IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MA- CHINES.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Pidgeon and William Manwaring, both
of the Britannia Iron Works, Banbury, in the County of Oxford,
Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MA-
CHINES.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Pidgeon and
William Manwaring at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th October 1872.
We, DANIEL PIDGEON and WILLIAM MANWARING, both of the
Britannia Iron Works, Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Engineers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REAPING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to reaping machines which deliver the sheaf
automatically at the side of the machine by means of rakes revolving

page_text: in front clevation so much of the machine as will serve to illustrate our
improvements, one of the rakes being depressed and in the act of passing
over the platform to sweep the grain therefrom; and Fig. 3 is a similar
view of the machine, the rako being in this case raised, so that in passing
over the platform it may move clear of the grain lying thereon.
A, A, are the rakes carried by the axle B; C is the grain platform;
D, the cutting apparatus; and E, the travelling and driving wheel. The
rake arms G, G', are two in number in the Drawing, but any number
from one to six may be used, and as the operation of lifting each rake is
the same a description of the mode of actuating one arm will suffice to
explain the operation of any number of rakes with which the machine
may be fitted.
The rake arms are pivotted to the socket. H, which
socket is itself pivotted to the squared end of the axle B. Rotary motion
is communicated to the axle B from the travelling wheel E by means of
gearing in the usual manner, and as it rotates it will carry round the
rakes, and also the gathering blades. The socket II is furnished on its
under side with rollers H' to run upon the fixed cam F which is made
fast to the framing, their use being to case the passage of the rake
arms G, G', in their traverse over the fixed cam. The rake arms are
connected to the socket II by the pivot pius K, and they are thus free to
turn upwards when the rakes in their revolution are required to miss the
grain lying on the platform.
socket
We consider it desirable that the rake arms shall be fast in the
when they present their respective rakes to rake off the cut
This we effect by means of a sliding bolt and
automatically brought into and thrown out of action.
corn.
catch, which are
L is a bolt fitted
to and sliding upon the upper side of the rake arm, and M is a catch
standing up from the socket H and projecting through a slot made in
the rake arin, so that its normal position will be opposite the bolt L, as
shewn at Fig. 2. The tail of the sliding bolt L is connected with a bell
crank N which is pivotted to the rake, and this bell crank is caused to
rock when passing over the guide iron O which stands out in front of
the platform (see the detached view Fig. 4, which represents this guidé.
iron in side elevation),
When the rake in its revolution reaches the front of the platform the

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Daniel Pidgeon and William Manwaring,
Her special licence that we, the said Daniel Pidgeon and William Man-
waring, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Daniel Pidgeon and William Manwaring, our exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Daniel Pidgeon and
William Manwaring, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Daniel Pidgeon and William Man-
waring, do hereby declare the nature of our 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
Drawings hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention relates to reaping machines which deliver the cut corn
automatically at the side of the machine by means of rakes revolving
around an upright or inclined axis, and it consists in adapting thereto a
mechanical device for giving two paths to the automatic rakes, whereby
such rakes may be caused to discharge the corn from the platform, or to
pass over the corn without discharging it at the option of the driver of
the machine.

page_text: in front clevation so much of the machine as will serve to illustrate our
improvements, one of the rakes being depressed and in the act of passing
over the platform to sweep the grain therefrom; and Fig. 3 is a similar
view of the machine, the rako being in this case raised, so that in passing
over the platform it may move clear of the grain lying thereon.
A, A, are the rakes carried by the axle B; C is the grain platform;
D, the cutting apparatus; and E, the travelling and driving wheel. The
rake arms G, G', are two in number in the Drawing, but any number
from one to six may be used, and as the operation of lifting each rake is
the same a description of the mode of actuating one arm will suffice to
explain the operation of any number of rakes with which the machine
may be fitted.
The rake arms are pivotted to the socket II, which
socket is itself pivotted to the squared end of the axle B. Rotary motion
is communicated to the axlo B from the travelling wheel E by means of
gearing in the usual mauner, and as it rotates it will carry round the
rakes, and also the gathering blades. The socket H is furnished on its
under side with rollers H' to run upon the fixed cam F which is made
fast to the framing, their use being to case the passage of the rake
arms G, G', in their traverse over the fixed cam. The rake arms are
connected to the socket H by the pivot pins K, and they are thus free to
turn upwards when the rakes in their revolution are required to miss the
grain lying on the platform.
We consider it desirable that the rake arms shall be fast in the
socket H when they present their respective rakes to rake off the cut
This we effect by means of a sliding bolt and catch, which are
automatically brought into and thrown out of action.
corn.
L is a bolt fitted
to and sliding upon the upper side of the rake arm, and M is a catch
standing up from the socket H and projecting through a slot made in
the rake arm, so that its normal position will be opposite the bolt L, as
shewn at Fig. 2. The tail of the sliding bolt L is connected with a bell
crank N which is pivotted to the rake, and this bell crank is caused to
rock when passing over the guide iron O which stands out in front of
the platform (see the detached view Fig. 4, which represents this guide
iron in side elevation).
When the rake in its revolution reaches the front of the platform the.

page_text: bell crank N comes in contact with the iron O and is lifted by it, thus
shooting the sliding bolt L into the catch M.
Where the crop is thick the incline iron O can be dispensed with, the
pressure of the standing crop being sufficient to operate the bell crank N
5 and shoot the bolt L, and at all times the pressure of the cut crop acting
on the bell crank N keeps the bolt L locked in the catch M during the
discharge of the cut corn to form a sheaf, but as soon as the corn is
discharged the bell crank falls by its own weight, releasing the sliding
bolt from the catch, and leaving the arm G again free to turn upwards
O upon its pivot K.
Pivotted to the fixed cam F at Q is a guideway P which forms an
adjustable extension thereof, and mounted on the under side of the arm
of each rake is a roller U, so situated as to permit of its bearing on this
adjustable extension of the fixed cam when the same is raised, as in Fig. 3.
This guideway P is placed under the control of the driver, who can
raise or lower it at will by reason of its connection with the foot lever R.
Attached to this foot lever is a chain S, which is passed around guide
pullies S', and thence to a crutch T which is made fast at its upper end
to the guideway P, and at its lower end bears against the framing of
the machine.
When the lever R is rocked by the action of the driver's foot the
chain S will be caused to lift the crutch T and with it the guideway P
on its pivot pins Q. Now, bearing in mind that the arm G is always
free to turn upon its pivot K except when delivering the cut corn, at
which time it is firmly locked to the socket H by the action of the bell
crank, sliding bolt, and catch, as already explained, it follows that the
driver can raise the guide way P at any moment when the rake is not
actually raking, and in so doing cause the rake arm by means of the
guide way P to move over the platform at any required height' without
disturbing the grain that might be lying thercon.
Although the Drawings shew a machine whose rakes are guided by a
fixed cam way, we wish it to be understood that our device described
above for operating upon the cut corn at the option of the driver is
applicable to all forms of self-raking reapers having a rake or rakes
revolving around an upright or inclined axis, whether such machines are

page_text: furnished with special apparatus for determining the path of the rakes
or not.
In witness whereof, we, the said Daniel Pidgeon and William Man-
waring have hereunto set our hands and seals, the 11th day
of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred 5
and seventy-three.
Witness to the signatures of
Daniel Pidgeon and William
Manwaring, this Eleventh
day of March 1873.
DANIEL PIDGEON.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM MANWARING. (L.S.)
FREDERICK HOBLEY,
Accountant,
Banbury.