IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWING MACHINES, Part of WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR CUTTING THE EDGES OF LAWNS, AND ALSO TO GARDEN ROLLERS."
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Follows and John Bate, both
of the City of Manchester, Agricultural Implement Makers, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWING MACHINES, Part of
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR CUTTING THE EDGES
OF LAWNS, AND ALSO TO GARDEN ROLLERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William
Follows and John Bate at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 28th August 1873.
We, FREDERICK WILLIAM FOLLOWS and JOHN BATE, both of the
City of Machester, Agricultural Implement Makers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN MOWING
MACHINES, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINES FOR
CUTTING THE EDGES OF LAWNS, AND ALSO TO GARDEN, ROLLERS,” to be as
follows:-
Our Invention is applicable to two distinct kinds of lawn mowers,
viz., those in which the first driving power is obtained from a roller
or wheels travelling on the ground at the back of the machine, and
those driven by wheels travelling on the ground at the sides of the
machine opposite the ends of rotating cutters or knife. In the former

page_text: we make the rotating knife with pinion, curved plate, bottom blade,
and if desired a roller, all of which are supported in radial arms, and
free to rise and fall over uneven surfaces without altering the positions
of the other parts of the machine.
When desired the rotating knife and attachments can be fixed in one
position or allowed to rise but not to fall beyond a given point, thus
doing away with the necessity of regulating the height of cut by a
roller, wheels, or sliding feet, a fixed roller or wheels only being required.
By this arrangement the handles can also be kept at one uniform distance
from the ground.
A somewhat similar result can be obtained by supporting the rotating
knife with attachments and the intermediate wheel or wheels, chains,
or other driving power on radial arms to allow them to rise independently
of the wheel on the travelling roller shaft.
On one or both ends of the rotating knife shaft we use a ratchet
made as follows:-A slot is cut in the shaft in which is placed a forked
catch having a spiral or other spring between the forks. The pinion
has one or more grooves or notches inside it, into one or other of which
the catch is pushed when the machine is driven forward, but when
drawn backwards the catch is forced inside the groove in the shaft. a
Instead of this ratchet we may prefer to use some other kind.
In addition to a ratchet or ratchets on the rotating knife shaft for
throwing the rotating knife out of gear we also place one or more
ratchets on the travelling roller shaft.
The following refers exclusively to the latter kind of machine:-2
In this machine we have an iron disc on each side of the machine to
which is attached a bar carrying the bottom blade and regulating
roller. The rotating knife is carried on a shaft working in each disc.
The driving wheels are carried by a shaft working through the centre
of the discs. Instead of this the rotating knife, bottom bar, with blade
and regulating roller may be carried on brackets attached to centre
driving shaft or fastened to the handles, so as to rise and fall inde-
pendently of the discs, slots being left in the latter for the rotating
knife shaft to rise and fall. Attached to one of the driving wheels, or
fixed on a shaft opposite to it, we place a wheel with external teeth a
gearing into another wheel of the same kind, which in turn gives motion
to the pinion on the rotating knife shaft.
to

page_text: In some sizes of machines we should make the intermediate wheel
with double rows of teeth, one much smaller in diameter than the
other, or instead two wheels of different diameters on the same shaft,
the largest gearing into the pinion on the rotating knife shaft.
Another plan of driving consists in forming inside one of the
travelling wheels an internal spur or bevel gear, which may form
part of the travelling wheel, or be attached to the same shaft, this
gives motion to another wheel having both external and internal teeth,
or two wheels may be fixed on the same shaft, the external receiving
its motion from the first wheel, and the internal driving the pinion
attached to the rotating knife shaft. By this means we can place
the rotating knife to work in any part of the disc that may be
required.
In either method of driving some sizes of machines would require
to be driven independently from each side, in which case the same
gearing must be employed on both sides, and the travelling wheels
must run loose on the centre shaft, a ratchet could also be attached
to one or both ends of the driving shaft, also to the rotating knife
shaft.
:
Instead of the travelling and driving wheels having their bearings
in the discs part or all may work in brackets cast or attached to the
discs or to the centre shaft; if the brackets are made with two supports
wide apart there will be room gained for increased size of intermediate
wheels.
Each driving wheel may also have a shaft cast to it working in the
disc, or it may have a shaft cast in it or attached to it running both in
the disc and in the outside bracket.
Each of the intermediate wheels may have a shaft cast to it, and
working in the discs. When there is not a shaft used through the
centre of the discs they may be additionally connected by a bar attached
on the front part of the discs.
The handles can be made single or double, and fixed in a direct line
with the centre of the discs, or allowed to swing loose.
In front of the ordinary rotating knife we place another, the onc in
front for collecting a portion of the grass, and the one at back scattering
the cuttings on the ground,

page_text: The following refers to lawn mowers of every description:-We fit
a number of teeth, a brush, or other kind of guards, fixed or rotating in
front of the rotating knife to protect the rotating and bottom knives from
stones and other injurious obstructions, and to some part of the machino
near the ground is fixed a daisy rake, or a number of teeth for collecting 5
stones and other obstructions.
To some or all the oil holes we attach cups or feeders for keeping a
constant supply of oil to the bearings and wearing parts.
'Attached to either side of the machine we place a guide or lifter
to be used when cutting the edges of lawns, around flower beds, &c., 1
this guide or lifter raises the overhanging grass and turns it over
towards the rotating knife, which cuts it before it has time to fall
back again. The rotating knife does not cut against the projection.
We make a guard which can be attached to one or both sides of
lawn mowers for the purpose of protecting flowers, shrubs, &c., when 1
growing near or over the grass. The guard has a two-fold action,
the front portion lifting the flowers from the ground and then pushing
them away from the machine while the grass is being cut, and the
hind portion gradually letting them fall back into their original position.
The guard can be attached to the machine or box, or to both, and 2
a modification of it can be made by altering the present shape of tho
framing of the machine and the covers over the wheels of the same.
The guard may be fixed to grass edge cutters, and used for the same
purposes as for lawn mowers. It is also used for the same purposes
when attached to garden rollers. In most cases it would be fixed to 2
the handle and centro shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick William Follows and John Bate in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK 30
WILLIAM FOLLOWS and JOHN BATE, both of the City of Manchester,
Agricultural Implement Makers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Frederick William Follows and John
Bate, Her special licence that we, the said Frederick William Follows
and John Bate, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Frederick William Follows and John Bate, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAWN MOWING MACHINES, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO
MACHINES FOR CUTTING THE EDGES OF LAWNS, AND. ALSO TO GARDEN ROLLERS,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Frederick William
Follows and John Bate, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Frederick William Follows and
John Bate, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
Our Invention is applicable to two distinct kinds of lawn mowers,
namely, those in which the first driving power is obtained from a roller
or wheels travelling on the ground at the back of the machine, and
those driven by wheels travelling on the ground at the sides of the
machine opposite the ends of the rotating cutters or knife. In the
former we make the rotating cutting knife with pinion, curved plate,
bottom blade, and if desired a roller, all of which are supported in radial
arms, and free to rise and fall over uneven surfaces, without altering the
position of the other parts of the machine.
When desired the rotating knife and attachments can be fixed .in one
position, or allowed to risc but not to fall beyond a given point, thus

page_text: doing away with the necessity of regulating the height of cut by a
roller, wheels, or sliding feet, a fixed roller or wheels only being required.
By this arrangement the handles can also be kept at one uniform distance
from the ground.
A somewhat similar result can be obtained by supporting the rotating
knife with attachments, and the intermediate wheel or wheels, chains,
or other driving power on radial arms to allow them to rise independently
of the wheel or travelling roller shaft.
- On one or both ends of the rotating knife shaft, as shewn in Figs.
1 and 2 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, we apply a ratchet
made as follows:--A slot is cut in the shaft a in which is placed a
forked catch 6 having a spiral or other spring between the forks. The
pinion c has one or more grooves or notches inside it, into one or other
of which the catch 6 is pushed when the machine is driven forward,
but when drawn backwards the catch is forced inside the groove in the
shaft. In this arrangement we have shewn three grooves or notches in
the pinion c, but the number can be varied. The pinion c is driven by
the internal wheel d, or by an external wheel.
In addition to a ratchet or ratchets on the rotating knife shaft for
throwing the rotating knife out of gear we also place one or more
ordinary ratchets on the travelling roller shaft.
The following refers exclusively to the latter kind of machine, that
is to say, machines driven by wheels travelling on the ground at the
sides and opposite the ends of the rotating cutters or knife :-In this
machine we have an iron disc on each side of the machine to which
is attached a bar carrying the bottom blade and regulating roller.
The rotating knife is carried on the shaft working in each disc. The
driving wheels are carried by a shaft working through the centre of
the discs. Instead of this the rotating knife, bottom bar with blade,
and regulating roller may be carried on brackets attached to the centre
driving shaft or fastened to the handles, so as to rise and fall inde-
pendently of the discs, slots being left in the latter for the rotating
knife shaft to rise and fall. Attached to one of the driving wheels, or
fixed on a shaft opposite to it, we place a wheel e with external teeth,
as shewn in Fig. 3, gearing into the intermediate wheel f, which in
turn gives motion to the pinion c on the rotating knife shaft; in this

page_text: arrangement the internal toothed wheel on the travelling wheel is dis-
pensed with.
In some sizes of machines we should make the intermediate wheel f
with double rows of teeth, as shewn in Fig. 4, one much smaller in
5 diameter than the other, or instead, two wheels of different diameters
on the same shaft, the largest gearing into the pinion c on the rotating
knife shaft.
Another of our improved modes of driving is shewn in Figs. 5 and 6,
and it consists in forming inside one of the travelling wheels an internal
> spur gear d which may form part of the travelling wheel, or be attached
to the same shaft, this gives motion to another wheel 9 having both
external and internal teeth, or two wheels may be fixed on the same
shaft, the external receiving its motion from the wheel d, and the
internal driving the pinion c attached to the rotating knife shaft b.
This mode of driving may be modified by using bevel wheels instead
of the spur wheels d and 7, as shewn. By this means we can place
the rotating knife to work in any part of the disc that may be
required.
In either method of driving some sizes of machines would require
to be driven independently from each side, in which case the same
gearing must be employed on both sides, and the travelling wheels
must run loose on the centre shaft; a ratchet could also be attached
to one or both ends of the driving shaft, or also to the rotating knife
shaft.
Instead of the travelling and driving wheels having their bearings
in the discs, part or all may work in brackets cast or attached to the
discs, or to the centre shaft; if the brackets are made with two supports
wide apart there will be room gained for increased size of intermediate
wheels.
Each driving wheel may also have a shaft cast to it working in the
lisc, or it may have a shaft cast in it or attached to it running both in
he disc and in the outside bracket.
Each of the intermediate wheels may have a shaft cast to it, and
orking in the discs; when there is not a shaft used through the
entre of the discs they may be additionally connected by a bar attached
n the front part of the discs.

page_text: The handles can be made single or double, and fixed in a direct line
with the centre of the discs, or allowed to swing loose.
In front of the ordinary rotating knife we place another, the one in
front for collecting a portion of the grass, and the one at the back
scattering the cuttings on the ground.
The following refers to lawn mowers of every description:-We fit
a number of teeth 7, as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8, or a brush, or other.
kind of guard fixed or rotating in front of the rotating knife to protect
the rotating and bottom knives from stones and other injurious obstruc-
tions; these teeth are shewn on an enlarged scale at Figs. 11 and 12,
and to some part of the machine near the ground is fixed a daisy rake i
as shown in Fig. 8, and on an enlarged scale in Figs. 9 and 10. The
daisy rake consists of a curved blade of sheet metal with teeth of the
ordinary construction.
To some or all the oil holes we attach lubricating cups or feeders
for supplying a constant supply of oil to the bearings and wearing
parts.
Attached to either side of the machine we place a guide or lifter k,
as shewn in Figs. 13 and 14, to be used when cutting the edge of
lawns, around flower beds, and in other places; this guide or lifter
raises the overhanging grass and turns it over towards the rotating
knife, which cuts it before it has time to fall backg ain.
The rotating
knife does not cut against the projection.
The following apparatus, shewn in Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 18, is applic-
able to lawn mowers, grass edge cutters, and garden rollers: We?
make a guard which can be attached to one or both sides of lawn
mowers for the purpose of protecting flowers, shrubs, and other plants
when growing near or over the grass. The guard 2, which is made
of wood or metal, has a twofold action, the front portion lifting the
flowers from the ground and then pushing them away from the machine a
while the grass is being cut, and the hind portion gradually letting them
fall back into their original position.
The guard can be attached to the axle of the machine, as shewn.
in Figs: 15 and 16, or to the box, as shown in Figs. 17 and 18, or
to any other part of the machine, and a modification of it can be a
made by altering the present shape of the framing of the machines
and the covers of the wheels of the same.