IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN PARTS OF REAPING MACHINES, AND IN THE WORKING OR APPLI- CATION OF THE SAME
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gray, of Brownrigg, in the County of
Haddington, North Britain, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CERTAIN PARTS OF REAPING MACHINES, AND IN THE WORKING OR APPLI-
CATION OF THE SAME."
Sealed the 19th January 1864, and dated the 11th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gray at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th August
• 1868.
I, WILLIAM GRAY, of Brownrigg, in the County of Haddington, North
Britain, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN PARTS OF REAPING MACHINES, AND IN THE WORKING OR
APPLICATION OF THE SAME," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates mainly to the arrangement and construction of the
delivery action of reaping machines in such manner that the cut crop máy be
more readily bound up into sheaves than heretofore.
Under one modification or system of arrangement the ordinary tilt board of
the reaping machine has fitted below it a secondary tilt board of a smaller size.
On this tilt board an attendant, who is conveniently stationed for the purpose
on the machine or otherwise, lays at the proper intervals of time a band or
rope which is to serve for binding up the next sheaf. As the tilt board
delivers the portion of the cut crop which is lying thereon it actuates the

page_text: secondary tilt board which delivers the band ready to receive the cut corn.
The secondary tilt board is tilted in concert with the first, so that the person
who follows the machine has only to gather the ends of the band, tie them,
and this completes the sheaf. Directly the secondary tilt board has resumed
its normal position the attendant places another band across it, and the
delivery takes place as before. This principle of placing the bands beneath
the several parcels to form the sheaves prior to their delivery from the machine
may be carried out under various modifications of the details. Thus in lieu of
the secondary tilt board a sliding board or. drawer may be used for the
purpose of receiving the bands, and the successive portions of the cut material
or a fixed board may be arranged beneath the ordinary tilt board. With a
view of facilitating the making up of the sheaves the tilt board is made with
inclined sides, or with sides hinged so that they may readily be fixed to any
angle, so as to cause the cut crop to fall into a heap in the centre of the tilt
board ready for being tied up into a sheaf. Or in place of this definite arrange-
ment the side of the tilt board may be made to work against a fixed stud
attached to the fixed framing of the machine, so that the necessary angular
action upon the grain can be adjusted at any moment. This improvement
may be used in conjunction or not with the secondary tilt board. In reaping
machines arranged for "side delivery," the cut material is moved from the
stationary board either by hand or by mechanical means into a curved or
trough-like tilt board or platform arranged at the side or end of the fixed
board. In this tilt board tho attendant places the sheaf bands at suitable
intervals, and the cut material is deposited on the ground with the band
beneath it ready for tying up. This system of placing the bands beneath.the
several portions of the cut crop in succession is also applicable to those
reaping machines constructed with a motion moving in a curvilinear path to
remove the cut material at intervals. With theso several improvements the
operation of tying up severed grain or portions of crops and forming them into
sheaves is greatly facilitated. In all machines which deliver the severed
grain by a curvilinear sweeping or traverse action with the intention of giving
a side deposit, the secondary tilting board is equally applicable. A primary
tilting board may be arranged to operate above and in conjunction with what
I have herein-before termed the secondary tilting board. And in place of
using what is generally and technically termed a "tilting " board, a discharge
board binged at one end may be employed with a similar result. And in
laying the severed grain upon the band a recess or shoulder is or may be
provided for the purpose of retaining the band, and thus preventing its being
disturbed during the passage down of the grain. In the case of side deliveries

page_text: the tilting boards or platforms may be made automatic or not. For instance
the receiving surface may be very conveniently worked by a lever action
operated upon either by the attendant or by the motion of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRAY, of Brownrigg, in the County of Haddington, North Britain, Farmer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Gray, Her special licence that 1, the said William Gray, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Gray, 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 CERTAIN PARTS
OF REAPING MACHINES, AND IN THE WORKING OR APPLICATION OF THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Gray, 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 natura
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 Gray, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates mainly to the arrangement and construction of the
delivery action of reaping machines in such manner that the cut crop may be
more readily bound up into sheaves than heretofore.
Under one modification or system of arrangement the ordinary tilt board of

page_text: the reaping machine has fitted below it a secondary tilt board of a smaller
size. On this tilt board an attendant, who is conveniently stationed for the
purpose on the machine or otherwise, lays at the proper intervals of time a
band or rope, which is to serve for binding up tho next sheaf. As the tilt
board delivers the portion of the cut crop, which is lying thereon, it actuates
the secondary tilt board which delivers the band ready to receive the cut corn.
The secondary tilt board is tilted in concert with the first, so that the person
who follows the machine has only to gather the ends of the band, tie them,
and this completes the sheaf. Directly the secondary tilt board has resumed
its normal position the attendant places another band across it, and the delivery
takes place as before.
This arrangement is illustrated by the Drawing, Figure 1, which shows in
transverse section so much of a reaping machine as is necessary for carrying
out my Invention.
a, a, is the finger or cutter bar; a carrying wheel; c, the tilt board or
tipping platform arranged in the ordinary manner, and turning on a centre or
axis at c; the front end of this platform rests on the finger bar and receives
the cut crop as it falls, and from time to time the workman, by a strap on his
foot or otherwise, tilts up the platform, so as to approach its hinder edge to
the ground and shoot off the cut crop upon it on to the land; the platform
thus tilted is shown at Figure 2; d is the secondary tilt board or platform,
which, according to my Invention, I apply to the machine for the purpose of
receiving and depositing the bands for binding the sheaves; it turns on an
axis at d', and a counterpoise weight d tends to keep it constantly in the
position shewn in Figure 1. The bands are laid on the platform d, one at a
time, by a boy who walks behind the machine (or he may be carried by it);
he lays the band straight on the platform, so as to extend from end to end
thereof. When the platform c is tilted, as is shown in Figure 2, a projection c
on it comes against the platform d and tilts it so as to shoot off the band
which falls under the centre of the sheaf which the platform c is depositing,
tho band is then ready for binding up the sheaf; afterwards the boy lays
another band on the platform d, and so the work proceeds. This principle
of placing the bands beneath the several parcels, to form the sheaves prior
to their delivery from the machine, may be carried out under various
modifications of the details. Thus in lieu of the secondary tilt board a fixed
board may be arranged beneath the ordinary tilt board. Figure 3 is a plan of
this arrangement, and Figures 4 and 5 are transverse sections; in these views
only so much of the machine is shewn as is necessary to illustrate my
Invention.

page_text: a is the finger or cutter bar; 6 a carrying wheel; c, the tilt board or
tipping platform turning on an axis at c', as before; d is the fixed board or
shelf under the platform c to receive the bands in the same way as the
secondary platform d, Figures 1 and 2. The hinder part of the plat-
form c is hinged to the front portion, and whilst the platform is receiving
the cut crop this part is tilted up, as it is shewn in Figuro 4, a pro-
jection upon it coming against a stop e on the frame of the machine.
The tilting piece is employed to raise the cut crop, which overhangs
the platform to a sufficient extent to allow the boy readily to put the
bands upon the board or shelf d. When the workman tips the platform,
as is shown at Figure 5, the piece falls down flat, and the cut crop on the
platform c is shot off at the back, the band at the same time falling off the
board or shelf d under it ready for tying up the bundle or sheaf. The
platform c, as it is shewn in the Drawing, is made of two boards capable of
sliding the one on the other, so that its width can be adjusted according to
the height of the crop which is being cut; the stop e is shifted or changed
when the width of the platform is altered. With these several improvements
the operation of tying up severed grain or portions of crops and forming them
into sheaves is greatly facilitated. In machines such as are now common,
which deliver the severed grain by a curvilinear sweeping or traverse action
with the intention of giving a side deposit, the secondary tilting board is
equally applicable. A primary tilting board may be arranged to operate
above and in conjunction with wliat I have herein-before termed the secondary
tilting board. The curvilinear sweep of the rake or other instrument is made
to deliver the cut crop on to a tilting platform similar to that marked c in the
Drawings, and this from time to time, as already described, is made to shoot
off the cut crop, a band being laid beneath it by a secondary tilting platform,
as is shewn at Figures 1 and 2, or by a fixed board or shelf, as is shown at
Figures 3, 4, and 5. In place of using what is generally and technically
termed a "tilting" board, a discharge board hinged at one end may be
employed with a similar result. With a view of facilitating the making up of
the sheaves the tilt board is made with inclined sides or with sides hinged so
that they may readily be fixed to any angle so as to cause the cut crop to fall
into a heap in the centre of the tilt board ready for being tied up into a sheaf.
Or in place of this definite arrangement the side of the tilt board may be made
to work against a fixed stud attached to the fixed framing of the machine,
so that the necessary angular action upon the grain can be adjusted at any
moment. This improvement may be used in conjunction or not with the
secondary tilt board.

page_text: Figure 6 is a plan of a tilt board or tilting platform thus constructed, and
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the same.
a, a, is the surface of the platform, and a¹ is the front edge thereof; a³, a³,
are the inclined sides; they are fixed in the position shown or they may be
hinged so that their inclination may be adjusted as the cut crop falls on to
the platform; the inclined sides a³, a³, cause it to move in towards the centre
of the platform so as to collect it into a more compact bundle, or the corners
of the platform may be hinged to the other part, but so as to lay flat, whilst the
platform is receiving the cut crop, but when it is tilted back to discharge the
cut crop these corners are made to come against stops which prevent them
moving with the rest of the platform. The corners are thus held up so as to
form inclines like the inclined sides a² already described, and so the cut crop
on the platform is collected into a bundle in the act of being delivered.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM GRAY. (LS.)