IMPROVEMENTS IN RAKES AND RAKE-OPERATING MECHANISM FOR HARVESTING MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAKES AND RAKE-OPERATING MECHANISM
FOR HARVESTING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by
States of
David M. Osborne, of Auburn, New York, United
América.
Sealed the 9th April 1872, and dated the 19th February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 19th February 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, South-
ampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAKES AND RAKE-OPERATING MECHANISM FOR HARVESTING MACHINES," and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by David M. Osborne, of Auburn, New York, United States of
America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification.
This Invention consists in combining with a revolving rake, or with a
revolving rake and reel or beaters, irregular gear wheels, one fixed and
the other turning around it, whereby the rake may move across or over
the platform or grain table in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position,
and thus sweep a plain platform of the cut grain.
And the said Invention consists in combining with a revolving rake
or revolving rake and beaters, and with irregular gear wheels as above
stated for operating such rake, or rake and beaters, mechanism by means
of which the rake may pass over the platform without sweeping it, and
in so doing set the mechanism so that on the next round it will sweep
the platform, unless again thrown out of action by the operator.
And the said Invention further consists in operating a revolving rake
and reel upon a reaping or mowing machine by means of two
regular bevelled cog wheels, one of which is movable and the other
stationary.
Figure 1 represents in perspective, a harvesting machine, naving this
improved rake and rake-operating mechanism applied thereto.
Figure 2 represents a top plan of the rake and its mechanism, and of so
much of the machine as will illustrate their operation.
Figures 3, 4, and 5, represent portions of the mechanism not so
distinctly seen in the other Figures.
Figures 6 and 7 represent another and very simple mode of applying
the fixed and revolving gear wheels to the rake, but which does not

page_text: other figures.
The rake in Figures 1 and 2 is shown as applied to what is known as
the "Kirby machine," but it is equally applicable to other harvesting
machines, and it is proposed to so apply and use it.
The bracket A in and on which the rake and rake-moving mechanism
are supported and turn is firmly secured to the main frame B by braces C.
The reel or beater arms D are secured in the head E, and revolve with
said head, being driven from the main driving wheel F through a bevel
pinion a, on the shaft that drives the cutters, the bevel wheel G and
bevel pinion 6 on a shaft that passes through a sleeve or support H, and
a large bevel wheel I on the shaft to which the head E is fastened, and
by and with which said head and the beaters connected to it aro
revolved.
To a brace or permanent supporting arm J there is fixed an immovable
bevel gear wheel K, having some of its teeth as at c, irregularly formed
or cut for a purpose to be hereafter explained. The hub and central
portion of this bevel wheel K is so made that the shaft on which the
large bevel wheel I and the head E are fixed, may pass through and
freely turn in the said hub or central portion. To a sleeve, boss, or hub
d, through which also the shaft that carries the gear wheel I and head
E passes, but with which shaft the said sleeve, boss, or hub turns, there
is attached a journal e, which is somewhat inclined to form an angle less
than a right angle, with regard to the outer end of the reel or beater
driving shaft f, Figure 5. On this journal is placed and turns an
irregular bevel gear wheel L, having some of its teeth c¹ irregularly cut
or formed, but so as to match and gear with the irregular teeth c on the
bevel wheel K, with which it meshes, and around which it rolls and
turns.
On the irregular wheel L there is attached or formed a seat or shoc g,
to which the rake arm M is pivotted at h, and on the rake arm or its
heel piece N there is pivotted a spring dog i which takes against a
shoulder 1 on the shoe g to lock the rake arm in a certain position, viz. :
its working position, but which dog is automatically thrown out when
the rake is to pass over the platform without clearing it, and again
automatically thrown into action to set the rake for sweeping or clearing
the platform on its next round. On the said heel piece N there is also

page_text: a friction roll j, which runs on a cam way when the rake is raised up so
as to pass over the platform without acting or sweeping it.
The cam way O is pivotted at 2 to the bracket or frame that supports
the rake and its operating mechanism, and is supported on an inclined
portion thereof, so that when it is moved upon its pivot it will move
upward and outward. To another portion of the bracket or gear frame
as at 3, there is pivotted a dog or trigger k having a weight attached to
it, to move it when not otherwise controlled into a certain position
defined by the pin 4 coming against the bracket or frame. And to
another portion of the bracket or frame as at 5 there is pivotted a foot
lever P, the outer end of which is connected to the cam way O by a rod
m, on which there is a projecting arm n. Near the outer end of the
foot lever P there is a small bevelled projection 6, and underneath this
projection there is an opening o into which a hook 7 on one of the arms
of the trigger k takes, to hold up the said foot lever, and through the said
foot lever and the rod m to hold up the cam way, so that the rake by
its friction roll j shall ride upon the said cam way and at such height
above the platform as will allow it to pass over without touching the cut
grain thereon.
and
When the cam way is raised by the foot lever P (which is done by the
operator from his seat Q, pressing his right foot upon the end of said
lever) and is caught and held up by the hook 7 as above described,
as the heel of the rake approaches and is ready through its friction roll j
to take and ride upon said cam way, the end of the spring dog i comes
against a projection 8 on the cam way, which throws said dog out of
its notch or shoulder 1, and releasing the rake N from the shoe g, allows
said rake to move on its pivot h. The rake so released rides upon the
cam way which is held up for that purpose until the projection 9, on the
gear wheel comes against the arm p of the trigger k, and moving said
trigger it draws the hook 7 out of the opening o in the foot lever P, and
allows said foot lever together with the cam way to drop down, but be
caught and held from going too far by the arm n on the rod m, which is
caught by the arm 9 of the trigger as seen in Figure 1. Before or about
the same time that the projection 9 on the gear wheel trips the trigger k
to allow the parts to pass into proper position for the rake to act, at the
next round, the shoe g moves upon the rake heel N until the spring dog i
comes opposite and shoots into its notch or shoulder, and the rake and
the shoe are again locked and moved together. There is a shoulder r on

page_text: the dog i, which, when it comes against the shoulder 1 on the shoe,
defines the extent of motion of the rake upon the shoe, or vice versa.
Of the irregular gearing K, L, of which K is a fixed immovable wheel,
and La moveable one around its journal, as well as rolling around the
perimeter of the fixed gear wheel K, it may be said that so long as the
regular teeth or cogs of the said wheels are in mesh, the rake is revolving
in the arc of an irregular circle or curve, owing to the angle at which
the journal or shaft of the moving or travelling gear wheel L stands in
relation to the shaft of the immoveable gear wheel K. When however the
irregular cogs or teeth c, c³, of these two wheels interlock or mesh, the
motion of the rake is in a horizontal instead of a circular path, and this
horizontallity continues until the rake has traversed nearly or entirely
over the whole of the platform. The irregular teeth or cogs c, c¹, are
deeper and more remote from each other than the regular ones, and they
roll against each other without actually driving all the time, so that the
rake travels, but not in a circular path. The importance of these
irregular gear wheels K, L, and of their action upon the rake, consists
in the facility with which such a rake may be made to travel over and
sweep a perfectly horizontal platform.
•
Much of the detail of this rake driving mechanism (as for instance the
manner in which the several parts are placed on and supported by a
common shaft f, and yet some of them independent of the rotation of
said shaft is clearly shewn in the Drawing and need not be elaborately
described as no specific claim is made to these details. Nor is it deemed
necessary here to elaborately describe the many parts and devices of the
machine itself as they do not constitute any of the essentials of the
matter which is claimed, and are moreover shown in the Drawing.
In the modification shown in Figures 6 and 7, R is a standard with its
top inclined to make a suitable bearing for the inclined shaft T; S is
the stationary bevelled cog wheel which is attached to the inclined
portion of the standard R; T is a driving shaft passing through the
incline of the standard, and through the centre of the wheel S, and
having a short shaft U attached to it at right angles, or, which operates
better, at an angle less than a right angle or an acute angle, which
allows the rake W to travel over a platform almost level or horizontal,
whilst if the shaft U stands at a right angle to the main shaft T,
then the rake will move in the arc of a circle which would require a

page_text: concave platform to conform thereto. But giving the shaft U more
obliquity in regard to the shaft T, will, as above stated, allow the rake to
clear a horizontal platform, such as are in most common use.
V is a
moveable bevelled cog wheel whose teeth mesh with those of the stationary
one and having a sleeve & constructed therewith, and through which
sleeve the short shaft U is inserted. The said wheel V is held on the short
shaft U by said shaft U being diminished in diameter, so that the
sleeve will come against a shoulder formed on the end thereof, the wheel
V being placed on the shaft first, and the shaft then properly attached to
the shaft T.
The rake W is arranged on a rake arm W' which is attached to the
sleeves at such an angle as will bring the rake to a line parallel with
the front of the platform, the platform being very slightly concave to
conform to the revolving motion of the rake.
It will be seen that by the inclination of the shafts T and U the rake
is caused to move on an inclined plane, which motion requires less
concavity of the platform than if the rake moved in a vertical plane.
The inclination of the shafts may be still increased, and thus require
but little if any concavity in the platform.
The power to drive the rake and reel may be applied in any suitable 2
manner, it being derived or taken from the driving wheel or wheels of
the harvesting machine. I have shown it applied by or through a short
shaft t, which is arranged horizontally in a standard u, and which
connects with the shaft T by a universal point as at X.
The reel arms shown at Y, Y, are attached to the end of the driving 2
shaft T, the end of which shaft may be made square or sided to receive
them.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. In combination with the moveable and immoveablo gear wheels
L, K, for revolving the rake, the irregular teeth or cogs c, c', on the said
gear wheels for moving the rake horizontally across or over the platform,
substantially as described.
3
I also claim in combination with the rake moved by the two gear 3
wheels L, K, and in an irregular path or circuit the spring latch i for

page_text: locking the said rake to its shoe, and for unlatching it when the rake is
to rise to cross the platform without clearing it, substantially as
described.
I also claim the combination of the pivotted and latched or unlatched
rake arm, with the pivotted cam way, whereby said cam way when
thrown up shall first unlatch the rake and then admit of its being again
latched, as and for the purpose described.
I also claim the combination of the moveable and immoveable gear
wheels L, K, the foot lever P, pivotted cam way O, link m, and trigger
or dog k, for raising and holding up the cam way when the rake is not
to act in clearing the platform, substantially as described.
I also claim in combination with the gear wheels L, K, and the
trigger or dog k, for catching and holding up the foot lever and cam
way, the projection 9 on the gear wheel for tripping the said trigger and
allowing the cam way and lever to drop, and thus set the rake for
sweeping the platform on its next round, as described.
I also claim the inclined shaft T, provided with the fixed and plain
bevel gear wheel S, in combination with the revolving bevel gear wheel
V, and inclined rake and reel arms, constructed to operate in the manner
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.
5 Witness,
EDWARD C. JACKSON.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.S.)