IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING."-
A communication from abroad by Valérian Ivanovitch Kirchner, of
Petrowsk, in the Empire of Russia.
Sealed the 14th March 1865, and dated the 23rd January 1865.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edward Newton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 23rd January 1865, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING," being
a communication to me from abroad by Valérian Ivanovitch Kirchner, of
Petrowsk, in the Empire of Russia, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
This Invention has for its object to simplify the construction of mowing
and reaping machinery, and to dispense with toothed wheels as driving gear
for actuating the working parts, and thereby to reduce the friction so that the
labor required to drive the machine will be very considerably diminished.
The Invention also consists in the adaptation to mowing and reaping
machines of a system of automatic rakes of simple construction for the pur-
pose of delivering the cut corn from the platform of the machine as it moves
forward. By these improvements the speed of motion of the connecting rod
which drives the cutters is reduced one half compared with the speed of the
analogous part in other machines. Thus in Samuelson's reaping machine, for
example, the connecting rod which transmits motion to the cutters makes
1,200 oscillations per minute, in consequence of which it not only not unfre-
quently breaks, but also causes an unnecessary expenditure of power. In the
improved machine which forms the subject of this Invention the driving
connecting rod makes about 500 reciprocating motions per minute. This
diminution of speed depends, as will be hereafter explained, upon the length
of the knives or cutters, and therefore these will be first referred to in the
following description in which a reaping machine is described, it being only
necessary to remove the platform and automatic rakes in order to convert it
into a mowing machine. The length hitherto adopted by Inventors for their
cutting blades has been about two inches; this being the case it is evident
that these cutters in order to operate should make an oscillation or lateral
motion for every movement forward of the machine to the extent of two
inches. A horse in walking will go over about three-quarters of a mile
(or 1,500 yards) in a quarter of a hour; now this distance will be about
16,000 times the length of a knife two inches long, and on dividing 16,000
by 15 minutes we shall have, about 1,067 oscillations or lateral movements
which the knife must make per minute; but in order that the ears of corn
may not crowd too much against the knife, and that the cutting operation
shall not take place too soon, the cutters make as many as 1,200 lateral
movements per minute. So great a speed renders the employment of toothed
gearing necessary in order to give the requisite speed to the connecting rod
which works the knives; but if the length of the cutters be doubled, that is
increased to about four inches, the number of oscillations will be reduced to
one half; and if instead of knives shears be employed, which may without
inconvenience be made eight inches long, the number of oscillations may be

page_text: reduced to one quarter, that is to say, to 300 per minute; and if it be true
that the length of the blades must necessarily have its limits, it is not the less
true that a diminution of speed in the proportions above mentioned constitutes
for the agriculturist a very considerable advantage, as under these conditions
the tractive force (that is, the number of horses) may be increased and the
work performed at a greater pace or even at a slow trot without running the
risk of breaking the machine. From the foregoing it will be understood that
the construction of the machine may be simplified in proportion as the length
of the knives or blades is increased, for, as has been above stated, it is upon
the length of the knives that the speed at which the connecting rod that
actuates them is driven depends. As, however, it cannot be positively stated
that knives of eight inches long are sufficiently durable (the Inventor having
had no experience on that head) the reaping machine constructed according
to the present Invention is fitted with knives four inches in length, which knives
are attached as usual to an iron bar capable of receiving a lateral recipro-
cating motion.
:
In order to prevent all shaking during the cutting of the corn the knives
and shears must pass between the slots of the separating teeth; this arrange-
ment which is already generally adopted is indispensable, as it offers two points
of support for the stalks between which the knife comes to cut them. The
nearer these points of support (that is to say, the two blades composing the
separating teeth) are brought together the better, as the cutting operation is
thereby rendered easier even with a blunt knife, and it is upon the width of
the slots in the separating teeth that the thickness of the blades of the knives
depends, the length of the knives depending also upon the thickness of their
blades; they may, however, at all events be made about four inches in
length. The knives or cutting instruments are each composed of two thin
triangular blades of steel connected together at the middle by a pin; these
blades enter and act in the slots above-mentioned, moving to the right and
left alternately.
I will now proceed to describe the operation of the cutting apparatus, and
will afterwards explain the mechanism for actuating the rakes, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a
reaping machine constructed according to the Invention; Fig. 2 is a plan or
bird's eye view, and Fig. 3 a back view of the same. The driving wheel a
(which is about 4 feet 8 inches in diameter) has curves upon its periphery
(see Figs. 2 and 3) by which means it is caused (as it rotates) to act
alternately upon the bowles b and c attached to the rocking lever l, and thus
through the connecting rod d to actuate the cutting blades. Now if the

page_text: bowles b and c be attached to the middle of the rocking lever 1, as shewn by red
lines in Fig. 3, and the fulcrum of the said lever be at the same height as the
axle of the driving wheel, the lower arm of the lever 7 which is jointed to the
connecting rod d will describe an arc twice as large as that described by
the bowles b and c, and as these latter (as will be hereafter shewn) have a
lateral movement one inch in extent, the lower end of the levers will
necessarily describe an arc of two inches. It is also evident that by placing
the bowles at a distance of 7 inches from the fulcrum of the lever 7 the end of
that lever (which has a length of about 19 inches) will describe an are of
2inches, which is another very essential point to know, for upon that depends
the distance between the split teeth 6' and the exact place to be assigned to
them upon the principal bar which is affixed underneath the platform to
another wrought-iron bar or band g. In order that the rocking lever
together with the bowles which actuate it shall not deviate from the required
direction, these parts are attached to guide rods k on the sides of the driving
wheel a and near its axle, which they embrace, and are connected to the lever h.
The guides k, Fig. 1, are provided with hinges at their extremities, and are so
connected to the lever h that by means of this latter all the mechanism may
be thrown out of gear, and by simply pulling the handle i the bowles may be
moved out of contact with the periphery of the wheel, by that means stopping
the action of the knives. The curves in the periphery of the wheel a are
composed of inclined planes rounded at their points of junction; these inclined
planes are of the same length as the knives, that is to say, four inches, their
height being only one quarter of their length, i.e., one inch, as shewn in the
Drawing, in which the length of the sides of the periphery of the wheel is
equivalent to two inclined planes combined, that is to say, eight inches, but
the hollow part of which is equal to the height of an inclined plane, that is to
say, one inch, so that the proportion of the base to the height of these inclined
planes is as 4 to 1, and no more, otherwise the bowles would be exposed to
shocks of too great violence especially when the horses are driven fast. The
automatic rakes are composed of a system of six moveable parallelograms y (or
levers on the lazy-tongs principle) provided at one of their extremities with arms
which are extended outwards to the points x and z.
The axle of the driving
wheel a is connected by means of a clutch to a shaft which carries two excentrics
p, which by means of the two levers a' and 'cause the two arms and alter-
nately to recede from and approach each other. On the arms and 2 receding
from each other the lazy-tongs levers will be drawn in or shortened, and
the rakes w will drive off the cut corn in heaps, as seen at Fig. 3. On the
arms a,, being on the contrary made to approach each other, the lazy-tongs

page_text: levers y will be thrown out and will drive the rakes w¹ to the extreme edge
of the platform in order to recommence their work. In order to keep the
rakes in the required position, or even to raise them on coming to a cut sheaf,
a third excentric t is set nearer to the driving wheel a, which through the
excentric levert will raise the rod k, y; this rod serves to guide a roller
attached to the axle, which is jointed to the points y, y, of the lazy-tongs
levers. The rakes ware attached at the points y¹ to the bar y', y", and at
y this bar works freely in a ring (see Fig. 3). In order that the rakes
may have less influence upon the lateral movement of the platform, the rakes
are provided with a counterweight w, Figs. 2 and 3, so that their centre of
gravity coincides with their point of attachment y¹; they are besides sup-
ported by the bar w, y", (Fig. 2). By the movements of the three ex-
centrics p, p, and t, the rakes will be caused to push off the cut corn at each
revolution of the driving wheel a, the levers a¹ and 2 being attached to the
rings which fit and work into the periphery of the excentrics, or, in other
words, because during a complete revolution of the periphery of the excentric
each of the levers and ¹ is only once at its greatest and once at its least
distance from the shaft a" (see Fig. 2). It is sufficient for the extremities
of the levers x¹ and 21 (that is to say, the points x and 2) to describe arcs of
about five inches. With a platform 7 feet wide, and a driving wheel a 14 feet
in circumference, a sheaf will be obtained for each revolution of the driving
wheel, that is to say, a sheaf for every 98 square feet, which corresponds to the
most abundant harvest, and the sheaves being very easily managed. The four
rotating arms u serve to feed the stalks to the knives; they are driven by
means of a pulley mounted on the shaft a" and a light chain. Another
wheel a', intended to be mounted at the point all, Fig. 2, upon an ordinary
axle, is only employed for transporting the machine from place to place; in
this case the platform is raised upon its hinges and fastened to a bar by a
screw or other convenient means. This is more especially necessary where
the machine is required to make long journeys. As soon as the machine has
arrived at the place where it is to be set to work the platform is brought
down and firmly fastened, by means of ties and bolts q, to a frame consisting
of four beams. The left wheel a¹ is then taken off its axle and placed at
the right hand on an axle carried by the platform. While at work the
machine runs upon two wheels, the driving wheel a properly so called, and
the wheel a¹ from the left hand but now on the right. These wheels are both
of iron; the wheel a is made stronger than a', which latter is formed like an
ordinary carriage wheel, and is somewhat conical to admit of its passing
easily over the cut corn, and so as not to prevent it falling on to the plat-

page_text: form. The naves of the two wheels are of cast iron, the spokes being welded
on to it.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)