MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES'
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Pratt at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st July 1883.
EDWARD PRATT, of Uxbridge, in the County of Middlesex
MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES'
"
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
My invention relates to machines used for mowing or reaping grass or corn, in
which the cutting apparatus by which the grass or corn is cut is driven by
mechanism actuated by the wheels which support the machine and are made to
revolve as the latter is drawn forward.
In order that the wheels which so actuate the cutting mechanism should operate
properly it is necessary that their friction against the surface of the ground over
which they pass should be sufficient to prevent them from slipping without
revolving, and in order to increase this friction it has been usual to form teeth or
projections upon their peripheries, which teeth or projections are forced into the
ground as the machine travels. It is found however that wheels, so made, very
quickly wear away and require to be renewed, and my present invention has for
its object a novel method of making the wheels so that they are very much more
durable than such wheels as ordinarily heretofore made, whilst their cost is very
little increased.
In order to put my invention in operation I make the wheels of cast iron, and
I cast upon their peripheries a sufficient number of projections to enter the ground
for the purpose described, but I make the body and periphery of the wheel of
ordinary cast iron whilst the projections are moulded and cast so that their
external surface for a sufficient depth is extremely hard and capable of resisting
wear. For this purpose I cast the body of the wheel in a mould formed of sand,
whilst the parts of the mould which form the projections are made of metal so as
to form what are known as "chills" by which the iron when cast in them is
rendered intensely hard and durable.
The projections cast in the way described may be of any suitable shape and
dimensions, and wheels made as described are very durable and free from wear
and tear when used as hereinbefore described for actuating the cutting apparatus
of mowing or reaping machines.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Pratt in the Patent Office on the 31st January 1884.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
EDWARD PRATT, of Uxbridge, in the County of Middlesex
MOWING AND REAPING MACHINES
"
My invention relates to machines used for mowing or reaping grass or corn, in
which the cutting apparatus by which such grass or corn is cut is driven by
_mechanisin¸ actuated by the wheels which support the machine and are made to
revolve as the latter is driven forward over the ground.
-
In order that the wheels which so actuate the cutting mechanism may operate
properly it is necessary that their friction against the surface of the ground over
which they pass should be sufficient to prevent them from slipping without
revolving, and in order to increase this friction it has been usual to form teeth or
projections upon their peripheries, which teeth or projections are forced into the
ground as the machine travels. It is found however that wheels so made are
liable to wear away very quickly and require to be frequently renewed, and my
present invention has for its object a novel method of making the wheels so that
they are very much more durable than such wheels as ordinarily beretofore made
whilst their cost is very little increased.
In order to put my invention in operation I make the wheels of cast iron, and
I cast upon their peripheries a sufficient number of projections of the form and size
such as are ordinarily used to enter the ground for the purpose above described,
but I make the body and periphery of the wheel of ordinary cast iron whilst the
projections themselves are moulded and cast in such manner that their external
surface for a sufficient depth is extremely hard and capable of resisting wear.
For this purpose I cast the body of the wheel in a inould formed of sand whilst
the parts of the mould which form the projections described are made of metal so
as to form what are known as "chills" by which the iron when cast in contact
with them is rendered intensely hard and very durable. The boxes containing the
parts of the mould consisting of sand, contain also those parts of metal constituting
the chills for the projections, and may be fitted together by bolts or other
convenient means.
The projections cast in the way described may be of any suitable shape and
dimensions, and wheels made as described are very durable and free from wear
and tear when used as hereinbefore described for actuating the cutting apparatus
of mowing or reaping machines, of any of the kinds ordinarily used.
"Having now described my invention and the manner in which it is to be
performed, I claim the method of casting projections upon the driving wheels of
mowing or reaping machines in chills, whilst the wheels themselves are cast in
sand, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I the said Edward Pratt have hereunto set my hand and
seal this 30th day of January in the year of our Lord 1884.
TOWARD
DD ATT