1859-04-18 Patent No 971 - John Whitaker - Mowing Machines

A.D. 1859, 18th APRIL. N° 971.

Mowing Machines.

LETTERS PATENT. to John Whitaker, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near Leigh, in the County of Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES." Sealed the 13th October 1859, and dated the 18th April 1859.

PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whitaker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th April 1859.

I, JOHN WHITAKER, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near Leigh, in the 5 County of Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-

I cause the bearings of the guide wheels to be moveable instead of stationary; they are placed upon the front rail of the machine, and either 10 widened or contracted according to the kind of mowing required, the bearings are afterwards held fast by set screws, nuts, or wedges.

SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said John Whitaker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th October 1859.

15 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN WHITAKER, of Bedford Mill Iron Works, near Leigh, in the County of Lancaster, Agricultural Machine Maker, send greeting.

Page 2  A.D. 1859.-N° 971.           Specification.            Whitaker's Improvements in Mowing Machines.

WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Whitaker, Her special licence that I, the said John 5 Whitaker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Whitaker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there- after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain 10 and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Whitaker, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause 15 the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Whitaker, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be per- formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following 20 statement (that is to say) :-

I cause the bearings or castors of the guide wheels to be moveable instead of stationary, so that they may be widened or contracted according to the kind of mowing required. The said bearings or castors are placed upon the front rail of the machine and held fast by set screws, nuts, or wedges.

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The manner in which my Invention is to be performed, will be clearly understood by referring to the letters and figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a part of a mowing machine having my improved moveable bearings or castors, and Fig. 2 a detached view of the guide wheels, castors, and rail, drawn to their full dimensions. 30

The bearings or castors for the guide wheels are composed of two parts, a and b, linked or jointed together by the pin c, the lower part a holding the pin d for the wheels, and the upper part b fitting the rail e, so that it may be adjusted as required, and held fast by the set screw f. It will be seen that the lower part a is brought straight from the pin d to the front of the wheel, and 35 that it can be connected to an upper part of various shapes.

The aforesaid moveable bearings or castors may be applied to a rail placed behind the cutters as well as in front.

Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the

Specification.      A.D. 1859.-N° 971.        Whitaker's Improvements in Mowing Machines.                 Page 3

manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge 5 and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the application to mowing machines of moveable bearings or castors for adjusting the guide wheels to the kind of mowing required, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.

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In witness whereof, I, the said John Whitaker, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.

                                                                                                         JOHN WHITAKER. (L.S.)

Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named John Whitaker, in  the presence of E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent, Manchester.

                                                                                   LONDON:

Printed by GEORGE EDWARD EYRE and WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1859.