US18788A - Improvement in mowing-machines - Google Patents

Description

E. BALL.

' Harvester.

Patented Dec. I, 1857.

end being pivoted to a sickle, O, working beiUNirEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. BALL, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND JOHN BUTLER,

OF BUFFALO,

NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING-MAC HINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,788, dated December 1, 1857.

To all. 'whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, E. BALL, of Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Grass-Harvesters, better known as Balls Improved Ohio Mower, and Idohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andsufiicient description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of the same, of which- Figure 1 is a side view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of the same. Fig.4is a detached view of one of the pinions and a portion of one of the spur-wheels, the pawl and ratchet of the pinion being shown. Fig. 5 is a detached plan or top view of one of the pinions.

My invention consists in a peculiar manner of attaching the finger-bar to the frame of the machine.

The frame of the machine, A, is of rectangular form, and is supported by two drivingwheels, B B, each of which has a separate axle, O, and also a spur-wheel, D, secured to the inner sides of the spokes and gearing into a pinion, E. Both of these pinions are placed loosely on the ends of a horizontal shaft, F, which runs in suitable hearings, to a, on the frame A. To this shaft F there are permanently secured two caps, G, within each of which a pawl, b, is secured, and these pawls catch into the teeth of ratchets H H,'which are attached to the inner sides of the pinions E E. (See Figs. 4. and 5.) The pawls have small springs 0 directly over them, oneover each, which keep them in the teeth of the ratchet.

I is a bevel-toothed wheel, securely attached to the shaft F. The wheel I gears into a bevelpinion, J, at the upper end of an inclined shaft, K, which runs in suitable bearings, 11 d, attached to the frame A. Directly back of the pinion J, on the shaft K, there is a fly or balance wheel, L, which serves to prevent little irregularities in the action of the machine, or of its wheels, from affecting the action of the sickle. At the lower end of the shaft there is a crank-pulley, M, to which one end of a connecting-rod, N, is attached, the opposite tween fingers e 6 upon the finger-bar P.

To the inner end of the finger-bar P there is rigidly secured at a right angle an inclined bar, Q, the upper end of which is attached to a small rod,f, by a pivot, g, forming a joint or hinge, the rodf being itself secured within a cylindrical socket, h,'by a nut, h, screwed upon the end of said rod, which has a thread cut thereon for this purpose. The socket h is fastened to the under side of the front crosspiece, t, of the frame, the bar Q, therefore running lengthwise of the frame and at its side, as shown in the drawings. Q

To the inner end of the finger-bar P the brace-rod It is connected by a pivot, j, the outer end of said brace-rod being attached to the back part-of the frame A by a pivot, 7:.

As the machine is drawn along the drivingwheels B B of course move in the direction indicated by arrow 1, Fig. 4, and the spur- Wheels D 1), moving in the same direction, cause the pinions E E to move in the direction of arrow 1. The teeth of the ratchets H H, catching against the pawls 1), cause the shaft F to rotate, and motion is thereby communicated to the sickle 0 through the shaft K and connecting-rod N. In case of the machine being moved backward, the sickle O is not operated, as the spurs and pinions then move in the directions indicated by arrows 2 and 2, and the teeth of the ratchets H H slip underneath their respective pawls. The cutter-bar P is permitted to rise and fall bodily, or either end may rise and fall according to the irregularities of the ground, in consequence of its connection to the frame A by the bar Q, for the upper end of said bar is connected to the frame by a universal joint, the pivot g allowing the finger-bar and bar Q. to rise and fall bodily, and the ability of the rodfto turn in the socket. h permitting either end to rise and fall, the brace-rod R serving to steady the finger-bar while it is moved and to prevent it from being wrenched out of place by the resistance of the grass or of obstacles; and thus the fingerbar is, under all circumstances, at liberty to conform to the unevenness of the ground, and consequently the sickle will perform its work better and with greater uniformity than it otherwise could do.

I am aware that I am not the first to hang the linger-bar from the main frame, so that it can yield to the inequalities of the ground. This has been done by prolonging the finger-bar, ing is combined with a firm connection, and at or by attaching to it another bar prolonged beyond and in the rear of the main frame and driving-wheels, as in the case of the harvester of Jonathan Haines, patented September 4, 1855, (the which in all its parts I entirely disclaim,) the finger-bar, as thus extended, being hung from the front cross-piece of the frame by rods, the ends of which are hooked in staples respectively to the extended finger-bar and to the front cross-piece. The chief objection to this arraugementjs that as the machine passes over the grass already cut,

which is left spread upon the ground at the previous passage of the sickle, the extension of the finger-bar pushes it up before it, and finally takes it up and carries it along until it falls off inlarge quantities, thus heaping the grass and preventing it from drying so thoroughly. At the same time this gathering of grass by choking the crank in front of it either renders the working of the sickle very ditficult or stops it altogether. This difficulty, it is obvious, cannot occur where (as in my improvement) the finger-bar ends on the inner side of the machine, and is soattached by the brace-rod R and the rigidly-attached bar Q that perfect freedom of motion in rising and fallthe same time leaves the ground entirely free in the rear of the driving-wheels and within the line described by the forward motion of the inner end of the sickle, as shown. The broad and rigid attachment of the inclined bar Q to the finger-bar P so firmly supports and vholds the latter in place that'the objections stantially as and for the purpose above set forth.

In testimony whereofl have hereunto set my hand before two subscribing witnesses.

E. BALL.

' Witnesses:

DAVID SLANKs, PERCY S. SOWERS.

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