1858-02-17 James Boyd - Patent No 300 - Full

THE

REPERTORY

OF

PATENT INVENTIONS,

AND OTHER

Discoveries and Improvements

IN

ARTS, MANUFACTURES,

AND

AGRICULTURE;

BEING A CONTINUATION, ON AN ENLARGED PLAN,

OF THE

Repertory of Arts and Manufactures:

A WORK ORIGINALLY UNDERTAKEN IN THE YEAR 1794, AND STILL CARRIED ON, WITH A VIEW TO COLLECT, RECORD, AND BRING INTO PUBLIC NOTICE, THE USEFUL INVENTIONS OF ALL NATIONS.

ENLARGED SERIES.-VOL. XXXII. 

July-December, 1858.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR,

BY ALEXANDER MACINTOSH, GREAT NEW-STREET; 

AND SOLD BY SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT; J. WEALE, HIGH HOLBORN; AND G. HEBERT, CHEAPSIDE.

300. JAMES EDWARD BOYD, of Lewisham, Kent, for lawn and grass mowing machines.-Dated February 17, 1858.

Specification of the Patent granted to JAMES EDWARD BOYD, of Hither-green, Lewisham, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, for Improvements in Lawn and Grass Mowing Machines.-Dated February 17, 1858.

To all to whom these presents shall come, &c., &c. - Hitherto the advantages that should have been derived from the working of lawn and grass mowing machines have not been realized in consequence of the difficulty that existed in getting the revolving cutters or knives to cut the grass regularly and at each revolution of the machine, it being found after a few revolutions of the cutters that the sap from the cut grass mixing with the worm casts, dust, &c., on the lawn or grass formed into a sort of paste, and became lodged on the cutters or knives, so as to coat or blunt their edges, and being so lodged or incrusted prevented from cutting the grass as they otherwise should have done. This imperfection will now be remedied by my invention, which consists of an apparatus, brushes, or scrapers, a part or all of which is composed of iron or other metal or material combined with or having bristles, hair, metal wire, vegetable, animal, or other fibre, matter, or material. This apparatus is to be so constructed, arranged, fitted, fixed, or attached to the lawn or grass mowers by means of screws or other appliances in such a position as may be necessary to cause the said apparatus, brush, or scraper to come into contact with or bear upon the revolving cutters or knives referred to, so that by such contact the cutters may be scraped, brushed, or cleansed from the lodgment of any matter thereon, and be kept constantly sharpened by every revolution or movement the cutters make. The apparatus, brush, or scraper can be regulated to any position according to the amount of pressure or movement necessary, and it can be attached to old lawn or grass mowing machines as well as to new ones. As, however, there are a variety of lawn mowers to which this apparatus can be attached, but which are constructed on different plans and principles, it would be disadvantageous to my invention and inconvenient to the person using the same to shift or alter the apparatus every time it may be necessary to shift or alter, raise or lower, the knives used for cutting the grass. I therefore claim to obviate this inconvenience by having the apparatus invented by me, when or where necessary, so attached to the frame or other portion of the machine containing the cutters or revolving knives, and thus to be able at one operation and instantaneously to adjust, raise, lower, or regulate the cutters by my apparatus in unison together; this arrangement to be effected by means of a bar, or rod, or axles, or other appliances fitted across or elsewhere to the machine; the centre sides or ends of such bars, rods, or axles to contain mitre or bevel wheels, or spiral or other screws, threads, or wheels, or appliances; these to be made to act upon other mitre or bevel wheels, or spiral or other screws, threads, or wheels, working upon upright or other shafts or axles, to which these cutters may be connected or attached, so that whenever the cutting knives are adjusted, or regulated, or moved by these or other means or appliances, that the apparatus containing the brushes, scrapers, or otherwise, may be made to move simultaneously therewith, or it can be detached therefrom and used singly and apart from each other if necessary. I do not confine myself to this method, as the contrivance for regulating, raising, or lowering the knives or cutting apparatus can be arranged by means of a thumbscrew, wheel, or spiral screw in the centre or at either or both ends or sides of the said bar, rod, or axis of the cutters, or by means of holes or notches made at certain distances in the side pieces or bearers holding such cutters, to be fastened by iron or other pins, or other means, or to have a ratchet movement similar to the clutch of a ship's windlass, having a rising or falling cheek to fit into such notches or clutch movement, or by other means or appliances as occasion may require or by practice seem best. And in order that my apparatus may be available and be attached or fitted with greater ease, certainty, and facility to any lawn mower, it may or will be necessary that the mowing machines be divided into two or more parts by detaching the shafts and rollers or cylinders from the cutters at will, with means of attaching again securely the same by means of bolts, screws, nuts, ratchet work, or otherwise. It will also be necessary at the same time to protect the invention from the injury to which it may be exposed owing to the liability of the apparatus, before described, to dip, or plough, or run into the ground, and so to lose its equilibrium, and damage and injure my invention. And, for the purpose of proper protection, I propose to place either under the cutters or ledger blade, or at each end of the axle shafts or bearers containing the cutters, or under or attached to the cleansing apparatus referred to, or behind the cutting apparatus, or elsewhere, one or more castors, or rollers, or other contrivance so constructed as to be capable of regulating or altering the cutting machine as to the distance from which the same is to work from the grass or ground, or in other words the depth of the cut, or it can be arranged by means of tubes fitted with spiral or other springs or other contrivance, the springs referred to to be attached to one or more cylinder, wheel, castor, or roller, so as to receive or relieve any weight which may be thrown upon it by the machine being placed in a position other than horizontal, and by which means the machine and apparatus will maintain its level or horizontal position, and be preserved from the injury or damage referred to, or the wheels, castors, or rollers can be brought under, behind, or before the cutters in question by being attached to rods, axles, bearers, or other machinery connected with the handles or shafts, or both, or any other part of the machine, or otherwise, as expedient. The small wooden roller in advance of the iron roller, as at present attached to the machine known as Samuelson's Buddings Lawn Mower, as also to some machines made by other makers, and. which small roller is generally used for the purpose of cutting round grass verges and borders, is subject to difficulty in regulating and liable to fall out of gear, and to derange and destroy the effect of my cleaning apparatus. This I propose to improve, and to arrange and deprive of such liability by having the side cheeks holding such roller perforated with holes or prepared with notches or ratchets similar to a ship's windlass, such cheeks and roller to be connected with an iron bar or axle at top, and extending from one cheek to the other, so that by taking hold of such bar or axle the roller can be elevated or depressed at pleasure to a variety of distances, and put in or out of gear in a minute, and fastened by means of pins, screws, nuts, bolts, windlass, clutch or break, or otherwise. It frequently happens that stones and other destructive materials get into the cutters and injure them and my cleaning apparatus; this I propose to prevent by means of a description of fender, box, or revolving brush to be carried in the front of the machine or grass box, and so constructed as either to receive the stones, or by means of such revolving brushes to sweep such stones or other destructive material away from the neighbourhood of the cutters, or in the absence of such a contrivance the injury done by the stones and other destructive materials can be speedily remedied, and the inconvenience and expense caused by such injury can be lessened, and the damage more easily and immediately repaired by making the knives or cutters in sets, or a series of steel plates or pieces corresponding when together with the whole length knife or cutter at present in use, so that in the event of an accident to any portion of the cutters only the injured parts or part need be removed, and another part, piece, or plate of a similar size substituted and fitted by means of groves, slots, screws, or such other appliance as may be necessary, thereby economizing time and expense when such repairs are necessary, and superseding the necessity for substituting a new full-length blade or a new set of blades, as is often at the present time necessary. It may be found necessary to notch or tooth, or roughen the edge of the cutters or revolving knives in order to derive further advantages from my apparatus. And having now described the nature of my invention, and the manner in which it is to be constructed, arranged, fitted, fixed, attached, employed, and protected, I declare that I claim the various arrangements, modifications, alterations, additions, improvements, and specifications herein set forth, and the introduction of such other appliances or regulations as may be found to be desirable or necessary for the proper and efficient working, preservation, and protection of my apparatus and the machines containing the same, herein referred to and described, for all lawn and grass mowing or reaping machines, whether they have revolving cutters or not.-In witness, &c.

JAMES EDWARD BOYD.