AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith, of Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Agricultural Implement Maker, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO REAPING MACHINES."
Sealed the 12th February 1867, and dated the 16th August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
August 1866.
I, WILLIAM SMITH, of Kettering, in the County of Northampton, Agri-
cultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO REAPING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to enable reaping machines to work on
wet land.
It has been found that when working on heavy clay lands after a shower the
driving wheel of the reaping machine will quickly collect upon its periphery
dirt in such quantity as to arrest the progress of the machine; to prevent
this pendent scrapers have been introduced, the scraper being set at the back
of the wheel; in this situation, however, the scraper will in a large number of
machines, and in all self-raking machines, deliver the dirt on to the erank which
operates the cutter bar situate at the back of the machine, and the acting.
parts of the machine will thus be clogged. To avoid this inconvenience I
now propose to apply an adjustable scraper to the front of the wheel; this.
scraper is carried by an arm which stands up from and is fixed securely to
the draught pole or frame of the machine in such a manner that as the wheel

page_text: rotates the scraper (when adjusted to the wheel) will pare off the dirt and
discharge it on to the ground on either side of the pole or out of the line of
progress of the driving wheel; this arrangement will remove all the incon-
veniences at present experienced in working reaping machines of the
construction indicated when the ground is moist and sticky.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SMITH, of Kettering, in the County of Northampton, Agricultural Implement
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Smith, Her special licence that I, the said William
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
APPLICABLE TO REAPING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 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 Smith, 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,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to enable reaping machines to work on
wet land.

page_text: It has been found that when working on heavy clay lands after a shower
the driving wheel of the reaping machine will quickly collect upon its
periphery dirt in such quantity as to arrest the progress of the machine; to
prevent this pendent scrapers have been introduced, the scraper being set at
the back of the wheel; in this situation, however, the scraper will in a large
number of machines and in all self-acting machines deliver the dirt on to the
crank which operates the cutter bar situate at the back of the machine, and
the acting parts of the machine will thus be clogged. To avoid this incon-
venience I now propose to apply an adjustable scraper to the front of the wheel
in the manner shewn in the accompanying Drawing, where Fig. 1 is a Diagram
indicating a reaping machine fitted with a scraper according to my Invention,
and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the scraper and wheel detached.
may
a, Fig. 1, shows the position of the driving wheel, and 6 the frame to which
the draught pole or shaft c is secured as usual; d is the scraper formed with a
slotted arm d✶ to receive clamping screws e, by means of which the scraper
is fixed securely to the draught pole, or it may be to the frame of the
machine. By fixing the scraper in the position shewn or with its edge set
upwards and above the centre of the driving wheel it will be understood
that as the wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow the scraper (having
been properly adjusted to the wheel) will pare off the dirt which have
accumulated thereon and will discharge it on to the ground on either side of
the pole or out of the line of progress of the driving wheel; this arrangement
will avoid all the inconveniences at present experienced in working reaping
machines of the construction indicated when the ground is moist and sticky.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of an improvement
applicable to reaping machines, and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the application to reaping machines of scrapers
constructed and operating as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM SMITH. (L.S.)