AN IMPROVEMENT IN REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ridley, of Stagshaw, in the County of
Northumberland, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
REAPING MACHINES."
Sealed the 19th September 1861, and dated the 20th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ridley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
March 1861.
I, JOHN RIDLEY, of Stagshaw, in the County of Northumberland, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
REAPING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the reaping machine known as the "Australian
reaping machine," invented by me, and successfully worked in South Australia,
in which the ears of corn or other grain are taken hold of by a part of the
machine, and either separated from the straw, or have the grain beaten or
Invention
thrashed out from them, the straw in either case being left; and my
consists in combining with such "Australian reaping machine" a knife or
cutting apparatus of any suitable form, for the purpose of cutting the straw
near the ground.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ridley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RIDLEY, of Stagshaw, in the County of Northumberland, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Ridley, Her special licence that I, the said John Ridley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Ridley, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN REAPING
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Ridley,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Ridley, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:
My Invention relátes. to the reaping machine known as the "Australian
reaping machine," invented by me, and successfully worked in South Australia,
in which the ears of corn or other grain are taken hold of by a part of the
machine, and either separated from the straw, or have the grain beaten or
thrashed out from them; the straw in either case being left; and my Invention
consists in combining with such "Australian reaping machine" a knife or
cutting apparatus of any suitable form, for the purpose of cutting the straw
near the ground.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a

page_text: plan, of so much of a reaping machine as will be necessary to show how my
Invention may be carried into effect.
a, a, are the running or bearing wheels mounted on an axle b; c, c, is the
platform. The part between the wheels, marked in the plan d, forms a box or
receptacle for the ears of corn or thrashed corn, having a door at back by
which it is removed. The fore part of the machine carries a comb e, for
gathering the ears and bringing them into contact with the beatus or cutter.
This comb is composed of a. row of spikes or teeth extending the whole
breadth of the machine, and it may be raised or lowered to suit the height of
the standing crop by a rack and pinion, or screw and worm wheel. f, f, are
the beaters on a shaft g, on one end of which there is a pulley h, round which
a strap passes to a pulley i on a shaft k, working in bearings above the running
wheels a, a. Motion is communicated to the pulley i by means of conical
-discs 1, 1, on the shaft k, being brought into frictional contact with the edges of
the running wheels a, a; provision is also made for adjusting the speed of this
pulley i, and consequently that of the beaters by the distance at which the
discs are kept from each other. m is a knife or cutting blade, having a
reciprocating motion imparted to it by a serpentine wheel ' and lever h².
This knife is used for cutting off the ears of corn, and when it is employed the
beaters need not revolve at so great a speed as when the corn is being thrashed;
the beaters in this case being only required to throw the ears into the box.
p is a bar in front of the comb e, for preventing straw entering the comb too
soon or below the first joint; q is a knife at the rear end of the machine,
having a reciprocating motion imparted to it by means of a bell-crank lever q¹
in connection with a rod r, receiving motion from a crank s on the wheel s¹,
which is mounted on one end of the same shaft as the driving wheels a, a, and
is driven by a belt from the wheel i; t, t, are arms, which support a shaft
carrying a spiral radiating flyer t¹ for raising or lifting the straw, and passing
it over the cutter. Figure 3 is a back view of this flyer on a smaller scale
than in Figure 1. Rotary motion is imparted to it through a belt passing
round the pulley t, and round another pulley t, on the same shaft as the
discs 1, 1; v is a rack, and v'a pinion gearing into it, worked by the worm
wheel n, and screw and handle o, by which the front of the machine is raised
or lowered to adjust it to the height of the standing crop; w is a lever, by
which the cutter q is raised and lowered. The conical discs 1, 1, are raised
from contact with the running wheels a, a, by the lever W₁ and the spiral x.
There is a platform at the side of the machine, supported by the wheels w
and w¹, to which a pole or shafts is or are attached in such manner that the
weight of the machine may when desired be thrown on the horse's back. This

page_text: is accomplished by means of a screw and supports in connection with the
platform and the shafts or pole. As the machine advances to the standing
crop the combs e seize the straw, and bring the ears in position to be struck
by the beaters f, or cut off by the knife m, and deposited in the receptacle d.
The straw is then pressed under the machine to the rear thereof, where it
is cut off near the ground by the knife q, and carried over the knife by the
.flyer t¹:
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the combination
of a machine known as the Australian reaping machine, with a knife or other
cutting apparatus, substantially in manner and for the purposes herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ridley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
:
JOHN RIDLEY.
(L.S.)