IMPROVE- MENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES IN WHICH STEAM IS SUBSTITUTED FOR ANIMAL POWER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hayes, of Stoney Stratford, in the
County of Buckingham, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES IN WHICH STEAM IS SUBSTITUTED
FOR ANIMAL POWER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hayes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1872..
I, EDWARD HAYES, of Stoney Stratford, in the County of Buck-.
ingham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES IN WHICH STEAM IS
SUBSTITUTED FOR ANIMAL POWER," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to reaping and mowing machines in which
a steam engine is so combined with the cutting mechanism and other
parts that the machine is thereby operated to cut the crop very rapidly
and advantageously, and to work in any direction required to suit the
crop, and is also turned easily and quickly at the corners of the field,
and moved from field to field, or otherwise, as required.

page_text: _
I accomplish the objects of my said Invention in the following
manner I attach to the reaping or mowing machine a small steam
engine and boiler. It is of great importance in applying my improve-
ments to these machines that their weight should not be increased to any
great extent, therefore the construction of the said engine and boiler, the
*framing and parts connected therewith, must be such as to combine
lightness with strength.
I prefer to place the engine and boiler at the back or rear end of the
machine, and I also place the seat for the attendant at the same end.
The crank shaft of the engine is connected by suitable wheel gearing to
the main axle of the machine, whereon are placed the driving wheels,
and I thereby give motion to the said axle and wheels to propel the
machine. I also connect the said crank shaft through suitable gearing
to the cutter bar, the gearing being properly arranged to give the
required motion to the knives or cutters. Moreover, in the reaping
machine I obtain from the said crank shaft, either directly or indirectly,
motion for operating the apparatus for drawing the standing crop to the
cutters and delivering the swathes or sheaves.
-
The front of the said machine is supported upon wheels whose axle
turns on a central bolt or pivot, and the same is connected by a chain or
rod to a shaft near the seat of the attendant, who can thereby steer or
guide the machine with great facility. And the front of the machine is
made adjustable upon the said wheels so that it may be readily raised or
lowered to suit the crop being cut.
My improved machine is furnished with a small tank for containing
water, and a box or other receptacle for a small quantity of coal, the
means for replenishing the same being kept at the end of the field or in
any other convenient position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Hayes in the Great Seal Patent Office on 30
the 8th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HAYES, of Stoney Stratford, in the County of Buckingham, Engineer,
send greeting.
1

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Hayes, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Hayes, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Hayes, 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
REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES IN WHICH STEAM IS SUBSTITUTED FOR ANIMAL
POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Hayes, 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 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 Edward Hayes, 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 accompanying Drawing
forming a part of this Specification:-
My said Invention relates to reaping and mowing machines, and its
object is the application of steam power to these machines to move them
over the ground, and also to operate their cutting mechanism. And I
so combine a steam engine with the cutting mechanism and other parts
that the said machines are thereby operated to cut the crop very rapidly
and advantageously. Moreover they will work in any direction required
to suit the crop, and are also capable of being turned easily and quickly
at the corners of the field, and of travelling from field to field or from
any locality or position to another, as required, without horses or other
animal power.
The manner in which my said Invention may be conveniently and
111

page_text: the Drawing, which I will now proceed to describe, and in which
Figure 1 is a plan of a reaping machine constructed according to my
Invention, and Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
Like letters
a is the frame of the said machine; 6 is a steam engine; and c is the
boiler, the said engine and boiler being attached to the frame a as shewn,
or in any other suitable and convenient manner.
It is of great importance in applying my Invention to these machines
to avoid making their weight excessive, as their convenience would be
thereby greatly impaired, and the advantages of the application of steam
power to these machines would be to a great extent lost. And to avoid
this difficulty and render my Invention thoroughly effective in practice
I have been compelled to adopt a construction of the said engine, the
boiler, the framing, and other parts connected therewith, by which I
obtain great strength throughout the entire structure with comparatively
little weight. The framing a consists of the longitudinal girders a¹ and
transverse girders a³; the said girders are constructed of thin wrought-
iron plates, united by bolts or rivets as shewn. The transverse or cross
girders a tie the longitudinal girders a securely together and render
the whole of the framing strong and rigid without great weight.
The other parts of the said machine are as follows:-d is the cutter
bar at the front of the machine; e is a crank shaft, which extends from
the front to the rear of the frame a, and is supported to turn freely in
suitable bearings f carried by the cross girders a²; g is the main driving
shaft, supported in suitable bearings h, and on which are fixed the
driving wheels i; the connecting rod 61 of the steam engine is fitted
upon the crank e¹, and the shaft e is thereby rotated; the said shaft
has at one end a spur wheel j which gears with a pinion k on the short
shaft ; the latter has at its outer end a crank m from which a con-
necting rod n extends to an arm or stud o on the cutter bar, and the said
bar receives through this rod the required reciprocating motion; the
crank shaft e is connected by the bevil wheels p, q, and spur wheels r, s,
to the main axle g, and I thereby give motion to the said axle and the
wheels to propel or move the machine over the ground. Moreover, in
my improved reaping machine I may obtain from the said crank shaft,
either directly or indirectly, the motion for operating apparatus for
drawing the standing crop to the cutters and delivering the swathes or
فمهمام

page_text: The front of the said machine is supported upon small wheels t, whose
journals are pivoted in brackets; the said journals may be con-
nected by vertical shafts to levers above the platform, whereby the said
journals are turned to guide the machine; or the said wheels may be
fitted on an axle turning on a central bolt or pivot and connected by-a
chain or rod to a shaft near the seat u occupied by the driver or
attendant, who can thereby steer or guide the machine with great
facility; and if required the front of the machine is made adjustable
vertically upon the said wheels so that it may be readily raised or lowered
thereon to suit the crop being cut.
My improved machine may also be furnished with a small tank for
containing water, and a box or other receptacle for a small quantity of
coal, the means for replenishing the same being kept at the end of the
field or in any other convenient position.
By changing the wheels which connect the crank shaft with the
cutting mechanism the speed of the cutter bar can be regulated to suit
any kind of crop.
And the wheels which connect the said crank shaft
with the driving shaft may be changed, if desired, to increase or diminish
the speed of the movement of the machine over the ground.
By my Invention I am enabled to produce a reaping or mowing
machine and steam engine combined at a cost which will place the same
within the reach of those occupying moderate sized farms. And as I
dispense altogether with animal power the horses will always be fresh
for carrying the cut crops, and a great advantage to the farmer will arise
from the fact of the horses being entirely relieved from a work which
has been found very injurious to them.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it understood I am aware
that reaping and mowing machines have been already constructed
with a steam or other engine applied to them for operating their
cutting mechanism, animal power being required to propel or move
them over the ground, I therefore do not claim the application of steam
power to these machines when employed only for operating the cutting
mechanism; neither do I claim the combination of a reaping or mowing
machine with an ordinary traction engine capable of disconnection with
the mowing or reaping mechanism, and of separate use for tractive or
other purposes; but I claim, a reaping or mowing machine which has

page_text: incorporated with it a steam engine connected with the cutting
mechanism and the driving shaft, in the manner described, and in which
the said engine, the cutting mechanism, and other parts are mounted
upon a framing so constructed as to give the required strength and
rigidity to the machine without making the same inconveniently heavy,
as herein set forth.
In witness. whereof, I, the said Edward Hayes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, in the year. of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
W. ROBT. LAke.
ED. HAYES. (L.S.)