IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Manwaring, of the Britannia Works,
: 'Banbury, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 26th May 1868, and dated the 26th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Manwaring
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th March 1868.
I, WILLIAM MANWARING, of the Britannia Works, Banbury,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to reaping and mowing machines having
a hinged finger beam, the object being to enable such finger beam on
being lifted to rise parallel or nearly parallel with the ground without
the freedom of motion of the hinge joint being interfered with. This
is accomplished by the action of an arm jointed to the finger beam
at a point advanced beyond the hinge which couples the finger bar to
the framing of the machine. This arm extends inwards towards the

page_text: centre of the machine, and when its free end is drawn or pressed down
it will bear upon a projection carried by the frame as a fulcrum, and
thus act as a rock lever to raise the outer end of the finger beam. A
convenient means for setting this rock lever in action simultaneously
with the lifting of the finger beam through its hinged coupling is the
following The draft pole of the machine is furnished with a chain,
quadrant, and lever, the chain from which is passed under a chain pulley
mounted on a cross bar of the main frame, and brought up and secured
to the free end of the rock lever jointed to the finger beam; when
therefore the chain is lifted by means of the lever and quadrant, the
first effect of such lifting is to draw down the free end of the rock lever
and thereby tip the finger beam on its hinge, and the second effect is
to lift the main frame and finger beam together from the ground.
Other contrivances may be adopted, if thought desirable, for depressing
the free end of the rock lever and thus raising the outer end of the
finger beam and maintaining for the time the horizontality of that beam
and removing its tendency to dip.
र
The Invention relates, secondly, to reaping and mowing machines
which carry the finger beam in front of the driving wheels, the object
being to cause the pull exerted by the horses in drawing. the machine
to operate in a twofold manner; first, so as to tend to raise the finger
beam from the ground; and, second, to counteract the weight of the
draught pole and lighten the pressure on the necks of the horses. This
compound object is accomplished by attaching the draft chain or its
equivalent to a prolongation of the pole socket at a point below the
attachment of the latter to the main axle of the machine, and carrying
such chain (preferably over a pulley) beneath some portion of the main
frame of the machine at a point also below the main axle. By varying
the vertical distance of either or both of these two points from the
main axle the tendency to lift the beam or pole or both of them may
be varied at pleasure.
The Invention relates, lastly, to the cutting apparatus of reaping and
mowing machines, the object being to allow a free passage for cut
stubble, gum, and dirt from underneath the sickle bar while in action,
thus reducing friction and draught. This is effected by bedding the
sickle bar upon the inclined faces of pieces of metal (preferably of steel)
that are fixed at equal distances apart on the finger beam; thus any
stubble, dirt, and other matter adhering to the sickle bar will work

page_text: out backward through the intervening spaces between the chamfered or
wedge-shaped pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Manwaring in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANWARING, of the Britannia Works, Banbury, in the County of Oxon,
Engineer, send greeting.
F
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Manwaring, Her special
licence, that I, the said William Manwaring, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Manwaring,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and 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 Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Manwaring, my,
exccutors 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Manwaring, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to

page_text: This Invention relates, firstly, to reaping and mowing machines having
a hinged, finger beam, the object being to enable such finger beam
on being lifted to rise parallel or nearly parallel with the ground
without the freedom of motion of the hinge joint being interfered with.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in front elevation so
much of a mowing machine as will serve to explain the manner in
which the parallelism of the finger bar with the ground is maintained,
A is a portion of the main framing of the machine to which the
shoe B carrying the finger bar B* is hinged at a in the ordinary
manner. Jointed to the shoe B at a point in advance of the hinge
joint a is an arm C which extends inwards towards the centre of the
machine, and to its free end is secured a chain D which passes round
a pulley 6 mounted in the side frame A. So long as the chain remains
loose the finger beam will be free to play on its hinge a, but when
tension is put on the chain the free end of the arm C will be drawn
down and the arm will then come into contact with a projection c formed
on the shoe B. Upon this projection the arm will bear as upon a
fulcrum and will act as a rock lever, thereby tipping the shoe and
raising the outer end of the finger heam. A convenient means for
setting this rook lever in action simultaneously with the lifting of the
finger beam through its hinged coupling is the following:-The draft
pole of the machine is furnished with a chain, quadrant, and lever, the
chain from which is passed under a chain pulley mounted on a cross
bar of the main frame, and brought up and secured to the free end of
the rock lever jointed to the finger beam; when therefore the chain is
lifted by means of the lever and a quadrant, the first effect of such
lifting is to draw down the free end of the rock lever and thereby tip
the finger beam on its hinge, and the second effect is to lift the main
frame and finger beam together from the ground. Other contrivances
may be adopted, if thought desirable, for depressing the free end of the
rock lever C and thus raising the outer end of the finger beam and
maintaining for the time the horizontality of that beam and removing
its tendency to dip.
The Invention relates, secondly, to reaping and mowing machines
which carry the finger beam in front of the driving wheels, the object
being to cause the pull exerted by the horses in drawing the machine to
operate in a twofold manner; first, so as to tend to raise the finger
beam from the ground; and, secondly, to counteract the weight of the

page_text: draught pole and lighten the pressure on the necks of the horses. This
compound object is accomplished by attaching the draught chain or its
equivalent to a prolongation of the pole socket at a point below the
attachment of the latter to the main axle of the machine and carrying
such chain beneath some portion of the main frame of the machine at a
point also below the main axle.
Fig. 2 represents in side sectional elevation a mowing machiné
arranged according to this portion of the Invention.
A is the travelling wheel to the axle B of which the main frame of
the machine C is pivotted; D and E represent the bevil gearing employed
to give motion to the crank wheel F, and through that and the con-
necting rod G to the cutting apparatus of the machine, which is placed
at H. I represents tho pole or drawing bracket, which is also pivotted
to the main axle B; to it the pole J is secured by proper fastenings:
The pole bracket is made of such a form that the draught chain K can
be attached to it at an adjustable point i, i, i; below the centre of the
axle. The chain passos from the tail of the bracket I. under a pulley .L
mounted on the main frame below the main axle, and over or through a
guide M carried by the pole J. The pole J serves simply to guide and
turn the machine, the whole of the draught being carried through the
chain K, to the forward end of which the whipple trees are attached.
By varying the vertical distance of the point of attachment i of the
chain or the position of the pulley L with respect to the main axle, or by
adjusting both of these with respect to the main axle, the tendency to
lift the beam or pole or both of them may be varied at pleasure.
The Invention relates, lastly, to the cutting apparatus of reaping
and mowing machines, the object being to allow a free passage for cut
stubble, gum, and dirt from underneath the sickle bar while the machine
is in action, thus reducing friction and draught. This is effected by
bedding the sickle bar upon the inclined faces of picces of metal
(preferably of steel) that are fixed at equal distances apart on the finger
beam.
Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is a sectional end view of portions of the
cutting apparatus of a mowing machine illustrating this improvement.
:
a, a, a, are the fingers; b, b, b, the knifes; and c, c, is one of a series
of knife; guides; d, d, is the finger beam to which the fingers a are
bolted; and e, e, represent one of a series of wedge-shaped pieces made
fast to the finger beam, on the inclined face of which bears the sickle

page_text: bar g carrying the cutting knifes b, b, b, which are rivetted thereto.
The plates e are fixed to the beam preferably by the same means and at
the same positions as the knife guides c at equal or nearly equal
intervals along the length of the finger beam d, and their effect is to
permit of the escape from underneath the sickle bar g of all such
matters (for example, dirt and cut stuble) as collect about the sickle bar,
which matters when the machine is in motion work out backwards
through the wedge-shaped openings f between the finger beam d
and the sickle bar g due to the want of continuity of the packing
pieces e.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of " Improve-
ments in the Construction of Reaping and Mowing Machines," and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
First. Causing the hinged cutter bar when lifted to rise parallel
or nearly parallel to the ground by the means above described.
Secondly. The application to machines which carry the finger beam
in advance of the frame of the means above described for neutralizing
the weight of the draught pole upon or partially removing it from the
draught horses.
Thirdly. The means above described for providing for the discharge of
dirt and other matters (as they collect) from below and in rear of the
sickle bar.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Manwaring, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
J. P. HARDY,
Banbury,
Accountant.
WILLIAM MANWARING. (L.S.)