IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF THE RAKES OF HARVESTERS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edward Vaughan, of 67, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING
THE OPERATION OF THE RAKES OF HARVESTERS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by the Johnston Harvester
Company, of Brockport, New York, in the United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Edward Vaughan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd April 1881.
GEORGE EDWARD VAUGHAN, of 67, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF
MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF THE RAKES OF HARVESTERS,
AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by the Johnston
Harvester Company, of Brockport, New York, in the United States of America.
This Invention consists in improvements in the construction and arrangement of
mechanism for controlling the operation of the rakes of harvesters, and for other
like purposes, the nature of which will be clearly understood from the following
description and references to the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the Invention; Figure 2, a sectional view taken
on the line x, x, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation; Figure 4, a sectional view
taken on the line y, y, Figure 1; Figure 5, a perspective view showing the
application of the Invention to a harvester rake; Figure 6 is a top plan view of a
modified form of the Invention; Figure 7 is a view of the same showing in full
lines the position of the parts just before the latch bar is tripped, and in dotted
lines the position of the parts after the latch bar has been tripped; Figure 8 is a
view of the same taken on the line 2-2, Figure 6, showing particularly the means
for arresting the forward movement of the tripping wheel; Figure 9 is a view of
the same showing the means for regulating the throw of the tripping wheel;
Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 1-1, Figure 6; Figure 11 is a
perspective view of the tripping wheel, and Figure 12 is a perspective view showing
the application of the modified form of this Invention to a harvester rake.
Similar letters of reference in the several Figures indicate the same parts.

page_text: This Invention has for its special object to provide improved means for con-
trolling the operation of harvester rakes, and to this end it consists in the
employment of certain novel devices and mechanical combinations whereby the
rakes are made to sweep the grain platform automatically at regular intervals of
more or less frequency of occurrence, and whereby also the rakes are enabled to be
thrown into or out of operation at will, all as is hereinafter fully described.
In the Drawings, A represents what is herein denominated a tripping wheel;
B, a laterally moving pivoted pawl arm, by which the tripping wheel is actuated;
C, a pawl, which engages with the actuating wheel to prevent its forward
rotation, and D the latch or latch bar to be tripped.
The tripping wheel A is mounted upon a fixed horizontal shaft or bearing a, and
is provided with a series of ratchet teeth a¹ on its periphery, with which a tooth b
on the pawl arm B and a tooth c on the pawl C are adapted to engage. The said
tripping wheel is also provided on its periphery opposite its toothed portion with a
laterally projecting lug a², which is adapted to raise and release the latch, as is
hereinafter explained, and it is also further provided with an arm a³ projecting
laterally through a curved slot e in 'the upwardly projecting flange E, which forms
the support of the shaft a.. Coiled about one of the projecting ends of shaft a is a
spiral spring, one end of which is fastened to the shaft, and the other end to the
side of the tripping wheel, as shown. This spring operates to throw the tripping
wheel forward in the direction indicated by the arrow, Figure 2, when released
from the pawl C. The latch D is articulated at its outer end to an arm G, which
is. secured to the shanks of the switch or gate of the harvester rake, while its
inner end plays through a slotted standard or guide g, and is provided with a
notch or shoulder d, as shown. When the latch is set the notch. engages with the
standard or guide, and its extreme end projects beyond the standard into the path
of the lug a² on the tripping wheel. The pawl B is hinged to a slide H, to which
a back and forth movement is imparted by means of a cam wheel I on the rake
shaft J, and a stud or projecting pin h on the slide. The slide is provided with an
elongated opening, through which the rake shaft passes, and is preferably
supported by means of a loose collar K on the rake shaft, and a suitable fixed
guide L, as shown. The cam wheel may be attached to the under side of the rake
head if desired, or in lieu of it a cam groove may be formed on the rake head
itself with the same effect. The stud which plays into the cam wheel is preferably
surrounded by a friction sheave to reduce friction.
Other means than the slide and cam wheel may be devised for operating the
pawl arm back and forth from the rake shaft, and I do not therefore desire to
confine this Invention to the employment of such particular arrangement, though
it is found to fully meet the requirements.
The pawl arm projects over the tripping wheel, and its tooth b at each outward
movement of the slide engages with one of the ratchet teeth of the tripping wheel
and rotates the latter backward the distance of one tooth against the tension of
the spring f, the return of the tripping wheel being prevented by the engagement
of the tooth c of the pawl C. On the reverse or backward movement of the slide
the tooth of the pawl arm drops in front of the next tooth on the tripping wheel,
and the wheel is rotated backward another step, and so on till all the teeth of the
wheel have been operated upon. As the wheel is rotated by the engagement of
the pawl arm with its last tooth, the laterally projecting lug a² on the wheel strikes
the end of the latch bar and raises it so as to release its notch or shoulder & from
the standard or guide g, and permit the bar to be thrown forward by a spring r
applied directly to the bar or to the arm G to which it is connected, as shown in
Figures 2, 3, and 4.
The pawl C is pivoted at C¹, and is arranged over the
tripping wheel alongside of the pawl arm B. As the tripping wheel is rotated
backward by the pawl arm B the pawl C rises, and its tooth drops in front of
one of the ratchet teeth and prevents the return of the wheel as the pawl arm
moves back, to engage with the next tooth, as above explained.
The outer end of the pawl C is provided with a cross bar c² which projects over

page_text: and rests upon the end of the engaged latch bar, so that when the latch bar is
lifted from engagement with its standard by the lug on the tripping wheel the
latch bar in turn lifts the pawl and disengages its tooth from the teeth of
the tripping wheel, thus permitting the coiled spring f to rotate the tripping
wheel forward, or in other words return to its first position, ready for another
operation.
The latch bar is reset by the closing of the gate or switch of the rake by the
rake arm in the usual manner, as will be well understood. The device is thus
made automatic in its operation.
The frequency with which the latch is tripped, as will readily be observed, depends
upon the number of ratchet teeth on the tripping wheel with which the pawl arm
is made to engage before the last or tripping tooth is reached, and it is evident that
by adjusting the tripping wheel so that the pawl arm will engage first with any
given tooth the frequency of the tripping can be regulated at pleasure. To effect
this adjustment it is only necessary to provide an adjustable stop for the arm a³ on
the tripping wheel to strike against when the wheel is thrown forward to its first
position by its spring, so that the first, second, third, or any numbered tooth will
be first presented to the pawl arm upon its next movement. The device I
preferably employ is a lever L mounted loosely upon the fixed shaft a, and having
a perforation in its outer end for the accommodation of a securing pin or bolt i.
A series of holes i¹ are made in the flange E, and the pin passing through the lever
is adapted to be engaged with any one of the holes of the series, according as the
tripping is desired to be more or less frequent. If adjusted to the first hole the
lever will arrest the wheel arm a³ when the last ratchet tooth is in position to be
operated upon by the pawl arm, and if adjusted to the second hole the next to the
last tooth will be presented, and so on. Instead of the pin i a spring bolt or other
suitable device may be employed. For the purpose of tripping the latch at will,
and regardless of the particular adjustment of the devices designed to trip it
automatically at regular intervals, as just described, I mount loosely upon the shaft a
outside of the lever L a second and shorter lever M, to the lower end of which is
connected a rod or cord leading to the driver. This lever when swung around
strikes the tripping wheel arm a³ in whatever position it may be, and moves the
tripping wheel backward until its last tooth is brought into position to be at once
engaged by the pawl arm on its next forward movement. As the lever M is
swung around, its upper end strikes an arm or plate N projecting from the side of
the pawl arm, and lifts the latter from engagement with the wheel. The pawl
arm can be held elevated out of engagement with the wheel as long as may be
desired by keeping the lever M in a vertical position; but as soon as the lever is
allowed to resume its normal or horizontal position, the pawl arm engages with
the last tooth of the tripping wheel, and the latter trips the latch at once.
For the purpose of bringing the lever back to its normal horizontal position, one.
side of it is preferably weighted, as shown at m. In Figures 6 to 12 of the
Drawings is shown a modified form of the Invention which may in some instances
be found desirable to adopt. Referring to the said Figures, A* represents the
tripping wheel; B*, an actuating wheel; and C×, the latch bar. The tripping
wheel consists of three parts ax, a¹×, a³×, made separate and secured rigidly
together or formed in one piece as preferred, and mounted upon a fixed shaft a³*.
The part ax is provided with a series of peripherical teeth a¹× inclined to the axis
of the wheel, and with which corresponding inclined teeth or cogs 6* on the
actuating wheel B* are adapted to engage. Part a* is further provided with a
lug ax, which projects from it laterally parallel with the shaft a³x, and extends
beyond the outer face of the part a². Part a¹× is of cylindrical form, and has a
single peripherical notch ax for the engagement of a pawl d* mounted on a
shaft D. Part a³× is of smaller diameter than part a¹, and is provided with
four, more or less, peripherical ratchet teeth ax with which engages a pawl dix;'
mounted on the shaft D*, and also has a cut away portion ax, as shown in
Figures 8 and 11. The pawl d³× has a cross bar ɖ³× at its end, upon which the

page_text: end of the pawl d* normally rests. From this arrangement it follows that when
the pawl dx is raised, the pawl d* is lifted with it, although on the other hand
the raising of the pawl dx does not disturb the pawl d¹. A spring Scoiled
about the shaft asx, and connected at one end to the part a*, and at the other end
to a plate Ex, operates to throw the tripping wheel forward in the direction
indicated by the arrow in Figure 8.
The actuating wheel B* is preferably connected to a hollow shaft or hub B¹×, and
when rotated in the direction of the arrow, Figure 6, its inclined teeth b* engage
successively with the inclined teeth a¹× of the tripping wheel and rotate the latter
backward step by step against the tension of the spring S*, the pawls d* and d¹×
assisting in this operation..
The latch bar C* is articulated to a vibrating arm G*, and its forward end
passes through a slot or opening fx in a standard Fx, and is provided with a
notch c*, which, when the latch is rotroacted, engages with the standard, as shown
in Figure 7. A spring H* is applied to the vibrating arm G* to project the latch
bar forward when the notch is released from the standard, and a slide bar I*
actuated by cam arms or projections 61x on the lower part of the hollow shaft or
hub B¹× serves as means to retroact and reset the latch bar. Any other arrange-
ment for retroacting the latch bar may be employed if desired.
The operation of this last described mechanism is as follows:-
Motion being imparted to the hollow shaft or hub B¹×, one of the cam shaped
projections 6¹× strikes the rounded end of the slide bar I* and vibrates the
arm G* outward, thereby causing the latch bar to be retroacted until its notch
engages with the standard, as shown in Figure 7. The inclined teeth of the
actuating wheel then, one after another, engage with the successive teeth of the
tripping wheel, and cause the latter to be raised or rotated backward against
the tension of the spring Sx. Each time the tripping wheel is moved the
pawl dix rises and falls in front of the next succeeding ratchet tooth on the
part ax, and holds the wheel until it is further moved by the next tooth of
the actuating wheel. After all the ratchet teeth have passed the tooth of the
pawl dx, and while the cut away portion ax is passing the said pawl tooth, the
tooth of the pawl d¹, which up to this time has been riding upon the smooth
portion of the periphery of the part a¹x, drops into the notch ax, thus holding the
wheel at a time when the pawl d¹× is inoperative for that purpose. At the time
when the pawl d* engages with its notch the tripping wheel has moved back till
its lateral projecting lug a³× lies just below the end of the latch bar. When
therefore the next advance of the tripping wheel is made by the engagement of
one of the teeth of the actuating wheel with its last tooth a**, the lug ax strikes
the end of the latch bar and raises it sufficiently to clear its notch from the
standard, and at the same time cause the top of the latch bar to lift the pawls
dx and d*, whereupon the spring on the arm G* causes the latch bar to be
projected inward, while the spring S* operates to turn the tripping wheel back to
its first position, as will be readily understood.
It is obvious that if it were not for the pawl d* and notch ax there would be
nothing to hold the tripping wheel after it had been lifted by the engagement of
the actuating wheel with its next to the last tooth, and that consequently without
such pawl and notch the latch would not be tripped at all, because the lug a³×
would never approach near enough to it. While therefore the latch will be
regularly tripped so long as the pawl d is kept in place, the tripping can be
stopped by simply lifting the said pawl, so that it will not engage with its notch.
This can be done by the attachment of a rod or cord to an arm dx near the pivot
of the pawl, and extending the said rod or cord to where it can be easily reached
by the operator. The mechanism is thus kept under the perfect control of the
operator.
In order that the automatic tripping of the latch in this form of mechanism may
be effected more or less frequently in a given time a lever J* is employed, which
lever is mounted on the fixed shaft a³× on the outside of the plate E*, and having

page_text: a lateral arm j* at its lower end, which projects inward through a slot j¹x in rear
of the lug ax, and having also a spring pin 2 on its upper end adapted to engage
with one or the other of a series of holes 3× in the plate J*. By shifting the
position of the lever the lateral arm jx may be made to arrest the forward
movement of the tripping wheel at any point, so as to present any one of the
inclined teeth a** first to the action of the actuating wheel and thus cause the
lug a³ to engage with the latch upon the first, second, or any other movement of
the tripping wheel.
In applying this modified form of the Invention to a harvester rake, such for
instance as shewn in Figure 12, the hollow shaft or hub B¹×, to which the
actuating wheel is connected, is mounted upon the rake shaft marked Xx, so as to
turn with it when forwardly rotated. The arm G* is connected to the shank **
of the rake switch R* and the tripping of the latch Cx by the operation of the
actuating wheel, tripping wheel, and other described parts, causes the spring H to
throw the switch open and allows the roller on the rake arm to pass through. The
closing of the switch, and consequently the resetting of the latch, may be effected
by the operation of the rotary cam projection on the hub of the actuating wheel
and the slide connected to the arm G*, as before described, or if the switch be a
tail switch, such as shewn by the roller on the rake arm acting against the tail of
the switch, as will be readily understood. Instead of operating the tripping wheel
by an actuating wheel having inclined teeth, such as are herein before described,
an actuating wheel with ordinary plain teeth, pins, projections, or rollers, can be
employed with equal effect. In fact, any arrangement that will operate to raise
the tripping wheel, step by step, will answer the purpose.
This Invention in both forms is adapted not only for use in controlling the
operation of harvester rakes, but also on grain binders and other machinery.
Still other modifications than the one described might be devised without
departing from the general principles of the said Invention.
Having thus described the said Invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by
Letters Patent,—
1st. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a reciprocating tripping wheel, means for moving the tripping wheel
in one direction to trip the latch, and means for moving it in the opposite
direction to return it to its first or normal position, substantially as
described.
2ndly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a reciprocating tripping wheel, an actuator for moving the tripping
wheel in one direction, step by step, to trip the latch, and means for returning
the tripping wheel to its normal or first position, substantially as described.
3rdly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a reciprocating adjustable tripping wheel having a step by step
movement in the direction in which it operates to trip the latch, an actuator for
imparting to the tripping wheel its step by step movement, and means for returning
the tripping wheel to its normal or first position, whereby the tripping wheel is
enabled to be set so as to trip the latch in a greater or less number of steps,
substantially as described.
4thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a tripping wheel, an actuator for moving the tripping wheel in one
direction, step by step, to trip the latch, and means for preventing a return
movement of the tripping wheel while being operated upon by the actuator,
substantially as described.
5thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a tripping wheel, an actuator for moving the tripping wheel in one
direction, step by step, to trip the latch or part to be tripped, means for preventing
the return movement of the tripping wheel while being operated upon by the
actuator, and a spring for returning the tripping wheel to its normal or first

page_text: position, after being released from the detaining means, substantially as
described.
6thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a tripping wheel, an actuator for moving the tripping wheel in one
direction to trip the latch or part to be tripped, means for preventing the return
movement of the tripping wheel while being operated upon by the actuator, a
spring for returning the tripping wheel to its normal or first position after being
released from its detaining device, and means for automatically releasing the
tripping wheel from the detaining device as the latch is tripped, substantially as
described.
7thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the latch or part to be
tripped of a tripping wheel, an actuator for moving the tripping wheel in one
direction to trip the latch or part to be tripped, and a pawl for holding the
tripping wheel from return movement and adapted to be automatically disengaged
from the tripping wheel by the latch as it is tripped, substantially as
described.
8thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating tripping
wheel, a spring for throwing the said wheel forward to its first position, and a stop
for arresting its forward movement, substantially as described for the purpose
specified.
9thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination of a reciprocating tripping
wheel, a spring for throwing it forward to its first position, and an adjustable stop
for arresting its forward movement, whereby the automatic tripping of the latch
can be effected more or less frequently, substantially as described.
10thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with a tripping wheel and latch
or latch bar of a pivoted pawl arm having a backward and forward movement
imparted to it from an actuating shaft and adapted to engage with the tripping
wheel, substantially as described.
11thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the tripping wheel and
latch of the pawl arm, the operating slide and the cam on the actuating shaft,
substantially as described.
12thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the tripping wheel and
latch bar and actuating mechanism for rotating the tripping wheel, step by step,
to trip the latch, of means for bringing at will the tripping wheel into position to
trip the latch at once, substantially as described.
13thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the tripping wheel and
latch of the pivoted pawl arm having a back and forth movement, and means for
bringing at will the tripping wheel into position to at once trip the latch,
substantially as described.
14thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination with the tripping wheel
having the laterally projecting arm of the pivoted lever for engaging with the
said arm to carry the tripping wheel into position for at once tripping the latch,
substantially as described.
15thly. In a tripping mechanism, the combination of the pivoted pawl arm,
having the laterally projecting plate and the lever for engaging the said plate to
raise the pawl arm out of engagement with the tripping wheel, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edward Vaughan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
GEO. E. VAUGHAN. (L.S.)