IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Archibald Brooman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th February 1862.-A communication from abroad by Marie Pierre
Amaranthe Ferdinand Mazier, of Laigle, France.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES," (communicated to me
from abroad by Marie Pierre Amaranthe Ferdinand Mazier, of Laigle,
France), to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing reaping and mowing machines
as will as hereafter described; and, first, in such manner that the carriage,
properly so called, is distinct from the mechanism, so that, among other
advantages, the shafts or pole may be raised or lowered without stopping
the work.
Second, in the employment of a suspended box or case for containing all
the working parts, to protect them from dust or dirt.
Third, in the employment of an endless screw for the transmission of motion
to the cutting blade, as hereafter described.
Fourth, in the employment below the knife of a foot or shoe, for the purpose
of varying the height of the cutting blade, as hereafter described.
Fifth, in the arrangements for working the knife, as hereafter described.
Sixth, in the construction of fingers, as hereafter described.
Seventh, in the employment of a small roller at the rear of the separator,
as bereafter described..

page_text: Eighth, in the means and appliances for setting the machine in and out of
gear.
Figure 1 is a plan of a machine constructed according to this Invention,
with the casing removed; Figure 2 is a similar view of the machine complete,
with parts broken to economize space; and Figure 3 is a side elevation of the
same.
A, A, are the bearing wheels, having on their external circumference a
zig-zag continuous rib; B is the axle on which the wheels are mounted; C is
a bevel wheel keyed on the axle B in gear with a pinion D, which is cast in a
piece with a wheel E, the teeth of which are inclined; this wheel E gears
into an endless screw F on a shaft terminating in a cranked plate or disc G,
which, through the connecting rod I, communicates a to-and-fro motion to the
cutting blade K; a, a, are the guards or fingers. The frame L of the machine
is supported above the axle B by brackets M; N is the driver's seat, supported
by rods connected to the frame L; O is a lever for raising and lowering the
finger beam by means of the chain S and lever T; it is placed within reach of
the driver when on his seat. The shafts or pole P are connected to the
frame I. The brackets M and parts connected therewith are shown detached
at Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7. The brackets on the axle B support the box or
case which surrounds the working parts; this box is suspended by straps Q
passing over the part 6 of the brackets, Figures 6 and 7, whereby motion, with
the axis of the axle as a centre, is preserved. The motion of the axle does not
interfere with the motion of the box or case, since the latter is free to turn
about the brackets by its straps and not about the axle itself; by this means
the box is kept at the required elevation from the ground. The motion
imparted by the endless screw to the cutting blade is continuous, and free from
shocks which take place when ordinary gearing is employed. The greater
portion of the case Y' is circular, but somewhat prolonged in front to be used
as a case and support for the endless screw F, and as a point of support for
the hinge of the knife frame, and this part or front of the casing or leg is
inclined to bring it near the ground. In Figures 8 and 9, R is a foot or shoe
for the knife frame, hinged to the leg, whereby the knife and frame may be
folded up. There is an enlargement y, Figure 9, below the foot R, which
acts in such manner as to enable one end of the knife to yield to slight impedi-
ments. The knife support is composed of a bar of iron U, V, Figures 8 and 9,
solidly held and bolted to the foot R. To this bar the guards a, a, Figure 10,
are rivetted; they are made by preference of cast iron; they abut against each
other and form with the bar U, V, a groove in which the knife rod is free to
slide, the upper part of the guard is made of wrought iron. The cutting blade

page_text: or knife K, Figures 11 and 12 is composed of a series of small steel segments
or sections h rivetted on a rod f; this rod, which, as before stated, slides in a
groove, is provided at bottom with projections which coming in contact with
the bottom of the groove prevent choking. The knives h have a slight frictional
contact with the guards, which is maintained by the pressure of springs 1, 1.
To further secure the knife bar in the groove it is bevelled, and receives at its
corresponding part for a length in proportion to the play of the knife, a
supplementary piece of metal partially covering the groove, and also bevelled
in such manner that the knife and its support form a simple slide. The end
of the support is maintained above the ground by means of a cast-iron foot or
separator covered with sheet iron. In this separator there is an appliance for
cleaning away a space for the passage of the knife on its return. The separator
is prolonged backwards and terminates in a small roller p, which serves as a
support for it when the frame is raised by means of the lever in such manner
that the point of the separator itself is raised a distance equal to the sine of
the angle described. It has been before stated that the motion is imparted
from the axle B and transmitted by the wheel C, thus by throwing the wheels C
and D out of gear the motion of the machine is stopped. This may be
accomplished in various ways, the pinion C being keyed on the axle B; the
axle may be made to slide in the brackets or sockets, or the case may slide on
the sockets or brackets of the axle, or by making the axle a fixture with the
case, which is free to slide with the wheel D, either parallel with the axis of
the great pinion or from the top towards the bottom, or the large pinion C may
be made to slide on the axle, or in any more convenient manner. Under tho
case Y' there is a rectangular box having two rectangular apertures in it, and
in which a block, having two projections, Figures 13 and 14, is free to slide,
the shaft of a small pinion is fixed on the block parallel with the axle. A
lever pivoted about the point u acts on this block, and according as it is
carried to the right or to the left serves for throwing the wheels C and D
in and out of gear.