CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough
Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINES."A communication from abroad by Rudolf Eickemeyer,
of Yonkers, in the County of Westchester, and State of New York;
United States of America.
Sealed the 15th September 1870, and dated the 22nd April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd April 1870.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park; Brixton,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven
tion for "CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINES;" to be as follows :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in reaping and mowing
machines. I employ in combination with the main driving wheel or
wheels and the cutter bar of a mowing or reaping machine two gear

page_text: wheels, one of them rotating and the other oscillating upon a gimbal
joint. In combination with the rotating and oscillating gear wheels is
a vibrating lever either hinged upon a sleeve around the axis or attached
to the oscillating gear wheel, and this vibrating lever gives motion to
the cutter. A crank and fly wheel are employed in combination with
the vibrating arm and other parts in such manner that the action of
the fly wheel controls and equalizes the operation of the vibrating arm
and cutter bar. A bent lever and link are employed in connection with
the pole, and there is a rock shaft in a shoe hanger in combination
with the shoe and finger bar, whereby the cutting apparatus is lifted
at the outer end and raised at the inner end and folded.
There is a
small bevel segment on the inner shoe; it works in combination with a
larger bevel segment and rock shaft of the lifting lever for the purpose
of lifting the finger and cutter bar from a horizontal to a vertical
position at one motion of the lever. There is a lever under the driver's
seat, it acts in combination with the sleeve, whereby the sleeve may be
-turned to lift the inner shoe of the cutting apparatus when desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence
that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield, 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,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES,"
a communication to me from abroad by Rudolf Eickemeyer, of Yonkers,.
in the County of Westchester, and State of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George-
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, do
liereby 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 :-
The first part of the Invention relates. to mechanism for giving motion,
to the cutter bar, and consists in combining with the main axle or shaft
of a mowing or reaping machine, and the cutter bar or its pitman con-
nection a rotating wheel, which rotates with the main axle and an
oscillating wheel which does not rotate but swings upon gimbal joints,.
the combination and arrangement of the mechanism being such sub-.
stantially as herein-after described, that the motion required for the cutter
bar is obtained by the action of the two gear wheels.
The Invention further consists in a lever and link connection with
the pole and finger beam, whereby the cutting apparatus is first raised
at the outer end, and then lifted at the keel and folded over and secured
in an upright position so as to be portable. Also in a lever connection
with the sleeve below the driver's seat, whereby the driver may apply
his weight to lifting the heel of the cutting apparatus from the ground
to avoid obstructions.
The Drawings upon Sheets 1, 2, and 3 represent the form of con-
struction I prefer for my improvements adapted to a mowing machine.
The Drawings upon Sheets 4, 5, and 6 represent modifications in
construction adapted to reapers and mowers.
I will first proceed to describe the mowing machine-represented by
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, Sheets 1 and 2 of the Drawings.
Figure 1 is a plan view of the mower;. Figure 2. is a partial horizontal

page_text: section; Figure 3, a detached view of the clutch connection; Figure 4, a
vertical longitudinal section looking from the rear of the machine;
Figure 5, a transverse section through dotted lines a, x, Figure 3,
showing axle, shaft, sleeve, vibrating lever, oscillating gear wheel and
the gimbal joint; Figure 6, a detached section of pawl and ratchet con-
nection between wheel hubs and axle; Figure 7, a detached section of
sleeve and pole connection showing foot lever for lifting the frame and
heel of the finger bar; Figure 8, a side elevation, the wheel next to the
cutting apparatus and rotating bevel wheel being removed; Figure 9, a
side elevation of the machine.
Letters a, a, represent the two driving and supporting, wheels; a¹, a¹,
the hubs; b, the main axle or shaft of the machine; b, 6, the pawl flanges.
on the main axle which connect by pawls in the usual way with the
driving wheels, so that either or both driving wheels operate the cutter
bar, the pawl flange b² being attached to and forming a part of a bevil
gear wheel c, also fast to the main axle and rotating with it. The
sleeve dis loose on the main axle and is moved upon it longitudinally
by a shifting lever d' and a clutch d², connecting by a clutch groove d³
with the pawl flange , as shown in the Drawings. The bevil gear
wheel c gears into an internal bevel wheel c¹, which does not rotate, but
oscillates upon opposite pins or studs e¹, e², Figure 5, fixed in the hub f
of a vibrating arm or lever g, which itself oscillates upon two opposite
pins g, g², Figure 5, fixed in the sleeve and extending in opposite.
directions in bearings in the hub. The pin joints of the hub of the.
internal toothed bevil wheel being
11
.
:
vibrating lever and of the hub of the
at right angles to each other, a gimbal joint is formed which permits the
oscillating bevil wheel to roll on the gear of the rotating bevil wheel,
while the vibrating lever. has only a lateral vibration in straight lines.
The vibrating lever, is connected by a short link to the cutter bar .
the
The oscillating bevel gear wheel c has one or two more teeth than
rotary bevil gear wheel c, so that supposing the latter has fifty-six teeth
and the former fifty-eight teeth, the vibrating lever and cutter bar will
be made to vibrate twenty-eight times for every revolution of the main
shaft or axle, which is about the motion required for the cutter bar.
The lines which form the teeth in both gear's centre in a point in the
axis of the main shaft, which point is the centre of oscillation of the
gimbal joint. The bevil wheels should be so constructed that the angle
of vibration of the oscillating bevil wheel is the same as the angle of

page_text: v
in the Drawings, which being pivotted upon the pole hinge rod and
the short ends resting on the sleeve, when pressed upon by the weight of
the driver turns the sleeve so as to lift the shoe of the cutting apparatus
to avoid obstructions in the line of the shoe. The outer end of the finger
bar is lifted to avoid obstructions by the bent lever t, which connects with
the shoe of the cutting apparatus by a rock shaft in the shoe hanger
and segments of tecth u, u², respectively placed upon the rock shaft and
shoe, so that when the lever is moved towards the driver the outer end
of the finger bar is raised as described. The same lever is also connected
by a slotted link with the pole, the slots in the link sliding on the
headed pin ¹ driven into the pole, and the connection with the lever
being by a joint ², the construction being such that when the lever is
moved towards the driver the slot in the link permits the outer end of
the finger bar be raised without raising the inner end from the ground
until the end of the slot is reached, when the link is arrested by the pin,
and the bent lever finds a new fulcrum upon the other end of the link thus
supported by the pole, and the operation of lifting the inner end of the
cutting mechanism and the hinged frame commences, while at the same
time the cutter bar is folded in an upright position, as shown in the
Drawings, where it may be secured by a catch upon the standard w¹..
When the cutting apparatus is in action the slotted link connection with
the bent lever above described prevents the driving and supporting wheel
behind the cutting apparatus from being thrown over so as to upset the
machine when the cutting apparatus or leader wheel meets with a rigid
obstruction. The short link between the vibrating lever and cutter bar
permits the cutting apparatus to be lifted and folded without stopping
the motion of the vibrating lever.
A modification of the above mowing machine is shown in Figures 10,
11, and 12, Sheet 2, Figure 13 and Figure 14, Sheet 3, Figure 10 being a
plan view of the mower; Figure 11, a detached section through the main
shaft, showing the oscillating bevil wheel and gimbal joint; Figure 12,
a section through main axle, showing the rotating bevel gear wheel and
pawl connection; Figure 13, a longitudinal section through the shaft
sleeve and gearing; Figure 14, a side elevation of the machine.
In this mower the oscillating bevel gear c' is jointed to a gimbal ring f
instead of the hub of the vibrating lever, as in the machine before
described, and the vibrating lever g is directly and rigidly connected
with the oscillating bevil gear wheel and its arms. The fly wheel and

page_text: shaft are thrown under the axle to give room for the frame, and the
frame is supported upon the axle. I do not think it necessary to give
a further description of this modification; the Drawings sufficiently
explain it.
Figure 15, Sheet 3, is a partial view of a mower in which the crank
pin of the fly wheel is connected to the cutter bar, the oscillating bevil
gear wheel and rotating bevil gear being connected with the main axle
by a pair of mitre wheels. I do not consider this by any means as good
a way to get up the motion for the cutter bar as the method in which the
vibrating lever is used.
Figure 16, Sheet 3, is a view of my improvement arranged for a single
wheel reaper. Letter a, the supporting and driving wheel; a', the main
frame; b, the main axle; c, rotating bevil wheel connected by pawl and
ratchet connection to the hub of the supporting wheel; c', the oscillating
bevil gear wheel swinging on a gimbal joint formed upon the axle by
the ring jointed as before described in the other modifications; g, the
vibrating lever connected directly with the cutter bar h; i, the fly wheel
shaft; j, fly wheel; k, the crank pin formed at the end of a hollow hub
or cover m, which is fast to the back of the oscillating bevil wheel and
houses or covers up the parts it incloses, as shown in the Drawings.
I claim as my Invention and improvements in reaping and mowing
machines,―
First. In combination with the main driving wheel or wheels and the
cutter bar of a mowing or reaping machine the gear wheels, one of them
rotating upon its axis and the other oscillating upon a gimbal joint,
substantially as described.
Second. In combination with the rotating and oscillating gear wheels
and cutter bar the vibrating lever, substantially as described.
Third. The vibrating lever connected to the cutter bar in combination
with the crank and fly wheel substantially as described, whereby the
action of the fly wheel controls and equalizes the operation of the vibrating
arm and, cutter bar, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The bent lever and link connection with the pole and rock
shaft in the shoe hanger in combination with the shoe and finger bar,
whereby the cutting apparatus is lifted at outer end and raised at the
inner end and folded, substantially as described.

page_text: Fifth. The small bevil segment on the inner shoe in combination with
the larger bevil segment and rock shaft of the lifting lever for the
purpose of lifting the finger and cutter bar from a horizontal to a vertical
position at one motion of the lever, substantially as described.
Sixth: The arrangement of the lever beneath the driver's seat upon
the pole iron rod in combination with the sleeve and drooping frame,
whereby the inner shoe is lifted when desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.