IMPROVEMENTS IN HARVESTING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Manwaring, of the Britannia Works,
Banbury, in the County of Oxon, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HARVESTING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Manwaring
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th August 1869.
I, WILLIAM MANWARING, of the Britannia Works, Banbury, in
the County of Oxon, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARVESTING MACHINES," to be aя
follows:-
My Invention refers to self-acting harvesting machines in which
the grain after it is cut is laid to one side of the machine by means
of rakes rotating around an upright or inclined shaft or axis and it
consists of,-
•
Firstly. A cast-iron frame so constructed as to contain the gearing
which drives the knife and to carry the support for the rake shaft, and
a single travelling wheel from the axis of which motion is given to the

page_text: rake shaft; such travelling wheel lying on one side of such frame
and the cutting apparatus on the other side thereof, the height of cut
being regulated by causing the travelling axle to describe an arc of a
circle around the first motion shaft.
Secondly. Making the support for the rake shaft adjustable upon
the gearing frame, so that the distance between the travelling axle and
a shaft (forming part of the raking device) which receives motion from
such travelling axle, may be preserved when the position of the
travelling axle is varied in order to adjust the height of cut.
Thirdly. The application to such machines of a track clearer oper-
ating in conjunction with the revolving rakes, the grain platform being
removed and the cut grain being laid in swaths at the side of the machine
by the combined action of the track clearer and the revolving rakes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Manwaring in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANWARING, of the Britannia Works, Banbury, in the County of Oxon,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Manwaring, Her special licence that
I, the said William Manwaring, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Manwaring, my execu-
tors, 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
HARVESTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Manwaring, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should

page_text: 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 William Manwaring, do 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 Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say):-
This Invention refers to self-acting harvesting machines in which the
grain after it is cut is laid to one side of the machine by means of rakes
rotating around an upright or inclined shaft or axis. The frame is so
constructed as to contain the gearing which gives motion to the knife
and to carry the support for the rake shaft; a quadrant shaped bracket
is pivotted to the said frame and swings around the first motion shaft as
an axis; to this quadrant is attached the axle for a single driving wheel.
The whole of the said frame and quadrant lies between the driving wheel
and the cutting apparatus. The height of cut is regulated by causing
the travelling axle to describe an arc of a circle around the first motion
shaft by means of a sector rack cast on the quadrant bracket operated by
a worm in the usual way.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the general construction of machines
arranged according to this Invention; Figure 5 shows certain details
relating to Figures 1, 2, and 3; and Figure 6 certain details relating to
Figure 4.
A, Figures 1, 2, and 3, is a cast-iron frame containing the gearing
which drives the knife; B is the quadrant carrying the axle of the
driving wheel C; D is the bearing for the rake shaft E; this bearing is
bolted to the main frame A. The cut is raised and lowered by means of
the worm F gearing into a sector rack cast on the quadrant B; G is. the
first motion shaft to which motion is communicated through a pinion
gearing into a ring of teeth in the travelling wheel C, and H is a bevil
wheel imparting motion from the said first motion shaft through a bevil:
pinion to the crank J, which actuates the knife K.; M is a chain pulley
which can be clutched to the hub of the driving wheel at pleasure and
it gives motion through the chain pulley N, the bevil pinion O, and.
bevil wheel P to the rake shaft E. It is desirable that the same starting

page_text: handle which puts the first motion pinion in and out of gear with the
ring of teeth in the driving wheel should at the same time and by the
same movement also engage or disengage the chain wheel M with or
from the clutch on the hub of the driving wheel, and at Figure 5 is
shewn in detail the method I adopt to engage or disengage the cutting
and raking gear; B is a detached view of the quadrant previously
described. Upon this bracket is cast or bolted the socket Q forming a
bearing for the clutch shaft R, one end of this shaft is formed into a
fork S which presses against the face of the chain wheel M, and upon
the motion of the handle T this fork causes the chain pulley M to
engage with or disengage from the hub of the driving wheel by means of
opposing clutch teeth cast upon the pulley M and the said hub. The
handle T also actuates the first motion pinion causing it to slide upon
the first motion shaft G in or out of gear with the ring of teeth in the
driving wheel.
This Invention may also be partially carried out by the arrangement
shown in Figures 4 and 6. A is the main frame lying between the
driving wheel C and the cutting apparatus; and B is the quadrant
(shewn in detail at Figure 6) which carries the axle of the driving
wheel. The driving wheel C gives motion through the first motion
shaft as in the previously described arrangement to the knife, and the
cut is raised and lowered by the swinging of the quadrant B around the
shaft G by means of the worm F and sector rack cast on the quadrant B.
Motion is given to the rake shaft E through the train of gearing shewn,
that is to say, the first motion shaft G is fitted with a spur pinion
gearing into a spur wheel D, upon the same shaft as D is a bevil
pinion L gearing into the bevil. wheel K, the motion being finally trans-
mitted to the rake shaft by the bevil wheel and pinion M and N. In
this arrangement the knife and rake shaft being both driven from the
first motion shaft I omit the duplex clutch gear shewn in Figure 5
and make use of the handle T (Figure 5) only for the purpose of sliding
the first motion pinion in or out of gear with the driving wheel. The
bracket carrying the rake shaft E is bolted to the main frame A, or this
bracket may be cast on and form part of the frame A. The frame A is
cast of such a form as to receive within its top and bottom flanges the
periphery of the bevil wheel H thus forming a guard which prevents
this wheel from picking up straws or other matters in its passage over
the surface of the land. This form of frame is applicable to the arrange-
ment of machine shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3 as well as to that shewn

page_text: by Figure 4. In order to relieve the off side axle of the machine from.
undue weight I place the driver's seat Y on a support projecting a con-.
siderable distance from the driving wheel as shewn, and for convenience
in passing through gateways I make this support with a taper shank
which ships and unships easily into the socket Z on the end of the axle
of the driving wheel, the support for the driver's feet X is removeable in
the same manner. The rake and dummy arms are rigidly coupled
together in pairs, as is commonly the case in this class of machines, and
in order to obtain as wide a grasp as possible both for rakes which
deliver and the dummies which gather the grain to the cutters I place
the cam which regulates the path of such rakes and dummies at such a
height as to throw the said rakes and dummies over and beyond the
driving wheel as far as the radius of the raking device will permit.
When I adopt the arrangement shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, I make
the support for the rake shaft adjustable on the main frame A, Figures
1, 2, and 3, so that the distance between the centres of the two chain
pulleys M and N, which varies when the cut is raised or lowered, may be
preserved. I therefore make the rake shaft bracket D adjustable on the
main frame A so that it can be slackened from A. and slid back or forth
upon it as may be required to keep the centres of M and N at the
required distance apart. The amount of this adjustment is slight as the
centre of the rake shaft E suffers only a small displacement from its
position as shewn under the ordinary variations of height of the cutting
apparatus.
Having now described my Invention I wish it to be understood that I
claim as new,―
1st. The arrangement and position of framing and gearing shewn in
Figures 1, 2, and 3 in combination with the travelling wheel on one side
of such framing, and the cutting apparatus on the other.
2nd. The arrangement for throwing the rakes and knife out of gear
simultaneously.
3rd. The method of adjusting the position of the rake shaft as shewn
in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
4th. In those cases where it is desirable to omit that portion of the
arrangement by which the rakes are driven from the hub of the driving
wheel (the position of the main frame between the driving wheel and
cutting apparatus being retained) then the arrangement of gearing

page_text: shewn in Figure 4 in substitution for the chain gear, adjustable rake
shaft, and duplex clutch gear.
5th. The cast-iron frame so constructed as to cover and protect the
bevil wheel on the first motion shaft in combination with the general
arrangement as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Manwaring, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
WILLIAM MANWARING. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above named William Manwaring,
in the presence of
DANIEL PIDGEON,
of Banbury,
Engineer.