USRE722E - Improvement in grain and grass harvesters - Google Patents

Description

'PATENT OFFICE.

Pei-Lo sYLLA, OF ELGIN, AND AUGUsTUsADAMs, OF sANDwIoH, intisois',

AssiGNoas To o. AULTMAN a co., o1 oANToN, oHio.

IMPROVE MENT lN GRAIN AND GRASS HARVES TERS.l

4Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,038, dated September 20, 1853; Reissue No. 722, dated May 17, 1859.

DIVIsIoN B.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that PHrLo SYLLA, of Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, and AUGUsTUs ADAMS, formerly of the same place, but now residing at Sandwich, in the county of De Kalb, i1said State, invented cer- Vtain new and useful Improvementsin Machines for Harvesting Gra'in, Mowing Grass, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference bein g had to the annexed drawings, which make part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a view inlperspective of a machine showing-one mode of applying said improvements, the finger-beam being raised from the ground to adapt the machine for reaping. Fig. 2 represeu'ts a plan of a portion of the under side of the machine, to exhibit more fully the flexible connection of the finger-beam with the main frame. Fig. 3 represents a plan of the machine, the finger-beam resting on the ground to adapt the machine for mowiug.

Fig. 4 represents a Vertical transverse section of the machine atthe line l 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a Vertical longitudinal section of the same at the line 2 2 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 represen ts a plan of thecuttin g apparatus, the tingenbeam, and the coupling-arm for connectingl the finger-beam to the main frame. Fig. 7 is a Vertical section at the line 3 3 of Fig. 6, showing the provision for allowing play in the joint between the finger-beam 12 and the yielding bar K.

That side of the machine which runs next the standing grain we call the **left side, and the other, at which the horses are placed, we

the right side. o

The 'accompanying drawings represent a machine having a frame large enough to support, in addition to the cutting apparatus and machinery required for mowing, a removable platform placed behind the cutter, such as is common in ordinary machines adapted to reaping and mowing, an elevated table behind the platform to bind the grain upon, stands for a raker and binders, a dumping-tray to carry the sheaves until a sufiicient quantity for a shock has aecnmulated, and then to dump them in a I and the preponderating weight is-sus'tained by vheap upon the ground, and a stand or place for the driver of the team by which the niachine is drawn.

VVhenever it may be expedient to use one or more oftheV several parts or branches of said improvements separate from the rest, such part or ,parts might be used in connection with framesand gearing more convenient than those herein described, which are proportioned and arrangedwith reference to the use of the whole of thezparts together, and it is obvious that several parts of the said im provements are applicable to various other r'eaping or mowing machines'in use. One mode of applying each of these improvements to practical use is shown iu Vthis machine. necessary to specify the manner of applying the parts respectively to other machines, as the ordinary skill of a constructer is sufficient for that purpose.

Machines for reaping and mowing as here-` tofore constructed have' not carried their cutner that either end of the beam may rise and fall within certain limits without elevating or depressing the other end, and that while being drawn over undulating ground the upward t and downward imovements of the beam shall be independent of such movements of the frame, and governed by the undula'tions of the ground.

In the accompanying drawings, the main frame A A' AZ'A3 A4 B B' Bz B3 E E' E2 is supported upon two Wheels, D and D', whose journals re'st in beari ngs in blocks O G', made adjust-l able to set the frame at a variable distance from the ground. This frame is he'avier in front of than behind .the axis of the Wheels D and D',

It is therefore un! I the bottom of the Strap.

a truck in front composed of two Wheels, E3 E3, and an. axle, F, and connected with the main frame by a'draft-bar, F2, hinged at its'rear end on a pivot, F4, to the beam A' of the frame. vFor the purpose of allowing 'the front of the main frame to be raised, lowered, and held at different heights, the draft-bar passes through a Strap, F3, attached to the beams E and Al, and a wedge placed between the top of the Strap and the draft-bar holds the front'of the frame at any required height within the range of adjustment allowed by the str-ap; and it may be lowered by wi'thdrawing the wedge, and may be held down by placing the wedge between the under side of the draft-bar and A like effect may be .produced by passing a pin through the strap above or below theidraft-bar in the holes made for the pin in the sides of the strap. By these means the connection of the draft-bar with the frame may by turns be limber or rigid, and the front of the frame set at various heights from the ground. Vhen the wedge and pin are withdrawn the front of the main frame and the vfront end of the tongue respectively are free to play up and down Within the limits of the Strap independently of each other. The ends attained by the adj ustment already described may likewise be attained to a certain extent by adjusting the pivot F4, on which the rear end of the draft-bar F2 hinges, from one hole to another in a Series formed for its receptiou in the side of the beam A'. i

i The tongue F', by which the horses draw the machine, is attached toand extends for- Ward from the axle of the tr-uck.

- The motion of the cntter in this machine is derived from one of the Wheels which carry the main frame. .wheel D a. bevel-wheel, G, is secured, which takes into and drives a pinion, G', on a counter-shaft, G2, which also carries a spur-wheel,

G3, that takes into and drives a pinion, G4, on the end of a shaft whose opposite end carrieS Va crank, H, which through a connecting-rod, H',jointed to the cutter-bar E2, communicates a vibratory motion to a cutter arranged to play through a series of guard-fingers, J2, projecting from the front side of the finger-beam 12. The bearing of that end of the shaft G2 which carries a pinion, G, is in an upright arm, 113, hinged at its lower end to the frame, so that by turning this arm Atoward or from the Wheel D the pinion may be thrown into or out ot' gear with the'wheel to put the cutter into or out of motion. The pinion is held in either position atwill by means of a notched detent, i' I, pivoted to the main frame.

The cutter B2 and guard-fingers J2 are of the ,usual construction and supported by the finger-beam in the usual manner. The right end of the finger-beam I2 is connected to the frame `by means of a strong link or coupling-arm, J,

hinged at its left end to the right end of the finger-beam, and at its right end to a crossbeam, E', of the main frame. This coupling- On the side of the right arm is made broad to give it lateral Strength,

as it is most liable to injury from lateral strains, and likewise to give the requisite length of bearing to the hinges at its ends to give lateralstiffness to its connect-ion with the finger-beam and frame.

The progressive motion'of the frame on its wheels carries forward the coupling-arm, and that in its turn carries forward the finger-beam and cutter, and as the coupling-arm ,is rigid laterally only, and its left end (to which the finger-beam is connected) free to rise and fall, the finger-beam necessarily rests on the surface of the ground; therefore in passing over nndulating ground the finger-beam will rise or fall at either or both ends and sway up and down, as may be required, to conform to the surface of the ground, and will have an up- Ward and downward motion corresponding to the upward and downward inclinations of such surface. Moreover, the finger-bearn thus arranged will move along the surface of uneven ground without being raised or lowered by the rising and falling and swaying up and down of the main frame, or the rising and falling or swaying to the right and left of the driving-wheel. Thus the upward and.l down- Ward movenients of the finger-beam are rendered in a great measure, it' not altogether, independent of those of the driving-wheel and main frame.

Although the coupling-arm of itself may have sufficient strength to carry the fingerbeam forward to mowunder ordinary circum- Stances, yet thus arranged and carrying the finger-beam at its freeend, it would be subject to great strains and liable to be wrcnched offin case the finger-beam should comeinto contact with a Stump, large stone, or other firmly-set obstacle. Therefore the said inventors devised the plan of supporting the coupling by a yielding bar or 'brace, K, extending from the junction ot' the left end of the couplingarm with the right end of the finger-beam backward, and connected by a hinge, K2, to the cross-bar Bof the frame; and in order that this brace mayiu no way, not even by its owu weight, hinder the upward and downward movements of the finger-beam, its rear end is extended some distance behind. its hinge K2, and is enlarged to connterbala'nce byits weight not only the weight of .its front end, but also that of the coupling-arm and of the connect-- ing-rod which gives motion to the cutters, soV

that the right end of the finger-beam may bear as lightly on the ground and be as free to rise and fall as the leftend. The bar K takes the transverse strain off the coupling-arm, and is subjected mainlyto a thrustin'gstrain, and the coupling-arm, thus relieved by the bar, is now subjectcd mainly to a tensile Straiu, and together they are capable of resisting all the Strains that would be produced by drawing the finger-beam over the surface of the roughest ground suitable for mowiug with a' machine. Since, how-` ever, this machine is designed for reaping as quired to be used as a reaper, and when so used it must likewise be capable of carrying the finger-beam at a height of several inches above the ground,the said inventors contri'ved a second yielding bar, K', to support the left end of the finger-beam, to which itis attached at its forward end, and is hinged Ato the side rail, A2, of the frame on a pivot, K4. The forward ends of both the yieldiug bars are connected with the finger-beam, one of them, at least, not rigidly, but both strongly, so as to give the requisite support to the beam without preventing it from swaying freely within certain limits or rising and falling at either end unrestrained by the opposite end. One mode of securing the requisite freedom of the connection is by providing for play in thejoint between the bar K and the finger-beatn, as

shown in Fig. 7. The yielding bars extend' under and a short distance in advance of the finger-beam, and are rounded and eurved upward at the end, in the manner ofsled-run'- ners, to prevent them from penetrating the ground. The finger-beam being thus connected with the driving-wheel and with the frame for supporting the gearing, so as to leave it free to rise and fall at both ends, and at either end within certain limits, without 'disturbing the level of the other, these movements are greatly facilitated and the adaptability of the fiuger-beam to the varying incliuatiou of the surface of the ground greatly promoted, as the said inventors discovered, by making the fin- 'ger-beam short, as represented in the drawings-t'. e, of only sufficient length to `protect the cutting apparatus, and not long enough to extend beyond the cutter-b'ar across the gearing-frame, is common when the fingerbeam is ri-gidly connected to they frame. If the machine. with this short finger-beam thus arranged and supported, should be crossing a ditch with the finger-beam parallel or but little iuclined to the same, from the readiness with which the beam conforms itselt' to the surface of the ground it would of course drop bodily into the ditch, and the cutting apparatus, abutting against the bank, would'cause a sudden shock that wouldstrain, if it did not break, the machine.. To prevent such difficultiesastopis provided which operates to'limitthe descent of the right end of the finger-beam below the level of the track which the drivingwheel would make when crossing the ditch, but will not rest-rict its rising. In this instance the stop is made in the form of a hook,

T, and is attached rigidly in an upright posi-` tion to the yielding bar K, so as to overhang one of the beams vA4 of the gearing-frame. The lip tof this book is generally carried at some distance above the frame; butwhen the cutting apparatus is passing across a ditch or other like depression of the ground, then the lip of the hool; rests upon the frame, suspending the right end of the finger-beam, with the coupling-arm J and bar K attaohed, and carryiug them over the ditch. When the right .end of the lin ger-beam is thus carried over a depression the lct'tend in general passes through without danger, rcndering it inexpedient to diately in rear of the finger-'beam with a platform to receive the graiu as it is cut and carry it until a sufficient quantity to form a sheaf has accumulated, when it is raked off and may be depositedin gavels upon the ground, to be there bound into sheaves; butitis preferable to deposit it ona table behind or at the side of the platform, andl there bind it into sheaves, which may be dropped as fast as bound upon the ground; but it is preferable to deposit them in a dumping-tray until enough have accumulated for a shock, when 'the tray is tri'pped and the sheaves (lumped on the ground in a heap.

To carry the finger-beam and cutter at the proper height and to support the platform, the rear ends of the yielding bars K K' are depressed, that of K' being secured by a bolt, L', rigidly to the beam A2 of the frame, and that of K being in like man-nei' secured by a bolt, L2, to the beam A4, as'represented iu Fig.

,1. Thus supported and arranged, thefingerbeam performs its (luty lin the machine as' a reaper in the same way as ifit were in the usual manner made a fixed part of the main frame and* incapable of running upon the ground. The platform covers the quadraugular space included between'the bars KK', the finger-beam, and the beam B3 of the frame.

The machine may be fitted with a reel constructed in the usual manner, and supported matter of the claims under this patent, a furi ther description of them is here deemed unnecessary.

What is claimed under this patent as the invention of the said SYLL and ADAMS is- 1 The combination ot' the finger-beam and the main frame with a yielding coupling-arm, J, wherebyithc progressive movemeint of the fiuger-beam over the ground will be controlled by the main frame, and its upward and down- Ward movements by the undulations of the ground over which it is drawn, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The combination of a yielding couplingarm, J, and a yelding braee-bar, K, with the In testimony whereqf we have hereunto sub'- finger-beam and main frame, substantialiy as .scrihed our names.

vherein set forth. GORNELIUS AULTMAN,

3. The combination of the yielding bars J, LEWIS MILLER, K, and K' and the removable bolts L' L2, or the THOMAS R. TONNER, equivalent thereof, with the fing'er-heam and JACOB MILLER, main frame, Whereby the finger-beam may be f GEORGE OOQK, allowed to slide loosely 0`n the groundto adapt. Oomposing the firm of O. AuZtma-n (f: O0. the machine to mowingor be held firmly above 4 Vitnesses: the ground to adapt the machine to reaping, ISAAC HAZLETT,

subsnantially as herein sen forth. DANIEL GOTSHLL.

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