IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Perkins, of Hitchin, in the County of
Hertford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 20th July 1869, and dated the 4th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Perkins at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th May 1869.
I, THOMAS PERKINS, of Hitchin, in the County of Hertford, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
In constructing that class of reaping and mowing machines in which
the beaters or rakes which lay the crop as it is cut and deliver it to the
side of the machine are carried by radial arms standing out from a
vertical or nearly vertical axis it has been proposed to place a driver's
seat upon the pole of the machine, so that a driver may ride upon this
seat and be out of the way of the radial arms and rakes carried by them.
In such machines, however, as now manufactured the driver when sitting

page_text: on this seat cannot throw the acting parts of the machine out of gear
with the driving wheel, but has to get down from the seat to be able
to do so; this is very inconvenient when cutting crops which are laid,
as in this case the machine as it. is drawn round and round the field
should not be allowed to cut the crop when 'being drawn along that side
or portion of the field where the crop would incline away from the
machine, but the machine should be drawn round over the ground at
the edge of these parts of the crop without cutting, and during this time
the cutters and acting parts of the machine should be thrown out of
gear with the driving wheel.
Now according to my Invention I employ for actuating the clutch
by which the acting parts of the machine are thrown in and out of gear
with the driving wheel a lever arm at the rear end of an axis which at
its forward end is provided with a lever handle within reach of a driver
sitting on the seat upon the pole. The forward end of the axis is
supported by a bearing on the pole, or it might be a shaft which carries
the seat, whilst the rear end of the axis is supported by a bearing or
bearings on the framing of the machine. Or a lever supported in a
bearing upon the pole or shaft might otherwise be caused to work the
engaging and disengaging clutch, as, for example, by employing a bell
crank to give motion by a connecting rod to another bell crank that
acts upon the clutch. In place of supporting the bearing of the lever
handle upon
the pole or shaft which carries the seat a projection
standing out from the framing of the machine might be arranged to
carry the bearing, but not, I believe, so advantageously.
In machines of the class above described where a seat for the driver is
carried upon the pole I attach to the pole a yoke to pass over the back
of the horse, and so the weight of the driver will be taken upon the
horse's back; or a castor wheel to run on the ground might be applied
below the pole to take the weight of the driver.
In all classes of reaping and mowing machines it is desirable where
possible to employ shafts, and to effect this the shafts have been
arranged to spring out from a pole. Where shafts springing out from a
pole are so employed I connect the shafts to the pole by hinge joints,
so that when out of use they may be turned up or down out of the way
to afford facilities for passing through gateways, but when in use can be
turned into a horizontal position and fixed there by pins or otherwise.

page_text: In order to facilitate the backing of reaping and, mowing machines
when a pole is employed I attach to the pole of the machine a yoke, and
connect a breeching which passes at the back of the horses: to the yoke.
In this case the collars of the horses might be chained up to the yoke
capable of sliding back a distance upon the pole; or the whippletrees
to which the traces are connected might be of a curved form, so that the
ends of the whippletrees shall come one on either side of the horse,
and a breeching connected to the ends of the whippletree may then be
applied behind the horse..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Perkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS.
PERKINS, of Hitchiu, in the County of Hertford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine,. in the thirty-.
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,.
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Perkins, Her special licence
that I,, the said Thomas Perkins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Perkins, 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 night make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Perkins, 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

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Perkins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In constructing that class of reaping and mowing machines in which
the beaters or rakes which lay the crop as it is cut and deliver it to the
side of the machine are carried by radial arms standing out from a
vertical or nearly vertical axis it has been proposed to place a driver's
set upon the pole of the machine, so that a driver may ride upon this
seat and be out of the way of the radial arms and rakes carried by them.
In such machines, however, as now manufactured the driver when
sitting on this seat cannot throw the acting parts of the machine out
of gear with the driving wheel, but has to get down from the seat to
be able to do so; this is very inconvenient when cutting crops which
are laid, as in this case the machine as it is drawn round and round the
field should not be allowed to cut the crop when being drawn along
that side or portion of the field where the crop would incline away from
the machine, but the machine should be drawn round over the ground
at the edge of these parts of the crop without cutting, and during this
time the cutters and acting parts of the machine should be thrown out
of gear with the driving wheel.
Now according to my Invention I employ for actuating the clutch
by which the acting parts of the machine are thrown in and out of gear
with the driving wheel a lever arm at the rear end of an axis, which
at its forward end is provided with a lever handle within reach of a
driver sitting on the seat upon the pole. The forward end of the axis,
is supported by a bearing on the pole, or it might be a shaft which
carries the scat, whilst the rear end of the axis is supported by a bearing
ar bearings on the framing of the machine. Or a lever supported in a
bearing upon the pole or shaft might otherwise be caused to work the
engaging and disengaging clutch, as, for example, by employing a bell
crank to give motion by a connecting rod to another bell crank that
acts upon the clutch. In place of supporting the bearing of the lever.
handle upon the pole or shaft which carries the seat a projection
standing out from the framing of the machine might be arranged to
carry the bearing, but not, I believe, so advantageously.
At Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is shown a plan view,
and at Figure 2 a side view of so much of a reaping or mowing machine

page_text: of the class above described as is necessary for illustrating this part of
my Invention. a is the pole of the machine, having a seat 6 carried
by it, as has before been proposed; c is an axis carried at its forward
end in bearings supported by the pole, as shown; at its rear end the
axis has a lever arm upon it for actuating the clutch, and at its forward
end has a lever handle upon it within reach of the driver when seated on
the seat b.
Figure 3 shows a view of these parts taken from the back end of the
pole. When the driver by means of the lever arm turns the axis c
the crank arm at the rear end of the axis slides the pinion d along its
axis d', so as either to hold the ratchet e away from the pin at the end
of the axis, or to allow the spring d* to press the wheel into gear with
the pin, and so set the pinion fast upon the axis. The pinion d is
the pinion by which (in machines of the class above mentioned as now
commonly constructed) motion is transmitted from the toothed wheel
of the driving wheel to the moving parts of the machine, as is well
understood by manufacturers of this class of machine.
At Figure 5 is shown a side view, and at Figure 6 a plan view of an
arrangement whereby a hand lever mounted on a pin supported from the
pole can be caused to work the clutch. In this arrangement the clutch
is connected to the lever f, and this lever by a chain passing around a
pulley g is coupled by a link with the lower arm of the hand lever.
When the clutch has by the moving back of the hand lever been thrown
out of gear the hand lever can be sprung in behind the stop or catch h,
and so retained.
What I claim as respects this part of my Invention is, the employment
in combination with the use of a seat on the pole or shafts of a reaping
or mowing machine of the class above described of a clutch lever for
acting upon the clutch by which the acting parts of the machine are
thrown in and out of gear, the axis of the clutch lever being supported
by the pole or shafts, or it might be by a projection from the forward
end of the machine, so that the clutch lever can be worked by the driver
when seated on the seat.
In machines of the class above described where a seat for the driver
is carried upon the pole, I attach to the pole a yoke to pass over the
back of the horse, and so the weight of the driver will be taken upon the
horse's back, or a castor wheel to run on the ground might be applied
below the pole to take the weight of the driver.

page_text: Figure 7 shews a section of a pole with a yoke connected to it by a
chain. The yoke is attached to the pole at a suitable point to allow the
yoke to rest upon the horses' backs and take the weight of the driver.
Figure 8 shows another way in which the yoke may be made. In this
case the yoke is made in two parts, each part being capable of sliding
up and down on the rod hand of being fixed at any desired height so
as to suit horses of varying heights. The parts of the yoke are fixed to
the rod by screws ', being screwed in to enter one or other of the
grooves formed, as shewn, around the rod ; this allows each part of
the yoke to turn freely around the rod to allow of one being at times
somewhat in advance of the other.
Figure 9 shews how a castor wheel may be attached to the pole of the
machine, so as to run along the ground and take the weight of the
driver. The distance of the wheel from the pole may be adjusted by
the weight of the pole being taken on a collar k', which can by a set
screw be fixed at any desired height on the vertical rod or stem of the
castor wheel.
Figures 10 and 11 show a somewhat similar arrangement to that
shown at Figure 9, but in this arrangement the upper face of the
collar has a lug cast upon it, which takes into a hollow in the lower
face of the casting, which is bolted upon the pole. This loose collar
may be set in any desired position upon the wheel stem to give the
machine a tendency more or less away from the standing crop.
What I claim as respects this part of my Invention is, attaching to the
pole of a reaping or mowing machine of the class above described (and
which has a seat carried by the pole) a yoke to rest upon the backs of
the horses to support the weight of the driver.
I also claim in such machines the attaching a castor wheel to the pole
or forward part of the machine for a similar purpose.
In all classes of reaping and mowing machines it is desirable where
possible to employ shafts, and to effect this the shafts have been arranged
to spring out from a pole. Where shafts springing out from the pole
are so employed I connect the shafts to the pole by hinged joints, so
that when out of use they may be turned up or down out of the way to
afford facilities for passing through gateways, but when in use can be
turned into a horizontal position and fixed there by pins or otherwise.
Either one or both of the shafts may thus be made capable of being

page_text: turned into a vertical position so as to be out of the way. At Figures 1,
2, 3, 4, and 5 the pole is shown to be thus fitted with double shafts, one
only of which is made capable of being turned up out of the way whilst
the other shaft is fixed. The moveable shaft is on the outer side of the
pole and has two irons springing from its rear end, which are hinged, as
shown, to two brackets m bolted to the pole; the foremost bracket, as
shown at Figures 3 and 4, is so made that when the shaft has been
turned into a vertical position it may be retained there by a pin being
passed through a hole in the bracket and through the iron attached to
the shaft. A projecting flange or plate at the bottom of the bracket
also prevents the shaft turning down beyond a horizontal position. In
place of the shaft (or shafts) being jointed to the pole in the manner
above described, it may be otherwise jointed to it in such manner that
the shaft may when in use be set in a horizontal position, and when out
of use be set in a vertical or nearly vertical position above or below the
pole, as herein described.
What I claim in respect of this part of my Invention is, the jointing
or attaching a shaft or shafts to the pole of a reaping or mowing machine
in such manner that the shaft or shafts may either be set in a horizontal
position, or when out of use be set in a vertical position lengthwise of
the pole, as horein described.
In order to facilitate the backing of reaping and mowing machines
when a pole is employed I attach to the pole of the machine a yoke, and
connect a breeching which passes at the back of the horses to the yoke.
In this case the collar on the horses might be chained up to a second
yoke capable of sliding back a distance upon the pole, or the whipple-
trees to which the traces are connected might be of a curved form, so
that the ends of the whippletrees shall come one on either side of the
horse, and a breeching connected to the ends of the whippletree may
then be applied behind the horse.
At Figure 12 is shown the forward end of the pole of a reaping and
mowing machine having fixed to it a yoke a, as above described, to which
breechings which pass behind the horses are connected; each breeching
may either be connected to the yoke by two chains, or the inner chain
may be hooked to the pole. Both these arrangements are shown in the
Drawings. is a yoke to which the collars of the horses may be
coupled; this yoke is made capable of sliding backwards a distance on

page_text: the pole; in place of employing this second yoke the collars may be
chained up to rings on the pole.
At Figure 13 is shown a portion of the pole of a reaping and mowing
machine with two curved whippletrees attached to it by a weigh tree.
The traces are connected to the forward ends of the curved whippletrees,
and to these are also attached breechings to come behind the horses for
the horses to bear against whilst backing.
What I claim as respects this part of my Invention is, the employment
in a reaping or mowing machine of a yoke fixed in the front part of the
pole with breechings attached to it for convenience of backing.
Secondly. The employment in a reaping or mowing machine of bent
whippletrees to facilitate backing, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Perkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.