Improvements in Machines for Cutting Thistles and other Weeds and Crops.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 6th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 6th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 7th Apr., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cutting Thistles and other Weeds
and Crops.
I, ALBERTUS MARTIN CRAGOE, of Manor Villa, Berkhamsted, in the County
of Hertford, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to a machine chiefly designed for cutting thistles, and other
weeds without cutting the grass beneath it but also applicable for cutting standing
crops.
In carrying out my invention I provide a frame mounted on suitable travelling
wheels, and having attached to or supported upon it knives of a V-form or otherwise
suitably shaped. Or I may use one long knife running obliquely from the front to
the back of the machine.
Poles or shafts may be attached to the machine if required.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
+, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cutting Thistles and other Weeds
and Crops.
I, ALBERTUS MARTIN CRAGOE, of Manor Villa, Berkhamsted, in the County
of Hertford, Gentleman, 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 :-
My invention relates to a machine chiefly designed for cutting thistles and other
weeds without cutting the grass beneath it but also applicable for cutting standing
crops.
In carrying out my invention I provide a frame mounted on suitable travelling
wheels, and having attached to or supported upon it knives of a V-form or otherwise
suitably shaped.
Poles or shafts may be attached to the machine if required.
To enable my invention to be fully understood will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention;
and,
Figure 2 is a plan.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are respectively, a side elevation, a plan, and an end elevation
illustrating a modification of my invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a, a are the cutter blades or knives which in practice are advantageously arranged
in the form of the letter V and at such an angle relatively with the longitudinal axis
of the machine that the knives will exert a shearing cut as the machine is drawn
forward.
As shewn in Figures 1 and 2 the blades a, a are arranged in conjunction with a
triangular frame which at its front end is supported upon a wheel and standard c

page_text: and at its rear end carried by an axle d, and the travelling wheels e, e; the said
axle has also fixed to it a pair of shafts f for a horse and a seat y for the driver.
The motion of the frame is transmitted to the blades through the medium of
standards h, h, h, which at their lower ends are fixed to the blades a, a and which
at their upper parts slide loosely in holes or sockets formed in brackets h', h', h²
attached to the frame b; the said sockets being made somewhat larger than the
standards in order that the latter shall be free to rise and fall relatively with the
frame b to accommodate themselves to the movements of the blade as it meets with
unevennesses upon the ground over which it is passing.
In order that when the machine is travelling from place to place the blade may
be lifted clear of the ground, I advantageously provide the following arrangement,
that is to say, on the top of the frame I provide an auxiliary frame having
sockets corresponding with the sockets in the brackets ' on the frame b, through
which sockets the standards h also pass. This auxiliary frame is connected by
links j, with a lever k the front end of which is pivotted upon a standard / fixed to
the frame b, whilst the rear end is provided with a spring catch working in connection
with a rack m. The upper ends of the standards are formed with enlargements
or provided with screw nuts in such a manner that when the auxiliary frame i is
lifted by means of the lever k the blades a, a will also be lifted, the standards h
sliding through the sockets in the brackets '.
In the modification of my invention shewn in Figures 3, 4 and 5 I shew the
blades a, a as being hinged to a kind of sledge, adapted to be pulled along the
ground and having at its front end a point o which forms a continuation of
the blades a, a.
In order to prevent any tendency which the sledge might have to
deviate from the straight course in case the work being performed by the blade at
one side is greater than that being performed by the blade on the other side, 1
advantageously provide the sledge with discs p,p which are pressed into the ground
by the weight of the sledge and which serve to support the latter against any
lateral pressure.
In order to enable the blades to be lifted clear of the ground when desired, I
advantageously provide wheels p', ' mounted on a cranked axle q to which axle
is also connected a lever r. When this lever is in a vertical position as shewn in
full lines in Figure 3, the wheels p', 'simply run idly upon the ground; when,
however, the lever is pulled down to the position indicated by dotted lines in the
said figure, the cranked axle q serves to depress the wheels whereby the sledge is
lifted away from the ground so that the implement can be readily steered and
guided by means of the handles s, s fixed to the rear end of the sledge. is a
spring catch for holding the lever in its lower position.
To prevent the blades from dragging upon the ground when the sledge is lifted,
I provide the bars or links t, t each connected at one end to the sledge and at the
other end to one of the blades a, a. The connections between the links and the
sledge are placed at some distance from the edges of the latter so that when
the implement is lifted the links will rest upon the sledge and so support the blades
clear of the ground. These links when the implement is in use.also serve to support
the blades against the lateral pressure due to the cutting.
Instead of using a pair of blades arranged in the form of a V as hereinbefore
described I sometimes employ one long knife running obliquely from the front to
the back of the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is-
1. A machine for cutting thistles and the like, wherein a long blade or blades
arranged obliquely to the direction in which the machine is to be drawn is or are
employed, the said blade or blades being free to follow the inequalities of the
ground, substantially as described.
2. A machine for cutting thistles and the like wherein an obliquely arranged

page_text: blade or blades is or are arranged in connection with a frame carried upon travelling
wheels and provided with means for lifting the blade or blades off the ground,
substantially as described.
3. The modification of my invention wherein the blade or blades is or are
attached to a sledge, substantially as described.
4. The manufacture and use of the improved machine for cutting thistles and the
like, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and
Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 6th day of March 1894.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.