AN IMPROVED MOWING AND REAPING MACHINE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stoddart Peile, of Carlisle, in the County of
Cumberland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINE."
Sealed the 1st November 1872, and dated the 11th June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stoddart Peile at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th June 1872.
I, STODDART PEILE, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MOWING AND REAPING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved rear cutting, reaping, and
mowing machine, which is more useful, easier to manage, and to adapt
to the various undulations of the land and the conditions of the crop.
According to my Invention the frame which carries the working parts
of the machine is supported by an extension of the pole in rear of the
wheel axle, the latter being situated at the extreme front of said frame,

page_text: which may thus be made smaller than usual. In this manner the weight
of the frame acts. as a counterbalance to that of the pole, thereby
relieving the necks of the horses. The rear end of the pole is jointed to
the rear part of the frame, and provision is made for enabling the driver
to adjust the inclination of the fingers of the cutting bar without leaving
his seat. For this purpose, a handscrew or lever is provided near the
front of the frame to regulate the distance between the frame and the
pole at that part, any variation of which causes a corresponding altera-
tion in the position of the cutting bar, so that the latter may be readily
adapted to or assisted over the irregularities of the ground, or adjusted
to pick up lying grass or corn. At the rear of the frame is pivoted an
extension frame on which the cutter bar is carried. This extension
frame is stayed by a rod attached thereto and working at its other end
on a centre at the front of the main framing in the same axial line with
the pivot of the extension frame itself, so as to admit of the latter, and
with it the cutting bar being freely raised or lowered by a lifting lever
suitably arranged and connected by a chain with the extension frame.
-This-lever-is-provided_with_a_spring pawl or stop worked from the
handle, and taking into a fixed curved rack, so as to permit of the
cutting bar being adjusted at any required height. A bolt is fitted in
the main shoc by which the cutting bar is attached to the extension
frame to raise the bar parallel, but in reaping the bolt may be removed,
this not being required.
Motion is communicated to the knives through a cross shaft mounted
in the main framing and gearing at one end with one of the wheels of
the machine, and at the other with a pinion on the crank shaft, by
which reciprocating motion is imparted to the knives through a suitable
connecting rod. The pinion is situated at the front end of the crank
shaft, or at the opposite end to the crank; this (owing to the recipro-
cating action of the knives wearing the bushes of the crank shaft oval)
being the position for the pinion best calculated to ensure continued
good working and regular motion of the gearing. The bushes of the
bearings are made of taper form externally, with a screw nut applied to
their smaller end to enable them to be readily tightened up in the bear-
ing or removed for renewal.
The pinion on the cross shaft which gears with a ring of teeth on the
wheel of the machine may be thrown into or out of gear therewith
by an eccentric pin on a lever mounted on the main framing.

page_text: In reaping the platform is worked from the top of the main frame by
a foot lever and chain connected to an arm on the platform. Shafts may
be substituted for the pole when one horse only is employed, and the
driver's seat is mounted at the rear of the framing to face the crop or
the horses, as preferred.
filed by the said Stoddart Peile in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 11th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STODDART
Peile, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Stoddart Peile, Her special licence that
I, the said Stoddart Peilc, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Stoddart Peile, 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, excrcise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Stoddart
Peile, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain 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 Stoddart Peile, do hereby declare
the nature of my said 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 had to the accompanying Sheet

page_text: say) :—
My Invention relates to an improved rear cutting reaping and mowing
machine, which is more useful, easier to manage, and to adapt to the
various undulations of the land and the conditions of the crop.
According to my Invention the frame which carries the working parts
of the machine is supported by an extension of the pole in rear of the
wheel axle, the latter being situated at the extreme front of said frame,
which may thus be made smaller than usual. In this manner the weight
of the frame acts as a counterbalance to that of the pole, thereby
relieving the necks of the horses. The rear end of the pole is jointed to
the rear part of the frame, and provision is made for enabling the driver
to adjust the inclination of the fingers of the cutting apparatus without
leaving his seat. For this purpose a hand screw or lever is provided
near the front of the frame to regulate the distance between the frame
and the pole at that part, any variation of which causes a corresponding
alteration in the position-of-the-finger-bar,-so-that-the-latter-may_be_
readily adapted to, or assisted over the irregularities of the ground, or
adjusted to pick up lying grass or corn. By this combination the main
frame and joints connected therewith are raised while keeping their
respective working joints or centre lines parallel to each other and
avoiding twisting. At the rear of the frame is pivoted an extension
frame on which the cutting apparatus is carried. This extension frame
is stayed by a rod attached thereto and working at its other end on a
centre at the front of the main framing in the same axial line with the
pivot of the extension frame itself so as to admit of the latter, and with
it the cutting apparatus being freely raised for travelling on the road or
lowered by a lifting lever suitably arranged and connected by a chain
with the extension frame. This lever is provided with a spring pawl or
stop worked from the handle and taking into a fixed curved rack, so as
to permit of the cutting apparatus being adjusted at any required height.
A bolt is fitted in the main shoe by which the cutting bar is attached to
tlie extension frame to raise the bar to suit the ground over which it
passes, but in reaping the bolt may be removed, this not being
required.

page_text: the machine, and at the other with a pinion on the crank shaft, by which
reciprocating motion is imparted to the knives through a suitable con-
necting rod. The pinion is situated at the front end of the crank shaft
or at the opposite end to the crank, this (owing to the reciprocating
action of the knives wearing the bushes of the crank shaft oval) being
the position for the pinion best calculated to ensure continued good
working and regular motion of the gearing. The bushes of the bearings
are made of taper form externally with a screw nut applied to their
smaller end to enable them to be readily tightened up in the bearing or
removed for renewal.
The
pinion on the cross shaft which gears with a ring of teeth on one
of the wheels of the machine may be thrown into or out of gear there-
with by a suitable clutch.
In reaping the platform is worked from the top of the main frame by
a foot lever and chain connected to an arm on the platform. Shafts may
be substituted for the pole when one horse only is employed, and the
driver's seat is mounted at the rear of the framing to face the crop or the
horses, as preferred.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the machine arranged as a reaper;
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3, a rear elevation of the same; Figure 4
shows a side elevation of the machine in outline on a smaller scale
adjusted to pick up laid crops. The machine may be made cither right
or left handed.
A is the main framing supported at the front by the wheels, and
jointed at a to the extremity of the pole B, which is consequently
extended rearwards of the wheel axle. The frame A is also connected
at the front part to the pole by an adjusting screw 6, by means of which
the inclination of the frame may be varied as required. The band screw
b is fitted to turn in a socket at the upper part of the casting c, which is
part of the main frame or casting A, said screw working in a correspond-
ing nut & fitted to move in a slot in c, and attached to the pole B. C is
the extension bar pivoted at e to the rear of frame A, and carrying the
cutter bar D. E is a stay bar pivoted to the front of frame A in a line
with pivot e, and bolted to the lower part of extension bar C, to the
extremity of which the main shoe F of the finger bar is jointed.
G is the lever for lifting the extension bar and adjusting the height of

page_text: the cutting apparatus. It is mounted loosely on the cross shaft f,
through which motion is imparted to the cutters, and is connected to
the extension bar C by a chain passing over a pulley m; g is the curved
rack fixed on frame A, into which takes a spring pawl ' on lever G,.
worked by a rod y² passing up the lever and projecting from the handle. 5
The cross shaft f is mounted in bearings on A, and carries at one end a
pinion driven by a circular rack on one of the machine wheels, a bevel
wheel being mounted at the other end as usual. i is the crank shaft
and the bevel pinion by which it is driven from bevel wheel h, said
pinion being keyed on the end of the shaft opposite to the crank k. lis 1
the connecting rod by which the knives are driven; is a foot lever for
working the reaping platform from the top of frame A through a chain
o connected to an arm p attached to the platform, said chain passing
through an aperture at back of frame A.
Figure 5 shows a bush of the crank shaft bearings detached. It is 1
made taper or conical externally, with a screw nut applied to the
-smaller-end-as-and-for-the-purpose-above-mentioned._A_bolt_may_be_
fitted at p¹ in the main shoe F, Figures 1 and 2, to adjust the cutter bar
to suit the ground, but in reaping it is not required.
The bolt is shown on an enlarged scale, Figures 6 and 7. It is a round 2
bolt with an eccentric head of octagonal or other angular form, so that
when inserted in shoe F one or other of the sides of the head may abut
against the extension bar C, and so adjust the cutting apparatus.
Figure 8 shows a substitute for the adjusting screw b. r is a crank lever
mounted on a fulcrum on the pole B, and connected with the frame A 2
which is adjusted as before, the lever being held in any position by
a fixed curved rack and spring pawl, as in the case of the lifting
lever.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―

page_text: 2ndly. The adjusting screw 6 or its substitute the lever 7, combined
with frame A and pole B, substantially as shown and described for adjust-
the inclination of the cutting apparatus as specified.
3rdly. The bolt p, having an eccentric head and fitted in the main
shoe F, as shown in Figures 1, 2, 6, and 7, for adjusting the cutting
apparatus to suit the ground beneath it.
4thly. Providing the taper brass bushes of of crank shaft and cross
shaft with a screw nut to enable them to be removed and renewed.
In witness whercof, I, the said Stoddart Peile, have hereunto sct
my hand and seal, this 9th day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
STODDART PEILE. (L.S.)