Improvements in mowing machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1897-Accepted, 12th June, 1897
Improvements in mowing machines.
I, GERSON GERSTLE, of No. 9 Bayerstrasse, Munich, in the Kingdom of
Bavaria, German Empire, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The present invention consists of a mowing machine, which may be pushed or
pulled over the ground and which differs from the machines hitherto employed, in
that the cutters are not reciprocated or rotated but forn an endless band, which
extends round two sprocket or carrier wheels driven from the wheels on which
the machine is mounted. The cutter carrier wheels and their spindles are
mounted. so as to be capable of following the unevennesses of the ground they
traverse.
And in order to render the present specification more casily intelligible reference
is had to the accompanying drawings in which similar letters of reference denote
similar parts throughout the several views ;-
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine,
Fig. 2 a side elevation,
Fig. 3 a frout elevation and
Fig. 4 a detached part elevation of a piece of the cutter baud or chain, drawn to
a larger scale.
The frame of the machine is provided with a handle bar a' and is supported on
the wheels b, b. Two spindles c, c¹ are mounted to rotate in the said frame, said
spindles being vertically disposed and supported by means of collars d on the
frame a, so as to be capable of axial movement upwardly. The spindle c is driven
in the usual manner by the wheel b having crown of teeth 6 and the gears f, f', f.
The spindles c, c are squared at their lower ends and fitted with discs g, g¹ between
which the band or chain of cutters his mounted. The cutter forms an endless
band or chain consisting of a number of cutters m linked or jointed together
(Fig. 4), the length of each member of the chain being about equal to the length
of a side of the squared or polygonally shaped or sectioned ends of the two
spindles c, c so that the rotation of the shaft c will be communicated to the
spindle by means of the cutter chain. The transmission of motion may be
additionally secured by arranging a belt to run on the collars d of the two shafts c
and c. In order to retain the spindle c in its vertical position and to secure
permanent engagement of the gear f' with the gear 1, the upper end of the said
spindle is secured to the spindle of the gear by means of a stay bar i. The
trausmission of motion should be arranged in such proportion as to cause the cutter
chain to rotate twice as quickly as the machine is moved over the ground. A
strong, gutter-shaped protecting plate o is arranged below the cutter chain (Figs. 2
and 3) which is secured to the ends of the spindles c, c¹ and in case of unevenness
Euch as mole hills and the like this protecting plate transmits the jolt to the
spindles c, c which are free to move axially and will consequently move upwardly,
falling back into their normal position as soon as the obstacle has been overcome.
A rack p is mounted to rotate on the spindles c, c¹ just above the cutter chain h, in
order to lift the grass or grain and cause the same to be properly engaged by the
cutters.
A short distance above the cutter chain a chain is arranged carrying a series

page_text: of grippers or arms of any suitable shape, said arms being adapted to grip the
grass or grain cut and lay the same evenly by side.
At the same side of the frame a as the spindle c¹ is mounted, an angular arm vis
mounted, which may be vertically adjusted by means of a set screw, and which
carries at its lower end an emery grinding roll w (Fig. 2) serving, in case of
necessity to sharpen the cutters whilst they are rotating.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is ;-
A mowing machine in which the mowing is accomplished by means of an endless
chain or band formed by a series of cutters m mounted on two spindles having
polygonal sections at the parts on which the cutter band rotates, the cutters being
protected by a gutter or trough-shaped protecting plate o arranged underneath the
said cutters and connected with the cutter spindles acting to shift the same
axially when the plate comes into contact with unevennesses, substantially as
described.
TAL
1
L M
1 1000
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.