IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-MAKING MACHINES.
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodore Grace, of the City and County of Bristol,
Agricultural Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAY-MAKING
MACHINES.'
Sealed the 29th July 1864, and dated the 5th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodore Grace at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th March 1864.
I, THEODORE GRACE, of the City and County of Bristol, Agricultural
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HAY-MAKING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The object of these improvements is, firstly, to dispense with the two
cylinders heretofore used in double-action hay-making machines; and, secondly,
in new modes of fixing and adjusting the rake teeth. The axle of the travel-
ling wheel carries a toothed driving wheel gearing into a pinion, which runs

page_text: loose on the rake shaft; on each side of this pinion and cast with it is a clutch
having a series of inclined faces. A corresponding clutch is fixed on either
side of the pinion by a feather, which slides to and fro in a slot in the rake
shaft, and is kept up to its work by a spring. This arrangement enables the
machine to turn freely at the end of the field without either of the driving
wheels being fixed. By moving the pinion backward or forward upon the
shaft it can be geared into the right or left hand clutch, thereby changing the
direction of the rakes at pleasure. The radial arms which carry the rake
bars are fitted with square-headed sockets at their outer ends to which the
rake bars are jointed, and are held in position by springs pressing on the
squares of the socket; or the rake bars are affixed to the radial arms by
means of indented cams kept in contact by a spring, the yielding of which
allows the required change of position when the rakes are to be thrown out
of action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theodore Grace in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
GRACE, of the City and County of Bristol, Agricultural Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Theodore Grace, Her special licence that I, the said Theodore Grace,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,. the said Theodore
Grace, 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
HAY-MAKING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Theodore Grace, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: 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 'Theodore Grace, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of these improvements is mainly to dispense with the two
cylinders heretofore used in double-action hay-making machines, that is, in
tedding and turning machines. For this purpose the travelling wheels carry
toothed driving wheels gearing into pinions which run loose on the rake shaft;
on each side of this pinion and cast with it is a clutch having a series of
inclined faces. A corresponding clutch is fixed on either side of the pinion
by a feather, which slides to and fro in a slot in the rake shaft, and is kept up
to its work by a spring. This arrangement enables the machine to turn freely
at the end of the field without either of the driving wheels becoming fixed.
By moving the pinion backward or forward upon the shaft it can be geared
into the right or left hand clutch, thereby changing the direction of the rakes
at pleasure. As I have reason to believe that the mode of fixing and adjusting
the rake teeth, as set forth in my Provisional Specification, is not new, the
description thereof is omitted in this Specification.
And in order that the manner of performing this my Invention may be
more clearly understood, reference is had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the following description thereof, that is to say :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bay-making machine constructed agreeably
to my said improvements; and Figure 2 is an enlarged back end view of the
The same letters refer to similar parts in each of these Figures.
same.
A is the frame of the machine mounted upon travelling wheels W; S are
the shafts; D, the driver's seat; B is a toothed wheel attached to the tra-
velling wheel W, which gears into a corresponding intermediate wheel B';
C is the rake shaft, upon which a pinion Ę turns freely, having cast on cach
of its two sides a series of inclined planes. On either side of this pinion there
are clutches ff, with corresponding inclined planes to engage with the
pinion E. These clutches turn with the rake shaft by means of a feather,
which slides to and fro in a groove in the rake shaft. In Figure 2 the
pinion E is shown in gear with the clutch f¹, which is kept in contact with
the pinion by a spiral spring G. Beneath the rake shaft C there is a compound
pinion h, i; when it is desired to reverse the direction of the rakes, the

page_text: pinion E is slid along the rake shaft into gear with the clutch ƒ³ and with
the pinion, which receives its motion from the driving wheel. B, through the
medium of the pinion 7, which causes the rake shaft to turn in the opposite
direction to that in which it previously moved. Figure 3 is an enlarged section
of another form of clutch, answering the same purpose as the foregoing. C is
the rake shaft, and E the pinion running freely thereon, cast in one piece with
the cylinder e; on the rake shaft there is a fixed boss, upon which there are
two inclined ratchet wheels f, g, with a plain cylindrical surface k between
them; jointed upon the pinion cylinder e, and working through openings
therein, are two palls, one right-handed, the other left, placed side by side,
so that when one is in contact with a ratchet wheel the other lays out of
action upon the plain surface k. In Figure 3 the pall p³ is shown engaged
with the ratchet, but if the pinion and cylinder be slid along the rake shaft
the pall p will be brought on to the plain surface k, and the pall p will
engage with the ratchet g, and cause the rake shaft to be turned in a reverse
direction by means of the compound pinion, as before described. Figure 4
is an end view of one of the ratchets, the teeth of which are inclined so as to
facilitate the sliding in and out of gear of the palls. A corresponding arrauge-
ment of wheels, pinions, and clutches is placed at each end of the rake shaft,
one set of which runs free on turning at the end of the field, thereby
dispensing with the two cylinders heretofore used in double-action (tedding
and turning) machines. The intermediate wheel B may be dispensed with,
if preferred, and a single large driving wheel employed. But I have found it
more advantageous to use the arrangement herein-before described and shewn,
which brings the rake shaft beyond the rim of the travelling wheel. In the
accompanying Drawings the rake shaft and pinions are shewn as carried by
the main framing A, but they may be mounted upon an inner frame moving
on a point coinciding with the centres of the wheels B or B2, so that on the
rake teeth coming into contact with any obstacle on the ground they would
rise and pass over it without any derangement of the gearing of the wheel-
work.
Having now described the nature of my said improvements in hay-making
machines, and the manner of performing the same, I desire it to be understood
that what I claim is,-
Firstly, the mode of driving the rake shaft of double-action hay-making
machines by clutches or ratchets, as herein-before described and shown, or
by any other mechanical equivalent, placed either on the rake shaft or the
wheels.

page_text: Secondly, the method of bringing the rake shaft beyond the rim of the
travelling wheels.
And, thirdly, the methoil of mounting the rake shaft in a frame capable of
moving up or down without deranging the gearing of the wheelwork.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Grace, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
W. BADDELEY,
Patent Agent,
Islington.
THEODORE GRACE. (L.S.)