IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES."-A
communication.
Sealed the 22nd August 1856, and dated the 27th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1856.
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 REAPING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of parts for discharging the
cut corn or other produce from the platform of reaping machines onto the
ground. The rake is jointed to an arm projecting from a travelling cam piece,
which, beside sliding over its guide rod, is capable of turning thereon. The
rake is kept in position, with respect to the arm which carries it, by means of a
coil spring, the extremities of which are connected respectively to the rake and
the arm. The traverse of the cam piece (which actuates the rake) is effceted
by means of a rock lever, which receives motion from a can on the axle of the
running wheel, and transmits that motion through a counccting rod to the cam

page_text: piece. This cam is mounted loosely on its axle, and on its boss are formed
ratchet teeth, which take onto a pin fixed on the axle, and lock against it, a
spring being provided at the opposite side of the cam to force it up into con-
tact with the fixed pin. To prevent the rotation of the cam, a bell crank lever
arrangement is provided for taking off the pressure of the spring from the
cam, and this arrangement is put in action by the foot or hand of the attendant.
In the side of the platform recesses are cut, to permit the rake teeth to pass
down therein and take forward all the cut produce on the platform, so that
none is left to accumulate in the rear of its traverse. An opening is made in
the platform at right angles to the line of traverse of the rako for the discharge
of the corn, and when the rake arrives at that opening it meets with a fixed
bowle, which turns it round on its fulcrum piu in a line parallel with the
opening, and thereby the cut produce is thrown onto the ground. The cam
piece having completed its traverse is turned on its guide rod, and the rake is
thus raised clear of the platform, and in this position it is carried back to
recommence its course. When it has arrived at its starting point the rake is
depressed and the action is repeated. By the cam being driven as described,
it follows, that when the machine is being backed the fixed pin of the running
wheel axle will slip past the ratchet teeth and no action will ensue, and the
like end is attained by putting the bell crank lever arrangement in action.
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 27th November 1856.
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 Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Nowton, my executors, administrators, 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
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REAPING MACHINES," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under 'my hand and seal, 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 per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to a novel arrangement of raking apparatus for reaping or harvesting machines,
which apparatus is worked automatically from the main driving or supporting
wheel of the machine, and delivers the grain in gavels or sheaves in rear of
the driving apparatus.
To enable others, skilled in the art, to make and use the improved machine,
I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying Draw-
ings, in which Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the machine, with three
several positions of the rake, indicated in black, red, and blue lines, to shew
its motions; Fig. 2 represents a view from the rear of the platform, shewing
the devices thereon for aiding the rake in a portion of its movement. Fig. 3
represents a broken view of a portion of the platform, which will be referred
to in the description. Similar letters, where they occur in the several Figures,
denote like parts.
A is the main driving and supporting wheel, on the journals of which is
supported by proper bearings a frame B. The outside piece B' of the frame
extends back far enough to form a support for one end of the piece C, which
forms the rear of the platform, and a small supporting wheel D is arranged on
the part B' to hold the platform from the ground. Another piece D', united to
the frame B at or near its rear portion, and lying parallel with that, C, forms
the platform frame. On one of the journals a of the wheel A, which is ex-
tended for that purpose, is placed a cam wheel E of peculiar form, the outside
end of the hub of said cam wheel being provided with ratchet teeth 1, 1, which
catch against a pin 2 in the point of the journal a, and thus causes said cam
wheel E to turn with the main wheel A when the machine is drawn forward.
But when the machine is run backward, the ratchet teeth slip past the pin 2,

page_text: and thus the rake is not worked when the machine is thus moved backward.
A plate b connected with the hub of the cam wheel is forced up against it by
a coiled spring c, and this keeps the ratchet teeth in the other end of said
hub tight up against the pin 2 in the point of the journal a. To the plate b
are attached two rods d, d, the other ends of which are connected to two arms
c, c, (shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1.) on a rock shaft f, supported by the frame
piece B¹. On one end of the rock shaft f is an arm 3 (also shewn by dotted
lines), to which a lever 4 is connected, so that by pressing down the lever 4 by
the hand or foot the hub of the cam wheel will be drawn in towards the main
wheel, and its ratchet teeth drawn away from the pin 2, and consequently
uncoupled from the journal or shaft of the main driving wheel. By releasing
the lever 4, the spring c throws the cam wheel out and couples it with the
shaft of the driving wheel, and the raking apparatus is thus readily coupled
or uncoupled, as occasion may require. The rear transverse bar of the frame
B carries a swivelling stud F, the other end of which is supported in a bracket
G, also attached to the frame. To this pivoted or turning stud is attached a
short arm g, which carries an antifriction roll h. This roll works in the cam
space between the cam rings E, and thus a variable turning motion of the
stud F is caused, as the throw of the cam planes are more or less abrupt. On
the opposite side of the stud F from the arm g is attached a long arm H, to
the extreme rear end of which a connecting rod I is attached. The opposite
end of this rod I is connected to a cam J, which travels to and fro on a shaft
or rod K behind the back C of the platform, as the arm H is vibrated from
the cams, as above described. The cam J may also be called the rake head,
for to an arm L, which may be cast with the cam J, or otherwise secured to it,
is pivoted at i the rake M, which rake travels with the cam J, but at the same
time has other motions independent of the traversing of the cam on its rod K.
This cam not only traverses on the rod, but has also a rocking or partial
rotating motion around the shaft as its axis, as will be explained hereafter.
The bar of the rake M, besides being pivoted at i to the arm L, projects
still farther back, and is united at its rear by a helical spring; through a rod k,
so that the rake shall be controlled to a certain extent upon its pivoted point i,
and not turn thereon until turned by the cams at the proper time and place.
A plate or metallic ledge N is secured on top of the piece C, projecting slightly
on both sides of C. Underneath this ledge a hook 1, Fig. 2, on the arm L
takes, and thus holds the arm and cam or rake from rising vertically until the
hook arrives at the point m on the ledge, where it is cut away purposely to allow
the hook to run out; for when the rake arrives at this point, a projection n on
the rake strikes against a friction roll o, supported in bracket bearings to the

page_text: face of the end piece C, and holds the rear of the rake or restrains it to a degree,
whilst the front part of the rake still moves on with the arm L; the rake, thus
held back at one end, and carried forward by the arm L, turns upon its pivot i,
and moves in the arc of a circle, until it stands at about right angles to the
line of its traverse along the platform, and in doing so coils up the spring j.
Just as the hook / runs out from under the ledge at m the point of the cam J
strikes against a roll p on the back of the end piece C, the cam J is thus
caused to turn on its shaft K and raise up the rake vertically; the spring jis
then free to uncoil, and it consequently returns the rake to the same position
with regard to the arm L that it had when travelling across the platform. As
the cam J turns on its shaft, by reason of its striking against the roll p, a pin q
on the cam (Fig. 2) passes under the ledge behind the board C, and holds the
cam, rake and all, in the raised position described, until the cam approaches the
end of its backward traverse. At this point it meets a stop or roll P, which
turns it on the shaft K, and as the cam turns, the pin q is drawn from under
the retaining ledge N. The rake would now drop down by its own gravity,
but a cam ledge Q (Fig. 2) on the back of the board C receives the pin 2 and
lets the rake down gently. This operation is repeated at every back and forward
movement of the cam J. The ledge N is also cut away at r, so that when the
rake drops, the hook on the arm L may be ready to move along underneath
the ledge, as before described. The board R, which forms the end of the
platform, has recesses s cut therein, and when the rake drops on to the platformi
the teeth of the rake enter these recesses, and thus the accumulation of straw
or grain at the back of the rake is prevented, the rake as it moves forward
sweeping everything before it upon the platform. The platform and the rear
piece C are cut away, as seen at S (Fig. 1), to form a space through which the
givel or sheaf may drop onto the ground in rear of the driving machinery,
and out of the way of the return swathe. A curved board T forms a fence or
guide for turning the grain at that end of the platform, so that the rake
gathers the gavel at right angles, or, rather, lengthwise of the straws, turning
the same half round and depositing it at right angles to the swathe. There is
a supporting wheel U at the extreme end of the platform to hold it up from
the ground.
The operation of the rake is a follows, (viz'):-The rake teeth having dropped
into the recesses s, s, they then move across the platform carrying the grain
ahead. When the rake reaches the point o, it commences to turn on its
pivot i, and moves in a circular direction, until it attains the position shewn by
the red lines, at which time it delivers the gavel. This done, the rake is
released and rises up, as shewn in blue lines, and in this raised position it

page_text: ravels back to the end of the platform to repeat a similar operation. The
operator having convenient access to the lever 4, can throw the rack out of
gear, to allow more grain to accumulate on the platform; thus, whether the
grain stands thick or thin on the ground, an uniformity in the size of the gavels
can be insured, for so soon as sufficient has fallen upon the platform to make
the gavel, by simply releasing the lever, the rake will be thrown into
gear and
commence to sweep the platform. The rake docs not at any time, either in
clearing the platform or in returning for the next gavel, interfere with the
grain which is falling upon the platform so as to entangle it.
Having thus fully described the nature of the Invention communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, giving the rake its circular motion, by means of the traversing and
rocking cam J in connection with the revolving cam E, which gives the
longitudinal motion through the intervention of the devices, substantially such
as described.
. Secondly, I claim dropping the rake teeth onto the platform within the
recesses s, s, &c., or their equivalent, and thus preventing the accumulation of
straw behind the rake, and ensuring the clearance from the platform of the
cut grain without entangling or disarranging the cut with the falling grain or
straw.
Thirdly, I claim delivering the gavel from the platform at the opening S
therein, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)