IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOWING AND REAPING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Louis Adolphe Faure,
of Rue St. Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 3rd October 1862, and dated the 29th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOWING AND
REAPING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The improvements which form the subject of the present Invention consist,
first, in enclosing the driving gear of reaping and mowing machines within an
envelope or casing, for the purpose of preserving them from injury and
preventing strange bodies from getting in among the wheelwork or moving
parts. By the employment of this envelope or casing, which may be con-
structed of two or more parts, some portions of the ordinary framework may
be dispensed with, as the casing itself may be made to support or carry some

page_text: of the working parts. Some of the moving parts are actuated by a ratchet
arrangement, in connection with the axle, to which are adapted two pinions,
to which motion is communicated from the ratchet, so that they will be driven
when the machine is going forward, but they will not be actuated when the
machine moves back. Behind the cutting instruments is arranged an endless
travelling apron, on to which the corn or grass falls when cut, and in com-
bination with this apron there are two or more travelling endless bands, which
support the heads of the corn, and as these endless bands extend beyond the
endless cloth which supports and carries forward the stalk part of the corn, it
will be evident that the "butts" of the corn will touch the ground before the
heads, and consequently the stalks will be gradually drawn or turned round in
a direction at right angles to that in which they fell when cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hercunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The improvements in the construction of mowing and reaping machines,
which form the subject of the present Invention, consists, firstly, in enclosing
the driving gear of reaping and mowing machines in a casing or envelope,
in order to preserve them from injury from exposure to the weather, or to
prevent the entrance of injurious matters among the wheelwork. This casing
may also be made to constitute a part of the framing of the machine, thus
doing away with the wooden framework, which has the serious defect of being
liable to warp, and thus materially interfering with the working of the
machines.
Secondly, the Invention consists in various improvements in the construction
or combination of some of the parts of reaping and mowing machines. :
These various improvements will be understood by reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of a complete reaping
machine, constructed according to this Invention.; Fig. 2 is a plan of bird's-
eye view of the same; Fig. 3 represents a vertical section, and Fig. 4 a
sectional plan of the casing which encloses the driving gear; Fig. 5 shews in
elevation another arrangement applicable to a mowing machine. Similar
letters indicate corresponding parts in all these Figures. A is the casing, which
is constructed in two parts and entirely envelopes the driving gear. The two
parts of this casing are fastened together by means of bolts B, and are
provided with doors or flaps C, C, for the purpose of giving access to the
interior, in order to lubricate or examine the internal mechanism. In Fig. 4
these flaps or doors are removed the better to shew the interior. The lower
extremity of the casing A is supported by a small iron bracket a, which is
connected with the framing D, from which extends a diagonal arm E, sup-
ported by a small wheel F, Figs. 1 and 2. With respect to the upper part of
the casing A, it bears direct upon the axle G. Upon this axle is keyed the
wheel 1, Fig. 3, which drives the pinion 2 mounted upon the same shaft as
the wheel 3, which in its turn drives the pinion 4. This pinion rotates with
the bevil wheel 5, which transmits motion to the shaft H by means of the
bevil pinion 6. The shaft H carries at its extremity a wheel, provided with a
crank pin, for the purpose of communicating a reciprocating motion to the
cutting teeth. Upon the driving shaft are mounted two ratchet pinions, upon.
which two clicks act when the machine is moving onward. When, on the

page_text: contrary, the machine is moving backwards, these clicks no longer acting, the
movement of the axle will stop, and consequently all the working parts will
remain quiescent. Instead of placing the cutting teeth at the forward part of
the machine, I propose to adapt the cutting bar to the hinder part (for reaping
machines particularly).
An endless apron composed of two moveable parts, driven at the same
speed, is also adapted to the improved reaping machiues. The first part of
the apron is formed of an endless cloth or apron I, of about the length of
the row of teeth or a little more; the second part is composed of two
or more endless bands J, placed above the endless cloth, and extending
beyond it to the whole breadth of the machine. When the corn on being
cut is laid upon the endless apron or cloth I, the butts of the stalks will lie
upon it, and the ears will lie upon the endless bands. The whole of the cut
corn being then carried onwards by the movement of the apron, the butts of
the stalks will fall to the ground, whilst the heads will remain on the apron,
and being moved onward by the bands J the stalks will, by the onward move-
ment of the machine, be laid at the side, and in a position perpendicular to
that in which they fell on being cut. In order to facilitate the carrying
forward of the stalks upon the endless apron I, I adapt to this apron several
small projections of leather cord or any other suitable material. For the
construction of the endless bands and apron, I employ, by preference, fabrics
coated with caoutchouc or any other impervious substance, in order to prevent
them from shrinking or being injured by the rain or dew; I do not, however,
confine myself to the, use of any particular material for this purpose.
As it is indispensable that the heads of the stalks should always lie upon the
bands of the second part of the endless apron, and as the stalks in different
localities may vary in length, means must be provided for bringing the bands
nearer to or further from the cutting teeth.
I would also observe, that instead of the endless apron and bands. one or
more endless cords may be employed and. mounted upon drums, so as to
replace by their parallelism the two parts of the apron; a fixed apron might
also be adapted so as to allow of the corn being raked up into heaps ready for
sheaving.
In these improved reaping machines as in all others, there is a drum X for
laying the stalks upon the cutter, but as this cumbersome apparatus always
occasions inconvenience in running or conducting the machine into the field,
the Inventor has devised several plans for doubling the beaters back on to
the shaft. The first of these plans consists in constructing the arms, which
carry the beaters, in two equal parts, which are hinged together; it will then

page_text: only be necessary to bend these arms in order to bring in the beaters. The
second plan consists in the application of two sleeves upon the shaft, and
carrying the arms hinged thereto, the beaters are bolted to the arms, so that
on moving the two sleeves towards each other the beater will be brought near
the shaft. The Drawing shews the arms carrying the beaters as keyed to the
shaft of the drum. When it is required to diminish the diameter of the drum,
it is only necessary to loosen the keys a little, and after driving the arms in
the required distance, they may be keyed up again. The method above
described of enclosing the parts may (as above mentioned and represented in
Fig. 5) be applied to any kinds of reaping or mowing machines.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Mowing and Reaping Machines," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I desire it to be understood that what I consider to be new and
desire to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, enclosing or envelopping the whole or a portion of the driving parts
of reaping and mowing machines in a casing or box, as above described, for
the purpose of protecting such parts from injury from the weather, or from
other causes.
Secondly, I claim the mode above shewn and described of carrying forward
the stalks of cut corn, so as to form a continuous swath when they have
been cut.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66. Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)