IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whitaker, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near
Leigh, in the County of Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 13th October 1859, and dated the 18th April 1859
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
April 1859.
I, JOHN WHITAKER, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near Leigh, in the
County of Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES," to be
as follows:
I cause the bearings of the guide wheels to be moveable instead of sta-
tionary; they are placed upon the front rail of the machine, and either
widened or contracted according to the kind of mowing required, the bearings
are afterwards held fast by set screws, nuts, or wedges.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Whitaker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WHITAKER, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near Leigh, in the County of
Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Whitaker, Her special licence that I, the said John
Whitaker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Whitaker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might 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 MOWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Whitaker, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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.
66
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Whitaker, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
I cause the bearings or castors of the guide wheels to be moveable instead
of stationary, so that they may be widened or contracted according to the kind
of mowing required. The said bearings or castors are placed upon the front
rail of the machine and held fast by set screws, nuts, or wedges.
The manner in which my Invention is to be performed, will be clearly
understood by referring to the letters and figures on the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a part of a mowing machine having
my improved moveable bearings or castors, and Fig. 2 a detached view of the
guide wheels, castors, and rail, drawn to their full dimensions.
The bearings or castors for the guide wheels are composed of two parts, a
and b, linked or jointed together by the pin c, the lower part a holding the pin
d for the wheels, and the upper part b fitting the rail e, so that it may be
adjusted as required, and held fast by the set screw f. It will be seen that the
lower part a is brought straight from the pin d to the front of the wheel, and
that it can be connected to an upper part of various shapes.
The aforesaid moveable bearings or castors may be applied to a rail placed
behind the cutters as well as in front.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth,
as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the application to
mowing machines of moveable bearings or castors for adjusting the guide
wheels to the kind of mowing required, as herein described and illustrated in
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Whitaker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Whitaker, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN WHITAKER. (L.S.)