# Patrick Bell
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{{Short description|Scottish minister and inventor (1799–1869)}}
{{for|the Episcopal priest|Patrick W. Bell}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Patrick Bell''' (12 May 1799 – 22 April 1869) was a [Church of Scotland](/source/Church_of_Scotland) [minister](/source/minister_(Christianity)) and [inventor](/source/inventor).
==Biography==
Born in the rural parish of [Auchterhouse](/source/Auchterhouse) in [Angus, Scotland](/source/Angus%2C_Scotland), into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andrews. He was [Carmyllie](/source/Carmyllie) parish minister from 1843 until his death.
==The Reaping Machine==
thumb|upright=1.5|alt=man guiding two horses pushing machine |{{center|1851 illustration showing two horses pushing a Bell reaper}}
Bell invented the [reaping machine](/source/reaping_machine) while working on his father's farm. His interest in mechanics led him to work on a horse powered mechanical [reaper](/source/reaper) 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.[{{cite book |title= Inventions in the century |author= William H. Doolittle |author-link= William H. Doolittle |year= 1903 |publisher= W. & R. Chambers |location= London |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9xclAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA36 }}]
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](/source/United_States) to [William Manning](/source/William_Manning_(inventor)) for the reaper of essentially the same design. On December 31, 1833, a similar cutter patent was issued to [Obed Hussey](/source/Obed_Hussey). A vibrating cutter was patented by [Cyrus McCormick](/source/Cyrus_McCormick) on June 21, 1834. McCormick with his brothers mass-produced the machines and developed what became the [International Harvester Company](/source/International_Harvester_Company).[{{Cite book |author= George Iles |year = 1912 |edition= 2nd |title = Leading American Inventors |place =New York |publisher = Henry Holt and Company| url = https://archive.org/details/leadingamericani00ilesrich |pages=276–314 |chapter= Cyrus H. McCormick }}]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*http://www.auchterhouse.com/history/pbell.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216013929/http://www.auchterhouse.com/history/pbell.htm |date=16 February 2012 }}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20081006144523/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
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Patrick}}
Category:1799 births
Category:1869 deaths
Category:19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland
Category:19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers
Category:Scottish inventors
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Patrick Bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Bell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Bell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.