IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GATHERING AND BINDING CORN AND OTHER CUT CROPS INTO SHEAVES
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Woolnough and Christopher
Kingsford at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th December
1879.
WILLIAM WOOLNOUGH and CHRISTOPHER KINGSFORD, both of Kingston, in the
County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GATHERING AND BINDING
CORN AND OTHER CUT CROPS INTO SHEAVES."
Our Invention relates to improvements on an Invention described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to us, and dated October 18th 1878
(No. 4155), and refers to machinery for forming a knot in string or other suitable
material for the purpose of binding corn or other cut crops into sheaves, and for
gathering the stalks of corn into a bundle or sheaf, and holding and compressing
them into form while the string or other suitable material is bound round them.
The improvements in the apparatus for tying the corn into sheaves may be
described as combining the following parts:-
The arm carrying the string for encircling the corn.
The nippers called the oscillating nippers for holding the end of the string.
The twisting fork.
The nippers for drawing the string through the loop.
The spring levers or wipers for tightening the knot, and
The knife or knives for cutting the string.
We construct the arm for carrying the string with a movable head or jaw, having
rollers or their equivalent fixed at or near the centre of motion, and at the extreme
end of the jaw, over which the string is led or guided (said jaw being free to rise
with the sheaf during the operation of forming the knot, thus enabling the corn to be
pressed close to the knotting apparatus, thereby producing a tightly tied sheaf).
The arm is made to rise and fall, enclosing at each stroke a bundle of corn at
either side of said arm, and rising and falling at different rates, are curved arms,
which press the corn or other crop against the string, as held in position by the
string carrying arm, after which these arms retire and rest in a position which forms
a barrier to the collected corn, and enables the string arm to descend without coming
in contact with the following bundle of corn.
The nippers for holding the end of the string consist of a spring clip enclosed in
sheath, and which opens when pushed partly through the sheath, and is kept
closed within the sheath by a spring; the sheath is centred on a pin or stud, upon
which it can oscillate, so that when the string is twisted, the nippers which hold
the end can advance and give out what is required in forming the loop.

page_text: The fork for twisting the string is made with a hook on one prong, and a
winged lobe or notch with inclined guide to lead the string into the notch on the
other prong, and has a rotary motion as well as a vertical and oscillating motion
imparted to it; the strings when presented between the prongs of the fork are
twisted into a loop, at the same time a hook, which works up and down parallel
with the fork, takes up the strings and passes the end across the loop, in which
position they are seized by the nippers which draw them through the loop, and
thus form a knot.
The nippers aforesaid are made in two pieces jointed and crossed after the
manner of scissors or pincers, each half being constructed with a curved slot of
suitable form, through which passes a pin, either fitted with friction rollers or not,
said pin being fixed to a shuttle; the apparatus thus constructed is made to take a
reciprocating movement which opens and closes the nippers at each end of the
stroke (the shuttle coming against suitable stops causes the pin to traverse the
curved slots, and to open and close the nippers).
The knife for cutting the string we construct, by preference, with the cutting
edge presented to the string at about an angle of 45°, said knife is fixed to the centre
of oscillation of the twisting fork, and the string is brought in contact with it by
the hook aforesaid, or the knife may have a motion imparted to it, one or more
knives may be employed. We impart motion to the several parts hereinbefore
described through the medium of a rocking plate or quadrant, having grooves or
slots of the required form to give the necessary movements; the rocking motion is
obtained by means of a cani and lever or crank.
The operation of tying or binding a sheaf is performed as follows:-
The string from a bobbin or reel passes over a detent, which holds the string when
tightened, and thus draws the same close round the sheaf; this is accomplished by
means of a spring attachment between the detent and the arm which carries the string
or any other part of the machine giving a suitable motion, the string then passes over
the rollers on the movable head or jaw of the string carrying arm, and from thence
to the oscillating nippers, which are placed in the case or frame containing the
knotting gear.
When the arm descends to receive a sheaf or bundle of corn, the string is drawn
across the opening under the tying frame, and as the bundle is thrust into said
opening by the side arms aforesaid, the string carrying arm rises, and the sheaf is
encircled by the string, one end of which is fixed in the oscillating nippers, the
other being doubled upon it and presented (thus doubled and extended between
the rollers of the head or jaw) to the twisting fork, which takes it and forms it
into a loop, the hook then lifts the untwisted part in front of the loop when the
nippers take hold of it; the oscillating nippers are now pressed into the sheath
open and release the end of the string, and catch the part which has been doubled
upon it, at the same time the knife severs said part, and the nippers which had
taken hold of the untwisted parts now draw these through the loop, thus forming a
knot, and in this position they rest until the spring levers advance, and wipe the
knot off from the point of the nippers, and force it down tight upon the sheaf, the
nippers at the same time commence to recede and pull the ends tight before
releasing them, after which the arm descends again in readiness for another
bundle of corn, and the tied sheaf is pushed quietly out and on to the ground.
The improvements now about to be described in our Invention, patented as
aforesaid, for collecting the stalks of corn or other cut crops and depositing the same
into the arms of the tying apparatus, as well as the general arrangements for a
machine suitable for picking up corn or other crops from the swathe or as it lies on
the ground; also for a machine suitable to accompany a reaper and to receive the
corn as cut and delivered by same; likewise the manner of constructing said
machines which shall render them capable of being converted from one to the other,
so that one machine may serve for the two purposes, are as follows:-
The new machine or machines are constructed of suitable framing mounted on
one or more driving wheels, which through the medium of gearing or otherwise

page_text: impart the required motion to the several parts of the machine by means of cams,
or eccentrics, or cranks, as the case may demand.
In cases where it is required to pick up the corn as it lies in swathes on the
ground we fix by preference a spur wheel on the main axle which drives the shaft,
carrying the cams or cranks through the medium of an intermediate wheel, thus
causing the cam shaft to revolve in the same direction as the driving axle; on the
intermediate wheel is fixed a stud or crank pin (or the same motion may be
obtained by means of a cam or eccentric) which causes a lever to oscillate, one end
working through a fixed bearing, while the other end describes an oval or elliptical
course; to this end is articulated the end of a rake shank, said shank working
through a fixed centre, thus causing the rake to advance and recedo and also to
describe an elliptical course reaching forward over a bundle of cut corn and raking
it up, what we may term a combination of inclined or curved bars or thoir
equivalents, the front ends of which rest on or are supported near the ground
while the back is hinged to the framing of the machine; when the corn is thus
raked up the incline it is received and further advanced forward by a series of bars,
fixed at one end to a shaft which has a rocking motion imparted to it; the action
of these bars is to rise and lift or tilt the corn and deposit it in front of the tying
apparatus, and from thence it is pressed into position for tying by the curved
arms, the action of which, as well as the manner of tying the knot and binding
the sheaf, has been hereinbefore described.
In place of fixing the rake as described to pass over and rake up the corn we
also construct the rake in some cases to work under the inclined bars, in which
case the teeth of the rake are made to double down during the forward stroke, and
thus pass under the corn and to rise up between the bars and rake the corn up tho
incline on the backward stroke of the rake.
Various speeds may be imparted to the machinery by means of exchangeable
gearing or otherwise.
The machine is automatically thrown out of gear by means of a pawl and
ratchet, the pawl coming in contact with a catch at the termination of each revo-
lution of the cain shaft, and thus remaining until put into gear again by the driver
or attendant or otherwise.
In cases where it is required to use the tying apparatus in combination with a
reaper we construct the framing of the machine in such a manner that the pole or
shafts by which it is drawn can be removed and fixed temporally at the other end
of the machine, for the purpose of drawing it in to the field or alongside the
reaper; and as in this case the machine proceeds in an opposite direction to that
hereinbefore described, we construct the driving gear so that the intermediate
wheel can be removed and the main axle and cam shaft be geared direct.
The catch which retains the pawl and throws the machinery out of gear is placed
in connection with the rakes or dummies or other suitable moving part of the
reaper with which the binder works in combination, at the same time it may be
under the control of the driver.
The only other essential alteration necessary to be done in order to convert a
picking up binder into a binder to work in combination with a reaper (and a
machine thus constructed may be used solely as an attendant on a reaper or may
be constructed as a convertible machine) is to remove the rake and inclined
arrangement of bars, and in place of them to fix a tilting platform similar to that
described in the Specification of our former Patent, consisting of a series of bars or
light framing centred at one end to the machine in like manner to the incline
which has been removed, and the corn or crop is deposited on said platform by the
rakes of the reaper. The platform is made to rise and tilt the corn on to the
rocking bars aforesaid and by them to be lifted and deposited in front of the tying
apparatus, as herein before described.
The aforesaid gathering and binding machine may be made to travel on one or
more wheels, and be attached and run alongside a reaper; or it may travel on one
wheel only when thus connected or attached, the other end of the driving axle

page_text: _being carried by means of an universal joint by the end of the driving axle of said
reaper; or in place of mounting the binder on wheels, through the medium of
which the several motions are imparted to the machinery, we sometimes attach the
whole machine to the framing of a reaper, and connect the working parts to the
driving gear of the reaper so that the two machines work in unison; to accomplish
which we fix slide bars to the binder, which enter sockets fixed to the frame or
other convenient part of the reaper, and which can be easily removed if required
to pass through gateways or to use the reaper alone. In order to enable these
machines to work with reapers constructed by various manufacturers, and which
differ in their construction as well as in the manner in which the rakes deliver the
corn, at the back of their respective platforms or tables we attach when necessary
a reel or segment of a reel, either cylindrical or conical in form, to the rear of the
.platform of the reaper, which platform in some cases requires to be extended; said
reel or segment we cause to revolve or rock each time or at such times that a rake
throws over a bundle of corn, thus imparting to the corn an increased momentum
which carries it on to the receiving platform of the binder, and by adjusting the
inclination and position of the reel or segment the bundle of corn is delivered square
and conformable to the centre line of the tying apparatus.