US6245A - Improvement in harvesting-machines - Google Patents

Description

J HAINES, HARVESTERl No 6,245. Patented Mai"; 27, 1849.

ME Noam: PETERS co, FHUTO-LITHO,WASHINGYI1N.Dd:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JONATHAN HAINES, or UNION GROVE, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTING-MACHlNE-S'.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 6,245, dated March 27,1149.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN Hermes-of Union Grove, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois, have invented a new a-hd useful Machine for Harvesting Grain and Grass by Horse-Power,which1 call the Illinois Harvester, of which the following is a full. and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings of the same, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof the machine ready for operation. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the line w wot Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa plan, and Fig.- 4 a side elevation, ofone of the slotted fingers-which advance before thesickle for the purpose of supporting thestraw while the knife cuts it off.

.The same letters indicate the sameparts in all the figures.

in the acconrpanyingdrawings the machine is represented as being mounted upon three wheels, the two in front, A A, sustaining the principal part of the weight, the one behind,

B, being chiefly designed for steering; and, in order that it may the better accomplish that .objectit is mounted in avertical post, B, which is hung upon hinges and capable of being turned by a tiller, 1), in the manner of'the rudder of a vessel. The horses are harnessed to the whiffletrees a, which are secured by a oolt to the tongue 0, and push the machine before them. The tongue 0 is hinged to the rear end 7 of the square part D of the frame-work, and

the lever E, which projects bacl'r irom the frame, is engaged by means of a catch to thenotches in thesides of the'post c, erected upon the tongue, this catch being so constructed that'it can with case be disengaged and reengaged. The frame D rests upon the axes of the wheels A A, which form a fulcrum upon which it turns, and the projecting lever E being attached firmly to this frame, whenever it is raised orlowered it depresses or elevates the front of the machine, and thus determines the height at whichthe grain or grass is. to he cut, the catch which engages the arm to the notched post a holding it at any point of eleration at which it may be required to place it. A platform, 0, is placed upon the rear-end of the tongue, upon which the conductor stands, holding the tiller in one hand and'the leverE in the other, in order that he may simultaneously direct the course of the machine and raise and. lower the cuttcr'toaccommodate it to variations in the surface of the ground or the height of the grain, by this means avoid ing both waste'ot' the grain and the inconvenienceof cutting too much straw.

The principal frame, D, may be inade of plank or scantling well framed together. Itcarries the sickle F, reel G, couveyer H, and the gearing which puts them severally in motion.

Upon the wheel A, or upon its axis, a cogwheel, d,issecured, which takes in to and drives the pinion e,'(represented in dotted lines,) upon whose axis. is a pulley, f, which, thropgh the medium of the belt 9, turnsthe axis h,- Fig. 2, which carries the wheels i, Fig. 2,'that drive the conveyer H.

To the side of the pulley f a crank-pin, k, is

. secured, which, through the connecting-rod l,

communicates a horizontal vibratory motion to the lever m, whichis transmitted to the sickle F, connected by a pivot, n, to its front end.

The axis of the pinion e'is capable of sliding longitudinally on its bearings sufficiently far to disengage itfrom the wheel (I, when the machine is required to be moved, without puttin g the conveyor or sickle inmotion. For the purpose ofdisengaging and re-engaging this pinion with facility the forkeden'd ot a rod, 0, is engaged either to it orthe shaft byeany ot' the usual modes, the other end of thisrod be ing jointed to the lever 17, which is pivoted to the frame D at one end, and jointed to the rod get the other, the latter resting upon the lever E and extending back far enough to be within the reach of the conductor. This rod is provided with two catches,which,when engag 3d, will respectively hold the pinion e inor out of gear with the wheel d.

The endless conveyer H is fort-he purpose 'of elevating thecut grain into the bed of a wagon, which accompanies the machine to re ceive thesame. That portion of the conveyer which is immediately behind the sickle is horizontal, but the part projecting beyond the side ofthemachine is inclined atasuitable anglefor raising the grain over the side of the box of the accompanying wagon. That part, I, of the frameinwhich theinclined part of the conveyer issupported is-hinged to the side of the frame D,as seen in Fig. 2, and its outer end is raised and lowered by the cord a, passing through a slotor notch in the top of the post J and secured to a bail, u, which arrangement renders the conveyer capable of elevating the grain to different heights, and also allows the frame I to yield when.-it comes in contact with obstructions that might break it if it were rigidly connected to the 'frame.

"The conveyer consists of two parallel endless belts passing round the driving pulley or wheel 2', the bearing-pulley r, and the stretch- These belts are held atthe proper' ing-pulleys. distance apart by slats t, and the whole is covered bya web of cloth, which is loose enough to bag down between the slats, forming a seriesof shallow depressions, 20, which retain any grain that may be shelled out by the action of the sickleor reel until discharged into the wagon-box, a great deal of which grain would roll oli' the sides of the cloth if it were tightly stretched over the slats. These shallow bags also render the conveyance of the grain up the apron, when its inclination is very steep, much more certain and regular.

The reel Gis made and arranged in the usual or in any suitable manner,and receives its motion from the wheel A through the belt or.

The slotted fingers 3 Figs. 3 and 4, for dividin g the grain,supp0rting it while being cut, and preventing the sickles getting damaged from sticks, stones, and other obstructions against which the machine may happen to run, are secured to a bar which extends across the front end of the machine at suitable distances apart. The front ends of these fingers are inclined downward,in order that when the grain is pressed against them by the sickle or knife i t may be pulled slightly upward, which favors the cutting very much and greatly diminishes the'i'orce required to effect it.

This machine is mainly designed for harvesting grain by cutting-off the heads and leaving the straw upon the ground, the heads being elevated by the couveyer and discharged into the box of a wagon. The heads of grain thus gathered are either stacked in the open air or garnered in a barn, as may be deemed expedient.-

. If the grain, when cut,ris not ripe enough to be garnered, the sickle may be lowered so as to cut the straw at the usual height from the ground, and the conveyer placed in a horizontal position, so as tolay the grain in a swath, where it may be allowed to remain until cured; orit can be bound in sheaves in the usual way.

To adapt the machine foreutting grass for hay it is merely requisite to-lower the sickle as near the ground as possible without running into it.

As the machineis operated in other respects besides those I have particularly mentioned in the same way that others are, I do not deem itneessary to enter into a detailed description of all the minutiae of its management.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improved harvester, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Suspending the frame which carries the conveyer, reel, and cutter upon the axles of the wheels A A, when the frame thus suspended is hinged to the tongue and rendered capable of being turned upon its bearings by means of a lever for the purpose of elevating and de-

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