Patrick Bell
Encyclopedia
Rev Patrick Bell was a Church of Scotland
minister and inventor.
in Angus
, Scotland
, into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andrews. He was Carmyllie
parish minister from 1843 until his death.
for speeding up the harvest. In 1828 his machine was used with success on his father's farm and others in the district.
This reaping machine used a revolving 12 vane reel to pull the crop over the cutting knife, that was made from triangular reciprocating blades over fixed triangular blades. A canvas conveyor moved the grain and stalks to the side in a windrow. This machine was pushed by livestock and ran on 2 wheels.
Bell never sought a patent for his reaping machine. Being a man of god, he believed his invention should benefit all mankind. Therefore he never made any financial gain from its success throughout the world.
On May 3, 1831, a patent was issued in the United States
to William Manning for the reaper of essentially the same design. On December 31, 1833, a similar cutter patent was issued to Obed Hussey
. A vibrating cutter was patented by Cyrus McCormick
on June 21, 1834. McCormick with his brothers mass-produced the machines and developed what became the International Harvester Company.
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
minister and inventor.
Biography
Born in the rural parish of AuchterhouseAuchterhouse
Auchterhouse is a village, community, and civil parish in the Scottish council area of Angus, located north west of Dundee, south east of Alyth and south west of Forfar. It lies on the southern edge of the Sidlaw Hills, below Auchterhouse Hill, high...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andrews. He was Carmyllie
Carmyllie
Carmyllie is a rural parish in Angus, Scotland. It is situated on high ground between Arbroath, on the coast, and the inland county town of Forfar. The main settlements in the parish are Redford, Greystone and Milton of Carmyllie. There is a Church of Scotland church and a primary school...
parish minister from 1843 until his death.
The Reaping Machine
Bell invented the reaping machine while working on his father's farm. His interest in mechanics led him to work on a horse powered mechanical reaperReaper
A reaper is a person or machine that reaps crops at harvest, when they are ripe.-Hand reaping:Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grains directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a sickle, cutting them with a scythe, or with a later type of scythe called a...
for speeding up the harvest. In 1828 his machine was used with success on his father's farm and others in the district.
This reaping machine used a revolving 12 vane reel to pull the crop over the cutting knife, that was made from triangular reciprocating blades over fixed triangular blades. A canvas conveyor moved the grain and stalks to the side in a windrow. This machine was pushed by livestock and ran on 2 wheels.
Bell never sought a patent for his reaping machine. Being a man of god, he believed his invention should benefit all mankind. Therefore he never made any financial gain from its success throughout the world.
On May 3, 1831, a patent was issued in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to William Manning for the reaper of essentially the same design. On December 31, 1833, a similar cutter patent was issued to Obed Hussey
Obed Hussey
Obed Hussey was an American inventor, born to Quaker parents, of a farm machine called a reaper. In his youth, he was a sailor on a whaling ship, but eventually he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. He tested and patented a reaper in 1833, which placed him in fierce competition with Irish American...
. A vibrating cutter was patented by Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
on June 21, 1834. McCormick with his brothers mass-produced the machines and developed what became the International Harvester Company.
External links
- http://www.auchterhouse.com/history/pbell.htm
- http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/features/people/patrickbell.htm
- http://www.cornways.de/hi_combine.html
- http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?scache=5cryr2dbs0&searchdb=scran&usi=000-100-044-206-C