Improvements in Machines for Applying and Fastening Slats to the Webs of Harvester-carriers.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Applying and Fastening Slats to the
Webs of Harvester-carriers.
I, GEORGE GATTON MELHUISH HARDINGHAM, of 191, Fleet Street, in the
City of London, Civil Engineer and Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention (a communication to me from Cyrus H. McCormick,
of Chicago, in the County of Cook, State of Illinois, one of the United States of
America, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to machines for applying slats to canvas belts or carriers
of the kind used on harvesters.
A machine made according to this invention comprises a conveyer whereby
the slats are fed and placed at suitable intervals, a drum supporting a roll of
canvas, the canvas being unwound from the drum concurrently with the movement
of the slat-conveyer, a gang of tack or rivet feeders, and a gang of drivers whereby
the tacks or rivets are forced through the canvas into the slat. The machine also
embodies the following features:-A device whereby the web of canvas is smoothed
out and kept taut from edge to edge as it is brought over the slat that is upon the
point of being applied; an anvil or bed-plate which can be adjusted vertically
against the carrier or slat; a slat-conveyer the length of which can be adjusted
so that slats may be applied to belts of various lengths in the same machine;
means for aligning the slats in case they should fail to settle accurately in the
conveyer so that, before they are brought beneath the drivers, they may have
reached their proper positions; inclined tack-guides which obviate the tendency
the points of the tacks have to swing out and fail to be properly delivered when
the guides are vertical; a tappet on the slat-conveyer which actuates a disengaging
trip or latch for withdrawing the driving dog or pawl of the conveyer from the
ratchet-wheel during the first part of its stroke so that the conveyer may be moved
less than the regular distance for the purpose of enabling the slats to be nearer
together, certain of the carriers being spaced to correspond with the lessened
movement. Various other details of construction are also included.
In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate this invention,
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine, parts of the operating mechanism being removed
or broken away in order to more clearly expose the construction beneath.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rear or discharging end.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of that side on which the main gearing is situated.
Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken through the centre of the machine.
Fig. 5 is a plan, drawn to a larger scale, of the link-and-pawl movement for
driving the slat-conveyer and the trip or latch whereby the pawl is held out of
action until the proper moment;
Figs. 6 and 7 being corresponding side and front elevations.
In Fig. 8, the trip or latch is shewn in position for disconnecting the pawl from
the ratchet-wheel.
Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively a plan and a side elevation of one of the chains
of the slat-conveyer.
Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively a vertical and a horizontal section of one of the
tack-guides with its tack-feeding device;
Fig. 13 being a corresponding elevation.
Figs. 14 to 19 are enlarged views of the clutch between the plunger-shaft and
main gear and the shipper; the clutch being disengaged from the main shaft when
a belt or apron is finished.

page_text: Figs. 20 and 21 are enlarged views of the tripping devices whereby the snipper
is operated at the proper moment.
Figs. 22, 23 and 24 are diagrams shewing the spreading or edge-stretching
devices for the canvas web.
Figs. 25 and 26 are sections through the spreader on the lines 25, 25 and 26, 26
in Fig. 23 respectively.
The frame of the machine may comprise two side castings A, preferably of
metal, united by suitable ties or transverse girts, the number of which varies
according to circumstances. A bed-plate or anvil B is held across the frame at
each end by means of a set-screw 6 (Fig. 4) passing loosely through a lug 6' on the
frame and screwing into the anvil, and set-screws ³, one on each side of the first,
which screw into the lug and bear against the bottom of the anvil. The set-
screws b serve to hold the anvil down, and the set-screws 6' to press it up, so that
it can be adjusted vertically at either end or both ends. The upper part of the
anvil may have at each end a vertical slot 63 (shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 4) into
which a dowel-pin projects; the dowel-pins preventing the anvil from rocking
axially during adjustment. The upper face or surface of the anvil is rounded from
side to side, as shewn, and serves to support each slat-carrier in turn at the moment
the tacks or rivets are inserted through the canvas web into the slat.
Jourualled at one end of the frame, and beneath and to one side of the anvil, is
a transverse shaft C (hereinafter termed the conveyer-shaft), which carries a
ratchet-wheel C¹ (Fig. 3) placed outside the frame. C is a radius-arm loose on
the shaft C, and situated just outside the ratchet-wheel. Its free end is provided
with a spring-pressed driving pawl C³, near which it is pivoted to a pitman C; &
link-and-pawl motion being hereby obtained. Keyed to the shaft are sprocket-
wheels D, one near each end just inside the frame.
The slat-conveyer is composed of chains D', which pass over the sprocket-
wheels D and also over sprocket-wheels D' mounted on a shaft D' supported by
brackets D' at the opposite end of the frame. At suitable intervals, the chains
have transverse slat-carriers D', which extend from one chain to the other, certain
of the links d of the chains being provided with inwardly-projecting seats d¹
(Fig. 9); the ends of the carriers being rivetted to the seats. The carriers consist
of metal bars having longitudinal recesses d', in which the wooden slats are received.
The carriers, as they travel with the chains, are successively dragged over the top
of the anvil, by which they are held up against the pressure exerted by the
rivetting mechanism. The chains themselves are, in the present design, made of
detachable links-such as are used in the well-known Ewart driving chain-so that
they can be lengthened or shortened. One of them has a lateral outwardly-
projecting tappet d³, whereby the driving dog or pawl is tripped.
The sprocket-wheels on the conveyer-shaft are of equal diameter and have the
same number of teeth, so that, as the shaft is intermittingly rotated by the pawl-
and-link mechanism, the chains move with uniformity and therefore keep the parts
of the slat-conveyer in proper alignment. These sprocket-wheels may, however,
be larger than those on the opposite or counter-shaft.
As it is often necessary to apply slats to webs of canvas of different lengths,
owing to the different lengths of belt required, the counter-shaft or idle-shaft of
the conveyer is mounted in adjustable bearings d' (Fig. 1); the supporting-brackets
containing slots d' which receive the fastening bolts do of the bearing-blocks. The
head of a set-screw d' (Fig. 3) screwing into the frame forms a stop against the
inner side of each bearing-block. Thus, whenever a longer belt is required,
the counter-shaft is first moved in to slacken the chains to the requisite extent,
then one of the links in each chain is uncoupled from its neighbour, whereupon a
suitable number of additional links, including, if necessary, one or more carrier-
links with a slat-carrier or slat-carriers attached can be inserted in each chain; the
shaft being finally moved out until the chains are again taut. Additional tappet-
links may also be inserted, if required.

page_text: Mounted in bearings near the top of the frame is the main driving shaft E
having a pinion E³, which gears with and drives a gear-wheel E' loosely journalled
on a shaft E extending across the frame and hereinafter termed the plunger-
shaft." On the outer hub of the gear-wheel, above the carrier-ratchet, is keyed a
wrist-pin E, which receives the upper end of the link or pitman from the radius-
arm, so that the revolutions of the gear-wheel actuate the ratchet-wheel.
In order to intermittingly unlock the gear-wheel from the plunger-shaft and
leave that shaft and the rivetting mechanism which it drives idle, a collar F
(Fig. 15) is pinned to the plunger-shaft on the inner side of the wheel, and is
turned down below the periphery of the hub to form an annular groove bounded
on one side by the hub and on the other side by a rib f' left on the collar. There
is a recess in the collar which communicates with the groove and with another
recess in the hub of the wheel. The driving pin F¹ is set in the recess f³, and
is urged toward the collar by a spring f1 seated within the said recess, which
extends above the bottom of the groove; the pin being of full thickness to fill
the recess, except at its active end, where part is cut away to form a bevel or
incline (Fig. 18). A. cam-shipper F³, curved to enter the groove and fill the
space between the rib on the collar and the hub of the gear-wheel, is formed
with an incline f', which is opposed to the incline f³ on the driving pin, so
that, when the latter is brought round by the revolution of the plunger-shaft
and the shipper is resting against the bottom of the groove, the said shipper
meets the incline on the driving pin and forces the pin back against the pressure
of its spring, thus uncoupling the gear-wheel from the collar and from the shaft
to which the same is keyed. When the shipper is withdrawn, the driving pin
is free to enter the notch in the collar directly the rotation of the gear-wheel
has carried its end off the opposing plane surface of the collar and brought it
opposite the notch, whereupon the plunger-shaft will start again.
The shipper is mounted on a bar F working in guides F projecting from the
side of the machine. At its lower end, this bar is provided with an anti-friction
roller, which rides upon the periphery of a disc F' having an outwardly-projecting
cam-shaped lug f8, which forces the sliding rod up and carries the shipper to the
bottom of the groove in the driving collar. The disc is preferably secured to the
toothed wheel F by means of a bolt f' engaging in a slot, so that the said disc can
be adjusted on the axis of that wheel to bring its cam-shaped lug into the exact
position required. A tappet 10 projects from the gear-wheel E and, at each
revolution, strikes a tooth of the wheel F; thus moving the wheel forward through
a space equal to that which separates two adjacent teeth. In the present design,
the wheel Fe has twelve teeth. It therefore makes a complete revolution and
operates the shipper once in each twelve revolutions of the gear-wheel E³, during
which period eleven slats are placed upon the canvas.
The link-and-pawl mechanism normally drives the ratchet-wheel forward the
distance of six teeth, more or less; such distance depending upon the relation
between that wheel and the sprocket-wheels D driving the conveyer, which, at
each revolution of the gear-wheel and plunger-shaft, must travel the full distance
between two adjacent slats tacked upon the canvas. Whenever the carriers are
arranged at less than the normal distance apart, the ratchet-wheel must move
proportionately less. A trip is therefore employed to hold the pawl out of engagement
during the first part of the upward stroke of the link or pitman-for instance, for
the space of two teeth on the ratchet-wheel, so that the movement imparted would
be the distance of four teeth instead of six. The trip in the form preferred consists
of an elbow-lever G pivoted to a bracket g projecting from the frame, and carrying
at the end of one of its arms a disengaging cam G', which is thrown into the path
of a lateral spur or lug g' on the pawl, so that the spur may ride upon the face of
the cam and hold the nose of the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel
for the space of two teeth and then ride over the face 9' and quickly engage with
the ratchet-wheel. The spring g* serves to hold the lever normally out of the path

page_text: of the spur. The link G³, connected at one end to the short arm of the lever G
and at the other end to a trip-lever G³ projecting into the path of the tappet on
the carrier-chain, serves to throw the cam into the proper position to hold the
pawl out of engagement whenever the tappet comes into action, which will
correspond to the closer spacing of the carriers, generally at the end of the belt.
This link may be elastic, or have an elastic part g³, so that it can serve to hold the
cam G₁ in action (against the resistance of the spring 9') while the tappet is
operating the lever G. The lower arm of this lever may contain holes 96, in either
of which the pin for connecting the link G³ can be placed; means for varying the
effective stroke of the lever being thus provided. The action of the trip is entirely
independent of the action of the shipper, so that the plunger-shaft will always
drive a gang of tacks at the proper moment.
The slats, immediately after being placed in the carrier, go beneath a spring-
presser H, which holds them in the socket until they reach the web of canvas and
are about to pass beneath the plunger; but it sometimes happens that the slats are
improperly placed, one end of a slat not resting in its socket. The other end,
however, is always certain to be in its socket. To ensure that each end is in its
socket before the carrier reaches the anvil, the shaft H' is employed. It carries a
series of spur-wheels h, the teeth of which project just in advance of the point
where the carriers reach the canvas web, but they do not pass below the normal line
of the carriers. This shaft, by means of the belt h' (Fig. 2) or other suitable con-
nection, is driven from the main shaft at such a speed that the teeth of the spur-
wheel h travel faster than, but in the same direction as, the carrier. Thus, whenever
a slat is misplaced so that one end lags behind the other, that end is caught by the
teeth of one of the spur-wheels and is hurried forward so as to catch up with the
end which is properly placed, and thus reach, and settle in, its socket on the carrier
before passing out from beneath the presser.
K are inclined tack-ways spreading from the receiving point to the individual
tack-guides beneath the plungers, and are given near the receiving point a slight
vibratory motion by means of a reciprocating bar k, a grooved cam K¹, and a
belt k¹ passing round a rigger on the main driving shaft. K² is the plunger-head,
which carries a series of plungers fitting into the tack-guides, and worked
intermittingly up and down by means of eccentrics K' on the plunger-shaft, collars k
encircling the eccentrics and links K*. If the plunger-guides be vertical, a tack or
staple dropped from the cut-off K* into the guide-way k, and caught by the spring-
stop k³, has a tendency to tip or swing, since the spring-stop necessarily supports
the head of the tack by one edge only, and the taper legs of the tack do not fill the
guide-way beneath so as to be supported so well as the head. In the present
machine, the guide-ways are placed at just such an inclination as to avoid such
tendency that is, at such an inclination that, when the point of the tack rests
against the wall of the guide-way and the head of the tack fills the space between
the walls, the tack is vertical (see Fig. 11). Thus the tacks are always received
and driven accurately. The top of the anvil is necessarily also inclined, so as to be
at right angles to the guide-ways. The upper surface of the carrier, as shewn in
Fig. 4, follows the same inclination; the sprocket-wheels on the idle-shaft being
either smaller in diameter than the sprocket-wheele on the carrier-shaft or else
placed in a lower plane.
The canvas web L, which may be drawn from a drum or immediately from the
bolt as it came from the mill, is first passed over the guide-roller L', which stands
above the machine at the feed end thereof. From this guide-roller, it passes down
through a tension-device L³ composed of parallel bars 1 clamped together by
adjustable bolts !', or otherwise suitably constructed. From the tension-device it
goes to a second guide L³, which may be a fixed block, as shewn, directly over
and in close proximity to the inner end of the spring-presser. The guide L³
terminates over the anvil, and, at that point where it is almost in contact with
the carriers, it is furnished with spring-holders 1 extending to the delivery end

page_text: of the machine, so that the slats, with the canvas tacked thereon, may be held
in the travelling carrier and serve to draw a fresh supply of canvas for the
succeeding slats.
66
"
It is important that, at the moment the canvas comes into contact with the slats,
it should be stretched tightly and smoothly from side to side. The tension-device
and stress of the canvas insure all the stretching that is needed in a longitudinal
direction. In order to obtain the necessary lateral stretching and smoothing out,
an edge-stretcher or "spreader" is applied between the tension-device and the
guide L. This stretcher consists of two pairs of plates M and M-one on each
side-having arms, preferably somewhat elastic, slanting toward one another from
the lower guide upward toward the tension-device, and so arranged that the canvas
goes between the arms of each pair; it being gradually made sinooth in passing
therethrough. A pair of flat plates outwardly bent at their upper extremities,
where the canvas first meets them, so that it can enter easily, and lying flat against
each other nearly to their base, where they should widen away somewhat, so as to
allow the selvage to pass, are effective for the purpose; but the construction
illustrated in Figs. 22 to 26 is preferred. The first reach of the plates therein
shewn is composed of two straight parallel spring-bars m extending from near the
edge of the canvas diagonally upward and turned outwardly at the ends m', where
the canvas first enters between them. Throughout their length they lie flat
together, except when thrust apart by the passage of the canvas; the elastic
pressure they exert tending to smooth out all wrinkles toward the edges. At their
base m³, these bars spring or rise away from each other, leaving sufficient room for
the selvage or wrinkles to pass through into the next reach of the plates, which is
broader than the first with the edges set at a more gradual inclination. These
edges project from the base of the first reach and are turned outwardly at m³ to
receive canvas from the first reach. The lower plate in the second reach is flat;
the upper plate being separated therefrom by a filling piece m', which may be part
of the supporting bracket; its inclined edge m' being bent inwardly to clamp the
canvas or other web against the opposite plate along that edge. Finally, the third
reach, which acts almost entirely upon the selvage, has its edges set at a less
inclination than the edges of the second reach, and, instead of projecting from the
base thereof, is set in, the edges m' of both plates being bent in toward each
other, as shewn in Fig. 26, so as to more effectually act upon the thickened
selvage.
As canvas of different widths may be used in the machine, or as one kind of
canvas may need more stretching than another kind, the presser or stretcher may
be made adjustable, which can be done by means of clamping bolts m² engaging
in slots and serving to secure the plates to the brackets in projecting from the
frame of the machine.
The invention is not limited to the specific form of canvas-stretcher described;
nor to the specific tripping device by which the slat-conveyer is moved through
less than the normal distance where the slats are spaced closer together; nor to the
precise construction of the devices by which long and short belts may have slats
applied to them in the same machine; nor to the use of a shaft carrying aligning
wheels arranged at intervals along its length and driven at a higher relative speed
than the slat-conveyer; for each and all may be considerably varied by those
skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this iuven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :—
1. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier and a tack-driving gang, of an edge-stretcher for the canvas web,
substantially as herein set forth.
2. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier and a tack-driving gang, of a tension-device and an edge-stretcher for

page_text: the canvas web, whereby the web is stretched both laterally and longitudinally,
substantially as herein set forth.
3. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier and a tack-driving gang, of a vertically-adjustable anvil, substantially
as berein set forth.
4. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier, its chains having detachable links, and the driving sprockets, of
adjustable idle sprockets, whereby the length of the chains can be increased or
decreased to make longer or shorter belts, substantially as herein set forth.
5. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier and a tack-driving gang, of a spring-presser placed before the gang and
a second presser after the gang, the first keeping the slats in place and the
second holding both the canvas and the slats to the carrier, substantially as
herein set forth.
6. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with a
slat-carrier, of a series of aligning wheels driven at a speed relatively faster than
that of the carrier, substantially as herein set forth.
7. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
tack-ways and the tack-guides placed at an inclination, of the spring-stop in the
said guides, the series of tack-drivers moving therein, the slat-carrier, and the anvil, :
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
8. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
driving sprockets pertaining to the slat-conveyer, the intermediate wheel by which
they are driven, and a driver for that wheel, of the tappet on the conveyer, a trip-
lever actuated thereby, and a trip-latch moved by the lever to keep the driver out
of engagement with the wheel during its initial movement, substantially as and for
the purposes herein set forth.
9. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
plunger-shaft, its driving wheel, and the clutch connecting that wheel with the
shaft, of a cam-shipper, its actuating rod, and the toothed wheel and its cam
moved by a tappet on the driving wheel, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
10. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
plunger-shaft, its driving wheel, and the clutch connecting that wheel with the
shaft, of a cam-shipper, its actuating rod, the toothed wheel, and a cam-disc
adjustable on the face of the toothed wheel, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
11. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
carrier-driving sprockets, of the ratchet-wheel by which they are driven, the link-
and-pawl mechanism pertaining to the said ratchet-wheel, the plunger-shaft and its
driving wheel, the tappet on the carrier-chain, the trip-lever, the pivoted trip-latch,
and the link connecting the said lever with the latch, substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth.
12. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
carrier-chains, their driving sprockets, and the ratchet-wheel and pawl by which
the sprockets are driven, of the lateral pin upon the pawl, the pivoted trip-latch
adapted to be moved into the path of that pin, the trip-lever, and the link
connecting that lever with the trip-latch, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
13. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
trip-latch and the trip-lever, of the spring-link between the two, substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
14. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
trip-latch and the trip-lever, of the link adjustably connected with that lever,
substantially as herein set forth.
15. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the

page_text: slat-conveyer and the spring-presser by which the slats are held thereto, of the
aligning device for pushing forward one end of a mislaid slat, substantially as herein
set forth.
16. In a machine for applying slats to webs of canvas, the combination, with the
tack-ways, of the reciprocating bar arranged transversely, the grooved cam by
which the said bar is actuated, and the driving connection with the main shaft,
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Dated the 19th day of April 1892.
G. G. M. HARDINGĦAM.