IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of 33, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Emile Lacheze, of
Paris France.
'
Sealed the 27th April 1880, and dated the 28th October 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Griffith Brewer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th October 1879.
EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of 33, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES." (A communication from
abroad by Emile Lacheze, of Paris, France.)
The object of this Invention is to provide a reaping machine, which can also be
used as a mowing machine, combined and arranged in such manner that it may be
drawn by small animals or by two men, and even by a man and a child. The
latter being harnessed to the pole guides the machine, while the man walking behind
the knives works the driving crank of the same, which governs equally or controls
more or less the advancement of the machine in such manner as to maintain between
the speeds of the two motions a suitable relationship, as will be more fully hereafter
described. This condition is essential for the proper working of the machine, in
fact, the reapers now used have this fault, that being regulated by a certain
determined speed they do not work well when this speed is changed consequently
upon variations in the speed of the motion of the machine, or from other cause.
It is this defect which the inventor wishes to avoid in his system of machine, and
there is at the same time added to the machine different mechanical arrangements
suitable for facilitating the employment of the machine on difficult land.
The reaper is mounted on a carrying wheel supported on a cast iron frame, on
which rests also in cast iron, or it may be of wrought iron, a frame on which the
driving crank is mounted. On the horizontal shaft of this crank a bevil wheel is
keyed which gears with a pinion mounted on a vertical shaft resting in the
bearings arranged on the frame; this shaft carries at its lower end a large wheel
gearing with a pinion mounted on the shaft, on the top of which is keyed a fly
wheel, and which descends to a certain distance from the ground, where it carries a
crank disc provided with a knuckle joint of the connecting rod which drives the

page_text: sickle. At each end of the sickle driving rod there is a ball and socket joint, so
that the connecting rod may work in all directions. By means of this arrangement
of transmission just described the crank gives to the blades the speed suitable for
cutting, and besides it works the shaft of the bearing wheel, as before explained, in
order to maintain always a constant and suitably chosen relation between the speed
of the progression of the machine and the speed of the blades. For this purpose the
vertical shaft, being worked by the crank, is prolonged towards the base of and
carries a bevil pinion which gears with a wheel keyed to the axle. It will be thus
seen that the crank acts to turn the axle, and consequently to advance the machine
at the same time as to transmit to the knives the alternate motion required. A
brake lever liberates the bearing wheel from the action of the pinion mounted in
the shaft; the axle is cranked towards the bottom and carries at its end a wheel
which gives stability to the machine.
When the brake is taken off the machine can advance without the aid of the
crank. In certain cases shafts can be used to yoke an animal; the lightness of the
machine enables the weakest animals to draw it without exertion. Two bearing
wheels instead of one may be used.
The knives have imparted to them a speed sufficiently great in order that they
may travel in a given time a greater distance than necessary to cut the grass the
length the machine has advanced. It may thus be said that they are in advance of
the machine, although they do not cut all the grass which they could cut, and
consequently they can never choke or injure the grass instead of cutting it, which
is one of the causes of loss of power the most important in ordinary machines. In
order to avoid choking up and to facilitate the cutting of fodder it is preferred to
employ blades having an angle more obtuse than the blades now used. The blades
made according to this Invention are shorter; the heel is prolonged at the rear in
such manner as to cover entirely the blade carriers. It is not necessary to keep the
latter in its working position; it is bolted on a support which is in a piece with a
prolongation on which the axle of a carrying wheel is mounted, placed in front of
the machine, and which is jointed at one side to the end of a suspension rod attached
on the frame; on the other side this support is jointed on another suspension rod
which is held to an arm mounted on the axle of the carrying wheel of the machine.
Instead of being jointed, as before described, the arms which sustain the blade
carriers can be mounted in such manner as to be able to rise and fall in a right line,
so as to follow all the undulations of the ground during the cutting operation.
In all cases the arrangement allows the finger bar to make a complete double
turn about the joints of its support and to be placed upright at the side of the
carrying wheel; the front wheel returns at the same time, and the machine is ready
to advance on the road.
At the same time this system of articulation allows the sickle to adapt itself to
all the movements of the ground, and to follow the undulations of the soil in such
manner that the cutting of the grass is effected always regularly; the finger bar
can rise and fall while working a certain extent, and besides the articulations allow
the connecting rod to guide it with precision. Such are the advantages and the
characteristic features of this reaper and mower, which is applicable to the cutting
of herbs, such as grass and corn of all kinds. The form and dimensions may be
varied without altering the mechanical principles as it were of the Invention:

page_text: "
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Griffith Brewer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th April 1880.
EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of 33, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex.
'IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES." (A communication from
abroad by Emile Lacheze, of Paris, France.)
This mowing machine, which may also be used as a reaping machine, presents the
advantage of very little power being required, and of its being capable of being used
on lands usually most unfavourable to the well working of ordinary machines. The
apparatus may, according to its size, be driven by a horse, or by two men if preferred;
in the latter case one man draws the machine whilst the other drives the knives.
The knives have imparted to them sufficient speed in order that they may
always accomplish in a given time a greater travel than that necessary to cut the
grass.
Figures 1 to 12 of the accompanying Drawings shew an example of this mower
for horse power, and Figures 13, 14, and 15, show an example of a machine for
hand power constructed according to this Invention.
As will be seen by the Drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the frame a of the machine
The nave of
is supported on two bearing wheels b mounted loosely on the axle c.
each wheel carries at its inner side a platform d on which two spring pawls e are
jointed gearing with a ratchet ƒ pinned on the axle (Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11).
The wheels can thus turn freely in one direction, while in the other they carry with
them the axle c in such manner that the machine may turn easily and go backwards
without transmitting any movement to the sickle. The finger bar is suspended to
the frame and to the axle by jointed arms h, i, which allow the finger bar to rise
and fall according to the undulations of the soil. The arm his jointed in a
socket j, itself jointed to the frame, these two joints being perpendicular; this
arm has a fork k at its other end on which the finger bar is adapted. Above
the fork the arm h carries a socket s in which the end of the second arm turns,
the other end of which is jointed in a fork in a piece with the frame and
traversed by the axle. The first supporting arm h carries a lifting chain m worked
by a lever n provided with a stop bolt for regulating the height of the finger bar
from the level of the soil. Towards the end of the arm h there is a draught chain o
which holds it to a hanging piece p, jointed at top on the shaft pole q and connected
to the swing bar r. This arrangement of mounting facilitates the oscillation or
reciprocation at the same time that the direction of the draught can be exactly
regulated, which in some cases is very important. The finger bar is guided in the
soil by a shoe S fitted on the internal side, while the other side is supported by a
roller wheel t. It is easy to raise the finger bar by turning it about the fork which
supports it on the inner side, the parts of the machine being so arranged that nothing
interferes with this movement.
The transmission of the movement to the knife bar and the clutch device are
operated in the following manner :-
The axle carries a bevil wheel u which is mounted loosely on it and which gears
with a bevil pinion v keyed on an intermediate vertical shaft x carrying a wheel y,
which gears with a pinion z mounted on a second shaft w; this latter carries at its
lower part a crank a¹ which is provided with the connecting rod 6'; the same shaft
carries a counterbalance piece c¹, mounted eccentrically in such manner as to equalize
the velocity of the crank disc (Figure 12). On the two fork heads of the connecting
rod the swivels d¹ are jointed which hold it with the crank and the button of the
knife bar, consequently the connecting rod is jointed in two directions, or in other
words, the connecting rod is jointed to the crank disc face and at the other end to
the inner end of the knife bar. Thus it will be seen that the direction in which

page_text: the two ends of this connecting rod is jointed is highly favourable to the even
working of the driving mechanism.
The clutch arrangement consists of a rod e¹ which commands the clutch ƒ¹
mounted on the axle, and which is maintained in place by means of a counter-
weight g (Figures 5 and 6). h¹ is a seat fitted to the rear of the machine for the
driver, whose feet rest on a tool box i¹ placed on the platform.
To employ this new mower as a reaping machine all that is necessary is to arrange
at the rear of the blades the ordinary table, or by adding any other necessary parts
to the reapers without changing in other ways the cutting mechanism.
The blades j' which are employed are more open than the ordinary blades, and
their points instead of running during the alternate motion in a straight line, going
from axis to axis of the two fixed consecutive knives (ends of the finger bar), and
that their point describes a straight line, the ends of which are found between the
two fixed knives (ends of the finger bar) (Figure 3), so as to constantly disengage
the opening of the fixed knife (finger) of all foreign matters which could or may
there collect.
The greater portion of these arrangements are found in the illustration of the hand
mower which is shewn at Figures 13, 14, and 15, which is based on the same
principle, but in which a crank applied to the upper part of the apparatus enables
the workman who attends to it to cooperate in its movement.
This mower shewn on the Drawing is only provided with a single wheel A,
serving at the same time to carry the apparatus and to transmit motion to the
knives.
On the cast iron frame B, which serves as a support to the chief parts of the
apparatus, there is fitted a second lighter frame C of cast or wrought iron which
carries the driving crank D, its horizontal axis E, the bevel wheel F, and the
pinion G, mounted on the vertical shaft H. This shaft H carries at its lower part
a pinion R which gears with the tooth wheel S in a piece with the driving carrying
wheel A before mentioned, which is thus put in direct relation with the crank D
above named.
The transmission of the movement of the shaft H to the blades is effected as in
the arrangement of mower previously described, by means of the wheel I, pinion J,
and shaft K, the upper end of which carries a regulating flywheel L, and the lower
part of which carries the crank disc M, of which the button N receives the connecting
rod O which drives the knife bar P.
In order that the machine may be easily rendered inoperative (deplacer) a brake
lever Q enables the sickle carrier to be liberated from the action of the carrying
wheel A. On the other hand the axle is bent towards the arm, and carries at its
end a roller which gives stability to the machine.
The sickles which are employed are naturally the same or similar to those
previously described, and they are arranged in the same manner.
As in the preceding machine the finger bar is connected to a shoe or support T
which forms part with a prolongation U carrying the axle of a roller V, and placed
in front of the machine. The shoe carrying the finger bar is suspended from the
machine by two jointed arms, one W which is attached to the shoe, and the other Y
supports the finger bar by means of the rod X.
The finger bar may also be turned up and placed on end at the side of the carrying
wheel when the machine has to be taken along common roads or otherwise.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that the combinations of arrangements and of
detail of this mower or reaper above described, and of which two descriptions of
machines are given on the accompanying Drawings, may be driven by hand power,
animal, or other suitable motor, and I particularly claim,―
First. The employment of two vertical shafts and four gear wheels for transmitting
the motion to the sickle (porte lames), this characteristic allowing the friction to be
reduced and reducing the size of the machine, substantially as set forth.

page_text: Second. The arrangement and mode of action of the connecting rod provided
with swivel (rotales) to the crank disc, substantially as set forth.
Third. The special combination, construction, and mode of action of the blades, so
as to avoid stopping up of same, substantially as described and illustrated with
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
הTIIIהו נזת
("curr
E. G. BREWER