Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 12th Feb., 1889
I, EDWARD HAMMOND BENTALL of Heybridge, near Maldon in the County of
Essex, Agricultural Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The chief object of this invention is to provide against the torsion or irregular
strains to which Lawn Mowers are subject, especially when constructed to work with
a small expenditure of manual power.
In adapting my invention to a Lawn Mower having its driving wheels in rear of the
cutter barrel, I cast the cheeks of the framing with sockets to receive sleeve bearings
cast with a collar having, say, projections, segment shaped in cross, section, or other-
wise formed to provide for the rocking of the bearings in their sockets. In bearings
of such construction, 1 mount the axle of the driving wheels, and also the axle of the
cutter barrel, and I thus provide for the automatic adjustment of the bearings of these
axles, to neutralize any irregular strains that may be put upon them.
The driving wheels, which are mounted loosely on their axle. I cast, on their inner
faces, with two concentric rings of ratchet teeth, and adjacent to these faces, I fit onto
the axle a pair of dises, carrying lugs, which form guides for locking pins, which
slide radially in those guides, in the plane of the rings of ratchet teeth, for the
purpose of engaging with one or other of those rings, when the implement is travelling
forward, and of slipping alternately over the teeth of the two rings when the imple-
ment is moving backwards.
A train of gearing from the driving wheel axle transmits a rapid rotary motion to
the axle of the cutter barrel, the helical blades of which will gather in the blades of
grass, and press them towards the ledger blade, where they will be severed between
the revolving and fixed blades.
The ledger-blade, which is of the usual construction, I mount on blocks, which are
pivotted, near their lower ends, to the cheeks of the framing, and present, at their
upper ends, a flat surface for two vertical adjusting screws to act
These screws
upon.
are tapped into a rib cast on the inner face of the cheeks, and projecting through the
rib, bear on the top of the block below. By slackening one screw and tightening up

page_text: the other at the opposite sides of the framing, the dip of the ledger blade may be
adjusted as desired.
To Lawn Mowers of the class which have their driving wheels in front of the cutter
barrel, and are provided with internal gear for receiving a pinion of the cutter barrel,
I also adapt the self-adjusting bearings, as above described, and I connect the pinion
through a clutch, with the cutter barrel axle.-Both barrel ends I cast with two
concentric rings of ratchet teeth, like those of the driving wheels of the first arrange-
ment, and the pinion for driving the cutter barrel, I mount on a sleeve which carries
a disc fitted with guides for receiving the locking pin. Thus, as the pinion is rotated.
the locking pin will, as before explained, engage with one or other of the rings of
ratchet teeth; or slip past the teeth of both rings, according to the direction in which
the implement is moved, operating the cutter barrel in the one case, and leaving it
quiescent in the other.
A further improvement which I propose to make in Lawn Mowers, is to provide
them both with a front supporting or gauge roller, and a pair of wheels to be used in
substitution the one for the other, according to the work in hand, it being, as is well
known, impracticable to use the roller when cutting long grass, but necessary when
cutting verges of lawns, or around flower borders.
The wheels I mount on a pair of cast iron cheeks, bolted adjustably to the main
framing. The front part of each cheek is cast with a vertical slot to receive the axle
of a supporting roller, and permit of its adjustment at any required level therein.
When the cheeks are properly adjusted and secured to the main framing, the wheels,
which they carry on stud axles, will maintain the ledger blade in the desired position
for working, and similarly, the roller, when set down to the bottom of its slot, will
perform the like office for the ledger blade when the trimming of flower borders is
required to be performed.
In some cases I pivot the cheeks to the main frame, and raise or depress the wheels
or roller by simply tipping the cheeks on their pivot, and fixing the forward or back-
ward end of the cheeks in a depressed position, according to the work required to be
effected. In this case, the roller will have no independent adjustment, but will be
raised as the wheels are depressed, and vice versa.
An obvious modification is to mount the wheels and roller in a pair of arms pivotted
to the cast iron cheeks which are bolted to the framing. These cheeks are cast with
an inclined rib to enter a groove formed on the inner face of the arms, and hold thèm
in position, with the aid of a binding nut, on their respective pivot pins.
By slackening the nuts of the pivot pins, the position of the arms may be reversed,
thus bringing either the roller or the wheels to the ground, as circumstances may
require. When the arms are thus adjusted, the tightening up of the nuts will retain
them in their adjusted position.
Dated this 5th day of April 1888

page_text: !, EDWARD HAMMOND BENTALL of Heybridge, near Maldon, in the County of
Essex, Agricultural Engineer, do hereby declare, the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The chief object of this invention is to provide against the torsion or irregular
strains to which Lawn Mowers are subject, especially when constructed to work with
a small expenditure of manual power.
In the accompanying drawings ;-
Fig. 1 shews in plan view, and Fig. 2 in side elevation, a Lawn Mower illustrating
the first head of my invention, the driving wheels being situate in roar of the cutter.
barrel.
In these figures, AA is the framing of the machine, B B are the travelling
wheels, mounted loosely on their axle B, and C is the cutter barrel.
The cheeks of the framing A Icast with sockets to receive sleeve bearings B², shewn
detached, in side and end views, at Figs. 3.-These sleeve bearings, which are intended
to receive the axle B', are cust, near the middle of their length, with a collar,
segment-shaped in cross section, or otherwise formed, to provide for the rocking of
the bearings in their sockets. In bearings of such construction, I also mount the
axle of the cutter barrel, and I thus provido for the automatic adjustment of both
the travelling wheel and the cutter barrel axles, to neutralize any irregular strains
that may be put upon them.
The loosely mounted driving wheels I cast, on their inner faces, with two concentric
rings of ratchet teeth and 1, and adjacent to these faces I fit onto the axle a pair
of discs B³ B³, carrying lugs which form guides for interlocking plates 6 6³, which
slide radially in those guides in the plane of the rings of ratchet tooth, for the purpose
of engaging, like pawls, with one or other of the rings 6 or 61, when the implement
is travelling forward, and of slipping alternately over the teeth of the two. rings
when the implement is moving backwards.
The details of this device will be better understood by reference to the detached
views Figs. 4 and 4*, Fig. 4 representing, in elevation, one of the driving wheels as
seen from its inner side, with the radially sliding locking plate b³ engaging the ring
of ratchet teeth b¹, and Fig. 4* shewing the driving wheel and the discs B³, which
carries the locking plate 63, in vertical section.
A train of gearing 1, 2, 3, 4, from the driving wheel axle, transmits a rapid rotary
notion to the axle of the cutter barrel, the helical blades c of which will gather in
the grass, and press it towards the ledger blade D, where it will be severed between
the revolving and fixed blades.
The ledger blade D, which is of the usual construction, I mount on a pair of
blocks D D', which are pivotted near their lower ends to the cheeks of the framing,
and present, at their upper ends, a flat surface for two vertical adjusting screws d d
to act upon,

page_text: These screws are tapped into a horizontal rib cast on the inner face of the checks,
and, projecting through the rib, bear on the top of their respective blocks below.
By slackening the screws on one side of the pivots of the blocks D', and tightening
up those on the other side of the pivots, the dip of the ledger blade may be adjusted
as desired.
To Lawn Mowers of the class which have their driving wheels in front of the
cutter barrel, and are provided with internal gear for receiving a pinion of the cutter
barrel, I also adapt the self-adjusting sleeve bearings as above described, and I
connect the pinion, through a pawl, with the cutter barrel axle. Both barrel ends I
cast with two concentric rings of ratchet teeth, like those of the driving wheels of the
first arrangement, and the pinion for driving the cutter barrel I mount on a sleeve
which carries a disc fitted with guides for receiving the locking plate.
This adaptation of the first head of my invention is illustrated in the partial plan
view, Fig. 5, where the same letters of reference are used, as in the preceding figures,
to illustrate like parts.-The rocking sleeve bearings B2 are shown only as applied to
the axle of the cutter barrel.
As the pinion in gear with the spur teeth of the driving wheel B, is rotated, the
rocking plate 2 will, as before explained, engage with one or other of the rings of
ratchet teeth bb, or slip past the teeth of both rings, according to the direction in
which the implement is moved, operating the cutter barrel in the one case, and
leaving it quiescent in the other.
Fig. 6 shews, in partial plan view, another arrangement of Lawn Mower, with my
automatical adjustable sleeve bearing applied thereto. In this example, the driving
wheel axle is in rear of the cutter barrel, and is fitted with a chain wheel B, which,
through a chain, drives a chain wheel B keyed to the sleeve which carries the pawl
disc B³. As the driving wheel B is keyed to its shaft B', the motion will be commu-
nicated, through the chain and chain wheels, to the disc B³, which, through its pawl b²
interlocking with one or other of the rings of ratchet teeth bb on the cutter barrel C,
will set the same in action, as before explained, leaving the cutter barrel axle free to
adjust itself to any unequal lateral strain of the implement.
.
A further improvement in Lawn Mowers, and constituting the second head of my
invention, consists in providing such machines with a front supporting or gauge
roller, and a pair of wheels to be used in substitution the one for the other,
according to the work in hand, it being, as is well known, impracticable to use the
roller when cutting long grass, but necessary when cutting verges of lawns, or around
flower borders.
The mode of carrying out this part of the invention admits of modification.-In the
accompanying drawings, I have shown three plans for supporting the front of the
machine while at work.
Fig. 7 shews in partial plan view, and Fig. 8 in side elevation, so much of the
front of a Lawn Mower as will serve to explain my improvement. In these views,
E is one of a pair of front supporting or gauge wheels, and F is an adjustable gauge
roller.
The wheels E are mounted on stud axles carried by a pair of cast iron cheeks E¹,
which checks are bolted adjustably to the main framing A. The front part of each
check is cast with a vertical slot e to receive the axle of the supporting roller F, and
permit of its adjustment at any required level therein. When the cheeks are properly
adjusted and secured to the main framing, the wheels which they carry will maintain
the ledger blade D (Fig. 2) in the desired position for working, and similarly,
the roller F, when set down to the bottom of its slot, will perform the like
office for the ledger blade, when the trimming of flower borders is required to be
performed.
When, however, the roller F is not required for use, it is raised on the slackening
of the tightening nuts, and secured in the dotted position of Fig. 8.
In some cases, I pivot to the main frame the cheeks which carry the gauge wheels
and roller (as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10). For raising or depressing the wheels
or roller, it will only be necessary to tip the cheeks on their pivot, and fix the

page_text: forward or backward end of the cheeks in a depressed position, according to the
work required to be effected. In this case, the roller F will have no independent
adjustment, but will be raised as the wheels E are depressed, and vice versa, as indicated
by the drawn and dotted positions of Fig. 10.
Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate the mounting of the wheels and roller in a pair of
arms E2 pivotted to the cast iron checks E', which are bolted to the framing A. These
cheeks are cast with an inclined rib e to enter a groove formed on the inner face of
the arms, and hold them in position, with the aid of a binding nut, on their respective
pivot pins.
On slackening the nuts of the pivot pins, the position of the arms may be reversed,
to bring either the roller or the wheels to the ground, as circumstances may
require. When the arms are adjusted, the tightening up of the nuts will retain them
in their adjusted position, and hold either the wheels or the roller to their work, as
indicated in Fig. 12.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. Providing the axles of Lawn Mowers with automatically adjustable bearings
for the purpose of neutralizing the torsion or irregular strains to which such axles are
subject.
2. The self-adjusting sleeve bearings for the axles of Lawn Mowers constructed and
fitted as above described.
3. The ineans above described for adapting Lawn Mowers to cut either lawns or
borders as desired.
D
11-
1
1000
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.