US75773A - Israel lancaster - Google Patents

Description

.l @5,1135 'ftts gutrnt @fitta Isn A EL L A Nol-rerun, o F BALTIMO R13, MARYLAND..

Let-ters Patent No. 75,773, dated March 24, 1868.

MPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

'ro ALL WHoM rr MAY ooNenR'N:

l Be it known that I, ISRAELLANCASTER0` Baltimore, in the county 4ot' Baltimore, and State of Maryland,

have invented new and useful Improvementsl on Keeping-Machines; and I do hereby decla'rethat the following is a full, clear, and` exact description of the ,construction land operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a view of the machine seen from above. i A Y Figure 2 is an elevation, showing the working-side of the driving-wheel, the edge of the reciprocatinglever, and the 4radial arms supportingit.l

Figure 3 shows the 4outline and construction of the cam-sections.

Figure 44 shows three views of the fulcrumfblock.`

Figure '5i shows the caster-wheel attachment.;

Figure 6 is a side view of the reciprocating lever. y

Figure 7 is explanatory of the construct-ion of the cam-sections, j

Figure 8 is a side and edge View of the end ot the knife-bar, where it is attached to. the lever. n

The working parts o t" this machine consist of a driving-wheelta, figs. 1 and 2, provided with a. cam-circle,

b, which actuates a reciprocating lever, e, thus communicating motion tothe knife-bar r1.3 This method of operation is not'claimed by me as part of my invention. v

. y c, fig. 1, is a bar, placed parallel to the lever c, and about twelve inches above it. It is fastened to the machine-frame at ff.. This bar supports two arms, which hold thelever c in a straight line between the shaft of the driving-wheel and the knife-bar. These arms are shown at g. 2, at g g. They have an eye at one end, through which passes the lever, and are pivoted toa support from the bar e at the other end. A s the wheel a revolvesin the direction 'of' the arrow, 'the action ot' the cams has a tendency to turn the lever with them. This movement is prevented by the armsg g with but' little friction, while at the same time they permit the lever to oscillate in plane, cutting the knife-bar and driving-wheel shaft, and parallel to them.

'At h, tig. 1, is seen the driver-s seat. z'is the caster-wheel for mowing,l grass. j is the shank, holding the wheel to the machine, with a movable joint at k. The pin of the joint at cis not'set vertically, but inclined in a vertical planel parallel to the cutterbar. This construction is seen at iig. '5. The object'of this device is to raise the cutterhar and back part of-the machine, where the caster-wheel is fastened from fourito six inches from the ground, when turning the corners in a grass-field.

When the'icaster-wheel follows the dotted line, in the direction of the arrow, g. 1, it must go down at the same'time from the action of the oblique joint c. This raises the partof the machine spoken of..above.' The drivers seat and caster-wheel arc so placed as that, when in' the-act of cutting, the part L of the machine shall i be the heaviest, and thus remain on'the ground while working, but, in turning at the corners, the caster-wheel changes the centre of gravity toapoint nearer L, and the part M then becomes the heaviest, and L is raised until M touches the'ground. This automatic movement of the cuttingbar prevents the knives clogging-in the cut grass in turning. y

Atg. 8 is seen the end of the knife-bar, in two views. Itis hammered thin, for six or eightinches between the first knife-section and the end of the lever, so that it will spring enough to -accommodate the movement of v the end of the lever out of `a. parallel path. This is butlittle, as the stroke is not more than three inches in a radius of three feet. The end of the knife-bar has an eye, N, through which passes u. bolt, which is firmly screwed to the'end of the lever c. V This makes ,a joint in which there-can be no wear whatever. i v

AtQ Q, iig. 1, are seen two nuts, screwing on the driving-wheel shaft. The fulcrum-block R'rests against the in ner one oil 'these nuts, This block is seen at g. 4. It is made of cast iron, with a lip projecting from itsupper part, lwhich rests on the top ofl Athelever c. This lip prevents the block from turning with the shaft pralwayskeepingv the part S S at right angles to `the lever c. The lever oscillates on this part S S ofthe block Rf as a fulcrum. The eye inthe lever cufhgs. 2 and 6, is round on theedgenext the fulcrum-block, but is oblong 'on the other edge. vThe edge next the block closely ts the shaft, thus preventing any endwise movement, while the oblong character of `the eye at the back allows the lever to oscillate freely. The eye closely tits the shaft both front and back, in a direction at right angles to the lever, Ithus preventing any tendency to rotate on its axis.

There are three causes which, in my opinion, have always prevented the practical operation of this kind of movement, when applied to harvesters. They are as follows: first, absolute waste of powerin thc construction of the cams; second, use of power in moving the great weight in the reciprocating-lever; third, use of power in overcoming the inertia of the lever at each extremity of the stroke while it is at the dond-point.

It' the cams are made as at t, fig. 7, the average of the moving surface would be the diagonal of a square, and, as the only power ecuomized is that which moves the lever in the direction of the arrows, it is plain that fifty per cent., or one half, ofthe entire power iswasted. One half of thev power urges the lever on the line v w, which is economized; the other half of the power urges the lever on the line v :11, which is wasted. If the cams are made as at u, iig. 7, but one quarter of the power isA wasted.

Itis evident that with any given distance between the points of the cam, as y y, the less'the depth of the cam, or y z, the more the power is economized. I construct the cams with the depth, or 3'/ z, about one fifth of the distance from point to point, or'y y, and, with the anti-friction arms g g, tig. 2, I estimate that only twenty per cent. of the power is wasted by the ditculty of the cam construction.

To overcome the second absorption of power, I construct the lever out of steel,-by forging, making it thin and wide near the shaft, and taperingr it to the knife-har. I am thus enabled to get the required strength within a weight of twenty-tive pounds. I

To overcome the third difficulty, I apply a spring to the lever, which operates from each extremity of the stroke towards the centre. The power employed to move this spring each way from the centre is returned on the back stroke, and the spring can be made sufficiently strong to overcome the entire inertia of the lever, making the movement almost equivalent to a movement in a continuous straight line. 1 v

I consider this spring-device as important. Its application inpractice is attended withthe best results. The spring is seen at l, fig. 1. It is securely fastened to the frame at one of its ends, and attached to the lever c at its other end. It is evidentvthat it can loe-attached to the lever at almost any other place, or to the knifebar, with the same result. I make the spring out of hammered iron or steel.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

In combination with a. exible knife-bar, between the point of attachment tothe reciprocating lever and the first knife-section, a rigid attachment of the knife-bar to the cnd'of the reciprocating lever, forming a joint; immovable in any direction.

i ISRAEL LANCASTER. Witnesses:

F. W. PLUMMER,

RED. PLUMMER.

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