26« 
Report on the Exhibition and Trials 
the paul which holds the driving pinion on No. 4 shaft already 
described ; and secondly, the lever of a rocking-shaft, the opposite 
end of which has a crank connected by a spring rod {to a cam 
roller on the inside of the large cam-wheel on shaft No. 5 ; the 
object being first to compress the sheaf at the moment of its being 
tied, and then to depress the compressor after the string is cut, 
to allow of the sheaf being discharged. The crank to which the 
compressor is attached has also two light discharge arms which 
serve to depress the hinged tail-boards of the platform, which are 
fixed at an angle during the collection and formation of the sheaf, 
as to prevent any scatter of straw, &c. 
Fig. 1. 
The large tyer cam-wheel which is so well seen in the illus- 
tration is keyed on the shaft No. 5, which goes half across the 
table and drives the knotting gear. The operations to be per- 
formed comprise — 
1. Holding the free end of the string. 
2. The action of the needle-arm and the supply of string. 
3. The making of the knot. 
4. Cutting the string. 
5. Discharging the sheaf. 
(1.) On shaft No. 5, near its centre, is a cam-wheel, which 
actuates a plunging bolt, kept against it by a volute spring. In 
the event of an accident to this spring, the same action is 
secured by a central plunger cam on the end of the shaft No. 5. 
The plunger bolt works through eyes attached to the knotter 
frame, and supports a loose rocking frame carrying the twine- 
holding disc. This disc is about 2^ inches in diameter, and 
