IMPROVEMENTS IN SCYTHES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Smith, of Law Hill, in the County
of Perth, Scotland, Veterinary Surgeon, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SCYTHES."
Sealed the 23rd November 1853, and dated the 26th September 1853
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th September 1853.
I, JAMES SMITH, of Law Hill, in the County of Perth, Scotland,
Veterinary Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCYTHES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting and constructing the parts con-
stituting the scythe in such a manner as to render it capable of being
adjusted so as to produce the following changes of position in the
operating part of the instrument.
In the first place, the scythe is to be adjusted so as to give more or less
head. And this may be done by forming the upper part of a metal stem
hollow, and the lower part of the piece to which the blade is attached
being formed so as to fit into it, and being fixed in its required place
by an adjusting screw.
In the second place, the scythe, or blade of the scythe, is to be raised
or lowered on the grass or crop to be cut. And this may be done by
causing its end to pass into a socket, which it fits in such a manner as

page_text: to be capable of turning a short distance therein, such end of the scythe
blade being adjusted to the required angle of elevation by means of an
adjusting screw passed into the socket.
And in the third place, the point of the scythe blade is to be raised or
lowered. And this may be done by unscrewing and turning the socket
into which the end of the blade is fitted, the extent of depression of
the point being regulated by means of a rod with a hooked end passed
through a hole in the blade, the other end of such rod being widened
and formed with a slot, through which an adjusting screw is passed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES SMITH, of Law Hill, in the County of Perth, Scotland, Veteri-
nary Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Smith, Her special
license that I, the said James Smith, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Smith, 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
SCYTHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Smith, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of "Improvements in Scythes" is intended to furnish
the means of more readily adapting the instrument when required to
the work to be done in such a manner that the blade or cutter thereof
may be made to operate with more facility. For this purpose the
parts of the scythe are so constructed as to admit of the following
modes of adjustment :-
In the first place, it may be required to give more or less head to the
instrument, that is to say, more or less distance from the handle to
the blade. In order to admit of such adjustment the head or portion
to which the blade is connected is made with a projection or short rod
at the end to fit into a hollow space or tube formed in the stem,
extending from the handles, and the head is fixed as required by means
of an adjusting screw passed into such hollow space, and confining
therein the said projection or short rod.
In the second place, it may be required to raise or lower the blade
on the grass or crop to be cut. For the purpose of such adjustment
the end of the blade may be made in the form of a short rod, which
may be passed through a socket or carrier united to the upper part of
the head, such short rod being held in the socket so as to maintain
the blade in the required position by means of an adjusting screw.
And in the third place, in order to adjust the point of the blade as
may be required, the socket above referred to may be unscrewed,
or its connection with the head of the scythe loosened, so as to admit
of the blade being turned the required distance on the pin of the socket
as a centre of motion, and the position of the blade regulated by means
of a hooked rod and an adjusting screw.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood,
I will proceed to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accom-
panying Drawing, in which Fig. 1, represents in plan or horizontal
view the scythe put together; Fig. 2, is an edge view of the same;
and Fig. 3, shews the head and stem or handle separated. a, is the
blade, the end of which, in the form of a short rod a*, is passed into
the socket or carrier b, and retained therein by the adjusting screw c,

page_text: the carrier being screwed to the head d. This head has a short
rod e, formed on the lower end of it, which fits into the tube or
socket f, and may be retained in its required position therein by means
of the adjusting screw 9. h, is a rod, with a hook at i, and with a
widened and slotted end j, through which the adjusting screw k is
-passed, the hook i being passed through a hole in the blade a.
By means of the parts thus constructed and arranged the three
modes of adjustment above referred to may be readily practised. In
the first place, more head may be given by unscrewing the screw ý,
drawing out the head the required distance, then again tightening the
rod d, by screwing the screw g. Secondly, the blade may be raised or
lowered. on the crop, and suitably adjusted by unscrewing the screw c,
turning the blade a, on the rod a*, as a centre of motion, and then
tightening it by means of the screw c. And, in the third place, the
point of the blade a, may be adjusted as required by unscrewing
the nut 1, and thereby loosening the socket or carrier b, also by
unscrewing the screw of the hooked rod 7, then moving the blade a,
on the pin n, as a centre of motion, and fixing the blade in its required
position by tightening the screw k, and the nut l.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise forms of the
parts shewn and described. But what I claim as of my Invention
is, the general arrangement and construction of the parts of the scythe,
so as to admit of the several modes of adjustment thereof, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four
JOHN SMITH,
Witness,
JAMES SMITH. (L.S.)