IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PULLEYS, WHEELS, ARMS, CROSSES, BOSSES, AXLES, AND SHAFTS USED IN THOSE MACHINES AND OTHER CLASSES OF MACHINERY AND MECHANICAL TOOLS GENERALLY.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tenwick, of Grantham, in the County of
Lincoln, Moulder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING
AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PULLEYS, WHEELS,
ARMS, CROSSES, BOSSES, AXLES, AND SHAFTS USED IN THOSE MACHINES AND
OTHER CLASSES OF MACHINERY AND MECHANICAL TOOLS GENERALLY.'
"
Sealed the 1st September 1871, and dated the 9th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tenwick at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1871.
I, JOHN TENWICK, of Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, Moulder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PULLEYS,
WHEELS, ARMS, CROSSES, BOSSES, AXLES, AND SHAFTS USED IN THOSE MACHINES
AND OTHER CLASSES OF MACHINERY AND MECHANICAL TOOLS GENERALLY:"-
-
My first improvement relates to an arrangement in the form of
cutting edges of knife section. I make the section of triangular form,

page_text: with two cutting sides; and I bevil one side on the top, and the other
side on the bottom, thus forming one side of the section to cut upwards,
and the other side to cut downwards.
My second improvement relates to the arrangement of the holding
fingers of reaping and mowing machines on the finger bar, and the guide
clips which hold the knife in its proper position.
Heretofore the holding fingers of reaping and mowing machines have
been fixed to the finger bar to resist the cut either all at the top part of
the slot of the holding finger or all at the bottom part of it.
In my arrangement I introduce what I term thumbs, which I fix
alternately between each holding finger on the finger bar to resist the
upward cutting edge of the knife, and in each of these thumbs I make
two dovetailed or other suitable mortices, wherein I insert two pieces of
hardened steel or other suitable material for the knife to work against ;
by this arrangement the knife is kept in its proper position from heel to
point, and is likewise kept sharp and clean; and at the back end of each
of these thumbs I use a piece of hardened steel for the back part of the
knife to work against. The pieces of steel which I use in cach of theso
thumbs are held secure without the aid of bolt or rivet, or any foreign
agent whatever. When the thumb is fixed to the finger bar such pieces
of steel can be removed, and ground, and repaired, and replaced without
damage to the thumb or any other part of the machine. I thus make
the thumb answer two purposes, namely, a holding finger and a knifo
guide clip, and I form a recess or hollow between the steel jaws in the
thumb to prevent friction, and to keep the knife from coming in contact:
with anything but the hardened steel jaws of the thumb; the form of
the thumb is similar to that of a holding finger with this exception, that
it clips the finger bar both top and bottom, and is secured to the finger
bar by two bolts instead of one, which is used to secure the finger on the
finger bar.
In carrying my third arrangement into effect I cast or forge my
wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, bosses, axles, or shafts in one or more
pieces in the form required, but all the principal wearing parts I prefer
to cast in suitable chills. When practicable in making my boss or nave
of pulley or wheel, or arms, or bosses, or crosses, I prefer to make them
of circular form, but I do not confine myself to any particular form in
carrying out the same principle, and I prefer to cast them in three
separate pieces of cast iron or steel; and I also prefer to cast the body of

page_text: my wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, or bosses when practicable of malleable
cast iron, or a compound of ordinary cast iron and steel; and in the boss
or nave I accurately fit a ball or sphere, and in that ball or sphere I
make a square or suitable hole, in which is fitted the desired axle or
shaft. In the axle or shaft I make a slot or grove of the required size
for a screw to work in connection with the interior of the ball or sphere,
and so arranged that the ball or sphere may be moved to and fixed in
any required position on the axle or shaft. In some cases I cut a
continuous external screw on my axle or shaft, and a corresponding
internal screw in the hole of the ball or sphere, by which means I am
enabled readily to move the ball or sphere to any required position on
axle or shaft; and I make the screw either right or left handed, or both
combined, as may be required, and I bolt or rivet the boss or nave, or by
any other means screw the parts together which form my wheels,
pulleys, arms, bosses, crosses, axles, or shafts; and by putting the ball
or sphere on axle or shaft the wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, or bosses
can be made to revolve at any required angle desired by means of a cap
or collar, which I make to fit loose on the axle or shaft, and when the
wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, or bosses are adjusted to the angle
required I fit-the cap over the ball or sphere, and secure it to the axle
or shaft by set screws or other suitable means. In some cases two or
more caps or collars may be used, and if desired this construction can be
adapted to a driving wheel by enlarging the cap or collar, and further
screwing it into the body of the wheel, and one of those wheels which I
have described I use to carry the platform of a reaping machine.
The adjustable construction of my wheel in the manner above described
may be applied to various classes of machinery, as will be well understood
by those familiar with such work from the description given above. I
thus show by the use of my ball or sphere, and axle and shaft, that I am
able to adjust my wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, or bosses, to any angle
desired, and to move or work them in a vertical or horizontal plane as
may be required; and I do not confine myself to any description of
metal that will answer the purposes required.
In carrying my fourth arrangement into effect for mechanical tools or
other like purposes on the external part of my adjustable boss I introduce
one or more set screws to secure it firmly and adjust it properly to the
ball or sphere after being set to the angle desired. I likewise cast one
or more flanges on my adjustable boss, and one flange forms a table or

page_text: platform, and to that table or platform I bolt or otherwise secure the
article that has to be operated on, by this means I am able to set my
object to any angle desired. In some cases I cast a flange for the
purpose of bolting it to the face-plate of a lathe or the bed of a planing,
or boring, or slotting, or drilling machine, or any other machines of
like character; or if required I could secure any description of tool to
my adjustable boss, and cause the same to operate against the object
dosired and at the desired angle.
.
In using my adjustable pulley, wheel, arm, cross, or boss for field
work when the reaping or mowing or other agricultural machines are
propelled by steam or other power, I fix in the ground at any required
depth or distance apart from cach other any number of square or other
suitable sockets made of iron or other suitable material. In those sockets
I fit pieces of iron or steel to form the upright shaft for my adjustable
wheels or pulleys to work on when required to work in a vertical ·
position, but when they are required to be moved or worked in an
inclined or horizontal position I cause a chain or rope or bar of the
required size to be secured to the two extreme uprights or shafts, and if
required at any intermediate space between those extreme points at one
end of the chain or rope or bar of iron or steel, I connect a suitable
spring made of any suitable material and of the required strength, and
the other end of chain or rope or bar of iron or steel I secure to a cast-
iron barrel with ratchett wheel and a spring pall, with a suitable hole to
fit one of the two upright shafts, so that it will revolve freely round the
shaft, which I actuate or cause to revolve by a spanner or lever or any
other suitable means; this enables me to keep a taut chain or rope, and
the spring yielding to any sudden concussion prevents breakage; and on
this chain or rope or bar I attach my adjustable wheel or pulley which
can be secured at any required distanco, and adjusted to work at any
sowired angle.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Tenwick, Her special licence that I, the
said John Tenwick, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Tenwick, my 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 REAPING AND MOWING
MACHINES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PULLEYS, WHEELS, ARMS, CROSSES,
BOSSES, AXLES, AND SHAFTS USED IN THOSE MACHINES AND OTHER CLASSES OF
MACHINERY AND MECHANICAL TOOLS GENERALLY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Tenwick, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Tenwick, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
The first part of my Invention relates to the construction of knife
sections for attaching to the knife bars of reaping and mowing machines,
and consists in so making them that they cut when travelling in one
direction with an upward cut and in the other direction with a down-
ward cut. This is effected by forming the inclined faces (by grinding
or otherwise) on one side on the upper surface and on the other side on
the bottom surface in the manner shewn in Figures 1 and 2 in the
accompanying Drawings, where a is the inclined or cutting edge for
the upward cut, and the inclined or cutting edge for the downward
cut. The sections c are otherwise of the usual shape and have the
holes d, d, in them by which they are secured to the knife bar by bolts

page_text: or rivets. The advantage of making the two bevilled or cutting edges
in the manner described and shown is that the usual drag upon tho
straw or grass is avoided, the draft upon the machine is lessened, the
motion of the knife bar is more regular, and consequently the cutting
is more effectually accomplished than with the present arrangements.
The second part of my Invention relates to what I term "thumbs,"
which are fixed (alternately or otherwise) between the holding fingers
on the finger beam of reaping and mowing machines whether such are
provided with my reversed cutting edge knife sections or not. Tho
thumbs have mortices into which pieces of hardened metal are fitted
for the sections to work against, and by which the edges are not only
kept in their proper position from heel to point during the travel but
are likewise kept sharp and clean. At the back end of the thumbs
another piece of hardened metal is fitted against which the back part
of the sections bear, this part of the Invention will be understood
by referring to Figures 3 to 7 of the Drawings which are detached
views of a thumb e with the hardened metal pieces S,, fitted in
dovetailed grooves or recesses near the outer edges thereof, the under
surface being so shaped that the friction of the sections is against
the hardened metal pieces for the purpose of constantly sharpening the
cutting edges, and also for keeping the surfaces clean; is the back
piece which is kept in place by the hardened metal key i being forced
into the recess prepared for it for the purpose of retaining the pieces ƒ, ♪,
in place. The thumbs are as before stated attached to the finger beam
and either alternately with the ordinary fingers, or otherwise. By
removing the key i and the piece h the hardened metal pieces,f, can
be removed for grinding or other purposes and be replaced without
much trouble, it being only necessary to detach and withdraw the
knife bar from the "race."
Figures 8 and 9 show a modified form of thumb, with the pieces f.f.
fitted in the upper lip jin the manner before explained, and with a
bottom lip k so that the finger beam is embraced by the two lips through
which the fastening bolts or rivets pass to attach it to the beam. The
bottom lip is grooved where shown by the dotted line to decrease the
weight, but the groove or grooves may have hardened metal pieces
inserted into them if found convenient in addition to the pieces in
the upper lip, by this means my reversed inclined edged sections
will be acted upon on both faces during their travel in the "race" \;

page_text: or instead of the top and bottom lips being furnished with hardened
metal pieces the top lips only need have them to act upon one face
of the sections and the fingers m which could be fitted with similar
hardened metal pieces n, as shown in Figures 10, 11, and 12.
In carrying the third part of my Invention into effect, I cast or forgo
my wheels, pulleys, arms, crosses, bosses, axles, or shafts in one or in
two or more pieces in the form required, but all the principal wearing
parts I prefer to cast in suitable chills when practicable. In making my
boss or nave of pulley, or wheel, or arms, or bosses, or crosses, I prefer to
make them of circular form, but I do not confine myself to any particular
form in carrying out this part of my Invention. I prefer to cast them
in three separate pieces of cast iron or steel, and I also prefer to cast the
body of malleable cast iron or a compound of ordinary cast iron and steel.
Figure 13 is an elevation and Figure 14 a section of a pulley o with
the rim and the arms p, p, cast in one piece, the arms stopping short
near the axis, so that they can be clipped on each side by discs or
caps q, q, through which bolts can be passed to bind the whole together;
the inner faces of the discs being hollowed out to receive a spherical
body upon which the pulley can revolve and adjust itself to the angle
of the rope or chain which passes over it, there being angular faces on
the inner edges of the discs to permit tho pulley following such angle.
In the Drawings I have shewn the pulley as supported upon an axis
or shafts on which the sphere is mounted or forms part, the shaft &
being attached to a strap or bridle by which it can be suspended from
a hook in a roof or a jib of a lift or crane, the angle being limited by
the side walls of the bridle, as shown in Figure 15. I propose to form
an annular groove in the sphere for holding lubricating matter, the
flow of which would be regulated by the speed of rotation of the pulley
and the degree of grip given to the discs.
The pulley may be connected to any other kind of strap or bridle or to
a projecting stud such as I have shown in Figures 16 and 17, in which
caso the axles is attached to an anchor, such as is usually employed
when ploughing or cultivating the land by steam power, and when the
implements are drawn to and fro across the field by a stationary engine,
in the manner represented in Figures 18 and 19, in which case the
outside of the platform of a reaping machine for instance would be
supported by a wheel such as I have shown in Figures 20 and 21, which
wheels generally run at an angle to escape the standing crop against

page_text: the edges of which they run. One of the dises may be formed with
the arms and rims of the pullics or wheels, which disc can be passed
over the axle 8 on one side of the sphere and the separate disc over the
other end, before bolting or securing the two together, and in order to
retain the pulley or the wheel at any desired angle I sometimes tap a
tightening screw 1, Figure 22, through the disc or a shoulder on the
disc, which screw when tightened up bears against the sphere to hold
the wheel firmly thercon.
As before referred to, the sphere and hollow disc arrangement can
be fitted to a variety of mechanical appliances whether used upon farms
or in factories. The spherical body can be formed with a screw thread
through it so that by means of a threaded rod the pulley or the wheel,
as the case may be, can be moved along on the shaft & as shown in
Figures 22 and 23.
By way of showing how the sphere and hollow discs would be of
service in factories I have in Figures 24 and 25 represented a bed plate
of a lathe with a sphere for supporting a table or chuck plate t, which
can be moved to any angle to suit the work under operation and the
position of the cutting tool or tools; in this case the disc is divided and
cach half is put on separately. The discs may have flanges through
which the set screws could pass, and in many cases the flango or flanges
would be essential whether the set screws are used or not as they form
shoulders for the wheel or pulley to revolve upon, to relieve the sphere
from unnecessary strain; this will be understood on reference to Figure
17 of the anchor arrangement.
The next part of my Invention relates to fixed platforms or posts
suitable for securing engines, machines, anchors, or other appliances in
the field in which ploughing or other cultivating operations are to bo
performed, and consists in fixing in the ground at any required depth
or distance apart from each other any number of square or other suitable
sockets A such as I have represented in Figures 26, 27, and 28. In or
to those sockets I fit posts or pieces B of iron or steel to form the
upright shaft for the wheels or pulleys to work on when required to
work in a vertical position, but when they are required to be moved or
worked in an inclined or horizontal position, I secure a chain, rope, or
bar C, Figures 28 and 29, to the two extreme uprights or shafts, say
fitted in a field or to intermediate posts between those extreme points.
To one end of the chain, rope, or bar I connect a spring D, preferably of

page_text: the form shown in Figures 16 and 17, and to the other end of the chain,
rope, or bar I attach a barrel E with a ratchet wheel F and a spring
pawl G which fits over vertical post at the other end of the field, so
that the ratchet wheel will revolve freely round the post, which ratchet
wheel I actuate by a spanner or other appliance to strain the chain or
rope and to keep it taut, the strain being received by the spring before
referred to, which will yield to any sudden concussion and thereby
prevents breakages. The posts I prefer to be made hollow as shown, but
they may be solid if desired.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly. The construction and employment of knife sections in reaping
and mowing machines when formed with one cutting edge on the top
on one side and another cutting edge on the bottom on the other side,
as described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. I claim the employment of thumbs between the fingers
of reaping and mowing machines when arranged with hardened metal
pieces for the purpose herein-before described.
Thirdly. I claim the modification or combination of thumb and finger
when arranged with hardened metal for the purposes set forth.
Fourthly. I claim the fitting of hardened metal picces in the
fingers of reaping and mowing machines in the manner described and
shown.
Fifthly. I claim the construction of pulleys and wheels in the manner
described whereby they are adjustable automatically to the angle of
draught or strain.
Sixthly. I claim the employment of discs in wheels or pullies for
embracing a sphere on the axle or supporting shaft substantially as
described and shown.
Seventhly. I claim the means of adjusting the position of the sphero
upon an axle or shaft substantially as described and shewn.
Eighthly. I claim the combination of a fixed platform, vertical posts
in fields or land under cultivation, when such posts are provided
with ratchet and paul mechanism in the manner and for the purposes
set forth.

page_text: And, ninthly. I claim the combination of apparatus horein-before
described and shown, whereby agricultural oporations in or upon tho soil
can be accomplished with facility and case as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tenwick, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Fifth day of September One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.