US227048A - olcott - Google Patents

Description

. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J, H. OLOOTT.

Lawn-Mower.

' Patented April 27, 1880.

Inventor:

N. PETERS. PNOTO-LITMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTDN. D C.

2 SheetsM-Sheeaj; 2. J. H, OLOOTT. Lawn-Mower.

No.-227,048. Patented April 27, 1880.

N-PEYERB. FHOTO-UfHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON. B. C

UNITED STATES JOSEPH H. OLOOTT, OF MILLSTONE, NENV JERSEY.

LAWN-MOWER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 227,048, dated April 2'7, 1880.

Application filed February 17, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH H. OLOOTT, of Millstone, in the county of Somerset, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Mowers, of which the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates tocertain improve ments on thelawn-mowerfor which Letters Patent of the United States numbered 223,750 were granted to nie'the 20th day of January, 1880. 4

These improvements consist, first, in means I forreadily adjusting and holding the knives on their revolving stock; second, in a drivewheel for lawn-mowers having a rigidly-affixed axle and a smooth or unobstructed outer face free of projecting hubs or axles; third, in rigidly affixing the axles to the inner face of the wheels and supporting such axles in boxes on the frame, such boxes being adjustable to compensate for wear; fourth, in pro viding the cutter-bar with an adjusting-lever arranged at one end thereof and projecting rearwardly and adjust-ably held by a set-screw and spring in a bracket attached to the side framing.

In the drawin gs, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure lis a top-plan view of my lawn-mower. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the interior of the wheel. Fig. etis a vertical cross-section of the cutter; and Fig. 5 is a vertical crosssection of one of the driving-wheels.

A A designate the driving-wheels, having internal toothed rings a. B is the main shaft, having pinions b, which mesh with the toothed rings a. This shaft is supported in side pieces, 0 c, braced by rods or bars (I d, and constituting the frame.

Upon the shaft B is mounted a cutter-stock, O, composed of, say, three spiral wings, and at the edges of these wings are placed the cutters or knives 6, held thereupon by bolts f, arranged in open transverse slots g, said bolts serving to hold said knives close against the faces of the winged stock, but in order to provide for the proper adjustment of the cutters upon the stock to compensate for wear as they are sharpened, I secure said knives by means, of screw-threaded hooks h, whose beards project through holes in said knives, (see Fig 4,) and their shanks lie in transverse grooves 11 back of the knives in the stock, and extend thence downwardly into longitudinal slots j made through the stock, wherein said hooks are secured by nuts It. By means of these nuts these hooks may be loosened or tightened to permit the adjustment of the knives, and the knives are held firmly to the stock.

Itwill be understood that the gearing of shaft B with the driving-wheels insures a rotary motion to the cutter-stock.

I have found that where the drive-wheels are made with hubs and are mounted on axles or studs projecting from the framing, such axles or studs are soon worn off and cut the hub, so that the wheels become speedily defective and frequent renewals of the axles are necessary, and, too, the machine runs loosely.

To obviate these serious defects, I attach rigidly, and preferably permanently, to the wheels A A the studs or axles l, (see Fig. 5,) and provide boxes at for such axles in the side framing, c, in which they are secured by any usual nut and washer, n. Of course the wear of the boxes will be upon their inner upper surfaces, and to compensate for this wear I divide the boxes, and make their upper or bearing halves, m, adjustable with relation to the lower halves by means of vertical extensions m set in the frames 0, and having set-screws 0 arranged in slots 12 in the parts m and engaging with the usual face-plates A of the wheels A.

By loosening the set-screws o the bearings m may be pressed down upon the fixed portions, so as to tighten upon the axles and take up the slack or wear. When these bearings are worn out they may be readily replaced at small cost.

By making the axles rigid with the wheels such wheels run truer and the machine works better and is more durable.

In my patent hereinbefore referred to the cutter-bar (herein lettered D) was adjusted by a lever projecting rearwardly from its middle and held by a set-screw, spring, and bracket arranged upon a bar extending from the sides.

This construction was costly, and uselessly complicated the machine. I now arrange this lever r at one end of the cutter-bar, (see Fig. 1,) and the bracket r, with its spring and set-- screw W, I affix to one side of the machine, so that it is out of the way. The bar to supportit is dispensed with and the machine rendered much more compact.

The pioneer or caster-wheels E are adjustabl secured to the frames by means of slides 8 on said wheels, arranged to work in ways 8 on the frames 0, and secured thereto by setscrews or bolts 8 extending through slots 8 in the frames. By means of this adjustability the cutter may be arranged to cut closer or otherwise, as desired.

F is the handle, which may be removably secured in a forked brace, F, pivoted at t to the sides 0. This brace is held at various angles, to suit operators of different heights, by means of a set-screw, a, arranged in a slot, Q), in the side 0.

These details of improvement add materially to the effectivel'less of my lawn-mower.

By my construction of wheels with fixed axles another very importantresultis obtained, in thatin mowing upon tree-studded lawns, the mowing-machine having no projecting axles extending beyond the planes of the faces of the wheels, the machine may be run close to the trees without liability of barking them. This barking of trees by the sharp projecting axles of machines now in use is oftentimes a very serious matter. I have entirely remedied this by the making of the faces of the wheels smooth and without projections of any kind.

My mode of securing and adjusting the knives upon the stock by the screw-hooks prevents the possibility of displacement when in contact with anyhard substance. if the blades are taken off for any purpose they can be replaced in their original position without tro uble. These screw-hooks also take much of the strain oft the bolts f, so that they need not be tightened to their full capacity.

What I claim is- 1. A cutter-stock provided with longitudinal and transverse slots, knives, screw-hooks, nuts therefor, and fastening-bolts, combined substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A cutter-stock provided with longitudinal and transverse slots and grooves extending outwardly at right angles from such longitudinal slots, in combination with knives, screw-hooks, nuts therefor, and means for fastening the knives, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A drive-wheel for lawn-mowers having a rigidly-affixed axle and a smooth or unobstructed outer or external face free of projecting hubs or axles, substantially as described.

4:. The drive-wheels of a lawn-mower having axles or studs projecting inwardly from their inner faces and rigidly affixed thereto, in combination with the side framing of the machine and adjustable or compensating boxes arranged in such framing, substantially as described.

5. A drive-wheel for law-mowers, adapted to contain and conceal within itself the gearing for driving a rotary cutter, constructed with an axle or stud rigid with and extending from its inner face. whereby the wheel may be connected with the framing of the machine and its outer face rendered free of projecting hubs or axles, substantially as described.

6. In a lawn-mower, a cutter-bar provided with an adjusting-lever arranged at one end thereof and projecting rearwardly, and adjustably held by a set-screw and spring in a bracket attached to the side framing, the several parts being constructed and arranged and all combined substantially as specified.

To the above specification of my invention I have signed my name this 16th day of February, A. D. 1880.

JOSEPH H. ()LOOTT.

Witnesses:

W. B. RIBBLE, N. S. WILsoN.

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