IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING
MACHINES." -A communication from abroad by William Henry
Barlow and Benjamin Lindley Walker, both of Sing Sing, in the
State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 18th February 1873, and dated the 11th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th September 1872.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to what are known as rotary
hand lawn mowers, though it may be applicable wholly or in part to
:

page_text: other rotary mowing machines. It consists in the arrangement of the
cutter reel, to which the rotary cutters are attached upon the same axle
with the wheels of the machine, and in a novel arrangement of the fixed
cutter, in combination with which the rotary cutters operate, whereby
the cutting of the grass to a more nearly uniform length on uneven or
rolling ground is effected. It also consists in a novel arrangement of
gearing for driving the rotary cutter wheel with very little friction; and
further, in novel means of providing for the adjustment of the cutters
to cut closer to or not so close to the ground; also in novel means of
adjusting the machine when run by hand to suit a taller or shorter
operator; and further, in a novel provision attached to the machine for
grinding the rotary cutters.
The wheels are made hollow, and closed at their inner sides by discs
which are mounted loosely on the axle of the wheel. One of the wheels,
which serves as the driving wheel, is cast with an internal rim of teeth
for transmitting motion by a train of pinions to the cutter reel. Two of
these pinions are mounted loosely on stud axles carried by the disc of
the driving wheel, and the third pinion is mounted loosely on the wheel
axle. The hub of this pinion enters a central socket in the cutter reel,
and it is furnished with ratchet teeth which enter into the teeth of a
spring clutch contained in the same socket, and made capable of sliding
on the wheel axle. This clutch carries a feather which slides in a groove
in the boss of the reel, and serves to drive the reel. Below the reel and
near the ground is mounted a fixed cutter, between which and the rotary
cutters the shearing action takes place. This cutter is supported by an
adjustable transverse bar made fast to the discs of the running wheels.
To these discs also are fitted arms which carry a cross bar, to which the
propelling handle is attached. This handle is adjustable vertically by
reason of its connection with a supporting leg, which is furnished with
a roller for bearing upon the ground. The arms of the discs also carry a
cross bar, which is faced with emery composition, or some equivalent
grinding material. This bar is adjustable on the arms which carry it,
and by means of screws it may be advanced so as to act as a grinder on
the blades of the cutter reel as they are rotated past it or held back
clear of the reel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES," being a communication to
me from abroad by William Henry Barlow and Benjamin Lindley
Walker, both of Sing Sing, in the State of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates more particularly to what are known as hand
lawn mowers, though it may be applicable wholly or in part to other

page_text: rotary mowing machines. It consists in the arrangement of the cutter
reel, to which the rotary cutters are attached upon the same axle with
the wheels of the machine, and in a novel arrangement of the fixed
cutter, in combination with which the rotary cutters operate, whereby
the cutting of the grass to a more nearly uniform length on uneven or
rolling ground is effected. It also consists in a novel arrangement of
gearing for driving the rotary cutter wheel with very little friction; and
in further novel means of providing for the adjustment of the cutters to
cut close to or not so close to the ground; also in novel means of
adjusting the machine when run by hand to suit a taller or shorter
operator; and further, in a novel provision attached to the machine for
grinding the rotary cutters.
L'
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing represents a vertical section
taken at right angles to the axle of a hand lawn mower with the
improvements applied; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical
section of the same taken lengthwise and centrally through the reel
and wheels; Fig. 4 is an inside face view of the driving wheel, and
corresponding face view of the gearing for driving the reel. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several
Figures.
A is the driving wheel; and B, a supporting wheel of corresponding
size, secured one on one end, and the other on the other end of an
axle C. These wheels are hollow, the cavities being on their inner sides,
and each has fitted loosely within its rim a disc D. These discs are
fitted loosely to the axle C, and carry a pair of arms E, E, to which are
secured a cross bar F, which is parallel with the axle. This axle is
fitted with a tongue G, and by it the machine is driven, the operator
taking hold of the tongue, and pushing the machine before him. The
discs D, D, arms E, E, and cross bar F may be considered as the framing
of the machine. At or near the connection of the tongue G with the
bar Fa supporting leg G¹ is provided on the machine, such leg being
furnished with a wheel G³, which may be raised from the ground when
the machine is in operation. a is the stationary cutter carried by the
fixed cutter bar H, which extends across the lower part of the space
between the wheels, and is bolted firmly to the lower parts of the
discs D, D, by a screw bolt 6 at each end, the said bolts passing
through slots in the discs, and screwing into tapped holes in lugs c, c,
which are provided on the ends of the bar, and which are fitted between

page_text: guides d, d, (see Fig. 1) on the faces of the discs. This mode of attach-
ment of the cutter bar provides for its adjustment nearer to or further
from the axle that the rotary cutters may work more or less close to it.
The cutter a is bolted to the upper face of the bar H, and presents its
edge in a forward direction. I is the cutter reel made with arms at
each end of its hub, and having spirally arranged bars e, e, attached to
the said arms, and extending all across it for the attachment of the
cutters ff, which are of ordinary construction. The hub of the reel
extends the whole length of that portion of the axle between the
discs D, D, and is bored to fit loosely to the axle C that it may rotate
thereon.
The driving wheel A has formed on or secured to it within its rim an
internal toothed spur gear J, which gears with a spur gear K fitted to
turn loosely on a stud g secured firmly to the disc D, which is fitted
within the driving wheel, and this gear K gears with a similar gear L,
turning loosely on a stud h, also secured firmly to the same disc D, and
this gear L gears with a spur gear M, which is fitted to turn loosely on
the axle C. This gearing is all enclosed between the driving wheel and
its disc D. The hub of the gear M is extended into a counterbore in
the adjacent end of the reel, and has teeth i cut in its inner end to make
it form a portion of a rag wheel clutch, the other portion j of which is
fitted loosely to the axle, and so fitted into the reel with a feather k, as
shewn in Fig. 3, or otherwise that it may slide freely in and out of gear
with the gear M, but that when it turns the reel is compelled to turn
with it, and a spring is applied within the reel at the inner end of the
portion of the clutch which tends to keep it in gear.
The operation is as follows:-As the machine is pushed along over
the ground the wheels A, B, are caused to rotate by the traction, and to
produce a rotary motion of the axle. The rotation of the internally
toothed spur J with the driving wheel A produces the rotation of the
gear K, through it the rotation of the gears L and M and the last-men-
tioned wheel transmits through the clutch i, j, its rotary motion to the
reel by which the cutters c, c, are caused, acting in combination with
the fixed cutter a, to produce their cutting operation. The motion thus
transmitted to the cutter reel is in the same direction with that of the
axle, and hence the friction of the reel on the axle is much less than if
their rotation were in opposite directions, or than if the axle did not
rotate at all. In case of the machine being drawn backwards the

page_text: spring allows the bevelled teeth of the clutch to pass each other
without giving motion to the reel, and in case of the machine being
stopped suddenly the said spring allows a similar action of the teeth
of the clutch, and allows the reel to continue its rotation until its
momentum expires, and thereby prevents injury to the gearing, which
might otherwise result from a sudden stoppage.
In order to provide for the cutting of the grass more or less close to
the ground the cross bar F, to which the tongue is attached, is made
adjustable higher or lower in slots in (see Fig. 1) formed in the armis E
for its reception, the bar being squared to fit the said slots in such
manner that it will not turn therein, and being secured by nuts n, n,
fitted to screws formed on its ends, the said nuts clamping the arms
against shoulders on the bar. By lowering the bar F the cutter is
thrown forward and downward to a position more nearly under the axle,
and being so brought nearer to the ground a closer cutting of the grass
will result; by raising the bar an opposite effect will be produced.
The tongue G is made with an adjustable clamping pin joint p to permit
its handle to be raised or lowered, so that the machine may be worked by a
taller or shorter operator without making any difference in the position of'
the cutter a relatively to the ground. The screw bolt p, which constitutes
the pin of this joint, serves also to secure the leg G¹. The inner faces
of the cheeks q, q, of this joint are made with matching radial grooves
or corrugations in order to prevent the joint from working loose after
the adjustment has been secured by screwing up the pin p.
It will be understood that by reason of the cutter a being brought so
nearly under the axle (as shewn in Fig. 1) by the arrangement of the
reel on the main or driving axle the accidental variations in the angle
between the tongue and the ground that occur in running over hilly,
uneven, or rolling land have a very slight effect on the position of the
cutter a relatively to the ground compared with what they have when
the rotary cutter wheel works on a separate axle, and besides the
arrangement of the reel on the main axle makes the machine simpler
and more compact.
To provide for the grinding of the rotary cutters there is secured
between the arms E, E, behind the cross bar F by screws r, r, a grinder
consisting of a bar T, having that side of it which faces the rotary
cutters ff, faced with stone, tanite, emery, composition, or other suitable

page_text: grinding material 8. The screws r, 7, pass through slots in lugs t, t, at
the end of the grinder bar T, and screw into tapped holes in the
arms E, E, and provide when loosened for the adjustment of the said bar
to bring its grinding face within or out of range of the revolution of the
rotary cutters f, f. Adjusting screws V, V, screwing through tapped
holes in the bar F, and bearing against the grinder bar T serve to effect
the adjustment of the grinder with its face within range of the
cutters, f, so that by running the machine over the ground the said
cutters will grind themselves by contact with the said grinder. When
the grinder is not in use it is set forward out of range of the cutters,
and so secured by its screws r, r, which also serve to secure it when
adjusted for grinding.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Mowing Machines," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, —
First. The arrangement of the rotary cutter reel upon the same axle
with the driving and supporting wheels of the machine, substantially as
and for the purpose herein described.
Second. The fixed cutter a arranged directly below the axle of the
driving or supporting wheels on discs or carriers D, D, hung directly on
the said axle in combination with rotary cutters on a reel rotating on
the said axle, substantially as herein described.
Third. In combination with the cutter reel rotating upon the main or
driving axle I claim the internally toothed gear J on the driving
wheel, the loose gear M on the axle connected by a ratchet clutch with
the reel, and the intermediate gears L, K, attached to the disc or cutter
bar carrier D, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. In combination with the fixed cutter a, arranged as
described, and the cutter reel rotating on the main axle, I claim the
bar Fadjustable in the slotted arms E, E, attached to the cutter bar
carriers D, D, substantially as herein described and for the purpose set
forth.
Fifth. The pin joint p, q, q, in the tongue constructed with grooved
or corrugated faces, substantially as and for the purpose herein

page_text: Sixth. The adjustable grinder T, S, arranged in relation with the
rotary cutters, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.