IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edward Ransome; of the Firm Ransome's;>
Sims, and Head, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer,
and George Ling, Foreman to the same Firm, for the Invention.
"'of" IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edward
Ransome and George Ling at the Office of the Commissioners.
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 17th September 1875.
•
We, JAMES. EDWARD RANSOME, of the Firm Ransome's, Sims, and
Head, of Ipswich, in the. County of Suffolk, Engineer, and GEORGE
LING, Foreman to the same Firm, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWERS," to be as
follows:
:...
. This. Invention, has for its object improvements in lawn mowers, and
relates more especially to certain facilities for using both sets of edges.
of the rotary cutting blades to do the cutting. We accomplish this in.
two. ways; first, by arranging the machine to be propelled in either
"

page_text: direction and thus causing either set of knife edges to do the cutting, or
by arranging the parts of the machine collectively so that the whole
machine may be turned over, bottom upwards, which will also bring the
opposite edges of the knife blades into action. In the former case we
construct the frame of the machine in the following manner:—In the
sides of the frame are slots to receive slides carrying the bearings for
the axles of the driving wheels and of the rotary knife blades;-theso
slides arc adjusted-up-or-down by a set screw at each side of the frame.
An internal spur wheel upon one of the driving wheels gears into a
pinion upon the axle of the rotary blades.
•
The two driving wheels are by preference cast from the same pattern,
so that when the internal spur wheel of one has become worn they can
be changed to opposite ends of the axle, and the knives will then be
driven by the unworn spur wheel. If the pinion becomes worn a new
one can be substituted.
The lower ends of the sides of the frame are connected by a steel bar
or ledger blade; against the edge of which the rotary blades act. This
bar is in section like a longitudinal strip of a tube (which makes it very
strong and obviates the necessity of a bed plate to the machine) and
may be attached to the sides of the frame in two different positions, one
of which is suitable for working the machine in one direction and the
other position for the opposite direction.
The handle is attached to the middle of the upper part of the frame,
and is adjustable in inclination to suit the stature of the person using
the machine and also to regulate the height of cut by raising or lowering a
the knives. A grass box is attached to the machine when required, and
is by preference hung on to the lower part of the frame, the reär end
trailing upon the ground behind the machine. When one set of the
knife edges of-the-cutting barrel have become worn the steel bar or
ledger blade against which they act is shifted to its other position, and
the handle is reversed-to-the-other-side of the machine, so that the
Edirection of motion of the machine is also reversed, and the blades.
rotate in the opposite direction.
'In arranging à machine that can be turned over bottom upwards we
make it symetrical about the centre line of the frame, which in this
case is approximately horizontal. The frame carries the bearings of the
leading roller in front of the knife barrel and of the. driving roller at

page_text: the rear which drives the knives through any ordinary gearing. Either
one or two ledger blades are used. In the former case it is carried in
brackets on the lower side of the frame, and when the machine is
turned bottom upwards it is moved with the brackets to or on to
corresponding brackets on the other side of the frame.
In
When two ledger blades are used they are arranged so as to alternately
be in and out of work, according to the position of the machine.
both cases the ledger blade or blades are so arranged that their cutting
edges can be adjusted to the knives of the rotary cutters. The handle
is hinged to the rear end of the frame, and can be locked in any position
by a nut which clips it to a segment on the frame. It will thus be
seen that when the machine is turned bottom upwards and the ledger
blade and handle shifted to their new position the machine works
exactly as before, except that the knife barrel rotates in the opposite
direction and the other edges of the knives are now used. The grass
box (if used) will in this machine be carried at the front.
In the toothed gearing of both these machines it will be noticed that
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Edward Ransome and George Ling in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
EDWARD RANSOME, of the Firm Ransome's, Sims, and Head, of
Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer, and GEORGE LING,
Foreman to the same Firm, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the
-year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
› thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said James Edward Ransome
and George Ling, Her special license that we, the said James Edward
Ransome and George Ling, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said James Edward Ransome and George Ling

page_text: our 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 5
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWERS," upon the condition (amongst others) _
"that we, the said James. Edward Ransome and George Ling, our exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in. writing under our, or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of ‘us or them,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said 1
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 we, the said James Edward Ransome and 18
George Ling, do hereby declare the nature of the 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,
that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in lawn mowers, and 20
relates more especially to certain facilities for using both sets of edges
of the rotary cutting blades to do the cutting. We accomplish this in,
two ways, first, by arranging the machine to be propelled in either
direction, and thus causing either set of knife edges to do the cutting;
or by arranging the parts of the machine collectively, so that the whole 25
machine may be turned over bottom upwards, which will also bring the
opposite-edges-of-the-knife-blades into action. In the former case we
-construct the frame of the machine in the following manner :—In the
sides of the frame are slots to receive slides carrying the bearings_for_
the axles of the driving wheels and of the rotary knife blades; these 80
slides are adjusted up or down by a set screw at each side of the frame.
An internal spur wheel upon one of the driving wheels gears into a
pinion upon the axle of the rotary blades.
The lower ends of the sides of the frame are connected by a steel bar
or ledger blade, against the edge of which the rotary blades act. This 35
bar is in section like a longitudinal strip of a tube (which makes it very
strong, and obviates the necessity of a bed plate to the machine), and it

page_text: may be attached to the sides of the frame in two different positions, one
of which is suitable for working the machine in one direction, and the
other position for the opposite direction.
When one
The handle is attached to the middle of the upper part of the frame,
and is adjustable in inclination to suit the stature of the person using
the machine, and also to regulate the height of cut by raising or
lowering the knives. A. grass box is attached to the machine when
required, and is by preference hung on to the lower part of the frame,
the rear end trailing upon the ground behind the machine.
set of the knife edges of the cutting barrel have become worn the steel
bar or ledger blade against which they act is shifted to its other position
and the handle is reversed to the other side of the machine, so that the
direction of motion of the machine is also reversed and the blades rotate
in the opposite direction. .
In arranging a machine that can be turned over bottom upwards we
make it symmetrical about the centre line of the frame, which in this
case is approximately horizontal. The frame carries the bearings of the
leading roller in front of the knife barrel, and of the driving roller at
the rear, which drives the knives through any ordinary gearing. Either
one or two ledger blades are used. In the former case it is carried in
brackets on the lower side of the frame, and when the machine is turned
bottom upwards it is moved with the brackets to or on to corresponding
brackets on the other side of the frame.
When two ledger blades are used they are arranged so as to alternately
be in and out of work, according to the position of the machine. In
both cases the ledger blade or blades are so arranged that their cutting
cdges can be adjusted to the knives of the rotary cutters. The handle
is hinged to the rear end of the frame, and can be locked in any position
by a nut, which clips it to a segment on the frame. It will thus be
seen that when the machine is turned bottom upwards and the ledger
blade and handle shifted to their new position the machine works
exactly as before, except that the knife barrel rotates in the opposite
direction, and the other edges of the knives are now used.
The grass
box (if used) will in this machine be carried at the front.
In the toothed gearing of both these machines it will be noticed that
where the action is reversed the opposite faces of the teeth are brought
into work

page_text: and consequently the height at which the grass is cut. This will be
seen on reference to Figures 1 and 5.
In Figure 1. the position of the sides of the frame is vertical or nearly
so, and the ledger blade is close to the ground.
In Figure 5 the position of the frame is slanting behind the centre of
the driving wheels at the bottom, and in advance of it at the top. It
will be seen that the ledger blade F is thus raised further from the
ground. The frame is kept in the desired position at work by means of
the handle J, which is attached to the frame at its lower end by means
of two pins K, K, which fit in corresponding holes in the frame and
handle.
In Figure 1 it will be seen that the uppermost hole in the segment at
the end of the handle is used, and in Figure 5, in which the cutting
barrel is at the furthest distance from the ground the lowest hole in the
end of the handle is used. In both these cases it is assumed that the
same person is working the machine, and consequently the handle
remains at the same height. If on the other hand it is desired to alter
the height of the end of the handle to suit a different person the handles
can be either raised or lowered by the same adjustment of the pins at
the opposite end.
The cut grass is delivered behind the machine, and is either received
into the box L, which is hinged in its front on hooks M. on the frame, and
is supported at the back by a chain N from the handle, or the grass is
scattered on the surface of the lawn when the box is removed. There
are several holes in the handle to adjust the height of the box.
grass
When the edges of the cutting blades G become blunt on one side
from use the other side of the cutting blades should be brought into
use. To effect this the handle and box must be moved to the opposite
side, and the ledger blade F must be also moved, so that its cutting edge
may face the opposite direction.
In Figure 4 the full lines shew the machine arranged for working
in the direction indicated by the arrow O, and the dotted lines show
the same machine with the parts reversed for working in the direction
of the arrow P.
The steel ledger blade, instead of having but one cutting edge, may if

page_text: Sheet 2 contains Drawings of a lawn mower constructed according to
our second method. In this machine the object is as in the last to use
the opposite edges of the cutting barrel when one set of edges has become
worn without taking the barrel out of and reversing it in its bearings,
but is accomplished in a different manner.
Figure 1 is an elevation; Figure 2 is a plan-of-this-machine. This
machine is constructed with two symmetrical side frames A, A, connected
with stays, as shown. The bearings of the driving roller B, of the spur
wheel C, of the intermediate wheel D, and of the pinion E, together
with those of the cutting barrel F and the front rollers G, are placed in 1
the centre line of the side frames. H is the handle.
It will be seen that with the exception of the handle the various
parts above mentioned are arranged symmetrically about the centre
line of the frame, and will occupy the same relative position to each
other and to the ground when the machine is turned bottom upwards.
It will also be seen that when the machine is pushed forwards the
cutting barrel will rotate in the opposite drection to that in which it
rotated before the machine was inverted, and the other edges of the
knives come into use. The handle H is hinged to the rear end of the
frame, which there forms a segment N, N, to which the handle can be
secured in a position to suit the way in which the machine is worked, and

page_text: Figure 3 is an end elevation; Figure 4, a plan; Figure 5, an end
view of the bracket or ledger block with the ledger blade and adjusting
screws.
In Figure 6 an arrangement for using two ledger blades is shown,
which are alternately in and out of work. They are attached to the
opposite sides of a block P, which is hinged on a centre Q, and by
means of the regulating screws R the blades are adjusted alternately to
the edges of the revolving cutters.
When it is desired to scatter the grass behind the machine the doors
S, T, can be taken out of the block P.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we would have it understood that we
claim,-
First. The methods of reversing the motion of the cutting barrel in
order to bring a new set of edges into use when the first are worn, sub-
stantially as described.
Second. The use of a ledger blade without a ledger block, and also
of a curved ledger blade, substantially as described and shown on Sheet 1
of the Drawings.
Third. The method of adjusting the ledger blade to the knives, and of
adjusting the height of cut, substantially as described and shown on
Sheet 1 of the Drawings.
Fourth. The general arrangements and construction of the machines,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Edward Ransome and
George Ling, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
JAMES EDWARD RANSOME. (L.S.)
GEORGE LING.
(L.S.)