dies which I use for fashioning the roughly formed
finger has a depression in it of the shape of one half of the point end of the finger,
together with a cross depression for receiving and shaping the cross bar; and also
a cross depression for receiving the template or pattern on which the slot or gap of
the finger is shaped. It also has a depression for forming a neck between the cross
bar and the fastening plate, and a slight rectangular depression for fashioning the
rim of the said fastening plate. The upper or moveable die carried by the bolt of
the stamp has a figure proper to shape the lower half of the point end of the finger,
the cross bar, and the fastening plate. After the finger has been fashioned in the
last described pair of dies it is finished in the ordinary way.
The bearing faces of the guide gap or slot and cross bearing of the finger manu-
factured as described have steeled surfaces, against which the moveable cutter of
the reaping or mowing machine works.
By my Invention the wearing qualities of the fingers are much improved, and
the fingers are manufactured more economically than by the ordinary method.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Thomas Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th April 1877.
THOMAS SMITH, of the Firm of Thomas Smith and Sons, of Saltley, near
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manufacturers and Stampers.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FINGERS OF REAPING AND MOWING
MACHINES, AND IN DIES OR TOOLS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
68
My Invention consists in manufacturing the fingers of reaping and mowing
machines by the process or combination of processes herein-after described.
My Invention further consists of the dies or tools herein-after described to be
used in the said manufacture.
A finger of a reaping or mowing machine as ordinarily constructed consists of a
block of iron having a point at its front end, a cross bar at its rear end, and beyond
the cross bar a plate for attaching the finger to the front bar of the reaping or
mowing machine. In the rear of the point part of the finger a longitudinal guide
slot or gap, open at its back, is made, the lower face of the said slot or gap extending
to and being on a level with the face of the cross bar. The slots or gaps described
in the several fingers constitute guides in which the moveable cutter works, and
the cross bars of the fingers constitute bearings for the said moveable cutter. The
wheat or matter to be cut passes between the point ends of the fingers, and is cut
between them and the moveable cutter.
I manufacture the said fingers in the manner and by the use of the dies or tools
herein-after described. I take a bar of wrought iron and weld near one end of it
A cross piece, the opposite end of the bar being flattened, so as to expand it, the

page_text: expanded end being about half the thickness of the other part; a step being situated
between the two parts. This step forms the closed end of the guide gap or slot in
the finished finger. This blank inay be made either by hand, or by dies, or tools.
The upper side of the expanded end of the blank and the part of the blank near the
cross piece are steeled by having pieces of steel welded on them. The part of the
blank between the expanded end and the cross piece or bar is next bent or doubled
upon itself, so as to present the two steeled surfaces to one another, and make
between them a roughly formed hook, the open end of the hook being situated near
the cross bar. This bending or doubling of the blank may be effected by hand, or
by dies, or tools. A roughly formed finger is thereby made. From the doubled or
hooked part described the pointed end of the finger and the slot or gap in its rear
end are fashioned, from the cross bar the cross bearing near the slot or gap is
fashioned, and from the part behind the said cross bar the plate by which the finger
is attached to the machine is fashioned. The fashioning of these parts is effected
in a pair of dies or tools worked in a stamp, a template or wedge-shaped piece being
introduced into the roughly formed hook before the finishing dies operate upon it.
The said template prevents the hook being closed upon itself; the inner faces of
the guide slot or gap made from the said hook being shaped upon the said
template.
The lower die of the pair of dies which I use for fashioning the roughly formed
finger has a depression in it of the shape of one half of the point end of the finger,
together with a cross depression for receiving and shaping the cross bar; and also
a cross depression for receiving the template or pattern on which the slot or gap of
the finger is shaped. It also has a depression for forming a neck between the cross
bar and the fastening plate, and a slight rectangular depression for fashioning the
rim of the said fastening plate. The upper or moveable die carried by the bolt or
hammer of the stamp has a figure proper to shape the lower half of the point end
of the finger, the cross bar, and the fastening plate. After the finger has been
fashioned in the last described pair of dies it is finished in the ordinary way..
The bearing faces of the guide gap or slot and cross bearing of the finger manu-
factured as described have steeled surfaces, against which the moveable cutter of
the reaping or mowing machine works.
By my Invention the wearing qualities of the fingers are much improved, and
the said fingers are manufactured more economically than steeled fingers of wrought
iron made by the ordinary method.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
the manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan and side elevation the roughly shaped blank of
wrought iron, from which a finger is to be made; Figure 2 represents the said blank
after it has received a preliminary fashioning and its upper surface has been partly
steeled; and Figure 3 represents in plan and side elevation a finished finger made
from the blank, Figure 2.
In manufacturing a finger for a reaping or mowing machine according to my
Invention I take the bar of wrought iron marked a, b, c, represented in Figure 1,
and weld to it a cross piece d. I also contract or reduce the part at b², so as to
leave an expanded end a, which is of less thickness than the other parts of the
bar. Having made the roughly shaped blank, Figure 1, I place upon the end a a
piece of steel marked e, and upon the middle 6 of the blank and over the cross
piece d another piece of steel marked f. The blank, Figure 1, with the pieces of
steel e, f, upon it having been raised to a welding heat the said blank is placed in
the lower die g of the pair of dies g, h, represented in Figure 4, the lower die g
being fixed on the bed of a stamp, and the upper dich being carried by the bolt or
hammer of the stamp. By the descent of the upper die h, the required number of
times upon the blank, Figure 1, in the lower die g the said blank is made to
take the form of the said dies, the superfluous metal escaping from the dies at their
edges.
The superfluous metal is removed from the blank by clipping tools worked in a

page_text: press in the ordinary way. By the operation of the pair of dies g, h, Figure 4, the
blank, Figure 1, has the form represented in Figure 2 given to it, that is to say,
by the operation of the said dies the part a is reduced in thickness, and a shoulder
or step a² made between it and the part b, the said step a² forming the closed end
of the guido gap or slot k in the finished finger, Figure 3. The cross bar d is 5
fashioned, and the part c behind the said cross bar from which the fastening plate
is made partly fashioned. By the operation of the said pair of dies, Figure 4, the
surfaces of the part a, and portions of the part b, and cross bar d, which form the
bearing faces of the guide gap or slot and cross bearing in the finished finger are
steeled by the spreading upon them and the welding to them of the pieces of
steel e, f, of the blank, Figure 1. Having thus formed the blank, Figure 2, the
part a is doubled or folded upon the part 6 at the notch l, so as to present the two
steeled surfaces of the parts a, b, to one another, as indicated in dotted lines in
Figure 2. By this doubling or bending of the part a upon the part b a roughly
formed hook is produced, the open end of the hook being situated near the cross ]
bar d, as represented. The bending of the part a I effect by preference by hand,
but the said bending may be effected by dies or tools.
The partly made finger, Figure 2, is next raised to a bright red heat and sub-
jected to the action of the pair of dies or tools represented in section in Figure 5,
plan of the lower die in Figure 6, and plan of the upper die in Figure 7, so as to
give the said finger the form represented in Figure 3. Before placing the partly
made finger, Figure 2, in the dies, Figure 5, a template or wedge-shaped piece of
hardened steel m (shown separately in Figure 8) is introduced into the slot of the
roughly formed hook, as represented in Figure 5; the inner faces of the guide slot
or gap of the hook of the finger being fashioned upon the said template m. By the
use of the said template the hook is prevented from being closed upon itself by the
operation of the dies.
By an examination of Figures 5, 6, and 7, it will be seen that the lower die n of
the pair of dies n, p, has a depression in it to shape one half of the point end g of
the finger, and also a depression for receiving and shaping the cross bar d, together
The lower die n has
with a depression for receiving the template or pattern m.
also a depression for forming the neck c² between the cross bar d and the fastening
plate c, and a slight rectangular depression for fashioning the rim of the said
fastening plate c. The upper die P has a depression in it of a figure proper to
shape the lower half of the point end q of the finger, the cross bar d, and the
fastening plate c.
By the operation of the dies, Figures 5, 6, and 7, the partly made finger,
Figure 2, is made to take the form represented in Figure 3; the bearing faces of
the guide gap or slot k of the finger and the cross bar d having steeled surfaces,
against which the moveable cutter of the reaping or mowing machine works, and
hence the wearing qualities of the said finger are much improved. The finger,
Figure 3, is completed in the ordinary way.
Although I prefer to steel the fingers by welding plates of steel thereto, as herein-
before described, yet fingers may be made by my Invention without welding plates
of steel thereto, the required steel surfaces being afterwards attached by rivetting
or screwing.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of improvements in the manufacture of the fingers of reaping and mowing machines,
and in dies or tools to be used in the said manufacture,-
First. Making the said fingers by the process or combination of processes herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, whereby among
other advantages the bearing faces of the guide gap or slot and cross bearing of
the finger may be steeled and their wearing properties improved, that is to say,
taking a blank of the kind represented in Figure 1, partly fashioning the said blank
and steeling portions of its surface, as represented in Figure 2, and afterwards
bending or doubling the partly made finger upon itself, so as to make a roughly

page_text: formed hook, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2; and finally subjecting the
partly formed finger to the action of a pair of dies or tools, whereby its figure is
perfected, as illustrated in Figure 3, the closing of the roughly formed hook of the
finger while its shape is perfected being prevented by a template or pattern, as
described and illustrated. Also manufacturing by the said process or combination
of processes fingers without steel surfaces, the required steel surfaces being after-
wards attached to the said fingers by rivetting or screwing.
Secondly. The dies or tools herein-before described and illustrated in Figures
4, 5, 6, and 7, of the accompanying Drawings to be used in the manufacture of
the said fingers by the process or combination of processes herein described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Smith, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THOMAS SMITH. (L.S.)