USRE692E - Improvement in grain and grass harvesters - Google Patents

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. B. FORBUSH. Y*

Harvester.

yReissued April 19,v 1859.

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l 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. E. B. FURBUSH.

Harvester.

Reissued' April l19, 1859.

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i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEOl ELIAKIM B. FORBSH, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN AND GRASIS HARVESTERS.

Speclic'ation forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,134, dated July Q0, 41852; Reissue No. 576, dated July 8, 1856; Reissue No. 692, dated April 19, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ELIAKIM B. FoEBUsn, ofthe city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain and Grass Harvesting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact `view ofthe same. Fig. 1H is a side View of the same. Fig. 1V is a plan and side view and top view of one ofthe guard-fingers. Fig.

V is a side view ot' the clamp by which the finger-bar is supported, 8vo. j

. he main frame of the machine is composed of the longitudinal timbers Tl Tl T and the cross-timbers T and T. To the under side of the main frame is attached the draft-pole d, as shown in the drawings. The frame thus constructed is supported on a main drivingwheel, NV. The cross-timbers T and T projectinwardly and beyond the inner timber, T", and are provided on their upper sides with the On the inside of the projecting ends ofthe timbers T T are securely fastened thetramesKK. These frames are made of cast-iron, and have recesses 1 on their inner sides for the reception of braces or arms H H, which extend downward and toward each other, (seeFig. 5,) and which, with the shoe G, form a clamp or movable frame for supporting and adjusting the inger-bar and cutters. These arms or braces H H are held in place by means ofbolts tt',which pass through slots in the frames K K and holes in the arms H H. The slots in the frames K K are for the purpose otallowing the arms H H to be adjusted to any desired height, as Well as the foundation or shoe part G of the clamp, together with the nger-bar R and cutters, and that, too, independently of the main frame of the machine. By independently ofthe main frame of the machine is meant that while the main frame remains in the same horizontal position as respects the ground the finger-bar and cutters may be raised and lowered relatively thereto. that is necessary in order to adjust the fingerbar and cutters to di'erent heights above the ground is simply to loosen the nuts on the bolts y'i t', so as to permit the braces or arms H H to Abe moved up or down, as the case may be, and

then turn the nuts up again.

As before stated, the foundation or shoe part G is attached to ,the lower ends of the braces or arms H H by means of bolts b and be. The form of the shoe G, as well as the manner in which it is connected with the lower ends ot' the braces or arms H H, is fully shown in Figs. l and 5 ot' the drawings. By reference to these tigures it will be seen that the formation of shoe G and the lower part of H are such that when put together arectangular opening, R, is left between them. Into this opening lt is fitted the nger-bar R. By thisconstruction and arrangement of parts the linger-bar can be securely held in place by compression without the necessity ot' passing bolts through the finger-bar. l

By the above construction and arrangement ot the various parts composing the clamp it is brought down to the ground and forms a run-y ner bearing on the ground at a rightline with the nadir of the driving-wheel. By this arrangement of the frame the whole machine is kept upright and rendered of easy draft when mowing, sincethe main weight ot' the machine, as a whole, rests upon the ground at two points-viz., at the bottom ofthe driving-wheel and 'runner G. As these two points are some distance apart and always in line, or nearly so, the machine is well balanced and relieved from injurious side draft and twist-ing of the ringerbar. It will also be noticed that the tinger-bar can be quickly removed, and that when so removed the machine will remain upright, and may be as conveniently moved from teld to field as if supported upontwo wheels. When adjusted for mowing, the ruimer part G being wide and smooth on the bottom, it will slide smoothly over the loose grass and stubble which may lie in its track.

To the front of the finger-bar R are attached guard-lingers, through which the cutters work and against which the stalks of grain and grass are cut. These iin gers are made in the form It will thus be seen that all shown in Fig. IV, where A is a top view, B a side view.

Experience has proved that in using the common straight guard in certain conditions of the grass small particles of fine grass, gummy and ibrous matter will work into the slit,

in the guard and become deposited and-packed on the surface of the cutters and in the slit and often accumulates to such an extent'as to f clog andwedge the cutters tight, or so much.

so as to render the machine inoperative. To afford a remedy for this -difculty I so construct my guard-linger as to leave an opening or open space, m', in the top thereof, and on both sides of the central bar, n, through which the dirt, line grass, and fibrous matter mayY escape before itbecomes hard and packed between theicutters and guards. To accomplish this the upper part of the guard is constructed withacentral harm, and two outer or side bars, m m, as fully shownin Fig. IV. These bars all meet and are united at one common point, m. The under half ot' the guard is composed of one bar., n', having a shank or .projecting end, In".

vThe guard is cut or recessed out, as seen a-t 6,

Fig. IV, for the purpose of allowing room for the cutters and cutter-bar to' work. As the bar u', which formsthe under side or half of theguard, is under the central bar, n, of the upper half of the guard, it will be seen thatthe bars m m overhang the lower half ofthe guardthat is, extend on each side of it-and thus permit ofthe stalks of grain and grass being mostly severed or cut at some distance from the center line ofthe guard, while any stray straws or other substances which may happen to escape being cut against the outside bars, m m, and which may be drawn in under them, will be cut andVsevered against the middle bar, n, and thus render it almost impossible for anything to escapes being cut which gets between the guard-fingers. Another great advantage of this mode of constructing' gu ard-lingers is this: The cutting is mostly done at the greatest practicable distance from the center line of the guard-finger, (anddead-point or extreme limit of the vibration of the cutters,) thus permitting the cutters to act on the stalks when moving at their greatest velocity, or nearly so. The dirt and fibrous matter, which is vapt to 'pass under the guard when the cutters first commenced their work, has also an opportunity to passout at the openings m' m before the cutters reach the bar 1t, or center line of the guard, and thus all danger ofthe cutters being clogged and obstructed is prevented. Again, those portions of each of the guards which extend in rear of the angle d serve the purpose of loosening and'scraping up the gummy and fibrous matter which has a tendency to collect'on the cutters back of the cutting-edges thereof, and

as the guards are open-that is the uppersides of the guards extend back onto the finger-bar separately, as seen vin Fig. II-the gummy mat- Ier which is scraped up has a free exit onto the linger-bar, or may fall out through the space between the cutters and ingerbar. Again,

and the construction of guards, as above described,

enables the guards to brace each other when in place on the inger-bar, as shown at c c, Fig. II, and hence they are less liable to break and bend than if each guard were alone and unsupported by the guards on each side. It will also be seen that when the guards are in place on the linger-bar, as fully shown in Fig. II, the first guard on each end of the finger-bar braces against projections, one, m, on the divider m, and the other, J, ou the brace H. These projections, in addition to affording a mutual support to the guards, also afford cutting-edges, against which the cutters act to sever any stalks of grain and grassv which may chance to get on the outside of the finger orguard at either end of the finger-bar, and thus nearly all .danger of the cutters being clogged, either in the divider or inner shoe, is obviated.

In constructing the guard-fingers theyv may i be made of wrought-iron by forging, by casting from hard iron and malleable iron, by making the upper half of steel and casting the lower part, and then braze or fasten the two parts together at the points. By the use ot' steel for one vof the parts a steel cutting-edge is obtained in the guards.

I construct my mold-board as 'shown at L,

Fig. III, and attached to which are upright posts L' L. These posts pass through the timbers in the frame and are free to move up or down. They cause the board to stand edgewise on the ground forward of the ngerbar ,and on an angle sufficient to move the mown grass which may be forward of the cutters to theinside of the clamp part ot' the frame. By

this arrangement allobstruction from the mown grass is avoided when the machine is used as a grass cutter or mower.

To the upper side of the rear right corner of the machine is attached the arm O by means of the bolt or spindleS. f

On the upper end of the right-angled arm O is placed the rake-arm P, which extends 'on both sides of the point where it is connected to the arm O, having on one end a handle, O', and on the other a down wardly-projectingarm, O,which carries the rake, as shown in Fig. I 1I. The rake can therefore be movedover the platform,to remove the grain in gavels suitable for binding, in almost every direction, since the arm P can turn on the arm O, land arm O .can turn on the spindle or fulcrum-bolt S.

This is an important feature'in a raking device for harvesters, since the grain can be rst moved back on the platform in aline parallel with the line ofY motion of the machine, and then turned and delivered in rear of the machine. This is done by bringing the rake over the grain as it lies on the platform, and then dropping it on the grain, so that it will occupy a position in a line at right angles to the line of motion of the machine, whereby the grain is carried back by the rbackward motion of the rake in a line parallel to the line of-motion as far as desired, and then turned and delivered in rear of the main frame of the machine atv the side of the platform. Some of the dierent positions of the rake, when so used, are indicated in black lines in Fig. II. Again, it 1s sometimes desirable to compress or gather the grain to one side of the platform before it is turned, to be moved and delivered in rearV of the machine and at the side of the platform. This is done by first throwing the rake 'to one side of the platform, and then moving it toward the other side until the grain isl sufficiently compressed to one side, and then the grain is turned and delivered in rear of the frame and at the side of the platform. Some ofthe positions of the rake to e'ect this last mode of delivery are shown in red lines in Fig. II. If preferred, however, the grain may be raked from the platform by a circular movement of the rake.

It will be noticed that by the arrangement of my raking apparatus the grain can be delivered at the necessary distance from the platform,so as to render the delivery complete, although the grainmay be of dii'crent lengths. The arrangement is also such'that the rake can be made to engage with the grain 'as it lies on the platform at diierent positions, thus enabling the rake to be adjusted to remove grain of diEterent length by engaging with the center of such grain as it lies on the platform, or at any other desired point.

The rake can be operated by hand or by power applied from the machine, as may be preferred.

In Fig. I the machine is represented asbeing adapted for reaping grain.-

Io adjust the machine for cutting grass,'or to be used as aInoWer, the movable platform R" is detached or taken off, together with the raking apparatus, and the supporting-Wheels N A and N A' and the linger-bar and shoe G lowered, so that the shoe Gr and driving-wheel W will support and balance the framein proper position. All this is but' the work of a few minutes, and is so simple that any laborer can make the change. y

The cutters are operated in the usual manner by suitable mechanism connected with the driving-wheel.

It will be apparent that many different ways may be devised for adjusting the nger-bar ot' and for the purposes specified.

a machine so that said machinecan be used for l cutting grain and grass without a change ot' modifications as will not depa-rt from the principle of my invention.

Having described my combined reaping and mowing machine-What I claim therein as new,.

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The device for adjusting the cutting apparatus, which may be raised orlowered Without changing the height ot' the main l'rame, in combination with the ringer-bar, either With or without the removable platform, substantially in the manner specified.

2. The combination of the inner projecting ends of the main frame With the adjustable cutting apparatus, substantially inthe manner and for the purpose specified..

3. Supporting the clamp and nger-bar by means of the slotted iron frames K K and locking-bolts@- i, in combination With the crosspieces T T of the main frame, substantially as described.

4. The mold-board L, constructed and arranged snbstantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. Extending orwideningontthe upper part of the guard-tingerysubstantially asrepresented, bythe overhanging bars m m, in combination with the central bar, u', in the mannr 6. Arranging the three-pronged fingers above described so that they mutually brace each other in vfront ot' the Enger-bar, as set forth, and are also braced and supported at each end of the cutter-bar by the projections J and mf, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

7. 'lhe raking apparatus. constructed and operating in the manner substantially as described.

8. The movable 'ulcrumupon which the rake is suspended and operated in the manner substan tially as described.

Y Witnesses:

GEoRGE WADsWoRTH, WALTER H. FoaBUsn.

ELIAKIM B. ronsusn.

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