Im- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING, BOTTOMING, AND GATHERING TURNIPS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ross, of Wilkhaven, Tarbat, in the
County of Ross, North Britain, Farmer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING, BOTTOMING, AND GATHERING
TURNIPS."
Scaled the 14th October 1873, and dated the 19th June 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ross at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th June 1873.
I, WILLIAM Ross, of Wilkhaven, Tarbat, in the County of Ross, North
Britain, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING, BOTTOMING, AND GATHERING
TURNIPS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an implement made with a handled frame,
similar to that of a grubber, which is arranged to be drawn by horses,
steam, or other power. It is intended to perform simultaneously the three
operations of clipping off the shaws, cutting off the roots of the turnips,

page_text: onc.
and collecting the turnips thus operated upon of every two drills into
The said handled frame consists of four longitudinal bars termi-
nating in handles at the back, and at the front in a central part to which
is connected the drawing shackle, swivel, and fore wheel for guiding the
implement. The said frame is supported on four wheels besides the
front guiding wheel, and the two driving wheels are arranged so as to
admit of their being raised from the ground by means of a lever and arc
with notches in it when required in order to facilitate the turning of the
implement on reaching the end of the drills. Inside the outer longi-
tudinal bars of the main frame is suspended an inner frame which
carries a set of revolving knives adapted for cutting off the shaws of the
turnips, this inner frame is adjustable by means of a lever and ratchet
are so as to set the revolving knives to the required elevation for the
particular sizes of the turnips to be operated upon. The said revolving
knives are driven by means of a train of gearing from the axle of the
driving wheels, such gearing being arranged to increase the speed of
driving for the axle of the revolving knives. The toothed wheels com-
posing this gearing are put into and out of gear as required by means of
a clutch box on the driving axle. There are also a set of springs or
spring guides for each drill to aid in placing the turnips in an upright|
position before the revolving knives are brought in contact with them.
Another set of knives are fixed to the middle longitudinal bars of the
main frame below the frame, and at the back part thereof, and these
knives are so fixed at acute angles to the drill for the purpose of bottoming
the turnips, that is to say, cutting them away from the roots. There are
also sets of bent bars fixed behind the implement, upon which bars the
turnips after leaving the last mentioned or lower fixed knives move
casily along and are connected in the central drills.
In order to render the action of the implement as complete as possible
an arrangement is provided for a chain harrow behind to be drawn by
chains for the purpose of detaching the earth that may adhere to the
turnips in wet or damp weather.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Ross in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL, COME, I, WILLIAM
5 Ross, of Wilkhaven, Tarbat, in the County of Ross, North Britain,
Farmer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Ross, Her special licence
that I, the said William Ross, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Ross, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ircland, the.
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CLIPPING, BOTTOMING, AND GATHERING TURNIPS," upon the con-.
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Ross, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing, under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause 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 William Ross, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto.
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Clipping,
Bottoming, and Gathering Turnips" consists of an implement made.
with a handle frame similar to that of a grubber which is arranged to be
drawn by horses, steam, or other power. It is intended to perform

page_text: simultaneously the three operations of clipping off the shaws, cutting off
the roots of the turnips, and collecting the turnips thus operated upon
of every two drills into one. The said handled frame consists of four
longitudinal bars terminating in handles at the back, and at the front in
a central part to which is connected the drawing shackle, swivel, and
fore wheel for guiding the implement. The said frame is supported on
four wheels besides the front guiding wheel, and the two driving wheels
are arranged so as to admit of the driving wheels being raised from the
ground by means of a lever and arc with notches in it, when required, in
order to facilitate the turning of the implement on reaching the end of
the drills. Inside the outer longitudinal bars of the main frame is sus-
pended an inner frame which carries a set of revolving knives adapted
for cutting off the shaws of the turnips. This inner frame is adjustable
by means of a lever and ratchet arc so as to set the revolving knives to
the required elevation for the particular sizes of the turnips to be
operated upon. The said revolving knives are driven by means of a
train of gearing from the axle of the driving wheels, such gearing being
arranged to increase the speed of driving for the axle of the revolving
knives. The toothed wheels composing this gearing are put into and
out of gear, as required, by means of a clutch box on the driving axle.
There are also a set of springs or spring guides for each drill to aid in
placing the turnips in an upright position before the revolving knives
are brought in contact with them.
Another set of knives are fixed to the middle longitudinal bars of the
main frame below the frame, and at the back part thereof, and these
knives are so fixed at acute angles to the drill for the purpose of
bottoming the turnips, that is to say, cutting them away from the roots.
There are also sets of bent bars fixed behind the implement, upon which
bars the turnips after leaving the last mentioned or lower fixed knives
move easily along and are collected in the central drills.
In order to render the action of the implement as complete as possible
an arrangement is provided for a chain harrow behind to be drawn by
chains for the purpose of detaching the carth that may adhere to the
turnips in wet or damp weather.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed
by the aid of the accompanying Drawings in which is represented an
implement constructed in the manner above referred to.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a plan or horizontal view of the implement; Fig. 2 is a side
elevation; and Fig. 3 is a similar view of the inner frame and knives.
In these several Figures the same letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts.
A, A, is the handled frame composed of four longitudinal bars (the
two central bars terminating in handles B, B), and two transverse rods
or stays C, C, secured by nuts on each side of the longitudinal bars.
The said two central bars terminate in front in two inclined bars D, D,
which converge to a central part to which is connected a shackle and
swivel at E and the fore guiding wheel F. Besides this guiding wheel
the said frame is supported on four wheels, of which the two driving
wheels G, G, are arranged so as to admit of their being raised from the
ground when required for turning the implement by means of a lever H
and are I with notches in it. J, J, is an inner frame (shewn detached
in Fig. 3) which is suspended inside the outer longitudinal bars of the
main frame A, A. This inner frame J, J, carries a set of revolving
knives K, K, adapted for cutting off the shaws of the turnips, which
revolving knives are driven at the required speed by the driving
wheels G, G, by means of intermediate toothed gear, as herein-after
described. The said inner frame J, J, is adjustable by means of a lever
L and ratchet arc M, in order to admit of the revolving knives K, K,
being set to the required clevation for the particular sizes of the turnips
to be operated upon. For this purpose the moveable frame J, J, is fixed
in front by means of an eye over the inside of the bush in the bearing N,
and the frame is fixed at the hinder part to the lever L by suspending
rods O. This lever has its fulcrum at P on the upper end of a fixed
vertical rod or pillar, and the hinder end of the frame J can thus be
raised or lowered, as required, by means of the lever L which can be
retained in any required position by means of the ratchet arc M con-
nected to the left handle B and a spring m. The intermediate toothed
gearing for driving the knives K, K, at the required speed consists of a
wheel Q of twelve inches diameter mounted so as to be capable of
sliding on the shaft of the driving wheels G, G, and taking into a
wheel R of four inches diameter fixed on the shaft S, on which shaft is
also fixed the wheel T of the same diameter as the wheel Q gearing with
the wheel U of the same diameter as the wheel R, such wheel U being

page_text: fixed on the shaft of the revolving knives K, K. These wheels can be
put into and out of gear, as required by means of a clutch box, one part
of which is on the wheel Q and the corresponding part is fixed to the
shaft of the driving wheel G, G. These clutches are worked, as
required, by means of an excentric handle, as shewn in Fig. 1. The
object of this arrangement is to increase the speed at which the revolving
knives K, K, are driven.
The wheels R and T are mounted on two bars V, V, formed as repre-
sented detached at Fig. 4. The fore ends of these bars rest with an eye
on the shaft of the driving wheels, and the hinder ends of the said bars
are suspended on the shaft of the revolving knives by means of
bushes W, W, the shaft S being supported in bushes X, X. Y, Y, arc
sets of springs or spring guides for each drill to aid in placing the
turnips in an upright position before the knives K, K, come in contact
with them for cutting away the shaws. Z is a spiral spring placed
behind the wheel Q in order to allow the knives K, K, to spend their
unexhausted force. a, a, are the hind wheels of the implement working
on the crank axle 6, by means of which the cutting of the lower
knives c, c, is regulated. These knives are fixed at an acute angle, as
shown in Fig. 1, and are adapted for bottoming the turnips; d, d, arc
bent bars fixed to the longitudinal bars A, A, of the main frame for
gathering the turnips into the centre of the drill after being operated
unon by the knives c

page_text: Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is,--
First. The combination of the several parts to form an implement
capable of clipping, bottoming, and gathering turnips, in the manner
herein-before described.
Secondly. The adaptation and application to such implements of a
moveable frame for adjusting the revolving knives to suit different sizes
of turnips with the means of adjustment, as herein-before described.
Thirdly. The mode described of working the revolving knives at an
increased speed.
· Fourthly. The mode described of supporting the intermediate
mechanism for working the revolving knives at such increased speed.
Fifthly. The construction and arrangement of the knives for bottoming
the turnips, as herein-before described.
Sixthly. The construction and arrangement of the bent bars for
gathering the turnips when clipped and bottomed, as herein-before
described.
And, lastly. The combination with the implement described of a chain
harrow in order to remove from the turnips (after being clipped and
bottomed), earth that may adhere to them in damp weather.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ross, havo hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
DANIEL FRASER, M.A.,
Parish School Master,
Tarbat.
W. ROSS. (L.S.)