IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR CLIPPING HEDGES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jephson Rowley, of Rowthorne, near Chester-
field; Derbyshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CUTTING OR CLIPPING HEDGES."
Sealed the 19th March 1861, and dated the 22nd September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jephson Rowley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents with his Petition, on
the 22nd September 1860.
I, JOHN JEPHSON ROWLEY, of Rowthorne, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING OR CLIPPING HEDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for. cutting or
clipping hedges. For these purposes a carriage is used, moving, by preference,
on three wheels, the fore wheel being used to guide the carriage. This
carriage has on one side of it a cutter frame carrying a series of angular cutters
similar to those used in mowing machines, and these cutters are made to
move to and fro through fingers or fixed cutters. The cutter frame and
cutters are arranged to assume an inclined position in regard to the surface of
the land, and such angle of the cutter frame and cutters is capable of
variation in order to cut or clip a hedge to the angle or inclination desired.
The moving angular cutters receive motion from one of the two hinder wheels

page_text: of the carriage by suitable interposed gearing. The carriage is arranged to
be drawn by a horse or horses, and to be steered or guided by a man sitting
on the carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Jephson Rowley, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN JEPHSON
ROWLEY, of Rowthorne, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Jephson Rowley, Her special licence that I, the said
John Jephson Rowley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Jephson Rowley, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR CLIPPING HEDGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Jephson Rowley,
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 John Jephson Rowley, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting or
clipping hedges. For these purposes a carriage is used moving, by preference,
on three wheels. This carriage has on one side of it a cutter frame carrying
a series of angular cutters, similar to those used in mowing machines, and
these cutters are made to move to and fro through fingers or fixed cutters.

page_text: inclination desired. The moving angular cutters receive motion from one of
the wheels of the carriage by suitable interposed gearing. The carriage is
arranged to be drawn by a horse or horses.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a side view of a one-horse mowing
machine of ordinary construction. The red lines in these Figures refer to the
alterations and additions made in this machine to convert it into a machine
also suitable for cutting or clipping hedges.
I will in the first place describe shortly the parts of the mowing machine.
a, a, is the frame, which is carried by three wheels b, c, and d; the wheel b
drives the apparatus, and is therefore formed with projections at its periphery
to prevent it slipping on the land, and it has teeth formed within it, as is
shown. This wheel and the wheel c are both mounted on the axletree e; the
hinder wheel d is a pivot wheel, it is mounted in a frame d', and on the upper
end of this frame is a nut, through which the screw f passes; f¹ is a hand-
wheel on the top of the screw f, by turning which the hinder part of the
frame a may be raised or lowered to set the inner end of the cutter bar at the
required distance from the land; the screw f also serves as an axis for
the frame d and wheel d to turn upon; g. 9, are shafts jointed to the frame a
at 9, 9. The cutter bar i is pin-jointed to the straps 2, 1, bolted to the
frame a; its outer end receives a shoe, which when mowing bears on the
land, and keeps the bar i at the proper level above it; 3, 3, are the fingers, which
are fixed on the bar i. These fingers serve to divide the crop and retain it
while the knives cut it; they also serve as guides for the knives j,j. These
are all fixed on a bar ¹, they work in suitable guides on the cutter bar, and
their ends pass through slots in the fingers. The knife bar j¹ is driven by a
connecting rod k jointed to it; this rod at its other end passes over the pin l,
mounted excentrically on the disc m, which is fixed on an axis carried in
suitable bearings, as is shown. On the same axis is a bevilled pinion n gearing
with the bevilled wheel o, the axis of which is driven by a pinion o* mounted
on it, and gearing with the teeth within the wheel b. The knives may be
thrown out of gear, so that the apparatus may travel on without working the

page_text: knives by drawing back the bevilled wheel o with its axis, so as to take its
teeth out of those of the pinion n. This is effected by the lever p, on which is
a fork entering a groove on the axis; the lever p turns on a centre p¹, and is
moved by a handle q; r is the seat on which the person driving the machine
sits; in front of this seat is a handle.s, it turns on an axis, and at its further
end a chain t is attached. This chain passes over a pulley, and is also con-
nected to a piece u of 1-form; the lower end of this piece is made fast to the
cutter bar i near the joint, so that when the end of the horizontal portion of
the piece u is drawn down by the chain (when the same is acted on by the
lever) the further end of the cutter bar will be raised by the bar turning on
its joint. This arrangement is for the purpose of raising the knives over
obstructions when mowing.
The alterations I make in the machine above described to make it suitable
for cutting hedges, are as follows:-In order that the cutter bar may be set at
any required inclination, and may be kept at this inclination whatever may be
the inequalities of the land over which the machine passes, I mount on the
back of the frame a at the points marked v, v, a vertical frame, such as is
shown at Figure 3. This frame carries a pendulum w capable of turning on
the centre w¹, and having at its lower end a heavy weight w2, which keeps it
constantly vertical'; from the upper end of the pendulum a connecting rod x
passes to the outer end of the finger bar i, as the Drawing shows. The length
of this connecting rod can be adjusted to suit the inclination required by
taking out the pin x connecting it with the pendulum and transferring it to
another hole in the rod. In order to enable the knives to work freely at
whatever angle the finger bar i is placed, the connecting rod k which drives
them is brought down as nearly parallel to the finger bar i as possible. For
this purpose I transfer the bevilled wheel o to the position shown at o¹, and the
pinion n to that shown at n¹, getting them down underneath the frame, as is
shown. The connecting rod k is connected to the outer end of the knife bar j¹
in place of to the inner end, as before, and it assumes the position clearly
shown at Figure 3; and the connecting rod k is capable of adjustment to suit
different inclinations of the finger bar.
In order to steer the machine when hedge cutting, as accurate guiding is
necessary, I fix a lever y on the frame of the pivot wheel d, and a man
walking behind the machine works this lever, and by means of it can direct
the machine as he pleases. In place of steering by means of the hinder
wheel d, I in some cases substitute for the wheel c another pivot wheel similar
to that marked d, at the front of the frame a, and I combine with this wheel
steerage gear capable of being worked from the seat, so as to set the wheel

page_text: at an angle to direct the frame as required. In order that the fingers may
hold the twigs firmly to be cut and to prevent them escaping from the knives,
the edges of the fingers may be notched, as is shown at Figure 4. In place
of shafts a pole may be used to draw the machine, for which purpose two
horses would then be employed.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
arranging the cutter bar so that it may be set at any required inclination, the
knives being so actuated that they may be able to work when the bar is
so placed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jephson Rowley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. JEPHSON ROWLEY. (L.S.)