IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES, BY WHICH THE SICKLE CUTTING THE GRAIN IS MOVED OR WORKED DIRECTLY BY THE DRIVING WHEEL, OR ITS EQUIVALENT. WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF COG WHEELS, CRANKS, &c
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham, of Raritan,
State of New Jersey, United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES, BY WHICH THE SICKLE
CUTTING THE GRAIN IS MOVED OR WORKED DIRECTLY BY THE DRIVING WHEEL,
OR ITS EQUIVALENT. WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF COG WHEELS, CRANKS, &c."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Dietz and John
G. Dunham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 29th December 1854.
We, ANDREW DIETZ & JOHN G. DUNHAM, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING & REAPING MACHINES, BY
WHICH THE SICKLE CUTTING THE GRAIN IS MOVED OR WORKED DIRECTLY BY THE
DRIVING WHEEL, OR ITS EQUIVALENT, WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF COG WHEELS,.
CRANKS, &c. &c.," to be as follows:-
The nature of our Invention or improvement consists in dispensing with the
usual gearing of cog wheels, cranks, &c., by which, in mowers and reapers as
ordinarily constructed, motion is given to the sickle or cutter, and in trans-

page_text: ferring or imparting the necessary motion to the sickle directly from the
driving or ground wheel, or its equivalent, without the necessity or use of such
or similar gearing. The most natural and easy manner of effecting such a
connection, and transferring power or motion directly from the driving wheel
to the sickle, is to give to both sides of the driving wheel a cam surface,
against which levers act, to the other ends of which levers the sickle is
attached, and vibrates from the motion given the levers by means of the cam
surfaces.
At a rate of speed of about three miles an hour, which horses can easily
sustain, the driving wheel will revolve about thirty times a minute, and the
sickle be vibrated about five hundred and forty times in the same period. In
such cases the driving wheel is about three feet in diameter, and this we
have found a very convenient size, though of course it may be varied as desired.
Other ways of transferring power or motion directly from the driving wheel
to the sickle may be contrived & applied, and the particular form of connect-
ing the sickle to the driving wheel will necessarily somewhat vary, according
to the particular kind or fashion of mower, to which our improvement may be
attached, as McCormick's, Kitchum's, &c.; but the particular manner of
transferring the power is not material, as this may be varied as necessity or
pleasure shall dictate and require.
What we claim as our Invention and discovery is, the plan or arrangement
of transferring power or motion directly from the driving wheel of mowing and
reaping machines, or its equivalent, to the sickle, without the intervention of
cog wheels, cranks, &c., thus effecting much saving in the first cost of the
machine, and preventing the loss of much power from friction, &c., and making
such machines much more perfect in their action, & far more simple, and
less liable to get out of order, and also rendering them much more effective
with a given amount of power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham in the Great Seal Patent 3
Office on the 29th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ANDREW
DIETZ and JOHN G. DUNHAM, of Raritan, Somerset County, State of New
Jersey, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the 29th day of December, A.D. 1854, in the 18th

page_text: year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Andrew Dietz and
John G. Dunham, our 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
MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES, BY WHICH THE SICKLE CUTTING THE GRAIN IS
MOVED OR WORKED DIRECTLY BY THE DRIVING WHEEL, OR ITS EQUIVALENT, WITHOUT
THE NECESSITY OF COG WHEELS, SHAFTS, &c," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham, by an instrument in
writing under our 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 we, the said Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawings,
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, and which make a part of
this Specification:-
Figure 1 shows one form of the driving or ground wheel, and the manner in
which motion is imparted to the sickle through the linked levers B and b.
Another form of the such driving or ground wheel is shewn at Figure 2, from
which motion is imparted to the sickle by means of a single lever B'; and
Figure 3 shows the manner of connection between the levers B and B' and
the sickle E.
The nature of our Invention consists in dispensing with the usual gearing
of cog wheels, cranks, &c., by which, in mowers and reapers as ordinarily con-
structed, motion is given to the sickle, and in transferring motion to the sickle
directly from the driving wheel, or an equivalent wheel upon the same axle,
by means of peculiarly shaped cams upon the driving wheel, and in their
combination with certain levers, hereafter described.
The frame F, which supports the driving wheel A, and also the cutter bar E,
is about six feet long, and one and a half or two feet wide, though it may be
varied in size, according to the diameter of the wheel A, or for reasons of
convenience, and should be firmly made, its strength being its most important

page_text: feature. The driving wheel A is supported upon the frame F by an axle ƒ,
running in journal boxes, and is about three feet in diameter, which is found
to be the most convenient size. This wheel should be made of cast iron, or of
strongly united firm wood, with a strong hub and spokes, (or it may be cast or
made solid,) and have a solid tire or felloe, about eight inches broad and two
or three inches deep. The peculiarity of this wheel consists in its cam-shaped
side surfaces, by means of which vibratory motion is given to the cutter bar E.
As shewn in Figure 1, the driving wheel has these cam-shaped surfaces upon
both its sides. Upon one side the cam surface D is so constructed that the
distance between the lowest and highest point of the cam shall be about one
inch and a quarter, or sufficient to give through the lever B the necessary
vibratory motion to the cutter bar and sickle. Upon the side C the depression
and elevation of the cam differ only about half an inch, this being sufficient to
give motion to the short lever b, and by the use of the wheel 2, which will be
explained, a motion equal to that given to the long lever B. The two levers
Band have each a friction wheel 1 and 2, which follow the curves of the
cams, securing easy action, and at the same time equally well giving motion to
the levers. The wheel 1, following the deepest cam, is about two inches in
diameter, while the wheel 2, running in the opposite and shallower cam, may
have a diameter of over four inches. By this arrangement of cam surfaces
of different forms, and the use of friction wheels of different diameters (the
larger wheel running in the shallower cam), the levers B and have the
same motion nearly, and the power is used at a better advantage, the wheels
and levers acting without binding, and each counteracting any tendency in the
other to stop or change speed at the dead or centre point. The cam surfaces
C and D are so constructed that the highest point of the cam on one side of
the wheel A is not exactly opposite the highest point of the cam upon the other
side, but they vary; so that the friction wheel in one lever shall have actually
begun to descend the curve before the wheel in the other lever shall have
reached the highest point. In the use of cam surfaces so made with different
curves, and so relatively situated in respect to cach other, and the levers B
and so acting in these cams, the action of the whole is easy, and the parts do
not bind, and the cutter bar works effectually. The driving wheel
may, how-
ever, be made as represented in Figure 2, with a cam surface upon only one of
its sides, and for many reasons this is deemed the most preferable way. In
such case the cam D¹ is so constructed that the distance between the highest
points of any two cams (or the length of any one cam) shall be about six inches,
and the depth of the cam about three quarters of an inch, which proportion is
found to be sufficient to give, through the lever B', the necessary vibration to the

page_text: cutter bar and sickle. In either case, whether cams are made upon both sides
of the wheel A or upon but one side, the length of each cam has to correspond
with the cutting-range-of-one-vibration-of-the-cutter-bar,-so-that-the-machine-
shall travel neither more nor less than the cutter bar by its construction can
really cut during the progress of the machine. The perpendicular depth of the
teeth of the cutter bar is three inches, and consequently they can at every
vibration cut neither more nor less than six inches; every cam must therefore
have a length of six inches, which, for a wheel assumed to be three feet in
diameter, gives eighteen cams, and consequently eighteen vibrations of the
cutter bar, during the travelling of the latter over nine feet of ground. The
disregard of or inattention to this proportion is the real reason of the partial
or total failure of so many harvesters. To any one familiar with mechanics it
must be evident, that a cutter bar travelling over much more ground than by
its construction, and the movement communicated to it, it can cut, will leave
continually a part of the grain or grass uncut, and will, by fouling it, create a
continual impediment to its own progress, and a strain or side draft, as much
injurious to the team as to the machine itself; while a cutter bar travelling
oyer less ground than by its construction it can cut, will waste power without
effect, and wear the machine to no purpose. The correspondence of the length
of the cam with the cutting range of the cutter bar is therefore of paramount
importance, and the real key of the efficiency of the machine. It is, however,
found from actual use that the sickle during a single vibration will cut some-
what further than twice the perpendicular depth of its teeth, and hence the
cams may vary somewhat from the exact proportion above laid down, without
much or any injury to the working of the machine; but still this proportion
between the length of the cam and the cutting range of the sickle should not
be much departed from, and a general adherence to it will be the best. The
cams above described need not, however, always be actually on the driving
wheel, but they may be placed upon a seperate wheel (which can also be
fastened to the side of the driving wheel), upon the same axle with the driving
wheel, and either within the frame For outside of it upon the axle extended,
and such wheel may have the same or a less diameter than the driving wheel.
As the revolution of any such wheel will be the same as that of the driving
wheel, it follows that motion will be transferred to the cutter bar in precisely
the same manner, without the need of gearing, as when the cams are placed
upon and made a part of the driving wheel.
When only a single cam surface is used, there are placed in the lever B¹
two friction wheels 3 and 4, as represented in the Drawing, both of the same
size, and about four inches in diameter, which are so placed that one shall be

page_text: at the highest point of one cam when the other is at the lowest depression of
the following cam. The form and arrangement before described of the cam
surface it is thought is as good as any, securing complete and easy action,
with but little loss from friction, &c.; but the particular shape of the cam
surface may be varied, with a corresponding change in the size of the friction
wheels, and in the bearing points of the levers, without interfering with the
great feature of our Invention, imparting motion to the sickle directly from
the driving wheel. When a wheel with a cam surface upon each side is
used, there are attached to the frame, behind the wheel A, two supports
H, H, to which are connected, by the fulcra g and h, the levers B and b.
These fulcra are not opposite each other, but this will not interfere with
the proper movements of these levers. The lever B is about six inches from
its point of contact with the wheel to its fulcrum g, and about fifteen inches
from the fulcrum to the lower end. The lever b has its fulcrum h about
two inches lower down than the fulcrum of the lever B, and is usually of
a length about equal with the short arm of that lever, and these two are
connected together by the cross bar J. When a driving wheel with only
a single cam surface is used, but a single lever B¹ is used, the entire length
of which is about twenty inches, and the distance from its upper end to
the fulcrum V. about four and a half inches, the fulcrum V rests in the
chair W, and is movable therein, and is fastened by a screw w. This arrange-
ment renders it easy to throw the machine out of gear, it being only necessary
to loosen the screw w, when the natural motion of the wheel A throws back
the fulcrum V, and with it the lever B¹ and cutter bar E. The cutter
bar E is attached to the lever B or B¹ by the connecting bar G, which is
generally about a foot long, though its length may be varied as desired, and
according to circumstances; and the long arms of the levers B and B'
will also vary, according to the length of the cut of the sickle, and according
as it may be attached to one or another kind of harvester. The chain W and
the support R of the cutter bar are firmly attached to the frame by bolts,
which can easily be unscrewed, so that they may be transferred from one side
of the frame to the other when desired. This is to be done when for any
reason it is wished to have the machine cut a swath to the right or left of the
track, and different from that which it is working, and which can be effected
by merely making this change in the positions of W and R, and unloosing one
of the journal boxes of the wheel A, and reversing or changing its position in
the frame F. Such a change in the direction of the swath may sometimes
be desirable, if it can be done, or at least conveniently. From the peculiar
construction of the cam surfaces on the driving wheel, or an additional wheel,

page_text: as above described, and the working of the levers in such cams, and their
connection with the cutter bar, it is plain that every motion given the levers
by the cams is directly transferred to the sickle E, and without the use of any
gearing such as is necessary in ordinary harvesters, and without any mechanical
power or arrangement except the simple lever. By our Invention the machine
is simplified, and it is less liable to get out of order, and the cost of con-
struction is.much reduced, while a great quantity of power, generally lost or
consumed by friction, is saved, and a much greater amount of labor can be
performed in a given time. At a speed of three miles an hour, which a teain
can easily bear, the driving wheel revolves about thirty times a minute, and
gives five hundred and forty vibrations to the sickle in the same length of
time; and allowing six inches cut at each vibration, it will cut about two
hundred and seventy feet a minute, or nearly three miles an hour.
We are aware that attempts have been made to place cam surfaces upon
the driving wheels of similar machines, but, so far as we have been able to
learn, there has been no particular attention given to the relation between the
length of the cam and the cutting range of the sickle, as in our arrangement;
and we are also aware, that experiments have been made to work the cutter
bar from such cams by means of a lever extending across the face of the
driving wheel, with a centre of oscillation at or near the axle of the wheel,
but the length of such levers renders them liable to vibration, and tends to
spread the frame of the machine, and thus interferes with the easy and proper
transmission of motion to the cutter bar,
What we claim, therefore, as our Invention, and desire to secure by Letters
Patent, is, the application of cam surfaces either upon one or both sides of
the driving wheel, or upon an equivalent & additional wheel upon the same
axle with the driving wheel, and onstructing such cams of a length corre-
sponding to the cutting range of a single stroke of the knife or sickle during
the advance and return of the cutter bar, substantially as above described, and
for the purposes above set forth. We claim also the arrangement of the
linked levers B and b (when a double cam surface is used) in combination,
with the difference in the relative depths of the cams, and arranging these
cams so that the highest elevation of each cam shall be at a point between
the highest elevation and lowest depression of a cam upon the other side of the
wheel, the whole arranged and operating substantially as above set forth
and described. We claim also, in combination with a cam surface upon but
one side of the driving or equivalent wheel, the use of a short lever B', the
centre of oscillation of which is over the cam flange itself, the rollers being
generally a cam and a half apart, or so as to secure and transmit proper and

page_text: effective motion to the sickle, the whole arranged substantially as above
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Andrew Dietz and John G. Dunham,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 1st day of June, A.D.
1855.
ANDREW DIETZ.
L.S.)
JOHN G. DUNHAM. (L.S.)
ANDREW DIETZ.
JOHN G. DUNHAM. (L.s.)
(L.S.)