IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY HAY-TEDDING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
-
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY HAY-TEDDING MACHINES."
A communication from abroad by Stuart Perry, of Newport, New
York, United States of America.
Sealed the 2nd June 1874, and dated the 17th February 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th February 1874.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY HAY-TEDDING
MACHINES," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction and operation of a rotary
hay-tedding machine, as will be herein-after fully explained.
The ground wheels of the said machine are supported on the ends of a
through axle, which extends across and carries the main frame by both

page_text: OI Its sides.
These ground wheels are also the carrying and driving
wheels of the machine.
The sides of the main frame are of a T form and are cross braced and
hinged to the axle, so that they may vibrate.
The ground wheels have internal gear wheels formed on them, which
mesh into and turn pinions that have a ratchet and pawl attachment
connected with them, so that when the machine runs forward these
pinions turn the through shaft of the reel, and when it runs backward
slip on the said shaft without turning it.
The shaft of the reel is supported and turns in bearings arranged upon
the lower ends of the vertical end pieces of the main frame. Upon this
shaft, at or near each of its ends, are fastened cross heads, in the ends of
which are supported, so that they may turn in said cross heads, teeth
carrying shafts, upon which the tines or teeth are arranged. These
shafts though revolving with the reel shaft and its cross heads have an
independent motion on their own axes as follows:-The shafts project
through the cross heads, and have at one of their ends crank arms, upon
which there are friction rolls that run in a camway fastened to the main
frame, so that as the reel revolves around the shaft as an axis the
shafts have an independent motion around their own axes. The said
camway at the part nearest the main shaft of the reel is concentric
with the said shaft for a certain distance, and is so placed that the
independent motion of each in turn of the teeth bearing shafts has ceased
when the friction roll enters this part of the camway, the teeth having
then been fully restored to their normal position. This full restoration
of the teeth to their normal position is effected just before they enter
the grass, and their motion is neither accelerated nor retarded by the
camway, while they sweep and lift the grass from the ground, but after
they have reached a certain height the friction roll of the crank arm
governing their independent motion leaves the concentric part of the
camway and enters another and a differently formed part, and this
causes the teeth to dip backward to prevent their carrying the grass over
the reel.
The shafts are made of wrought iron and of a tubular form. Each
pin or bolt passes directly through one of these tubular shafts and

page_text: axletree, and should have a bar in front of the axletree connecting its
side pieces.
I make the thills and tongue with iron pieces bent upward in a curved
form to permit a greater elevation for the operator's seat, and a foot
frame that is horizontal, with either the thills or the tongue in use.
In going to or from the field the pinions may be allowed to run
without turning the reel by fastening the pawls so that they cannot
engage with the ratchets. For this purpose I raise with the hand the
longer arm of a thin piece of metal that is pivoted to the outer face of
each of the pinions and then move it inward toward the centre of the
pinion and allow it to snap in or on the other side of a stud. When
the machine is in the field ready to be operated again this piece must be
moved back to the side of the said stud from which it was taken. The
short arm of the said piece passes directly over the joint end of the
pawl, thus securing it in place, and when the long arm is moved inward
it is moved outward against a projection of the said pawl, carrying the
same away from the ratchet. Its pivoting screw passes through a
washer that cannot turn, thus answering a double purpose, namely, it
keeps the screw from getting loose, and it binds down and strengthens
the pawl holder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th August 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert

page_text: The sides of the main frame D are of a T form, and are cross braced,
as at D", and hinged to the axle C so that they may vibrate.
The ground wheels have each internal gear wheels a, a, formed on
them, which mesh into and turn pinions c, c, that have a ratchet and
pawl attachment connected to or with them, so that when the machine
runs forward these pinions turn the through shaft 6 of the reel, and
when it runs backward slip on said shaft without turning it.
The shaft of the reel is supported and turns in bearings d arranged
upon the lower ends of the vertical end pieces of the main frame.
Upon this shaft b, at or near each of its ends, are fastened cross heads E,
in the ends of which are supported, so that they may turn in said cross
heads, the teeth carrying shafts F, F, upon which the tines or teeth e are
arranged. These shafts F though revolving with the reel shaft b and
its cross heads E have an independent motion on their own axes, as
follows: The shafts F, F, project though the cross heads, and have at
one of their ends, namely, that one on the right of the machine, as
shown in Figures 1 and 3, crank arms f, upon the ends of which there
are friction rolls 1 that run in a camway y fastened to the main frame,
so that while the reel as a whole revolves around the shaft b as an axis
the shafts I have an independent motion around their own axes caused
by their crank arms and the camway they run in. The camway 9 at the
part nearest the main shaft b of the reel is concentric with said shaft
for a certain distance, and is so placed that the independent motion of
cach in turn of the teeth bearing shafts has ceased when the friction
roll 1 enters this part of the camway, the teeth having then been fully
restored to their normal position. This full restoration of the teeth to
their normal position is effected just before they enter the grass, and
their motion is neither accelerated nor retarded by the camway, while
'they sweep and lift the grass from the ground, but after they have
reached a certain height the friction roll of the crank arm governing
their independent motion leaves the concentric part of the camway and
enters another and a differently formed part, as at 2, and this causes the
teeth to dip backward to prevent their carrying the grass over the reel.
This could not be accomplished by a circular camway, even though it
was eccentrically arranged in relation to the main reel shaft, nor by a
direct crank movement, and though I have shown but two teeth bearing
shafts arranged in the reel three or more may be used, each having a

page_text: crank arm and a friction roll or slide taking and working in the cam-
way.
The shafts F are made of wrought iron and of tubular form, not only
for the sake of lightness and strength but to give a suitable support to
large and censequently better coils of the spring teeth, and thus dispense
with many supporting pieces required for such coils when the usual
small solid iron rods are used. Each pin or bolt i passes directly
through one of the tubular shafts F and securely fastens two of the
separate grass spreading teeth, as at h, h.
The ground wheels of rotary tedders as generally constructed run
upon and crush down some of the grass that is to be tedded, and the
outer tines of the reel are not near enough to these wheels to raise the
grass behind them. To remedy this defect I bring the ends of the
shafts F as near as possible to said wheels and then by bending outward
the outer tines e¹ of the series they are brought still nearer to said
wheels so as to take up and ted the grass over which they roll.
A hand lever G projects upward into convenient position, so that the
operator in his seat H may grasp and use it. This lever is forked or
branched at its lower end, one branch G¹ being fastened to the front
cross bar D¹ of the main frame, and the other branch G" being fastened
to the rear cross bar D" of said main frame. This main frame, as above
mentioned, is hinged to vibrate upon the main axle C, and the branches
of the hand lever G straddle the axle, so that the main frame is easily
rocked upon said axle by the operator.
To the axle C and to the thill and tongue frame I (which latter is
practically a part of and is rigidly fastened to said axle) is fastened a
toothed sector j, into which a spring hand bolt / that moves in guides
on the hand lever G will shoot or catch and hold the main frame in its
adjusted position. The reel being hung in the rear under portion of the
main frame, as above described, is raised or lowered with said main
frame so as to work further from or nearer to the surface of the ground
as the nature of the crop or the surface of the ground itself may require.
The thill and tongue frame I supports and carries the thills J which are
on top of said frame, the tongue or pole K, which is arranged on the
under side of said frame, and the spring seat support L, which is on the
cross bar thereof. There are also connected to this tongue and thill
frame two springs 1, 1, against the points or ends of which the main

page_text: frame brings up when its front is raised to correspondingly lower the
rcar thereof.
M is a circular shield having a thin rim projecting outward from its
perimeter fastened to the end of the reel that is furthest from the cam-
way g. Under this rim in close proximity is the segment of a circular
guard N having a part of one of its sides cut away at n to prevent its
rubbing against the adjacent ground wheel. The object of these two
pieces is to prevent the grass from getting in and winding between this
end of the reel and the main frame. The camway with the peculiar
arrangement and action of the cranks f, f, prevents the grass from 1
getting in between the other end of the reel and the main frame.
The crank arms fon the tubular teeth bearing shafts F, as seen more
distinctly in Figure 3, have "set backs" " upon them, which admit of
longer bearings for their friction rolls 1 that run in the camway, and at
the same time allow the shafts, or rather their ends, to come so near the 1
ground wheels that their outwardly bent teeth e¹ may take up and ted
the grass over which the ground wheels run and the grass somewhat
beyond them.
The ground wheels may be of wood and the cogged rims or internal
gear wheels of iron and fastened to the wheels. The through axle C is a
of iron strengthened by a backing of wood between the wheels.
To give strength to the reel frame D and space for the reel to work
in and to partly balance the weight of the reel this frame D lies across
the axletree C, and should have a bar in front of the axletree connecting
its side pieces. The usual straight thill and tongue attachments to the
axletree would by being in the way of the cross bar be an obstruction to
the desired movements of the frame.
For this and other reasons I make these attachments with iron pieces
bent upward in a curved form, which admits of a greater elevation for
the operator's seat, and a foot frame that is horizontal when I use the a
thills or the tongue.
In the construction of this machine there are several important con-
siderations which I desire to state as they may not seem so important
to the eye or simple observation,―
First. The through shaft and axle keep the gear wheels in true mesli,
and thus prevent undue friction binding or wearing away.

page_text: Second. Notwithstanding the through main axle the bringing of the
reel so close to the axle as not to endanger its teeth on the one side by
the inequalities of the ground over which the wheels may be passing,
and those over which the reel is working, and on the other hand not to
miss any of the grass on the ground, and yet leave the reel capable of
such vertical adjustment as is required. This proximity of the reel to
the axis of the ground wheels also prevents much of the lateral strain
upon the teeth when the machine is being turned around at the end of
the field or land.
Third. Although the reel works within a plane passing inside of the
rear of the ground wheels its outside teeth are made to take up or draw
out and ted the grass that said ground wheels may be passing over or
upon.
In going to or from the field the pinions may be allowed to run
without turning the reel by fastening the pawls so that they cannot
engage with the ratchets. This is done by raising with the hand a little
the longer arm of a thin piece of metal O that is pivoted to the outer
face of each of the pinionsand then moving it inward towards the centre
of the pinion and allowing it to snap in or on the other side of the
stud P. When the machine is in the field ready to be operated again
this piece O must be moved back to the side of the stud P from which
it was taken. The short arm of this lever O passes directly over the
joint end of the pawl Q, thus securing it in place, and when the long arm
is moved inward it is moved outward against a projection of the pawl Q,
carrying the same away from the ratchet. Its pivoting screw R passes
through a washer S that cannot turn, thus answering a double purpose,
namely, it prevents the screw from getting loose, and it binds down and
strengthens the pawl holder Q.
The construction and arrangement of these devices are new and arc
more reliable than those commonly used.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreing correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The combination of the supporting and driving wheels turning
independently of each other on a continuous axletree, the main
frame D, D", the rotating reel hung upon the said main frame in rear
i

page_text: Ninth. In combination with the main frame hinged to the axletrec
the branched lever which spans or straddles the axletree and serves as
brace and lever, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four
Witness,
HENRY JAMES NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)