Improvements in the Mode of Operating the Knives or Blades of Reaping and Mowing Machines.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1886.
Complete Left, 21st Mar., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 27th May, 1887.
Improvements in the Mode of Operating the Knives or Blades of
Reaping and Mowing Machines.
I Walter WilliAM BURLAND of the County of the City of York Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the construction or arrangement of the mechanism of
reaping and mowing machines and has special reference to those parts which transmit
motion to the knives or blades. The object of my Invention is to increase the
efficiency of these machines by combining a greater speed in the motion of the knives
or blades with a lighter draught a simplicity of the parts operating the knives or
transmitting motion thereto whereby the strength durability and structural compact.
ness of these parts are improved accompanied with less wear and tear and a reduction
in the amount of noise, oscillation and liability to get out of order to which reaping
and mowing machines of the usual construction are subject.
In a reaping or mowing machine constructed according to my invention the knives
or blades are of the usual type with one blade usually the lower blade stationary, and
the other or upper blade moving with a reciprocating motion so as to bring the teeth
of the blades into operation in the well known manner.
In machines as at present constructed this reciprocating motion of the moving blade
usually obtained from the rotary motion of the wheels on which the machine travels
which may be turned the carriage wheels by means of multiplying gear such as spur
wheels and pinions geared to produce a high speed, and mitre or bevel wheels geared
to change the axis of rotation from a line parallel to the line of travel of the moveable
blade to a counter shaft revolving at right angles to this line of travel. A connecting
rod from a crank or other equivalent arrangement on this counter shaft imparts the
reciprocating motion to the moveable blade in the well known way. In the place of
this arrangement of mechanical parts which is complicated inconvenient and not well
adapted to work the moveable blade at the high speed most suitable for cutting freely,
1 substitute the following arrangement, a system of spur wheels and pinions or their
equivalents are provided to transmit the rotary motion of the carriage wheels of the
machine to a pulley or sheave revolving at a high speed on a spindle placed preferably
:

page_text: immediately over the end of the moveable blade, to the motion of which blade the
axis of rotation of the pulley is parallel. The end of the reciprocating blade or an
attachment thereto passes under the surface of the pulley or sheave so that a ball or
pin projecting upwards from the blade fits into a groove provided round the circum-
ference of the pulley or sheave, this groove is made in a serpentine or zig zag form
deviating from side to side to a distance corresponding to the stroke of the recipro-
cating blade. The number of strokes for cacli revolution of the pulley correspond
to the number of deviations made by the groove in completing the circuit of the
pulley.
This 1+ dov of Tuna 1986
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agent.
Improvements in the Mode of Operating the Knives or Blades of
Reaping and Mowing Machines.
I, WALTER WILLIAM BURLAND, of Lawrence Street, York, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what inanner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
My Invention relates to reaping and mowing machines, and has reference to the
combination or arrangement of parts which actuate the cutting apparatus, and also to
the parts by which the position of the cutting apparatus is adjusted to suit the nature
of the ground travelled over.
In reaping and mowing machines to which my improvements are applicable, the
blades or cutting apparatus with the fingers or guards connected thereto are of the
well known type with one blade, usually the lower blade, being stationary in the frame
of the machine and supporting the other or upper blade which slides over it with a
short reciprocating motion, by which the teeth of the blades are closed together,
separated, and closed again in the well known manner, as they are pushed forward
through the grass or other material to be cut. The usual means for applying this
reciprocating motion is by transmitting the rotary motion of one of the wheels on
which the machine travels, which may he termed the driving wheel, through suitable
multiplying gear such as spur wheels and pinions designed to produce the requisite
speed, with which is combined an arrangement of mitre or bevel wheels geared in

page_text: between the said multiplying wheels and the cutting apparatus, in order to divert the
axis of rotation from the original to another direction, and thereby to apply the
requisite reciprocating motion to the moveable knife by an eccentric crank or other
well known means.
The object of my invention is to dispense with the necessity of diverting the axis
of rotation from its original direction, and tho arrangement of mitre or bevil wheels
which is involved thereby, and to substitute therefor a simpler combination of parts for
transmitting the rotary driving motion to the reciprocating blade or cutting apparatus,
whereby I combine greater speed in the motion of the reciprocating blade or cutter,
with a lighter draught of the machine. A further object of my invention is to provide
means for readily adjusting the position of the cutting apparatus to accommodato it to
the nature of the ground travelled over and to avoid obstructions, with the result that
I improve the strength, durability, and structural compactness of the machine, at the
same time reducing the noise, oscillation, and liability to get out of repair, inseperable
from the complicated arrangement of gearing hitherto employed for actuating the
knives, and from the absence of suitable means for adjusting their position to the
nature of the ground travelled over or to avoid obstacles.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood I will now proceed to
describe how the same may be applied to reaping and mowing machines and for that
purpose shall refer to the accompanying drawings, in which :-Figs. 1, 2, and 3
correspond to each other, Fig. 1. illustrating in side elevation, Fig. 2. in end elevation,
and Fig. 3. in plan the outlines of a machine to which my invention is applied in
combination with chain multiplying gear; Fig. 4. illustrates in side elevation the
outlines of a machine to which my invention is applied in combination with toothed
multiplying gear. In all these figures many of the details of construction are omitted
as affording no assistance in illustrating my invention. In the figures, a is the
driving wheel, on which is provided in the usual manner the spur wheel b, usually an
internal spur wheel, into which is geared the pinion G mounted on the counter
shaft c. The frame d, which supports the counter shaft c¹, the rest of the gearing,
and the connecting rods of the cutting apparatus, is itself supported on the main
axle e of the machine, and balanced in position by the usual small wheel in front; fis
a pulley or drum mounted in position in the frame d, to which the rotary motion of
the driving wheel a is transmitted by multiplying gear for instance, in a machine
designed to work with chain gearing as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, an endless
chain g transmits the motion from the shaft c¹ to the pulley or drum f, by means of the
chain wheel g¹ and chain pulley or pinion g³; or for this mode of gearing may be
substituted as illustrated in Fig. 4. spur wheels and pinions for gearing the counter
shaft c to the pulley or drum, each arrangement being merely a substitute for the
other, the relative merits of which are well known. On the periphery of the pulley
or drum f, I provide a zig-zag or serpentine groove f, deviating from side to side to
a distance corresponding to the intended reciprocating stroke of the moveable blade;
the pulley or drum frotates on an axis parallel or approximately parallel to the lino
of motion of the reciprocating blade, and is mounted directly over the cutting
apparatus, or over the connecting rods extending therefrom, so that when the driving
notion is connected for operating the cutting apparatus, a ball, pin, or friction roller
or other equivalent projection k on the motion bar of the reciprocating blade fits
into the groove, the zig-zag formation of which converts the rotary motion of the
pulley or drum into the reciprocating motion of the moveable blade. It is of
course obvious that the extent of stroke of the moveable blade and the rapidity of its
motion may be varied within practical limits as desired, this being a matter of design
which may be modified with each machine. Pulling in and out of gear motion of
the kind usually employed for mowing and reaping machines of the ordinary type is
also applicable to such machines when fitted with my improvements. I have therefore
omitted to illustrate the mechanism for effecting this; but, the cutting apparatus,
when actuated by means of a pulley or drum, with a ziz-zag or serpentine groove as
described, admits of being readily adjusted in position to accommodate itself to

page_text: inequalities in the surface travelled over, or to avoid obstructions injurious to the
blades, I effect this improvement by the following means:-
The blades of the cutting apparatus are supported from the frame d by means of
links or hangers 1, 12, 13, which support the connecting bar 2 of the stationary blade
and the motion bar ¹ of the moveable blade which reciprocates within it, the lover m,
turning upon the pin m² as a fulcrum, is suitably connected by the adjustable bar n to
one of the links or hangers 1, or directly to the connecting bar k², by providing the
usual well known locking arrangement, the lever m can be locked in any one of a
series of positions at will, the cutting apparatus being correspondingly fixed in posi-
tion by the action of the lever as illustrated in the drawings, that is, as the lever is
depressed the cutting apparatus is raised further away from the ground, and vice versa,
without disengaging the knives from the actuating motion.
Having now described my invention and in what way it may be applied to reaping
and mowing machines, what I claim is :-
Firstly The combination of a pulley or drum having a zig-zag or serpentine
groove on its periphery with chain toothed or other equivalent gearing whereby the
rotary motion of the driving wheel of the machine is transmitted as reciprocating
motion to the moveable blade or cutting apparatus substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Secondly-Actuating the reciprocating blade or cutting apparatus by means of a
pulley or drum having a zig-zag or serpentine groove on its periphery which engages
with the said reciprocating blade or cutting apparatus so as to impart the required
reciprocating motion thereto when rotated by suitable mechanism, substantially as
described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Thirdly-The improved combination of parts as a whole, constructed, combined,
arranged, and fitted together for actuating and adjusting the cutting apparatus,
substantially in the manner herein before described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 10th day of March 1907
G. J. CLARKSON,
. Agent for the Applicant.