IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Brown, of Howburn, in the Parish of Carham,
and County of Northumberland, and William Lillie, of Tweedmouth, in
the same County, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 21st January 1868, and dated the 25th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Brown and William
Lillie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 25th July 1867.
We, JOHN BROWN, of Howburn, in the Parish of Carham, and County of
Northumberland, and WILLIAM LILLIE, of Tweedmouth, in the same County,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS I
REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention, which relates to an improved arrangement or construction.
of gearing to be used for actuating certain parts of and transmitting motive
power to the mechanism of reaping and mowing machines, consists in
employing two wheels, either bevil or spur wheels, of different diameters, on
the first driving shaft, which may be cast in one piece or may be made
separate; these wheels are fitted to slide endwise simultaneously on the shaft
on which they are carried, or they may be keyed fast on the shaft, the shaft
being arranged to move endwise in its bearings to enable the wheel or wheels
to gear into one of two pinions, which may be either cast in one piece or

page_text: separately, and are carried on the intermediate shaft. If the gearing is on
the spur system the double wheel may be constructed by two toothed peri-
pheries attached to one and the same set of arms; or in place of arranging
the endwise movement, as herein-before set forth, two separate wheels both
sliding endwise and actuated by two different handles and not moving
simultaneously may be used, or one wheel moveable endwise and one keyed
fast on both shafts; or in place of any of the foregoing arrangements one
wheel may be keyed fast and arranged capable of being moved endwise, whilst
the same shaft that carries the two wheels is capable of being moved endwise
in its bearing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Brown and William Lillie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
BROWN, of Howburn, in the Parish of Carham, and County of Northum-
berland, and WILLIAM LILLIE, of Tweedmouth, in the same County, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said John Brown and William Lillie, Her special license that we,
the said John Brown and William Lillie, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Brown and William Lillie,
our executors, administrators, or 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 REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Brown and William Lillie, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Brown and William Lillie, 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 and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our said Invention, which relates to an improved arrangement or con-
struction of gearing to be used for actuating certain parts of and transmitting
motive power to the mechanism of reaping and mowing machines, consists in
employing two wheels, either bevil or spur wheels, of different diameters on
the first driving shaft, which may be cast in one piece or may be made
separate; these wheels are fitted to slide endwise simultaneously upon the
shaft on which they are carried, or they may be keyed fast on the shaft, the
shaft being arranged to move endwise in its bearings to enable the wheel or
wheels to gear into one of two pinions, which may either be cast in one piece
or separately, and are carried on the intermediate shaft. If the gearing be on
the spur system the double wheel may be constructed of two toothed peri-
pheries attached to one and the same set of arms, or in place of arranging the
endwise movement, as herein-before set forth, two separate wheels both
sliding endwise and actuated by two different handles and not moving
simultaneously may be used, or one wheel moveable endwise and one keyed
fast on both shafts; or in place of any of the foregoing arrangements one
wheel may be keyed fast and arranged capable of being moved end wise, whilst
the same shaft that carries the two wheels is capable of being moved end wise
in its bearings.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood, we shall
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or
under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect,
reference being had, for the sake of more complete elucidation, to the several
Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which we have hereunto
appended, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section; Figure 2 a front elevation with
guard frame shown dotted; and Figure 3 a plan having the wheel guard
removed so that the gearing may be distinctly shown; on these Figures similar
parts are indicated by the same letters of reference.
The framing A on which the gearing is carried is supported on the
wheels B, B, fitted on the axle C; on the same axle toothed discs D are
fixed gearing into internal toothed rings which are bolted to the arms of the
wheels B, thus causing the axle C to revolve when the machine is moved.
On the axle C the spar wheel E is fixed, having two toothed peripheries C¹

page_text: and C of different diameters cast on the same arms. The pinions F are cast
on the same boss G, and arranged to gear into the peripheries of the wheel E,
the larger or the smaller pinion being thrown into gear by the lever h, more
particularly visible at Figures 1 and 2, according as a greater or less speed
of the cutters H is required. The shaft I on which the pinions F are carried
is square, and is provided with a bevil wheel J, by which the power is trans-
mitted through the pinion K and shaft L to the disc M, which is provided
with crank pin a, to which is fitted one end of the connecting rod N, the
other end being fitted to the cutter bar b, as shown dotted at Figure 3. The
cutter bar slides upon the bar O fitted into brackets P and Q, Figures 2
and 3, and carried upon wheels in the usual manner. The bracket P is con-
nected to the machine by the rod R and the hinged bar S; to the end of the
bar S, which is connected to the bracket P, one end of a chain c is attached,
which passes over the quadrant T to a hook on which the other end of the
chain is attached. The quadrant T is keyed on the shaft d provided with a
lever e, by which the shaft d and quadrant T is turned when it is desired to
alter the angle of the cutters, and when set it is secured by the pall f actuated
by the spring g fitting into the teeth of the quadrant U. The gearing of the
machine is covered by a guard frame V, from which the seat W is supported,
as shown in Figure 1, and dotted in Figure 2. The delivery seat ✗
being supported by a column Y placed over the axle C, the machine is
provided in the usual manner with a delivery board not shown in the
Drawings.
Figure 4 shows another mode of arranging the gearing for actuating the
cutters. In this case a spur wheel A is placed on the main axle B of the
machine gearing into a pinion C on the axle D, the different speeds being
produced by the bevil wheels E and F gearing into the pinions G and H,
according as a quicker or slower speed is required. The wheels E and F are
cast upon the same boss, and the face of the wheel E is recessed so as to
allow it to gear into the pinion H without touching the pinion G. The wheels E
and F are moved upon the shaft D by means of a lever or other means not
shown in the Drawings, so that accordingly as the shifting arrangement is
moved the larger wheel E can be brought into gear with the smaller pinion H,
or the smaller wheel F into gear with the larger pinion G, and thus the speed
of the pinion shaft and those parts which it actuates can be varied at pleasure.
In place, however, of arranging the bevil gearing as herein-before described
and shown at Figure 4 it may be adapted as shown at Figure 5, the larger
bevil wheel gearing into the larger bevil pinion, and the smaller bevil wheel
with the smaller bevil pinion, sufficient clearance being left in the body of the

page_text: larger bevil wheel to prevent contact or interference of the smaller bevil
pinion when the larger wheel and pinion are in gear; and in place of
arranging the bevil wheels to slide upon the shaft which carries them it is
preferred to fix them to the shaft, the latter being moved endwise by means
of the shifting lever.
It is obvious that there are modes of obtaining variations of speed
besides those which we have shown in the Drawings hereunto appended;
these other variations have been herein-before mentioned.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, we would
observe, in conclusion, that what we consider novel and original and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First, the use and application to machines of the class set forth of the
arrangements or combinations of spur and bevil gearing to the first motion
shaft for the purpose of adjusting or varying the working rate of the cutters,
as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any
mere modification thereof.
Second, the application of a lever for producing the endwise or horizontal
movement of spur and bevil gearing on the first motion shaft, as herein-before
described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof I, the said John Brown, on behalf of the said
William Lillie and of myself, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Twenty-first day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight.*
JOHN BROWN. (L.S.)