IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brown, of Dunse, in the County of Berwick,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st February 1877.
WILLIAM BROWN, of Dunse, in the County of Berwick, Engineer.
MENTS IN REAPING MACHINES."
"IMPROVE-
This Invention which relates to improvements in reaping machines, has for its
objects to reduce the friction between the knife bar and the finger knife-keep and
shoe, whereby wear and tear are also diminished as well as the power requisite for
driving the same.
The first part of the said improvements consists in placing an antifriction roller
in as many of the fingers as may be desired between them and the knife bar, so
that the latter reciprocates upon the said antifriction rollers in place of upon the
fingers as hitherto."
The second part consists in inserting between the back of the knife and the front
of the knife-keep a vertically revolving antifriction roller, the object of which is to
relieve the friction between these said parts.
The third part of the said improvements consists in fixing an antifriction roller
between the knife eye and the shoe at the under side of the former to take off the
friction resulting from the contact of the knife eye with the shoe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
August 1877.
WILLIAM BROWN, of Dunse, in the County of Berwick, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REAPING MACHINES."
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in reaping machines, has for
its object in working such machines to reduce the friction of the knife bar against
Price 4d1

page_text: the fingers, knife-keep, and shoe, by which means the power requisite for driving
the machine is diminished as is also the wear and tear of the working parts
thereof.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now proceed
particularly to describe and ascertain the system, mode, or manner, in or under
which the same is or may be used or carried out in practice, reference being had to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say,-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of
the knife bar of a reaping machine; Figure 2 is a part side elevation; and Figure 3,
a part plan of the inner end of the knife bar; Figure 4 is a detailed plan of one of
the fingers, whilst Figure 5 is a transverse section through the knife bar on the
line a, b, Figure 1.
On these several Figures the improvements constituting my said Invention are
shewn applied.
One improvement consists in providing as many of the fingers A as may be
desired with antifriction revolving rollers B situated in cavities or recesses at those
parts of the fingers which are immediately under the knife bar C. The knife bar
rests upon these rollers and not upon the flat palm or sole of the fingers as hitherto,
and by this means the friction of the bar whilst being reciprocated in the act of
cutting or reaping is reduced.
Another improvement consists in placing between the back of the knife bar C
and the front of the knife keep D vertically revolving antifriction rollers E, as seen
at Figures 1 and 5 of the Drawings, any desired number of such rollers being
employed in the length of the bar C to relieve or diminish the friction between it
and the knife keep D.
A third improvement consists in placing an antifriction revolving roller F between
the eye at the inner end of the knife bar C and the shoe G, in or on which the said
end of the bar slides or reciprocates. The roller is situated in a cavity or recess
formed at the under surface of the knife bar, and projecting beyond the said surface
it takes off or diminishes the friction hitherto resulting from the contact of the
knife bar with the shoe G.
By means of these improvements the tear and wear of the knife bar C, the
fingers A, knife keep D, and shoe G, in reaping machines as hitherto constructed is
diminished, and by reducing the friction of the knife bar with these parts of the
mechanism in the manner herein-before described, the power requisite to drive the
machine is also considerably reduced.
The several rollers herein-before referred to are (as shewn on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings) cylindrical rollers, that being the form which it is preferred to
employ, but instead of these, rollers of a spherical, elliptical, oval, or equivalent
curvilinear figure may be employed for the purposes of my said Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or carried into practical effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, providing the fingers, the knife
keep, and the knife bar of reaping machines with antifriction rollers or revolving
surfaces, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described, with reference
to the appended Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
WILLIAM BROWN. (L.S.)