AN IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Burgess, of the Firm of Burgess and
Key, of Newgate Street, in the City of London, Agricultural Implement
Makers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th May 1860, and dated the 12th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Burgess at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
November 1859.
I, WILLIAM BURGESS, of the Firm of Burgess and Key, of Newgate
Street, in the City of London, Agricultural Implement Makers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING
AND REAPING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to connect the finger beam and knife to the
frame of mowing and reaping machines in such manner as to enable them to
accommodate themselves to inequalities in the ground, and to allow of their
being folded out of the way when required.
My Invention consists in connecting by a pin or other suitable joint or
hinge projecting or carried from the front and side of the frame a bar which
extends back and parallel with the side of the frame to the rear thereof, and
in binging the finger beam with its appurtenances to a standard attached to
the hinged bar, and projecting laterally from the back end thereof. The back

page_text: end of the hinged bar is supported by a small wheel or roller; the stem con-
necting the bar to the wheel is adjustable for the purpose of regulating the
height at which it is to be kept from the ground.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Burgess in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BURGESS, of the Firm of Burgess and Key, of Newgate Street, in the City of
London, Agricultural Implement Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Burgess, Her special licence that I, the said William Burgess, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Burgess, my.executors, administrators, 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, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Burgess, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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 Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Burgess, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to connect the finger beam and knife to the
frame of mowing and reaping machines in such manner as to enable them to
accommodate themselves to inequalities in the ground, and to allow of their
being folded out of the way when required.

page_text: My Invention consists in connecting by a pin or other suitable joint or hinge
projecting or carried from the front and side of the frame a bar which extends
back and parallel with the side of the frame to the rear thereof, and in hinging
the finger beam with its appurtenances to a standard attached to the hinged
bar and projecting laterally from the back end thereof. The back end of
the hinged bar is supported by a small wheel or roller; the stem connecting
the bar to the wheel is adjustable for the purpose of regulating the height at
which it is to be kept from the ground.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a
plan of a mowing machine constructed according to my Invention. a is a bar
hinged to the frame bat c, and running parallel or nearly so with the side of
the frame; d, d, are two brackets depending from the hinged bar a, and
carrying between them a longitudinal standard support or axis e, to which the
finger beam is attached by a shoe f projecting from it. This standard or
support is free to move in the brackets d, d, in such manner that the shoe and
finger beam attached to it can be folded up out of the way when not required
for use, or when travelling along the road. To prevent it from falling it is
secured to a hook attached to the driver's seat. g is a lever, having its fulcrum
at h on a small lip projecting from the under side of the hinged bar a. This
lever passes through the bar a, and carries at its lower.end a small wheel or
roller i, which runs or travels on the ground; k is a rack fitted to the bar a,.
into the teeth of which a paul 7, linked to the lever g, takes; m.is a wire
attached at one end to the paul 1, and passing round the handle of the lever g
at the other; n is a quadrant-shaped bar formed with holes, into which a pin
is placed to prevent lateral motion; it also serves to keep the hinged bar fixed
when the machine is not, at work. The backing of the machine is effected by
the driver acting through a lever or levers, and a wheel or wheels or other
suitable mechanical agents upon the main driving wheel in the manner
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me the 13th October
1859, No. 2336. The driver, who sits on the seat o, has the full command of
the lever g; when he desires to alter the height of cut he raises the paul from
the ratchet by the wire m, and either pulls the lever 9 towards him or
pushes it from him, according to whether he wishes to increase or decrease
the distance of the knife from the ground. On releasing the wire, the paul
again enters the ratchet, and the finger beam is thus maintained at a uniform
height from the ground until the wire is again moved. As the machine is
drawn forward the hinged bar a, which is free to move about the point c,
allows the wheel i, and with it the finger beam and parts attached thereto, to
follow the inequalities of the ground, in such manner, that no matter what

page_text: undulation there may be on the surface the finger beam is always kept, and
consequently the crop cut, at one height from the ground; at the same time
the main travelling wheel revolves without affecting the revolution of the
small wheel or roller i. When the cutting apparatus is folded up, the wheel i
becomes one of the travelling wheels for the machine.
Although I have shewn and described this Invention as applied to mowing
machines only, yet it is equally applicable to reaping machines.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the method whereby the finger beam and knife of mowing and
reaping machines are caused to accommodate themselves to the inequalities of
the ground passed over by connecting them to the rear end of a bar, the front
end of which is jointed (by a pin or otherwise) to the front portion of the
frame of the machine, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the method of varying and adjusting the height of the finger beam
and knife by means of a wheel carried at the lower end of a hand lever,
which lever moves about an axis supported by a bar at its rear end, the whole
being arranged in such manner, that as the lever is moved the height of the
rear end of the bar, and therefore the height of the finger beam and knife,
are varied, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drrwings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Burgess, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, One thousand eight hundred