IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
J, HARVEY LAROY HOPKINS, of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook, and
State of Illinois, one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES,"
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a machine embodying my improvements,
with the inside supporting wheel removed.
Figure 2, a section of the same taken on the line x x Figure 1.
Figure 3, a plan section of the same taken on the line y y Figure 1.
Figure 4, an elevation showing the cutting apparatus thrown up for
transportation.
Figure 5, a detail side elevation and plan of the rear end of the tilting bar or
lever on the same scale.
Figure 6 a detail section taken on the line vv Figure 2, on the same scale.
Figure 7 a detail inside elevation of a portion of the outer wheel showing the
main gear guard, on the same scale..
Figure 8 a detail front elevation of the pitman and cutting apparatus, the guard
fingers being in section.
Figure 9 a detail plan of one of the guard fingers and cutter with one form of
cutter cap applied and on an enlarged scale.
Figure 10 a section of the same taken on the line w w Figure 9.
Figure 11 is a detail plan of guards and cutters showing another form of cutter
cap and
Figure 12 a section of the same taken on the line vv Figure 11.
My invention relates to that class of machines in which the cutting apparatus
is arranged in front of the supporting wheel, generally called, "front cut machines."
The invention consists in various improvements to different parts of the machine,
which I will proceed to describe fully, both as to construction and operation,
and will then point out definitely in the claims the special improvements which
I believe to be new and wish to protect by letters patent.

page_text: Many of the main parts of the machine do not differ essentially from like parts
in other machines of this class, and a special description of them will therefore be
omitted, such parts being referred to only as it may become necessary in the
description of my special improvements.
In the drawings A represents the main frame of the machine which is mounted
on an axle a on which are the supporting wheels B and B¹, the first being the
outer and the second the inner supporting wheel, and both provided with backing
ratchets as usual. The main gear wheel b is attached to the axle and torns with
it. The main frame extends somewhat in rear of the axles and is provided with
suitable journal bearings for the counter shaft C which is arranged in rear of the
axles, and on its outer end carries a pinion c with which the main gear engages,
and at its inner end carries the main bevel gear which drives the crank shaft in
the usual manner; this rear extension a¹ of the main frame also furnishes a support
for an equalizing spring, as will be hereinafter described. The crank shaft is
mounted in the central portion a² of the main frame, which extends forward and
downward from the axle; this portion of the frame is contracted, and in fact is
little more than a large bar or arm preferably tubular in form. The main frame is
also provided with lugs as projecting upward and arranged about on a line with
the wheel axles and a little inside of the center of the machine. The pole D is
hinged to these lugs by means of a casting d, to which the pole is attached and
which is provided with depending lugs for this purpose. This pole casting dis
also extended backward of the pole, being preferably curved; as shown in the
drawings, and terminates above the rear extension of the main frame. On this
rear portion of the pole casting is an upright stud d' which serves as a stop to the
spring standard E on which the seat e is mounted, the standard being attached to
the pole just in front of this stop.
A spiral spring F is placed within a cup or tubular holder f, which is inverted,
and its upper end arranged underneath a suitable seat bearing on the rear end of
the pole casting. A plunger or follower f¹ fitting the spring-cup is inserted in the
latter below the spring, and rests at its lower end upon a suitable seat on the rear
extension of the main frame, the relative arrangement of these parts bing shown in
Figure 6 of the drawings. The construction and arrangement of these parts is
such that when the machine is in ordinary working position the spring will be
more or less compressed, and therefore will tend to throw downward the rear of
the main frame; or in other words, tilt upward the portion in front of the axle.
This spring will thus operate as an equalizing spring, it being made sufficiently
strong to counteract the tendency of the gearing to turn the frame with it which
would tilt it in the opposite direction, so that the frame is easily adjustable on the
axle. This action of the spring also places the principal weight of the inner shoe
or finger bar upon the axle, so that instead of riding heavily upon the ground or
being carried upon the pole, this additional weight is thrown upon the driving
wheels and increases the traction of the machine. This result also lessens the draft,
which is increased when the finger bar rides heavily upon the ground, and relieves
the weight upon the horses neck which is occasioned by supporting the shoe and
finger-bar upon the pole.
In connection with the mode of attaching the pole to the main frame above the
axle, as already described, this spring will also operate to raise the cutting apparatus
slightly from the ground in backing, so that in turning corners or backing from the
obstacle, the attendant will not find it necessary to raise the cutting apparatus by
the lever, except in extreme cases. The spring may be made strong enough to
more than counter-balance the frame when the machine is not at work, so as to
throw up the front end of the frame and cutting apparatus automatically, while
the depressing effect of the gearing heretofore mentioned will keep the cutting
apparatus to its work when in motion. I prefer, however, to employ a weaker
spring and so depend somewhat upon the leverage of the pole attachments to the
main frame, which obviously will have a tendency in backing to tilt upward the

page_text: forward end of the main frame. The spring holder and plunger are preferably
mounted loosely in position so that they may be readily removed for repairs if any
are required, the tension of the spring being sufficient to hold these parts in proper
position on the machine. The inner shoe G is provided with an inner extension or
coupling arm g which is connected by a knuckle or swiveling piece H, to a coupling
piece or bracket I, by means of which the shoe and cutting apparatus attached
thereto are connected to the main frame. This coupling piece is pivoted at its
lower end to the front portion of the main frame; its upper end on the inner side
is provided with a suitable lip or guide flange i, which is held within a suitable
receiving flange or guide on the main frame, as shown in Figure 2 of the
drawings. The shoe extension is curved upward and the connection to the coupling
piece L is above the pivotal joint of the latter. It is of course obvious that the
rocking of the coupling piece I, will also rock the inner shoe and with it the cutting
apparatus; and it is also obvious that owing to the arrangement of the connecting
joints just referred to, the backward and forward vibration of this coupling piece
will also carry the coupling arm of the shoe backward and forward somewhat.
This movement permits the tilting of the finger bar in its track without changing
the relative position horizontally of the pitman and cutter bar, (a difficulty which
is found with most tilting finger bars) which chango increase friction and frequently
causes breakage.
A rod or bar K is connected at one end with the upper end of the coupling
piece, extends rearward and at its other end is provided with an enlarged head k,
in which is cut a longitudinal slot . This bar I call a tilting bar or lever, and it
is connected at its rear end with the main frame by means of a pin or bolt J to one
end of the lugs to which the pole piece is attached, and in fact if desired, it may be
as shown in the drawings, an expension of the pivot bolt or pin, by means of which
the pole piece is connected to the main frame. It is obvious that the shoe and
cutting apparatus will be free to rock within the limit of the length of the slot in
this tilting bar which is sufficient. to enable the finger bar to turn upwards
automatically and pass over all ordinary obstacles. This limit to the tilting
operation may be adjusted, and I have shown means for accomplishing this result
by providing a series of holes k in the slotted head in any one of which a pin L
may be inserted in roar or in front of the connecting bolt thereby practically
limiting the length of the slot when the pin is placed in rear of the cutting bolt,
obviously the downward tilt of the cutting apparatus is regular and so the cutting
apparatus adjusted to suit the hight of cut desired. Of course by the employment
of two pins, one on each side of the bolt or finger bar may be held rigidly so that
it cannot tilt at all. A brace bar or rod M is pivoted at its end to the inner
shoe, extends backward, and is attached at its rear end by a ball and socket
joint to a bracket m depending from the main frame. The lifting chain N is
connected at one end to the inner shoe and at the other end to a shive O over
which it passes, this shive being turned by means of a hand lever P. The shive is
mounted on a projecting arm of the pole piece. The first effect of moving the
hand lever back and winding the chain upon the shive is to tilt upward the shoe
and cutting apparatus; but when the limit of this tilting operation is reached by
the operation of the tilting bar above described, the further movement of the
hand lever will lift or raise the cutting apparatus from the ground; and so both
the tilting and lifting of the cutting apparatus is effected by a single lever.
In order to provide sufficient movement of the lever for this purpose I make it
separate from the shive and mounted on the same arm as the latter, providing a
spring p by means of which it is held to the face of the shive, which is provided
with notches o for the reception of the lever. On the opposite side of the shive
I provide a dog or pawl R, which engages with notches on the hub of the shive so
as to hold it when turned backward. It will thus be seen that the hand lever
may be used simply to tilt the cutting apparatus, if desired, without disengaging
from the shive, and also in the same way to lift the cutting apparatus from the

page_text: ground to a height sufficient to pass over all ordinary obstacles; but when it is
desired to lift the cutting apparatus to the fullest extent, for transportation or any
other purpose, the lever is thrown backward an easy distance, then disengaged
from the shive and thrown forward to engage with another notch in the latter,
whereby successive turns are given to the shive until the cutting apparatus is
raised to the height desired. The pawl R. holds the shive from turning back and
dropping the cutting apparatus while the lever is being shifted.
A draft rod S is hinged at its rear end to the arched portion of the inner show
at a point sufficiently high to cause the draft to have a tendency to rock the shoe
afterwards so as to depress the guard fingers lightly and cause them to remain on
the ground except when the pin or tilting rod are employed to elevate them or
when they come in contact with some obstruction over which they will pass by
tilting upwards; this draft rod at its front end is supported by a chain 8 or other
suitable device, depending from the pole; the double tree is attached to the forward
end of the draft rod under the pole.
I also provide a guard T, which is attached to the main frame underneath the
axle and is arranged on the inside of the main gearing so as to protect the latter
from the dirt and dust, being constructed to serve as a shield for this purpose, as
shown in Figure 7 of the drawings. It extends down so as to cover the inside of
the wheel, and is provided with a flange t which projects forward over the teeth of
the gear wheel at this portion thereof. On the outer end of the bearing of the
counter-shaft there is also cast a shield or cap Q for the counter-shaft pinion, as
shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. The main gearing therefore is reasonably
protected, and the rest of the gearing of the machine is covered and protected by
ordinary devices.
The finger beam Q¹ is attached to the inner shoe in any ordinary way and the
guard fingers g¹ are of usual construction and arrangement except that on some
of them the upper section g* is extended backward and over the cutters U, which
are of the usual triangular shape and are attached to the cutter-bar u in the
ordinary way. Long narrow blocks u are attached to the cutter bar and cutters
wherever one of the extended caps g' on a guard finger occurs.
These blocks may be attached to the cutters by extending the rivits of the
latter so that the block will be rivited to the cutter bar by the same rivits, that
secured the cutters thereto.
The blocks are just thick enough to fill the space between the knives and the
rear end of the extended guard finger cap g' and their length is determined
somewhat by the width of the finger cap extension; preferably the relativo
dimentions being such that at each reciprocation of the cutter bar the block will be
carried nearly out beyond the finger cap, first on one side, then on the other; but
will be entirely clear from under the cap. These blocks being arranged at suitable
intervals and fitting reasonably close under the finger cap extensions provided for
them, will hold the cutters down properly to their work and at the same time will
clear the grass and other material which may be brought under the finger cap
entirely from the latter and so prevent clogging. There is thus provided a free
open space for all substances to pass back beyond the guard fingers and a perfect
clearance is provided so that there can be no gumming up of the knives under the
extended finger caps and I am able to dispense with the usual cutter caps which
are attached to the finger beam in rear of the cutter and project over the latter
and are attended with gumming and a consequent increase of friction in the
movement of the cutters. This construction is shown in Figures 11 and 12 of the
drawings and in Figures 9 and 10 a modification thereof is illustrated wherein the
extension of the finger caps is made in the form of a flat spring g³ which extends
back over the cutters is bent downward and rests at its rear end upon the rear
portion of the latter.
This spring operates to hold the cutters down to work as just, described above
and the clearing is effected by elongating the heads of the cutter rivits u³ so that

page_text: they will project up underneath the springs and nearly to the latter or the blocks
just described above may be used.
The pitman V which I prefer to use with the rocking finger beam and cutting
apparatus described above is of somewhat peculiar construction. It is composed
of two independent twisted bars v v¹ which at their lower ends embrace a ball on
the head of the cutter bar and are held together and adjusted by a bolt v³ near
their lower ends or running through the latter and the said ball; at their upper
ends they are twisted and so are brought at right angles to the lower ends and are
connected by a bolt which is provided with a spring and nut on the outside
thereof.
The tightening of the nut on this bolt by reason of the twist in the two bars
tends to throw downward the front bar and pull upward the rear bar and this
tendency will overcome the tendency of the cutters to tilt upward at their front
ends, so that under all circumstances the knives will be made to run parallel with
the face of the guard finger and close thereto, thereby ensuring a clean cut as the
finger beam is capable of being rocked or tilted and is left free to do so within
certain limits.
There is occasion for the use of some device to keep the cutters in this parallel
position and so it will be seen that this pitman is particularly adapted to the
cutting apparatus constructed as set forth, and connected to the main frame of the
machine as shown and described.
When it is desired to throw the finger bar up for transpotation the tilting rod
is left free to move backward as far as possible, and the hand lever is then operated
successively, first tilting the finger-bar upward as far as possible, and then turning
it upward, in which movement it also turns backward.
Now it will be seen that the finger bar, in this position is supported by the shoe
extension and the bracket depending from the axle to which the brace bar M
is pivoted. The weight of the finger-bar in this position is therefore distributed so
as to operate mainly on the axle and not upon the pole.
I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the precise construction
and arrrangement of all the parts of the machine as they are shown in the
drawings and have been described above, for changes in details may be made
without departing from the principle of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a front cut mowing machine, a vibrating main frame extending in front
and rear of the axle, in combination with an equalizing spring arranged to act
upon the rear extension of the frame, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
2. In a front cut mowing machine, a vibrating main frame extending in front
and rear of the axle, in combination with a pole support extending in rear of the
axle, and an equalizing spring arranged between the pole support and the main
frame in roar of the axle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a front cut mowing machine, a vibrating frame extending in front and
rear of the axle, in combination with a pole hinged to the main frame at points
projecting therefrom above the axle, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
4. In a front cut mowing machine, a vibrating main frame, extending in front
and rear of the axle, in combination with the pole hinged to the main frame at
points thereon above the axle, and an equalizing spring arranged to act upon the
frame in rear of the axle and depress this portion of the frame, substantially as and
for the purposes sot forth.
5.-In a front cut inowing machine, a vibrating main frame extending in front
and rear of the axle, in combination with a pole hinged to the main frame at

page_text: points above the axle and extending in rear of the latter; and an equalizing spring
arranged between the rear pole extension and the main frame in rear of the axle,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6. A vibrating main frame A in combination with a hinged pole D, a spiral
spring F, and a spring holder and followers f f¹ arranged and operating sub-
stantially as described.
7. The vibrating main frame A, provided with upwardly projecting lugs a, in
combination with a pole support d provided with depending lugs by which it is
hinged to the lugs on the main frame, a spiral spring F, and a spring holder and
follower ff, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
8. In a mowing machine, a vibrating coupling piece or bracket pivoted to its
support in combination with the inner shoe attached to the coupling piece above
its pivot, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
9. The main frame A, in combination with a vibrating coupling piece pivoted
to the main frame, the inner shoe and knuckle joint connecting the said shoe to
the coupling piece at a point above its pivotal support, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
10. The inner shoe G provided with an arm g extending inward and upward,
in combination with the knuckle H, the coupling pin I, guide i and main frame A,
substantially as described.
11. The vibrating or rocking coupling piece, pivoted to its support and free to
rock in either direction, in combination with the inner shoe hinged to said coupling
piece and a tilting bar hinged at one end to the coupling piece and at the other
connected to the main frame by means which permit a movement of said bar
lengthwise within certain limits; whereby the coupling piece and shoe are
permitted to rock freely within the limits of the movement of the tilting bar,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
12. The inner shoe G, in combination with the vibrating coupling piece I, the
tilting bar K connected at one end to the coupling piece and provided with a
slot Kat its other end and the bolt J, passing through the said slot to connect the
tilting bar to the main frame, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
13. The vibrating coupling piece to which the inner shoe is connected, in
combination with the tilting bar K, provided at one end with the slot K¹ and a
series of holes, the fastening bolt J, and the stop pin L, whereby the movement
of the tilting bar may be regulated, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
14. The vibrating coupling piece, pivoted to its support in combination with
the slotted tilting bar, the inuor shoe and finger bar, the lifting chain and shive,
and the lever for operating said shive, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth,
15. The main frame A, in combination with the coupling piece I, slotted tilting
bar K, inner shoe G, carrying the finger bar, knuckle piece H, chain N, shive O,
and lever P arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
16. The finger bar, in combination with the rocking inner shoe and shoe
extension, the tilting bar K, the brace bar M, the bracket m depending from the
main frame, and the lifting lever P, whereby the cutter-bar is thrown up and
supported for transportation, substantially as described.
17. In a mowing machine, a rocking finger beam, in combination with
reciprocating cutters, a block or projection on one or more of the cutters, and a cap
projecting over the front of the cutters and extending back over the block and in
contact therewith, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
18. In a mowing machine, the inner shoe connected to its support by a knuckle
joint, in combination with the finger beam attached to the shoe, reciprocating

page_text: cutters, a block or projection on one or more of the cutters, and a cap on one or
more of the guard fingers extending back over the respective blocks, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
19. In a mowing machine, a rocking finger beam, in combination with
reciprocating cutters, the pitman consisting of the two independant twisted bars,
the blocks on the cutters, and the extended caps of the guard fingers projecting
back over the said blocks, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this Second day of October A.D. 1884.