IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR REAPING AND MOWING
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William McIntyre Cranston, of 58, King William
Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR REAPING AND MOWING."-Partly a communication from
abroad by Walter Abbott Wood, residing at Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer
County, New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William McIntyre
Cranston at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis
Petition, on the 25th February 1862.
I, WILLIAM MCINTYRE CRANSTON, of 58, King William Street, in the City
of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR REAPING AND MOWING," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object "improvements in machinery for reaping
and mowing. For these purposes the main framing is supported by a driving
wheel on one side and a ground wheel on the other side, the axle of the
ground wheel is somewhat in the rear of the axle of the driving wheel. The
diameter of the ground wheel is also less than that of the driving wheel, which
arrangement admits of the cutting apparatus being placed in a line with and
below the axle of the driving wheel: The manner in which the cutting
apparatus is applied to and connected with the framing may be varied. The

page_text: cutter bar at one end is fixed to a bent bar, the convex side of which is next
the land, and the ends of such bar are connected to the framing at or near its
front and rear ends. In some cases, in place of having only one-ground wheel,
two may be employed, one before and the other behind the cutter bar. The
bent bar in some cases is mounted on and fixed to the ends of two radius bars
or connecting rods, the other ends of which are hinged to the other side
framing to that on which the bent bar is applied; provision is made for
raising and lowering the bent bar, and the cutter bar, so that the cutting
apparatus may come to and work at any desired distance from the surface of
the land, and at the same time be capable of retaining its relative position with
the surface of the land, though there may be variations or undulations upon it.
One convenient mode of acting on the bent bar and on the cutting apparatus
is by means of a cranked axle working within the hollow axle of the ground
wheel. To the crank at one end of this cranked axle, the bent bar is connected
by a link or connecting rod, and at another part of this axle provision is made
for moving the axle and for retaining or holding it and the cutting apparatus
in any desired position, or the bent bar may be otherwise connected to the
framing, and be raised or lowered by other arrangements. In place of
employing the fixed track clearers, or the rotatory ones heretofore used, it is
preferred to construct a track clearer of such form, and to so apply it that the
act of drawing it along the land shall cause it to rotate. For this purpose a
conical track clearer is applied, the larger part or base of which is to the rear
whilst the apex is attached to the end of the cutter bar or cutting apparatus.
The surface of the track clearer is composed of a series of longitudinal ridges,
and the axis of the clearer is inclined to the cutter bar to such an extent as to
cause the clearer to rotate, and thus to bring the ridges in succession on to
the ground.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William McIntyre Cranston in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MCINTYRE CRANSTON, of 58, King William Street, in the City of London,
and creatince
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William McIntyre Cranston in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MCINTYRE CRANSTON, of 58, King William Street, in the City of London,
send grooting
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing. date the Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth
year of. Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William McIntyre Cranston,. Her special licence
that I; the said William McIntyre Cranston, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William McIntyro Cranston, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR REAPING AND MOWING," the result partly of communication from abroad
made to me by Walter Abbott Wood, a person resident at Hoosick Falls,.
Rensselaer County, New York, United States of America, and partly of
Invention and discovery made by myself, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William McIntyre Cranston, 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 McIntyre Cranston, 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:
One of my objects in the construction of harvesting machines is to keep the
cutting apparatus as nearly in line with the axle or centre of the drive wheel
as possible, and at the same time to so unite the finger and cutter bar to the
main frame as that they may be raised up or let down as circumstances may
require. By placing the cutting apparatus in line with the axle of the drive
wheel, the machine is made to work better on uneven land, as for example,
land which is laid in ridge and furrow. And this part of the Invention consists,
in uniting the finger bar to a bent bar at or near the line of the centre or axle
of the drive wheel, said bent bar being in some cases in turn hinged by rods
to the stubble side of the main frame, so that it, as well as the finger bar, may
rise and fall or be raised up and held thus raised up or let down at pleasuro
by the driver or conductor from his seat.
Figure 1 represents in perspective so much of a harvesting machine, as will
illustrate this part of the Invention; Figure 2 represents a top plan of the

page_text: same; Figure 3 represents in perspective a modification of the plan of raising
and lowering the finger bar; Figure 4-represents a section through the ground.
wheel of Figures 1 and 2, shewing how the lifting connection between the
lever and the finger bar or its plate is arranged. Similar letters of reference,
where they occur in the separate Figures, denote like parts of the machine in
all cases.
. A represents a main frame supported on a drive wheel B and a ground or
supporting wheel C, the journal of the latter wheel being set slightly in rear
of that of the drive wheel, and the diameter also of the ground wheel being
less than that of the drive wheel, for the purpose of allowing the cutting
apparatus to be placed in line with or nearly in line with the axle D of the
drive wheel D, as seen more distinctly in the plan, Figure 2. To the front
and rear cross pieces of the main frame, and at or near the stubble side thereof,
as at a, a, are hinged the two rods b, b', their other ends being fastened respec-
tively to the front and rear ends of a bent bar E that serves as a shoe or
runner and as a support for a short finger bar F which is attached to it in or
near its centre portion; one of the rods (b) is made to move through a guide,
as at c, for the purpose of preventing the finger bar and cutting apparatus
from twisting or straining, but instead of a loop guide, such as shewn at c,
the axle d of the ground wheel may be extended beyond the outer face of the
wheel and a brace rod be extended from such projection to a point e on the
bent bar and be secured there, which serves to brace the finger bar whilst it
avoids the friction due to the rod b moving through the loop guide.
In Figure 1 the ground or supporting wheel C is hung on an axle d, whilst
in Figure 3 it is represented as a castor wheel, either will answer the purpose,
but require modified arrangements of the lifting devices. In Figures 1 and 2
the axle d of the ground wheel C is hollow, as seen in Figure 4, and through
this hollow axle passes a shaft f which has the lever G fastened to its inner
end, whilst its outer end carries a bent arm g, to which, by means of a link h,
the bent bar E is attached, and thus, by means of the lever G, the driver or
conductor, from his seat H, can raise or lower the finger bar and its several
connected parts. A second lever or brace I may be used in connection with
that (G), with suitable catches i thereon, to hold up the finger bar after it is
raised to the desired height. In Figure 3 the lever G is attached to a rod or
shaft supported at k, this rod carrying the arm g and link h by which the
finger bar is raised; in both cases the lifting is done at or near the line of the
axle of the driving wheel. In Figure 3 the lever and its arm are so arranged
as that the weight of the finger bar, when raised up, is upon the same side of

page_text: the fulcra as the lever is, and hence tends to hold the lever down and itself up.
without other fastening; J is the tongue by which the machine is drawn. I
have not shewn the gearing nor the cutting apparatus which it is intended to
drive, these may be of any of the kinds now known or in use and arranged on
the main frame in any well-known manner of using drive gear.
Figure 5 is a side view, Figure 6, a front view, and Figure 7 is a plan of a
modification of the arrangement, in which two ground wheels are employed
in place of one; the letters of reference correspond with those of the other
Figures. The ground wheels C, C, are, as is shown, mounted on studs carried
by the frame, and are placed one on each side of the axis D of the driving
wheel B. In this arrangement the finger bar cannot be raised or lowered, as
in the other arrangements, but it can, when out of use, be folded up out of the
it being able to turn on the hinged joint P.
way,
Having thus fully described this part of the Invention, what I claim therein
as new is connecting a short finger bar to the bent bar E at or near the line
of the axle or centre of the main driving wheel in combination with the hinging
of the said bent bar to or near to the stubble side of the main frame by rods
or braces, as described. I also claim as new, the employment of two ground
wheels, the one before and the other behind the cutter bar, in combination
with cutting apparatus placed in a line with the axis of the drive wheel.
Another part of the Invention relates to the construction and arrangement.
of track clearers or apparatus for clearing a path for the wheels of the machine
at its next traverse. It is preferred to construct a track clearer of such form,
and to so apply it that the act of drawing it along the land shall cause it to
rotate. For this purpose a conical track clearer is applied, the larger part or
base of which is to the rear, whilst the apex is attached to the end of the
cutter bar or cutting apparatus. The surface of the track clearer is composed
of a series of longitudinal ridges, and the axis of the clearer is inclined to the
cutter bar to such an extent as to cause the clearer to rotate, and thus to
bring the ridges in succession on to the ground.
Figure 8 is a plan of a track clearer so arranged, together with the parts to
which it is connected. F is the finger bar, and m the dividing shoe at the
end thereof; at the back it is bent to an angle, as is shown; it has bolted to
it by the bolt g the angle piece n, which is able to turn freely on the bolt as a
centre. To the other side of the angle piece a socket o is connected by a
bolt p, on which it is able to turn freely; r,r, are rods which are conveniently
made of wood; they are fitted into the socket so as to form a skeleton cone,
which, resting on the ground, revolves as the machine is drawn forward, and

page_text: the cut crop falling on the cone is laid by it on one side. A transverse section
of the socket o is shewn at Figure 9; it is made in two parts, and the rods.
are held between them. I claim as respects this part of the Invention, the
constructing and arranging a track clearer resting on the land and rotating or
rolling thereon as the machine is drawn forward, so as to lay the crop to one
side, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William M.Intyre Cranston, have hereunto.
sét my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August,. in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
W. M. CRANSTON. (L.S.)