IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Thomson, residing at Black Ruthven, in the
County of Perth, North Britain, Farm Steward, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES."-A communication
from William Thomson, of Canton, Illinois, United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd May 1857, and dated the 16th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Thomson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th March 1857.
I, JAMES THOMSON, residing at Black Ruthven, in the County of Perth,
North Britain, Farm Steward, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES," a com-
munication from William Thomson, of Canton, Illinois, United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of machines for
performing the agricultural operations of mowing and reaping, whereby these
operations may be performed with greater ease and rapidity than with machines
of the ordinary kind. According to one form, the frame of the machine is of
an oblong rectangular shape, with the broadest part placed to face the
direction of the line of motion. The frame is supported at the back
part on the axle of the main driving wheel and its corresponding wheel

page_text: on the opposite side of the machine. The front part of the frame is sup-
ported by a platform hinged thereto, and at its other end attached to
the axle of a pair of guiding wheels. This platform is so arranged that
by means of a screw bolt and nut, which passes through it and the front
part of the frame of the machine, the latter may be adjusted with regard to its
distance or height from the ground. To the front cross piece of the frame
is attached a metal bar, and to this bar are secured a number of circular cut-
ters by means of a bolt which passes through each cutter and the metal bar.
The circular cutters are also connected to a vibrating connecting rod or bar
by means of pins, which pass through the edges of the cutters and through
the vibrating bar. Motion is given to the vibrating bar by means of a bevil
wheel fast on the axle of the main driving wheel, and this bevil wheel gears
with a pinion on one end of a shaft fitted parallel with the side of the
machine. To the other end of the pinion shaft is keyed a spur wheel,
which is in gear with à pinion on the end of a crank shaft. The
crank pin is attached to one end of a connecting rod, and the other end
of which is secured to the vibrating bar, the eccentric movement of the
crank giving a vibratory motion to the bar to which the cutters are attached.
The cutting edges of the circular cutters are formed by notching or serrating
their edges, and forming therein such a number of teeth as to give them the
proper angle to effect the cut with the least expenditure of power. The
upper sides of the circular cutters are ground away so as to form the
cutting edges upon the lower sides, and these cutting edges are finely serrated
or sickled, in order to retain a better hold upon the grain or grass presented
to them to be cut, and by this means to accomplish the cutting operation with
greater facility than if the cutting edges were sharpened to a plain edge.
The circular cutters act against a series of pointed flat-bladed cutters or
knives, which are arranged in two rows beneath the circular cutters.
These knives are fixed to the front cross piece of the frame, the upper row
projecting from the frame between the circular cutters, and the lower row
being fixed opposite the centres of the vibrating cutters. The fixed knives are
slotted horizontally to allow the circular cutters to vibrate through them; and
these parts of the machine are so arranged that all the grain or grass pre-
sented to the machine shall be subjected to the cutting operation, and none of
it pass uncut to choke or clog it up. The machine is drawn by team of horses
attached to the pole of the driving wheels; they are guided by a driver, sitting
on a seat fitted on the platform, by which the machine is attached to the axle
of the driving wheels. When the machine is used for cutting grain, the grain
as it is cut is carried by a gathering wheel on to an apron, whence it is gathered

page_text: into sheaves by an attendant, standing upon a platform which projects from
the side of the machine opposite to the main driving wheel. Motion is given
to the gathering reel by means of a pulley fixed on its axle and an endless cord
or belt, which passes round it and round a groove made in the boss of the main
driving wheel.
When the machine is used for mowing the gathering reel and apron are
not required, and they are so made as to be easily removed and laid aside.
To give the machine a firm hold on the ground, the main driving wheel has
upon its periphery a number of projections or catches to prevent its slipping
during the progress of the machine. The circular form and sickled cutting
edges of the cutters, and their vibrating movement through the fixed knives,
combine to give their operation a shearing character superior in effect to and
requiring less power than the machine ordinarily used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
THOMSON, residing at Black Ruthven, in the County of Perth, North Britain,
Farm Steward, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Thomson, Her special license that I, the said James Thomson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Thonison my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agreo
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 Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND
REAPING MACHINES," a communication from William Thomson, of Canton,
Illinois, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said James Thomson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, 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

page_text: 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 James Thomson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of machines
for performing the agricultural operations of mowing and reaping, whereby
these operations may be performed with greater ease and rapidity than with
machines of the ordinary kind. According to one form, the frame of the
machine is of an oblong rectangular shape, with the broadest part placed to
face the direction of the line of motion. The frame is supported at the back
part on the axle of the main driving wheel and its corresponding wheel on
the opposite side of the machine. The front part of the frame is supported
by a platform hinged thereto, and at its other end attached to the axle of a
pair of guiding wheels. This platform is so arranged that by means of a
screw bolt and nut, which passes through it and the front part of the frame of
the machine, the latter may be adjusted with regard to its distance or height
from the ground. To the front cross piece of the frame is attached a metal
bar, and to this bar are secured a number of circular cutters by means of a
bolt which passes through each cutter and the metal bar. The circular cutters
are also connected to a vibrating connecting rod or bar by means of pins,
which pass through the edges of the cutters and through the vibrating bar.
Motion is given to the vibrating bar by means of a bevil wheel fast on the
axle of the main driving wheel, and this bevil wheel gears with a pinion on
one end of a shaft fitted parallel with the side of the machine. To the other
end of the pinion shaft is keyed a spur wheel, which is in gear with a pinion
on the end of a crank shaft. The crank pin is attached to one end of a
connecting rod, the other end of which is secured to the vibrating bar,
the eccentric movement of the crank giving a vibratory motion to the
bar to which the cutters are attached. The cutting edges of the circular
cutters are formed by notching or serrating their edges, and forming therein
such a number of teeth as to give them the proper angle to effect the
cut with the least expenditure of power. The upper sides of the circular
cutters are ground away so as to form the cutting edges upon the lower sides;
and these cutting edges are finely serrated or sickled in order to retain a
better hold upon the grain or grass presented to them to be cut, and by this
means to accomplish the cutting operation with greater facility than if the

page_text: cutting edges were sharpened to a plain edge. The circular cutters act
against a series of pointed flat-bladed cutters or knives, which are arranged in
two rows beneath the circular cutters. These knives are fixed to the front
cross piece of the frame, the upper row projecting from the frame between
the circular cutters, and the lower row being fixed opposite the centres of the
vibrating cutters. The fixed knives are slotted horizontally to allow the
circular cutters to vibrate through them; and these parts of the machine are
so arranged that all the grain or grass presented to the machine shall be
subjected to the cutting operation, and none of it pass uncut to choke or clog
it up. The machine is drawn by a team of horses attached to the pole of
the driving wheels; they are guided by a driver sitting on a seat on tho
platform, by which the machine is attached to the axle of the driving wheels.
When the machine is used for cutting grain, the grain as it is cut it is carried
by a gathering reel on to an apron, whence it is gathered into sheaves by an
attendant, standing upon a platform which projects from the side of the
machine opposite to the main driving wheel. Motion is given to the gathering
reel by means of a pulley fixed on its axle, and an endless cord or belt, which
passes round it and round a groove made in the boss of the main driving wheel.
When the machine is used for mowing the gathering reel and apron
are not required, and they are so made as to be easily removed, and laid
aside. To give the machine a firm hold on the ground, the main driving
wheel has upon its periphery a number of projections or catches to prevent
its slipping during the progress of the machine. The circular form and
sickled cutting edges of the cutters and their vibrating movement through
the fixed knives combine to give their operation a shearing character superior
in effect to and requiring less power than the machines ordinarily used.
And in order that the said Invention which has been communicated to
me may be fully understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several illus-
trative Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto
appended, for the purpose of showing certain modifications under which these
improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice.
Figure 1 of the illustrative Drawings is an elevation of a mowing and
reaping machine arranged according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of
the same; and Figure 3 is a view of the lower portion of the machine taken
at right angles to Figure 1, that is to say, looking toward the cutters in front
of the machine.
The framing A of the machine is of a rectangular shape, and is supported
at the back or after part of the machine by the axles of the wheels B and C.
The axle of the driving wheel B turns in suitable bearings, which are bolted

page_text: to the side pieces of the framing A. The tire of the main driving wheel B is
made with transverse projections on its surface, which serve as catches to hold
in the ground as the machine advances. It is by means of the rotatory motion
of the wheel B that the cutters and gathering reel are actuated, hence the
projections on the tire are made in order to prevent the wheel from dragging
along the ground without turning. Instead of making the driving wheel B of
wood with an iron tire the wheel may be made of cast iron, and the projections
or catches cast on the periphery. The following wheel C has a smooth peri-
phery of the ordinary kind, as no part of the positive reaping mechanism is
connected therewith. To the parallel side pieces of the framing A is bolted a
pair of standards D fitted in front of the driving wheel B; and to these standards
is binged a platform E, the front end of which is supported by means of the
iron stays F, which are fast to the axle of the guiding wheels G. To the axle
of the wheels G is bolted the forked end piece of the shaft E, to which the
horses for drawing the machine are attached. On the platform E is fitted a
seat, in which the person who has charge of the horses is seated. The plat-
form E being hinged at the after part to the standards D, this admits of an
arrangement, by means of which the height of the front part of the machine
from the ground may be varied according to the nature of the crop to be cut;
this adjustment is effected by means of a screwed bolt I, which is jointed to a
rail secured to the side pieces of the framing A. The upper end of the bolt I
passes through the platform E, in which is fixed a nut having a screw cor-
responding to the external screw on the bolt I. The nut is turned by means
of the hand wheel J, which causes the screw bolt I to ascend or descend
through the platform E, thereby raising or lowering the front part of the
framing A where the cutters are carried. To counteract the strain upon the
front part of the framing a pair of standards K are bolted to its outer ends,
and these standards are connected to each other by a tie rod. The cutters L,
which sever the stalks of the grain or grass, are a series of star-shaped wheels,
the edges of which are bevilled off, and then finely notched or serrated in
manner similar to the serrated edge given to some kinds of sickles. The cutters
are arranged in a line parallel with the front of the machine, and each is
attached by a means of a central bolt to a flat bar of metal M, which is secured
to the front part of the framing. A partially rotatory motion is given to the
cutters L by connecting them to a bar N fitted at the back of the cutters, a
reciprocatory motion being given to this bar from a crank driven by the wheel
B. The bar N slides to and fro in guides O attached to the framing, and the
cutters are connected to the bar by pins, which pass through slots made to
allow for the slightly curved path of the cutter pins. The cutting action is

page_text: produced by the motion of the cutters against stationary cutting bars P; these
cutting bars are wedge-shaped pieces of metal secured by means of nuts and
bolts to the framing A, and they are arranged so that there is a cutting bar
between each cutter, and one projecting from the centre of the cutter. The
cutting bars are slotted horizontally, so as to allow of the cutters vibrating
between the upper and lower surfaces of the cutting bars. The under side of
the cutting bars is flat, and the upper side is bevilled off at the edge to form a
scizzor-like edge, against which the moveable cutters act to effect the cutting
operation. A reciprocatory movement across the machine is communicated to
the cutter bar N from the crank Q, which is connected to the cutter bar by
means of the rod R. The rotatory motion of the crank is derived from tho
main driving wheel B through the intermediate gearing. The driving wheel is
made with a bevil wheel S on one side, the diameter of which is smaller than
the periphery of the wheel B, so as to run clear of the ground over which the
machine may be passing. The bevil wheel is in gear with a pinion T, the
shaft of which is carried in pedestal bearings supported by the framing A.
Upon the other end of the pinion shaft is a spur wheel U, which gears with a
pinion on the crank shaft, which is shown in dotted lines in the plan Figure 2
of the illustrative Drawings. The end of the connecting rod R works in a
T-shaped slot made in the crank dise Q; this arrangement admits of the
adjustment of the traverse of the cutter bar N by altering the throw of the
crank or its amount of eccentricity. When the machine is used for reaping
cereal crops the grain as it is cut is gathered on to the platform V, technically
termed the apron." This collecting of the grain on to the apron is effected
by means of a light rotatory frame or gathering reel W, to which rotatory
motion is given from the driving wheel B. On the axle of the gathering
reel W is a grooved wheel or pulley X, and the inner part of the driving
wheel B is also grooved in a corresponding manner. An endless belt Y is fitted
in these grooves, by means of which the motion of the wheel B is commu-
nicated to the wheel X. As the machine moves forward the standing crop is
divided by the projecting cutting bars, whilst the rapid reciprocatory movement
of the cutters acting against the edges of the cutting bars severs the stalks of
the crop. Each of the cutters serves the stalks to the right and left as the
cutter bar is moved to and fro by the crank. Meanwhile the gathering reel
as it turns round collects the cut grain upon the apron V, and as it accumulates
it is bound up into sheaves by an attendant who stands upon a projecting part
of the platform behind the partition Z. As the sheaves are bound up they are
cast off the platform in the rear of the machine. When the cutters become
blunt another portion of the wheel may be brought into use by having another

page_text: hole or more made in the wheel through which the pin is passed that attaches
the cutter to the reciprocating bar N; thus, by taking out the connecting pins
and moving the cutter round a portion of a revolution, and reconnecting the
cutters by means of the extra hole, the unused portion of the cutters circum-
ference is brought into action. When the machine is used for mowing or
cutting hay and other similar crops the apron and gathering reel are removed,
as the cut crop does not in such cases require to be gathered into sheaves. In
this machine the circular movement of the cutters, their serrated edges, and
rapid reciprocatory motion combine to give to the cut effected by them a
shearing character closcly similar to the operation of the sickle, which is far
more effective than the work done by machines of the ordinary kind.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carriod
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for mowing and reaping, as herein-before described.
Second, the use and application of machinery or apparatus for cutting or
mowing hay and other similar crops, as herein-before described.
Third, the arrangement and construction of circular or star-shaped cutters,
which move in segmental or partially rotatory paths, and are actuated by an
oscillating or reciprocatory bar, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the arrangement and application of stationary cutting bars against
which the moveable cutters act, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the mechanical arrangement by means of which the cutters are
raised or depressed according to the nature of the crop to be operated upon,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Thomson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
JAMES THOMSON. (L.S.)