Improvements in Mowing and Reaping Machines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 3rd June, 1896-Accepted, 25th July, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mowing and Reaping Machines.
I, EDWARD PRATT, of Albert Iron Works, Uxbridge, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows: :-
In ordinary mowing and reaping machines as heretofore constructed the weight
of the draught pole and its appliances, when the driver leaves his seat, hangs upon
the horses' necks, considerable inconvenience and injury being thereby caused to
the animals.
My present invention has for its object a novel method of construction by which
this objection is avoided, the improved apparatus being so arranged that when the
driver leaves his seat, on the machine, he can prevent the weight of the pole, part
of which weight is balanced by his own weight when he is in his seat, from coming
injuriously upon the horses.
Moreover in the ordinary machines, when the horses are temporarily released
from their harness for rest or other reasons, the pole rests upon the ground, and in
order to re-harness them its weight has to be lifted whilst the harnessing is in
progress, considerable inconvenience being thereby caused. By my present
invention this inconvenience is also avoided, as the pole can be held up and kept
up whilst the horses are harnessed.
For this purpose I arrange in a suitable position upon the pole a pivot upon
which a vertical lever turns, the upper end of the lever forming a handle, and the
lower end pressing (preferably with the intervention of a friction roller) upon an
inclined plate or bracket fixed to, or forming part of, the frame which carries the
inner end of the beam, in the usual way. By moving the handle at the upper end
of the lever, therefore, the roller at its lower end passes up the inclined plate and
the eutire lever, together with the pole to which it is pivotted, is raised until the
other or forward end of the latter has reached the position in which the horses are
released from its weight, or in which the harnessing can be most conveniently
effected. By moving the lever in the other direction the pole is allowed to come
down.
It is evident that the object, that is to say, supporting the weight of the pole
when required, may be attained in different ways, and 1 do not confine myself to
the precise form of apparatus above described.
For instance a screw may be arranged between the pole and the lower frame, by
moving which in one or the other direction, the pole is raised or lowered; or a
wedge operated by a lever or screw, or other equivalent mechanical device, may be
used for the same purpose.
Dated this 3rd day of September 1895

page_text: '
I, EDWARD PRATT, of Albert Iron Works, Uxbridge, in the County of
Middlesex, 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, that is to say :-
In ordinary mowing and reaping machines drawn by horses as heretofore
constructed, the weight of the draught pole and its appliances, when the driver
leaves his seat, -hangs upon the horses' necks, considerable inconvenience and injury
being thereby caused to the animals.
Moreover, in the ordinary machines when the horses are temporarily released
from their harness for rest or other reasons, the pole rests upon the ground, and in
order to re-harness them its weight has to be lifted whilst the harnessing is in
progress, considerable inconvenience being thereby caused.
My present invention has for its object a novel method of construction by which
these objections are avoided, the improved apparatus being so arranged that when
the driver leaves his seat, on the machine, he can prevent the weight of the pole,
part of which weight is balanced by his own weight when he is in his seat, from
coming injuriously upon the horses.
The pole can also be held up and kept up whilst the horses are being harnessed.
The accompanying drawing is in illustration of my invention.
Figure 1 shews the pole lowered, and Figure 2 shews it raised.
In order to put my invention in operation I arrange in a suitable position upon
the pole
a a pivot b upon which a vertical lever c (Figure 2) turns, the upper end
of the lever forming a handle, d, and the lower end below the pivot, pressing
(preferably with the intervention of a friction roller e) upon an inclined plate or
bracket ffixed to, or forming part of, the frame which carries the inner end of the
beam of the machine. By pulling the handled at the upper end of the lever c
therefore, the roller e at its lower end is forced up the inclined plate or bracket f,
so that the entire lever, together with the pole a to which it is pivotted, is raised
(as shewn in Figure 2) until the other or forward end of the latter has reached
the position in which the horses are released from its weight, or in which the
harnessing can be most conveniently effected. A catch or fastening may be used
by which the lever may be retained in the position to which it has been brought.
By releasing the lever c, or moving it in the other direction, the pole a is allowed
to come down, (as shewn in Figure 1).
It is evident that the object which it is desired to attain, that is to say,
supporting the weight of the pole when required,-may be attained in different
ways, and I do not confine myself to the precise form of apparatus above described,
which may be modified more or less as may be found advisable.
For instance, a screw may be arranged between the pole and the lower frame,
by moving which in one or the other direction by means of a lever or wheel, the
pole is raised or lowered; or a wedge operated by a lever or screw, or other well-
known equivalent mechanical device, may be used for the same purpose.
my said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim. is :-
1. In mowing and reaping machines, the use of apparatus by which the pole to
which the horses are harnessed can be raised and supported or lowered as desired,
in order to relieve them of its weight, and in order to facilitate the harnessing,
substantially as described.

page_text: 2. In apparatus for the purposes described in Claim 1, in combination with the
pole of the machine, a vertical lever pivotted to the pole, and having its lower
end pressing and working upon a fixed inclined plate or bracket, substantially as
described.
Dated this 3rd day of June 1896.
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.