Improvements in Cord Knotters for Grain Binders.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1891-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cord Knotters for Grain Binders.
I, ANDREW STARK, of 974, Warren Avenue, Chicago, County of Cook and
State of Illinois, in the United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 is an outer side elevation of my improved knotter the breast plate being
in section at a vertical plane outside the knotter.
Fig. 2 is a rear elevation.
Fig. 3 is a sectional front elevation, section being made at the line 3 3 on
Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a section at the line 4 4 on Figs. 2 and 3.
Fig. 5 is a sectional detail plan of the breast plate and knotting and holding
devices, section being made at the horizontal plane indicated by the line 55 on
Fig. 1 except as to the tucker which is cut at the line 5 a the position of the parts
being that of rest as to the knotting mechanism, the needle being in the position
reached just before any action of the knotting devices commences and before the
needle has fully "come home."
Fig. 6 is a similar view of the same parts the position being that occupied at the
instant the needle has reached the limit of its motion or "come home," the tucker
having started and moved across the plane of the path of the needle and engaged
the cord on its way the knotter bill being just about to start its rotary motion.
Fig. 7 is a similar detail of the same parts in the position occupied after the
knotter has made half its revolution.
Fig. 8 is a similar view of the same parts the position being that occupied at the
instant of cutting the cord the knot being completed and ready to be discharged
from the bill.
Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation, looking rearward, showing the parts in the position
occupied after the needle has partly receded showing how it lays the strand of cord
with respect to the knotting devices preparatory to the next bundle.
Fig. 10 is a detail similar to Fig. 9 in so far as it extends, but showing the
position of the parts an instant later than they are shown in Fig. 9 illustrating the
effect of the strand placed by the needle in its recession in closing the bill.
Fig. 11 is a sectional plan of the parts shown in Fig. 9 in substantially the same
position as in said figure, section being made at substantially the same plane as
Fig. 5 indicated by the line 55 on Fig. 1.
Fig. 12 is a detail clevation of the cord holder disc and clamp and knife and the
immediately supporting parts of the frame looking from the vertical plane of the
needle toward the holder.
Fig. 13 is a bottom plan of the knotter spindle bearing, the adjacent supporting
arm of the bearing being cut in section at the plane of the end of the bearing.
The purpose of this invention is to provide simplified mechanism for tying knots
in binding grain with cord, a special purpose being to ensure the greatest possible
certainty of operation so that there will be no danger of missing knots whatever the
condition of the cord or the grain.
A. is the breast plate. Bis the knotter frame. C is the knotter driving shaft
D is the knotter cam wheel. E is the knotter bill. E' is the knotter pinion
fixed on the shaft or spindle of the knotter bill and actuated by the gear segment D'
on the wheel D. G is a stud axle or bolt rigid with the knotter frame on which
the holder disc G₁ G2 is journalled. G³ is the holder shoe pivoted at g³ on the
frame B and G30 is a knife edge on one of the flanges of the shoe for cutting the

page_text: cord. F is the tucker arm, which terminates at the upper end in a yoke F¹ which
encircles the shaft C and the bearing of said shaft in the frame B and has two
interiorly projecting trunnions. fin.horizontal line at its opposite sides, which
are lodged in notches in the end of the bearing of the shaft C, whereby the tucker
is pivoted on a horizontal pivot to the frame, the hub of the cam wheel D, when
placed upon the shaft and up, against the end of the bearing serving to retain the
trunnions in said notches.
At the upper and lower end of the yoke F¹ it has exterior projections F10 and F1
respectively which are engaged alternately by the cam D2 on the cam wheel D,
whereby the said yoke and tucker arm are rocked back and forth once as the cam
wheel makes each revolution. The friction between these projections and the cam
may be diminished by anti friction rollers, as f", shown on the upper projection,
this projection receiving the greatest pressure and most needing such provision for
diminishing friction.
The lower end of the tucker arm F is provided with a hook or notch F2 open
rearward that is forward in the direction of the operating movement of the arm, as
will hereinafter appear.
The purpose of said hook is to engage and tuck the cord around the knotter bill
and into the holder as more fully explained hereafter.
The breast plate has the usual slot or opening A¹ for the passage of the needle
and the cord, said slot being deflected at the vicinity of the knotter bill that is, the
breast plate having an indentation A in the edge of the slot upon the side of the
plane of the needle upon which the knotter bill stands and having from the other
side of the slot a projection or finger A which extends across the plane of the
path of the needle and cord and partly into the indentation A".
On the opposite side of the plane of the needle from the bearing of the knotter
bill, the arm or finger B which is shown formed rigid with the breast plate projects
rearward and outward across the plane of the path of the needle, terminating at a
point outward from the finger A₁ of the breast plate and above the level of that
finger, being also above the level of the knotter bill; the end of said finger B
overhanging the point of the knotter bill at the position of rest of the latter. The
purpose of this finger B will appear as the description of this knotting operation
proceeds. The knotter frame has the bearing B for the knotter bill spindle or
shaft, and the lower end of said bearing for about ninety degrees about the axis of
the spindle is in a plane at right angles to said axis and may be called horizontal,
and the remainder is cut away to form a sloping approach to the said horizontal
portion; the whole end of the bearing constituting a cam surface C for opening
and holding open the knotter bill, the said horizontal part of such cam which
occupies ninety degrees holding the bill open through so much of its revolution.
The oscillating jaw is pivoted to the fixed jaw of the bill and operates freely in
relation thereto without any spring either to open or close it, its movement in
opening and closing being controlled entirely by the cam surface forming the end
of the bearing B2, said cam, as stated, causing it to open at a certain time and
holding it open for a certain portion of its revolution, and being cut away to permit
the bill to close, but containing no provision for closing it positively after the heel
of the oscillating jaw passes the portion which thus detains it open. The bearing B20
is flared outward at the lower end on the forward side of the needle so that in that
direction it extends forward past the rearwardly projecting end of the finger B*.
This flared or projecting portion of said bearing is indicated by the letter B in the
drawings. The tucker arm F is bowed forward between the yoke F' and the notch
or hook F² said bowed portion extending around the path of the needle, that is the
upper portion of the arm being above that path and the lower portion having the
hook being level with the path of the needle, and at certain of its positions
wherein the hook is rearward of the path, said lower portion of the arm being below
the path of the needle so that the needle passes or stands between the upper and
the lower portions of said arms within the bow.
The holder comprises the two discs G¹ and G2 separated by a slight interval and

page_text: connected by the neck G. It is journalled as stated on the stud axle or bolt G on
the frame B rearward from the knotter bill spindle bearing, said axle being at right
angles to said spindle bearing, the holder disc therefore revolving in a plane parallel
to the knotter bill axis, and on the opposite side of said bill from the path of the
needle. I do not consider it material that the axis of the holder should be strictly
at right angles to that of the bill, nor that the revolution of the disc should be at a
plane parallel to that of the needle, considerable variations from these exact
directions being not inconsistent with the general mode of action of the combination.
The rear disc G' of the holder has the notches C10 (as illustrated there are four
such notches) in which the cord is laid as hereinafter described, by the tucker,
and the shoe G³-clasps the disc G on the underside, forming as it were
a trough or channel in which said disc revolves, the point of the shoc projecting
outward, that is in the direction of the binding stroke of the needle or in the
direction of the discharge of the bundle nearly to the plane of the movement of the
tucker arm F.
The forward flange of the shoe is sharpened at a portion a short distance back
from its extremity, said sharpened edge Go serving as the knife to sever the cord,
at the proper point in the operation, its exact location being determined by the fact
that the cutting must not be effected until the knotter bill has closed upon the
ends of the cord, and being therefore such that the cord which is carried against it
by the notched and toothed discs G and G2, as more particularly hereinafter
explained, will not have reached it until the knotter bill has closed. Practically
and as illustrated, the sharpened edge is located a little inward from a vertical piane
through the axis of the holder. Projecting from the rear side of the cam wheel D,
is the stud pin D which is in proper position to engage the notches Go on the
discs G of the holder, to rotate the holder a certain portion of a revolution for
each complete revolution of the cam wheel. Just behind the stud D' the rim of
the cam wheel D is cut out to form a notch D' which occupies several degrees of
the periphery of the cam wheel. Into this notch the teeth G20 of the disc G2
of the holder pass as the holder is revolved by the movement of the pin D in the
notch Go and the farther edge of the notch D' engages the tooth G on the
back after the pin D' has passed clear of the notch G10 and gives a further move-
ment to the holder disc in the same direction in which it was actuated by the
pin D.
The angular extent of the notch D³ is such that there is an interval between the
time the pin D leaves the notch G and the time the farther edge of the notch D³
engages the tooth G20 and during this interval the holder halts in its rotary
movement. The extremities of consecutive teeth G20 on the disc G2 are at such
distance that they may simultaneously contact the periphery of the cam wheel D,
so that when the rotation of the cam wheel has carried the notch D' clear of the
tooth G which was engaged in it, and leave the extremity of the tooth trailing on
the periphery of the cam wheel, the next tooth is also stopped by the periphery of
the cam wheel, and thereby the holder is locked against rotary motion until the
next revolution of the cam wheel brings the pin D again into engagement with
the notch G. The detail form and relation of the parts will be made more fully
apparent in the course of the following description.
The operation of this structure is as follows.
The parts being in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 one end of the cord being
grasped in the holder and running thence forward and grainward around and over
the knotter bill and over the finger A" to the needle eye (this position of the cord
being shown in Fig. 5), the needle rises, and carries the second strand of the cord
around the bundle laying it upon the finger A" and also onto the finger B. If the
cord should chance to have been crowded rearward against the knotter frame it will
have been guided forward by the flaring flange B", at the end of the knotter bill
bearing B as stated. This position of the parts including the needle, and of the
cord is shown in Fig. 4. At this stage the cam D³ encounters the yoke F¹ at the
end which has the antifriction roll on the projection F and as the cam wheel

page_text: revolves, that end of the yoke is rocked away from the plane of the cam wheel
rocking the tucker arm on its pivot and swinging its lower hooked or notched end
rearward across the plane of the movement of the needle, and causing its notch F2
to engage in the cord running from the needle eye back over the finger B₁ to the
bundle, and deflecting the cord rearward, thereby slipping it off of the finger B
and lodging it on the knotter bill, or if it has as will frequently be the case, already
been slipped off from the finger B in the process of packing the bundle, and is
lodged on top of the knotter bill pushing said strand of cord farther on toward
the spindle of the bill, wrapping it partly around the same, the position of the cords
and of the other parts mentioned being then as shown in Fig. 6. At this instant
the knotter bill with the cord thus tucked close up against its spindle, begins its
revolution revolving in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 5 gathering the cord
which rests on it and on the finger A" and carrying them off from said finger,
wrapping them around the knotter bill at the same time so that by the time the
knotter bill has completed half a revolution, said cords are wrapped around both
the jaws of the bill, as seen in Fig. 7. In the meanwhile the cam D2 has continued
to actuate the tucker arm and its lower end has been caused to swing still farther
rearward carrying the cord engaged in its notch past the holder, and laying it into
the notch G10 of the disc G' and between the teeth G20 of the disc G2, from between
which the other end of the cord already runs to the knotter bill.
At this stage
the pin D engaging the notch G of the disc G' (as illustrated it is the notch
opposite the one in which the cord is being laid that is thus engaged) and begins
to rotate the holder which carries the cord engaged in the first mentioned notch
down into the shoe G³, wherein it is folded over the edge of the disc G¹, and
grasped between said disc and the two flanges of the shoe on the opposite sides of
the disc with so short a bight that with very slight pressure it is securely held in
the holder. I prefer however to make the holder shoe of steel sheet and of
sufficient length so that the two flanges may have enough elasticity to permit cord
of considerably varying thickness to be carried in by the holder and grasped and
held therein with sufficient firmness to ensure the operation as designed but no
spring is employed to force the shoe onto the flange or give it pressure thereon.
While the cord is being thus carried into the shoe by the notch G the tooth G
which is following and driving it forces it upon the inclined edge of the forward
flange of the shoc, this edge being smooth and adapted to permit the cord thus to
slide up upon it as it is forced by the tooth G, and the second cord thus about
overtakes the first cord by the time the pin D has passed clear of the notch G
During this time the knotter bill has revolved farther with its upper jaw held open
by the engagement of its heel under the cam face at the end of the bearing Bin
a manner that is familiar and need not be particularly set out, and standing thus
open receives between it the two cords running from the holder to the knot on the
bill, and while the holder halts for an instant in the interval after the engagement
of the pin D and before the engagement of the notch D with the holder draws
the cord tight between the holder and the bill and causes the cord, wound round
the bill, and thus drawn tight to force the jaws of the bill together making them
grasp the ends of the cord which have entered between them. The two cords are
caused to be with certainty in proper position to be received between the open jaws
at the instant noted, by the height of the flange of the holder shoe, onto which the
cords have been driven by the tooth G20 of the holder disc G2, the point at which
the cords pass out of the holder being obviously at this stage the angle of inter-
section of the driving edge of the tooth G and the guiding edge which is the
upper edge, of the forward flange of the shoe, and this point is therefore definitely
and absolutely fixed by the construction and timing of the machine.
The knotter bill having moved the distance which it has time to move after the
holder ceases to be actuated by the pin D and having thus drawn the cords tight
and caused them to force the bill shut, the rear edge of the notch D³ comes into
engagement with the rear face or edge of the tooth G20 and again actuates the
holder a short distance, causing the forward or driving edge of the tooth G20 and

page_text: the rear, which is the cord receiving edge of the notch G" said edges being in
line transversely to the plane of the disc, to carry the cord lodged across said two
edges against the sharpened edge D of the forward flange of the shoe, that is
against the cord severing knife which it will be observed is a fixed knife, and
thereby causes both cords to be cut, the knotter bill meanwhile continuing to draw
the cords taut, and immediately after they are severed completeing its revolution
and coming to rest in the initial position pointing outward more or less directly.
The bundle now hanging from the knotter bill, from which the knot is ready to
be stripped off and being pressed by the dischargers to eject it from the machine,
readily pulls the knot off the bill and completes it in the process. The knotter bill
has the spur or tooth e projecting up from the lower or fixed jaw, at the forward
side of the oscillating jaw, which as the knot is pulled off engages the ends and
pulls then through the loop, causing the knot to be a fast knot and not a bow
knot. It will be observed that the cords having been cut on the forward side of
the disc G and at the upper edge of the shoe, the ends on the opposite side of the
knife from the knot are left still firmly grasped in the holder being doubled over
the edge of the flange G' and into the shoe. As the action of the mechanism
continues, and the needle recedes it carries the cord which is still lodged in the
notch back, and folds it around the projection F, which forms the guard of
said notch at the forward side. Before the eye of the receding needle has passed
back to the position of the finger B₁, the cam wheel continuing its rotation causes
the cam D2 engaging the lower end of the yoke F1 to rock the tucker arm F
back toward its original position, and the cord lodged on the tucker arm, that is
folded around the projection F20 is, in that movement of the tucker arm, carried so
far forward that as the needle recedes farther, it lays the cord onto the finger B.
This finger, at this stage, overhangs the point of the bill which has come to
rest and the cord thus lodged on the finger B*, and carried thence back over the
finger A" as the needle further recedes is caused to slide off from the finger B⭑
and lodge upon the upper or oscillating jaw of the bill and close it, thereby
avoiding all danger which might otherwise exist, that the cord thus carried by the
receding needle might be lodged between the jaws of the bill, if as will frequently
be the case, at this juncture, they stand open, there being no spring or other
device to close them after they are released and partially pulled open by the
escaping knot.
I do not limit myself to the employment of a fixed knife to sever the cord, the
essential characteristic of the knife being its position on the farther side of the
knotter bill from the plane of the needle's movement and substantially or approxi-
mately in line transversely with the shank of the bill. I do not design to be
limited to the particular device shown for deflecting the cord across the plane
of the needle's movement on the farther side of the knotter bill and holder, the
essential feature being that the device employed shall take the cord between
the eye of the needle and the bill and deflect it as described. I do however
prefer as a simple and convenient means for these purposes, the fixed knife and
the deflecting arm respectively.
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 :-
1. In combination with the needle, the knotter bill having its axis at one side
of the plane of the needle's movement, and a cord deflecting device which moves
from the side of said plane opposite the knotter bill across said plane at a
position beyond the knotter bill toward the discharge side to deflect the cord
against the knotter bill shank at said discharge side of the bill substantially as
set forth.
2. In combination with the needle the knotter bill having its axis at one side
of the plane of the needle's movement the holder receiving the cord at a point
farther from said plane than the knotter bill axis and on the same side of said

page_text: plane, a cord deflecting device operating from the side of said, plane opposite
the knotter bill axis across said plane and past the knotter bill and cord receiving
notch of the holder to carry the cord to the holder substantially as set forth.
3. In combination with the needle, the knotter bill, a fixed finger projecting
transversely to the plane of the needle's movement between the path of the needle's
eye and the knotter bill at a point dischargeward from the knotter bill axis and a
-cord deflecting arm moving across the plane of the needle in a path also located
dischargeward from the bill near to said fixed finger, to take the cord lodged
thereon by the needle in its advance substantially as set forth.
4. In combination with the needle and the knotter-bill, said knotter bill having
its vibrating jaw freely pivoted to the fixed jaw, means for opening the vibrating
jaw and holding it open during part of its revolution, the jaw being otherwise free
from actuation by the mechanism, a fixed finger located dischargeward from the
bill's axis and projecting across the plane of the needle's movement between the
path of the needle's eye and the bill, to receive the cord as the needle recedes, and
cause it to be lodged on top of the freely pivoted jaw of the knotter bill to close
the same, substantially as set forth.
5. In combination with the needle and with the knotter bill located at one side
of the plane of the needle's movement, the holder located and operating in a plane
substantially parallel to that of the needle's movement and on the opposite side of
the knotter bill axis from the plane of the needle, and a cord deflecting arm
operating across both said planes from the side of the plane of the needle's move-
ment which is opposite the knotter bill to the side of the plane of the cord holder
movement opposite the knotter bill thus carrying the cord onto the bill and into the
holder substantially as set forth.
6. In combination with the needle, and the knotter bill, the holder on the opposite
side of the knotter bill from the plane of the needle's movement, mechanism which
rotates the holder to cause it to carry the cord away from the discharge side of the
machine, and a fixed knife against which the cord is carried by said movement of
the holder whereby the cord is wrapped around the knotter bill by the movement
of the holder carrying the cord into it up to the moment of cutting substantially
as set forth.
7. In combination with the needle and the cord holder operating in substantially
parallel planes and the knotter bill between said planes, mechanism which actuates
the bill and mechanism which revolves the holder grainward on the side whereat it
carries the cord to the shoe, said mechanism timed to give the holder its said cord
actuating movement while the bill is revolving stubbleward on the side toward the
holder substantially as set forth.
8. In combination with the needle and the knotter bill and the knotter actuating
cam wheel revolving in a plane parallel to the path of the needle the cord holder
actuated directly by said cam wheel and revolving in a plane substantially
parallel to that wheel substantially as set forth.
9. In combination substantially as set forth, the cam wheel, the knotter bill, a
fixed cord-severing knife, a holder disc adjacent to the knife, and located substan-
_tially parallel to the cam wheel, said cam wheel having abutments which engage
the holder disc and rotate it in two stages with an interval for each knotting
operation, the first to carry the cords to the shoe before they are received between
the jaws of the bill, the second to carry the cord in the holder notches against the
knife after the bill has revolved to take in the cords between the jaws.
10. In combination with the holder having two dises the cam wheel having two
abutments which engage the discs respectively each once in each revolution of the
cam wheel, the position of said abutments and their respective engaging points on
the discs being so located that said abutments actuate the holder at different times
the actuation of the one ceasing and being followed by an interval of rest of the
holder before the actuation of the other commences substantially as set forth.
11. In combination with the holder having two discs tlie cam wheel having two
abutments which engage the discs respectively each once in each revolution of the

page_text: cam wheel said abutments and their respective points of engagement on the disc being
so situated relatively that the actuation caused by one of the abutments is followed
by an interval of rest before that caused by the other commences, the knotter bill
and the mechanism which actuates it timed to cause the bill to receive the cords
between its jaws and accomplish a portion of its rotation after so receiving them,
in said interval of the movement of the holder substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
12. In combination with the needle, the knotter bill and the holder on the opposite
side of the knotter bill from the plane of the needle's movement, mechanism which
moves the holder to carry its cord notch in its cord actuating movement substan-
tially to a plane transverse to that of the needle's movement and containing the
knotter bill axis substantially as set forth.
13. In combination with the needle the knotter bill and the holder on the opposite
side of the knotter bill from the plane of the needle's movement, a cord-severing
knife operating to cut the cord at a point in a plane substantially transverse to
the plane of the needle's movement and containing the knotter bill axis as and for
the purpose set forth.
14. In combination with the needle, the knotter bill, a knife located on the
opposite side of the knotter bill from the plane of the needle's movement and having
its cord cutting point substantially in a plane at right angles to the plane of the
needle's movement and containing the knotter bill axis, and means for carrying
the cord away from the discharge side of the machine to the knife substantially as
set forth.
ates or day of ebruary 1891.
HERBERT & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C., Agents to Applicant.