IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, LOUIS ADRIEN COUTEAU, Leouville, Franco, Gentleman Farmer, do hereby
declare the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING
MACHINES, to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the washing and cleaning during the whole time the
machine is in operation, or by intermittences, the bar upon which the cutting
blades are fitted, of reaping and mowing machines of all kinds, so as to prevent
the blades, forks, guides, and slides from becoming clogged, by wetting and
throwing off the soil which collects in these parts, in crossing mole-hills or other
irregularities of the soil.
It consists in placing upon the frame, a small reservoir of water communicating
with the aforesaid bar by a tube fitted with a junction, jointed in such a manner
as to enable the said bar to be raised, and with a tap to perform the washing
when desired; and also to regulate the force by opening more or less the tap..
The bar upon which the cutting blades are fitted, instead of being made hollow,
may have its surface grooved lengthwise and crosswise for distributing the water,
or in the case of machines now in use, a round or other tube with perforations
may be fitted to the said bar so as to adapt such machines to the principles of my
invention.
A force pump may be used to bring the water from the reservoir and force it to
the said bar; this pump may be worked by the driver of the machine or by the
running wheels.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, LOUIS ADRIEN COUTEAU, Leonville, France, Gentleman Farmer do hereby
declare the nature of my said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the washing and cleaning, during the whole time the
machine is in operation, or by intermittences, of the bar upon which the cutting
blades are fitted, of reaping and mowing machines of all kinds, so as to prevent the
blades, forks, guides, and slides from becoming clogged, by wetting and throwing
off the soil which collects in these parts, in crossing mole-hills, or other irregularities
of the soil.
It consists in placing upon the frame, a small reservoir filled with water, and
connected with the aforesaid bar (made hollow) by a tube fitted with a junction,
jointed in such manner as to enable the said bar to be raised, and with a tap, to
perform the washing when desired, and also to regulate the force by opening more
or less the tap.
The bar upon which the cutting blades are fitted, instead of being made hollow,
may have its surface grooved lengthwise and crosswise, for distributing the water,
or in the case of machines now in use, a round or other tubo with perforations may
be fitted to the said bar, so as to adapt such machines to the principles of my
invention.
A force pump may be used to bring the water from the reservoir and force it to
the said bar; this pump may be worked by the driver of the machine or by the
running wheels.
For the better understanding of my said invention, I have illustrated the same
in the accompanying drawings in which fig 1 is a top view of a reaping and
mowing machine constructed with a round tube as above described; fig. 2 is a side
view of the same, and fig. 3 is an enlarged top view of part of the saw or cutting
blades with the washing apparatus.
In these figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parta.
A is the frame of the machine; B the reservoir; C the knife bar; D the
connecting flexible pipe between the reservoir and a pipe E furnished with more
or less branch pipes F terminated by small diverging nozzles ff distributing water
to the right and left upon the cutting blades G; H a tap on the exhaust nozzle of
the pipe leading from the reservoir; and I the force pump.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
In the construction of reaping and mowing machines of all kinds, the combi-
nation, with the knife bar C and the saw or cutting blades G, of the reservoir B,
flexible tube D, pipe E, branches F, tap H, and pump I, substantially as described
for the purpose set forth.