TMRROWVENEERS CONNECTED WITH READING M"
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Culpin, of No. 36, Worship Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, Agricultural Engineer, for an Invention of
"TMRROWVENEERS CONNECTED WITH READING M"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Culpin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th May 1880.
THOMAS CULPIN, of No. 36, Worship Street, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Agricultural Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS CONNECTED WITH REAPING
MACHINES."
This Invention relates,-
First. To making the main frame of reaping machines which carry the gear
with two toothed quadrant racks, within which pinions on the main axle are
arranged to gear, said axle and also the pinions being actuated by a lever under
control of the driver for raising or lowering the main frame, the platform, and other
parts, for regulating the height of cut.
The main bearing wheel runs loosely upon the axle, and the frame is supported
by the rack pinions on the inner side of the wheel.
The main traine is of skeleton form, and is provided with bearings or projections
for carrying the necessary gear and cutting apparatus.
According to the second part of the Invention, the bolts or pins on which the
blade arms are supported are each actuated by a spring or springs, whose office is
to keep the blades in a raised position, except when acted upon by the cam.
When the blades are performing the operation of gathering the grain, the bowls
on the blade arms ride against a fixed cam which terminates directly over the
finger bar, and when required to act as gatherers only the springs lift them to
nearly a vertical position as they leave the fixed cam. The third part of the
Invention relates to a rakeholder or detent to govern the action of the blades when
they have to serve as rake blades. The periphery of the rake holder or detent is
coincident with the outer circle of the platform, and is fitted to be raised by lever
appliances or automatically by a roller with projections to bring its top edge in line
with the fixed cam.

page_text: The rake holder may slide upon the vertical stem (or it may be hinged), and
raised by a lever by the driver when he desires to throw au extra rake into action.
The rake holder carries a roller which can be slid upon a bolt by the before
mentioned lever, which bas aside motion for the purpose. Below where the roller
is situate is a disc with a series of irregularly arranged lugs or teeth upon its
periphery for lifting the roller and rake holder the desired number of times
according to the determined number of rakes to be employed. When the rake
holder is brought up in line wth the fixed cam, it serves as an extension thereof,
for the purpose of holding the blade down to cause it to travel over the platform as
a rake, and when it is not supported by the roller or the lever it descends below
the line of the fixed cam, that the blade as the end of the fixed cam is reached can
be lifted by the coiled springs to nearly a vertical position to clear the platform.
While each blade arm rides against the fixed cam only, it acts as a gatherer or
dummy, but when the rake holder is raised each blade or any number of them
riding against it becomes a rake.
The roller can be "set" by the lever for it to be directly over one lug of the disc,
to make one blade of the series a rake blade automatically, or over two lugs of the
disc for two blades to act as rake blades, and so on, or the roller may be set that
it clears all the lugs, whereby all the blades would act as gatherers or dummies, the
lever being always free that the driver may make any blade a rake if desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Culpin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th November
1880.
THOMAS CULPIN, of No. 36, Worship Street, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Agricultural Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS CONNECTED WITH REAPING
MACHINES."
This Invention relates, first, to making the main frame of reaping machines
which carry the gear with two toothed quadrant racks, within which pinions on
the main axle are arranged to gear, said axle and also the pinions being actuated
by a lever under control of the driver for raising or lowering the main frame, the
platform, and other parts, for regulating the height of cut. The main bearing
wheel runs loosely upon the axle, and the frame is supported by the rack pinions
on the inner side of the wheel The main frame is of skeleton form, and is
provided with bearings or projections for carrying the necessary gear and cutting
apparatus.
My Invention will be clearly understood by the annexed Drawings, in which at
Figures 1 and 2, I show sufficient of a reaper for that purpose.
A is the main frame carrying the gear B by which the rotating portions of the
mechanism are actuated from or by the main bearing wheel C, when the two
bolts D, D, are thrown into the teeth of the ratchet wheel E by the hand lever F,
this being within reach of the driver when seated at G. The ratchet wheel is in a
piece with the spur wheel H, in order that its rotation may be communicated to
the pinion I and shaft J, and also to the rotating head K through the bevil
gear L, L. The shaft J of the pinion I carries the spur wheel H, which gears into
the pinion P for operating through the bevil wheel Q, and bevil pinion R, the
pitman S, and the knives, in the manner well known.
The sides of the main frame A are provided with quadrant teeth T, T, into
which pinions U, U, fixed on the main axle V are in gear for the purpose of
lowering or for raising the main frame and all the parts carried by it to the desired
extent, the rotation of the pinions U, U, and main axle being controlled by a throw
over action of the band lever W (see Figure 3), the lower end of the lever W
engaging into notches on the periphery of a disc plate X for pulling it round.
Z is a lock bolt to prevent the pinions U, U, receding. It will be observed by
the Drawings that the whole weight of the machine is carried by the pinions U, U,
and the quadrant teeth T, T, the angle at which the knives can be set being
controlled by the hand lever a from the pole or tongue b through a shift of the
bolt c into the notches d, d, of the plate e in the usual manner.
According to the second part of my Invention the bolts or pins on which the
blade arms are supported are each actuated by a spring or springs, whose office is to
keep the blades in a raised position, except when acted upon by the cain.
When the blades are performing the operation of gathering the grain, the bowls
on the blade arms ride against a fixed cam which terminates directly over the finger
bar, and when required to act as gatherers only the springs lift them to nearly a
vertical position as they leave the fixed cam.
This second part of my Invention is represented at Figures 1 and 4 of the
Drawings, this consisting either of coiled springs f, f, whose outer ends are
connected to the arms g, g, of each opposite blade, as in Figure 1, or of the coiled
springs h, h, encircling the pivotting bolts i, i (as in Figure 4), on which the blade
arms g, g, move, in order that each arm may adjust itself automatically without
strain to the varying angles it has to assume in its travel, and also to ensure each
arm g as its bowl or roller j rides against the surface or surfaces of the fixed cain k
to keep in contact therewith,

page_text: The tension on the springs caused by a depressed blade arm while travelling
over the platform, by either of these methods, compels the rising blade arm to
assume a nearly vertical position, except when acted upon by the cam k.
The third part of my Invention relates to a rake holder or detent to govern the
action of the blades when they have to serve as rake blades.
The periphery of the rake holder or detent is coincident with the outer circle of
the platform, and is fitted to be raised by lever appliances or automatically by a
roller with projections to bring its top edge in line with the fixed cam.
The rake holder may slide upon the vertical stem (or it may be hinged), and
raised by a lever by the driver when he desires to throw an extra rake into action.
The rake holder carries a roller which can be slid upon a bolt by the before
mentioned lever, which has a sido motion for the purpose. Below where the roller
is situate is a disc with a series of irregularly arranged lugs or teeth upon its
periphery for lifting the roller and rake holder the desired number of times,
according to the determined number of rakes to be employed.
When the rake holder is brought up in line with the fixed cam, to serve as an
extension thereof, for the purpose of holding the blade down to cause it to travel
over the platform as a rake, and when it is not supported by the roller or the lever it
descends below the line of the fixed cam, that the blades, as the end of the fixed
cam is reached, can be lifted by the springs to nearly a vertical position to clear
the platform. While each blade arm rides against the fixed cam only, it acts as a
gatherer or dummy, but when the rake holder is raised each blade or any number
of them riding against it becomes a rake.
The roller can be "set" by the lever for it to be directly over one lug of the
disc, to make one blade of the series a rake blade automatically, or over two lugs
of the disc for two blades to act as rake blades, and so on, or the roller may be
set that it clears all the lugs, whereby all the blades would act as gatherers or
dummies, the lever being always free that the driver may make any blade a rake
if desired.
The third part of my Invention is more particularly shown on Sheet 2 of the
annexed Drawings. is the rake holder or detent, the outer edge or faco m of
which is coincident with the outer circle of the platform. The detent is hinged at
n to a part of the main frame A, that it may be lifted by the roller p when that
roller rides over projections or studs on discs q, ?, one of which, q, is arranged to
rotate vertically, as is shown at Figures 5, 6, and 7, and the other, r, horizontally.
The disc q has three projections or studs 8, 8, 8, upon its periphery, and when the
roller P rides on this disc, as in Figure 8, it can be raised three times at cach
revolution of the same, the disc q being formed as part of a bevil wheel t mounted
upon an axle projecting from a sleeve u, which is carried on the main stem vand
partakes of its revolutions by a socket and slot w from the rotating head K. Two
of these projections 8, 8, are wider than the other one, and the roller p can be shifted
on to these wide portions, as at Figure 9, that the detent may be raised twice at
each revolution of the disc q.
r
,
By shifting the roller p still further, as in Figure 10, it is caused to ride upon
the disc r, which is provided with one projection or stud 8' only, so that the
detent is raised once only at each rotation of the disc r. This disc is on the
sleeve, and has a bevil pinion x on it for giving motion to the bevil wheel t.
Figure 5, 6, and 7 show the discs q, r, and studs 8, 8, 8, 8', in detail upon a
larger scale.
The roller slides on an axle z, and can be moved to and fro by the lever b', the
outer end of which is provided with a spring click catch to engage in notches of
the guide plate c¹.
The roller p can be drawn back as to be clear of the disc plate q, as at Figure 11,
that the detent may drop to its lowest point and out of the line or path of the
blade arm bowls which travel against the fixed cam k, whereby all the blades
would lift in passing over the platform and act as gathering blades in succession.

page_text: The above applies to a four or six arm reaper, but is applicable to a five or other
arın reaper, by attaching the spring of the odd number to the rotating head.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The improvement described with reference to the means or apparatus for
lifting, lowering, and adjusting the frame of a sweep rake reaping machine for the
purpose set forth, especially the quadrant racks at the sides and the pinions gearing
therein, as shown at Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Drawings.
Secondly. I claim the employment of springs to the blade arms of a reaping
machine, as shown at Figure 1, or to the pivot bolts, as at Figure 3 of the annexed
Drawings, for the purpose of lifting the blade arms to a nearly vertical position, as
described.
Thirdly. I claim a moveable detent or rake holder arranged and acting in or to
a reaping machine, as described and substantially as shown at Figures 1, and from
5 to 11 of the annexed Drawings.
Fourthly. I claim the employment of the several appliances hereinbefore set
forth in combination in or to a reaping machine and their action, in the manner
and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Culpin, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
H. GARDNER,
40, Fleet St.,
E.C.
THOMAS CULPIN. (L.S.)