46 



OFFICIAL RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION 



No. 25. 



WATSON & REN WICK'S (;RAIN BINDER. 



On December 6, 1853, a United States patent was granted to Peter H. 

 Watson and Edward S. Renwick for improvement in grain harvesters 

 and hinders. This was the third patent granted in the United States 

 for this class of machines. The inventors went no further than to make 

 a model. It has surprised every student of this art to learn to what 

 extent these inventors saw the requirements of the grain-field. No 

 attempt will be made to describe the machine fully. It is complicated, 

 and the specification of the patent is a long one. The first part of the 

 invention consisted in moving the cut grain deliveryward, elevating it, 

 and delivering it into a receptacle. The invention consisted in combin- 

 ing a continuously acting rake with a binding mechanism; a shifting 

 conveyor by means of which sheaves of varying length might be bound 

 around their middle; an endless conveyor, both above and below the 

 grain, carried the latter upward to the binding receptacle, and many 

 other features. 



This was the first automatic binder contemplated in which the grain 

 was taken in by the binding device at one side, then bound and dischargetl 

 at the other side. In short, it was the first in which it was contemplated 

 to bind a bundle by a continuous movement in discharging rather than 

 force it out of the binding attachment endwise. The machine was 

 designed to use twine as a band material. A knotting device and cord- 

 holder were proposed, probably for the first time; means were provided 

 for giving the sheaf additional compression while tying the knot; the 

 binding receptacle was so arranged that after the completion of the bun- 

 dle its outer portion moved away to i)ermit the discharge. The machine 

 was so constructed as to place the cutting mechanism and the binding 

 mechanism upon opposite sides of its driving-wheel, whereby the weight 

 was mostly carried by the wheel depended upon for traction. 



