IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING AND HARVESTING GRAIN AND GRASS CROPS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stettinius Clark, of the Atlas Works,
Upper Park Place, Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING AND HARVESTING
GRAIN AND GRASS CROPS."-A communication from Walter A. Wood, of
Hoosick Falls, New York.
Sealed the 17th September 1858, and dated the 17th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stettinius Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM STETTINIUS CLARK, of the Atlas Works, Upper Park Place,
Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING AND
HARVESTING GRAIN AND GRASS CROPS," (a communication from Walter A. Wood,
of Hoosick Falls, New York,) to be as follows:-
My improvements consist,-
First, in so constructing the frame in rear of the finger bar as that it may
be entirely removed when lodged grass or grain is to be cut, but at the same
time so that the machine with the driver and the track clearer upon it.

page_text: shall preserve its balance. The change allowing the cutter bar, shoe, and
spring track clearer to pass under the tangled grass or grain.
Secondly, my improvements consist in so arranging the castor wheel and its
block in relation to the forks or hounds of the tongue so that the castor block
and tongue, though both hinged at the same point or by the same rod, may
be made rigid and move together, and thus form a mutual support to each
other on turning the machine around.
Thirdly, my improvements consist in the peculiar device of throwing in and
out the gearing of the machine; and by the word gearing, I mean those parts
of the machine which have controul or impart motion to the machine other
than that which it receives more immediately from the horses in drawing it
through the field.
Fourthly, my improvements consist in the peculiar device used for dividing
the grass or grain to be cut from that which is to be left standing as that
there shall be no "combing" or "ridging" or bending down of the grass so
as to prevent the cutters from taking it, but so that a perfectly smooth mown
surface shall appear without showing the swarths of the machine; this is
effected by the peculiar shape of the dividing shoe.
What I claim as my improvements is,―
First, so constructing the frame of a combined reaping and mowing machine,
and combining it with a spring track clearer, as that all that part of the frame
in rear of the cutter bar may be disjointed by simply removing a bolt, said
track clearer remaining attached for the purpose of adapting the machine to
the cutting of tangled or lodged grass or grain' without obstruction.
2nd, I claim filling up the space between the forks or hounds of the tongue
with the castor block, to which the castor wheel and a lever are attached.
3rd, I claim the manner of connecting and disconnecting the gear by a
clutch lever, with cam planes and handle extending up through the support to
a convenient position for the operator.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Stettinius Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Stettinius
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Stettinius Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
MACHINES FOR CUTTING AND HARVESTING GRAIN AND GRASS CROPS," a com-
munication from Walter A. Wood, of Hoosick Falls, New York, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Stettinius Clark,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Stettinius Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In mowing standing grass, a frame in rear of the cutter bar and an outside
supporting wheel are found very advantageous, but in lodged or tangled grass
they cannot be used unless an extra hand follows to thrown off the grass from
the framework as the machine advances; to avoid this objection is the object of
the first part of the Invention, which consists in so constructing the frame of
a combined reaping and mowing machine, and combining it with a spring.
track clearer, as that all portion of the frame in rear of the cutter bar may
be disjointed and entirely removed when lodged grass or grain is to be cut, but
at the same time so that the machine with the driver and spring track clearer.
upon it shall preserve its balance, the change allowing the cutter bar,
shoe, and track clearer to pass under the trangled grass or grain without
obstuction.
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, is
thus described, reference being made to the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1, Plate I, represents a perspective view of the frame when united to

page_text: the other parts of the machine; Figure 2, Plate 1, represents a top plan
with the removeable portions detached and removed a short distance from its
place; Figure 3, Plate 1, represents one of the irons detached; Figure 4,
Plate 1, represents the outside divider and shoe detached from the machine.
A is a portion of the frame to which the casting B is attached, said casting
having upon it the journal B', upon which the supporting wheel C is placed;
D is a brace, pivoted to a lug a on said casting B, for the hoisting lever S to
rest upon; J, J, J", portions of the frame; K, an outside supporting wheel,
connected to the frame J; L is the outside dividing shoe; M, the track
clearer; N and O are castings fastened to the cutter bar F, and to which are
hinged the castor block P, and the tongue or draft pole T. There is a recess
r on the rear, outside of the dividing shoe, and a rib s cast upon it; the forward
part of the framepiece J¹ is connected to this by a screw bolt t, which passes
through the ribs and the piece J¹. The track clearer M is fastened by a
spring plate V to the finger bar F, and its point u plays between the ribs and
the projection v inside of it, which are cast with the shoe; the finger bar
passes through a mortise w in the shoe, and thus the shoe is made a tie for
holding firmly together all the parts at that corner of the machine. The wheel
K is connected, as before mentioned, to the framepiece J¹, so that when said
frame J, J, J", is connected to the machine, the wheel shall balance it, but
leave it under the control of the driver in his seat; so also when the said frame
is taken off, as shown in Figure 2, the balancing of the machine shall still be
preserved, and be equally under the control of the driver in his seat. The
disconnecting and removing of the frame J, J, J", and the wheel K in nowise
impairs the action of the remaining portions of the machine for cutting tangled
grass, and it can be readily done in the field, and readily adapted to a
harvesting machine, to every contingency or special kind of work that may be
required, and adds materially to its value and economy. bis the part of the
casting B which ties the pieces E and A together; d is a pin for holding the
standard D and lever S together at any of the adjusting holes 1, 2, 3, &c.
Secondly, the improvement consists in so arranging the castor wheel and is
block in relation to the forks or hounds of the tongue, so that the castor block
and tongue, though both hinged at the same point or by the same rod, may
move together and thus form a mutual support to each other.
Plate 2 Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the machine as arranged
for cutting grass, the cutters and fingers being omitted in the Drawings;
Figure 2, Plate 2, represents a section through the frame from front to rear,
and shewing the position of the machine next the main driving wheel in
elevation.

page_text: A represents the block, or that part of the frame of the machine upon which
the gearing is usually placed; to this block is attached the casting B, which
effects several objects, viz., it contains the journal for the main supporting
wheel C, furnishes a lug a, to which the arm or standard D is pivotted or
hinged, and forms a tie b. H, the driver's seat; I, the foot-board; J, the frame
in rear of the finger bar; K, the outside supporting wheel; L, the outside
dividing shoe; and M, the track clearer. To the finger bar F are connected two
castings N and O, the latter of which also forms a tie c between the said finger
bar F and the brace E, as does the former between the said finger bar F and
the block A; the forward ends of these two castings N, O, form lugs, through
which a rod or bolt e may pass. P is a castor block, the rear end of which
receives the rod or bolt e, and by which it is hinged to the machine; to the
front under side of this castor block P is pivoted the castor crotch Q, which in
turn carries the castor wheel R; on the front upper side of this castor block
P is attached a lever S, which extends up to the driver's seat H, so that the
driver from his seat can conveniently grasp and rise it; there is a loop or
staple on this lever, through which the standard or brace D passes, so that the
pin or key d passes through said lever; and any one of the adjusting holes
1, 2, 3, &c., will hold the cutters at any fixed position, or by placing the pin
or key through any one of said holes in said standard D, and allowing the lever
S to rest upon it, the cutters can be raised at pleasure, and when released
they will drop back only to the lowest fixed position at which they may
have been originally set. The tongue T is forked at its rear end, just so as to
pass clear of the castor block P, the latter being intended to freely move up
and down through the opening between the fork, or what might be termed
the hounds of the tongue; these forks or hounds are furnished with tongue
irons f, f, which terminate in dead eyes i, i, by which they are hinged to the
rod or bolt e, and this rod or bolt e thus forms the joint on which the cutters,
the castor block, and the tongue all may move. g, a bolt hole through the
forks of the tongue f, f, and the castor block P, through which a bolt may be
placed, thus making a rigid connection, and causing the castor block and
tongue to move up and down together; this bolt is employed when the nature
of the ground is such as to make it convenient to work without the castor
wheel R.
Thirdly, my improvements consist in the peculiar device for throwing in and
out of gearing those portions of the machine which control or impart motion
to the machine other than that which it receives from the horses in drawing
it through the field. This is accomplished by means of a clutch lever with

page_text: cam planes, its handle extending up through the support to a convenient
position for the operator.
Plate 3 Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the machine with the
reel removed; Figure 2 represents the clutch lever on the shaft for throwing
the machine in and out of gear; Figure 3 represents the clutch lever separate
from the shaft, so that its cam planes may be more distinctly seen.
Similar
letters of reference, where they occur in the several Figures on this Plate,
denote like parts of the machinery in all.
A is the main driving and supporting wheel, which turns on its axle B; C
is a gear wheel affixed to or cast with the main wheel A; D is a pinion
arranged on the end of the shaft E, and mashes with the gear wheel C, and
receives its motion from said gear wheel; the shaft E is suitably supported at
F, F, to a frame G, G, which frame in turn is united with the finger bar and
rear bar ; the shaft E is so hung in its boxes F, F, as to have end play.
sufficient to move the bevil gear P, which is permanently fixed on said shaft,
in and out of gear with the bevil pinion Q, which is on the end of a shaft
turning in bearing R on the shaft E. Figure 2 are two permanent collars
S, S', against which the cam planes b, b', on opposite sides of the fork T, 'T',
of the clutch lever U take, and thus slide the shaft E endwise towards or from
the main wheel A, as may be desirable to throw the cutters in or out of gear,
the top of the clutch lever U being in convenient position for the conductor to
reach from his seat, and is supported in a guide or brace W; the forks T, T',
of the clutch lever U move in grooves c, in a guide picce X, connected to
the frame G, so that by drawing up the clutch lever U, the cam planes b', ',
move the shaft to the right, which carries the wheel P with it, and out of gear
with the bevil pinion Q, a contrary or downward movement brings them into
gear again through the other cam planes 6, b, on the end of the shaft which
passes through the long bearing R. Opposite to the bevil pinion Q is a crank
Y, which has upon its wrist pin a friction roller d, which runs in a yoke Z
on the end of the cutter bar, and by which the cutter bar is vibrated.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, so constructing the frame of a combined reaping and mowing machine,
and combining it with a spring track clearer, as that all that portion of the
frame in rear of the cutter bar may be disjointed and entirely removed for the
purpose of adapting the machine to the cutting of tangled or lodged grass
without obstruction.

page_text: Second, I claim the hinging or jointing the tongue or draft pole T and the
castor block P to the main frame of the machine at the same point, as herein
described.
Third, I claim the throwing in and out of gearing those portions of the
machine which control or impart motion to the machine (other than that which
it receives from the horses in drawing it through the field), by means of a
clutch lever with cam planes, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stettinius Clark, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM STETTINIUS CLARK. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM YORKE FRINLEY.