IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN AND GRASS MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edward Boyd, of Hither Green, Lewisham,
in the County of Kent, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LAWN AND GRASS MOWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 23rd July 1858, and dated the 17th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edward Boyd at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th February 1858.
I, JAMES EDWARD BOYD, of Hither Green, Lewisham, in the County of
Kent, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN AND GRASS MOWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Hitherto the advantages that should have been derived from the working
of lawn & grass mowing machines have not been realized in consequence
of the difficulty that existed in getting the revolving cutters or knives
to cut the grass regularly and at each revolution of the machine, it being
found after a few revolutions of the cutters that the sap from the cut
grass mixing. with the worm casts, dust, &c. on the lawn or grass formed
into a sort of paste and became lodged on the cutters or knives, so as
to coat or blunt their edges, and being. so lodged or incrusted prevented.
them from cutting the grass as they otherwise should have done. This
imperfection will now be remedied by my Invention, which consists of an
apparatus, brush, or scraper, a part or all of which is composed of iron or
other metal or material combined with or having bristles, hair, metal wire,
vegetable, animal, or other fibre, matter, or material. This apparatus is to

page_text: be so constructed, arranged, fitted, fixed, or attached to the lawn or grass
mowers by means of screws or other appliances in such a position as may be
necessary to cause the said apparatus, brush, or scraper, to come into contact
with or bear upon the revolving cutters or knives referred to, so that by such
contact the cutters may be scraped, brushed, or cleansed from the lodgement
of any matter thereon, and berkept constantly sharpened by every revolution
or movement the cutters make. The apparatus, brush, or scraper can be
regulated to any position according to the amount of pressure or movement
necessary; it can be attached with equal facility to old lawn or grass mowers
as well as new ones. And I claim this Invention for all lawn or grass
mowing machines whether they have revolving cutters or not.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Edward Boyd in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDWARD BOYD, of Hither Green, Lewisham, in the County of Kent, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February,- in, the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, "give and grant unto
him, the said James Edward Boyd, Her special licence that he, the said James
Edward Boyd, his exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as he, the said James Edward Boyd, his 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, au
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAWN AND GRASS MOWING MACHINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that he, the said James Edward Boyd, his
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under his, or their,
or one of their 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 I, the said James Edward Boyd, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is-
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
Hitherto the advantages that should have been derived from the working
of lawn and grass mowing machines have not been realized in consequence of
the difficulty that existed in getting the revolving cutters or knives to cut the
grass regularly and at each revolution of the machine, it being found after
a few revolutions of the cutters that the sap from the cut grass mixing with
the worm casts, dust, &c. on the lawn or grass formed into a sort of paste,.
and became lodged on the cutters or knives, so as to coat or blunt their
edges, and being so lodged or incrusted prevented from cutting the grass as
they otherwise should have done. This imperfection will now be remedied
by my Invention, which consists of an apparatus, brushes, or scrapers, a part
or all of which is composed of iron or other metal or material combined with
or having bristles, hair, metal wire, vegetable, animal, or other fibre, matter or
material. This apparatus is to be so constructed, arranged, fitted, fixed, or
attached to the lawn or grass mowers. by means of screws or other appliances
in such a position as may be necessary to cause the said apparatus, brush, or
scraper to come into contact with or bear upon the revolving cutters or knives
referred to, so that by such contact the cutters may be scraped, brushed, or
cleansed from the lodgement of any matter thereon, and be kept constantly
sharpened by every revolution or movement the cutters make. The appa-
ratus, brush, or scraper can be regulated to any position according to the
amount of pressure or movement necessary, and it can be attached to old
lawn or grass mowing machines as well as to new ones. As, however, there
are a variety of lawn mowers to which this apparatus can be attached, but
which are constructed on different plans and principles, it would be disadvan-
tageous to my Invention and inconvenient to the person using the same to
shift or alter the apparatus every time it may be necessary to shift or alter,
raise or lower the knives used for cutting the grass: I therefore claim to
obviate this inconvenience by.having the apparatus invented by me, when or
where necessary, so attached to the frame or other portion of the machine
containing the cutters or revolving knives, and thus to be able at one opera-
tion and instantaneously to adjust, raise, lower, or regulate the cutters any
my apparatus in unison together; this arrangement to be effected by means
of a bar, or rod, or axles, or other appliances fitted across or elsewhere to the
machine; the centre sides or ends of such bars,.rods, or axles to contain mitre
or bevel wheels, or spiral or other screws, threads, or wheels, or appliances;

page_text: these to be made to act upon other mitre or bevel wheels, or spiral or other
screws, threads, or wheels, working upon upright or other shafts or axles, to
which these cutters may be connected or attached, so that whenever the
cutting knives are adjusted, or regulated, or moved by these or other means
or appliances, that the apparatus containing the brushes, scrapers, or other-
wise may be made to move simultaneously therewith, or it can be detached
therefrom and used singly and apart from each other if necessary. I do not
confine myself to this method, as the contrivance for regulating, raising, or
lowering the knives or cutting apparatus can be arranged by means of a
thumbscrew, wheel, or spiral screw in the centre or at either or both ends or
sides of the said bar, rod, or axis of the cutters, or by means of holes or
notches made at certain distances in the side pieces or bearers holding such
cutters, to be fastened by iron or other pins, or other means, or to have a
ratchet movement similar to the clutch of a ship's windlass, having a rising
or falling cheek to fit into such notches or clutch movement, or by other
means or appliances as occasion may require or by practice.seem best. And
in order that my apparatus may be available and be attached or fitted with
greater ease, certainty, and facility to any lawn mower, it may or will be
necessary that the mowing machines be divided into two or more parts by
detaching the shafts and rollers or cylinders from the cutters at will, with
means of attaching again securely the same by means of bolts, screws, nuts,
ratchet work, or otherwise. It will also be necessary at the same time to
protect the Invention from the injury to which it may be exposed owing to
the liability of the apparatus, before described, to dip, or. plough, or run into
the ground, and so to lose its equilibrium, and damage and injure my Inven-
tion. And for the purpose of proper protection, I propose to place either
under the cutters or ledger blade, or at each end of the axle shafts or bearers
containing the cutters, or under or attached to the cleansing apparatus
referred to, or behind the cutting apparatus, or elsewhere, one or more
castors, or rollers, or other contrivance so constructed as to be capable of
regulating or altering the cutting machine as to the distance from which the
same is to work from the grass or ground, or in other words the depth of
the cut, or it can be arranged by means of tubes fitted with spiral or other
springs or other contrivance, the springs referred to to be attached to one or
more cylinder, wheel, castor, or roller, so as to receive or relieve any weight
which may be thrown upon it by the machine being placed in a position other
than horizontal, and by which means the machine and apparatus will maintain
its level or horizontal position, and be preserved from the injury or damage
referred to, or the wheels, castors, or rollers can be brought under, behind, or

page_text: before the cutters in question by being attached to rods, axles, bearers, or
other machinery. connected with the handles or shafts, or both, or any other
part of the machine, or otherwise, as expedient. The small wooden roller in
advance of the iron roller, as at present attached to the machine known as
Samuelson's Buddings Lawn Mower, as also to some machines made by other
makers, and which small roller is generally used for the purpose of cutting
round grass verges and borders, is subject to difficulty in regulating it, and
liable to fall out of gear, and to derange and destroy the effect of my cleaning
apparatus. This I propose to improve, and to arrange and deprive of such
liability by having, the side cheeks holding such roller perforated with holes
or prepared with notches or ratchets similar to a ship's windlass, such cheeks
and roller to be connected with an iron bar or axle at top, and extending
from one cheek to the other, so that by taking hold of such bar or axle the
roller can be elevated or depressed at pleasure to a variety of distances, and
put in or out of gear in a minute, and fastened by means of pins, screws,
nuts, bolts, windlass, clutch or break, or otherwise. It frequently happens
that stones and other destructive materials get into the cutters and injure
them and my cleaning apparatus; this I propose to prevent by means of a
description of fender, box, or revolving brush to be carried in the front of the
machine or grass box, and so constructed as either to receive the stones, or
by means of such revolving brushes to sweep such stones or other destructive
material away from the neighbourhood of the cutters, or in the absence
of such a contrivance the injury done by the stones and other destructive
materials can be speedily remedied, and the inconvenience and expense.caused
by such injury can be lessened, and the damage more easily and immediately
repaired by making the knives or cutters in sets, or a series of steel plates or
pieces corresponding when together with the whole length knife or cutter at
present in use, so that in the event of an accident to any portion of the
cutters only the injured parts or part need be removed, and another part,
picce, or plate of a similar size substituted and fitted by means of groves,
slots, screws, or such other appliance as may be necessary, thereby econo-
mizing time and expense when such repairs are necessary, and superseding
the necessity for substituting a new full-length blade or a new set of blades,
as is often at the present time necessary. It may be found necessary to notch
or tooth, or roughen the edge of the cutters or revolving knives in order to
derive further advantages from my apparatus.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be constructed, arranged, fitted, fixed, attached, employed, and
protected, I declare that I claim the various arrangements, modifications,

page_text: alterations, additions, improvements, and specifications herein set forth, and
.the introduction of such other appliances or regulations as may be found to be
desirable or necessary for the proper and efficient working, preservation, and
protection of my apparatus and the machines containing the same, herein
referred to and described, for all lawn and grass. mowing or reaping machines,
whether they have revolving cutters or not.