Year: 1896

page_text: I, EDWARD CHRISTOPHER BLACKSTONE, of Rutland Engineering Works,
Stamford, in the County of Lincoln, Agricultural Implement Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to swath-turners of the kind described in the Specification
of former Letters Patent granted to me No. 12609 of 1891, the object of my
invention being to render such machines more efficient in operation than heretofore
by giving to the oscillating forks a twisting or partially turning over movement,
somewhat approaching that which is imparted to a hand fork when used for turning
swaths.
According to my present invention the forks, instead of being driven by cranks
the pins of which are parallel with the crank-shaft, are driven by cranks the pins
of which are arranged at an angle to the said shafts, and, furthermore, the bar of
each fork carrying the tines, instead of being placed in the same plane as the axis
of the crank pin, is arranged at an angle thereto.
The gearing by means of which motion is imparted to one crank is arranged so
that it can be thrown out of gear when the fork is on the adjoining crank for
collecting.
For this purpose I employ a clutch the lever for operating the sliding part of
which has an arm which, when the lever is moved to throw out the crank, comes
into the path of the said crank to support it.
The frame of the machine has a front travelling wheel the standard of which is
acted upon by a lever for raising and lowering the frame relatively with the
ground. The socket in the frame in which the standard works is slotted and a pin
is fixed in the standard for limiting the circumferential movement of the standard
relatively with the frame.
A guard is provided for preventing the swath being acted upon by one fork
from being thrown on to the other fork.
This guard is mounted on a rod and is held to its work by an arm engaging with
a lug, and held out of work by engaging with catches on the frame.
To permit of moving the guard laterally to engage it with the said catches, the
rod from which it is suspended is arranged to be moved laterally against the
pressure of a spring.
A second guard is also provided in connection with the front crank which guard
is attached to hinged rods projecting from the frame and which can be thrown
back when travelling.
For retaining the cranks lifted when travelling I provide a pivoted catch
designed to engage with one of the cranks and to be held in or out of engagement
therewith by means of a locking device.
The shanks of the forks are preferably made of channelled bars upon which
the bearings for the cranks are made adjustable. The prong-carrying bars are
connected to rods which slide in the ends of the shanks and which are surrounded
by springs to permit of the prongs yielding under excessive strains.

page_text: The links or radius rods connected to the upper ends of the forks are connected
to the frame by ball and socket joints.
Dated the 8th day of May 1896.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
1, EDWARD CHRISTOPHER BLACKSTONE, of Rutland Engineering Works,
Stamford, in the County of Lincoln, Agricultural Implement Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates to swath-turners of the kind described in the Specification
of former Letters Patent granted to me No. 12609 of 1891 the object of my
invention being to render such machines more efficient in operation than heretofore
by giving to the oscillating forks a twisting or partially turning over movement,
somewhat approaching that which is imparted to a hand fork when used for turning
swaths.
According to my present invention the forks, instead of being driven by cranks
the pins of which are parallel with the crank-shaft, are driven by cranks the pius
of which are arranged at an angle to the said shaft and, furthermore, the bar of
each fork carrying the tines, instead of being placed in the same vertical plane as
the axis of the crank-pin, is arranged at an angle thereto.
The gearing by means of which motion is imparted to one crank is arranged so
that it can be thrown out of gear when the fork is on the adjoining crank for
collecting. For this purpose I employ a clutch the lever for operating the sliding
part of which has an arm which, when the lever is moved to throw out the crank,
comes into the path of the said crank to support it.
The frame of the machine has a front travelling wheel the standard of which is
acted upon by a lever for raising and lowering the frame relatively with the
ground. The socket in the frame in which the standard works is slotted and a pin
is fixed in the standard for limiting the circumferential movement of the standard
relatively with the frame.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by reference
to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan of my improved machine; and,
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same:
Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Figure 2 drawn to an enlarged scale ;
and,
Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a plan and a sectional side elevation of one of
the forks also drawn to an enlarged scale; and,
Figures 6 and 7 are elevatious of one of the forks and its driving crank shewing
the same in two positions, and drawn to the same scale as Figures 4 and 5.
a is the framing of the machine which is carried upon three travelling wheels b, b
and c, the two former of which are mounted upon the driving axle d and connected
thereto by ratchet and pawl mechanisin at e, e to permit of backing the machine
and to allow of one wheel moving independently of the other. 1° are the two
crank-shafts of the machine, and 71, 72 are the cranks having pins out of parallel
with the shafts, the former of which shatts is directly driven from the driving
shaft d through the medium of the bevel wheel and pinion g, y' and the latter of

page_text: which is driven from the shaft / through the medium of the bevel wheels h, h', the
shaft i and the bevel wheels j,. The shaft i is provided with the supplemental
crank k as described in the former specification before referred to.
7 is a clutch by means of which the bevel wheel 9 may be disconnected from the
driving shaft d and the machine stopped, the said clutch being arranged to be
operated by the driver's foot through the medium of a lever l.
In order that the crank-shaft / may be thrown out of action without interfering
with the operation of the crank-shafts fand i, the bevel wheel is not fixed to the
shaft i but is connected to one end of a sleeve which rotates in a bearing in the
frame and has the shaft passing through it, the other end of the sail sleeve having
fixed to it one part m of a clutch the other part of which slides upon the
shaft i to which it is connected by means of a feather m² so that by disengaging
the clutch part from the clutch part m the bevel wheel ; will remain stationary
and consequently also the crank-shaft 1°. n is a lever by means of which the
clutch part is moved and connected with it is a spring catch n' to support the
crank when not working, the said catch being out of the path of the crank
when the clutches are engaged.
o, o are the forks operated by the crank-shafts, respectively, the said forks
having bearings p connected to the pins of the cranks and being at their upper
ends connected to the framing of the machine by means of links g
The movement imparted to the forks owing to the placing of the crank-pins at
an angle as herein before stated will be readily understood by reference to Figures 6
and 7, Figure 6 shewing a fork in the position which it occupies when at the bottom
of its stroke and Figure 7 the position which it occupies when at its highest point.
It will be noticed that the bar p' of the fork to which the prongs are connected is
represented as being horizontal in both its upper and lower positions, notwith-
standing the angle of the crank-pin; this, however, is due to the fact that the said
bar with the prongs is at an angle to the vertical plane containing the axis of the
crank-pin, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5, and to the movement of the upper end of
the fork under the action of the radius har g.
It is of course essential that the fork shall have all its prongs parallel with the
ground at one time but the object of making the fork horizontal, when at its upper
part of its movement, is that it shall come as closely as possible underneath the
frame and thus avoid the inconvenience of having to inake the frame unnecessarily
high to provide clearance.
In the operation of the forks, the prong at the leading end of each fork first
comes into action, then, as the crank continues to rotate, the fork is partly turned
with a sweeping action and all the prongs come into action, and as the fork rises it
gradually assumes an inclined position, the prong at the rear end being the last to
go out of action. In practice the movement of the forks is so arranged relatively
with the speed at which the machine travels that they act twice upon the same
material, the first stroke of the forks only partly effecting the turning which is
completed by the backward ends of the forks on the second stroke.
r is the lever by means of which the beight of the frame relatively with the
ground is adjusted. This lever is fixed to one end of a shaft r carried in suitable
bearings on the frame of the machine and having at its other end a lever & con-
nected by a link a with another lever s pivoted at s upon the head of the standard
of the steering wheel; this lever (which is made of a peculiar shape shewn in
the drawings in order to afford space for the movements of the fore-carriage when
turning the machine) is pivoted at a between two links or straps a connected to the
socket or bracket through which the standard of the steering wheel slides and
which is fixed to the framing. With this arrangement it will be understood that
when the lever r is moved backwards towards the driver's seat the lever s² will also be
moved whereby the point & will be lifted and through the medium of the links
will lift the frame. A pawl and segment t are arranged in conjunction with the
lever r for retaining it in any position to which it may be moved.
To limit the circumferential movement of the fore carriage and thereby prevent

page_text: injury to the forks, owing to the fore carriage coming into contact with the same,
I form a recess in the front of the sockets as shewn in Figure 3, and I fix to the
steering wheel standard a pin u which by impinging against one side or the other
of the said recess, for instance as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3, will
limit the movement in the desired manner.
For preventing the swath, being acted upon by one fork, from being thrown on
to the other, I provide a guard v which is mounted upon a rod v carried in the
framing and held in the required position for work by means of an arm » which
rests upon the top of the framing as clearly shewn in Figure 1 beneath a spur v³.
When it is desired to lift the guard, for instance, when travelling, the said guard
is moved laterally to disengage the arm v2 from the spur v (the springle permitting
of this lateral movement) and two of the slats of the said guard v are engaged
with other spurs, Figures 1 and 2, hokiing the guard close up to the frame.
A second guard (not shewn) is arranged in connection with the front fork, which
guard is attached to hinged rods w, wo projecting from the frame of the machine
and adapted to be thrown back when travelling.
In order to retain the cranks in a lifted or elevated position when travelling,
I provide a pivoted catch a designed to engage with the crank and to be held
in or out of engagement with the crank by means of a locking device .'.
The shanks of the forks are preferably made of channel metal upon which the
bearings for the cranks are made adjustable by forming in the shanks a series of
notches in which corresponding projections on the bearings are designed to engage
as shewn at y, Figure 5.
The prong carrying bars p of the forks are connected to rods z which slide in
the ends of the shanks and which are surrounded by springs to permit of the
prongs yielding under excessive strains, the springs being strong enough to
normally hold the said bars in proper contact with the ends of the shanks. The
links or rods q connected to the upper ends of the forks are preferably jointed to
the frame by means of ball and socket joints as clearly shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
When the machine is to be used for throwing two swaths into one, it will be
understood that the fork is disconnected from the crank and attached to the
crank k of the shaft i so that the two forks work towards each other.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A swath-turner provided with one or more oscillating forks arranged at an
angle to the axis of the machine, the said forks being driven by cranks the pins of
which are at an angle to the axes of the said cranks, substantially as described.
2. In a swath-turner having two oscillating forks operated substantially as
described, the arrangement of the gear wheel (j) and the clutches (m, m¹) for
throwing one crank out of action, the lever for operating the sliding clutch part
being provided with a spring-arm for supporting the crank (f) when inoperative,
substantially as described.
3. In a swath-turner having oscillating forks, connecting the bars of the forks
to the shanks thereof by means of hinge pins (2) and springs (1) substantially as
described by reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In a swath-turner having one or more oscillating forks arranged at an angle
to the axis of the machine, the arrangement of levers for lifting the frame of the
machine, substantially as described.
5. In a swath-turner having one or more oscillating forks and wherein a front
travelling wheel is arranged as described, the combination with the standard of the
said wheel and with the socket in which it works, of a pin such as u for limiting
the circular movement of the said standard, substantially
as described.
6. In a swath-turner of the kind described, the combination of a guard such
as (v) spurs or supports such as (v) (6) for retaining the guard in a lifted position
when not in use, a spring such as (*) for allowing the lateral movement of the

page_text: guard to engage it with the said spurs, and an arm such as (v) engaging with a
spur for holding the guard to its work, substantially as described.
7. In a swath-turner of the kind described, a catch such as (a) provided with a
locking device and adapted to engage with one of the cranks for retaining the same
rigid when travelling, substantially as described.
Dated the 20th day of January 1897.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant..